Jinx Star

Elder Han trembled as he used his pair of hands, like black chicken claws long past their expiration date, to dig out the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb along with its mother soil. He carefully stored it inside a jade cauldron.

To obtain this spiritual herb, he had searched for over a decade before finally finding it. Fallen Phoenix Ridge was not easy to locate; it lay at the bottom of an abyss several thousand meters deep and was incomparably dangerous. Ordinary cultivators simply did not dare venture there lightly. This was already a relatively deep region of the Primordial Ruins.

Then, he had spent nearly two more years plotting, and now his great undertaking had finally succeeded. He had even obtained a mutated Golden Centipede as a medicinal catalyst.

Jiang Ming glanced at the old thing's pathetic appearance and calculated with his fingers. Elder Han would not live past two years.

That was his fate. Even if he died, it had nothing to do with Jiang Ming.

"Hey, old man, have you considered it? Have you decided whether to go to the Western Desert with me for further study? With your spiritual roots, you're more suited to ancient Buddhas beneath blue lamps."

Jiang Ming looked at Elder Han and extended the invitation with sincere earnestness.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for helping me. Unfortunately, this old man does not have long to live and lacks such fortune. I cannot accompany Fellow Daoist to the Western Desert to pay respects at Mount Sumeru."

Elder Han could not possibly agree to Jiang Ming's rotten idea. In his current condition, he could live at most another three years. If he successfully refined a Longevity Pill, he might perhaps live another two. If he traveled all the way from the Eastern Wasteland to the Western Desert with Jiang Ming, he would probably die on the road.

"That really is a shame. Go tend to your business. I'll study this scroll on the foundations of Dao Patterns for a while, then return it to you.

By the way, where are you a cultivator from? Do you have a fixed contact address?"

Jiang Ming said as he flipped through the beast-hide book.

"I am an elder of Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven. You may call me Fellow Daoist Han. Our Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven is affiliated with Yaoguang Sacred Land. If you dare come looking for me, then come!"

Elder Han was more wary of Jiang Ming than anything else. At this moment, his tone was mostly bluster.

All he wanted now was to flee and safely bring the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb back.

As for that ancient beast-hide book, since Jiang Ming was unwilling to give it back now, he would treat it as having been fed to a dog. He did not believe Jiang Ming's nonsense about returning it.

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's figure was enveloped by a dim emerald rainbow glow. Flying low through the air, he rapidly headed out of the Primordial Ruins toward Spirit Ruins Grotto-Heaven.

"Fellow Daoist Han, with that little hair you have left, you might as well shave your head. Once you've extended your life, I'll invite you to the Western Desert again."

Watching Elder Han's ghostly, sinister back, Jiang Ming called out.

Elder Han's figure, wrapped in emerald radiance, staggered and nearly fell from the sky.

So this world's cultivation methods allowed Life Spring cultivators to ride rainbow light through the air. Their entire bodies were wrapped in that light, meaning they could fly in any posture?

For example, horizontally, standing upright, upside down, lying down, or even striking some elegant, embarrassingly theatrical pose—they could all fly.

The rainbow light one controlled was related to one's cultivation technique. For instance, when his master flew, the rainbow light he rode was purple.

Elder Han, meanwhile, looked like some ancient demon or old mountain ghost, all dim green and eerie. It was truly speechless—one look and anyone could tell he was no good person.

After thinking briefly, Jiang Ming had already arranged his next steps. "Mm, next, I'll get a spiritual herb, then break through to the Seventh Qi Refining Layer."

Elder Han was an unopened gift package for him. To open that package, it would be best to raise Elder Han's favorability toward him slightly above fifty.

Right now, that fellow's favorability toward him was definitely below thirty. He was more guarded and afraid than anything else.

He would start with Elder Han and test the proper way to use the Heavenly Calamity Lone Star System.

There were no useless systems, only useless hosts.

That was information he had obtained from memories of Earth from two lives ago, and it seemed quite reasonable.

Complaining was useless. He could do nothing about the system.

He might as well find a way to enjoy its benefits—or ruthlessly squeeze out its true value and drain that bastard system dry.

Before leaving, Jiang Ming put away the beast-hide book and transformed into a Six-Eared Macaque once more. He began using the Six-Eared Macaque's innate talent to observe Fallen Phoenix Ridge. Since this place was so unusual, he should take a careful look before leaving. What if some heavenly treasure had been overlooked?

Zhu Yan's Seventy-Two Transformations really were useful.

The next moment, an ape appeared, standing one meter sixty-eight tall and covered in dense fur. Every strand gleamed golden. Golden beams shot from its eyes as it began surveying all of Fallen Phoenix Ridge.

A while later.

Jiang Ming's eyes lit up. A thousand meters underground, directly beneath where the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb had grown, he discovered a blood-red stone the size of a thumb. It was this stone that occasionally emitted a thread of bloody light, nurturing that Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb.

That was only natural. Since a Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb had grown here, there had to be some reason for it.

Once a cultivator's divine sense passed through the ground, it was restricted. Even Divine Bridge cultivators had a limited range of divine-sense exploration, only around two to three hundred meters.

The divine-sense range of Divine Bridge cultivators was roughly four to six hundred meters.

Other Shore cultivators could reach eight hundred to twelve hundred meters.

However, affected by the ground, even Other Shore cultivators might not be able to explore this place so clearly.

Moreover, that blood-colored stone itself was wrapped in a strange layer of material.

"Transform!"

Jiang Ming used the Seventy-Two Transformations and turned into a pangolin. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood, using the pangolin lineage's Earth Escape talent to enter the ground and arrive before the stone.

So that was it. This was a Source Stone, which for some unknown reason had cracked open a slit as thin as paper and as tiny as a grain of sand.

This Source Stone was as large as a millstone. It looked like nothing more than an ordinary stone buried underground, and there were many such stones nearby. Yet inside it was a thumb-sized piece of blood-red stone.

This was neither Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold nor Nine Heavens Scarlet Radiant Jade. It should be a dried Phoenix Blood Crystal. It had merely endured an unknown length of time, and its spirituality had severely dissipated.

Furthermore, the fallen Phoenix had not been as powerful as imagined. It was probably an ancient descendant with Phoenix bloodline.

Even so, this drop of blood crystal was far more precious than that Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb. Even cultivators in the Dao Palace Secret Realm would fight over it if they saw it.

Jiang Ming's heart stirred. It seemed his Life-Bound Sword's transformation was secure this time. With this Phoenix Blood Crystal, plus the thread of Geng Metal Essence he had devoured from the Golden Centipede earlier, the success rate of his Life-Bound Sword's transformation had already reached ninety-nine percent.

Next, just to be safe, he only needed to find a heavenly treasure in these Primordial Ruins and refine it. He would definitely break through.

He had forgotten to borrow some Hundred-Grass Liquid from his good friend, Elder Han.

"Congratulations, Host. You have caused the death of a Life Spring cultivator you just saved. Random reward: one Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass, automatically stored in the Host's Sea of Bitterness."

At that moment, the system notification suddenly rang out.

Hiss. Heavenly Lone Star, Jinx Star, Calamitous Star—those names truly were well deserved. This was far too vicious.

Jiang Ming was completely numb. A moment ago, out of a moment of kindness, he had saved three Rogue Cultivators. Now one had died.

What was going on?

Could that sinister and vicious old bastard Elder Han still have some backup plan?

Fortunately, two were still alive.

It was all because his fate was bad.

He wondered whether the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Spirit Grass judged by the system was the same species as the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb Elder Han treasured more than his own life.

"Congratulations, Host. You have caused the death of a Life Spring cultivator you just saved. Random reward: one three-hundred-year Jade Snake Orchid, automatically stored in the Host's Sea of Bitterness."

Jiang Ming: "--"

It had nothing to do with him. Debts had their debtors, and grievances had their culprits.

Thankfully, one was still alive. Why didn't he hide somewhere? He was so badly injured—couldn't he find a place to heal first?

Jiang Ming sincerely worried for this generation of Rogue Cultivators. They had clearly escaped already. Couldn't they just live properly?

"Congratulations, Host. You have caused the death of a Life Spring cultivator you just saved. Random reward: one Azure Jade Snow Lotus Fruit, automatically stored in the Host's Sea of Bitterness."

They were all dead!

What a sin. You damn system, look at what you've done. Was there any need to be this cruel?

Elder Han, that scheming old bastard, must have left behind a contingency. He had been worried that news of the Nine-Leaf Phoenix Divine Herb would leak out, so he had silenced them.

Jiang Ming sat deep underground, summoned his Life-Bound Sword, and began carving out a temporary stone chamber. There was no rush to leave now; he had enough cultivation resources.

After finishing all that, Jiang Ming adjusted his condition and slowly absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. At the same time, he took out the beast-hide scroll on the foundations of Dao Patterns and continued studying it.

About an hour later, Jiang Ming's condition reached its peak.

Next, Jiang Ming took out some spare beast hide and demon beast blood and inscribed two talismans, which he affixed around the stone chamber. They made the place appear as ordinary stone.

With his mastery of talismans, once these three talismans were attached, even Dao Palace Realm cultivators passing by would be unable to see through them.

That was only because his cultivation was too low to inscribe more profound talismans.

As for that foundation of Dao Patterns, Jiang Ming had already finished reading it.

For him, getting started had been quite easy. It was like a modern doctoral student of Classical Chinese returning to ancient times to study ancient texts. He might not understand everything immediately, but after studying for some time, he would fully master it.

Next, Jiang Ming looked at his Life-Bound Sword. A golden thread had appeared within it, resting at the very center. Through daily refinement and gradual devouring of other metal-attributed heavenly treasures, the Geng Metal Essence could slowly grow stronger.

Next, Jiang Ming took out the three-hundred-year Jade Snake Orchid. He had eaten a similar Jade Snake Orchid with only a hundred years of medicinal age before. The second time around, Jiang Ming simply gnawed on it like a white radish.

In his previous life, Jiang Ming at the same realm would definitely not have dared do this. If he was unlucky, his body might have exploded.

But now, he bit off one-third of the Jade Snake Orchid in a single bite. It was incomparably sweet on his tongue, its fragrance spreading through his mouth and nose.

Even the entire stone chamber filled with an invigorating fragrance. He finally understood the true meaning of rich and fragrant. It tasted far better than a hundred-year Jade Snake Orchid.

Both the texture and moisture of the Jade Snake Orchid gave him an excellent experience. Once its medicinal power entered his stomach, it immediately flowed toward his limbs and bones, making every pore on his body seem to open.

His entire body seemed wrapped in the vital essence of heaven and earth. He felt as though he were floating toward immortality, as though he had transformed into a spiritual serpent flying and swimming through a world suffused with spiritual energy. Fine threads of essence nourished his internal organs, while radiant light flowed around them.

Jiang Ming knew very well that having too much vital essence was not a good thing. He only felt comfortable because his physique was special. An ordinary cultivator would now feel the agony of their body being torn apart.