The gathered beasts fell silent at her words. It was true; humans were the most numerous cultivators in the cultivation world. Moreover, they would likely remain in this realm for a very long time—at least several tens of thousands of years.
"But why do you want to shapeshift now? You look so lovely as a little blade of grass," Zi Huang added.
"I don't want to wait for the shapeshifting lightning tribulation. That lightning is terrifying! I'm not as powerful as Lord Chi Ze; I can't just scare the tribulation away!" Ling Xiaoyin offered a timely compliment to Chi Ze before continuing, "Besides, waiting for the tribulation would take at least four or five hundred years of cultivation. I don't want to wait that long!"
"Four or five hundred years passes in the blink of an eye," Chi Ze remarked.
Ling Xiaoyin was left speechless. Li Xue quickly interjected, "Which of the five elemental essences do we need? Xiaoyin already has the Wood essence." She could simply pluck one of her own leaves.
"I am of the Fire attribute. This is a Purple Plume, one of the most essential feathers from my body. Since you are only at the second rank, a small quill will be enough for you." As Zi Feng spoke, he pulled a beautiful purplish-red feather from his breast, where he possessed a small storage space. Ling Xiaoyin accepted it happily and voiced her thanks.
"I am of the Water attribute. This is a Red-Headed Scale; take it!" Chi Ze produced a shimmering scale from somewhere, and Ling Xiaoyin tucked it away, overjoyed.
"For the Gold attribute, we can go to the Golden Ape King. As for the Earth attribute..." Chi Ze paused to ponder. After a long moment, he said, "That might be a bit difficult."
Li Xue smiled. "Earth attribute? I can think of a little fellow." She pointed toward the cliff face for Li Lin’s benefit.
Li Lin’s face twitched slightly. "That little guy has quite the temper."
"Why look for anyone else? I am of the Earth attribute!" Hei Yan pulled out a small tuft of shimmering black tail hair and tossed it to Ling Xiaoyin. She was delighted and scrambled to catch it with her leaves.
"Ha, that just leaves the Gold attribute. However, the Golden Ape King is a fifth-rank demonic beast. Aside from his own troop of ape-descendants, he rarely meddles in others' business. This will be tricky," Chi Ze mused.
Hearing this, Ling Xiaoyin grew worried. "A fifth-rank demonic beast? That’s so strong. Maybe we should swap it for something else?"
Li Xue said crossly, "Since this method of condensation cannot be changed once it's finished, we must use the best materials!"
"Since the Golden Ape King is obsessed with brewing wine, as long as we can provide material that moves his heart, we should be able to make a trade," Li Lin suggested from the side.
A sharp light flashed in Chi Ze’s eyes. He turned to Ling Xiaoyin and asked, "Xiaoyin, is it Immortal Dew that you use during your cultivation?" Even if Ling Xiaoyin didn't say it, Chi Ze knew it must be the Immortal Dew given by the Great Immortal Bai Yixing; he simply hadn't addressed it openly until now.
"Uh, yes," Xiaoyin replied. Every time she cultivated, she diluted the Immortal Dew with water at a ratio of one to a thousand. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to absorb it. Besides, that small bottle of Immortal Dew wasn't much; she had to cultivate for hundreds or thousands of years, so how could it possibly be enough?
"One bottle of what you use will be sufficient," Chi Ze said, handing her a jade vial.
Xiaoyin took it, clutching it between two leaves, and scurried off to a secluded spot in the spiritual herb field. She took out the diluted Immortal Dew water from her Spirit-Concealing Ring, filled the small vial, and ran back to Chi Ze.
Seeing her hide her things in the herb field while genuinely believing she was being stealthy, the others felt a row of black lines cross their foreheads.
***
On Golden Ape Mountain, the Golden Ape King was busy tinkering with spiritual herbs in his cave dwelling, surrounded by various ceramic pots and jars.
"Great King, Lord Chi Ze of Chi Ze Mountain requests an audience!" a golden ape reported respectfully at the entrance.
The Golden Ape King frowned. That Red Dragon Jiao from Chi Ze Mountain who possessed a divine bloodline—what was he doing here? The Golden Ape King was somewhat puzzled.
He rarely concerned himself with outside affairs; as long as no one offended him, he basically ignored other demonic beasts. Although that Red Dragon Jiao was lower in cultivation than him, those with divine bloodlines were not to be underestimated. He put down his work and went outside.
On the reception platform at the outer perimeter of Golden Ape Mountain, the red-clad youth that Chi Ze had transformed into had already been waiting for some time. When the Golden Ape King saw the shapeshifted Chi Ze, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
"Junior Chi Ze of Chi Ze Mountain greets the Great King!" Chi Ze bowed respectfully upon seeing the Golden Ape King. The King’s realm was higher than his own, and since he was currently asking for a favor, Chi Ze dared not be careless.
"Oh? Lord Chi Ze has shapeshifted as well. What brings you to see me?" The Golden Ape King was a man of few words.
Chi Ze got straight to the point. "Junior learned that the Great King is collecting materials for spiritual wine. I happened to obtain a small bottle of Immortal Dew and would like the Great King to appraise it!"
The Golden Ape King took the small jade vial Chi Ze offered. Upon opening it and taking a sniff, his face immediately lit up with joy. He asked, "Is this all for me? What do you want in exchange?"
"Junior is currently refining a dharma treasure and lacks a Gold-attribute material. I would like to ask the Great King to bestow a small tuft of Golden Neck Bristles," Chi Ze stated.
Without hesitation, the Golden Ape King pulled a small tuft of golden bristles from his chest and tossed them to Chi Ze, eager to return and study the Immortal Dew. After turning around, he felt that he had taken far too much advantage of the deal. Although the Golden Neck Bristles were a very precious Gold-attribute material, they shed naturally every ten years, so they weren't much to him.
After a moment's thought, he tossed two gourds to Chi Ze. "These two gourds of spiritual wine are a gift for you!" Having said that, he returned to his cave without looking back.
Chi Ze was overjoyed. Having gained two extra gourds of spiritual wine, he quickly stowed them in his storage space and took to the sky to fly back.
This was truly an unexpected boon. He had thought the Golden Ape King wouldn't see him so quickly and that obtaining the Golden Neck Bristles would require much more effort. It seemed his luck was quite good.
Originally, Li Xue had planned to exchange precious spiritual herbs for the wine before leaving Chi Ze Mountain; now, Chi Ze had essentially obtained two gourds for free.
Once Xiaoyin received the Golden Neck Bristles, she carefully stored them in her Spirit-Concealing Ring. Now that all five elemental essences were gathered, she was extremely happy.
By the side of the water pool, Chi Ze placed the wine gourds on a stone table. Then, he brought out several small cups and poured a small portion into each, inviting everyone over to drink.
Hearing that it was the Golden Ape King’s spiritual wine, everyone excitedly sat on the stone stools and began to savor it carefully.
Zi Feng, Zi Huang, and Xiaoyin all hopped onto the stone table. Xiaoyin could only use her leaves to soak up the wine.
Seeing this, everyone suddenly seemed to understand why Xiaoyin was in such a hurry to shapeshift. As a blade of grass, trying to taste the delicacies of the mortal world was indeed quite inconvenient.
