Divine Tree Wilted Root and Medicinal Mud

With limited space in his pack, Zhao Sheng picked and chose again and again before finally deciding to pack the nine most valuable spiritual herbs, including Scarlet Fire Ganoderma and the thousand-year spiritual herbs.

He did not plan to take the other spiritual herbs with him.

Carrying them would affect his agility.

In a place of such extreme danger, being even a little slower could prove fatal.

Zhao Sheng had yet to bring "Hope" back, so naturally, he would not lose sight of the greater good for a small gain.

While he was busy digging up spiritual herbs, a fishy stench suddenly swept out of the mist. Zhao Sheng gave a startled cry, dropped low, rolled, and lunged toward a hiding place he had long since picked out.

The moment he concealed himself, the sound of beating wings rose overhead. He glanced outside and saw that the creature landing on the slope was the Bloodwing Flying Lizard he had encountered earlier.

This Bloodwing Flying Lizard appeared badly injured. Its dark-red horn scales were scattered and broken, its body was covered in wounds, and it looked utterly listless. Yet it seemed to have come here with a powerful purpose. After landing, it did not look around, but headed straight for a tree root, extended its foreclaws, and began digging downward along the root.

That was precisely where the Scarlet Fire Ganoderma had grown. Zhao Sheng was not afraid of the demonic bird discovering him; instead, intense curiosity rose in his heart.

The Bloodwing Flying Lizard's claws were sharp, and it quickly dug several feet down, exposing the soil beneath. With practiced ease, the creature picked up a mouthful of dirt and swallowed it directly, without even chewing.

Perhaps this "dirt" truly possessed medicinal properties. After swallowing it, the flying lizard actually perked up. It let out a harsh cry, spread its wings, whipped up a gale, and flapped away into the sky.

Eating dirt?

Zhao Sheng leaped from his hiding place and ran to the layer of soil the flying lizard had dug open. He examined it carefully. Scattered remnants of roots and stems remained in the deep pit, while the dirt was dark brown.

Other than that, he found nothing unusual.

Zhao Sheng found it strange. He reached into the pit, grabbed a handful of dirt, and held it beneath his nose to smell.

Huh? A faint, unusual fragrance wafted from the soil. The scent was truly subtle; only because Zhao Sheng's nose was sharper than a dog's could he detect it.

He tried licking a bit of the dirt in his hand. It tasted extremely bitter and astringent.

A thought suddenly sprang into Zhao Sheng's mind. Could this be the legendary Medicinal Mud?

Since ancient times, the Cultivation World had spoken of Medicinal Mud. Legend held that when spiritual herbs went unpicked and naturally withered away, after hundreds or thousands of years of decay and weathering, they would become soil imbued with medicinal properties. Then, after who knew how many tens of thousands of years of accumulated days and months, layer upon layer of medicinal soil would gradually form a kind of "Medicinal Mud" capable of accelerating the growth of spiritual herbs.

This Medicinal Mud contained a portion of medicinal efficacy and could be swallowed as a spiritual herb, but that was far inferior to its ripening properties.

At this thought, Zhao Sheng became exceedingly excited and began digging all over the slope at high speed.

An hour later, the slope had become pockmarked with pits. Zhao Sheng rose to his feet, his expression caught between joy and worry.

Only then did he discover that the entire slope was not made of Medicinal Mud. In truth, traces of it existed only within a foot of the withered tree roots.

But he had also discovered something that deeply shocked him.

There were no large trees on this slope, yet there remained a massive root system from one.

Judging from the excavation results, the withered roots protruding above the ground were merely the tip of the iceberg. Most of the root system lay buried beneath earth and stone, stretching in all directions. It not only occupied the entire slope, but had even spread into the surrounding cliff walls.

Zhao Sheng found it difficult to imagine how such an enormous tree could have grown in a place so dark. If a tree with such a root system had still remained, what kind of colossal monster would it have been? For some unknown reason, the tree had already broken apart, and had most likely fallen into the bottomless abyss. Most of the remaining root system had also withered, but a small portion had survived, creating this place's unique ecosystem. At the same time, the dead roots had transformed into patches of Medicinal Mud, becoming nourishment for the countless spiritual herbs growing across the slope.

With the wondrous item that was Medicinal Mud, Zhao Sheng spent another hour carefully coating all nine spiritual herbs with the mud.

This not only ensured that their medicinal efficacy would not dissipate, but also prevented their fragrance from leaking out and attracting unpredictable danger.

Just before leaving, he suddenly thought of something. He turned back to the slope and used the dagger he carried to cut off a small section of tree root that looked comparatively fresher, placing it in his pack.

After leaving the slope, Zhao Sheng began a long journey in search of a path.

Heaven Pillar Mountain had one advantage: as long as one climbed sideways, one would eventually circle around to the other side of the mountain.

In fact, that was exactly what Zhao Sheng did.

After an unknown length of time, Zhao Sheng finally broke free from the Death Treasure Land and saw the sun and sea of clouds once more.

By then, he was covered in wounds, and his clothes were in tatters.

No one knew what hardships and perils he had endured along the way. Zhao Sheng himself kept his lips sealed about that experience and avoided mentioning it.

Several months later, a furious roar suddenly rang out from the ancestral hall of Zhao Family Manor on the Li River Bank. "Get on your knees!"

Zhao Sheng glared at his disappointing son, so angry that his head ached.

Thump! Zhao Chengle, broad-backed and thick-waisted yet exceptionally handsome, promptly knelt before his father.

"Father, I know I was wrong!"

"Pah! You know shit! Over the years, your mother and I have talked ourselves hoarse trying to teach you, countless times. When have you ever changed?"

"You've cultivated for decades, yet you've only barely reached Qi Refining Level Three. Your wife, meanwhile, has nothing but Five Spiritual Root Waste, yet she's already at Qi Refining Level Five. A Four Spiritual Roots cultivator who is worse than even a waste spiritual root.

Tell me, did you secretly give her your Spirit Essence Pills again?"

Though Zhao Sheng was already past seventy, his voice remained like a great bell, full and powerful.

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. He grabbed the family-discipline cane and gave his son a merciless whipping from head to toe.

Zhao Chengle had already advanced to the Innate Realm. His body was tough and thick-skinned, and he did not care in the slightest about this minor pain of flesh and skin.

As he knelt there and took the beating, he argued, "Father, you know I've never been able to sit still since I was young. The moment I cultivate, I start nodding off. Taking Spirit Essence Pills would just be a waste on me anyway, so I might as well give them to Qingqing."

The Qingqing Zhao Chengle spoke of was named Han Qingqing, and she had been born with waste spiritual roots.

Well, her father was Han Xuanwu.

More than ten years ago, after Zhao Sheng and Han Xuanwu narrowly escaped death at Fu Yanqing's hands—

Zhao Sheng had not gained much from it, but Han Xuanwu had struck it rich through misfortune.

Because he promptly reported to the Purple Sun Sect that Earth Flame Palace Devil Disciples had killed and impersonated Purple Sun Sect disciples, then set up a trap on Heaven Pillar Mountain to murder people and seize their treasures, he was allowed to join the Purple Sun Sect.

Later, due to his high cultivation talent, he was accepted as a disciple by a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. From then on, he soared without restraint.

In merely a dozen or so years, he rapidly rose from Qi Refining Level Six to Qi Refining Level Nine.

Back then, Han Xuanwu had been immensely grateful to Zhao Sheng for saving his life, and he visited Zhao Sheng's home many times.

The two grew closer and closer. In the end, Han Xuanwu even betrothed his daughter to Zhao Chengle, and the two families simply became in-laws.