A immortal’s cave glowing with silverlight sat amidst a sky full of black miasma. It wasn’t hidden in the mountain like other cave dwellings, preventing other people from seeing it. Instead, this cave dwelling was essentially the complete opposite.
This cave dwelling was twenty or so yards tall, and it was made up entirely of a sort of glowing crystal. The exterior was covered by a transparent Restriction, obstructing everything outside. What was strange was that the owner of the cave dwelling didn’t actually grow the magic herbs within the Restriction.
There was a clear lake behind the cave dwelling. A large magic herb field had been established near the lake, and numerous transcendent level magic herbs grew in the field. Since they most likely had been corroded by the miasma all year long, the leaves and roots of the magic herbs looked ashy black. There was one small section of the magic herb field that looked the most sinister.
That section was only about two yards wide, and several dozen grade one transcendent level magic herbs were grown, scattered, inside it. There were some bumpy areas in the middle, but nobody paid attention to them. Their attention was all diverted by the appearance of the magic herbs.
This magic herb only had three leaves. At first glance, the shape of every leaf looked a lot like that of a human skull. The leaves were silver-gray, and their tops were outlined with several thin lines, making it look very similar to the eyes, nose, and mouth of a skull.
Underneath the three leaves was a small flower bud which hadn’t yet bloomed. Rumor had it that when the flower bud bloomed, the skull leaves surrounding it would also change into smiling expressions, making them exceptionally terrifying.
This kind of magic herb was the legendary Skull Herb. It typically grew in vile places, such as ancient tombs or amidst miasma.
Although the requirements to grow them were extremely harsh and eerie, the Skull Herb was still the primary ingredient for refining the rainbow magic pill Fire Bathed Jewel.
The Fire Bathed Jewel was a Grade Six Rainbow Level magic pill. It was also a transcendent level grade six magic pill that few possessed. Its specific effects were as amazing as the Samsara Pill’s, although they were made differently. Just like how a phoenix bathed in fire to be reborn, it could make someone be reborn upon the brink of death.
Because the conditions needed to grow the Skull Herb were very unpleasant, it was a kind of priceless transcendent level magic herb.
Xi Jing might have this kind of magic herb in places such as the Demon Beast Graveyard in the Ghost Tomb Mountain Range, but there weren’t that many people who actually dared to go into the Demon Beast Graveyard. The Demon Beast Graveyard contained the tombs of many large demon beasts and powerful experts, so if you took it lightly, you would meet your downfall. Therefore, even Tian Gou’s members very rarely went to the Demon Beast Graveyard.
Besides the Skull Herb, a dozen or so other transcendent level magic herbs were grown around the lake. There were about ten of each kind, swaying slightly, and they were all already matured.
Aside from this, there were quite a few herbs which were also ingredients for the Fire Bathed Jewel. Clearly, the cave dwelling owner’s goal for planting all these magic herbs was to refine the Fire Bathed Jewel Pill.
But even if there were many magic herbs, there were also many greedy people.
The sinister atmosphere grew tense along with the arrival of several groups of people.
“It seems that everyone has numerous opinions on this magic herb field. I trust that nobody wants to waste too much time here, so it might be better to listen to this old man say a word. There are quite a lot of magic herbs here, so let us each take what we need and split it evenly, how’s that?” The one speaking was a rainbow level mage from the Mage Association. Even though his grade wasn’t very high, among these people, his strength could still be ranked among the top five.
The person from the Black Spider sneered. “Split it evenly? Wouldn’t that just be convincing other people?” When he mentioned other people, he looked meaningfully at the people from the Vermillion Blood Clan.
The Vermillion Blood Clan all knew that he was referring to them, and their expressions instantly grew ugly.
There were only five major powers here: the Mage Association, the Vermillion Blood Clan, the Black Spider, the True Dragon Clan, and the Qilin Clan. Since each major power had split off into separate paths after entering Peach Blossom Ruins, it was understandable that the attendance was uneven. Among the five major powers, only the Vermillion Blood Clan’s total strength was the weakest, so it was no wonder that the Black Spider was unwilling to split it evenly.
“Then what idea does Your Excellency have?” The representative from the Qilin Clan said lightly. It seemed like he also agreed with the Black Spider, since who wouldn’t be willing to receive a little bit more.
The representative from the Black Spider said, “There are eighteen Skull Herbs in total. Each of us can get four, and the remaining two will be given to the Vermillion Blood Clan.”
Once he finished speaking, the other three major powers all agreed, except the Vermillion Blood Clan.
What did the Vermillion Blood Clan matter in the face of profit? Decreasing their share would benefit the others, and only an idiot would reject something so great.
So even if the Vermillion Blood Clan was unwilling, in the face of the like-minded four major powers, they had no choice but to swallow all of their discontent back down. Who let them have so few people? They didn’t even have five people total, one of which was even a ‘blind person.’
After dividing up the Skull Herbs, the four major powers started to split up the rest. When there wasn’t enough to distribute, they would spill over into other magic herbs, and sometimes they would even forgo the Vermillion Blood Clan’s share completely.
“Black Spider, don’t get ahead of yourself. Even though the Vermillion Blood Clan doesn’t have many people, you shouldn’t underestimate us. If you push us too hard, in the worst case scenario we might end up in a life-and-death struggle.” The representative from the Vermillion Blood Clan howled angrily at the chief offender from the Black Spider.
The representative from the Black Spider had a very dark expression on his face.
Even though the representative from the Vermillion Blood Clan was furious, he didn’t get carried away by it. He purposefully pointed out the Black Spider and didn’t mention the other three major powers, so as to avoid them thinking that the Vermillion Blood Clan wanted to do a 1v4.
As for why he wanted to target the Black Spider: one reason was because the one to suggest decreasing the Vermillion Blood Clan’s share was them; the second reason was because he anticipated that the Black Spider wouldn’t actually dare to start fighting with them in this moment. Once both sides lost, the Black Spider would definitely be kicked out of the arena by the other three major powers.
“I think the two of you should stop fighting. The extra two magic herbs should belong to my Mage Association.” Just when the atmosphere was getting more and more tense, the representative from the Mage Association suddenly opened his mouth.
Unexpectedly, nobody had any objections.
Even though the Black Spider was unhappy, the Mage Association, True Dragon Clan, and Qilin Clan didn’t reject the idea. If he continued to oppose it, he would probably attract their resentment. The representative from the Black Spider couldn’t help but spit. Don’t think he didn’t know what the True Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan were thinking.
The Mage Association had the greatest amount of mages in TongTian Continent, and the amount of rainbow level mages in the association was basically the same as the amount of people in every other major power. Since the True Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan couldn’t refine magic pills due to natural restrictions, they often sought help from the Mage Association. If they could exchange two magic herbs for some favor, it could be considered a very profitable transaction for them with no extra losses.
Besides the True Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan requesting that people from the Mage Association help them pick the herbs, everyone else moved on their own. When they got close to the magic herb field, faint bubbles suddenly appeared on the surface of the calm lake.
Everyone was very alert, and they noticed it almost instantly. Not even ten seconds later, the clear water of the lake turned into a thick, ice-cold milky white color. The bubbles grew bigger and bigger, as if the lake was full of boiling cold water.
The expressions on everyone’s faces changed, as if they had all thought of something.
“Everyone retreat quickly!” The representative from the True Dragon Clan shouted abruptly before hastily retreating backwards, his movements and speed extremely purposeful.
But he hadn’t even finished speaking when something like the sharp sound of a cat screaming suddenly came from the bottom of the lake. The water in the lake rose a meter higher before a horde of transparent, strange creatures with a hint of blue appeared from below the lake. They charged, screaming, towards the crowd of people.
“Oh no, it’s Water Demons!”
Moreover, it wasn’t your typical Water Demon. The level of every single Water Demon in this horde was very high.
Everyone could no longer be bothered with the transcendent level magic herbs by the lake. They only knew that Water Demons were a type of extremely dangerous creature, and no matter how important magic herbs were, they weren’t as important as their own lives. If they didn’t want to become like the Water Demons, they would have to flee with all their strength. They just hadn’t imagined that this lake would actually be the cold pool where the Water Demons rested.
Just when they were retreating, a Water Demon suddenly crawled into the magic herb field and randomly picked up a Skull Herb before stuffing it into its mouth.
All the people who saw this scene couldn’t help but open their eyes wide. They suddenly understood why there would be so many bumps and holes in the magic herb field. At first they thought that it was the owner of the cave dwelling who had dug out the magic herbs, but it seemed like the true thieves were these Water Demons.
Transcendent level magic herbs had the ability to shock some low level demon beasts. Even high level demon beasts didn’t dare to casually swallow transcendent level magic herbs into their stomachs. But Water Demons counted as half a demon beast, so it was no surprise they hadn’t thought of this.
Just when the battle against the Water Demons was at its peak, a figure darted sneakily towards the magic herb field when nobody was paying attention. That person was Jiang Liu.
With Jiang Liu’s status, he didn’t actually have the qualifications to enter Peach Blossom Ruins. Who knows what he did, but he had actually earned You ZhenTian’s trust even up to now. Just this little bit of ability was enough to make everyone looked at him with a new attitude.
In order to cure his eyes, he had searched through numerous resources before finally discovering the existence of the Fire Bathed Jewel. This kind of magic herb could make someone reborn by bathing in fire, so it should also be able to cure his eyes. But the ingredients needed to refine this magic pill had given him a heavy blow.
At first, Jiang Liu had thought that he wouldn’t be able to gather all of the ingredients in this lifetime, and he grew hopelessly apathetic. But then they discovered the Skull Herb in a place like this, and his feelings were imaginable.
In order for his eyes to heal as fast as possible, he would still have to give it a try, even if it was dangerous, resulting in this scene.
His blind eye wasn’t much of a hindrance to him, and Jiang Liu felt his way over to the section of the magic herb field where the Skull Herbs were growing. It seemed as if the calmly waving magic herbs were beckoning their hands towards him.
