Crow Immortal
Chapter 17: Spirit Crows

Han Yu opened the door and froze in surprise.

Old Man Li's gray robe was stained with blood, his expression haggard with sunken eyes, looking even more disheveled than usual.

"Old Daoist, what happened to you?"

"Ran into some penniless bandits!" Old Man Li said angrily. "The moment I exchanged three Spirit-Stealing Mice for six pounds of spiritual rice, some unscrupulous fellows tried to rob me!"

Han Yu grew even more astonished. "Who would do such a thing? Worker Disciples?"

"No, it was a rogue cultivator from Green Sprout Market without any sect affiliation, accompanied by two martial artists. I'd previously bought game hunted by mortals, which probably drew their attention. They must have thought me weak, so when they saw me with spiritual rice this time, they tried to ambush me outside the market."

"I knew Green Sprout Market wasn't completely safe, but never imagined even a pauper like me could attract robbers."

"What terrible luck!"

Grumbling, Old Man Li tossed Han Yu a small cloth bag containing four pounds of spiritual rice.

"Here, two Spirit-Stealing Mice for four pounds of rice."

After accepting it, Han Yu set the rice aside and asked, "Old Daoist, how did you escape? Those three people..."

"Killed them all!" Old Man Li declared with murderous intensity.

"They didn't expect an old wanderer like me to know both martial arts and spells like Blood Droplets and Bloodthirsty Art."

"It took some effort to finish them off, but all I got was some mortal gold and silver - nothing valuable."

Han Yu thought that was to be expected - a rogue cultivator without sect affiliation who resorted to stealing rice must have been utterly destitute.

"Didn't even get his cultivation method?"

"Nothing." Old Man Li shook his head. "Just like how we keep our sect's jade slip transmission method hidden, those rogue cultivators guard their techniques like family heirlooms."

He suddenly clicked his tongue regretfully. "What a shame it was so close to Green Sprout Market—"

Han Yu's heart skipped a beat at these words.

Could Old Daoist actually be considering...?

Old Man Li seemed to realize his slip of tongue. Using beast blood essence for cultivation was one thing, but once human blood entered the equation, their relationship would never be the same.

He quickly changed the subject. "Did anyone come asking about Spirit-Stealing Mice today? If so, they were likely the ones breeding them."

Han Yu replied, "After finding no mice in the spirit fields, I spent half the day cultivating. I truly don't know if anyone visited."

"Young man, now we'll never find out who's raising those pests!"

Exhausted, Old Man Li hurried back to his stone house to replenish his blood essence.

After he left, Han Yu practiced some spells, remembering he hadn't used today's replication ability yet. With his spiritual energy reaching the limit of his four spiritual roots' capacity, he decided to replicate some blood essence for extra security.

Condensing blood essence, he performed the replication. Yet even after finishing cultivation, he remained seated.

The Mystic Heart Fruit's mind-clearing effects persisted, allowing him to perceive things with unusual clarity.

The replication ability in his right hand undoubtedly came from that scorching round stone he'd found.

With sufficient cultivation, he might truly master this miraculous object rather than just mechanically replicating items...

Moreover, as his cultivation grew, so did his replication capacity - something previously too subtle to notice, but now apparent thanks to the fruit's effects.

He should also study which items were most beneficial to replicate.

Some objects, like Wangu Valley tokens, neither aided cultivation nor served much purpose while consuming substantial replication energy - clearly not worth regular use. Among useful items like spiritual rice balls, blood essence, and Mystic Heart Fruits, there were still efficacy differences requiring careful comparison.

As these realizations crystallized in his mind, Han Yu gained deeper appreciation for spiritual medicines and fruits.

Before consuming the Mystic Heart Fruit, he'd never have considered matters so thoroughly or clearly.

"This Mystic Heart Fruit truly lives up to its name as spiritual medicine - so many marvelous uses."

With nothing else to do, Han Yu patiently continued spell practice.

Thanks to the fruit, each practice session showed noticeable progress, creating an almost intoxicating sensation.

Night fell unnoticed until strange sounds came from inside the house.

Turning, Han Yu saw two crows - one large, one small - crawling out from under the bed, now awake.

Their dark golden eyes gleamed with intelligence, feathers tightly packed and black as wrought iron. Most remarkably, they now carried traces of spiritual energy.

Han Yu's face lit up. "You've developed spiritual energy?"

"Caw! Caw caw!"

The crows nodded in response.

Delighted, Han Yu exclaimed, "Excellent! Just as I began proper cultivation through the false immortal method of Blood Refinement Technique, you've progressed from consuming blood essence to developing spiritual energy - no longer mere mortal birds."

"You're keeping pace with your master!"

He then asked, "Now that you have spiritual energy, what changes do you feel? You must be stronger?"

At this, both crows spread their wings and extended their claws, practically preening with "Look what we can do, Master!" pride.

Han Yu couldn't help but laugh.

These two rascals behaved like six- or seven-year-old children.

Kneeling to examine their feathers and claws, Han Yu's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Previously transformed by blood essence, their bamboo-hard feathers and human-like intelligence already surpassed ordinary birds. Now their feathers resembled black iron, claws like tempered steel - so sturdy they rang metallic when flicked.

Just visually, these crows had grown significantly stronger!

With such feathers and claws, their self-defense capabilities improved dramatically, increasing chances of finding more spiritual fruits.

If they consumed more spirit-infused insects or Spirit-Stealing Mice, they'd likely grow even stronger.

Testing them with wood planks and stones, Han Yu found they could easily pierce wood but still couldn't break stone, their strikes producing metallic clinks against rock.

After some thought, Han Yu sent them to test their skills outside, opening the door for them to hunt mice in the spirit fields.

The crows took flight. Soon after, the large crow returned with a captured mouse while the smaller one came back soiled and empty-handed.

The size difference probably accounted for their varying success.

Examining the caught mouse, Han Yu's face darkened at the familiar circular patterns on its belly.

Another bred mouse?

Though the breeder remained unknown, this feud kept escalating.