Miraculous Grass

The sky's light gradually filled the clouds, and Sky Rift lit up. The area illuminated by the Zhaoshen Map had unknowingly expanded to its limit of fifty li. This made Yu Ci very happy, as it proved that the previous reduction wasn't permanent, but rather a possible accidental change unique to the environment of Sky Rift.

Having stayed awake all night and being in a state of high tension, Yu Ci's eyes were bloodshot, but his spirit was extremely invigorated. Fifteen minutes ago, the fierce beasts that roamed at night had fallen silent, and now was his time to act.

Harvesting Shrimp Whisker Grass was arduous work, even for Yu Ci, whose cultivation had advanced and could find Shrimp Whisker Grass everywhere. After working hard all morning, by the time the summer heat began to affect the area through the layers of clouds, Yu Ci had only managed to collect a few hundred stalks. Moreover, the birds and beasts in the valley passed by three to five times, forcing Yu Ci to hide in advance, making the work even more strenuous.

After toiling for another hour, the heroic spirit Yu Ci had cultivated overnight was almost extinguished by the monotonous and tedious work. He began to understand why the cultivators in Bai Ri Mansion, despite their skills, still hired common people to do this kind of work...

Spending all day doing this garbage, what kind of cultivation or life could one possibly have!

At this moment, another wave of fishy scent rolled in from the clouds. He sighed and dropped down, rushing towards his pre-arranged hiding spot.

Just as he concealed himself, the sound of flapping wings echoed from above. Yu Ci glanced outside and saw a flesh-winged ape, the same kind he had seen yesterday, landing on the slope. Although it had fleshy wings, it could only glide for short distances and generally lived in the upper regions of the valley. Compared to the terrifying beasts that had left a deep impression on him, it wasn't too difficult to handle.

This ape seemed to be injured, its grayish-blue fur matted with blood, and its expression listless. It appeared to have a strong purpose in coming here. After landing, it didn't look around but directly found a spot on the ground, extended its forelimbs, and began to dig.

It happened to be a bare patch of ground where no Shrimp Whisker Grass grew. Yu Ci wasn't worried about the beast damaging the medicinal herbs, but instead, a strong curiosity arose within him. From his angle, he couldn't see what the ape was doing under its claws, so he used the Zhaoshen Map to adjust his view to one almost identical to the ape's, wanting to see what this creature was up to.

The ape's claws were sharp, and it quickly dug several feet deep, revealing the roots below. The creature parted the roots and expertly grabbed something worm-like, stuffing it directly into its mouth without bothering to remove the dirt. It chewed a few times and swallowed.

Perhaps this "worm" truly had medicinal effects. After swallowing it, the ape's spirits seemed to lift. It let out a squawk, spread its fleshy wings, and used a strong gust of wind to glide away.

Yu Ci stared in astonishment. A while ago, he had used the Zhaoshen Map to observe the surrounding terrain in minute detail. He had certainly seen these "worms" then, but hadn't paid them any mind. However, seeing the "worm" in the ape's grasp, he realized it was definitely not a "worm," nor even a living creature, but a medicinal herb that looked remarkably like an insect.

He had seen medicinal herbs like Cordyceps sinensis, but this was very different. The stem of this herb was too realistic. Apart from not wriggling, its entire body was very similar to crawling creatures like earthworms. Its surface even had a layer of fine scales, giving off a delicate luster that only living beings possessed.

Enlarging it a few more times, Yu Ci might have even believed it was a long snake or an eel.

Uh, wait a minute, eel... fish?

He remembered what the drunken herb collector had said a few days ago: Bai Ri Mansion could produce a medicinal liquid. If a large amount of Shrimp Whisker Grass was soaked in it, the best preserved and most intact stalk might come to life. This living stalk of Shrimp Whisker Grass would then absorb the life force of its peers, transforming into a new medicinal herb. That herb was called...

Fish Dragon Grass!

Yu Ci jumped out of his hiding spot and ran to the soil layer that the ape had dug up, examining it closely. However, there was only one stalk in the vicinity, which the ape had already chewed and swallowed, leaving nothing behind.

Yu Ci obviously couldn't dissect the grass stalk from the departing ape's belly, but he had the Zhaoshen Map. With the ripple of blue light, the terrain around the slope appeared before him in the most detailed and complete way.

With a focused search, he quickly found something. There were none on the slope, but beneath the surrounding cliff faces, there were indeed seven or eight stalks. Furthermore, looking further away, at approximately the same depth and about four li apart, he discovered another patch of Shrimp Whisker Grass. There, similar medicinal herbs were also present in groups of three to five.

However, these medicinal herbs were growing in deeper rock crevices, some even locked away several feet deep within the rock layer. This was also quite normal. If this herb possessed excellent medicinal effects, those growing in the open would have long been dug up by the creatures in the valley. Only those hidden deeper would remain.

Yu Ci let out a long sigh. He had to thank the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and the Zhaoshen Map. Otherwise, even if these plants were right beneath his feet, he wouldn't have discovered them, let alone confirmed their exact locations. However, digging them out would undoubtedly be a strenuous task.

With a "heh," he directly drew out the Nine Yang Talisman Sword. If it was indeed Fish Dragon Grass, what was the expenditure of a little effort?

Sun rose and moon set, sun rose and moon set, and in the blink of an eye, nearly twenty hours passed. During this time, Yu Ci exerted all his strength, chiseling out deep pits in the iron-hard cliff face to excavate the medicinal herbs growing within.

This was not an easy task. The surrounding cliff faces were as hard as iron, making it difficult to get a foothold. The tangled roots within were a complex mess, and a slight mistake could cause damage. In a day and a half, Yu Ci completely abandoned the Shrimp Whisker Grass and focused all his efforts, managing to extract only the eight medicinal herbs near the slope. As for the newly discovered location four li away, he hadn't had time to start yet.

During the excavation, however, he discovered a characteristic of the herb: within a radius of about half an acre around its growing location, there would be no Shrimp Whisker Grass. Other plants, however, could grow freely. Connecting this with the information he had heard earlier, it was likely that this herb consumed the life force of other Shrimp Whisker Grass to enrich itself, causing this phenomenon.

Judging by this, the probability of this herb being Fish Dragon Grass increased by another thirty percent.

Yu Ci did not mix the medicinal herbs with the Shrimp Whisker Grass. Instead, he specifically cleared out Daoist Yan's stone box and carefully placed the eight medicinal herbs inside.

After finishing these tasks, the area near the slope was in disarray. Yu Ci's chiseling of the stone walls during this period had indeed created quite a bit of noise, attracting the attention of many fierce beasts. After some thought, he decided to abandon the remaining thousands of stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass and temporarily move them to the new herb-picking spot discovered four li away to avoid trouble.

The new herb-picking spot was much more difficult than the slope; there was no stable foothold to be found. Yu Ci, having gained some experience from chiseling cliff faces over the past few days, used a larger crack in the cliff face to chisel out a barely habitable recess, thus creating a place to stand.

However, on the other hand, this place was more concealed than the slope.

The quality of the Shrimp Whisker Grass here was not very good, but Yu Ci was more concerned about the medicinal herbs that were suspected to be Fish Dragon Grass. He painstakingly re-examined them with the Zhaoshen Map, confirming their positions one by one. Just as he was about to start, he suddenly noticed that in the side corner of the Zhaoshen Map, the light and shadow were changing unusually.

He focused his gaze and saw an acquaintance.

When the person's face clearly appeared in the Zhaoshen Map, Yu Ci spat, "Damn monk!"

In the Zhaoshen Map, it was the monk who had ambushed him two days ago but was then subdued by him. Yu Ci still didn't know his name, only referring to him as "Poisonous Snake," hence calling him the Poisonous Snake Monk.

The monk was unaware that deep within Sky Rift Valley, someone was unscrupulously observing him and speaking ill of him. Currently, he was harming someone again, and this time he had the upper hand.

His opponent was a young man in a white shirt. The young man appeared clumsy and defenseless, unable to fight back. However, whenever he was in mortal danger, a golden light would circle around him, and the Poisonous Snake Monk seemed to be very wary of this golden light, slowing his attacks and allowing the young man to escape.

The two fought from the cliff top to the cliff bottom, and then battled on the sheer cliffs of Sky Rift Valley. At this point, they were suspended thousands of feet in the air. A single misstep meant eternal damnation, testing not only their cultivation but also their courage. The young man couldn't match the Poisonous Snake Monk's cunning and became timid. Unexpectedly, the monk suddenly waved his sleeve, and five or six points of ghastly green starlight shot out, attacking him head-on.

The young man was clearly startled. His body froze, and he instinctively recoiled, forgetting that he was already on a cliff thousands of feet high. He stepped on empty air, and with a scream, he plummeted downwards. The ghastly green starlight missed its mark.

All of this was within the Poisonous Snake Monk's control. The monk hissed and smiled, waving his sleeve again. He sucked back several points of ghastly green starlight like a great whale, and then slid down the cliff face, grabbing towards the young man's chest, seemingly intending to capture him alive.

Just then, the young man, with a surge of desperate energy from somewhere, shouted, and the golden light circling him reappeared, transforming into a long rainbow that slashed down. The monk was also startled. He changed his grab into a slash, striking the young man's chest with his palm, using the force to move aside. The golden light, unable to be retracted, let out a "clang" and embedded itself deeply into the cliff face, revealing its true form: a golden saber about two feet long.

Although the monk moved quickly, his face was already torn by the saber's energy, bleeding profusely and looking gruesome. However, the monk was overjoyed. Ignoring the young man, he pounced forward, pulled out the golden saber, examined it for a long time, and then burst into loud laughter. The Zhaoshen Map could not transmit sound, but the expression was enough to prove that the golden saber must be an extraordinary treasure.

Yu Ci "spat," finding the Poisonous Snake Monk's actions very displeasing and regretting the young man who had fallen into the clouds. The young man's cultivation was actually not much inferior to the monk's. It was just that he was timid, unable to unleash even thirty percent of his full power, and relied too much on the golden saber, which led to his demise... Huh?

The Zhaoshen Map showed that after the young man fell, there was an initial period of rapid descent. However, after falling over a hundred zhang, his descent suddenly slowed, like a weightless leaf drifting down.

At first, Yu Ci thought the young man was playing possum, but he soon realized that the person was truly unconscious. The reason for this situation seemed to be that his clothing was also an extraordinary treasure, automatically protecting its master. However, in this dangerous place of Sky Rift Valley, even if this person didn't die from the fall, he would eventually be devoured by the surrounding fierce birds and beasts.

Seeing this situation, Yu Ci thought for a moment, then suddenly got up and rushed out of his hiding spot.

"Fine, consider it your good fortune!"

Yu Ci wasn't a do-gooder. If the young man hadn't been protected by the treasure clothing and had fallen directly from a height of ten thousand zhang, the impact would have crushed even an immortal into a meat patty. At that time, even if the young man had passed over his head, he wouldn't have reached out; but the current situation was different. He possessed the Zhaoshen Map, and traveling ten li in Sky Rift Valley would only make him sweat a little. Yet, he could save a life, so why not?

A little over half an hour later, Yu Ci returned to the slope where he had been earlier, carrying the still unconscious young man. This was the only proper place to stand nearby.

He unceremoniously threw the young man onto the ground. This was not a gentle landing; even in his unconscious state, the young man let out a low groan. From Yu Ci's perspective, this young man was excessively young. Although his face was filled with the fear of death, it was evident that he was still childish, at most fifteen or sixteen years old. At this age, he could only be called a youth.

Setting aside his慘不忍睹 (miserable to behold) combat ability, judging solely by his cultivation, at this age, Yu Ci felt like hitting his head against a wall. However, what truly made Yu Ci unbearable was:

"This kid... was purely scared unconscious!"