Stop grinding, I'm really just a free spirit.

Chapter 41 A Trivial Matter

Chen Bai looked around the stone chamber, pulled himself out of his thoughts, and released the two beast spirits that he had just refined.

The Jade Horned Antelope Beast Spirit and the Swamp Water Poison Leech Beast Spirit floated side by side in mid-air, their bodies shimmering with spiritual light.

Chen Bai made a hand seal and injected the true qi from his dantian into the bodies of the two beast spirits respectively.

hum-

Both beast spirits trembled simultaneously.

The true qi of fetal breathing seemed to add fuel to the fire within their bodies, and the two beast spirits began to expand at a visible rate.

The Jade Horned Antelope spirit swelled from the size of a palm to the size of a calf, its entire body as white as jade, its fur smooth, and its head adorned with a pair of crystalline jade horns.

The Water Poison Leech Beast Spirit transformed into a giant, dark green leech over ten feet long, its body covered in layers of writhing, and the phantom image of the poison sac on its head bulging as if about to burst.

The two beast spirits have recovered to about two-thirds of their original size, and their bodies are burning with a violent and dangerous aura of flames.

"go!"

Chen Bai had an idea and issued the attack command.

The two beast spirits then began to move towards the iron man.

"Hercules..."

The antelope retained its attacking habits from its previous life, striking first, its four hooves slipping into the air as it rammed headfirst into the iron man.

The water leech followed closely behind, its body slithering close to the ground, and it was actually faster than the water leech.

The two beast spirits collided with the iron man almost simultaneously.

"Boom—"

A muffled, loud bang exploded in the cave.

At the moment of impact, the first beast spirit exploded violently, transforming into a blazing crimson fireball that engulfed the iron man entirely.

"BOOM!!"

Another beast spirit followed closely behind, triggering a second explosion. The dark, yin-colored flames intertwined with the previous crimson flames, forming a raging, ever-expanding inferno.

A wave of scorching heat rushed towards him, causing Chen Bai's robes to flutter loudly.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, remaining motionless, staring intently at the center of the flames.

The flames came quickly and went quickly.

After about seven or eight breaths, the firelight gradually dissipated, revealing the iron figure in the center.

The Iron Man was still hot, with several obvious charred marks on its surface. On its chest and shoulders, the metal shell had been blasted into several shallow dents.

But apart from that, there was no substantial damage.

There was no deformation, no melting, and even the withered vines that had previously entwined it were simply burned to ashes, leaving behind a few black charcoal marks.

Chen Bai stepped forward and reached out to touch the dent on the Iron Man's chest.

The dent was no more than half a finger deep; for an iron golem forged from refined iron, this damage was not even a superficial wound.

"The power is about average."

He silently gave his assessment in his mind.

The combined power of the two beast spirits' self-destruction was roughly equivalent to a full-force attack from a cultivator in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm.

In actual combat, it might be able to inflict damage on cultivators of the same level, but it would be difficult to defeat them in one blow.

Moreover, the biggest drawback of beast spirits is their lack of flexibility. They can only execute the simplest commands and cannot independently judge the situation and adapt to changing circumstances like Spirit Crow Xiao Liu.

Once separated from Chen Bai's spiritual guidance, they would just float blankly in place, looking like two beast-shaped puppets.

Chen Bai withdrew his gaze from the iron man, took a deep breath, and began practicing the last Taoist technique.

The Green Raincoat Protection Technique.

He made a hand seal, and a stream of true qi from his dantian surged out and condensed on his body into the almost tangible blue raincoat.

Then he walked up to the Iron Man, took a deep breath, and prepared to take the hit head-on.

Chen Bai released another beast spirit, which crashed into the iron man at his command, but Chen Bai adjusted the angle so that the aftershock of the explosion could hit him head-on.

boom--

Chen Bai felt a scorching impact hit him in the face, as if he had been pushed hard by an invisible giant hand.

The sand beneath his feet was whipped up by the shockwave, clattering and hitting the walls.

The blue raincoat around him also rippled violently a few times under the tearing of the shockwave.

Then--

Click.

A soft, crisp sound.

The protective shield of spiritual light lasted for less than two breaths under the shockwave before a gash appeared at its chest.

Immediately afterwards, the entire protective shield shattered like a broken eggshell, with cracks spreading rapidly in all directions. It then broke into countless tiny specks of light with a crash, dissipating into the air.

Chen Bai looked down at his chest.

Fortunately, although the raincoat was torn, it at least absorbed most of the force of the shockwave.

In addition, the strengthening of his skin and flesh prevented him from being easily injured.

However, the defensive power of this protective spell is indeed disappointing.

It couldn't even withstand the aftershocks of the self-destruction of the weakest beast spirit. If it were to take a direct hit from a Nascent Soul cultivator, it probably wouldn't even survive the first blow.

"It's basically a useless thing."

Chen Bai shook his head and wrote down this inferior Taoist technique in his notebook.

He retrieved the remaining spiritual fire from the two beast spirits, cleaned up the traces in the cave, and then stood in the center of the cave to practice each of these Taoist spells two or three times again until he had completely mastered the casting rhythm and true qi consumption of each spell before stopping.

The timekeeping array on the cave wall had begun to flash, indicating that the two-hour rental period was about to end.

When Chen Bai stepped out of the cave, the daylight outside had already dimmed.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the bluestone walls of the drill ground, turning the entire building into a warm, dark gold.

There were far fewer independent cultivators on the street than when we arrived, with only one or two figures hurrying by occasionally passing by the street corner.

He stood at the entrance of the drill ground, looked up at the sky, and instead of rushing back, he mentally reviewed the results of all the drills from beginning to end.

The two beast spirits created by Zhu Yan's Spirit Guiding Technique are only moderately powerful, barely enough to deal with cultivators of the same realm, but they have the advantage of being able to self-destruct and injure enemies, which may have an unexpected effect at crucial moments.

The downside is that it lacks intelligence and needs constant spiritual guidance, making it far less worry-free and effortless than Lingya Xiaoliu.

The Green Raincoat Protection Technique is swift to cast, but its defensive capabilities are severely lacking.

It can't even withstand the aftershock of the self-destruction of the weakest beast spirit head-on; in actual combat, it's mostly like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Unless one is in a special environment in the future, or forcibly maintains this state with more fetal breathing, the usefulness of this Taoist technique is really limited.

The grass was tied into a binding spell.

It is the most useful of these Taoist arts.

It is fast to cast and has strong binding force, and can almost determine the outcome of a battle in one move when the enemy is unprepared.

The problem is that this spell is too easily countered by fire-based magic. If it encounters a cultivator skilled in fire magic, it probably won't even have a chance to be cast.

Moreover, grass seeds fly relatively slowly, making it difficult to hit them effectively against agile or extremely fast opponents.

Chen Bai remained silent for a moment, then suddenly shook his head and chuckled.

"No wonder these inferior Taoist techniques are priced so cheaply."

He muttered something to himself, his tone not so much of a disappointment as a calm acceptance that he had expected it.

Chen Bai tucked his hands into his sleeves and walked towards his residence in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Their footsteps were neither fast nor slow, making a crisp clattering sound as they stepped on the bluestone pavement.

Halfway there, he suddenly paused as if he had thought of something, took out a pouch from his sleeve, and glanced at it with his spiritual sense.

Inside the bag, there was only half a fist-sized amount of the remaining demon essence, a small number of spirit stones, a stack of spirit talismans, and a pile of miscellaneous spirit materials that had been extracted earlier.

This is all the wealth he currently possesses.

Chen Bai carefully put the bag back in his pocket and quickened his pace toward his residence.

He already had a plan in mind for what to do next.

Spend a few days building relationships first, then wander around the market to see if you can find some bargains or take on a few quests to exchange for spirit stones.