novelraw Chapter 886 750: Stealing the Harvest
Chapter 886 750: Stealing the Harvest
Shi Chun also knew she sensed something, but this time it really had to be Zhu Xiangxin among those around him.
In the past, Li Hongjiu didn't have Demon Essence, but now with Demon Essence, Li Hongjiu was still weak. Last time when dealing with Mo Shiliu's Demon Essence, Li Hongjiu was also dispirited.
Along the way, there was always something missing, and sometimes, regarding gain and loss, he wondered if it was a joke by the heavens, never allowing him to have an easy time, always forcing him to find ways to strive desperately.
Among those cultivating Fire Attribute Skills with him, bringing Zhu Xiangxin to burn 'Death Refusing Incense' and exposing the Netherworld Channel to her signaled he was prepared to let her enter the Demon Altar World.
Only Zhu Xiangxin was suitable, the others were amateurs in herbal matters, not even worthy of carrying her shoes.
For him, it was most important to heal Li Hongjiu's injuries now.
He couldn't wait until after the great battle, because he hadn't lost hope in it yet. Over there, they were still looking for Tokens from the pile of the dead.
So he clapped his hands and said, "Good, then let's give it a try."
As soon as he said to try, he threw out another corpse, indicating Zhu Xiangxin should burn a bit more 'Death Refusing Incense'.
The intention was to see if this method could lead to the Demon Altar World, otherwise, another approach would be needed at the Demon Altar entrance.
Zhu Xiangxin didn't understand the purpose but complied anyway.
Soon, the Two Realms Channel opened again. This time, clearly no Yin Qi seeped out, and the light at the other end of the channel was visible.
Success, Shi Chun was overjoyed, quickly shouting, "Enough, stop burning. Quick, you go in first."
Zhu Xiangxin, pulling back her hand, nervously approached the channel entrance, glanced inside, and with a mix of doubt and curiosity, stepped through to another world, vastly different from usual, where Immortal Mountains floated, and dense Spiritual Energy refreshed the senses.
Shi Chun tossed a Soul Capturing Bag to the side and quickly followed her through the passage. Turning back, he struck the corpse on the other side with a palm to destroy it, preventing it from becoming a stray corpse wandering around.
After the Two Realms Channel vanished, he floated mid-air, paused abruptly, turned swiftly, and looked around, unable to stop himself from saying "eh" aloud.
Not sure if it was his imagination, he felt the whole world's color seemed to have dimmed a bit, the flora on the Immortal Mountains seemingly lost their vibrant hues, like entering autumn, with a gray and bleak tint.
The once-thick Spiritual Energy seemed to have thinned a bit too.
The calls of the spirit birds and beasts were gone, and they were nowhere to be seen.
Landing on an Immortal Mountain from the void, he indeed saw more withered grass and leaves among the plants, confirming it wasn't his imagination.
Taking a few steps to inspect, he noticed movement in the grass, quickly checked it out, and it turned out to be a spiritually depleted, emaciated Spirit Bird, which fled in panic upon seeing him. Lacking strength, it couldn't fly or run properly, wobbling in the grass.
Shi Chun immediately caught it and checked, discovering the severe blood and energy deficiency, but it wasn't fatal, so he let it go.
Looking again at the once-vivid Immortal Mountains all around, he was filled with doubt, wondering what those from the Demon Path had done to turn a picturesque paradise into this.
"Master, where is this?" asked Zhu Xiangxin, who had landed beside him.
Shi Chun replied, "Some big shot's herb garden."
Stealing herbs? Zhu Xiangxin instinctively shrank her neck, instantly feeling like a thief, cautiously on guard, yet unable to suppress her curiosity about which big shot could have a herbal garden with such abundant Spiritual Energy.
As for how the Master managed to get here, she was less curious, as it wasn't unusual for the Master to do the unthinkable now and then.
Though here as a thief, she had to admit, this place suited her taste perfectly.
In the past, as a legitimate sect's Alchemy Refiner, resorting to stealing herbs from others would be unimaginable and disgraceful.
Today there was no choice; she felt unwillingly forced, following the Master's orders.
Hence, her curiosity piqued about the treasures within the big shot's herbal garden, wondering if it held all kinds of herbs.
So she whispered, "Master, can I take a look around?"
Shi Chun nodded, "Letting you in is to find herbs for Li Hongjiu. If you don't look, who will? But be cautious, hide if you see anyone, and avoid detection. Keep your cloak on."
He suspected those from the Demon Path might still be around.
Zhu Xiangxin immediately pulled her hood over her head, covered her face, and eagerly searched around the Immortal Mountain.
Shi Chun remained cautious, first hiding a Soul Capturing Bag in a rock crevice before following closely beside Zhu Xiangxin, helping to stay alert at all times.
Having not gone far, Zhu Xiangxin knelt down, holding a withered weed, and exclaimed, "This, is this 'Spirit Star Grass'? Such size, one, two, three, four..."
Seeing her loud exclamations, Shi Chun flashed over in curiosity, discovering she was counting the dried flowers, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Thirty-one..." After counting, Zhu Xiangxin looked up and said, "This should be 'Spirit Star Grass.' It takes sixty years to gather enough Spiritual Energy to bloom a single flower; there are thirty-one here, meaning this 'Spirit Star Grass' is over eighteen hundred years old. Who guarded such priceless herbs and let them perish? It's a waste of nature's wealth, enraging me!"
Shi Chun curiously said, "I find it strange too. The last time I came, it was full of life. Anyway, it's someone else's garden, so let's focus on preparing the medicine for Li Hongjiu."
This was his top priority.
Zhu Xiangxin angrily stood up and took off, flying close to the mountainside, searching from above.
She didn't fly far and landed again, standing in front of a thing resembling a 'bamboo shoot' about human height, with a purple outer layer. Before it withered, this layer should have unfurled like petals.
Zhu Xiangxin approached and sniffed it, after prying open one of the layers to check, she began counting the layers, "One, two, three, four, five... twenty-six layers, each layer blooms every hundred years. Damn, this 'Earthbound Purple Mansion' has been here for two thousand six hundred years, and it's wasted just like that. What a shame."
She suddenly turned to look at the position of the 'Spirit Star Grass' and couldn't help but curse again, "Who the hell is managing this garden? They ought to be chopped into pieces! Neither of these is a cluster-growing spirit grass, yet they're planted so close, and the place is overgrown with weeds. It doesn't look like anyone has tended to it..."
Shi Chun sighed helplessly, interrupting, "First prepare the medicine for Li Hongjiu. We are here to steal things, and you're not acting like a proper thief."
Zhu Xiangxin immediately pointed to the 'bamboo shoot' and asked, "Can I take this?"
Shi Chun was puzzled, "Didn't you say it was already ruined?"
Zhu Xiangxin replied, "Half of it's ruined, but the efficacy should still be half, it's still good stuff."
Shi Chun immediately said, "Then take it, no need to ask me. If it's useful, just put it in your bag."
Zhu Xiangxin was a bit worried, "Master, are you sure? If we steal too much, won't it cause trouble?"
She remembered vividly how twenty years ago, the East Victory Royal Court beheaded the Master even without evidence.
She vaguely suspected that this medicine garden probably had something to do with the Heavenly Court or one of the Four Great Royal Courts, as a garden of this scale couldn't be maintained by weaker forces.
Shi Chun patted his chest and said, "I'll take responsibility for everything! The opportunity is given to you, and if you can't bring out good medicine in the future, then you'll have to bear the consequences!"
Having said that, Zhu Xiangxin immediately stopped being polite, directly performed magic to break the soil, and forcibly dug out a table-sized purple object from the ground, leaving Shi Chun stupefied.
After collecting the item, Zhu Xiangxin was beaming with joy, just about to continue searching when she suddenly turned back suspiciously, "Master, something's not right. It's only been about eight hundred years since the dynasty changed, whose medicine garden can casually have spirit grass over a thousand years old?"
Shi Chun sighed, "I'll say it again, stop worrying unnecessarily, let's get the main task done. Don't dawdle, and don't forget you're stealing right now, so make it quick and decisive."
Zhu Xiangxin felt a bit embarrassed and finally focused earnestly on her work.
Following behind her, Shi Chun was amazed by her. This woman seemed to have taken the wrong medicine today, unable to control her mouth, cursing all the way through.
It was truly unprecedented, no one had ever seen Zhu Xiangxin like this before; usually, she was quite a refined woman.
Shi Chun was puzzled, "It's not your medicine garden, why are you so distressed? How they maintain it is none of your business."
Of course, he was also taking advantage of the situation to 'collect corpses,' finishing off any sickly spirit beasts and collecting them, simply because Zhu Xiangxin mentioned that a particular spirit beast was still full of vitality, making its flesh quite nourishing.
Anyway, he had nothing better to do.
As the two of them ransacked the Immortal Mountains, they were suddenly attracted by a mountain in the distance.
Most mountains are large at the base and taper off at the top, while this mountain was the opposite, large at the top and narrow at the base, much larger than the typical Immortal Mountains.
Once the pair flew over this mountain, they noticed it was indeed different from the other mountains.
The overall terrain was like a large plain with gentle hills, but in the middle was a large pit, or perhaps a small basin.
Inside the basin, there was no other vegetation, just a large, snow-like tree. Under the tree, a trickling stream meandered. The reddish-brown trunk and snowy leaves formed a canopy, exuding a warm spiritual energy throughout the basin.
It was clear this wasn't an ordinary tree, Shi Chun asked, "What is this thing?"
Zhu Xiangxin didn't dare to be certain for a moment, she flashed down into the basin, landing at the base of the tree, immediately catching the refreshing fragrance.
A unique fragrance, unlike the mixed scents found on other Immortal Mountains.
Looking up, she saw dozens of fist-sized semi-transparent fruits on the tree, like white jade. Unfortunately, they seemed a bit shriveled, as if dried.
Zhu Xiangxin was already so shocked her hands were covering her mouth.
Shi Chun landed beside her, seeing her reaction, knew she had recognized it, and asked, "What is it?"
Zhu Xiangxin swallowed hard, her face full of disbelief, "Branches reddish-brown and tough as iron, leaves covering like snow, fruits like white jade eggs, the scent lingering around—it should be the legendary 'Jade Marrow Fruit.' It's said to bloom once every three thousand years, fruit once every three thousand years, and the fruit matures over another three thousand years, becoming like fat. This should be it, mature. Oh my heavens, whose medicine garden is this, to have even such rare ancient wonders?"
Shi Chun asked, "The fruits are dried up, are they still useful?"
Zhu Xiangxin nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining, "They're just a bit dried up, but still vibrant, definitely useful. It's said that the 'Jade Marrow Fruit' can replenish bone marrow, regenerate flesh, and even regenerate limbs. This is the true holy medicine for healing! And it just so happens to have matured. Master, encountering this, our fortune isn't small. Fortunately, it's in someone else's garden, otherwise, such Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures growing to this stage in the wild would certainly be accompanied by fierce creatures for protection. Wait, something's off, it's said there should be a hundred and eight fruits at a time, this seems like only a few dozen..."
Upon hearing about the fierce creatures that protect such rare items, Shi Chun instinctively looked around and noticed a jagged, pitch-black cave on one side. He immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed over to inspect, "Pick as many as you can, since they're good stuff, don't be polite, take them all."