The token had been forged from some unknown material. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, engraved with a hundred-herb pattern, while its reverse bore the ancient seal-script character for "Saint." A remnant of Saint Realm soul power lingered upon it, stirring the essence of the surrounding plants into resonance.
"Medicine Saint Token..." Xuanyuan Che rubbed the token. With the slightest probe, a stream of information flowed into his heart. "Those who hold this token may sense the location of the Medicine Saint's hidden estate and open the outer estate's gate at a specific time..."
He recalled the three Tai Xu Realm old men speaking of "guarding it for a thousand years." It seemed this token was what they had truly coveted. Yet they had been helpless against the restrictions here and unable to retrieve it, so they could only guard the Three Talents Soul Returning Root, hoping to use its medicinal power to forcibly break the restriction once it matured. Alas, after a thousand years of waiting, they had ultimately made a wedding dress for someone else.
Buzz—
At that moment, the Three Talents Soul Returning Root mark on his wrist trembled lightly, transmitting a guiding intent. It pointed directly toward the deeper reaches of the medicine valley, where an area was completely shrouded in dense seven-colored rosy light, beyond the reach of the eye.
"So the entrance to the hidden estate is in there." Xuanyuan Che understood and put away the Medicine Saint Token. The restrictions here were even stronger and more tightly fused with the earth veins. Breaking them with brute force was not impossible, but it would surely create a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering commotion. By then, the entire battlefield's attention might be drawn here, causing unnecessary trouble.
He turned, about to look for Yun Mengyao and the others, when three streaks of light came racing over.
"Little Junior Brother, are you all right?" Yun Mengyao landed first. Her cool gaze swiftly swept over the scene. Seeing the three unconscious old men on the ground and the faintly visible Divine Medicine mark on Xuanyuan Che's wrist, she already understood most of what had happened.
"I'm fine. I beat up three old fools who didn't know their place and took in a little grass that looked fairly pleasing to the eye." Xuanyuan Che shook his wrist.
Thunder Roar Ravine's eyes widened. He sniffed and exclaimed, "Good heavens! This medicine fragrance... This Old Stone feels like even one breath could purify my physical body! Damn impressive, Little Junior Brother!" He had wanted to say "freakish," but forcibly swallowed the word back down.
Mu Qingxue said nothing, but surprise repeatedly flickered through her beautiful eyes. A Divine Medicine acknowledging someone as its master was an immense stroke of fortune. If an ordinary cultivator obtained one, it would be the foundation for becoming a saint and founding a lineage.
Xuanyuan Che smiled and took out the Medicine Saint Token, handing it to Yun Mengyao. "Second Senior Sister, take a look at this."
Yun Mengyao accepted the token. White light circulated around her fingertips as she examined it carefully for a moment. A trace of gravity appeared on her cool face. "The Medicine Saint Token... It is actually this item. Ancient records state that the Medicine Saint was an astonishingly gifted senior from the late ancient era. His alchemy stood supreme under heaven, and he was also a Saint-grade formation master whose traces were elusive. I never expected his hidden estate to be within the Myriad Races Battlefield."
She raised her head toward the place where the seven-colored rosy light was densest. "If this token is accurate, the hidden estate's entrance lies there. But the outer restriction is already at the peak Saint grade and has merged with the earth-vein spiritual eye. Tug one hair, and the whole body moves. Difficult."
"Do you have a way, Senior Sister?" Xuanyuan Che asked. He knew Yun Mengyao's Heavenly Heart Dao Body possessed keen perception, and that she had profound attainments in the Dao of formations as well.
Yun Mengyao pondered for a moment before saying, "Forcibly breaking the formation is unwise. We must wait for the right moment. Judging from the token's information and the flow of the earth veins here, the next time the restriction is at its weakest should be... tomorrow at noon, when sunlight shines directly upon the node of the Hundred Herbs Worshipping the Saint phenomenon within the valley. Only then, by activating the Medicine Saint Token with a specific method, might we silently open a temporary gate."
"Tomorrow at noon..." Xuanyuan Che nodded. "Fine. We'll use the time until then to sweep through this medicine valley. Third Senior Brother, Sister Mu, go collect those mature Spiritual Medicines. Do not touch any that have not aged enough; leave them for those who come after us. Second Senior Sister, come with me to the core area. We'll familiarize ourselves with the formation nodes in advance."
"Good!" Thunder Roar Ravine rubbed his fists together, his eyes shining as he looked at the rare Spiritual Medicines filling the valley.
Mu Qingxue nodded slightly. The intent of the Wuchen Sword flowed faintly as she had already locked onto several spirit herbs brimming with Sword Qi.
The four immediately sprang into action.
Xuanyuan Che and Yun Mengyao walked side by side toward the medicine valley's core. The closer they came, the richer the medicinal fragrance became, nearly solidifying into substance. Taking a single breath was comparable to refining several High-grade Spirit Stones.
"Che'er, your Chaos Body seems to possess an extremely strong affinity for and control over the essence of the plants here." Yun Mengyao suddenly spoke, her beautiful eyes fixed on Xuanyuan Che. She had noticed that the Spiritual Medicines around them, even several rather ferocious medicine-guarding beasts, became unusually docile whenever Xuanyuan Che passed by. They even swayed slightly, as though expressing submission.
Hearing this, Xuanyuan Che released a faint thread of Chaos Qi. At once, every spiritual plant within a hundred zhang around him seemed to have received an emperor's summons. Their leaves rustled, and specks of emerald plant essence spilled forth on their own, gathering toward him as though in worship and merging into his body, nourishing his physical body and Divine Soul.
"It does seem to have a little effect." Feeling the nearly imperceptible increase within his body, Xuanyuan Che smiled. The Innate Chaos Dao Body was the source of ten thousand Daos. Naturally, it included the Great Dao of Wood; commanding all grasses was merely basic operation.
Yun Mengyao gave him a deep look, silently sighing that her little junior brother's physique was so heaven-defying it could drive one to despair. She said no more and focused her mind. Her Heavenly Heart Dao Body operated to its limit, veiling her eyes in a hazy layer of white light as she carefully analyzed the incomparably complex Saint-grade composite formation ahead.
Xuanyuan Che was happy to take it easy. While absorbing the unending stream of plant essence, he stood guard for Yun Mengyao.
Time quietly passed.
Outside the medicine valley, more and more cultivators gathered. News that Xuanyuan Che's group of four had entered so easily had long since spread, drawing more people over to try their luck. Yet no matter what they attempted, even joining forces with several renowned peak Tai Xu Realm experts to attack together, they could not shake the seven-colored restriction in the slightest.
All they could do was watch helplessly as the four inside the valley leisurely harvested Spiritual Medicines, their eyes red with envy.
"Damn it! The people from Eastern Xuan Academy are far too overbearing! They're monopolizing the entrance just like that!"
"If you have the ability, go in yourselves! They got in through their own skill!"
"Hmph! Just wait until they come out... With so many Spiritual Medicines, how can they possibly swallow them all alone?" someone said sinisterly, drawing agreement from some of the crowd.
Within the valley, Thunder Roar Ravine and Mu Qingxue had reaped plentiful harvests. Thunder Roar Ravine specifically sought out fierce Spiritual Medicines for tempering the physical body, filling several oversized jade boxes; Mu Qingxue collected several rare flowers and exotic herbs containing sword intent or capable of nourishing a sword soul.
In the blink of an eye, a day passed.
At noon the next day, sunlight pierced through the battlefield's somewhat crimson sky curtain and shone precisely upon a peculiar rock at the center of the medicine valley. The rock resembled a medicine cauldron, with hundred-herb patterns naturally formed across its surface. Under the sunlight, every pattern suddenly came alive, breathing out rosy light. It was the "Hundred Herbs Worshipping the Saint" phenomenon!
"Now!" Yun Mengyao gave a clear cry. The Medicine Saint Token she had prepared long ago flew from her hand and hovered above the medicine-cauldron rock.
Her hands fluttered like butterflies among flowers, forming one profound rune after another and sending them into the Medicine Saint Token.
Xuanyuan Che acted at the same time. Spiritual Power erupted from him, stabilizing the surrounding heaven and earth Spiritual Energy, which had become somewhat violent due to the formation's fluctuations.
Buzz—!
The Medicine Saint Token trembled lightly, scattering gentle radiance as it resonated with the medicine cauldron below. The hundred-herb patterns on the rock lit up one after another, finally converging into a pillar of light that shot toward the seven-colored restriction above.
The restriction's light curtain rippled like water, slowly splitting open a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through. A medicinal fragrance and Spiritual Energy far more pure and ancient than anything outside wafted out from within.
"Go!" Xuanyuan Che waved his hand. The four transformed into streaks of light and instantly flashed through the gap.
Less than three breaths after they entered, the gap swiftly closed and returned to normal.
The people outside saw only a flash of light before the four vanished without a trace, and an uproar immediately broke out!
"They went in! They really went in!"
"What was that? The Medicine Saint Token? They actually have the key!"
"Quick! Notify Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters! The Medicine Saint's hidden estate has emerged!"
The news grew wings and swiftly spread across the entire Myriad Races Battlefield, triggering an even greater uproar. The value of the Medicine Saint's hidden estate far surpassed that of an ordinary secret realm, enough to drive every heavenly prodigy mad!
For a time, countless powerful auras rose from every direction of the battlefield and raced at full speed toward the Seven-Colored Medicine Valley!
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