Half a month had already passed. Even though Gu Zheng was very curious about the desert, he no longer planned on exploring it.
He could only stay in this world for fifty days. Gu Zheng still needed another fifteen days or so to fly back to the cave. He planned on meditating in the cave for the rest of the time.
In this world, nine suns could be seen during the day, and nine moons could be seen at night. Lying on the ground at the edge of the desert, Gu Zheng looked like he was staring blankly at the nine moons in the sky. In reality, he was carefully deducing the characteristics of the ingredients he obtained from outside the Outer Circle.
Ever since he left the cave, Gu Zheng had a wish. That was to be able to cook a food cultivator that could allow him to absorb the special energy of this world. Now, the ingredients Gu Zheng obtained from this world had reached a certain level in his heart. It was time for him to deduce and see if he could fulfill his wish.
Gu Zheng was deducing a new food cultivator's recipe when the nine moons in the sky dimmed. A cold mist appeared in the sky, and the temperature dropped to an extremely low level in an instant. The restriction that Gu Zheng had set up in advance immediately formed a barrier, preventing him from being attacked by the cold mist.
The environment of this world outside the Outer Circle was very strange. If a day was divided into twenty-four hours, then every four hours, the environment would be affected by the sun or the moon, and there would be a relatively large change. For example, during the day, when the temperature suddenly rose, the pressure in the space would also increase. Some animals and plants that lived under these conditions would appear. When the temperature suddenly dropped during the day, rivers would quickly appear on the ground, but they would disappear when the temperature changed again. Just like now, when the cold mist descended, the temperature dropped to the point where even the Daluo Jinxian had to take precautions. Some animals that were unique to this environment would also appear.
The reason why Gu Zheng chose to deduce the food cultivator's recipe at the edge of the desert was not because of the beautiful scenery of the desert under the moon, but because he wanted to wait here for a special ingredient.
At this time yesterday, Gu Zheng had just arrived at the edge of the desert. After the cold mist descended, he saw a large group of jade-like scorpions crawling out of the sand. These scorpions were of excellent quality. In Gu Zheng's half a month of experience, this was a very rare ingredient. Moreover, the special substance in these scorpions' meat, in Gu Zheng's opinion, was very likely something that was missing in the new food cultivator he wanted to create.
Unfortunately, when Gu Zheng wanted to obtain these jade scorpions, they were all frightened and all hid in the sand. When Gu Zheng separated the sand, he found that these jade-like scorpions really had turned into jade..... Their meat actually turned into stone in an instant. It was very strange!
Gu Zheng did not believe that these jade scorpions had really turned into jade. He was waiting for these strange fellows to revive.
"I really do need them!"
After finishing his detailed deduction, Gu Zheng muttered in his heart. Yesterday's feeling was not wrong. The special substance in the jade scorpions' meat was exactly what he lacked to cook the new food cultivator.
Looking at the sand dune in the distance where the jade scorpions were buried, Gu Zheng did not use his divine sense to investigate the specific situation. He did not want to alarm the jade scorpions and cause him to have to wait here for another day.
"The cold mist is about to end. Those jade scorpions couldn't have already awakened and ran away, right?" The weapon spirit who was a little impatient asked.
"Don't worry! I've already checked their jade-like state. It will take about a minute for this state to end. If they still don't appear after a minute, I'll use my divine sense to check the situation again. "Gu Zheng said.
"Why don't I check it now? They're still in their jade-like state anyway. "
When Gu Zheng checked the jade scorpions yesterday, the weapon spirit was in a state of cultivation. That was why she, who had not checked the jade scorpions, was so curious.
"Forget it! I'll satisfy your curiosity. If we really startle the jade scorpions and they extend the time it takes to turn into jade, then we won't just be wasting a day's time. The quality of the jade scorpions' ingredients will also drop! "Gu Zheng said.
"The grade of the jade scorpions' ingredients will drop because of this?" The weapon spirit was even more curious.
"Yes. If they continuously enter their jade-like state in a short period of time, not only will the grade of their ingredients drop, they might even completely turn into jade."
As soon as Gu Zheng finished speaking, his eyes lit up. "They're coming out!"
"Hualala …"
The sand on the sand dune rumbled. One by one, the fist-sized jade scorpions crawled out of the sand. There seemed to be more than a hundred of them densely packed together.
After turning into jade-like state for a day, the jade scorpions should be thirsty and hungry. They couldn't wait to raise their tails. At the same time, the cold mist that fell from the sky formed grape-sized ice beads on their tails. After that, they put them into their mouths and chewed, making a series of crisp sounds.
Seeing the jade scorpions eating happily, Gu Zheng's mind moved. He changed the seal on his hand and the restriction he had set up at the bottom of the sand dune in advance was activated. A pure white light shrouded the entire sand dune.
The reason why Gu Zheng used the restriction to deal with the jade scorpions was that they were very sensitive to living things. Gu Zheng was worried that if they got too close, it would prolong their jade-like state.
It turned out that Gu Zheng was right. These jade scorpions were not only very sensitive to living things, but their reaction was also very fast. Even if the restriction light curtain was only produced in an instant, more than half of the hundred jade scorpions still reacted in time and sneaked into the sand dune. As for the remaining half, they were temporarily stopped by the restriction. They couldn't drill into the sand dune and didn't transform into jade-like state.
The restriction couldn't stop the jade scorpions for too long. After Gu Zheng hurriedly flew over, he sent a portion of his divine sense into the jade scorpions' brains. After destroying their brains, he didn't have to worry about their ability to transform into jade-like state.
Although more than half of the jade scorpions had escaped, the remaining half was enough for Gu Zheng. After happily putting away the jade scorpions, he immediately prepared to find a place to start cooking.
After finding a nearby place, Gu Zheng set up the restriction that needed to be set up. He didn't want the fragrance of cooking to spread out and attract unnecessary trouble.
The cooking this time required a total of sixteen ingredients. All of them were ingredients that didn't belong in the circle. The quality of the ingredients ranged from ordinary to excellent. According to Gu Zheng's estimation, if there weren't any unforeseen circumstances, the medicinal effects wouldn't be particularly outstanding. It would barely reach the threshold of a high-grade elemental pill. However, the key to a food cultivation wasn't the medicinal effect itself, but the energy intake after the characteristics were produced! Therefore, it was hard to say what the comprehensive effect of this food cultivation would be. After all, Gu Zheng hadn't consumed the energy of this world yet. He didn't know the exact situation of the energy intake and conversion in this world.
"Have you thought of a name for this food cultivation?"
The weapon spirit asked Gu Zheng, who was processing the ingredients.
"A name?"
Gu Zheng was only thinking about the ingredients, so he neglected the name of the food cultivation.
"Different worlds outside the circle will definitely produce different amounts of energy between heaven and earth. This food cultivation method can be used here, but it might not be able to be used in other worlds outside the circle. So, let's forget about the troublesome matter of naming it!" Gu Zheng said with a smile.
"Although that's the case, this is still another creation of your food cultivation. It's better to give it a name," the weapon spirit said.
"Alright!"
Gu Zheng looked up at the nine moons in the sky and said, "Let's call it 'Nine Moons Food Cultivation'!"
"You're really casual!"
The weapon spirit laughed. The processing of the ingredients was quickly completed by her and Gu Zheng as they chatted and laughed.
Gu Zheng began to cook. He put the ingredients into the pot one by one. The characteristics of the ingredients were constantly fused as he stir-fried, and a special fragrance wafted out.
Fragrance was a general description. Many ingredients had their own unique fragrances. When these fragrances fused together, the resulting fragrance was ever-changing. However, the average person's sense of smell wasn't developed enough, and they weren't knowledgeable enough. Fragrance was presented in a general form in their senses. They only knew that it was very fragrant, but they couldn't tell the difference.
There was a huge difference between ingredients outside the circle and ingredients in the circle, and that was that the fragrance was very unique. This unique fragrance was very enchanting, and it wasn't a smell experience that ingredients in the circle could give. However, this didn't mean that ingredients in the circle were inferior to ingredients outside the circle. It was just that Gu Zheng was used to the fragrance of ingredients in the circle, so the fragrance of ingredients outside the circle was more refreshing to him.
Smelling the mouth-watering fragrance in the air, fourteen of the sixteen ingredients had already been put into the pot. There were only two ingredients left.
The last two ingredients came from the cactus plant that Gu Zheng had first seen, and the other was a grape-like berry. These two ingredients had been squeezed into juice by Gu Zheng, and they had also undergone some preliminary processing.
Now, it was time to pour the juice of the last two ingredients into the pot. However, this was also the step that Gu Zheng was most worried about! Because once the juice of the two ingredients was poured into the pot, the 'Fleeting Youth' of the Food Dao would quickly appear!
The 'Fleeting Youth' was a profound variable in the Food Dao. Immortal Chefs with Dao Hearts would be able to know about it in advance. However, the situation after the 'Fleeting Youth' was not within the scope of deduction! Therefore, Gu Zheng didn't know whether the several hundred ingredients in the pot could deal with the 'Fleeting Youth' or not. Once it could deal with the 'Fleeting Youth', its effect on the Food Dao would be sublimated, and the effect of the original Food Dao would also increase because of it. Once it wasn't enough to deal with the 'Fleeting Youth', its effect on the Food Dao would be destructive. At that time, it wouldn't be strange if the Food Dao became useless because of it.
The juice of the two ingredients was poured into the pot. As the steam rose, an exotic fragrance assailed the nostrils. As Gu Zheng flipped the pot a few times, the premonition of the 'Fleeting Youth' was captured by Gu Zheng's Dao Heart.
"It's over!" Gu Zheng muttered in his heart.
Through the premonition, Gu Zheng could understand how to deal with the 'Fleeting Youth'. However, the ingredients in the pot were lacking, and this was something that couldn't be solved by cooking alone.
When the 'Fleeting Youth' appeared, the fragrance of the Food Dao in the pot increased by more than one degree. However, following that, the Food Dao quickly turned black, and a burnt smell emerged.
Seeing Gu Zheng looking at the completely destroyed food cultivator in silence, the artifact spirit said, "In any case, this isn't unexpected. Don't be too depressed. It's not that easy to create a new food cultivator!"
Facing the tool spirit's consolation, Gu Zheng didn't say anything.
A moment later, Gu Zheng, who was originally in a gloomy state, suddenly became spirited. Even his eyes were flashing with light.
"The reason I didn't say anything before wasn't because I was depressed."
Gu Zheng's voice paused, and then he said with a smile, "This time, although the Food Dao was destroyed by the 'Fleeting Youth', in the premonition, I saw what the substance that could deal with the 'Fleeting Youth' was! Do you still remember the twelve-winged butterfly we saw on the second day after we left the cave? "
"I remember. That butterfly's ingredients were of inferior quality, but there was a honey gland on its chest. The butterfly honey was of ordinary quality. At that time, you wanted to hunt that twelve-winged butterfly, but because the environment was too chaotic, you didn't succeed!"
The tool spirit's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Now that you mention the twelve-winged butterfly, do you mean that the butterfly honey has something that can deal with the 'Fleeting Youth'?"
"Yes!"
Gu Zheng began to remove the restrictions he had set up before, as if he wanted to immediately set off to find the twelve-winged butterfly.
"In half a month, we've only seen one twelve-winged butterfly in this world. Where are you going to find it?" The tool spirit said worriedly.
"The environment we encountered the twelve-winged butterfly in could be considered quite special. In half a month, we've only seen three places like this. I think that if we go to those three places, we might be able to encounter twelve butterflies!" Gu Zheng said.
Five days later, Gu Zheng arrived at the first place where he might encounter a twelve-winged butterfly.
The environment looked like a deep canyon, and the two sides were barren.
However, everything he saw now was just the surface. When evening came, the barren land would become noisy.
Gu Zheng waited patiently. When the nine suns in the sky were about to set, the light suddenly dimmed, and the temperature suddenly dropped a lot.
"Hualalala …"
At the bottom of the canyon, only the sound of water could be heard. The water seeping from the ground was rapidly raising the water level in the canyon.
In about five minutes, a surging river appeared in the originally dry canyon, and some bubbles also floated up from the river at this time. At the same time, the red soil on both sides of the canyon was quickly turning green, and some strange plants were sprouting at an exaggerated speed. In just two minutes, the originally barren sides of the canyon had turned red and green, with flowers and grass.
"Hualalala …"
The sound of soil falling into the river could be heard. From the soil on both sides of the canyon, countless mosquito-like creatures, about a foot long, drilled out. They were like leeches chasing blood, chasing after more and more bubbles on the river surface.
A few minutes later, the canyon was completely noisy. Some monsters and plants that could not be seen before appeared one after another. The seemingly dreamy scene became a place where the strong preyed on the weak. The plants were desperately growing, and the monsters were desperately hunting for food.
Gu Zheng hid in the void, watching the scene of the strong preying on the weak, and quietly waited for the twelve-winged butterfly to appear.
The waiting was not without a time limit. At most, it would be two hours. When the river in the canyon began to disappear, the plants would begin to decay, and the monsters would gradually leave. In the end, everything would be dry and barren again.
In these two hours, more and more monsters would appear in the vicinity of the canyon, and the pattern was from weak to strong. Just like the mosquito monster at the beginning, although it would also take the initiative to attack other monsters, its individual combat strength was only at the level of a cultivator! As for the twelve-winged butterfly that would appear in about an hour, its strength was equivalent to that of a cultivator at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Realm. After the twelve-winged butterfly disappeared last time, Gu Zheng even saw a monster that looked a bit like a seahorse suddenly springing out of the river, but its strength had reached the Sage-to-be level!
An hour passed unknowingly. The situation in the vicinity of the canyon was like a group of demons dancing wildly. Some plants had even grown into trees, and there were no less than 15 kinds of monsters.
The twelve-winged butterfly, which Gu Zheng had been eagerly waiting for, appeared in the void on time, which made Gu Zheng quite surprised. After all, he did not dare to have high hopes in the first place.
After the twelve-winged butterfly appeared, it immediately flew to a big tree with lantern-shaped flowers, where it was going to suck the nectar.
The seemingly big tree full of flowers was actually a monster that could be a plant or an animal. Its destructive power was also at the level of Daluo Jinxian. Attracted by the nectar on its body, it had already preyed on many stupid monsters.
The twelve-winged butterfly approached a lantern flower, and a tongue-like thing quickly shot into the stamen of the lantern flower.
Whoosh, whoosh …
Two vines on the flowering tree suddenly shot out, with a domineering aura, trying to capture the twelve-winged butterfly. That kind of speed and strength revealed a kind of shocking speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness. Even a cultivator at the early stage of the Golden Immortal Realm would not have such an aura when waving a soft whip.
The twelve-winged butterfly was good at spatial magic, which was why it could suddenly appear and also what it relied on to escape Gu Zheng's capture last time.
Facing the vines shot out from the flower tree, the twelve-winged butterfly, which had been prepared for it, disappeared into thin air and instantly appeared in another direction. It successfully pierced the tongue-like thing into the interior of a lantern flower, took a mouthful of sweet nectar, and escaped when the vines hit it again.
Watching the twelve-winged butterfly's performance, Gu Zheng did not immediately make a move. He still needed the twelve-winged butterfly to perform for a while. This was because the nectar in the twelve-winged butterfly's nectar was useful to him, and it was the nectar of this lantern flower! However, the lantern flower's nectar was useless to Gu Zheng's food cultivation. It had to be converted by the twelve-winged butterfly's nectar.
Gu Zheng knew that the flower tree monster could not deal with the twelve-winged butterfly. Last time, the twelve-winged butterfly had used this kind of guerrilla warfare method to eat until its belly was full.
Suddenly, Gu Zheng frowned. He felt a spatial fluctuation coming from a place not far from him. This was a sign that something was about to appear from the void.
"It's actually him!"
Seeing the hunched body of the thing that appeared from the void, Gu Zheng's heart skipped a beat. This thing was the eyeless monkey that he had seen on the first day he left the cave.
The eyeless monkey that appeared in the void first 'looked' in Gu Zheng's direction, which made Gu Zheng understand that his hiding place had been exposed. However, the eyeless monkey did not attack Gu Zheng. Instead, it flew toward the twelve-winged butterfly like lightning!
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