Chapter 246: Haiyou Zhen Yin Hua

Inside the tent, Feng Sihai and several clan members were also present, each with gloomy expressions, for they had long benefited from Lü Liang's care.

If not for Lü Liang arranging for the Feng family to reside within the inner city, they would have been caught in the first wave of beast attacks.

Now, seeing him on the verge of death, their hearts were filled with unbearable sorrow.

However, following Qin Ming's instructions, Lü Liang had not revealed to the Feng family that it was Qin Ming who had arranged their placement.

"Qin Dao You, you've come."

Seeing Qin Ming enter, Lü Liang forced a faint smile onto his pale face.

He then turned to those around him and said, "I'd like to speak privately with Qin Dao You."

At these words, everyone in the tent left.

Qin Ming understood Lü Liang's intent and extended his hand to cast a soundproofing barrier.

"Alas—over a hundred and twenty years of cultivation, and now, at the end, it's all turned to dust."

"Thinking back, I still envy you, Qin Dao You —free, unbound, unrestrained."

Qin Ming pulled out a second-rank healing elixir and brought it to Lü Liang's lips.

Lü Liang did not refuse, for he still had words to say; though the elixir had little effect, it helped him cling to a final breath.

"My cultivation path is ending, and the only thing I cannot let go of is my disciple."

"But thanks to your favor, she has successfully established her Foundation, and now possesses some means of self-defense—her future path must now be walked alone."

"Cough! I only ask—if you ever have the chance, lend her a little care."

"With this, I have no regrets."

"As a condition, I have nothing of value that you would desire."

Lü Liang spoke, then withdrew two ice-blue fruit cores, almond-sized; as soon as they appeared, the temperature around them plummeted, remarkably strange.

"A few days ago, while on a mission, I happened upon these in a beast den deep within the Beast Cry Mountains—they appear to be the spiritual seeds of some plant."

"They may be useful to you, Qin Dao You —I offer them as a gift."

Qin Ming took the two ice-blue spiritual seeds, his heart filled with astonishment.

He recognized them instantly—they were called "Haiyou Zhen Yin Hua."

One of the two primary ingredients publicly known for refining Golden Core pills, alongside the Fire-Bathing Golden Lotus, this was a third-rank low-grade spiritual plant: "Haiyou Zhen Yin Hua."

It grew only in the deepest yin realms of the netherworld; not even in Wei State, let alone the entire Southern Wastelands, was it common.

This plant took five hundred years to mature into medicine, and its fruit differed from ordinary spiritual plants—upon maturity, it produced a spiritual fluid called "Haiyou Zhen Shui."

Qin Ming did not know what great fortune Lü Liang had stumbled upon to find these seeds.

Fortunately, Lü Liang did not recognize them; otherwise, they would never have reached Qin Ming.

They would have long since been seized by a Jin Dan elder.

Of course, given his bond with Lü Liang, even without these seeds, Qin Ming would still have offered what care he could to Lü Wanjun.

"Lü Dao You, rest assured—even without this, I will care for your disciple," Qin Ming said, then tucked the seeds away.

At this moment, Lü Liang was at his final breath, his face covered in thick deathly aura.

His end was near.

After speaking with Qin Ming, Lü Liang's final words were heard, and then Nanlan Xi, the True Person of Canghai, entered from outside.

As her longtime subordinate, she had rushed here immediately after handling urgent matters, to see Lü Liang one last time.

"City Lord…"

An hour passed.

Lü Liang finally passed away.

Inside the tent, faint sobs could be heard.

"Alas! Tragic, pitiful—death in a single moment, a century of cultivation turned to foam."

…

After matters were settled.

Nanlan Xi summoned Qin Ming aside for a private word.

"Qin Xiao You, how is the transformation spirit fruit progressing?"

Qin Ming replied at once, "Almost ready, True Person, rest assured—I'll push harder, and will deliver it to you within half a year at most."

He noticed Nanlan Xi's heavy worries—she was clearly overwhelmed by the beast crisis. After all, the immortal city had never before seen a beast king breach a third-rank high-grade defensive array.

That devouring rat king's abilities were truly peculiar—it could suppress talismans and arrays.

Even if the array were repaired, the next beast surge would likely overwhelm the city's defenses again.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Nanlan Xi's eyes brightened with a fleeting smile.

If her third-rank spiritual turtle recovered, it would relieve much of her burden.

"Alas! Qin Xiao You, I won't hide it from you—Canghai Immortal City now stands at the brink of life or death."

"If the spirit fruit matures, it will help me greatly."

Nanlan Xi spoke slowly.

"Ah?"

"True Person Nanlan, has the beast surge become this dire?" Qin Ming, hearing her words, was startled.

Nanlan Xi nodded. "Based on our encounters with those beast kings, there must be even stronger ones behind them."

"Possibly even high-rank bloodline beast kings of mid-third rank or higher."

"Today's attack was merely a probe."

"What follows will be the battle that decides the city's fate."

"If Canghai Immortal City falls, and this barrier is lost, all four states' cultivation realms will face beast disasters far larger than before."

"It's unimaginable what it would look like…"

Qin Ming's heart grew heavy at her words.

"By the way, before he passed, Lü Dao You entrusted me to care for his disciple Lü Wanjun—could you assign her to a rear-position role?"

"Let her have some legacy from Lü Dao You."

Nanlan Xi nodded gently. "Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I intended to do so."

"I will also transfer Lü Liang's ten thousand merit points to her."

"Thank you, True Person Nanlan," Qin Ming bowed.

Ten thousand merit points held great value within Canghai Immortal City—enough to support Lü Wanjun's cultivation up to Foundation Establishment's late stage.

After speaking with True Person Nanlan.

Qin Ming met with Wei Wuyan, whose words echoed Nanlan Xi's almost exactly.

"Alas! Holding high office is no easy thing!"

"I must manage affairs within my sect—I'm stretched too thin."

From his tone, Qin Ming understood that if Canghai Immortal City truly fell, Wei Wuyan would abandon it without hesitation—he would not stay to die.

After all, Lei Yuanzong was a vast organization; it could not afford to lose its Jin Dan elder.

…

Two days later.

News spread wildly through Canghai Immortal City—mostly bad.

Most shops in the inner and outer cities were shuttered, as if a storm were about to break and doom was imminent.

Qin Ming also went to Lü Liang's villa to pay respects at his spirit tablet.

"Alas! Such is the peril of war! Thank heaven I dislike conflict and never joined any faction—I'm never forced into such dangerous missions."

Qin Ming sighed again, poured a cup of Yulin wine, and offered it to his old friend.

Lü Wanjun had grown gaunt these days; Lü Liang had raised her, taught her, been father and master to her—she could not yet recover from this blow.

Afterwards,

Qin Ming spoke with her a while longer, telling her that if she ever needed help, she could come to Wangyue Island—he would assist her as much as he could.

After all, he could not accept Lü Liang's third-rank spiritual seed without offering something in return.

But Lü Wanjun, overwhelmed by grief, was distracted—she may not have heard him at all.

Another half-day passed.

As Qin Ming had expected,

The beast surge had not fully retreated—it had merely lurked around the city, and now, under the beast kings' command, surged back toward Canghai Immortal City.

(End of Chapter)