Chapter 65: Icy Milky Heavenly Lotus

Banju turned to look at the highly enthusiastic Tong Jin, smiled, and replied, "The thousand-year-old ice cave has weathered the ages, and its freezing chill goes without saying. Only when the ice cave is completely sealed and the cold within reaches its absolute limit does it condense. That condensed substance is none other than mysterious ice."

Tong Jin listened with rapt attention, thinking to himself that the world was truly vast and full of wonders for such a magical thousand-year-old mysterious ice to exist.

As all rare and exotic treasures invariably had extraordinary origins, Tong Jin was perhaps making a bit too much of a fuss over this. Seeing the look of wonderment on Tong Jin's face, Banju smiled and said, "Compared to the thousand-year-old mysterious ice, Brother Tong Jin's corpse-sinking poison ant is even more astonishing. I had heard that no one in this world could cultivate such a creature, yet today I get to witness it right here with Brother Tong Jin."

Reaching out to fish a stone box from his bosom, Banju wore a nostalgic expression. "This corpse-sinking poison ant was a gift from someone who showed me great kindness." Then, a memory surfaced in his mind of the Ghost Physician being repeatedly driven to exasperation by Tong Jin, and he could not help but chuckle softly.

After chatting for a while longer, Banju burped from the wine and turned back to his quarters to rest.

Tong Jin picked up the robe beside him and turned it inside out. Within the folds of the wide robe were five bulging cloth bags. He pulled a stone box from each bag, placed them on the table, and gently opened them.

Inside each box were two adult insects, huddled almost motionlessly in the corners, while the entire inner walls were densely covered with insect eggs. At this moment, the eggs had turned nearly translucent, and within each egg, a tiny black life form could faintly be seen writhing slightly.

With a complex gaze, Tong Jin looked at the countless eggs of the corpse-sinking poison ant in the boxes. Perhaps these little lives would soon face the fate of being devoured shortly after birth, and the arbiter of this fate was Tong Jin himself, who was currently staring at them with expectant eyes.

The movement coming from within his robes startled Tong Jin, prompting him to quickly seal the five boxes. If the large one that had already undergone one evolution were to devour them all clean right now, he could not be certain whether he would lose the chance for another evolution.

After putting the boxes back into his robes, he added some firewood to the stove and settled down to rest.

The firewood in the stove burned brightly, crackling merrily, and the flickering firelight became the dominant feature of the stone room. Perhaps thoroughly exhausted, Tong Jin let out gentle snores as the night grew deeper and deeper...

Early the next morning, accompanied by Banju, Tong Jin met with Ba Xun once again.

"Little fellow, might I take a look at your corpse-sinking poison ant?" Ba Xun invited Tong Jin to sit down upon entering the room and immediately got straight to the point.

The corners of Tong Jin's lips curled up, and he readily retrieved the stone box from his robes. As if listening to the conversation, the poison ant crawled out of the small hole in the stone box on its own, fluttered its wings, and landed on Tong Jin's shoulder, glaring vigilantly at Ba Xun opposite them.

"Oh? An insect that has undergone a single evolution, no wonder it is so in tune with human nature," Ba Xun observed with keen interest at a single glance.

"Yes, it is indeed very obedient." Tong Jin nodded, raising a fingertip to stroke the poison ant on his shoulder.

"But it is not enough!" Ba Xun shook his head with a definitive tone.

Tong Jin was stunned upon hearing this. "According to Senior, what should be done?"

Ba Xun smiled. "The method for the secondary evolution of this exotic insect must have already been passed on to you by Bai Xuan." Seeing Tong Jin nod, he continued, "However, there are certain special secret techniques known only to our Poison Sect, which even Bai Xuan does not know."

"This junior would like to hear the details!"

"Let's be completely open. According to the rules of the Poison Sect, my secret technique must never be imparted to outsiders. However, I have recently encountered a matter in which perhaps only you, little fellow, can be of assistance."

Tong Jin furrowed his brow slightly and looked at Ba Xun with puzzlement. "I wonder what matter Senior is referring to that even Senior cannot resolve? What ability does this junior have to warrant Senior's high regard?"

"It is this little guy that can help me!" Ba Xun raised a hand to point at the corpse-sinking poison ant vibrating its wings slightly on Tong Jin's shoulder. "For it, accomplishing this task is not particularly difficult, yet aside from the corpse-sinking poison ant, anyone else would find it exceedingly difficult to accomplish."

Tong Jin asked, "Please speak directly, Senior. If I can be of help, this junior certainly will not refuse."

"Good!" Ba Xun raised his eyebrows and said, "Actually, I simply need its help to deal with an exotic beast."

"Deal with an exotic beast?"

Ba Xun nodded, appearing to ponder as he said, "Not long ago, I discovered a stalk of Milky Ice Lotus at the summit of a certain snowy mountain, just as it was blooming. That Milky Ice Lotus is precisely one of the essential spiritual herbs newly researched by our Poison Sect to further control exotic insects."

Tong Jin remarked, "Could it be that the Milky Ice Lotus is guarded by an exotic beast?" Tong Jin had long read about such matters in books; whenever a spiritual herb or rare treasure attained a certain degree of spirituality, fierce beasts and exotic birds would inevitably guard its vicinity, for spiritual herbs and treasures of that tier were also immensely beneficial to those sentient creatures.

Ba Xun glanced at Tong Jin and nodded. "Indeed. Guarding that lotus is a thousand-year-old snow sable."

"Has Senior not dispatched Banju's plateau blood bees to deal with it?" Tong Jin asked, turning to look at Banju, who had remained silent all this time.

"Heh, of course I have tried. Among exotic insects, the speed of the plateau blood bees is considered extremely fast, yet they were still helpless against that snow sable." Ba Xun looked at Tong Jin, who had turned to stare at the ant on his shoulder, and continued, "Now it appears that only your corpse-sinking poison ant still surpasses the blood bees in speed, which is why I made that suggestion."

Tong Jin nodded. "If Senior deems it feasible, I am willing to help Senior give it a try!"

"Good!" Ba Xun slapped the stone table before him. "If the little fellow helps me harvest the Milky Ice Lotus, I will take it upon myself to impart that insect-control technique to you. Ha, come to think of it, without this lotus, even if you learned the technique, you would not be able to execute it."

Tong Jin scratched his head. "Putting it that way, I am actually helping myself. Heh heh."

Even Banju, who had not spoken until now, could not help but laugh. Although this kid before them had a steady side and was by no means timid in a fight, the childlike innocence in his disposition still surfaced from time to time, making him appear remarkably genuine and straightforward.

"Since it is settled, Banju, immediately notify Ciren. The four of us will set out at once to retrieve that lotus!" Ba Xun commanded decisively.

Before long, Ciren and Banju returned to Ba Xun's quarters, and the four of them set off toward the place where the Milky Ice Lotus grew.

Tong Jin had read about the Milky Ice Lotus in books before; its juices had a certain effect in helping insects and beasts awaken their spiritual wisdom, and it was an indispensable ingredient for refining several types of medicinal pills. However, he had no intention of revealing his pill-refining pursuits to the people present, so he secretly kept his own counsel, intending to play it by ear. If the others harvested the flower branches of the Milky Ice Lotus, he would be well satisfied just obtaining some roots and stems.

Naturally, although the other three saw that Tong Jin was deep in thought, they could never have guessed that he was currently contemplating pill-refining, assuming instead that he was plotting a strategy to deal with the snow sable. Even so, the four of them climbed unhindered through the snow, and after more than two full hours, they finally reached the summit of a snow-capped mountain that was not particularly tall yet possessed a rather peculiar location.

Perhaps only half the height of the surrounding snowy mountains, this mountain was strangely encircled at its direct center by seven steep, towering peaks that pierced the clouds. Furthermore, the summit of this mountain was broad and flat, as if its upper half had been cleanly sliced off by some invisible giant axe.

The instant the four of them reached the flat summit, Ba Xun raised a hand to block them and simultaneously signaled for silence.