Daoist Sect

Just as Chen Changqing was lost in thought.

The disciples of Medicine God Valley had already finished counting the Spirit Stones Qing Yang had handed over. With expressionless faces, they took out two talismans.

"These are the two talismans for entering Hundred Herbs Valley."

"Activate the talismans once when entering, and once when leaving."

"Remember this."

"You only have three days. After three days, whether or not you find spirit herbs in Hundred Herbs Valley, you must come out."

"If you do not come out, the Mountain Protection Array will automatically launch an attack."

"At that point, your life or death will have nothing to do with Medicine God Valley."

Qing Yang nodded, took the talismans from the Medicine God Valley disciple, and handed one to Chen Changqing.

The talisman felt slightly cool in his hand. Complex array patterns were inscribed upon it, with spiritual power faintly flowing through them.

It seemed to be used for identifying their identities, so they would not be mistakenly injured by the Mountain Protection Array.

"Junior Brother, let's make haste!"

Qing Yang said with a smile as he looked at Chen Changqing.

Chen Changqing gave a soft hum.

Without further delay, he activated the talisman alongside Qing Yang and entered Hundred Herbs Valley.

After passing through the Mountain Protection Array, the scene before them abruptly changed.

Within Hundred Herbs Valley, ancient trees soared into the sky, spiritual mist coiled through the air, and mountain ranges rose and fell in the distance.

"What dense heaven and earth spiritual energy."

Chen Changqing could not help but sigh.

With just one deep breath, he felt his limbs and bones relax by several degrees.

The spiritual energy in Hundred Herbs Valley was no less abundant than that of the Inner Sect of Mount Shu Sect.

"Junior Brother Chen, there is something I truly must apologize for."

Qing Yang suddenly looked at Chen Changqing with an embarrassed expression.

"Hm?"

Chen Changqing was slightly startled. Looking back at Qing Yang in confusion, he asked, "What is it?"

Qing Yang sighed and said,

"This time, I invited Junior Brother Chen to come to Hundred Herbs Valley with me, but I only offered one hundred Spirit Stones as payment."

"I will not hide it from you, Senior Brother truly is... strapped for cash."

Hearing this, Chen Changqing did not mind in the slightest. He waved his hand and said,

"Senior Brother, you are too serious."

"Even if Senior Brother gave me no payment, we both came from the Outer Sect Seventh Courtyard. I would still help you."

"Only..."

At this point, Chen Changqing frowned and continued,

"Since Medicine God Valley dared to open Hundred Herbs Valley to outsiders, I imagine that most of the good things within have already been obtained by Medicine God Valley."

"Will the item Senior Brother seeks be difficult to find?"

At Chen Changqing's words, Qing Yang instead smiled calmly.

The next moment, he swept a hand over his storage space, and a yellowed map appeared in his hand.

"Junior Brother, I have a detailed map!"

"It records the location of the Three-Colored Flower I need."

"And that place is extremely hidden. Even if the people of Medicine God Valley searched Hundred Herbs Valley beforehand, they might not necessarily have found it."

"I paid quite a price to obtain this map from an elder of the Shushan Inner Sect."

Chen Changqing nodded, secretly thinking that Qing Yang had indeed made thorough preparations for this trip to Hundred Herbs Valley.

"Junior Brother, follow me!"

"Let's head straight for the place where the Three-Colored Flower is."

After a moment of silence, Qing Yang said this.

Afterward, neither of them delayed. Following the map's guidance, they flew away on their swords.

Before they knew it, two days had passed.

"Senior Brother Qing Yang, are you sure the map is correct?"

Chen Changqing raised his brows and looked at Qing Yang with a face full of doubt.

Earlier, the two had arrived at the target area according to the map.

Yet after searching for a long time, they had not seen the item Qing Yang needed at all.

"This..."

Qing Yang froze, his face filled with bitterness and helplessness. For a moment, he did not know what to say.

Could that elder who gave me the map have been fooling me?

But upon further thought, he felt that possibility was unlikely.

"Could someone have beaten us to it?"

Very quickly, such a thought arose in Qing Yang's mind.

After all, many people from other sects entered Hundred Herbs Valley every day to search for spirit herbs.

It was not impossible that someone else had already obtained the item he sought.

At that thought, Qing Yang took a deep breath and said somewhat dejectedly,

"Junior Brother Chen, sorry for the trouble, but I'll need you to search a little longer with me."

"After all, we've already come this far."

"Once the time is up, whether we find it or not, we will leave Hundred Herbs Valley immediately."

Chen Changqing nodded lightly. It was not as though he was urging Qing Yang.

He simply felt that if they continued searching like this, the chances of finding it were not great.

The two then prepared to continue investigating the surroundings, but at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Boom!"

Violent spiritual energy fluctuations came from somewhere not far ahead.

That disturbance clearly meant someone was fighting.

Hearing it, Chen Changqing and Qing Yang exchanged a glance, swiftly restrained their auras, and hurried toward the place where the battle had broken out.

Not long after, the two arrived at a valley.

Looking over, they saw two young cultivators locked in fierce combat.

One wore a cyan Daoist robe, his hands forming seals as lightning flickered around his body. His bearing was extraordinary.

The other wore a black robe, demonic energy surging all around him.

In particular, his eyes were crimson and terrifying. He was actually someone from the Demonic Sect.

Moreover, neither young man's cultivation was weak. Both were cultivators in the Core Formation Realm.

Furthermore, they were Core Formation Realm cultivators who had condensed more than ten thousand strands of true qi.

After entering the Core Formation Realm, cultivators would continue condensing true qi. Ordinary Late Core Formation cultivators only possessed thirty thousand strands of true qi, while only geniuses could continue to condense it, reaching a maximum of ninety thousand strands.

After seeing the scene before him, Qing Yang said with a shocked expression,

"These two are both very strong!"

"They are both Mid Core Formation cultivators with over ten thousand strands of true qi condensed within their bodies."

"Even in the Shushan Inner Sect, they would rank among the top few dozen on the Hundred Strong Ranking."

Chen Changqing's expression did not fluctuate much in response to Qing Yang's words.

I wonder, when I form my Core Formation in the future, how many strands of true qi will I be able to condense at most?

Just as Chen Changqing was thinking, the two young men in the valley fought with increasing ferocity.

"Boom!"

"Heaven and Earth Thunder Technique—Break!"

The young man in the Daoist robe shouted angrily.

Immediately afterward, lightning exploded from his palm, transforming into a dazzling thunder dragon that charged straight at the Demonic Sect cultivator.

"Heh!"

The demonic cultivator sneered coldly, and the demonic energy swirling around him suddenly surged.

When they looked again, the terrifying demonic energy had transformed into a ferocious demonic phantom, meeting the thunder dragon head-on.

"Rumble!"

"Bang!"

Deafening explosions rang out as shockwaves churned. Every tree within a hundred zhang shattered to pieces.

Next, the Demonic Sect Youth attacked even more ruthlessly.

Very quickly, he firmly suppressed the young man in the Daoist robe.

"Take one of my demonic palms!"

"Boom!"

Seizing an opening in the Daoist-robed youth's defenses, the Demonic Sect Youth fiercely struck out with his palm.

"Pfft!"

Caught off guard, the Daoist Disciple was sent flying by the palm strike and spat out a large mouthful of blood.