Chapter 263: He's a Good Man
Chapter 263: He's a Good Man
Shen Yi closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings. After putting away the Dragon Flame Jade Bamboo, the most intense presence in his mind faded away.
Satisfied that there was nothing else left behind, he concluded that this medicine shed was likely built specifically to nurture the Dragon Flame Jade Bamboo.
He reached out and plucked the spiritual root, holding it carefully in his palm to examine it. True to its reputation as a treasure nurtured by the heavens and earth, it remained vibrant and full of life even after being picked, resembling a wriggling creature. Its entire body was covered in a lava-like sap.
However, with the protection of the Cold Jade Silk Gloves, Shen Yi could hold it directly in his hand without issue.
"What a pity."
This extremely yang object had absolutely no connection to the evil aura he sought. It was not compatible with his needs.
But Shen Yi was not too disappointed. Earlier, in the Eight Directions Food Pavilion, he had witnessed a group of cultivators trading treasures. Once he left this place, he could inquire about related information.
Among Hybrid Realm cultivators, spiritual roots should be considered a form of hard currency.
"You mentioned a medium-grade spiritual root earlier. Is there any specific way to identify them?" He turned to look at Ah Qing.
Ah Qing held a brush and quickly recorded the characteristics of the Dragon Flame Jade Bamboo in the young man's hand. Even though he had studied knowledge about various treasures at home, seeing it in person felt different.
When he finished writing, he looked up excitedly and said, "Of course! There are numerous heavenly treasures and earthly treasures that can serve as spiritual roots, and they can be categorized into four grades based on their rarity. Among them, the most powerful are the top-grade spiritual roots, which can even develop self-awareness."
"However..."
Ah Qing reluctantly pursed his lips. "After gaining self-awareness, most of them end up tainted by evil influences due to a lack of guidance. As a result, they become useless to cultivators. This also means that untainted top-grade spiritual roots are extremely rare, and their appearance always leads to turmoil and bloodshed."
"Evil influences?"
Shen Yi nodded. Maintaining his composure, he continued, "Are they common?"
What others considered worthless could be a delicacy to him.
"Ah... Probably not that common, I suppose."
Ah Qing pondered for a moment. "No one would risk their life to mess with something useless. As for untainted top-grade spiritual roots, they would definitely be used immediately after acquisition, so there's no point in even mentioning them."
As he spoke, his eyes flickered.
In truth, he knew of a place where there was a top-grade spiritual root tainted by evil influences, causing endless headaches for his clan. However, he couldn't bring outsiders there.
"I see."
Shen Yi took note of the young man's expression and smiled faintly. "My name is Shen Yi, a wandering cultivator."
Ah Qing was taken aback for a moment before realizing that the other party was introducing himself.
He became flustered and blurted out, "XU Qing—ah, no, just Xu Qing!"
He never imagined that a Hybrid Realm master would proactively show goodwill toward him.
Ever since he left home, the strong cultivators he had encountered, including someone like Tian Xiong, could be considered decent at best.
After speaking, he stole a glance at the young man's silver pouch at his waist.
The master seemed to have some connection with Qingqiu, but he introduced himself as a wandering cultivator. Ah Qing hoped that his own lie about his name wouldn't be considered offensive.
"Come with me."
Shen Yi retracted his gaze and started walking toward the exit.
Tsk, he was only familiar with a handful of major powers, and he had already encountered all of them right after leaving Da Qian.
"Thank you, Master!"
Ah Qing's face flushed with excitement at the prospect of accompanying such a powerful cultivator. He was sure to gain many new experiences.
What a good person!
The two of them quickly exited the medicine shed. Without the presence of the Dragon Flame Jade Bamboo, the entire fiery wave lost its sentience.
However, there were simply too many, and they seemed rather miscellaneous and lacking in intensity.
Shen Yi glanced sideways at the scholar beside him, "Do you know the way?"
"My father has a great interest in the internal structure of cave mansions and has studied them to some extent, but I'm afraid I'm not very bright and only managed to pick up a little by listening to him."
Ah Qing looked around, "This place is on a huge scale. It must belong to at least a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. A medium-grade spirit root like this wouldn't be considered precious to him, so it's probably planted outside the main cave mansion."
Closing his eyes, he recalled everything he had seen earlier, then pointed to the east, "Let's go in from here. We might be able to find the small pavilion where he usually rests. There won't be any treasures there, but it could help us understand some of his habits and infer the location of his cultivation techniques and treasures."
Rather than blundering about blindly,
Ah Qing seemed to have a better idea, and added, "When I came in earlier, I noticed that there's something wrong with the teleportation formation. Contrary to what others have said, it won't last for a month but will close in at most ten days."
"Even if we find the Treasure Pavilion or the Artifact Refining Pavilion, we won't have enough time to break the formation. You should consider this carefully."
If one was here merely to gain experience, it would indeed be better to stick to the path.
But if one was here for treasure, perhaps taking a risk and blundering about might be more efficient.
"..."
Shen Yi listened quietly, his heart skipping a beat.
What Ah Qing considered unimportant information could be extremely crucial, even deadly, to others!
The early closure of the teleportation formation meant that regardless of whether one was a Hybrid or a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, they would be trapped here.
After hundreds or even thousands of years, most cultivators' lifespan would be exhausted.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Shen Yi immediately summoned the Red Cloud and no longer bothered about attracting attention.
While it was important to be cautious, one also had to take risks when necessary.
...
Deep within the cave mansion, an elegant pavilion had lost its protective formation.
Even though it was constructed with precious spirit plants, it showed signs of decay after the wash of years.
A man in a glowing robe hung angrily in the air, his eyes filled with killing intent.
He was protecting the man behind him, whose physical body was shattered, revealing half a Nascent Divine Body, indicating severe injuries.
"Zheng Zisheng! You've gone too far!"
The two men were of the Yu family and were brothers.
The elder brother, Yu Yuelong, had an injury and was at the Upper Realm of the Hybrid Realm.
His younger brother, Yu Yuehu, was slightly inferior, still in the Middle Realm of the Hybrid Realm.
At this moment, the man facing them was one of the Xuan Guang Cave disciples who had been following Zhang Zhenren earlier.
Zheng Zisheng did not look to be in a good state either, but he wore a cold smile as he scanned the surroundings, "Have you all lost your minds? How dare you lay a hand on me?"
Three Hybrid Realm Masters stood apart from him, their eyes cold as they held their weapons and stared at him.
The situation was not complex.
The Yu brothers had been lucky and happened upon a pavilion where the formation had failed.
When others discovered this, the brothers had already emerged with their spoils.
In such situations, especially among acquaintances,
aside from feeling jealous, they did not do anything too outrageous and merely congratulated them with folded hands.
Yu Yuelong was a man of his word, and they agreed to explore further together. If they found anything else, the brothers promised to help without taking a share.
(End of Chapter)
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