Chapter 379: Third-Class Herbalist Master

"Thank you, Brother Qin, for the information!"

Upon hearing this, several sect elders were stunned, realizing that the Demon Sect had been manipulating the entire chain of events.

Once they returned home, they would have to take this matter seriously and purge their internal ranks.

Otherwise, the next Lingyun Sect's fate might very well be theirs.

It was nearly midnight.

The several Golden Core True Persons had finished their exchanges and took their leave from Nalan Xi.

Nalan Xi saw them off beyond Canghai Peak.

Qin Ming did not leave immediately; instead, he planned to visit the Herbalist Guild within the city to complete the final Wood Illusion trial.

He was not after fame, but for the rewards within.

Last time he passed the Second-Class Superior Herbalist trial, he received not only half a vial of Ten Thousand Trees' Primordial Qi, but also the spirit seed of the Flame-Bathed Golden Lotus.

Otherwise, he could never have brewed his Golden Core Pill so quickly.

The Third-Class Herbalist trial is the final ultimate test in the Southern Wastelands' cultivation world.

At this level, herbalist skill reaches its peak.

After this, no further trials are required—reaching this stage alone proves one's mastery.

"Brother Qin, won't you stay a few more days in the Immortal City?" Nalan Xi asked after seeing off the others.

Qin Ming replied coolly, "Hah! Since I've come this far, Qin Mou intends to complete the Third-Class Wood Illusion trial."

Nalan Xi's eyes lit up sharply in surprise. "I didn't realize your herbalist skill has also reached perfection—soon you'll become a dual-master of the hundred arts of cultivation!"

"It seems you truly will become the first in a thousand generations."

"It is my great honor to witness this moment."

"I should have told the other elders to delay their departure—hah!"

Qin Ming smiled but said nothing more.

Then, accompanied by Nalan Xi, the two arrived at the Herbalist Guild.

Liu Guchang, the Guild Master, was terrified upon seeing two Golden Core True Persons arrive, and immediately summoned everyone to pay their respects.

"We pay homage to the City Lord!"

"We pay homage to the Moon-Watching True Person!"

Nalan Xi said coolly, "Rise. Brother Qin will enter the final Third-Class Wood Illusion. Begin."

"Huh?! Oh, oh, oh!"

"I'll do it at once, Elder Qin, please step inside."

Liu Guchang bowed low, his heart filled with awe—he never imagined that decades later,

in the blink of an eye,

Qin Ming had become a figure so lofty that even he, the Guild Master, must look up to him.

The memory of Qin Ming's earlier trial here still vividly lingered, leaving a deep impression on them all.

And now, upon meeting again, Qin Ming was about to ascend to an even higher realm.

Third-Class Herbalist Master was a path he could never hope to reach in his lifetime.

Yet now, it seemed Qin Zhenjun's promotion to Third-Class Herbalist was all but certain.

Half a cup of tea later,

they arrived before the ancient wooden array.

After Liu Guchang activated the formation, a green light descended upon Qin Ming, and his figure vanished.

After a moment of dizziness,

Qin Ming reappeared inside the wooden hut. He walked confidently to the stone tablet at the entrance and selected the illusion's difficulty.

He still chose the highest difficulty: Class-A Wood Illusion.

He then opened the wooden door and stepped out.

The Third-Class Class-A Wood Illusion's trial required the herbalist to personally comprehend the Herbalist Dao Tablet and thereby condense a single herbalist divine art.

If one failed to awaken a divine art within ten years in the illusion, the trial was deemed a failure.

"Herbalist divine art? Could my Four Seasons Divine Light count?"

As Qin Ming pondered, a black obelisk dozens of zhang tall suddenly rose before him.

The Dao Tablet radiated an ancient, weathered aura, as if it had stood there for ten million years.

It also emitted profound, mysterious fluctuations.

"This is the Herbalist Dao Tablet."

"I wonder which great herbalist master created it."

On the pitch-black stone tablet,

countless strange runes were densely carved—some resembling pictographic characters of plants, which Qin Ming did not recognize.

As he gazed intently at the runes, suddenly, his dantian's flawless Golden Core stirred.

The silver rune bestowed upon him by his life-plant, Yin-Yang Mystic Vine, floated out of his body and instantly sank into the stone tablet.

In an instant, under Qin Ming's stunned gaze, the black Herbalist Dao Tablet blazed with radiant light, emitting streams of silver radiance.

The pictographic runes etched upon it seemed to come alive, wriggling like fish, breaking free from the obelisk's constraints.

In Qin Ming's disbelief, they surged forward and plunged into his forehead.

Suddenly,

countless runes flooded into Qin Ming's mind, reorganizing themselves.

"Decay and renewal through time, the turning of the four seasons."

"The Green Emperor, the Wood Sovereign—ten thousand things live forever."

Behind Qin Ming, the silver herbalist form representing his former Ancient Wood Immortal Body emerged, stirred by some unseen force.

At that moment,

in the depths of his mind,

countless silver runes fully restructured into an entirely new scripture.

"The Green Emperor Scripture!"

Qin Ming clearly felt that, built upon his original Ancient Wood Immortal Life Technique, a brand-new cultivation method had emerged.

And it was a direct continuation.

After completing this, the silver rune of Yin-Yang Mystic Vine returned to Qin Ming's dantian.

Immediately after, upon the black obelisk,

a boundless torrent of temporal energy, like a silver river spanning time and space, flowed ceaselessly into Qin Ming's body.

BOOM! In an instant,

the silver herbalist shadow behind Qin Ming shattered into countless fragments.

Qin Ming immediately sat cross-legged on the spot and began practicing the method of the Green Emperor Scripture.

Time slowly passed.

Nine years had passed within the illusion.

From within the shattered silver herbalist form, a single green light emerged—a spirit seed radiating astonishing Dao resonance, shimmering brilliantly.

Utterly miraculous!

"The legendary Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Body! Achieved!"

Even though only the initial form had been condensed, far from true perfection, it was still the successful first step.

What followed was simply planting trees, cultivating the Green Emperor Wood Sovereign Body to full maturity.

Qin Ming formed a mysterious hand seal; the green light seed behind him slowly sprouted two tender shoots, which then sank into his forehead.

In the depths of his mind, Qin Ming realized his affinity with plants had reached an unimaginable level.

His understanding of wood-based spells had reached the pinnacle.

Even his divine art, Four Seasons Divine Light, had grown from seven strands to twenty-one, its power greatly enhanced.

Had he not been within the illusion, he would have already sensed the tremendous increase in his efficiency absorbing external spiritual energy.

At that moment,

"Congratulations, Daoist! You have passed the Third-Class Class-A Wood Illusion trial."

"I never expected you to possess a wood rune origin—your fortune and destiny are exceedingly rare!"

"You are the second herbalist in ten thousand years to pass this trial."

Qin Ming stood up and turned toward the voice.

The barren Herbalist Dao Tablet suddenly shattered, and from within floated the spectral figure of a short, stout old man in silver robes.

He smiled warmly at him.

Qin Ming narrowed his eyes, released his spiritual sense, and detected no anomaly—the figure was clearly a lingering afterimage.

Yet he still bowed respectfully.

"Disciple Qin Ming pays homage to Elder."

"Was it you who created the Wood Illusion?"

"Hah! I am Mo Qingshan of the Qingyuan Sect—now merely a lingering thought."

"No need for such formalities."

"I have waited here for countless ages, and finally someone has broken through the Class-A trial."

"Young Master Qin speaks truly; this illusion trial was indeed created by this old man."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Qin Ming twice more.

"How strange! Young Master, you truly possess great fortune— even our sect's treasured Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror is on you!"

Hearing this, Qin Ming raised an eyebrow; he had not expected Mo Qingshan to sense the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

Then his words were almost certainly true.

(End of Chapter)