Chapter 16 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As Li Changshou covered a larger area, the amount of Saliva of Red Yang Poisonous Dragon he had kept reducing.

His search had not borne fruit in the area the ancient texts talked about or around the Chaos Treasure Forest.

Three days after he incidentally rescued Youqin Xuanya, Li Changshou still had not found the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb. However, as he had been venturing deeper into the North Continent, he had found many other useful, poisonous, and spirit herbs.

He had even caught two precious Corpse-Burning Bugs, which could be refined into Corpse Calcining Powder. This would give Li Changshou a total of twelve ways of dealing with corpses.

Even though he was beginning to feel frustrated, Li Changshou never forgot that he was in a dangerous place like the North Continent. This meant that he remained extremely cautious the entire time.

Logically, while Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs were extremely valuable, they were considered quite unconventional herbs. Few people should have been seeking them.

The regions that Li Changshou had been searching had the right conditions for Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs to thrive. Yet, there was not a single seedling in sight—it was all very strange.

Li Changshou tried his best to make time between his training in order to read all the cla.s.sical texts on poisons and herbs. Was all that he read fake?

‘Indeed, Master, the old man, is very unlucky.’

Li Changshou could only comfort himself in this manner. He wanted to get rid of the indignance in his heart as he began to think about when he should head back.

He had to walk 100 kilometers more towards the west!

If he still could not find the herb, Li Changshou would give it a rest. He would go to the town and see if there were any herbs on sale. Of course, there was only a slim chance of that happening.

Li Changshou moved his feet quickly, casting shadows underneath his feet. He wanted to complete the last segment of his quest.

After searching for 25 kilometers, he found nothing.

Li Changshou searched a total of 50 kilometers, through all the areas in which Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs could possibly grow. Still, he found no trace of them. Surprisingly, he found several precious spirit herbs, which he could use to create Soft Immortal Dispersers.

‘Look, herbs that would be useful to me are lining up to get into my storage Dharma artifacts. Yet, no matter how hard I try, I cannot find herbs that would be useful to Master. This is probably because of the differences in our character and manners. Since I cannot obtain Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs, I will not be able to create the Immortal-Melting Pill. This method will not work then. It’s a good thing that I had already prepared Plan Two and Plan Three. Although these plans will not be as safe as creating Immortal-Melting Pills, they will at least be of help to Master.’

Buzz—

There was a movement in the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. People were fighting somewhere.

Li Changshou’s spiritual awareness immediately reached out to look for the source of this movement. However, the Miasma Qi in front of him was too rich. With the poisonous Qi moving around, he could only search a maximum radius of ten kilometers.

The fight was happening more than 15 kilometers away. He could vaguely sense several figures moving and twisting around.

Was the area where this ‘itinerant cultivator’ activity was taking place, just ahead?

There were many cultivators in the North Continent. Normally, they would head 500 kilometers deep into the North Continent in order to look for valuable and mysterious flowers and fruits. They would then trade these flowers and fruits for other resources that would help their own cultivation and training.

a.s.sa.s.sin Turtledove, who Li Changshou had killed earlier, was one example. He had already been in the Dao Requital Realm. On days when he had not been doing others’ dirty work, he would collect these flowers and fruits, and trade them for other resources.

Li Changshou immediately thought of retreating. Thus, he stopped moving and hid behind a rock, pondering his next moves very carefully.

Li Changshou had read all the ancient texts about this region. Cultivators were fighting on the path that he was supposed to take. If he did not retreat now, when should he?

As the saying went, “Gentlemen should not remain in dangerous places.” This journey to the North Continent could only end in regret.

All of a sudden, Li Changshou jumped!

By chance, his spiritual senses detected three ordinary-looking, emerald green herbs swaying in the breeze on the cliff’s peak, 11.5 kilometers north-west of where he was.

They were shaped like Orchid Gra.s.s, but they were much shorter. There were also strange patterns on their leaves. Each herb seemed to be wrapped in a dull glow.

Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs!

They were Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs, which could poison Essence Immortals and seriously injure the essence souls of Perfected Immortals!

What’s more, from the density of the patterns, Li Changshou could tell that the herb in the center was about 3,000 years old. The other two herbs on either side of it were also more than 1,000 years old!

Li Changshou nearly jumped out from behind the rock.

However, he immediately recited a Heart-Cleansing Curse silently to calm himself down. He had not gotten the herb yet and thus could not afford to celebrate too early.

‘Calm down. I can only have a small celebration after I obtain the herb and leave the North Continent. That’s not right. Refining the pill would be extremely troublesome as well. At the very least, it would not be too late to rejoice after I get back to the mountain and successfully create the Immortal-Melting Pill. Let’s begin!’

Li Changshou employed Earth Escape and headed straight for the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs. At the same time, his spiritual awareness spread outwards underground, allowing him to survey the area around the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs.

Beside the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs was a bald, old cypress tree. He could transition from Earth Escape to Wood Escape in order to get close to the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herbs.

However, to poisonous beasts, poisonous herbs, which were thousands of years old, would be considered extremely nouris.h.i.+ng. There was no way that the herbs would remain unguarded.

Indeed, Li Changshou quickly discovered a Three-Eyed Blue Wave Serpent nearby.

This snake was treacherously hiding lower down the cliff. It even knew how to hide its own aura. Its thirty-feet-long body camouflaged with the rocks around it, but its blue-green scales glowed mystically.

If Li Changshou had not scanned the area, inch by inch, he would not have realized that there was a poisonous beast hiding nearby.

There was a huge bulge in the center of the Three-Eyed Blue Wave Serpent’s head. It looked extremely ugly and could easily invoke bold ideas in the minds of humans.

Its triangular-shaped head was already beginning to elongate. Its body was also thicker than ordinary serpents. Clearly, this snake was on its path to immortality.

The oldest Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb was probably the key to its ascension to immortality. However, at that moment, it was just not poisonous or powerful enough.

‘This will not be easy.’

Li Changshou also noticed that there were many bones below the cliff. Among them were many human-shaped bones.

Li Changshou could not fight using brute force, so he had to use his intelligence.

Poisonous beasts like that, which were close to immortality, were considered extremely poisonous, demonic beasts. Although Li Changshou carried poisons with nine types of effects, which could threaten even ordinary Essence Immortals, they would prove useless on a beast like that.

Based on his own Dharma spells, Li Changshou could fight the beast using brute force. However, the surroundings were too dangerous, with instabilities all around.