Miraculous Grass

Sky-light slowly filled the clouds and mists, and the Sky Rift lit up. The range of heaven and earth illuminated by the Zhaoshen Map unconsciously expanded once more to its limit of fifty miles, which made Yu Ci extremely happy. This proved that it was not a permanent decay, but perhaps only an accidental change that occurred under the unique environment of the Sky Rift.

Unsleeping through the night and remaining in a state of high tension, Yu Ci's eyes were bloodshot at this moment, yet his spirit was exceptionally vibrant. A quarter-hour ago, those fierce beasts roaming about at night had all lost their voices, and now was the time for him to move.

Harvesting Shrimp Whisker Grass was a grueling chore, even with Yu Ci's advancing cultivation and the grass being easy to pick. Working hard all morning until the summer heat penetrated the layers of cloud and mist to affect this place, Yu Ci had only harvested a few hundred stalks. Meanwhile, birds and beasts in the valley passed by three or five times, forcing Yu Ci to hide beforehand, making it all the more arduous.

After toiling for another hour or two, the boldness Yu Ci had cultivated during the night was almost entirely worn away by this monotonous, tedious work. He began to understand why the cultivators in the Bai Ri Mansion, each possessed of genuine skills, still hired ordinary civilians to do this chore...

To do this kind of bastardly work all day long, what a farting use cultivating the Dao, what a bird's life to grow!

At this moment, a fishy stench rolled over from the mists once more. He sighed mournfully, his figure sinking down as he lunged toward a pre-arranged hiding spot.

Just as he concealed himself, the sound of flapping wings rang out overhead. Yu Ci glanced outward; the creature that landed on the slope was a species of winged ape he had seen yesterday. Although it possessed flesh wings, it could only glide briefly and generally lived in the higher regions of the valley. Compared to those terrifying fierce beasts that left a deep impression on him, it was not too difficult to deal with.

This winged ape appeared to be injured, its grayish-blue fur streaked with blood and its expression listless, yet it seemed to have a strong sense of purpose in coming here. Upon landing, it did not look around, but instead directly sought out a patch of ground, extending its forelimbs to dig into the earth.

That spot happened to be a blank patch where no Shrimp Whisker Grass grew. Yu Ci was not afraid of this beast destroying the medicinal herbs, but rather felt a strong surge of curiosity. From this angle, he could not see the specific situation beneath the ape's claws, so he simply employed the Zhaoshen Map, calling up a perspective almost identical to that of the ape to see what on earth this fellow was doing.

The ape's claws were sharp, and it quickly dug several feet deep, revealing the pine roots below. Parting the roots with practiced ease, it grabbed an earthworm-like object, and without caring that it was still stained with mud, shoved it straight into its mouth. After chewing a few times, it swallowed it down.

Perhaps this "earthworm" truly possessed medicinal efficacy, for after swallowing the thing, the ape's spirit actually grew vibrant. With a "ga" cry, it spread its flesh wings and, riding a strong gust of wind, glided away.

Yu Ci stared in a daze. A while ago when he used the Zhaoshen Map to observe the surrounding terrain, it could be called exhaustive in every detail. He had naturally seen this kind of "earthworm" back then without paying it any mind, but seeing the state of this "earthworm" at the tip of the ape's claw, he realized that it was by no means an "earthworm," nor even a living creature, but rather a medicinal herb that strongly resembled an insect.

He had seen winter-worms and summer-grass and the like used in medicine, but there was still a great difference between them and this thing. This plant stem was far too lifelike; apart from not writhing, its entire body was truly too similar to crawling insects like earthworms, and upon its surface, there was even a layer of fine scales, emitting the delicate luster possessed only by living things.

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

Uh, wait, an eel... fish?

He still remembered the words spoken by that drunken medicine gatherer the day before: the Bai Ri Mansion could create a kind of medicinal liquid, soaking a large amount of Shrimp Whisker Grass within it. The best-looking and most completely preserved stalk among them had a chance of being soaked back to life, and this revived stalk of Shrimp Whisker Grass would absorb the vitality of all its peers into itself, transforming into a new kind of medicinal herb. That kind of medicinal herb was called...

Fish Dragon Grass!

Yu Ci leaped out of his hiding spot and ran to the patch of earth dug open by the winged ape to inspect it closely. However, there was only that single stalk nearby, and since the ape had chewed it up, none remained.

Of course Yu Ci had no way to slice that plant stem out of the distant winged ape's belly, but he had the Zhaoshen Map. Amidst rippling azure light, the terrain surrounding the slope presented itself before his eyes in the most detailed and complete manner.

With a mind to search, he quickly gained results. There were none left on the upper slope, but beneath the surrounding cliff walls, there were indeed seven or eight such stalks. Furthermore, casting his gaze further out, at approximately the same depth plane and about four miles apart, he even discovered another patch of Shrimp Whisker Grass growth, and right there, three or five similar medicinal herbs were also present.

However, these medicinal herbs all grew within deep rock crevices, and some were even locked directly deep inside rock layers several feet thick. This was also natural; if this grass possessed exceptional medicinal efficacy, those growing in plain sight would have long been dug clean by the living things of the valley, and the only ones capable of surviving were naturally these deeply hidden plants.

Yu Ci let out a long breath. He had to thank the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and thank the Zhaoshen Map; otherwise, even if these plants were right beneath his feet, he would have no way of discovering them, let alone confirming their exact locations. It was just that wanting to dig them out would inevitably require some arduous toil.

With a grunt, he directly brandished the Nine Yang Talisman Sword. If it truly was Fish Dragon Grass, what was the bit of consumed strength worth?

Sunsets and moonrises, sunrises and moonsets—in the blink of an eye, nearly twenty hours passed. During this period, Yu Ci exhausted every skill at his disposal, chiseling out one deep pit after another on the iron-hard cliff walls to dig out the medicinal herbs growing within them.

This was no easy task. The surrounding cliff walls were hard as iron and difficult to work on, while the intertwining roots within were a thousand-headed mess that would sustain damage at the slightest inattention. In a day and a half, Yu Ci completely abandoned the Shrimp Whisker Grass and devoted himself wholeheartedly, yet he only managed to retrieve the eight medicinal herbs near the slope. As for the newly discovered location four miles away, he had not yet found the time to act on it.

Yet in the process of excavation, he discovered a characteristic of the medicinal herb: within a space of about half an acre surrounding its growing site, there was inevitably no Shrimp Whisker Grass to be found, while other vegetation was free to grow. Connecting this to the news he had heard earlier, this phenomenon was likely caused by this grass devouring the vitality of other Shrimp Whisker Grass to fatten itself.

Viewed this way, his confidence that this medicinal herb was Fish Dragon Grass increased by another thirty percent.

Yu Ci did not mix the medicinal herbs together with the Shrimp Whisker Grass, but instead specially emptied Daoist Yan's stone box, placing the eight medicinal herbs inside with the utmost care.

By the time he finished these tasks, the area near the slope was already a complete mess. Yu Ci had pounded and chiseled the stone wall during this period, and the noise truly had been a bit too loud, already attracting the attention of quite a few fierce beasts. After pondering for a moment, he simply abandoned the remaining thousand-odd stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass and temporarily relocated to the newly discovered medicine-gathering spot four miles away to avoid the limelight.

The new medicine-gathering spot was much more difficult than the slope, and he could not find a single stable foothold anywhere. It was only because Yu Ci had gained insight from chiseling cliff walls over the past few days that he utilized a larger fissure on the cliff face to chisel out a concave niche barely capable of holding his body, thereby securing a place to stand.

Yet speaking of which, this place turned out to be far more secluded than the slope.

The quality of the Shrimp Whisker Grass here was actually not very good, but Yu Ci's attention was still focused on the suspected Fish Dragon Grass. He tirelessly checked their positions once more with the Zhaoshen Map, and just as he was about to get to work, he suddenly noticed that at the side corner of the Zhaoshen Map, the shifting light and shadow were distinctly unusual.

He concentrated his gaze, and yet he saw an acquaintance.

When that person's face was clearly presented within the Zhaoshen Map, Yu Ci spat: Bald thief!

Within the Zhaoshen Map was precisely that monk who had ambushed him two days ago but been counter-controlled by him. To this day, Yu Ci still did not know his name, only referring to him as "Poisonous Snake," calling him the Poisonous Snake Monk.

The monk did not know that deep in the distant Sky Rift, someone was unceremoniously scrutinizing him and uttering vicious words. Right now, he was harming people once more, though this time he held the absolute upper hand.

His opponent was a young man in white clothes who appeared clumsy and awkward, entirely devoid of the power to parry. Yet every time they reached a perilous juncture, a streak of golden light would fly and wind around his body. The Poisonous Snake Monk also seemed extremely wary of this golden light, causing his hands to slow down each time and allowing the youth to escape.

The two chased each other from the cliff top down to the base, fighting along the sheer precipice of the Sky Rift. At this moment, beneath their feet was an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep; a single misstep would result in eternal damnation, testing not only cultivation but even more so courage. Unable to match the Poisonous Snake Monk's seasoned ruthlessness, the youth grew timid first. Even more unexpectedly, the monk suddenly swept his large sleeve, and five or six wretched green starlight points flew out, striking straight at his face.

The youth was clearly greatly startled, his body already stiffening as he instinctively shrank back, yet forgetting that he was originally atop a ten-thousand-fathom sheer precipice. Stepping into empty air amidst a startled cry, he plummeted downward urgently, and the wretched green starlight points also struck empty space.

All of this was within the Poisonous Snake Monk's control. The monk sneered with a hiss and swept his large sleeve again, drawing back several wretched green starlight points like a long whale drinking water. His figure then slid all the way down along the precipice, snatching toward the youth's chest as if still intending to capture him alive.

Precisely at this moment, the youth conjured a fierce streak of grit from somewhere and shouted loudly. That streak of golden light winding around his body appeared once more, transforming into a long rainbow that slashed down overhead. The monk was also startled, turning his grab into a chopping strike. His palm force fiercely battered the youth's chest, borrowing a bit of force to sidestep out of the way. Unable to be retracted once unleashed, the golden light struck with a clang sound, plunging deeply into the cliff face and revealing its true form—it was actually a golden sabre two feet in length.

Though the monk dodged quickly, his face had already been torn open by the sabre Qi, bleeding profusely and looking quite horrifying. Yet the monk was overjoyed; disregarding the youth, he lunged forward to pull out the golden sabre, holding it in his hand to examine it for a long time before suddenly throwing his head back and laughing loudly. No sound could be transmitted out from the Zhaoshen Map, but that imagery was enough to prove that this golden sabre was bound to be an extraordinary treasure.

Yu Ci uttered a "bah," holding a very poor view of the Poisonous Snake Monk's actions, while inevitably feeling regret for the youth who had plummeted into the clouds and mists. The youth's cultivation was actually not too much inferior to the monk's; it was only because his heart had grown timid that ten parts of skill could not display three, relying excessively on that golden sabre, that he ended up losing the sabre and dying... Oh?

The Zhaoshen Map revealed that after the youth fell, there was initially a period of rapid descent, but after dropping over a hundred zhang, his descent suddenly slowed abruptly, fluttering downward leisurely like a leaf without weight.

Initially, Yu Ci thought the youth was playing the pig to eat the tiger, but very soon he discovered that the fellow had truly passed out cold. The reason for this situation seemed to be that the robe on his body was also an extraordinary treasure, automatically protecting its master. However, in the dangerous land of the Sky Rift, even if this person didn't fall to his death, sooner or later he would be swallowed alive by the surrounding fierce birds and beasts.

Observing this situation, Yu Ci thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up and rushed out of the sheltering niche.

Forget it, consider it this kid's good fortune!

Yu Ci was no do-gooder. If that youth hadn't possessed treasure garments to protect his body and had fallen directly from the ten-thousand-fathom heights, with that kind of impact, even an immortal would be pressed into a meat pie, and back then even if the youth had passed right over his head, he wouldn't have reached out a hand. But the current situation was different; he possessed the Zhaoshen Map, and running ten miles away in the Sky Rift was merely a matter of working up a sweat, yet he could save a human life. Why not do it?

A short half-hour later, Yu Ci dragged the youth—who was still in an unconscious state—back to the slope where he had stayed earlier. Nearby, only this place constituted a proper footing.

He unceremoniously dumped the youth onto the ground. This drop was not light, causing the youth to let out a low groan even in his unconsciousness. Viewed from Yu Ci's angle, this youth was excessively young; although his face was filled with the terror of death, one could tell he still retained his raw youthfulness, being at most fifteen or sixteen years old. At this age, he could only be called a boy.

Putting aside his atrocious practical combat ability and judging purely by cultivation, this age was enough to make Yu Ci want to smash his head against a wall. However, what truly made Yu Ci hard-pressed to endure was:

This brat... is purely scared unconscious!