The heated atmosphere continued. Yet Yu Ci pulled himself out of it, staring at the leaping bonfire and looking slightly dazed: to speak the truth so easily, he must have been out of his mind.
Or was it that his inner desire had already reached such a stage?
The young Yu Ci had not understood the true meaning of "longevity," but he clearly knew the price of longevity. The piles of bones beneath the Twin Immortals Palace were the best illustration.
At first it was merely fear, but later as age and daring grew, the fear slowly faded. Only the deep traces left behind remained forever engraved at the bottom of his heart. Furthermore, the divine abilities of the Twin Immortals calling the wind and summoning rain, flying through the skies and moving across the earth, were like a seed deeply buried within those traces. Through the long days of wandering, it sprouted, grew, and eventually became a towering tree deeply rooted in his heart.
Unbeknownst to him, this thing called "longevity" had already melted into the blood of his entire body, becoming an instinct. An instinct to pursue without thinking of so-called "meaning," because longevity itself was the collection of all meaning.
This was how Yu Ci understood it.
The strong liquor stirred his desires. He intensely wanted to rush into that world, his vital energy boiling, intending to break open that invisible barrier, but it always fell short by just a shred. He could already hear the lid overhead clanking and rattling.
Ever since he entered the Bright Aperture Upper Stage, opening the "spiritual aperture" in the dark and sensing his own divine soul, this feeling grew day by day. During these days at the Sky Rift Valley, it had reached the point where the pill cauldron was boiling and about to blow its lid off.
Yu Ci knew this was the precursor to a breakthrough, but he happened to lack an opportune moment. Relying purely on his current strength, he still fell short by just a bit. Fortunately, he possessed plenty of patience and tenacity, piling up strength at this level until the moment he burst through the top.
While he was dazed, the people around the bonfire had already snapped out of the laughing chatter about his "longevity delusions" and returned to the question they cared about most. Yet after debating for a long time, they still did not understand the true use of Shrimp Whisker Grass or Fish Dragon Grass. Failing to grasp the point for so long, the crowd grew somewhat dispirited. Seeing that the conversation was about to stall, someone suddenly sneered:
"Who gives a damn what use it has? Knowing how much it's worth is what's real."
That statement was certainly blunt. Yu Ci also came back to his senses. He initially thought Li Hong was expounding grand theories once more, but he quickly realized something was wrong. This person spoke with resounding force, his voice sounding somewhat like clashing metal, vastly different from Li Hong's previously muffled tone.
Shifting his gaze, he instantly understood: it was actually Daoist Yan.
This person also belonged to that group from Juebi City, but he was not a professional herb gatherer. Instead, he had joined halfway through, which was somewhat similar to Yu Ci's situation. He was also dressed in Daoist robes and claimed to be a Daoist, yet his facial features were rough and fierce. He wore a circle of stubble, and his round eyes were like bells, his gaze extremely sharp. Yu Ci had previously estimated that among this group of herb gatherers, only this person's cultivation was the most brilliant, likely also at the Bright Aperture Upper Stage, surpassing the others by a distinct margin.
Everyone's gazes converged on him. Someone then laughed: "Can this grass compare to the Three Yang Talisman Sword?"
When making self-introductions earlier, Daoist Yan had frankly stated that his goal was the Three Yang Talisman Sword, the same as Yu Ci's, which was why this remark was made.
Daoist Yan grinned and chuckled: "The Three Yang Talisman Sword? That's hard to calculate. I only know that ten stalks of Fish Dragon Grass can be exchanged for one Cold Jade Heart Cleansing Pill."
When these words came out, the circle of people was entirely blank, feeling only that Daoist Yan's words made no sense. Only Li Hong, whose wine buzz seemed to have worn off somewhat, began putting on airs again, striking a pensive pose: "Cold Jade Heart Cleansing Pill, it sounds like I've heard of it somewhere?"
"That must have been at Bai Ri Mansion."
Daoist Yan grinned wide: "Bai Ri Mansion can forge thousands of Three Yang Talisman Swords every year, but as for this Cold Jade Heart Cleansing Pill, only the Mansion Lord holds some two or three pills in his hands, and he must carefully store them away, keeping them in a secret chamber watched over by dedicated guards for fear petty thieves might steal them... Hehe, that's just how it is."
"Hiss!"
The scene of more twenty people collectively drawing in cold breaths was quite spectacular, yet Yu Ci was somewhat absent-minded. For some reason, seeing Daoist Yan's smile made him feel deeply uncomfortable, and a peculiar scent flooded his nostrils. Before he could identify what it was, Daoist Yan smiled again:
"However, good though the Cold Jade Heart Cleansing Pill may be, it is also an out-of-reach object. It cannot compare to the Three Yang Talisman Sword; for just a thousand stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass, it can be exchanged. I'd rather keep my feet on the ground and go step by step."
Hm? What did he mean?
Yu Ci keenly grasped the change in Daoist Yan's tone. That inserted word "I" was truly bizarre indeed. He was not the only clever person; Lu Bing also raised his head, sizing him up with a puzzled gaze.
At that very moment, the scent at his nostrils grew intense to the extreme.
"Careful!"
Yu Ci suddenly roared aloud. While the rest of the people were still dazed and at a loss, he abruptly leaned backward, lying flat just like that. A split second later, a scorching red light brushed past his eyes, and a wave of fire surged over, baking the skin of his forehead until it stiffened.
Next came a series of miserable screams, accompanied by Daoist Yan's unbridled, wild laughter.
"Scoundrel!" This was Lu Bing's voice, accompanied by the ringing sound of a drawn sword.
Yu Ci rolled once more, clearing a zhang away, and only then leaped up from the ground. Throughout this process, the screams never ceased for a single moment.
Lifting his eyes to look, what met his gaze was the tragic scene of corpses strewn beside the fire. Around the bonfire, the people who had just been discussing things so passionately were now mostly lying dead on the spot. The herb gatherers who had just been sharing wine with him were now cleaved in two, not yet dead for the moment, struggling and groaning on the ground. The huge cross-section wounds were charred black like charcoal, unable to shed a single drop of blood, yet they were even more terrifying and chilling than a scene of blood splashing five steps.
The one who caused all this was precisely that Daoist Yan.
This person was laughing without stop, red radiance spitting and swallowing on his hand. At first glance, its main body looked like a glowing short baton, perfectly round and without an edge, but looking closely, one would discover that the light and flames within it were condensed, and its aura was actually as sharp as a sword. As the radiance radiated, torrential waves of fire poured out and surged forth. Wherever they passed, the grass and trees on the ground ignited without any wind, quickly forming a huge ring of fire that swelled and contracted erratically.
Within the ring of fire, Lu Bing's features were distorted and his appearance was like a deranged demon, launching a frenzied, relentless attack against Daoist Yan. The long sword in his hand flashed with cold light in all directions; it was no ordinary item, and his sword momentum was like a fierce wind and driving rain, carrying a compelling aura. Yet Daoist Yan did not care much about it, his feet remaining half an immovable step away. That streak of red light slightly swayed in his hands, easily blocking Lu Bing's desperate sword light.
Furthermore, Daoist Yan still had the leisure to turn his head and smile toward Yu Ci: "You're quite alert. Daoist master only had a thought, and you already managed to sense it, otherwise that pretty face of yours would certainly have been cleaved in two by me..."
Yu Ci's eyebrows stood on end. This fiend was far too arrogant.
Before you continue