Chapter 224 : Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass
Chapter 224: Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass
The Puppet Talisman was a second-tier low-grade talisman, an essential item for cultivators of the Southern Wastes when exploring relic secret realms.
After Chen Beiwu advanced to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, he had already become a genuine second-tier formation master and talisman master. Drawing a few Puppet Talismans for his own use was an easy task.
“Buzz!”
As Chen Beiwu circulated his mana, the Puppet Talisman in his hand spontaneously ignited without wind.
The ashes of the burning talisman writhed like a living thing, gradually forming into a puppet about three inches tall, with hollow eyes.
Under Chen Beiwu’s control of divine sense, the puppet, whose aura was only at the Qi Refining stage, took the initiative to step into the grand hall.
‘What terrifying Heaven-and-Earth spiritual mechanism!’
Contrary to Chen Beiwu’s expectations, there were no killing arrays or traps within the hall. Instead, what entered his sight was a desolate medicine field, shrouded in blue-violet radiance.
At the center of the medicine field, a fourth-tier Mysterious Spring flowed outward, and seventy-two jade-paved medicine plots were arranged in the pattern of the Heavenly Cycle Stars, all surrounding the spring.
“滴答！”
“滴答！”
“滴答！”
Every three breaths, the fourth-tier Mysterious Spring would, under the operation of the medicine garden formation, spray droplets of mysterious water rich in potent essence.
These droplets rose into midair, transforming into mist that nourished all the precious herbs within the medicine field.
But the span of over six thousand years was too long. Long enough to cause the fall of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, long enough for the precious herbs of the garden to wither and rot.
As Chen Beiwu controlled the puppet to sweep around, he found that most of the herbs planted in the seventy-two jade plots had perished, leaving only seven precious herbs barely clinging to life.
So he abandoned the puppet for the moment and entered the grand hall together with Golden Egg.
“Blood-Dragon Ginseng, Moon-Soul Ganoderma, Golden-Thunder Bamboo, Soul-Devouring Flower, Bodhi Vine, Soul-Nourishing Lotus, Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass!”
Upon seeing the last plant—about three inches tall, its branches resembling human bones, its leaves like emerald jade, with multicolored halos swirling about—Chen Beiwu’s heart beat quickened, even with the Guarding-the-One Mirror cleansing his thoughts.
As a fourth-tier mid-grade mysterious herb, the Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass had but a single effect: to aid a Golden Core cultivator in condensing their own Heavenly Gang Dharma Form.
What did this mean?
The Heavenly Gang Dharma Form was the hallmark of a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
A cultivator able to condense such a form during the Golden Core stage was a peerless genius, one in tens of thousands, and virtually invincible among peers.
Moreover, the Heavenly Gang Dharma Form increased a Golden Core cultivator’s chance of forming a Nascent Soul by as much as twenty percent.
In a sense, the Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass could be regarded as a fourth-tier herb for Nascent Soul formation—something even Golden Core True Persons hardly dared to hope for.
“Gulp.”
Golden Egg swallowed its saliva.
Unlike Chen Beiwu, whose eyes were fixed on the Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass, its gaze was locked onto the Blood-Dragon Ginseng, whose crimson skin was veined with golden lines, bearing five openings at its crown.
Instinct told Golden Egg that if it devoured the Blood-Dragon Ginseng, it would not only refine its own bloodline but also increase its cultivation by a hundred years, allowing it to directly step into the late-stage of Foundation Establishment.
‘Don’t rush.’
Suppressing the eager Golden Egg with his intent, Chen Beiwu controlled the puppet to step forward and pick it.
“Crack!”
The puppet had just stretched out its right hand when the blue-violet radiance above the jade medicine plot suddenly flared, crushing it into powder.
‘These precious herbs won’t be taken so easily.’ Chen Beiwu’s eyes narrowed.
Indeed, without a formation guarding them, these herbs would have long since vanished into the ruthless flow of time, leaving nothing for him to harvest.
“Gulu?” (What do we do?)
Golden Egg looked at Chen Beiwu.
‘Forget it.’ Chen Beiwu shook his head slightly.
Although his attainment in formations was not bad, equivalent to a second-tier high-grade formation master, he had not yet stepped into the realm of a third-tier formation master.
The only reason he had been able to pass through the third-tier remnant formation of the grand hall plaza earlier was that the one who laid it had deliberately left flaws.
But the medicine field formation before him was unfathomably powerful, its diagram obscure and profound, clearly beyond a third-tier remnant formation—perhaps even a fourth-tier mysterious formation.
Even if he sat here for a hundred years, he would not be able to forcibly break it. Another method was needed.
‘If True Monarch Tianyan wished to leave behind his legacy, seeking a talented disciple to inherit his Dao lineage, then he should have left behind either the method to break this formation or a token to control it.’
Chen Beiwu swept his divine sense across the surroundings, leaving no detail unchecked.
“Gulu?”
Golden Egg’s eyes turned to three pairs of oil lamps near the medicine field.
It suspected that the key to breaking the formation was hidden beneath the lamp bases.
Chen Beiwu smiled faintly, not discouraging Golden Egg’s enthusiasm. Picking up one of the lamps, he then turned his gaze to the fourth-tier Mysterious Spring.
One could not leave a treasure mountain empty-handed.
Since he could not yet harvest the herbs, he could at least collect some of the spring water.
The spring water contained pure Heaven-and-Earth spiritual energy. It could assist cultivation and temper the body, its value no less than that of third-tier precious herbs.
“Buzz!”
Just then, ripples of space surged, and a young figure suddenly appeared.
Clad in a crimson Daoist robe, holding a flaming spear, with an overbearing aura—it was none other than Luo Yongjie, the first true disciple of the Blazing Flame Sect, with whom they had crossed paths once before.
Upon entering the hall, Luo Yongjie did not so much as glance at Chen Beiwu. His eyes locked upon the seven herbs within the medicine field, unable to conceal the joy in his gaze.
“Myriad-Phase Mysterious Grass!”
Taking a deep breath, Luo Yongjie suppressed his surging excitement.
His gaze shifted to Chen Beiwu, his tone calm: “To have reached this place with merely mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, passing through the third-tier remnant formation… you must be a second-tier high-grade formation master.”
Chen Beiwu was unsurprised that Luo Yongjie could see through his cultivation realm.
After all, he had only concealed his divine sense aura with the Phantom Concealment Pendant, not his cultivation itself. Anyone failing to discern it would be as blind as a bat.
“Serve under me. Break this formation, and I will spare your life.” Luo Yongjie spoke loftily.
On the surface, the Five Great Sects shared the same breath and branches, but in truth, they secretly competed. Between Blazing Flame Sect and Mirror Moon Sect, clashes were especially frequent, often escalating into battles.
Yet within the Earth Proliferation Territory, even as the foremost true disciple of Blazing Flame Sect, Luo Yongjie was required to maintain outward order. He could not kill a Mirror Moon Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator without cause, or else he would face heavy punishment from his sect.
However, here in the Tianyan True Realm, the rules of the sects held little sway.
For the sake of resources, Core-Forming Pills, and even the inheritances of True Monarchs, the disciples of the Five Great Sects often fought to the death. The deaths of Foundation Establishment cultivators were common and not questioned by Golden Core True Persons.
If the other party valued his life, he ought to kneel and beg for mercy now.
“Oh? You mean to say you can kill me?” Chen Beiwu’s gaze lifted slightly, amusement glimmering in his eyes.
“Gulu!”
Hearing this, Golden Egg lowered its head, its large eyes fixed upon Luo Yongjie, pupils vertical and filled with unspeakable killing intent.
A dragon’s reverse scale—touch it, and death was certain.
It would kill this Foundation Establishment cultivator who dared to spout such arrogance!
“Oh? Interesting. What gives you the confidence to challenge me?”
Luo Yongjie arched a brow, his wrist flicking as he spun the Chixiao Flowing-Flame Spear, sweeping forth a fan-shaped wall of fire that countered the draconic might erupting from Golden Egg.
“With just a mid-stage Foundation Establishment little loach?”
As his words fell, space rippled again, and two more Blazing Flame Sect cultivators in crimson Daoist robes appeared behind him.