Gathering Herbs

Yu Ci had to thank his birth parents; they had given him a talent beyond that of ordinary people: his extraordinary sense of smell, which he had used before. He possessed a naturally keen sense of smell, capable of distinguishing complex mixed scents and noticing subtle aromas that others overlooked. He had relied on this talent greatly in his daily life, and in Sky Rift Valley, it was this very talent that allowed him to navigate through the boundless clouds and mist, accurately locating the Shrimp Whisker Grass.

With his target within reach, Yu Ci's mind grew calmer. He didn't rush to pick it. Instead, he took out the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror from his sleeve, activated its spiritual light attraction, and began drawing talismans in the air.

Talismans, formed from the essence of five colors flowing and condensing into patterns, could harmonize myriad truths, command spirits, and draw upon the power of clouds, celestial bodies, and stars. There were cloud script and thunder patterns, dragon and phoenix scripts, and demonic and ghost patterns. All that was depicted imitated and borrowed from these forces, serving the purpose of communicating with spirits.

For over ten years, Yu Ci had dedicated himself to the study of talismans. The Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing, which he had acquired from the Twin Immortals Sect, was his sole source of systematic knowledge. Although the talisman book contained nearly a thousand types of talismans, he had only mastered a little over ten. However, he knew the various records within the book by heart.

The Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing documented three talisman systems: cloud script and thunder patterns, dragon and phoenix scripts, and demonic and ghost patterns. The cloud script and thunder patterns mimicked the natural order of heaven and earth, yin and yang. The dragon and phoenix scripts absorbed the vitality of birds and beasts. As for the demonic and ghost patterns, they borrowed the fierce power of sorcery and ghost paths.

Each of these three talisman systems could stand on its own, but truly profound talisman arts invariably blended all three, extracting their essence.

Alas, Yu Ci's cultivation was insufficient, and his understanding of the Dao was shallow. Even with a superior spiritual light source like the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror, he could perfectly replicate the complex patterns, but he still couldn't activate the power of the higher-level talismans. He could only practice relatively simple and pure talismans, primarily from a single system, like the one he was using now.

His finger guided the spiritual light, tracing extremely abstract patterns in the air. The upper part resembled bird script, the lower part tiger script, with surrounding constellations arrayed, and the center concluded with a winding seal script. Once all the patterns were drawn, the blue light lines suspended in the air simultaneously flashed, then rapidly condensed and shrank until they formed an exquisite talisman half the size of his palm, where they then solidified.

Yu Ci pointed his finger, and the talisman immediately shot out. Its trajectory was peculiar, using Yu Ci's finger as an axis to fly in circles, the circles growing larger and the talisman flying farther until it completely disappeared into the dense fog. Only then did Yu Ci withdraw his hand.

This was the Five Directions Spirit Communication Talisman, one of the most complex talismans Yu Ci had learned from the Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing at his current level. Although it was primarily based on the dragon and phoenix scripts, it also slightly incorporated elements of the cloud, thunder, and demonic/ghost systems. Yu Ci had practiced this single talisman for a full five years before he could barely use it.

This talisman possessed no offensive capabilities. However, it could detect the intense activities of all living beings within a five-mile radius, using the caster as a reference point, and feedback this information into the caster's spirit and soul with incredible sensitivity. Yu Ci used it for vigilance.

With all preparations complete, Yu Ci finally stepped forward, walking slowly towards the upper edge of the giant pine tree as if crossing a narrow bridge.

The Shrimp Whisker Grass was within reach, but Yu Ci wasn't in a hurry. He took out the prepared stone box from his sleeve and carefully placed it in a nook formed by intertwined pine branches, a naturally stable platform. Still not entirely at ease, he used another talisman to secure it. Only then was he finished.

Then, he bent down and carefully began to harvest the Shrimp Whisker Grass.

The grass blades were only as thick as a strand of hair, and when they clung to the tree trunk, they intertwined with the rough bark, easily breaking if one wasn't careful. Moreover, due to the medicinal properties, the roots had to be harvested along with the grass. Therefore, Yu Ci had to meticulously untangle each blade of grass until he found the roots before he could pull them out.

This kind of work was incredibly tedious, requiring immense patience and being highly susceptible to accidents.

Fortunately, Yu Ci's luck was good today. For over three hours, without any external disturbances, Yu Ci successfully harvested this patch of Shrimp Whisker Grass, preserving it in a relatively intact state, with about a hundred stalks. He placed each one into the stone box beside him as he picked it.

As he had told Xuanqing that day, Shrimp Whisker Grass could absorb Yimu spiritual energy but was incompatible with metal energy. Therefore, it could not be stored in metal or wooden containers. He could only use the stone box provided by the Bai Ri Mansion steward. In the stone box, the Shrimp Whisker Grass had already spread out to form a shallow layer, numbering three to five hundred stalks. This was his entire harvest from the past four months.

After bringing these medicinal herbs back to the Bai Ri Mansion steward, they would be meticulously categorized based on their quality and completeness, with their value discounted by thirty to fifty percent. The Bai Ri Mansion would naturally absorb this discount, which was the usual practice. As an unaffiliated cultivator, there was nothing he could do about it.

After completing all this, the sky had already begun to darken. The setting sun weakly cast its remaining rays into the clouds. Yu Ci put away the stone box, dispelled all his spells, and used the protruding branches and rock crevices to climb the hundreds of feet of cliff face like a monkey. Once he reached the top, a strong gust of wind revealed that his inner tunic was soaked with sweat, and the coolness was quite uncomfortable.

Today's work was done. Yu Ci was tired. He found a spot sheltered from the wind and rested briefly. Once his inner tunic had dried, he set off, descending the hundreds of feet in a few leaps and disappearing into the vast mountains behind him.

He had been in the vicinity of Sky Rift for over five months, traveling back and forth, and his resting places had changed constantly. The place he had arranged the day before was over a hundred miles away, requiring nearly an hour of travel each way.

However, the extra travel was worth it. In the past few months, Yu Ci had witnessed people coming to harvest herbs engage in violent conflict over a few stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass, fighting to the death. The ferocity and brutality were hard to imagine without experiencing it firsthand. In common parlance, people die for wealth, and birds die for food – it was precisely like this.

Yu Ci was not someone who shied away from trouble, but since he had worked hard all day, he naturally sought a safe place to rest and recover. He didn't have the leisure time to deal with greedy individuals.

As he entered the dense mountain forest, night quickly descended, and visibility grew dim. Yu Ci's leaping speed, however, did not decrease. The unique scent of the forest blew past his nose. From the mixture of thousands of scents, he could discern hidden, approaching dangers, allowing him to change his path and avoid countless troubles.

Seeing his destination in sight, Yu Ci suddenly paused and then slowed his pace.

The trees in his current location had become sparse, replaced by rugged, black, and gaunt rocks that appeared particularly desolate in the darkness. Because of this, from several miles away, the lingering embers of a campfire could be seen flickering through the gaps in the trees, catching his eye. Even clearer than the firelight was the scent of "human" carried by the mountain wind. In addition, though extremely faint, Yu Ci could still detect the unique aroma of Shrimp Whisker Grass.

If it were still in the stone box, no matter how capable Yu Ci was, he wouldn't have been able to smell that faint scent from this distance. This situation could only mean one thing: someone had opened the stone box to examine or count the Shrimp Whisker Grass inside.

Yu Ci was certain there were more than fifteen people there. The owner of the stone box could do such a thing without reservation, implying that this group was likely together, having come to harvest herbs in a party. In this area of Sky Rift Valley, they were a relatively large group.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but scratch his head. He could bypass them, but the problem was that the hiding spot he had painstakingly prepared yesterday was not far from that group. If he bypassed them now, he would likely have to sleep in the wilderness tonight.

As he was thinking, his expression changed slightly. He hadn't noticed it before because of the wind direction, but seven or eight more people were approaching from the side, now only half a mile from his current position. He retracted his left hand into his sleeve, gripping the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.

It was unfortunate timing. Two days prior, he had encountered robbers, and the excellent sword he had bought with five metals in Juebi City had broken in the fight. Without his trusty weapon, he would be at a disadvantage in a surprise encounter.

However, his sensitive nose soon discerned some information: they seemed to be acquaintances!