Daoist Sect

Just as Chen Changqing was lost in thought, the Medicine God Valley disciple had already finished counting the Spirit Stones Qing Yang had handed over, and expressionlessly took out two talismans.

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

"Activate the talisman once when entering, and once when exiting."

"Remember."

"You have three days. After three days, regardless of whether you find any spiritual herbs in Hundred Herbs Valley, you must come out."

"If you don't, the Mountain Protection Array will automatically launch an attack."

"At that point, your life and death have nothing to do with us in Medicine God Valley."

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

The talisman was cool to the touch, covered in intricate array patterns, with faint spiritual power flowing through it.

It seemed to be used for identity recognition, to avoid being mistakenly struck by the Mountain Protection Array.

"Junior Brother, let's hurry!"

Qing Yang smiled as he looked at Chen Changqing and spoke.

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 changed abruptly.

Inside Hundred Herbs Valley, ancient trees towered to the sky, spiritual mist swirled, and distant mountain ranges rose and fell.

"Such dense heaven and earth spiritual energy."

Chen Changqing couldn't help but exclaim.

With just a deep breath, he felt his limbs and bones relax and ease.

The density of spiritual energy in Hundred Herbs Valley was no less than that of Mount Shu Sect's Inner Sect.

"Junior Brother Chen, I have to apologize for something."

Suddenly, Qing Yang looked at Chen Changqing with an embarrassed expression.

"Hm?"

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

Qing Yang sighed and said, "This time, inviting you to come with me to Hundred Herbs Valley, I only took a hundred Spirit Stones as compensation."

"I won't hide it from you, Senior Brother... I'm really short on funds."

Hearing this, Chen Changqing waved his hand dismissively, unconcerned. "Senior Brother, you're being too serious."

"Even if you didn't offer any compensation, since we both came from the Outer Sect Seventh Courtyard, I would still help you."

"It's just..."

Here, Chen Changqing furrowed his brow and continued, "Since Medicine God Valley dares to open Hundred Herbs Valley to outsiders, it's likely that most of the good things inside have already been taken by them."

"Won't the thing you're looking for, Senior Brother, be hard to find?"

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

The next moment, he waved his hand, and a yellowed map appeared in his grasp.

"Junior Brother, I have a detailed map!"

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

"Moreover, that place is extremely hidden. Even if Medicine God Valley's people have already scoured Hundred Herbs Valley, they might not necessarily find it."

"I obtained this map at some cost from an elder of Shushan Inner Sect."

Chen Changqing nodded, thinking to himself that Qing Yang had come well-prepared for this trip to Hundred Herbs Valley.

"Junior Brother, follow me!"

"We'll head straight for the place where the Three-Colored Flower is."

After a moment of silence, Qing Yang said this.

Then, without further delay, the two followed the map's guidance and flew off on their swords.

Unknowingly, two days passed.

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

Chen Changqing raised an eyebrow, looking at Qing Yang with a puzzled expression.

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

However, after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find what Qing Yang needed.

"This?"

Qing Yang froze, his face full of bitterness and helplessness. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

He secretly wondered if the elder who gave him the map was messing with him.

But after thinking it over, he felt that possibility was unlikely.

"Could someone have beaten me to it?"

Soon, this thought arose in Qing Yang's mind.

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

It wasn't impossible that what he needed had already been obtained by someone else.

Thinking this, Qing Yang took a deep breath and said with slight dejection:

"Junior Brother Chen, I'll have to trouble you to accompany me in searching a bit more."

"Since we're already here."

"When the time is up, whether we find it or not, we'll leave Hundred Herbs Valley immediately."

Chen Changqing nodded lightly, not to rush Qing Yang.

He just felt that searching like this didn't offer much chance of success.

Then, the two prepared to continue exploring the surroundings, but just then, a sudden change occurred.

"Boom!"

A violent fluctuation of spiritual power came from not far ahead.

The commotion was clearly from people fighting.

Hearing this, Chen Changqing and Qing Yang exchanged a glance, quickly concealed their auras, and swiftly moved toward the site of the battle.

Before long, the two arrived at a valley.

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

One of them, wearing a green Daoist robe, formed hand seals, lightning crackling around him, his aura extraordinary.

The other was clad in a black long robe, demonic energy surging all over his body.

Especially his eyes, which were blood-red and terrifying—he was clearly from a Demonic Sect.

Aside from that, both young cultivators were not weak; they were both Core Formation Realm cultivators.

Moreover, they had condensed tens of thousands of strands of true qi at the Core Formation stage.

After stepping into the Core Formation Realm, cultivators continued to condense true qi. Generally, a Late Core Formation cultivator had only thirty thousand strands, while only genius-level cultivators could continue condensing, up to a maximum of ninety thousand strands.

Seeing the scene before him, Qing Yang said in shock:

"Both of them are very strong!"

"They're both Mid Core Formation cultivators who have condensed tens of thousands of strands of true qi."

"Even in the Shushan Inner Sect, they'd rank in the top few dozen of the Hundred Strong Ranking."

Compared to Qing Yang's excitement, Chen Changqing's expression showed little fluctuation.

"I wonder, when I eventually form my core, how many strands of true qi I can condense at most?"

Just as Chen Changqing was pondering this, the two young cultivators in the valley grew even more intense in their attacks.

"Boom!"

"Heaven and Earth Thunder Technique—Break!"

The young man in the Daoist robe let out a furious shout.

Immediately, lightning burst from his palm, transforming into a brilliant thunder dragon that shot straight toward the Demonic Sect cultivator.

"Heh!"

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

In the next moment, the terrifying demonic energy coalesced into a ferocious demonic shadow, clashing head-on with the thunder dragon.

"Boom!"

"Bang!"

A deafening roar resounded, shockwaves rolled, and trees within a hundred zhang were all shattered.

Then, the Demonic Sect young man struck even more ruthlessly.

Soon, he had firmly suppressed the young man in the Daoist robe.

"Take my demonic palm!"

"Boom!"

The Demonic Sect youth seized a flaw in the Daoist-robed youth's defense and slammed a palm strike at him.

"Pfft!"

The Daoist disciple, caught off guard, was sent flying backward by the palm, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.