novelhk Chapter 188 Wilderness 9
Chapter 188 Wilderness 9
"Are you here to see us off?" Standing on the mountain ridge path of the Snow God Mountain Range, the cold wind blowing in their faces made the hems of their clothes rustle.
Seeing the little snow monsters and stone men that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, the five spoke gently, their hearts filled with joy.
I never expected that such a short time together would lead to such a deep friendship with these adorable elves.
The lead snow monster ran up to Cheng Jiu, opened its mouth and spat out a jade flower, then shyly ran back to its own tribe.
A biting wind blew past, and the little sprites disappeared once more into the frost and snow.
Immortal Lord Qin An took out a snow-white round plate and handed it to the five people: "I need to take care of Yuheng, so I won't see you off."
Just keep going along this road, and have a safe journey!
After receiving the heavy disc, the group bid farewell and left, waving goodbye before departing: "Thank you, Immortal Lord, goodbye!"
As we disappeared into the desolate snowfield, the journey was no longer as arduous as the one we had come by; instead, it was light and easy.
"Let's go, let's go!" Stepping on the soft snow, Cheng Jiu ran forward at full speed, his heart filled with excitement.
"Junior Sister, wait!" Seeing this, the others quickly caught up with Cheng Jiu, and after chasing each other, they finally left the Snow God Mountain Range.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, looking at the Snow God Mountain Range hidden in the clouds, the five of them felt as if they had been transported to another world.
"Finally out!"
"Yeah! But I'm a little disappointed!"
"Where is the disappointment?"
"I didn't have the chance to fight those powerful demonic beasts and hone my martial arts!" Li Weixin replied to Cheng Jiu with a regretful expression.
He encountered many dangers, but the experience was quite different from what he had imagined.
"Come on! You'll have plenty of fights to come."
Cheng Jiu looked at the vibrant grassland in front of him. It was different from the barren ice fields he had seen before. This was a fairyland, full of rare and beautiful exotic flowers and herbs, with spiritual herbs and medicines hidden among them.
Abundant resources mean fierce competition among the monsters living here, and precious spiritual herbs are always guarded by ferocious beasts, which is why Cheng Jiu said there are plenty of opportunities to fight.
This place is a natural treasure trove for an alchemist.
Dense purple and white flowers bloom freely, while tiny, adorable green berries shyly hide among the vibrant blossoms, and emerald green vines adorn this colorful floral tapestry!
"It smells so good, Junior Sister Jiu!" Li Weixin couldn't help but take a deep breath of the refreshing fragrance in the air.
"Senior Brother Li, have a pill first!" Cheng Jiu took out a bottle of pills and fed one to each person.
"This entire area is covered with sixth-grade spiritual plants called Heavenly Heart Stones. Ten out of ten Heavenly Heart Stone flowers are fake, and only one is real. Apart from its special flowers that are used for pollination and fruiting, the other flowers are all fake flowers, and the fruits that grow are also fake fruits."
Its false flowers release pollen with a strong hallucinogenic effect; if one absorbs excessive amounts of pollen and becomes lost in a hallucinatory state, one will become nourishment for this Heavenly Heart Stone.
As Cheng Jiu spoke, he pointed to a spot not far away where a demon sheep that was munching on a flower of the Heavenly Heart Stone suddenly began to bleat incessantly, its whole body swaying from side to side, seemingly intoxicated by a wonderful illusion.
His body went limp and he collapsed into the flower bushes of the Heavenly Heart Stone. The next moment, the entire flower bushes suddenly moved, and the strange branches buried him beneath them, making him disappear.
The purple and white flower sea swayed harmlessly, yet it prevented the four people who witnessed it from feeling any contempt.
"This...this is so powerful!" Li Weixin suddenly stopped appreciating the fragrance. This was no harmless scent at all; it was clearly a deadly scythe that could take a life in an instant.
"Otherwise, why do you think high-grade spiritual herbs remain so expensive?"
Besides their low production and the presence of dangerous monsters guarding them, the main reason they are dangerous is that they are themselves a source of danger.
"But senior brother, let's hurry up and collect it! The demonic beast that accompanies the Heavenly Heart Stone is the Purple-tailed Bee."
For these kinds of spiritual plants that live by hunting, delicate domestication makes it difficult for them to survive; they only grow in the wild.
They're rare, so if you happen to come across one, you absolutely can't miss it.
"Okay, junior sister! How do we pick them?" Li Wei asked, looking at the blooming purple and white flowers and the small fruits hidden among them.
"The flowers of the Tianxin Stone are afraid of fire."
Cheng Jiu took out a fire spirit talisman. With the help of spiritual energy, the fire spirit talisman ignited with a few sparks. Cheng Jiu scorched a pile of flowers in the air. A large area of flowers withered in the flames, and the fruits fell to the ground, leaving only two green and juicy fruits.
Cheng Jiu picked the fruit, plucked two leaves from the green vine, and rubbed them vigorously. Two ink-black beads appeared between the leaves.
"The outer sap of the Tianxin Stone is poisonous, but the leaves of the Tianxin Stone can help detoxify it. After picking the fruit, it is best to rub it with its leaves."
"Why does this fruit look so familiar?" Li Weixin squinted at the black bead, feeling that it looked very familiar.
"Of course it looks familiar! The fruit of the Heavenly Heart Stone is an important auxiliary ingredient in most body-refining prescriptions," Cheng Jiu confirmed. "Anyone who has ever refined their body has basically used it."
"I remember one bead was worth one high-grade spirit stone, wasn't it?"
Li Weixin suddenly realized, and said that he had seen it before. His master had told him to go to the medicine hall of the Longyuan Sect to exchange for body-refining spiritual medicine, and to exchange it according to the medicine list.
Just one black bead is worth ten points, which is very expensive. Moreover, it's not purchased by the piece, but by the kilogram, making it even more expensive!
"It depends on the grade! This Heavenly Heart Stone is black and shiny, like obsidian, and can be described as a top-grade stone."
If it's for ordinary medicinal use, a top-grade spirit stone can fetch a price.
However, if it were auctioned to cultivators with a collecting hobby, a single top-grade spirit stone could easily be worth more than a hundred!
As for this one, you can see that it's black with a hint of brown, which lowers its grade considerably. But even at half price, people would still be scrambling to get it.
"As for what you said about it being worth a high-grade spirit stone, it's probably a low-grade one among these Heavenly Heart Stones!" Cheng Jiu showed the two beads in his hand to Li Weixin.
"I didn't realize there were so many intricacies involved. Junior Sister Jiu, you know so much!"
Li Weixin carefully examined the two beads. Was there any difference? They were both dark black; she couldn't tell the difference!
"I'm an alchemist! I've specifically researched these medicinal herbs!" Cheng Jiu said proudly.
"Alright, stop standing there, come and pick some fruit!"
Shangguan Song didn't quite understand the others, but he did understand that each fruit here was worth one high-grade spirit stone. With so many fruits here, wasn't this just picking up spirit stones?
"Oh! Good!" Li Weixin suddenly realized, and bent down to pick fruit. He was rich! He was picking up spirit stones! No need to waste time!
Despite its previous ferocity, the Heavenly Heart Stone is actually a rather shy spiritual plant, helpless against living things and without any desire to attack.
As long as you can ignore the pollen sprayed by the other party and not fall into hallucinations, you can trample on the Heavenly Heart Stone however you want without any resistance.
Of course, it has more than one attack method. In addition to the pollen that can lure its prey into a dream world, it will also release an additional fragrance after being attacked to attract the purple-tailed bees that come to collect nectar!
Purple-tailed bees rank among the top 1,000 most unwanted demonic beasts among low-level cultivators in the cultivation world. Their stingers are highly venomous, and they are numerous, remarkably united, and also very vengeful.
It is not afraid of fire and has a high level of defense. Once it is poisoned by the other party, it will die within three days without an antidote.
Even with an antidote, the pain it causes is unbearable and cannot be relieved by the antidote.
"Buzz!"
"Senior brother, stop picking! Let's go!" Cheng Jiu called out when he heard the faint flapping of wings.
The enemy's foreign reinforcements are here! The wind is strong, let's run!
"Don't be afraid, Junior Sister Jiu. I just set up a defensive array! They can't get in," Gong Yu reassured her.
"They can't get in, Junior Sister Jiu, let's keep picking!"
Hearing his senior brothers say this, Cheng Jiu compromised: "Fine! You won't regret what you said!"
Well, they'll learn their lesson sooner or later, so she'll risk her life to keep them company!
The five of them picked the stones quite quickly, and soon they had picked all the Heavenly Heart Stones here.
It got dark.
No, it wasn't darkness, but rather swarms of purple-tailed wasps blocking out the sunlight and relentlessly attacking the protective shield.
"Why are there more and more of them?" Seeing the Purple Tail Peaks flying over again and again, the four of them sensed something was wrong.
“The Purple-tailed Bee feeds on the nectar of the Heavenly Heart Stone!” Cheng Jiu sighed with a sense of vicissitude.
"so!"
"The Purple Tail Peak in this area is nourished by this Heavenly Heart Stone, and these guys are quite vengeful!"
"?!"
“That’s right, just as you think!” Cheng Jiu nodded affirmatively to the four of them: “Once you’re involved, it’s a fight to the death, and you can’t shake it off at all! Otherwise, why would I have told you to leave quickly!”
The four of them were about to suffer from trypophobia as they watched the densely packed purple-tailed bees swarming around them: "Junior Sister, what should we do?"
"Kill them!" Cheng Jiu said menacingly, looking at the purple-tailed bees outside. "Let's take care of them all. Maybe we can even get a few purple-tailed beehives after clearing them out. Purple-tailed bee honey is a sixth-grade spirit honey. By the way, purple-tailed bees are fire-resistant! Watch out for their stingers, they sting really hard!"
"Alright, let's get started!"
Li Weixin made a hand seal, and clusters of dark clouds quickly gathered in the clear sky. Unlike his master, who could easily conjure up a large area of thunderclouds, Li Weixin's thunderclouds could only be maintained in this small patch of sky.
"Azure Dragon Flash!" With his long shout, the spell fell, and countless bolts of lightning with purple light raged across the area. Every area where the lightning struck was taken away by a large swarm of Purple-tailed Bees that had surrounded them.
Under the power of the heavenly lightning, these Purple Tail Peaks fell helplessly to the ground, their bodies radiating scorched marks.
Under the thunder, the previously dull environment suddenly became much more refreshing!
"That's so cool, Senior Brother Li!" Cheng Jiu exclaimed, looking at the Purple-tailed Bee that had instantly lost half its size.
"Impressive, Senior Brother Li!" the three exclaimed in admiration.
"Just a few Purple-tailed Bees. I'll take care of Junior Sister Jiu from now on!" Li Weixin swaggered out.
The remaining stragglers, filled with hatred, swarmed in from all sides.
Before they even got close, Li Weixin drew his sword. A flash of sword light, tinged with purple, passed by. Li Weixin slowly sheathed his sword, and the bees that had been attacking him froze slightly in the air, then scattered and fell to the ground.
"Wow, that's awesome, Senior Brother Li!" Gong Cheng and the others cheered enthusiastically.
"Just a small test, a small test!" Li Weixin waved his hand: "Leave the rest to me!"
One person held a purple-tailed bee hive in their hand, dabbing at the honey inside, and the group ate as they walked.
"This honey is so sweet! And it smells so good!"
"Of course!" Cheng Jiu licked the honey from the corner of his mouth. "This honey comes from the Heavenly Heart Stone, of course it's delicious!"
"This place is really great! Compared to that icy plain, this is truly a blessed land!" Li Weixin ate the spirit honey. Not only did he make a small fortune, but he also got to enjoy the sweet spirit honey. He ate and took some with him. He loved this place so much.
“Senior Brother Li, you’re right!” Cheng Jiu nodded in agreement: “There seems to be a seventh-grade Delicate Silk Flower over there.”
"Where?" Li Weixin looked around erratically.
"Under that low shrub! But ghost spiders usually live around silk flowers! I didn't see it there, that thing should be hiding!" Cheng Jiu pointed at the shrub with sharp eyes.
“Leave it to me!” Miyagi walked over.
A moment later, the spider's screams could be heard. Miyagi was carrying a spear that was still burning, and a plucked silk flower in his hand!
Cheng Jiu became a guide to the encyclopedia of spiritual herbs. Whenever she pointed out a particular herb, the other senior brothers would immediately go forward to pick it without her prompting.
Before long, they reaped a rich harvest and made a windfall.
Although Cheng Jiu saw many spiritual herbs along the way, apart from the large area of Heavenly Heart Stones she saw at the beginning, very few spiritual herbs caught her eye.
They also made relatively few moves, letting their senior brothers pick the spiritual herbs that were still presentable.
As they continued forward, more and more rivers appeared on the grassland. In addition to the abundant spiritual energy, the area also had a well-developed water system that allowed so many spiritual herbs, medicinal plants, flowers, and plants to grow.
The five of them gradually moved along the river. Although they occasionally had to stop because of the medicinal herbs, their pace was not slow at all.
Looking at the suddenly unfamiliar surroundings, Li Weixin couldn't help but scratch his head: "Have we gone astray again?!"
Cheng Jiu looked around at the surrounding environment. The plain was covered with lush green grass, and five tributaries converged here. This place was completely different from the lush and colorful environment he had just seen. It was a small valley in the plain, with only lush green grass and not a single spiritual herb in sight.
But the abundance of life and spiritual energy here is quite abnormal.
Although she had been gathering medicinal herbs, Cheng Jiu, who had always kept her course in check, was certain that the scenery she had seen before was not what it was now.
Although she admitted that the journey was indeed somewhat bumpy and there were more rivers, the environment here was actually quite reasonable in its connection with the outside world.
Cheng Jiu confirmed, "We didn't stray too far off course! Look at this river, we came here along this river! Look to your left, there is indeed a tributary cutting across, I remember there was a group of tiger cats resting and drinking water by the river."
After saying that, Cheng Jiu suddenly saw something: "Senior brother, it seems we've struck it rich!"
"We've struck it rich!" Several people gathered around.
"Where all the waters converge, lies the Myriad Lotus Terrace!" At the confluence of all the streams, in the vast lake ahead, grows a colorful lotus about one meter in diameter. It stands gracefully in the center of the lake, swaying freely with the waves.
This colorful lotus is no ordinary plant; it is a ninth-grade spiritual plant. If it weren't for the fact that the highest grade of spiritual plants in the Xuan Tian Continent is ninth grade, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to classify this colorful lotus as a celestial plant.
The growth environment of Wanlian Sendai is extremely demanding. It must grow in a place where many water sources converge and the water flows continuously. It must be ensured that the water is fresh and alive at all times. If the water here dries up, the circulation is blocked, and stagnant water is formed, Wanlian Sendai will wither and die in no time.
Besides its demanding requirements for water, it also has extremely high requirements for spiritual energy, needing to grow in the place with the richest spiritual energy.
Centered on it, within a radius of a hundred miles, only this one spiritual herb can be sustained.