Chapter 579: Ancient Herb Garden
Chapter 579: Ancient Herb Garden
A soft pong echoed through the air.
A large chunk of demon beast meat exploded into a cloud of blood mist, flying into Rou Ling Shen's mouth.
Lu Chen patted the head of the juvenile-stage Calamity-level Xie Sui to soothe it, his spiritual sense focusing on its body to ensure there were no abnormalities before he turned his attention to the other spirit plants.
As he ventured deeper into the spirit fields, a strange movement caught his attention. Looking down, he saw a blood-red palm relentlessly rubbing against his pants leg.
He stirred his spiritual power, calming the surging blood energy within his body.
The Blood Spirit Palm, a fourth-grade spirit herb with an insatiable thirst for blood, had been intimidated by Rou Ling Shen's superior grade and dared not approach Lu Chen. Now that Rou Ling Shen had moved away, the herb was drawn to the lingering traces of Lu Chen's blood energy.
Lu Chen took out a bottle of Flood Dragon essence blood from his storage bag and poured it onto the blood-red palm. The cracks on the palm writhed and twisted as they greedily absorbed the essence blood in an instant.
"There are still thousands of bottles of essence blood left from when I drew samples from those young flood dragons in Thousand Dragon Lake. More than I could ever use."
Without the Blood Devil Flower as a major consumer, Lu Chen felt like his supply of demon beast essence blood was growing at a ridiculous rate.
As he focused his spiritual sense on the blood-red palm, he noticed that the translucent progress bar beneath it was almost full.
He wasn't in a rush for the light sphere reward, so he decided to let the spirit herb mature naturally, conserving some of his Vital Energy source.
In the Yin Realm, the third-grade Thousand Coiling Hands was also nearing maturity.
The fourth-grade Blood Spirit Palm had been planted earlier and benefited from a constant supply of flood dragon essence blood, providing optimal growing conditions. Despite being a grade higher than the Thousand Coiling Hands, it was likely that they would mature around the same time.
The eighteen Thousand Coiling Hands plants moved as one, exuding a faint aura of formation. Lu Chen also noticed that the progress bars beneath each plant were identical, likely a characteristic of this particular spirit herb.
He retrieved a large amount of demon beast flesh, yin souls, and resentment from the Gluttonous Worm Pouch to nourish the numerous bizarre spirit herbs.
"Among the high-grade spirit herbs, there are still some that I haven't been able to cultivate due to a lack of the required rare items. These include the fifth-grade Sha Yuan Fruit, the sixth-grade Yuan Magnet Spirit Wood, and the Savage Bone Devil Seed."
"I need to find a way to gather the peculiar items they require so that I can start cultivating them as soon as possible and reap those light spheres."
He made a mental note to himself.
As Lu Chen returned to the courtyard, intending to continue brewing spirit nectar, he sensed a talisman flying toward his cave abode from outside.
With a flick of his spiritual sense, he drew the message talisman to himself.
Infusing it with a strand of spiritual power, he heard a familiar voice—the one-eyed middle-aged man, Lu Ming.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, it's been a while since we last communicated. I hope all is well?"
"I plan to venture into the depths of Lei Hai with several other scattered cultivators in the coming days to explore a hidden secret realm. It is said that this place was once an ancient cultivator's herb garden, and a scattered cultivator once obtained high-grade spirit seeds from there. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Lu would be interested in joining us on this expedition?"
"In addition to myself and Lei Zheng, whom you've met before, there will be two others whom I trust to a certain degree. If you're interested, please let me know."
"The depths of Lei Hai, an ancient cultivator's herb garden?"
Lu Chen's heart stirred at Lu Ming's words.
If Lu Ming's information was accurate, there was a good chance that such a secret realm would contain high-grade and exotic spirit seeds.
As a spirit herb cultivator, the prospect was immensely alluring.
He had been in Lei Huo Xing Dong for less than a year and had only crossed paths with the one-eyed middle-aged man a handful of times, so his level of trust in Lu Ming was limited, but he considered them friendly acquaintances.
Even among members of the same sect, there were those who would kill and steal treasures, so this small amount of trust was better than nothing.
However, with his possession of numerous fifth and even sixth-grade treasures, his robust physical body, and his resistance to spiritual attacks, Lu Chen was confident in his abilities, whether it be offense, defense, or escape. He knew he far surpassed the average Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"When was the last time you ventured into a secret realm with strangers?"
His expression softened as he recalled past adventures.
"It seems like it was back when I was still at the Qi Refining stage. I was half-invited, half-forced by the Wang family of Lin Yang Marketplace to explore a secret realm near their city."
"Strictly speaking, this will be my first time actively choosing to explore a secret realm with unfamiliar cultivators."
"What should a newbie like me, entering a secret realm for the first time, pay attention to?"
A smile played at the corners of Lu Xuan's mouth as he sent a message of gratitude and acceptance through the talisman to Lu Ming, indicating his willingness to join the expedition to the Lei Hai secret realm.
Three days passed in a flash, and Lu Xuan deliberately brought along the Cloud-Treading Lynx and the Ghost-Face Vine—one capable of detecting evil spirits, the other able to sense spirit herbs.
As for his cave abode, with the Vanishing Five Elements Formation, the arrow vine grass puppet, and other spiritual beasts, its safety could be assured, and he could leave with peace of mind.
Soon enough, he arrived at the location of Lu Ming's cave abode.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Lu, you're right on time! With you joining us, our chances of obtaining opportunities have increased significantly!"
Lu Ming's laughter echoed as he flew out of his cave abode to greet Lu Xuan.
Behind him were three others: Lei Zheng, whom Lu Xuan had met before and who had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage; a tall and steady young man with late Foundation Establishment cultivation, his body occasionally flickering with thunderous light, his sharp eyes with vertical pupils inducing a slight numbing sensation in those who met his gaze; and an elderly woman with white hair and a serene smile, her cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment as well.
"Allow me to introduce everyone. You already know Lei Zheng," Lu Ming began.
Lei Zheng nodded at Lu Xuan in greeting.
"This is Wang Yanzhong," Lu Ming continued, gesturing toward the tall young man. "He cultivates the Thunder Forging Body Refinement Art, and his physical body is exceptionally robust, unafraid of even fourth-grade magical artifacts."
The one-eyed middle-aged man then introduced the elderly woman. "And this is Yuan Shuangling, the most advanced cultivator among us, having reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and just a hair's breadth away from the Core Formation realm. She possesses numerous treasures."
"And this is Lu Xuan, a powerful cultivator with extraordinary achievements in the way of spirit herbs," Lu Ming said, introducing Lu Xuan to the elderly woman and the tall young man.
"A spirit herb cultivator?" Wang Yanzhong asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed, I enjoy tending to flowers and plants in my spare time," Lu Xuan replied with a smile.
"Lu Daoist, this ancient herb garden is extremely dangerous. Why bring a late Foundation Establishment spirit herb cultivator along?" Wang Yanzhong frowned, a hint of displeasure in his voice. "Just so you know, if he slows us down in any way, he'll have to give up ten percent of his gains."
"Now, now, Wang Daoist, that's no way to talk," Lu Ming said coldly, his expression turning stern. "It's unfair to dismiss someone based solely on their identity as a spirit herb cultivator. That's a rather pragmatic view."
"Pragmatism is recognizing that spirit herb cultivators rarely possess outstanding strength," Wang Yanzhong retorted expressionlessly. "Cultivating spirit herbs requires a long cycle, and when one tends to a large number of plants, where is the time for cultivation and refining one's techniques and spells?"
"Whether one is capable or not should be determined by their strength," Lu Ming asserted.
(End of Chapter)
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