The Dao Sovereign of Shennong

It was the second morning of climbing the mountain to gather spiritual essence, and Zhao Xing was not in a hurry to go to the Mountain God Temple.

While keeping an eye on the cave, he gathered materials on-site to prepare for the plan of drawing the beast out of the mountain.

If the beast in the cave went out to forage, that would be excellent; he could take the opportunity to sneak in and escape.

If it did not come out, he would have to draw it out.

Fortunately, the Straw Puppet had already reached its fourth transformation. Though there were no other materials on the mountain, various vines and willow branches were abundant, providing ample material for the puppets.

Zhao Xing did not plan to use the Mighty Vajra Straw Puppets; the Vajra Bamboo was difficult to replenish in the short term.

Against the beasts, he also could not match their strength. Therefore, what Zhao Xing needed to supplement now was the [Swift Straw Puppets].

"Go and bring some stones."

Zhao Xing commanded the Binding Straw Puppets.

"Go capture some wild rabbits, mountain rats, and wild boars."

He also instructed the Mighty Vajra Straw Puppets.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

The straw puppets began to follow the orders.

Zhao Xing then stepped back, moving further away from the cave.

He found a patch of soil.

Taking out two types of seedlings from the Bamboo Fern Box.

The Bamboo Fern Box had been given to him by Xue Wenzhong and Chen Shijie two days before entering the mountain. Zhao Xing spent some time cultivating some of the seeds into seedlings.

Now that he needed them, he could use them immediately.

"If the beast eats meat, I will bring some meat."

"If it is herbivorous, these Vine Fragrance Berries and Passiongrass should attract its attention."

The two types of plants were both tier two lower-grade.

The Vine Fragrance Berries and Passiongrass had one main effect: addictive taste!

They were quite attractive to herbivorous beasts.

Looking at the bones in the cave, Zhao Xing felt the likelihood of the beast eating meat was higher. However, the Vine Fragrance Berries and Passiongrass could still have some effect on carnivorous beasts, though less significant.

"Cloud Summoning!"

Zhao Xing's Cloud Summoning had reached the ninth transformation, and after breaking through to Essence Gathering Stage 6, his control had greatly increased.

Now the cloud was as large as a bed, and he could control its height to be quite low, with the essence gathering and not dispersing, creating little disturbance.

"Rainmaking!"

Drizzle~

The rain began to water the seedlings.

"Vigorous Growth!"

The full-level Vigorous Growth spell caused the seedlings to begin changing.

The spiritual mountain's earth power was sufficient; Zhao Xing did not use the Earth Vein Consolidation. These two plants had a short growth cycle, and once they entered the growth stage, using Wild Growth was enough. There was no need to waste essence on Earth Vein Consolidation.

After an hour, the Passiongrass and Vine Fragrance Berries entered their growth phase.

Zhao Xing opened his eyes and began casting spells.

"Wild Growth!"

The two plants began to grow at a visible rate, with the Vine Fragrance Berry Vine quickly flowering and bearing fruit, emitting a faint fragrance.

"Wind!"

Zhao Xing formed a circular wind wall around, controlling the fragrance to prevent attracting other beasts.

With everything done, he waited for the plants to mature.

At the same time, he closely monitored the cave's entrance.

"I hope the beast is hungry and goes out to find food on its own…" Zhao Xing prayed.

If that happened, it would be best; he wouldn't have to waste puppets and time.

Time slowly passed.

By noon, the Passiongrass had already matured, and the berries had started to produce a second batch. The cave remained silent.

"What kind of beast is so lazy? Can it really sleep until noon?" Zhao Xing complained. "Does it forage at night and sleep during the day?"

Even so, Zhao Xing continued to wait patiently.

"The Mountain God Temple only needs to be visited before the midnight hour."

"If there are gains today, I can compete for the first incense."

"If there isn't much gain, I will compete for the top ten incense."

There must be a Mountain God Temple on the spiritual mountain. Everything is uncertain when gathering spiritual essence on the spiritual mountain.

Where is the spiritual essence? How to gather it? Everything is unknown.

Simply searching and relying on luck, it's rare for anyone to have success.

Even if the place is found, it might not be possible to gather the essence.

For instance, Zhao Xing had already seen the expert on the bamboo horse bouncing around the mountain stream for most of the day.

And now, the spiritual essence in the cave was guarded by a beast.

To ensure he gained something, climbers should first go to the Mountain God Temple to offer incense and seek guidance.

After the midnight hour every day, the True Monarch in the temple would manifest and tell the climbers where and how to gather the spiritual essence.

The first incense is the best, with the highest chance of obtaining the essence.

Subsequent incense results gradually diminish, and climbers will face trials from the True Monarch.

On the first night, Zhao Xing did not compete for incense.

On the second night, he intended to participate.

But since it was still early and just past noon, he was not in a hurry.

"How long is this senior going to keep us here? Are we going to stay here as long as he does?" Fang Jie murmured.

"Are you afraid?" Zhou Gang asked.

"Yes!" Fang Jie replied honestly, "That senior is very powerful. He can escape from the beast's jaws. We may not be able to. If we stay here…"

Zhou Gang thought for a moment and nodded, "I will ask."

But just as he got up, the nearby straw puppet turned and left, and a voice came through the wind: "The upcoming noise will be quite loud. You two may leave on your own. If fate permits, we will meet before the temple tonight."

"Thank you, senior." Zhou Gang and Fang Jie were overjoyed and quickly left.

As the time approached the evening, Zhao Xing, who had been patient, could no longer wait.

He suspected that the beast hunted at night and slept during the day.

Continuing to wait was a waste of time, so he began the plan to draw the beast out of the mountain.

First, he used two Swift Straw Puppets in pairs, taking turns to throw stones and the captured small animals, as well as the Vine Fragrance Berries into the cave.

The stones elicited no response, and the small animals had no reaction either.

But when the Vine Fragrance Berries were thrown, there was finally a reaction from inside the cave.

A shadow quickly darted out, heading straight for the straw puppet that had thrown the items.

It was still a blur, but Zhao Xing, staying at a distance, managed to catch a glimpse of the beast.

"It turns out to be… a mountain cat cub?"

The mountain cat was very small, which completely did not match the identity of the cave's owner.

Nevertheless, the plan continued.

The two groups of Swift Straw Puppets had not moved far before being destroyed by the mountain cat.

After confirming that the berries were effective, Zhao Xing decisively ordered the second group of puppets, stationed a hundred meters away, to stand up and throw berries toward the mountain cat.

Whoosh~

The mountain cat indeed ran toward the second group of straw puppets. It did not attack the puppets but simply knocked them apart with a light touch of its claws while grabbing the berries.

But it didn't matter. Soon, a third group of straw puppets stood up not far away to continue attracting the cat.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the mountain cat had already appeared three miles away.

Three miles away was the limit of the puppets' control.

But Zhao Xing was not anxious. Along the route, he transplanted the Passiongrass in a line to attract it further away, with the ultimate goal of drawing the mountain cat to the area where the Vine Fragrance Berries were planted.

"That's enough, take action!"