Chapter 147: Time Stop Harvest
"You go collect the Ice Heart Tree Core, Flower of Eternity seeds, and blossoms. I will gather some Ice Silk Worm Sand. When you think you have enough, I will cut up the Ice Heart Tree and take it all together. Then, before the Ice Silk Worm notice us, we will leave here using teleportation talismans."
"Mm mm! Master, I also want to collect some Ice Silk Worm Silk seeds to keep. I can plant food with them in the future."
Yao Heng flitted around beside Xiao Shou, reporting in a soft childlike voice.
Hearing this, Xiao Shou asked worriedly, "That would mean flying up there. You might get attacked by the Ice Silk Worm."
"They won’t!" Yao Heng said seriously. "Master, the Ice Silk Worm are very dull toward my spiritual energy. They will only think I am part of the surrounding energy and won’t actively attack me."
The little one can be serious when needed too, not just cute.
That thought flashed through Xiao Shou’s mind and he nodded seriously as well.
"Then let’s split up. Be careful."
Yao Heng nodded and quickly flew into a Ice Heart Tree it had already picked out.
Xiao Shou flew to another side.
His divine sense spread out as he began collecting large amounts of Ice Silk Worm Sand.
Only after formally collecting it did he realize how thick the Ice Silk Worm Sand layer actually was.
It was over twenty meters deep, even reaching into the tree roots.
Most of it had already been absorbed as nutrients by the Ice Heart Tree, leaving only the remainder.
However, the Ice Silk Worm Sand occasionally contained empty cocoons of various sizes.
Some even contained complete beast skeletons inside...
When he was inside the cocoons earlier, he had already understood how terrifying the Ice Silk Worm was.
But he had not thought much of its value until the appearance of the Flower of Eternity.
Now Xiao Shou began to feel that nothing here was simple.
So he not only collected Ice Silk Worm Sand, but also carefully picked out a large number of empty cocoons.
He planned to fuse them later to create Ice Silk Worm Silk for concealing aura.
While carefully gathering what the Ice Silk Worm considered useless waste beneath them, he also picked up some unusual spiritual plants along the way.
He was so busy that he almost felt like a scavenger.
Just then, Yao Heng flew back to him and reported that all those Ice Heart Trees had already had their Ice Heart Tree Core and Flowers of Eternity taken out, and that Xiao Shou could use them to make food for storage.
After connecting with its divine sense and checking, Xiao Shou took a sharp breath.
Nearly a hundred high-aged Ice Heart Tree Core had been taken.
He had not even dared to imagine taking that many.
He originally thought managing three or four would already be impressive.
"You are too greedy, Yaoyao!" Xiao Shou could not help but laugh bitterly. "With this much, I have no confidence in taking it right under the Ice Silk Worm’ noses. If we alarm them, we’ll definitely get trapped again."
"Don’t worry, Master," Yao Heng said, fiddling with its fingers guiltily. "When Master acts, I can temporarily stop the flow of time in that area. Once you are done, I will undo it. But my level is still too low. The time stop is limited, and after using it, I will enter a weak state and need to sleep to recover. My fragile body will be in Master’s care then."
As it spoke, it looked very guilty while poking its fingers together.
It seemed worried that its master would think it was useless.
Just using its ability would make it fall asleep and become weak.
It really was too fragile.
The fact that it could even stop the flow of time in this world was truly heaven-defying.
No wonder the Heavenly Dao gave it such a fragile body as a form of balance.
Xiao Shou asked worriedly, "Just sleeping? There are no other side effects, right? Will you be harmed in any way?"
"Nope!" Yao Heng shook its head, but its eyes were sparkling as it looked at Xiao Shou.
Master is worried about me.
From its inherited knowledge, it knew that master servant contracts usually meant the master would enslave and exploit the spirit pet.
But its master was genuinely kind to it.
And more than that, it felt an extremely close connection to Xiao Shou as if from the moment it gained awareness, it had an instinctive desire to submit to him.
This submission was not the result of the contract.
It felt more like instinct, stronger and more direct than the instinct toward a mother flower.
Why did it feel this way?
That question flashed briefly through Yao Heng’s mind.
"Alright. If there are no issues, let’s begin."
After Xiao Shou spoke, he looked at Yao Heng.
Yao Heng immediately returned to its true form.
Its delicate flower bud trembled as it floated upward.
The higher it rose, the larger it became.
At the same time, the bud slowly opened, like a flower blooming in full brilliance.
Xiao Shou watched in shock.
Soon the bud expanded to about five meters in size.
When it fully opened, a strange power erupted outward.
Xiao Shou’s expression changed.
It was familiar.
It was the power of time.
In an instant, everything within the affected area fell into absolute stillness.
There was no sound of Ice Silk Worm Silks feeding, no wind, no movement at all.
Flowers, grass, and trees were completely frozen in place.
Only Xiao Shou who was bound by the contract could still move.
Seeing this, Xiao Shou immediately reacted.
He raised his sword and slashed toward the Ice Heart Tree that Yao Heng had marked with its divine sense.
The moment the tree was cut down, it had not even hit the ground before it was pulled into the floating flower above and disappeared.
Only a massive hollow trunk remained on the ground, looking somewhat desolate.
Noticing that Yao Heng had no interest in the hollowed trunks and that the Ice Silk Worm above were also frozen in time, Xiao Shou felt a chill run down his spine.
He quickly stepped away and moved on to the next Ice Heart Tree.
