Even hybrid monsters have their day

Geng Miaowan had never imagined things would turn out this way, and asked worriedly, "What do we do now?"

Qiu Pi glanced at her. "How many of these seeds do you still have in you?"

She opened the small bottle and poured out three more pills. "That's all, they're all here."

"Try again."

What if it still doesn't work?

Qiu Pi gave her a helpless look, and Geng Miaowan pouted before focusing her attention again. Having had the experience before, she was more adept at it this time, and the preceding steps went smoothly, taking less time than before. Soon, spiritual energy was channeled into the seed again.

Her expression grew even more grave than before, and suddenly, she slumped to the ground, deflated. The seed withered under her mournful gaze.

After all this commotion, most of the day had passed. Suddenly, one of the boys started coughing. He coughed a few times and then stopped, his breathing becoming heavy, as if something was stuck in his chest. His face changed from pale to a pale blue. A little while later, another child developed the same symptoms.

"Time is running out," Qiu Pi reminded them.

Geng Miaowan's gaze shifted from the child's face to his, her eyes filled with anxiety and glistening with tears, and she looked somewhat dejected.

In fact, activating the seeds of the Sal tree is not a complicated matter. Anyone with cultivation experience could do it well, as it only tests the caster's control over spiritual power. However, Geng Miaowan has only recently come into contact with spiritual power, let alone cultivated it. She still keeps the mental incantation that Jiao Lingfeng gave her intact in her bosom. Even if she wanted to practice it immediately, it would be too late.

Seeing her like this, Qiu Pi said as if possessed, "Don't worry, take it slow. There are still three seeds left, so there's still hope." Finally, he added, "When you come into contact with the seed essence, don't rush to activate it. Try to control your spiritual power to shrink it, the smaller the better. Once you've truly come into contact with the seed essence, then slowly increase your spiritual power to activate it."

After saying that, he felt an urge to bite off his own tongue. When had he ever been so kind and easygoing, even offering words of comfort? But then he reassured himself that he was the one who had saved the child; if the child died like that, all his efforts would have been in vain.

Thinking about it that way, he felt better.

Geng Miaowan picked up another seed and placed it on the ground in front of her. She stared at the seed but hesitated to touch it. At this moment, the child's breathing became heavier.

Xiao Bai walked around to her side, rested her head on her leg, and whispered, "You can do it."

Qiu Pi also gave her an encouraging look.

Finally, she focused her attention again. After the spiritual energy entered the seed, Qiu Pi and Xiao Bai stared intently at it. All that could be heard around them was the heavy breathing of the two children, each breath seeming to pound on Geng Miaowan's heart.

This time she was extra careful. Following Qiu Pi's instructions, she first extracted a very thin strand of spiritual energy and wrapped it around the essence within the seed. After the essence stirred a few times, it became still. She then carefully added spiritual power, and finally the entire essence was enveloped by spiritual power.

The essence was successfully extracted. When the seed essence, shimmering with a crystal-clear light, appeared in the air, Geng Miaowan, Qiu Pi, and Xiaobai all breathed a long sigh of relief.

Especially Geng Miaowan, whose mood could only be described as ecstatic. But there's an old saying, "Extreme joy begets sorrow." Just when the two people and the dog in the cave thought they were sure to get the essence into the child's mouth this time, the spiritual energy in Geng Miaowan's hand suddenly vanished.

The essence that was about to be tasted fell to the ground as the spiritual energy disappeared, emitting a few wisps of smoke before vanishing completely.

"Ah!!" Geng Miaowan jumped up in anger.

"How could this happen?" Qiu Pi asked in bewilderment. Reaching this stage meant that they had one foot in the door of success, and there shouldn't have been any more problems.

Geng Miaowan didn't look at him, and said hesitantly, "I...I...when I saw the essence coming out, I was so happy that I...got a little excited..."

Qiu Pi's eyebrows twitched involuntarily, and even Xiao Bai rolled her eyes at her with disdain.

The two children's faces grew increasingly pale, the older one even showing a faint purple tinge. Time was of the essence. She glanced at the two seeds remaining; this time, there could be no more mistakes.

After her initial success, she felt as if she had grasped the knack. Soon, the essence was drawn out by the spiritual energy, and only when the crystalline light flashed into the older child's mouth did Geng Miaowan finally let out a long sigh of relief.

As soon as the essence entered the child's mouth, the bluish-purple discoloration on the child's face faded somewhat, and their breathing became much smoother.

The older child was rescued, and Geng Miaowan was overjoyed. However, she felt completely exhausted and collapsed to the ground. Staring at the last remaining seed, her face turned pale.

Qiu Pi couldn't help but ask, "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine."

Could she say it was because she was too nervous...?

At this moment, the other child began to pant heavily. The two looked at each other, and Qiu Pi said to her, "Then let's begin."

Geng Miaowan took a deep breath, raised her hand, and began to move.

Having had a successful experience, she seemed much more confident in guiding spiritual energy. However, the only thing that made her hesitant was that there was only one seed left, and she was afraid that something might go wrong.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and soon she guided her spiritual energy into the seed. However, after entering, her expression suddenly changed, and with an incredulous look, she increased the amount of spiritual energy she poured into the seed. Qiu Pi and Xiao Bai, who were watching nearby, were both startled.

After channeling her spiritual energy once more, she abruptly withdrew her hand.

"What's wrong?" Xiaobai asked, and Qiu Pi looked at her with a puzzled expression.

With a long face, Geng Miaowan said, "There's no essence in this seed..."

Her words stunned the man and the dog. They had considered that Geng Miaowan might underperform and lose the last seed, but they never imagined that the seed would contain no essence.

Qiu Pi glanced at the seed. It hadn't shriveled even after Geng Miaowan withdrew her spiritual energy, so it was clearly a bad seed.

By this time, the child's face had turned purplish-blue, and he was having great difficulty breathing, his whole body curled up in pain. Geng Miaowan quickly picked up the child and patted his back in the hope of helping him catch his breath. However, it had no effect; the child's breathing became heavier and heavier, and after a few convulsions, he slowly stopped breathing.