White Jade Ganoderma

In the lush, verdant forests of the Qingyun Mountain Range, five people—four men and one woman—advanced slowly. The brawny young man leading the way suddenly stopped, turned, and asked, "Fierce Beasts have been sighted further ahead. Are we still going on?"

Fierce Beasts were no ordinary wild animals. Even the weakest among them possessed the strength of a Beginner Martial Artist, while some particularly formidable ones could even reach the level of an Innate Martial Artist.

After discussing it, the five decided to continue onward. Wang Hong had already reached the Houtian Realm, Hua Wenjue had been a beginner for many years, and the other three had all become Beginner Martial Artists. If they encountered one or two Fierce Beasts, they were confident that the five of them could deal with them easily.

Besides, one purpose of this outing was to temper their combat techniques and gain battle experience. Another was to hunt Fierce Beasts and gather rare Medicinal Herbs in exchange for money.

Among the five, only Hua Wenjue came from a wealthy Household and lacked no money. Wang Hong had some money but did not dare flaunt it, while the other three normally had to find ways to earn enough to sustain their cultivation. Places where Fierce Beasts appeared also meant fewer human tracks, and thus better harvests.

The five continued onward, and as expected, their gains gradually increased. Li Xiaoya temporarily kept the Medicinal Herbs they gathered, to be distributed according to each person's contribution at the end. Wang Hong and Hua Wenjue, being stronger, were mainly responsible for keeping watch, while the other three focused on collecting herbs.

Suddenly, Li Xiaoya pointed at the cliff opposite them and cried in delight, "Look! There's a cluster of white over there. It looks like White Jade Ganoderma."

Everyone looked in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, beneath the vines on the opposing cliff face, a patch of white flickered in and out of sight. Wang Hong had studied medicine extensively and recognized it at a glance. That white cluster was indeed White Jade Ganoderma.

White Jade Ganoderma was known as a sacred healing medicine, and White Jade Powder used White Jade Ganoderma aged five to ten years as its main ingredient. It was said that even someone grievously wounded and on the brink of death could recover completely with a hundred-year White Jade Ganoderma, so long as they still had one breath left. Possessing a high-aged White Jade Ganoderma was equivalent to having an extra life.

However, White Jade Ganoderma had extremely demanding requirements for its growing environment. Those under ten years old were still commonly seen, but most would wither and die upon reaching ten years. Only in a very few special environments could it survive beyond fifty years. Reaching a hundred years was harder still.

Ten years ago, an eighty-year White Jade Ganoderma had appeared, causing an uproar across the martial world. Heroes from every corner fought to seize it, and countless people lost their lives over it.

As they approached the cliff, they raised their heads and looked around for a while. Lu Jingou was about to climb up along the vines when Wang Hong grabbed him back. Wang Hong picked up several stones and hurled them at the vines around the White Jade Ganoderma.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The stones struck wildly, sending vines and leaves flying.

Suddenly, the vines shook and writhed violently. Then an enormous snake head thrust out from within, its tongue flicking as its cold eyes fixed on the group.

Everyone tensed and slowly backed away, stopping only after retreating more than ten zhang from the cliff. Lu Jingou felt lingering fear. If he had charged up without any precautions just now, he would likely already have been buried in the snake's belly.

The giant python stared at them for several breaths. Seeing them retreat without making any further move, it slowly withdrew its head again.

After a brief discussion, they came up with a strategy. They first gathered a pile of stones, then hurled them all toward the cliff together.

After only a few stones had been thrown, the snake head emerged again. The group immediately pelted it with more rocks, and Li Xiaoya threw a small flying knife that struck the snake's neck dead on. Unfortunately, the knife lacked force and only sank a little over half an inch into its flesh. Though these attacks did little real damage, they were enough to enrage the giant python.

Twisting its waist as thick as a water barrel, the giant python charged at them as swiftly as a gust of wind. Before it even reached them, a foul wind rushed into their faces. Seeing it give chase, Lu Jingou quickly circled around from the side and slipped toward the cliff.

The remaining four split into two groups, alternately defending and retreating as they lured the snake into an open area. One or two people restrained its attacks while the others struck from the flanks.

The snake head spat a stream of venom at Hua Wenjue. Hua Wenjue hurriedly leaped backward, while Wang Hong seized the chance to use Three-Stage Wave from the Thunderclap Spear techniques, driving it toward the snake's vital spot from the side. Three-Stage Wave was three thrusts delivered at the same point at once, layering their force together. It was specially used against opponents with powerful defenses.

The spear thrust sank half a foot deep. The snake howled in pain and bit toward Wang Hong. At the same time, Li Xiaoya thrust her sword into its belly, cutting open a wound across its abdomen.

At the same time, the giant python lashed its tail at her. Seeing this, Zhang Tiemao hurriedly raised his thick-backed broadsword and chopped at the incoming tail, carving a wound several inches deep into it.

But the force behind that enormous tail was tremendous. Although Zhang Tiemao's slash slowed it somewhat, it still sent both of them sprawling to the ground.

At that moment, Lu Jingou, who had slipped away earlier, stood beneath the cliff watching. He threw several more stones up the cliff, but there was no response. He then grabbed the vines and climbed nimbly upward like an ape.

After knocking the two of them down, the giant python raised its tail high once more and smashed it down toward them. The two lay on the ground; if that strike landed again, several of their bones would surely break.

Just then, a figure dragged the two several feet away. The giant python's tail crashed viciously into the ground beside them, sending dirt and rocks flying.

It was Lu Jingou. He had gone to secretly gather the herbs and had already succeeded. At the critical moment, he had returned in time to pull them aside.

Their original plan had been for four people to hold the snake down while Lu Jingou slipped past to gather the herbs. After obtaining them, if they could kill the giant snake, the five would join forces to finish it; if they could not defeat it, they would flee together. Now, it seemed that with all five working together, killing it should not be a problem.

Seeing that Li Xiaoya and Zhang Tiemao were unharmed, Lu Jingou swiftly joined the battle with a saber in hand. His fighting style was comparatively agile. He slashed the snake's belly from one side, then immediately sprang away. By the time the tail swept toward him, he had already jumped aside.

Seeing the snake head attack Wang Hong, Hua Wenjue also rushed back into the fight. The five took turns coordinating their attacks, becoming increasingly practiced in their cooperation. In less than a quarter of an hour, the giant python was covered in wounds and lay on the ground awaiting death. Wang Hong and the others had suffered only minor injuries.

This time, the five had truly returned laden with spoils. The giant snake alone made Zhang Tiemao grin from ear to ear. Fierce Beasts were valuable things—their flesh contained abundant essence of qi and blood, a great tonic for martial artists. Their hides were also excellent materials for making armor. Yet though Fierce Beasts were worth a great deal, they were not easy to kill. Snakes in particular possessed extraordinary vitality. Had the five not worked together so seamlessly, killing this giant python would likely have cost them dearly.

Among the cluster of White Jade Ganoderma Lu Jingou brought back, one stalk was surprisingly more than ten years old and nearly twenty, while several others appeared to be three to five, or seven to eight, years old.

Hua Wenjue purchased the White Jade Ganoderma that was over ten years old for fifty taels of silver, giving each person ten taels. Wang Hong received one stalk of White Jade Ganoderma, a large section of snake meat, and several other Medicinal Herbs.

The group returned to the academy laden with gains. They gathered for a feast of every part of the snake before going their separate ways.

After returning to his small courtyard, Wang Hong first entered the space and planted the newly acquired Medicinal Herbs. The wine he had brewed from raspberries a few days earlier was ready, so Wang Hong found some gauze and filtered it once, obtaining two jars of fruit wine red as purple. He tasted a small cup. It was sweet and mellow indeed—fine wine. He sealed the jars and continued aging them; after all, wine grew more fragrant with age.

Wang Hong also sampled some of the Ginseng Wine and Lingzhi Wine he had prepared earlier. Perhaps because alcohol spread quickly through the body, the Medicinal Wine dispersed as soon as it entered his stomach, coursing throughout his body. If used for cultivation, its medicinal power dissipated too quickly, making it far inferior to medicinal cuisine. However, this Medicinal Wine was clearly effective for relieving bodily fatigue and restoring stamina and Internal Energy.

After these two battles, Wang Hong's Spear Techniques had improved. He also wanted to cultivate another External Martial Arts technique. To put it plainly, External Martial Arts were the art of taking a beating, capable of strengthening one's defenses.