Chapter 16: Distributing the Spoils
Through Luo Shou's introduction, Xiao Lin knew that the girl who spoke for him was Luo Shou's sister Luo Shuang, which made Xiao Lin look at Luo Shou deeply. He didn't understand why Luo Shou, who was tall and strong, would have such a pure and lovely sister.
The Lu brothers, one named Lu Wen and the other named Lu Wu, also came to Wuyin Xiancheng from Yuxi Country four years ago. As for the ugly dwarf, his name was Miao Wu, dressed in barbarian clothes. After the introduction, Xiao Lin knew that he was from a mountain tribe in Jinshi Country.
After Luo Shou introduced the origins of several people, he also introduced their cultivation to Xiao Lin. Luo Shou was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, Luo Shuang was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and the Lu brothers were both at the fifth level of Qi Refining. As for the dwarf Miao Wu, he was also at the sixth level of Qi Refining, but Miao Wu was relatively low-key and spoke less among the few people, and their team was obviously dominated by Luo Shou.
Xiao Lin naturally introduced himself, saying that he was born in Yuxi Country, and that he accidentally got a book of basic exercises. He practiced randomly for several years before he reached the third level. He also accidentally learned that there was a Wuyin Fairy City in the Tianlu Mountains, which was a good place for cultivators to practice, so he came alone to find it, hoping to try his luck and see if he had this immortal fate. As for the twists and turns in it, he just mentioned it in one sentence without going into details.
Luo Shou and the others didn't care. In their eyes, Xiao Lin's situation was not uncommon in Wuyin Fairy City, and there were even many such examples around them.
While chatting with them, Xiao Lin also learned that they came to Black Scale Lake this time to hunt a monster called Black Scale Snake, which was a mortal-level initial monster, and a first-level peak monster.
Xiao Lin had heard the name of the mortal-level monster from Qi Chang before, and he had always been curious about the classification of this monster. This time he happened to meet Luo Shou and other cultivators, so he naturally asked humbly.
It turns out that cultivators are divided into five major realms according to their cultivation level: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and God Transformation. Generally, cultivators in the Qi Refining stage can only be regarded as having entered the door of cultivation. In the cultivation world, only those above the Foundation Building stage are considered true cultivators. This is mainly because different levels not only have a huge difference in strength, but more importantly, their lifespan will also be greatly improved. The lifespan of cultivators in the Qi Refining stage is no different from that of ordinary people. If there is a difference, it is that cultivators will not die prematurely due to illness. Under normal circumstances, as long as a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage is not killed, it is not a problem for him to live to a hundred years old safely.
Once the realm breaks through again and enters the Foundation Building stage, the lifespan will jump to two hundred years, and with the improvement of the foundation building stage, the lifespan will increase further. Of course, this also varies from person to person and is closely related to the practice method, but if you can cultivate to the peak of the Foundation Building stage, it is not a big problem to live to two hundred and thirty or forty years old.
If one reaches the Golden Core stage, then the life span will double again, and living to 500 years old is not a problem at all. Legend has it that the highest can even live to nearly 600 years old. If one goes one step further and has great luck and enters the Nascent Soul stage, then a thousand years of life is enough to make a person impatient. Even with the improvement of cultivation, it is not impossible to live another three or four hundred years. As for the God of Transformation, no one knows whether it exists in this world. If one can really enter the God of Transformation, he may be immortal.
After hearing this, Xiao Lin was stunned. He never dreamed that there would be such benefits in cultivation. Just think about it, if he can really cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage one day and enjoy a thousand years of life, it would be such an enviable thing. This made his heart burn and increased his determination to practice hard.
The level of monsters is also divided according to the realm of humans, which are divided into ordinary level, true level, emperor level, emperor level, and heaven level, corresponding to the Qi refining, foundation building, golden elixir, Yuanying and transformation of human cultivators. For example, the Qi refining period is divided into ten levels, the first three levels are the initial stage of Qi refining, the fourth to sixth levels are the middle stage of Qi refining, and the seventh to ninth levels are the late stage of Qi refining. The tenth level of Qi refining is also called the peak of Qi refining or the great perfection of Qi refining. The corresponding monsters are also from the initial stage of ordinary level, middle stage, high stage and great perfection, and so on. What Luo Shou and his team are about to hunt is a black-scaled snake, a monster of the initial stage of ordinary level. Although the black-scaled snake corresponds to the initial stage of human Qi refining, this black-scaled snake is invulnerable to swords and guns due to its scales and armor, and this snake is extremely poisonous. In terms of strength, it is probably no less than that of ordinary middle-level monsters, and it is extremely difficult to deal with.
The black scales of the black-scaled snake are the best materials for Qi Refining cultivators to refine magic tools. As long as they get enough black scales, they can even refine mid-level magic tools. Moreover, among the low-level cultivators in Wuyin Xiancheng, the black scales and snake venom of the black-scaled snake are very popular materials. Many low-level cultivators like to form teams to hunt black-scaled snakes, so that the number of black-scaled snakes has dropped sharply.
Black Scale Lake is where black-scaled snakes often appear, but after years of hunting, they are rarely found. Luo Shou also happened to pass by this place once and found a nest of black-scaled snakes basking in the sun by the lake. He was so happy that he wanted to hunt them, but he never thought that there were three adult black-scaled snakes in this nest. Not only did he fail to hunt them, but he was seriously injured by the black-scaled snakes and was poisoned by the snake. If he hadn't brought a detoxification elixir with him, I'm afraid his life would have been left here.
Therefore, after he recovered from his injury several months ago, he contacted a few friends to hunt these black-scaled snakes together, firstly for revenge, and secondly to use them to make up for the loss of the detoxification elixir.
Following a few people, walking along the lake, Xiao Lin kept asking questions. Now he was like a countryman who had just entered the city, full of curiosity about everything. Along the way, Luo Shuang looked at Xiao Lin from time to time, with a smile in her eyes. She seemed to see her appearance when she first entered the world of cultivation from Xiao Lin.
In order not to alert the enemy, they kept walking forward. After walking halfway around the lake, Luo Shou took the lead and stopped.
"Brother Luo, where is the nest of black-scaled snakes you saw?" Lv Wen frowned and said.
"Brother Lu, don't worry. It's not far ahead. This black-scaled snake is usually very alert. If it sees so many of us, it will probably jump into the lake directly, leaving us helpless."
"Brother, how about I go over first and secretly use the snow silkworm net to surround the shore, and then we can do it?" Luo Shuang took out a ball of white silk from his arms, and his handsome face was full of excitement.
Shaking his head, Luo Shou said: "You will definitely be discovered by the black-scaled snake if you go over. The black-scaled snake has a very sensitive sense of perception. As long as you are within ten feet of them, you will definitely be discovered."
"What should we do?" Luo Shuang pouted and said.
"Brother Miao, I still need your Qi-collecting technique. I'll go over first. These black-scaled snakes must be familiar with me. They didn't kill me last time, so they will definitely chase me this time. At this time, Brother Miao can sneak into their nest and take out a few snake eggs. In this way, the black-scaled snakes will be furious and will not stop until they die. Then we can set a trap by the lake and kill them in one fell swoop." After thinking for a while, Luo Shou spoke.
Hearing this, Miao Wu remained silent, as if he was thinking about the interests involved, which made Luo Shou quite unhappy and his face sank.
"Brother Luo, you are the captain, Miao will naturally obey, but after killing the black-scaled snake, I will take away two reverse scales. As long as Brother Luo agrees, Miao is willing to take a risk." Seeing Luo Shou's face, Miao Wu raised his head and said with a smile.
Xiao Lin saw that the Lu brothers' faces darkened instantly after hearing what Miao Wu said. They were obviously dissatisfied with Miao Wu's behavior of asking for benefits first. This also made Xiao Lin have a deeper understanding of these cultivators. He also realized that these people were not easy to deal with. They were all cunning and calculating. This also made him secretly glad that he had expressed his position before. Otherwise, even if he could get a share of the prey, he would be remembered by others, which might bring endless troubles.
"Well, there are three adult snakes in this nest of black-scaled snakes, and each adult snake has two reverse scales. In this way, if we can successfully kill three black-scaled snakes, Shuang'er and I will get two of the six reverse scales, two for the Lu brothers, and two for the Miao brothers. Of course, we will divide the remaining snake venom and snake eggs equally according to the number of people. How about it?" Luo Shou thought for a moment and said.
After hearing Luo Shou's arrangement, Xiao Lin was really impressed. Miao Wu's approach of asking for benefits first made him realize that if the results of this hunt were not arranged well, the few people might not be able to work together, which might lead to the failure of this hunt. Therefore, he first told the distribution plan, which basically took into account the needs of everyone. In Xiao Lin's opinion, it should be considered fair.
Sure enough, after hearing this, the Lu brothers and Miao Wu's faces eased. Then Lu Wen took the lead in complimenting Luo Shou, which was considered to be agreeing to his distribution plan, and Miao Wu also agreed.
Soon, the few people reached a temporary distribution agreement.
The few people did not mention Xiao Lin from beginning to end, and Xiao Lin also knew that he and the few people were just encounters by chance. Not to mention that his cultivation level was only the third level of Qi Refining, even if this relationship was put aside, it would not be a wise choice for him to rashly get involved.
Moreover, in Xiao Lin's opinion, it is more important for him to understand some common sense about cultivation now. As for hunting monsters to obtain materials, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
After discussing the distribution plan, Luo Shuang and the Lu brothers went to the shore, chose an open space, and began to set traps, while Luo Shou and Miao Wu sat cross-legged and closed their eyes to rest. Xiao Lin also knew not to continue asking questions, but chose a safe place farther away, sat cross-legged, silently chanted the formula, and practiced the Dry Water Sutra.
An hour later, Luo Shuang and the Lu brothers had obviously set up traps. They found several boulders nearby and hid behind them. At this time, Luo Shou and Miao Wu opened their eyes almost at the same time.
Luo Shou nodded to Miao Wu, and then a layer of misty yellow light flashed under his feet. With a slight flash, he jumped out five or six feet and disappeared in the reeds by the lake in the blink of an eye.
Miao Wu chanted a few spells, and a faint green light flashed under his feet. Then the green light enveloped his whole body, forming an egg-sized light shield, looming, and he followed the direction of Luo Shou.
Xiao Lin thought about it, retreated a dozen feet, and then found a big rock, quietly hid behind it, and only poked his head out slightly.