Chapter 586: Fighting Uproariously Over Spirit Herbs
The island in the center of the lake was certainly the heart of the ancient herb garden. Of that Jiang Chen had no doubt. However, although it was close at hand, he had the feeling that it wasn’t as easy to reach as it appeared. He also felt something slightly disconcerting about the atmosphere around the large lake. At first glance, the lake surface looked calm and serene, but Jiang Chen’s experiences from his past life warned him. To him, it felt like the peaceful lake surface hid a terrifying power lurking just within the waters.
Even as the hazy mist slowly dissipated from the air above the lake, Jiang Chen felt his suspicions grow. The radiant light that spilled over from the island seemed too unreal to be believable. As he pondered, Elder Xiang Gan suddenly called out, “Everyone, my Great Cathedral will take the first step!”
He shot into the air, leading the way as he headed towards the island. Xiang Qin and Yue Baize were a step behind him, streaking through the air in a blaze a light. The other three elders of the Great Cathedral also followed swiftly behind the trio. The two remaining geniuses of the Great Cathedral were only at the peak of the origin realm, but were undeterred in their pursuit, crus.h.i.+ng flight glyphs that bore them through the air.
Members of the other sects also took the opportunity to take to the air, even those of the fifth rank sects. On the Regal Pill Palace side, Elder Yun Nie led the group to occupy the center of the overall formation, flying over to the island in the center of the lake. Although none of their four young geniuses were of the sage realm and thus couldn’t fly, this feat wasn’t difficult to accomplish thanks to the help of flight glyphs.
It didn’t take long for everyone to arrive at the center of the lake. As each figure landed on solid ground, they felt a feeling of ease and comfort suffuse their bodies as the abundant spirit energy made them feel carefree and joyful.
“Tsk tsk, even the outskirts of this island has such abundant spirit energy. It’s already on par with the richest land in our sect. How dense will the concentration of spirit power become when we reach the heart of the island?” An elder of the Sacred Sword Palace called out. This island wasn’t big, but it gave others a sacred feeling.
Elder Yun Nie looked out and also reflected to himself, sighing, “Such rich spirit power is unseen even within the six great sects. There might very well be sky rank spirit herbs within!”
Everyone was thinking of sky rank herbs in traveling to the island. The elders had all more or less collected some earth rank herbs along the way. Although it was a level of spirit herb more commonly used by emperor realm cultivators, there was still a market for them in the Myriad Domain, albeit one not commonly seen.
Sky rank herbs however, were an occurrence that appeared once in a hundred years. The appearance of a sky rank spirit herb heralded conflict and bloodshed, which was why they were virtually unseen in the Myriad Domain. However, everyone present had a hunch, that this time, one would certainly appear in the core area of the ancient herb garden. So therefore, none of them were wondering if a sky rank herb would appear, only wondering how many would appear.
“Everyone be careful, there’s a formless formation on the outskirts of the island. Don’t charge about heedlessly.” Although Elder Yun Nie was inwardly agitated, he didn’t lose his composure and actually discerned something of the situation.
Jiang Chen had also noted that there were invisible formations around the moment he landed, and even more things present that no one could see. His nose twitched as he cautiously observed the surroundings with his consciousness, doubt growing in his heart.
“What are you looking for, junior brother?” Ling Bi"er grew curious when she saw Jiang Chen walk to and fro on the outskirts of the island, looking hither and thither. She was worried that there would be danger on the island as well, and so had followed Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen said lowly, “Senior sister, don’t you think this island is a bit bizarre?”
“This island is full of peculiarities, but I can’t actually identify what.” Ling Bi"er responded honestly.
Jiang Chen nodded, seeming to be forming vague guesses but saying nothing. When he saw how concerned Ling Bi"er was, a thought struck him. “Senior sister, I’ve already found the Scarletheart Fruit out of the four spirit herbs. We’re only missing the Thousandmesh Jaderoot now.”
“Really?” Surprised delight shot out of her eyes, agitation cracking the face of the usually frosty Ling Bi’er.
“Yes. I hope the Jaderoot is on this island.” Jiang Chen nodded. “There are many spirit herbs in the outskirts. Senior sister, let’s go take a look.”
Ling Bi"er nodded and responded very docilely, “Alright.”
The two walked around for a bit. Although there were saint rank spirit herbs on the outskirts, there were very few true saint rank spirit herbs present. The Jaderoot was a true saint spirit herb of the highest order, so there wasn’t a single shadow of it to be seen.
The heavyweights of the six great sects had managed to find the entrance formation by now. “Everyone, the formation should open once every three thousand years as well. This entrance is not fully opened yet, so why don’t we combine our efforts to attack the formation and open it? Otherwise, we’ll have to wait for a day or more for it to finish opening.” This was Elder Xiang Gan’s proposal, one that was met with general approval. It was apparent that everyone was in an extremely anxious mood after entering the core of this island.
Every minute and second was utterly critical.
Jiang Chen and Ling Bi"er had returned to the crowd by now and heard Elder Xiang Gan’s suggestion. Jiang Chen, however, frowned. “Mt. Rippling Mirage and this ancient herb garden, as well as the center island of this garden are protected by layers of formations, set up in a complicated manner. It’s obvious that someone went to great pains here. There’s a certain order to everything here.”
From his past life’s experience, Jiang Chen felt certain that a great deal of careful calculation had gone into setting up the formations on this island. If the formation was still opening up, then they should wait and not try to break through it with brute force. Yet, while those may be his thoughts, he had no right to speak here. He had already taken the lion’s share of attention before, and had attracted many eyes. If he were to step out and proffer his thoughts, he’d only attract more attention. He didn’t want to put himself forth as the public enemy and be universally condemned.
Therefore, although he was greatly dismissive of Elder Xiang Gan’s idea, he didn’t show a flicker of a reaction, only sending silent messages to Mu Gaoqi and Ling Bi’er, “I fear that there will be repercussions if we break through this formation with force. Everyone should be careful and leave immediately if we run into any dangerous situations!”
Jiang Chen was a decisive person. Although he was curious just how many treasures could be obtained from this core area, he wasn’t someone who would forgo his life for wealth.
Mu Gaoqi’s wors.h.i.+p of Jiang Chen had reached almost utter blindness by now. At this point, if Jiang Chen issued a proclamation to eat s.h.i.+t, he’d likely think that the former had a reason for it. As for Ling Bi’er, although her level of trust wasn’t at Mu Gaoqi’s exaggerated levels, she had an inexplicable sense of dependency on Jiang Chen as well.
All of the elders gathered together under Elder Xiang Gan’s leaders.h.i.+p and unleashed their respective arts, raining blows on the gap in the formation. The combined efforts and strength of thirty sage cultivators weren’t any inferior to the normal blow of a sixth level emperor realm cultivator.
Wham!
Each attack ripped apart various runes, releasing multi-hued air currents from the formation gap. These runes were the ones that had built up the formation, and were continuously destroyed as the formation opened. As the attacks continued, they hammered away at the integrity of the formation and increased the density of the spirit power leaking out from it. The rainbow-colored air currents began to spread, causing an iridescent fog to enclose the air over the island after a short while.
As Jiang Chen watched the opening widen, his expression actually became more solemn instead of growing excited. His G.o.d’s Eye looked at the vivid clouds spreading through the air, furiously running through calculations and ideas in his mind.
It was at this moment—
Boom!
A colorful plume of air mushroomed into the air, accompanied by a heaven-shattering explosion. The formation had completely collapsed, and an obvious rupture appeared in front of everyone. The formation is finally destroyed!
“Come, let’s go in!” Elder Xiang Gan didn’t hesitate for a moment as he charged in with his people. All of the other sects were loath to be left behind and sprinted in as well.
“We go!” Although Elder Yun Nie was a cautious sort, the arrow had already been notched to the bow and he couldn’t fall behind. Otherwise, if they went in too late, there would be nothing good left for the Regal Pill Palace.
“Let’s go!” The other three elders also agreed.
Jiang Chen saw Mu Gaoqi look at him and nodded in return. He still finally decided to go in to take a look. With that, the Regal Pill Palace team also rushed into the depths of the island.
A carpet of lush, verdant growth greeted the eyes as they rushed in. All sorts of exotic and rare flora decorated the two sides of their trail. There weren’t just any spirit rank herbs here at all, the most inferior among them were of the saint rank, and there were many true saint rank herbs as well.
This was an absolute treasure h.o.a.rd!
The young disciples of each sect in particular lost their minds and started furiously raiding the area. Although saint rank spirit herbs weren’t that precious in the context of the ancient herb garden, they would fetch a pretty price in the Myriad Domain, to say nothing of those of the true saint rank. Those spirit herbs were absolutely a luxury good for origin realm cultivators. Even the top geniuses who’d just entered the sage realm had an enormous need for true saint rank spirit herbs. So no matter their cultivation level, all the young geniuses started furiously harvesting herbs.
Shen Qinghong couldn’t help but join in as well. Mu Gaoqi spoke, “Brother Chen, should we go grab some?”
Jiang Chen nodded his head slightly, “You can grab some if you like.”
He however, didn’t make a move, but merely took a leisurely spin around the premises, occasionally picking a herb here or there. However, he didn’t sweep through the fields with abandon like the rest of the young disciples. He was very choosy with the herbs he took, and they weren’t the most precious ones either. No one paid attention to his movements apart from Elder Wu Hen. He was watching the former with a cold eye from the shadows, completely perplexed. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t fathom exactly what Jiang Chen was up to.