Chapter 205: Immortal Grade Spirit Herb
A multicolored sunlight descended from the sky, enveloping the Flowing Light Marigold Tree. Motes of multicolored lights floated down gently like snowflakes. This was an auspicious sign. There was even purer Spiritual Energy around than Essence contained in an Inferior Grade Spirit Stone.
“The Flowing Light Marigold is blossoming! There is an auspicious sign descending from heaven. This is actually a stalk of Immortal Grade Spirit Herb!” Xiao Chen looked at the motes of lights in the sky; he said, “I can’t waste this auspicious sign. I have to gather them.”
A large flock of birds flew over and swallowed these motes of light. Flying Spirit Beasts filled the sky instantly.
Xiao Chen quickly summoned the silver wars.h.i.+p and leaped onto it. He held a jade bottle in his hand as he joined the scramble for the light motes. He pointed jade bottle at the falling multicolored light motes and sucked them into the bottle.
“Rumble…!”
Suddenly, a loud sound came the ground. Xiao Chen lowered his head and discovered the Scarlet Crown Snake being surrounded by eight Inferior Grade Rank 6 Spirit Beasts; they were having an intense battle with the Scarlet Crown Snake.
A Rank 6 Spirit Beast was equivalent to a Martial King. When 9 Rank 6 Spirit Beasts fought each other, the scene became chaotic. The loud sound came, one after another; several hundred-year-old herbs were destroyed by the patches.
It was one-versus-eight, yet the Scarlet Crown Snake was not at the disadvantage; the fight was evenly matched. When it moved its large body, the ground trembled.
The nine Spirit Beasts realized the scope of their battle was too large. They came to a tacit understanding; they all moved away from the glowing Flowing Light Marigold.
Golden flower buds were slowly blossoming on the Flowing Light Marigold, giving off a bright light. There was a thick mist of Spiritual Energy hovering around.
Xiao Chen looked at the nine Spirit Beasts fighting in the distance. Then, he took a glance at the Flowing Light Flowers blossoming on the Flowing Light Marigold Tree. Xiao Chen thought this was an opportunity.
If I am fast enough, I can drop down from the sky and pick the Flowing Light Flower before they react. After that, I can quickly flee. After all, I am starting to lose interest in this herb field. It would not be unfortunate to leave.
“Hu Chi!”
Just as Xiao Chen was pondering this problem, a black dot drew nearer from the horizon. A bright light flew at lightning speed, leaving behind a long arclight.
It was a big blue bird with a ten-meter-long wingspan. It broke through the air, creating an intense air current as it headed for the Flowing Light Marigold.
It was doing exactly what Xiao Chen thought of doing. Xiao Chen cursed in his heart. He had overthought this; he should have just rushed over.
The big blue bird s.n.a.t.c.hed the initiative. Furthermore, it was faster than Xiao Chen. Even if he moved at his maximum speed, he would only be able to watch the strange bird steal the Flowing Light Marigold.
“Bang!”
Just as the big blue bird opened its large beak and prepared to s.n.a.t.c.h the Flowing Light Flower, a violent wind blew. The tail of the Scarlet Crown Snake swept through the air, knocking the big blue bird away.
“Shua! Shua! Shua!”
The other eight Spirit Beasts all stopped attacking the Scarlet Crown Snake and each launched an attack at the blue bird. The blue bird, which was struggling to escape into the air, immediately fell to the ground.
“Pa!”
The Scarlet Crown Snake’s tail smashed down on the big blue bird heavily. The big blue bird was badly mangled; it turned into meat paste.
Xiao Chen was secretly astonished. When he saw the mutilated corpse of the big blue bird, he felt a s.h.i.+ver down his spine. These Spirit Beasts were no fools, either; they knew there would be other Spirit Beasts taking advantage of the moment they were fighting to s.n.a.t.c.h the Flowing Light Flower.
If other Spirit beast came to take it, they would work together to attack. No one in this underground world could withstand the combined attack of nine Rank 6 Spirit Beasts.
Xiao Chen felt a s.h.i.+ver down his spine; if it were not for this anxious big bird, the one on the ground might have been him.
Recollecting his thoughts, Xiao Chen focused on the multicolored auspicious signs in the sky.
It was just a blink of an eye and the auspicious sign that filled the sky was mostly swallowed up.
Xiao Chen rode on his silver wars.h.i.+p quickly and turned into a silver flash of light, collecting the multicolored auspicious signs in the sky. However, he was not able to compete with the numerous birds; there was simply too many of them.
Xiao Chen only managed to collect twenty auspicious signs; the rest of them were swept up by the birds. Xiao Chen shook his head and stoppered the bottle. He glanced at the nine Spirit Beast that were continuing their battle before leaving the place.
When Xiao Chen found a quiet place, he took out the bottle containing the auspicious signs. He revealed a faint smile.
Although the Essence contained in the auspicious signs was not as much as what was in the Medial Grade Spirit Stones, it was still something Xiao Chen desperately need.
Although the amount of Essence contained in the Medial Grade Spirit Stone was ma.s.sive, it could only be used after he reached Medial Grade Martial Saint. Otherwise, the Essence would cause his body to explode.
However, the Essence in the auspicious sign was very gentle, even though it was much less than Medial Grade Spirit Stones.
Cultivators of any cultivation realm could absorb it without worrying about their body exploding. Even an Inferior Grade Martial Disciple could absorb it directly.
This Essence surpa.s.sed what Xiao Chen’s body would require. If he took these twenty auspicious signs and exchanged them in the market, they would be worth 2,000 Inferior Grade Spirit Stones.
The thing Xiao Chen lacked the least now was Spirit Stones. Naturally, he would not exchange them for Spirit Stones.
Xiao Chen sat cross-legged and opened the bottle filled with auspicious signs. Then, he slowly circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. The multicolored auspicious signs slowly floated out and entered Xiao Chen’s nostrils.
Streams of gentle, yet majestically pure Essence flowed into Xiao Chen’s meridians. The Qi whirlpool in his Dantian spun rapidly, absorbing all the Essence.
The speed the Qi whirlpool absorbed the Essence was much faster than before. Soon, a clear transparent drop of liquid Essence dripped down.
“Di Ta Di Ta…”
The Qi whirlpool spun rapidly as drops of pure Essence fell continuously. The natural Essence from the multicolored auspicious signs turned into his energy.
The amount of Essence contained in the twenty auspicious signs was about equivalent to five Medial Grade Spirit Stones. After he absorbed them all, his energy swelled to a terrifying level.
Furthermore, the most important thing was the lack of danger. This surging energy was very warm. It fused with Xiao Chen’s body as though it was the spring wind.
After two hours, Xiao Chen completely absorbed the energy. Xiao Chen opened his eyes and a purple light from his eyes pierced the air like a sharp blade.
When Xiao Chen got up, he felt a surging energy in his body. He said excitedly, “I am finally a Superior Grade Martial Grand Master. My cultivation realm is still a little low, but there is enough energy.”
If he wanted to advance to Martial Saint; aside from energy, he also needed comprehensions. His understanding of Essence had to reach a certain level. Only then could he make Essence leave his body to attack someone.
After absorbing twenty auspicious signs, the energy in Xiao Chen was now comparable to that of an Inferior Grade Martial Saint. He was only short of a final push before he advanced to Martial Saint.
“Ka Ca!”
The Lunar Shadow Saber was drawn and a blazing saber light lit up on the blade. With a thought from Xiao Chen, he infused Essence into the blade continuously. The saber light explosively doubled in size, reaching a length of ten meters.
Xiao Chen shook his head as he waved the saber casually, scattering the Essence on the blade. He said indifferently, “Condensed but not solid, overly flashy. There is no way to condense saber Qi like this.”
Martial Saint was the first big hurdle for cultivators. In the Tianwu Continent, one could not be considered an expert before he reached the Martial Saint cultivation realm.
There were people who could not cross this hurdle, given their entire lifetime, staying mediocre for the rest of their lives. The earlier one advanced to Martial Saint, the greater their was potential. This was the same for the reverse, as well.
Xiao Chen’s body was about 17 years old. If he were able to reach Martial Saint at this age, his talent would be considered to be one of the finest in the Great Qin Nation. Of course, that was if he did not include those talented successors with inherited Martial Spirits.
However, if he took the entire continent into consideration, this level of talent was considered nothing.
“I may not be a genius, but I have never slacked off. The so-called ‘geniuses’ just have a head start on me. However, I will surpa.s.s them sooner or later,” Xiao Chen said quietly to himself.
“Rumble…!”
In the distant herb field, the fight between the nine Spirit Beasts had not ended yet. There were loud noises coming from there. Even though Xiao Chen was standing far away, he could feel the fluctuations of the Spiritual Energy in the air.
Xiao Chen took a glance and said, “It is time to leave this place. I have already picked all the herbs in the herb field that can strengthen my Qi and blood. If I don’t return, Elder Sister Ruyue and the others will be worried.”
“Bang! Bang!”
Just as Xiao Chen was about to leave, there was two explosion sounds much louder than the previous ones. The ground trembled continuously; even Xiao Chen’s body was shaking from left to right.
What a terrifying strength; has a victor emerged? Xiao Chen thought in shock.
Xiao Chen fired his Spiritual Sense like an arrow. In the next instant, the situation was clearly imprinted in Xiao Chen’s mind.
A poisonous mist pervaded the air; the black toxic gas was like black thread winding itself around the surrounding Spirit Herbs. Under the influence of the gas threads, the herbs no longer had a trace of life in them.
The vastly spread toxic gas destroyed several herbs hundreds of years old. Xiao Chen cursed to himself, How unfortunate! Just a single stalk of these herbs was worth ten thousand gold taels in the outside world.
His Spiritual Sense moved around in the poisonous mist. There was a dead Rank 6 Spirit Beast lying on the ground. Its body was completely black, and its head was lying to the side, separated from the body.
Xiao Chen continued looking around, and he saw the bodies of seven other Spirit Beasts. The ways they died were very strange; their bodies were completely black; it looked very frightening.
Xiao Chen thought to himself, Even Rank 6 Spirit Beasts could not survive the toxin. If he came in contact with this toxic gas, he would probably die of poison.
“Pu! Pu!”
The toxic gas slowly scattered and the large Scarlet Crown Snake slowly slithered to the Flowing Light Marigold tree. Xiao Chen looked carefully and discovered the Scarlet Crown Snake was not uninjured either.
Its huge body was covered in wounds of varying size. It was dripping blood. Every time it moved, blood would spill to the ground.
Although it is clear it defeated the other Spirit Beasts, it has received significant injuries, as well, Xiao Chen thought to himself, thinking of all sorts of possibilities.
If that is as fast as the Scarlet Crown Snake can go, then my Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art should be able to outrun it.
Xiao Chen stretched his hand out and five Ice Ape sculptures appeared in his hand. Five Ice Apes should be able to buy him some time.
The five Ice Apes were carved before he came to the underground world. He had not had the time to use them yet. Perhaps he might be able to put them to good use here.
Even so, a war went on in Xiao Chen’s mind; he could not decide. As the saying went: a camel which died of starvation is larger than a horse. This Scarlet Crown Snake was severely injured, but there were no guarantees that it did not have some trump cards hidden.