The Second Gate

The hazy mist still swirled in every direction, obscuring the distance. Only the peaks within the fog appeared and vanished like phantoms. The surroundings were utterly silent, windless and still.

Su Ming gazed at the mountains within the mist. This was his second time here, the second time he stood in this spot to re-examine those strange peaks. Especially when he recalled the countless bizarre characters and patterns carved upon the mountains, a sense of awe could not help but rise within him.

He took a deep breath and looked down at the pendant on his chest. The black fragment that had been there was gone. Pinching his own body, Su Ming confirmed once more that he was not experiencing a dream, but had truly appeared in this place.

He tucked his hand into his robe and felt the small bottles containing the Dust-Clearing Powder still there. His eyes flashed, and he walked quickly into the mist ahead. Before long, he arrived at the foot of the mountain and stepped into the passageway.

He did not pause along the way until he reached the stone door within the tunnel. Looking at the center of the concentric circles on the familiar door, where fifteen small holes were arranged, Su Ming hesitated for a moment. Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward, took a medicine bottle from his robe, poured out a pill, held it between two fingers, and placed it into the first of the fifteen holes.

Almost the instant his finger touched the hole in the stone door, Su Ming felt a faint suction suddenly arise from within, forcibly drawing the Medicine Stone from his fingers.

Su Ming's expression was solemn and guarded. He did not know if his judgment was correct, nor did he know what would happen once all fifteen holes were filled, but he had considered this trip for a long time and was filled with a faint sense of anticipation.

He did not act rashly. After the first hole sucked away the Medicine Stone, Su Ming watched intently, but after a long while, the hole remained as it was, showing no change at all.

Su Ming scratched his head. In his contemplation, he simply took out another Medicine Stone and placed it into the second hole. He continued in this manner, and when he had placed all fifteen Medicine Stones with a heart full of heartache, his inner tension grew even greater.

"Fifteen Medicine Stones—if there is no change, then they will all be wasted..." Su Ming was watching the fifteen holes nervously when, suddenly, rays of soft light erupted from within them.

Su Ming's spirits lifted, and he quickly stepped back. He saw that as the light swirled around the fifteen holes on the stone door, growing brighter and brighter, the concentric circles on the door seemed to come alive. They began to rotate slowly, and after a moment, they merged into one, spinning rapidly like a whirlpool.

As it rotated, the light within the fifteen holes seemed to be sucked bit by bit into the vortex, causing the stone door to be shrouded in flowing light. A booming sound suddenly arose, echoing through the tunnel. It was deafening, and Su Ming's body involuntarily manifested ten blood lines; his internal blood and qi churned, and he subconsciously resisted the pressure.

The rumbling sound lasted for a moment before fifteen wisps of green smoke emerged from the fifteen holes, as if the Medicine Stones inside had been directly transformed into smoke. After the fifteen wisps of smoke appeared, the massive stone door began to tremble, and a straight crack suddenly appeared in its center.

The crack connected the top to the bottom, and then, before Su Ming's eyes, the stone door slowly moved to the sides and opened!

Su Ming's heart pounded. He watched this scene, his mind shaken. It was not until the stone door was fully open that he gasped. Behind the stone door, there was no longer a passageway, but a small stone chamber.

The walls of the stone chamber were not smooth; they were covered in carved patterns. On the wall directly ahead, there was another tightly shut door.

On the ceiling of the stone chamber, small stones that emitted a faint glow were embedded into the walls, and a faint fragrance wafted out, making one feel refreshed with a single breath.

Su Ming's eyes flashed. He walked forward cautiously, his gaze sweeping over the walls of the stone chamber. He saw that the carved images were similar to what he had seen in the tunnel—figures with disheveled hair and naked bodies, refining Medicine Stones in an atmosphere of primitive simplicity.

When Su Ming first entered this place, he had been completely bewildered by such images. But now, with the success of his refining and the knowledge added to his memory, he could understand quite a bit as he looked at these carvings.

The figures in those images were refining different Medicine Stones. As Su Ming watched, he became immersed in them, verifying them against his own experience. He became as if obsessed, forgetting the passage of time.

After finishing one image, he would often walk quickly to find the next. He did not know how much time had passed, but when he had finished viewing all the patterns, still wanting more, his gaze fell upon the closed door within the stone chamber.

This was a stone door slightly different from the first one. It was pitch black and emitted faint wafts of fragrance, as if the stone itself were quite extraordinary.

It also possessed a sense of weight. There were patterns upon it, but the pattern was that of a massive Wild Cauldron, with wisps of smoke rising from it. It was quite lifelike; as Su Ming watched, he had the faint illusion that this was not a pattern, but a real Wild Cauldron in the midst of refining.

"If only I had such a Wild Cauldron..." Su Ming looked at it a few more times with great envy.

Above and to the sides of the Wild Cauldron, he saw several different types of herbs, and he immediately perked up, examining them carefully. The purpose of his coming here was to see if there were methods for concocting other Medicine Stones.

To the left of the Wild Cauldron pattern, seven herbs were listed. Five of those seven were exactly the ingredients for refining Dust-Clearing Powder. As for the two extra ones, Su Ming had never seen them before. He focused on them for a long time, firmly memorizing their appearance.

Below this prescription, eight small holes were arranged on the stone door.

To the right of the Wild Cauldron pattern were eight herbs. Just like the prescription on the left, five of these eight herbs were also required for refining Dust-Clearing Powder.

Su Ming's eyes lit up when he saw the three extra ones; he recognized two of them, though they were not common.

Likewise, there were small holes beneath this prescription as well, though the number was slightly higher than on the left: twelve.

As for the third prescription above the Wild Cauldron pattern, when Su Ming looked at it, his expression slowly became extremely grave. This prescription was not made of herbs, but of three images that made one's heart tremble.

The first was the tail scale of a python; the second was the ninth leg of a nine-legged spider; the third was a pitch-black, palm-sized humanoid figure, specifically its right hand's third finger.

Even more strangely, there were no small holes beneath this third prescription, as if this Medicine Stone were too difficult to refine, and thus there was no forced requirement to refine it.

Su Ming pondered for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and walked toward the stone door. He raised his right hand and pressed it against the door without hesitation. Immediately, the Wild Cauldron pattern on the stone door emitted a blinding, eerie light that enveloped Su Ming's body.

After a moment of discomfort, a new thread of memory appeared in Su Ming's mind, and he gained the refining methods and names for these three types of Medicine Stones.

"Nanli Powder!" Su Ming's gaze swept across the left side of the Wild Cauldron pattern, then looked to the right.

"Mountain Spirit Powder... and as for this last one... Spirit-Absorbing Powder!" Su Ming murmured to himself, staring at the bizarre prescription above the Wild Cauldron pattern on the stone door.

As Su Ming was deep in thought, the eerie light swirling around his body gradually dimmed, and the light of the Wild Cauldron on the stone door also faded. The moment the light vanished completely, Su Ming's vision blurred. He did not panic, as he had experienced this once before. A strange whistling sound seemed to exist in his ears, and when the whistling ceased, his vision slowly cleared. He was still in his room within the tribe.

Su Ming took a deep breath, walked to the door, moved the chair aside, and pushed the door open. Outside, it was still night; the stars in the sky were twinkling, and the surroundings were silent. A night breeze blew in, carrying a chill.

However, on the distant horizon, there was a faint line of white, clearly indicating that dawn was approaching.

"The time inside and outside should be about the same..." Su Ming closed the door, sat down cross-legged again, rested his chin on his hand, and began to ponder.

"The refining methods for these three Medicine Stones are each different. I have never seen the two herbs in the Nanli Powder prescription, so I can set that aside for now. As for... Spirit-Absorbing Powder..." Su Ming's pupils contracted slightly.

"This powder is not refined from herbs, and the required items are too strange. However, in the memory I obtained, the phenomenon that appeared after this powder was refined was truly astonishing!" Recalling the figure he had seen in the memory, who had caused the heavens and earth to change color and the winds and clouds to churn upon refining the Spirit-Absorbing Powder, he could not help but feel his heart race.

"If this Medicine Stone could be refined, it would surely be incredible! Unfortunately... even the stone door didn't provide holes for it, which clearly shows that refining this powder is quite difficult... and thus it has no connection to opening this door." After a little thought, Su Ming guessed the truth of the matter.

"The only one I can refine right now is the Mountain Spirit Powder. Among the three extra herbs, I recognize two... although I don't have them on hand, there must be plenty in the tribe's medicine storage room."

As Su Ming pondered, the sky outside gradually brightened, and a new day slowly arrived.

Although he had not rested all night, Su Ming did not feel the slightest bit of sleepiness. This feeling had become very obvious after he reached the second level of the Blood Condensation Realm; it was as if he possessed an abundance of energy. Unless he stayed up like this for several consecutive days, he would not feel the slightest bit of fatigue.

At dawn, as the tribesmen began their busy new day, Su Ming washed up and walked through the tribe toward a nearby house built of wood and grass, surrounded by a fence and guarded by tribesmen at all times.