Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 255

After checking all the gains, Wang Yu found his knowledge of soul arts nearly complete, so in the future he need not worry about inheritances or similar matters.

Even the path of body refinement presented no long term difficulties.

The issues from the Heavenly Demonic Bone Forest had all been resolved.

What remained lacking were the appropriate resources, which would take the most time to obtain.

After confirming that there was nothing missing on this floor of the Scripture Pavilion, Wang Yu reached the stairwell. The moment he stepped down, he came out of the Scripture Pavilion and arrived at the main gate.

Long Yiran had surprisingly come out before him, and Wang Yu could not help but ask.

“How long has it been.”

“Not long, about two months. Brother Wang, are you satisfied with your gains.”

“Barely. How about you, Formation Master Long.”

At the mention of this, Long Yiran took out a brand new jade slip and handed it to Wang Yu. It was clearly recorded not long ago.Inside was a Heaven and Earth Token. It was an inheritance obtainable from the Scripture Pavilion, also a fourth rank soul technique. It was not on par with the Ancient Soul Art, but was a mid-grade method.

Its name was Heaven and Earth Soul Refining Technique. It contained many secret methods, elixir prescriptions, and soul-weapon diagrams. After checking, Wang Yu found that he could use some of them.

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks. This was settled before. Where shall we go next.”

Wang Yu did not hesitate in answering.

“The Herb Garden.”

The Heavenly Soul Sect Herb Garden certainly held many soul medicinal herbs. They might gain multiple elixir formulas, so it was worth a visit.

The Heavenly Soul Sect had been destroyed so suddenly and swiftly that even the sect gate space had been shattered into a pocket realm. Maintained only by the Nether Tiger Layout, it had seen almost no accidental intruders in ten thousand years.

After the Herb Garden, the Heavenly Soul Sect treasury was also worth looking forward to.

They could even obtain more disciple tokens from blood corpses and search every floor of the Scripture Pavilion. Many places in this ruin remained to be explored.

All depended on the limits of the two of them.

“Leave it to me.”

Long Yiran took on the task without hesitation. She produced her small compass and began to calculate. Before long she had found the direction.

“Searching the earth veins to seek spirit, the Azure Emperor points the way.”

“Using plants as the guide, the wind scents the land spirit.”

“The plant spirit qi is most abundant to the east. It is likely there. Let us go.”

“Mm.”

Wang Yu felt a bit envious of that compass.

This treasure was called a Feng Shui Compass. The second chapter of the Earth Mother Scripture, Feng Shui Secret Techniques Mysterious Chapter, recorded how to refine such a compass.

Its required materials differed from ordinary treasures. It needed the four directions of earth qi, the circumpolar star qi, aided by the four winds and four waters, and was refined using ink bronze. The process was tedious and the compass easily damaged. It was a delicate treasure.

The one Long Yiran held clearly had great age. Its edges and corners showed signs of decay. It was likely one of the gains when she received her inheritance.

With the Feng Shui Compass guiding them, the two easily found the spot in the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins where plant spirit qi was most concentrated, according to logic.

“Is this the Heavenly Soul Herb Garden.”

“It should be.”

Long Yiran swore an oath of certainty.

After leaving the Scripture Pavilion, they spent several more days crossing areas covered by multiple formation before finally arriving at the Herb Garden.

This place was shrouded in a bloodlike mist. Within it there was indeed abundant plant spirit qi, and the area was enclosed by white walls, formation arrays, and restraints.

At a glance the garden seemed endless.

“With such dense blood mist, there must be blood corpses inside. Try the tokens first.”

“All right.”

However, neither the True Inheritance Token nor the Heaven-Earth Token could open the Herb Garden protection formations. The remaining power here was stronger than that at the Scripture Pavilion.

Perhaps these two tokens were never intended to open the Herb Garden formations. Logically, they should find the elder token of the Herb Garden.

But that could not be found immediately.

“Can the formation be broken.”

“I will try.”

After a short while, Long Yiran, sweating profusely, shook her head in regret.

“This formation is connected to the earth veins. There are several core medicinal fields inside that supply the formation with a continuous stream of plant spirit qi. There must be great medicines within.”

Great medicines usually referred to spirit herbs that had become sentient.

Ginseng, zhima, polygonum multiflorum, and other herbs that gained power with years were most likely to become sentient. The older they were, the stronger their medicinal power, with no upper limit.

These plant spirits were also a kind of demon. They were born with intelligence. Their growth sites greatly aided the cultivation and nurturing of other medicinal herbs. When captured by major forces, they typically became the kings of the herb garden.

If an important sect figure was about to die, they would use the Medicine King to extend life and heal wounds. This was part of a sect’s foundation. Legends said a 90,000 year Medicine King could help someone reach Spirit Transformation.

From what he knew, the Blood Reversal Sect had no fewer than ten Medicine Kings. They were not common in the mountains and forests, and only the Vermilion Bird Sacred Mountain and the Wild Ancient Plain still showed traces.

It was not impossible for the Heavenly Soul Sect to possess Medicine Kings.

However, it was unusual that they had not been taken during the Blood Demon Rebellion.

They had encountered formations they could not break more than once. Wang Yu felt a break-seal talisman was unnecessary unless truly required.

The value of this Herb Garden was obvious. It was worth using such a trump card.

“First let us circle this Herb Garden and search for weak points in the formation. If we cannot break it in the end, I will try a seal-breaking talisman.”

"Alright."

Long Yiran nodded repeatedly and obediently followed behind Wang Yu. Two golden rings appeared once again in her eyes as she observed the surroundings along the way.

Several days passed in this manner.

"Found it."

Hearing that, Wang Yu’s eyes lit up as he looked toward his reliable companion. She continued.

"The formation that uses the Medicine King as its core succeeds and fails because of it. After several days of investigation, I discovered that the Medicine King here has a problem. It seems it has not been rooted in the soil for a long time, which has caused a flaw in the formation. This is the weak point."

Without Wang Yu needing to urge her, Long Yiran immediately began working.

One after another, formation patterns turned into thick talisman seals that imprinted themselves onto various nodes along the tall white wall, eventually forming a strange formation of outer Eight Trigrams and inner Four Directions.

"It’s done."

Visible spiritual light began to spill outward. The inner four directions transformed into portals. Long Yiran stepped in first, with Wang Yu following closely behind.

"Such dense blood mist."

As soon as they entered, her exclamation could be heard.

Compared to the ruins outside, the Heavenly Soul Herb Garden contained a much stronger concentration of spiritual energy from fifth-rank spiritual veins. Thick blood mist filled the place to the extent that one could barely see their own hand.

They stood on black medicinal soil, in a shallow trench along the wall that seemed purposely designed for irrigation, much like a rice paddy.

"Do not move. The blood mist blocks spiritual sense. Once it disperses, it will be difficult for us to reunite."

Long Yiran responded and crouched to pick up a handful of medicinal soil.

She sniffed it lightly and said, "This is supreme-grade spiritual soil. It contains a lot of medicinal energy left behind by decayed herbs, which greatly benefits the growth of spiritual plants. Based on the flow of earth qi, the first Medicine King formation eye should be in that direction."

The formation master still performed reliably, but Wang Yu could not shake off a sense of unease. The last time the blood mist gathered, it had produced a blood corpse giant that neither of them could handle.

This time, the blood mist inside the Heavenly Soul Herb Garden was far denser than before. Although both of their strengths had increased greatly, there was no guarantee they could handle something stronger.

Moreover, after the Nether Tiger Prison-Sealing Formation’s power had been triggered twice, the secret realm’s space was already unstable. If it happened again, who knew what might occur.

After a brief thought, Wang Yu took out a Void Escape Talisman and held Long Yiran’s wrist with his left hand. Her face turned red, and she could not bring herself to speak.

That saying about wealth and...

Tch.

He immediately cleared his mind and pulled her toward the direction of the formation eye. Within the Heavenly Soul Herb Garden, the Medicine King was undoubtedly the most valuable treasure, so naturally they headed there first.

After only a few steps, Wang Yu suddenly stopped. Under his feet grew Ghost Cry Flowers, the main ingredient of second-rank Soul Essence Pills.

He had obtained several of them earlier with Jin Miaoshan’s help, yet here they were everywhere.

After harvesting them all, there were thirty-two in total. He shared half with Long Yiran as agreed, which made her feel even more embarrassed.

They continued forward.

More second-rank spiritual herbs appeared before them. Because they had grown wildly, their quality was not ideal, but many were still of perfect appearance.

"Yinlou Serpent Fruit, Evil Spirit Fruit, Corpse Fragrance Taro... Jade Lotus Root with White Stem."

They harvested as they walked.

For some reason, the herbs here were scattered irregularly, not like organized cultivation. It seemed more as if birds had eaten the herbs and spread their seeds everywhere through droppings.

Clusters of mixed species grew chaotically.

Half an hour later, Wang Yu quickened his pace, his expression full of delight.

He had discovered another material for the Exquisite Inner Core.

"Qi Root of Hundred Herbs."

Along with the Golden Qi Root and the Turbid Qi Root, only one more was missing for the ancient pill recipe to be complete.

He wondered if this place might also contain the last and rarest one, the Seven Aperture Qi Root. Carefully picking it, he sealed it inside a jade box.

Turning his head, Wang Yu said, "Formation Master Long, this spiritual material is something I have long sought. The next third-rank spiritual herb will be yours."

"No need to be so polite, Brother Wang. I trust you."

"Very well."

Since she did not mind, Wang Yu said no more. His anticipation toward the Heavenly Soul Herb Garden grew even stronger. It was like picking up gold—easy to get addicted to.

The unknown rewards and the simple process of gathering made this trip more than worthwhile. He could only imagine what the Heavenly Soul Sect’s treasury would look like. The remnants of an ancient overlord force would surely allow the two of them to profit immensely.

Before long, as they neared the formation eye, the quality of the spiritual herbs became even higher. Each newly found herb was at least third-rank.

Even when split between them, the gains far exceeded what they had found in the underground poisonous herb grounds of the Serpent Mansion, and every herb here was rare and of much greater value.

Wang Yu also collected many main materials for refining third-rank Soul Pills. With nearly all components gathered, he might be able to refine one once they left.

However, to be safe, he preferred to perfect each pill formula completely first, fully comprehend its principles, and gain refinement experience from his Idle Slot before truly attempting it.

Now that he had mastered many pill recipes, he found that alchemy and pill formulas complemented each other. As his alchemy improved, the pills he refined became of higher quality.

When a formula was perfected, the feedback of refinement experience would further enhance his alchemy.

With this cycle, his third alchemy slot could alternate between studying and refining, allowing him to quickly master a complete third-rank alchemy skill.