Chapter 566: Divine Medicine and Schemes

After the group finished drinking water, they continued walking forward in a certain direction; they needed to verify their location at the second landmark not far ahead.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Guo Tian, who was walking at the very front, had already taken out the map, and while looking at it, he examined the surroundings with a grave expression.

Lu Chu was the same; he looked at the map, his expression inevitably showing some disappointment. "It should be this area! But there are neither God and Demon Remains nor an ancient well!"

Everyone had an ugly expression, lifting their eyes to look around; everywhere were broken walls, ruined remains, and scattered giant rocks. Where were there any God and Demon Remains or an ancient well?

The true scale of the map relative to the inner world of the God-Demon Relic had been taught to them by Lin Youjian and Liu Su during those ten days of intensive training; in a certain dense forest within Changliu Mountain, a small simulated world of the God-Demon Relic had been constructed. Therefore, they absolutely could not have found the location of this second landmark wrong.

Since the location was not wrong, but they had not found the expected second landmark here, there was only one answer: that water pool at the first landmark was neither the one pointed out by Duan Rong nor the one pointed out by Lu Chu.

Guo Tian walked forward a bit more, but still found nothing; he walked back slowly and shook his head at the group.

Lu Chu looked at Duan Rong with a dejected face and said, "It seems we were both wrong. There are neither God and Demon Remains nor an ancient well here!"

Duan Rong held the map, lifting his eyes from time to time to scan the surroundings; his gaze was focused, as if he hadn't heard Lu Chu's words at all.

Guo Tian said, "Let's continue walking forward; perhaps we will discover other landmarks if we walk a bit further."

The passage opened by the grand array to enter the God-Demon Relic cannot be precisely located. Therefore, their first task upon entering the God-Demon Relic was to determine their position within the God-Demon Relic by relying on the map themselves. This was the first lesson of the ten-day intensive training.

When the group heard this first lesson, they didn't pay much attention, thinking this task was very easy to complete. After all, with a map in hand, and the map having various landmarks marked in detail, how could they not find where they were?

But ever since they entered the God-Demon Relic, they had been wandering around here like headless flies for nearly two hours, yet until this moment, they still hadn't been able to determine their position within the God-Demon Relic.

To them, the God-Demon Relic was a completely unfamiliar place, and this area was filled with chaotic rocks, practically a forest of chaotic stones spanning a hundred miles.

It was just like suddenly being thrown into a wild, dense forest; even if you had a map in your hand, it would be very difficult to know exactly where you were, right?!

Hearing Guo Tian's words, the group all sighed and prepared to follow Guo Tian to continue walking forward.

The only way to determine their position was to find a landmark; since the water pool found just now could not be confirmed, they could only look for the next landmark. There was no other way!

At this moment, they all felt some disappointment in their hearts; after all, they had rushed over full of hope, only to come up empty-handed.

Just at this moment, Duan Rong suddenly said, "Wait a moment!"

Hearing this, they all turned their heads, only to see Duan Rong still standing there, holding the map, his gaze fixed on a spot by the roadside, which was overgrown with wild grass and vines.

Everyone looked at Duan Rong with puzzled expressions.

Lu Chu said, "Duan Rong, what is it?"

In fact, while walking on the road, Lu Chu had been thinking about Duan Rong's theory, but no matter how he thought about it, he still couldn't understand it. At this moment, seeing Duan Rong still stubbornly standing there, a feeling of sympathy for a fellow sufferer rose in his heart.

Duan Rong did not answer him, but walked quickly to the side of the road, suddenly picked up a head-sized stone, and threw it with force into the depths of the place overgrown with wild grass and vines.

Everyone was very puzzled by Duan Rong's strange behavior.

Guo Tian, however, had his eyes light up and suddenly said, "The well is right there!"

Just as Guo Tian's voice fell, everyone heard a 'plop' sound; that was clearly the sound of a large stone falling into water!

In fact, this problem was originally not difficult. But among the group before, only Guo Tian had understood Duan Rong's deduction and stood on his side.

The rest of these people originally did not believe in Duan Rong's deduction; they had walked over just to find the God and Demon Remains.

And the God and Demon Remains that could be marked as landmarks on the map were all very large; the bodies of gods and demons were inherently like mountains, so the God and Demon Remains marked as landmarks on the map were actually small, grey-white mountains. Therefore, they knew there were none just by standing there and looking around.

Guo Tian had indeed wanted to look for the ancient well, but he hadn't seen it.

On the map, this ancient well was actually marked as a water source, and it was not written that the ancient well was obscured by wild grass and vines. The reason was simple: twenty-nine years ago, there was no wild grass or vines growing here.

However, twenty-nine years had passed, and various changes always occur in some places. The growth of wild grass and vines here had obscured the ancient well.

Duan Rong had also had a trace of doubt about his judgment just now, because he hadn't discovered the ancient well at first glance in this vicinity. Then he unfolded the map and, by comparing the surrounding scenery, determined the exact location of the ancient well, and there, unexpectedly, wild grass and vines were growing.

Duan Rong immediately understood what had happened.

The group immediately rushed over and stood there, looking into the depths of the wild grass and vines, only to see a large, pitch-black hole opening up from the large stone's smashing and tearing.

That was clearly a well!

"Ancient well, water source, two landmarks!" Du Wan had already spread out the map, pointing to a spot on it, and cried out joyfully, "We are here!"

Through the water pool at the first location and this ancient well, they were already able to accurately determine their position within the God-Demon Relic. The first task of entering the God-Demon Relic was now considered complete.

Everyone took out cinnabar pens and began to make marks on a spot on the map; they were working backward from these two landmarks to deduce their initial position upon entering the God-Demon Relic—that is, the location where the grand array opened the passage.

Twenty days later, the grand array passage would open again, still near that same location, and there wouldn't be too much deviation. They had to mark it in advance to avoid forgetting it when they returned.

After the group finished marking, they looked at Duan Rong. Although they hadn't understood the basis for Duan Rong's judgment, the facts were before their eyes: Duan Rong's previous judgment was the correct one.

Lu Chu folded the map, looked at Duan Rong with a smile, and said, "Brother Duan, you were right after all."

Du Wan also smiled and said, "Duan Rong, thanks to you, we were able to determine our location so quickly. However, I am also very wise; I stood on your side earlier."

Du Wan had originally favored Lu Chu's judgment in his heart; he had seen that even if he stood on Duan Rong's side, there were still more people on Lu Chu's side, so he had stood on Duan Rong's side. If he had been the deciding vote at the time, he definitely would have chosen Lu Chu. Because different judgments would affect their subsequent actions, he had to express his true opinion.

Duan Rong said, "Let's go! We have to make a round trip in twenty days! The Central Altar is still far away!"

Duan Rong was right; finding the location was merely the first step of a long march. And only until this moment could they be considered to have started their true journey.

Guo Tian looked at the map, suddenly lifted his finger to point in a certain direction, and said, "We should walk this way!"

Xu Hui glanced in that direction, pointed at the map, and said, "Isn't taking that direction a bit of a detour? We can go this way and cut straight across!"

Guo Tian didn't look at the place Xu Hui was pointing to on the map, but he knew what he was talking about, so he said, "That path is indeed the shortest route. But there are no water supply points along the way. If we take that path, we will all be dehydrated in two or three days. Not only will our marching speed be greatly slowed, but it is also very dangerous."

In a state of dehydration, if they were to encounter an Evil Spirit, it would be very difficult for them to survive.

Hearing this, Xu Hui's expression froze; he looked down and discovered that there were indeed no water supply points along this route.

At this time, Duan Rong closed the map and said, "The route Brother Guo chose is the best one. The distance is moderate, and the supplies are sufficient!"

Seeing that Duan Rong also said this, the group no longer had any objections, and the party continued to walk forward.

At this time, it was daytime after all; although the sky within the God-Demon Relic was a pale yellow, the visibility was very good.

Therefore, as the group traveled along the way, they still managed to harvest some Divine Medicine, more or less.

Along the roadside and in the crevices of the chaotic rocks, a stalk, or even several stalks, of Divine Medicine would emerge from time to time. Twenty-nine years had passed, and some Divine Medicine that hadn't reached maturity before was now in its mature form.

Duan Rong also inspected the surroundings from time to time, but he only looked at the shaded places; the only thing he paid attention to was the Green Flame Grass, and he ignored other Divine Medicine even if he saw it.

Because they were picking Divine Medicine along the way, the marching team became somewhat scattered. However, it was daytime, so they were not really very far from each other, and they could see the teammates in front and behind just by lifting their eyes.

In fact, within the God-Demon Relic, one can also be attacked by Evil Spirits during the day, but the probability is much higher at night.

The Evil Spirit portion was one of the two main focuses during the ten-day intensive training; the other focus was the God-Demon Illusion Realm.

Within the God-Demon Relic, the loss of fellow disciples basically occurred in these two areas: either they died in the God-Demon Illusion Realm, or they died at the hands of an Evil Spirit.

Duan Rong swept his gaze with some worry over the fellow disciples ahead and behind who were picking Divine Medicine, though he could not stop everyone from picking it; after all, Divine Medicine meant resources, and no one was like him, able to cultivate by the Ancestor's side with resources completely worry-free! Furthermore, wasn't he also constantly searching for Green Flame Grass?

Just as Duan Rong turned his head from a shaded spot, he saw Du Wan walking over slowly, holding two stalks of Silver-Edged Purple that had some age to them. Looking at Duan Rong, he said, "Duan Rong, how many stalks of Divine Medicine have you picked?"

Seeing that Duan Rong had also been running around along the way, Du Wan guessed that Duan Rong should have picked quite a lot of Divine Medicine, so he came over to ask.

Unexpectedly, Duan Rong shook his head and said, "I haven't picked a single one."

Duan Rong only looked for Green Flame Grass, and along this journey, he had indeed not yet discovered a single stalk of aged Green Flame Grass.

"You haven't picked a single one?" Du Wan's expression was somewhat stunned, then his gaze shifted; he took one of the two stalks of Silver-Edged Purple from his hand, handed it toward Duan Rong, and smiled, "I've already picked quite a few! These two stalks of Silver-Edged Purple grew together; Duan Rong, let me share one with you!"

Duan Rong looked at Du Wan's honest smile, his heart stirred slightly, and he said, "Thank you, Du Wan! But there's no need. I only want Green Flame Grass."

"Green Flame Grass?!" Du Wan's gaze flickered, already recalling the characteristics of Green Flame Grass. During the ten-day intensive training, identifying Divine Medicine was also one of the main contents. People like them had quite strong Divine Sense, and their memories were not bad; they could basically remember everything they saw.

"Green Flame Grass grows in the shade!" Du Wan only then remembered that when he had just walked over, Duan Rong was looking at the shaded side of that giant rock.

"Correct!" Duan Rong said, "For mature Green Flame Grass, three stalks are enough."

Du Wan said, "Rest assured, I will help you keep an eye out."

Duan Rong smiled slightly and said, "Then many thanks."

Du Wan said, "What thanks is there to speak of? You saved my life, after all."

Duan Rong smiled faintly and continued walking forward.

Du Wan then placed the two stalks of Silver-Edged Purple in his hand into the Black Jade Box in his backpack. When Divine Medicine was placed into the Black Jade Box, it instantly formed a layer of frost, and the two stalks of Divine Medicine he had placed in before had already frozen into ice sculptures inside the Black Jade Box.

Afterward, Du Wan really began to pay attention to various shaded spots, just like Duan Rong.

Duan Rong noticed Du Wan's actions from time to time, and his heart stirred slightly. He had previously thought Du Wan was just casually agreeing with him, but he hadn't expected him to really start helping him look with such dedication. "This kid is truly a sincere person!"

Duan Rong could clearly feel that after entering the God-Demon Relic, everyone's state of mind had undergone a certain change; the sense of trust between them was clearly much higher than during the intensive training.

During the intensive training, they were after all in the Jiuzhou World, where people were numerous and there was much deceit. But after entering this God-Demon Relic, there were only the eight of them, the living, in this entire God-Demon Relic. Only those who truly entered this scene could understand their state of mind at this moment.

In here, only these few people whose identities you know can give you a sense of belonging, and you will quickly develop a kind of closeness and trust toward the people around you that you would not have in the outside world.

Su Xinjue had been secretly watching Duan Rong, and because she was distracted, she had only managed to pick one stalk of Divine Medicine.

She had long discovered that Duan Rong was constantly paying attention to shaded places, and later, after Du Wan went over to chat with Duan Rong for a few sentences, he also began to pay attention to the shaded places along the way.

After walking for a distance, Su Xinjue deliberately approached Du Wan.

Just as Du Wan turned his head from a shaded spot, Su Xinjue walked over with a smile.

Su Xinjue was charming and graceful, her demeanor alluring, and Du Wan's gaze shifted slightly.

Su Xinjue smiled and said, "Senior Brother Du Wan, what were you looking at in that shaded spot just now?"

Su Xinjue did not dare to ask Duan Rong directly, as that would easily expose herself. She came over to probe Du Wan for information.

Du Wan said casually, "Nothing. Just looking for Divine Medicine!"

Su Xinjue looked at Du Wan and asked with a smile, "Are you looking specifically in shaded spots?"

Upon hearing this, Du Wan frowned, and vigilance already rose in his heart.

Su Xinjue noticed the change in Du Wan's expression, lowered her head slightly, and said with a soft, gentle smile, "I just feel that shaded spots are relatively dangerous; Senior Brother should be careful."

Su Xinjue was already of outstanding appearance, and at this moment, with her head slightly lowered, she appeared even more bashful and delicate, and her words were filled with a kind of concern for Du Wan.

Du Wan immediately relaxed his vigilance and said, "Junior Sister Su, thank you for your concern. I am looking for Green Flame Grass; this Divine Medicine grows in the shade, so I have been paying a bit more attention to shaded spots. Junior Sister Su, rest assured, I will be careful!"

"So that's how it is!" Su Xinjue looked up and smiled, "No wonder Senior Brother kept looking at the shaded spots..."

Su Xinjue still wanted to say something, but suddenly discovered that not far ahead, Duan Rong had stopped by the side of the road and was looking toward here. Her heart skipped a beat, then she bowed to Du Wan and turned to leave.

Su Xinjue turned her face away and muttered, "So Duan Rong is looking for Green Flame Grass!"

Although she did not know why Duan Rong wanted to find Green Flame Grass, this piece of information was clearly very important.

(End of chapter)