Corpse Liberation Immortal Cattail

Most of the Spirit Medicines near the riverbank were at least second-tier.

The Spirit Medicines swayed gently in the river wind, exuding a fatal allure to Cultivators.

Clearly, these were all methods used by the monsters in the Blood River to lure Cultivators in.

Once a Cultivator succumbed to the temptation and tried to pick a Spirit Medicine, they would be locked on by a Blood River Monster, which would break free of the Blood River's restraints and devour the rations delivered to its door.

And in the dangerous areas along the upper riverbank, there were not always minesweepers like those Biyou Palace Disciples from before.

There was no one for Su Bai to use as he had before, relying on Biyou Palace Disciples to pick Blood Infant Fruits.

The closer he got to the upper reaches, the less likely he was to see any Disciples from the Three Sects.

Apparently, the Disciples of the Three Sects had all suffered at the hands of Blood River Monsters.

Thus, Su Bai could only stare helplessly at those few third-tier Spirit Medicines.

Even so, relying on Clear Heart Sword Intent's ability to foresee danger to a certain extent, Su Bai avoided lethal threats and specifically picked Spirit Medicines whose level of danger felt acceptable.

The picking process was fraught with peril, but the results were all good.

After several hours, he had harvested a bumper crop, filling three Storage Bags with Spirit Medicines.

Su Bai calculated their value. It had already exceeded five thousand Spirit Stones.

He tucked the three Storage Bags full of Spirit Medicines close against his body.

Then Su Bai took out a new Storage Bag and hung it from his waist.

"Though I prepared in advance, this really is my last Storage Bag."

Su Bai had not expected that he could rely on Clear Heart Sword Intent to harvest so many Spirit Medicines in the most dangerous riverbank areas.

As a result, the Storage Bags he had prepared beforehand were proving insufficient.

"Once this Storage Bag is full, will I have to find someone to borrow a few more from?"

Su Bai scratched his head and continued onward.

Before long, the roar of surging water reached his ears.

The vegetation along the riverbank grew increasingly dense. The leaves were red enough to make one salivate, while even ordinary weeds could grow over three meters tall.

Without using the Object Manipulation Technique to sweep aside the grass before him, he could not see the Spirit Medicines around him at all.

Though the plants flourished, strangely enough, there were no animals anywhere in the Blood River Secret Realm, much less Demonic Beasts.

"I should have reached the upper reaches."

The surrounding vegetation was incredibly tall and dense, obstructing his vision. Su Bai leapt up and climbed a towering tree.

Following the sound of water, he looked into the distance and saw the source of the Blood River.

It was an enormous Blood Waterfall, more than a hundred meters wide.

It poured endlessly from a hazy, chaotic-colored rift in midair, crashing violently into the river below.

Countless blood-red splashes sprayed onto the riverbanks on either side of the source, nourishing the soil. Even from far away, Su Bai could see the dense Spiritual Energy filling both sides of the source.

There were likely immeasurable numbers of Spirit Medicines growing there.

Yet within that roaring waterfall, monsters of every kind could occasionally be seen wailing as they were swept downstream.

Every now and then, one or two monsters would be hurled onto the shore by the waterfall's current, only to be forcibly dragged back into the Blood River under the restraint of some mysterious power.

"This is terrifying beyond measure."

"No one would be foolish enough to pick Spirit Medicines there, would they?"

Su Bai estimated the distance to the source. It would probably take two or three hours to conduct a rough search.

At that rate, searching the riverbank region would take only a single day.

He could use the remaining two days to venture deeper into the hinterland on the right, and by the way, see whether he could find Black-faced Li Xuan and get a chance to obtain that Top-grade Magic Artifact Long Sword.

After climbing down from the tall tree, Su Bai continued searching upstream.

Because of the surrounding vegetation, searching for Spirit Medicines became much more difficult.

In the end, Su Bai simply drew his own Low-grade Magic Artifact Long Sword and used it like a woodcutter's blade.

"Hm? A Nirvana Heart Aperture Flower?"

Irritably sweeping down a patch of weeds with his magic sword, Su Bai spotted a Spirit Medicine as large as a head. The sight instantly cleared away the irritation in his heart.

The Nirvana Heart Aperture Flower was a third-tier Spirit Medicine worth more than eight hundred Spirit Stones.

More importantly, Su Bai sensed no danger whatsoever in picking it.

"There are always fish that slip through the net..."

Su Bai darted forward and swiftly picked the Spirit Medicine, which was still dozens of meters away from the river's surface.

Afterward, cautious by nature, Su Bai still quickly retreated from the riverbank as usual.

At the same time, a terrifying sense of crisis wrapped around him.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

A crocodile-like Blood River Monster had somehow emerged from the river. Opening its jaws, it spat out a huge mass of pitch-black liquid from afar.

Fortunately, Su Bai had jumped away quickly, wind gathering beneath his feet.

Splat! Splat! Splat! The black liquid landed where Su Bai had been standing. Vast amounts of Secret Realm vegetation were contaminated, rapidly withering and dissolving. In an instant, a withered patch dozens of meters wide appeared.

"These bastards even have ranged attacks?!" Su Bai patted his chest and stared at the monster slowly sinking beneath the distant river surface.

He put away the Nirvana Heart Aperture Flower and placed it in his Storage Bag.

Su Bai moved away from the withered patch and began searching for Spirit Medicines even more cautiously.

That Nirvana Heart Aperture Flower had begun Su Bai's journey of good fortune along the upper riverbank.

One second-tier and third-tier Spirit Medicine after another was found by Su Bai.

After excluding those Spirit Medicines that carried fatal threats, there were still quite a few he could pick. The contents of Su Bai's Storage Bag rapidly increased.

Three hours later, the roar of the waterfall at the Blood River's source grew ever closer.

Following the scent of Spirit Medicines, Su Bai used the Object Manipulation Technique to part the grass before his eyes—and a clearing roughly ten meters wide appeared not far away!

A fourth-tier Spirit Medicine—Corpse Liberation Immortal Cattail! It brazenly claimed the entire area, growing domineeringly at its center.

"This is... Corpse Liberation Immortal Cattail?" Su Bai had not expected to encounter a fourth-tier Spirit Medicine.

If Wang Jue had not mentioned this Spirit Medicine before, Su Bai truly would not have recognized its appearance or origins.

Corpse Liberation Immortal Cattail was a fourth-tier Spirit Medicine worth more than five thousand Spirit Stones.

It was a Spirit Medicine unique to the Blood River Secret Realm. Legend had it that only during the earliest period after the Blood River Secret Realm's discovery had high-ranking Cultivators from sects managed to obtain it.

It could replace the main medicinal ingredient in several types of Foundation Establishment Pills, and was also Spirit Medicine Ingredients for certain Golden Core Stage spirit pills.

After his surprise faded, Su Bai halted his steps and even began backing away slightly.

Not only did he not dare entertain the thought of picking this Corpse Liberation Immortal Cattail, but even standing still and looking at it allowed an utterly horrifying sense of mortal danger to creep over him.

This place was clearly still forty or fifty meters from the river's surface, yet Su Bai felt that the moment he stepped into that clearing, he would die.

What kind of terrifying monster was hidden beneath the Blood River, able to launch a fatal attack on him from so far away despite the world's suppression?

"This is about as far as I should go."

This fourth-tier Spirit Medicine was like a warning, cautioning Su Bai to stop here and not draw any closer to the source.

Su Bai knew when to read the room. He immediately turned and moved away from the riverbank, heading right.

After walking several hundred meters and moving far from the riverbank, the vegetation around him began returning to normal, and his view widened.

Su Bai sorted through his fourth Storage Bag. It was nearly full as well.

This last Storage Bag was basically filled with Spirit Medicines found in the Upper Reaches of the Blood River. Their grades were higher, and this one bag alone was worth more than six thousand Spirit Stones.

The total value of all four Storage Bags had already surpassed eleven thousand Spirit Stones.

"Li Xuan, who took first place before, killed and robbed quite a few people, yet the Spirit Medicines he brought out were only worth around seven or eight thousand."

"By that calculation, I've already surpassed him by a safe margin."

"But if I didn't possess Clear Heart Sword Intent, I couldn't have risked searching along the riverbank at all. No one else could replicate this method."

Having completed his task ahead of schedule, Su Bai naturally felt much more relaxed. He cast the Feather Fall Technique and swept lightly toward the upper reaches' hinterland.