Chapter 123

Wang Shan sat cross-legged on the damp stone floor, with assorted scraps he had scavenged from the Wan Family cultivators' storage bags spread out before him.

He rummaged through them; there were some spirit stones, but unfortunately their grade was low and the quantity wasn't enough for a big deal.

Spirit Plant Points—last time he used them for pill refining and drawing talismans, consuming quite a few; now looking at the remaining balance, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

"Alas, still poor." Wang Shan couldn't help muttering.

Li Hu wiped his greatsword beside him, hearing this he gave a simple, honest smile: "Brother Wang, just making it out alive on this trip is already good; now we even have news of your grandson—better than anything."

Zhang Mei sat to the side, carefully binding a few gathered herbs with vines; hearing this she also nodded: "Yeah, Elder Brother Wang, we'll take it step by step and surely find them."

Wang Shan grunted in acknowledgment; the reasoning was sound, but that old monster of the Wan Family, and possibly the Ten Thousand Beasts Gate showing up… Body Refining Ninth Layer sounds intimidating, yet against a Foundation Establishment cultivator it's still not enough. He hadn't forgotten Wan Tianjue's old coot's final man-eating look.

"Foundation Establishment, we must achieve it as soon as possible." Wang Shan murmured, his eyes falling on the system interface.

He opened the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill and examined it carefully again. The main ingredient is Purple Monkey Flower, whose growth conditions are harsh enough to make one's hair stand on end—things like nourishment from spirit monkey dung aged over a hundred years, or the gathering of yin evil at the utmost yang locales—sounds mystical. The auxiliary ingredients are easier to say, but they too are rare precious items hard to come by in daily life.

"Purple Monkey Flower…" Wang Shan rubbed his chin, "Just hearing the name tells you it's not easy to obtain."

"Brother Wang, what flower?" Li Hu leaned over curiously.

"It's the main ingredient of the Foundation Establishment Pill." Wang Shan didn't hide it, "If you want to achieve Foundation Establishment, you have to find it."

Upon hearing the two words "Foundation Establishment," Li Hu's eyes lit up: "Foundation Establishment Pill! That's legendary stuff! Brother Wang, if you can achieve Foundation Establishment, the Wan Family…" He gestured excitedly, the meaning obvious.

Wang Shan said: "So, besides looking for people, we also need to keep an eye out for this Purple Monkey Flower and other high-grade spirit plants that might be useful. Ordinary demon beast materials aren't worth much to us now." He glanced at Li Hu: "We have to go deeper, hunt third-tier demon beasts, or find those seldom-visited blessed lands, in order to gather the materials."

"Third-tier demon beasts?" Li Hu clicked his tongue, both excited and a bit apprehensive.

"Afraid?" Wang Shan gave him a sideways glance.

"Hey, no way! Following Brother Wang, I've charged through blades and fire!" Li Hu slapped his chest.

Zhang Mei spoke softly: "Elder Brother Wang, I'll do my best to help."

Wang Shan looked at the two, his heart somewhat settled. He opened the system and began calculating. Though Spirit Plant Points were few, applying them to weapons could still have some effect.

"System, exchange for the manuals of Third-Tier Concealing Breath Art and Third-Tier Environment Scanning Talisman."

"Exchanging the manual for Third-Tier Concealing Breath Art costs 300 Spirit Plant Points."

"Exchanging the manual for Third-Tier Environment Scanning Talisman costs 350 Spirit Plant Points."

It's painful, but worth it. Concealing Breath Art will let them hide their tracks better, while the Environment Scanning Talisman can give early warning—especially when searching for those two little rascals and specific targets like Purple Monkey Flower, it's extremely useful.

"We still need to prepare some heavy hitters." Wang Shan thought, in case they truly run into a Foundation Establishment expert from the Wan Family—without some trump cards it won't do.

He then looked at the sporadically planted herbs in the system space—most were first or second tier, not amounting to much. He gritted his teeth, allocating another portion of the meager remaining Spirit Plant Points to a few relatively rare third-tier medicinal herb seedlings, accelerating their growth. Better than nothing, who knows when they might come in handy?

"Li Hu, Zhang Mei, come over." Wang Shan called.

The two approached.

Wang Shan took out a few crude herb illustration booklets from his storage bag, drawn from memory. "These days, besides standing guard, you should also learn to recognize these spiritual herbs. Some may not be used for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, but they are auxiliary materials for third-tier pills, or can be used directly—if you encounter them, don't miss them."

Li Hu took the booklet, scratched his head: "Brother Wang, these twists and turns are harder than learning characters."

Zhang Mei examined it carefully: "This 'Lonely Grass'—I think I've seen something similar by the roadside."

"Mm, the more you look and remember, the better prepared you'll be." Wang Shan said, then took out blank talisman paper and cinnabar, preparing to attempt drawing third-tier talismans. He chose Third-Order Earth Escape Talisman and Third-Order Explosion Talisman—the former for preserving life, the latter for breaking through defenses; both are extremely practical.

Drawing third-tier talismans is far more difficult than second-tier—not only does it demand higher spiritual power control, but the rune structure is many times more complex. Wang Shan focused his mind and spirit, stroke by stroke, carefully.

"Hiss!" The first sheet was ruined; a slight disruption in spiritual power flow caused the runes to dissipate directly.

Wang Shan wasn't discouraged and kept trying. Li Hu and Zhang Mei stood aside—one poring over the booklet in deep thought, the other quietly tidying the previously gathered herbs, occasionally glancing up at Wang Shan.

The cave had only the sound of dripping water and the faint spiritual power fluctuation when Wang Shan drew talismans.

After an unknown amount of time, after wasting seven or eight sheets of talisman paper, Wang Shan finally succeeded in drawing the first Third-Order Earth Escape Talisman. At the moment the talisman was completed, a surge of spiritual power fluctuation, far stronger than that of second-tier talismans, burst forth.

"Done!" Li Hu was even more excited than Wang Shan.

Wang Shan looked at the glowing yellow talisman in his hand and also breathed a sigh of relief. Having this, at critical moments he'd have more options.

He continued drawing, gradually gaining a feel. While drawing a Third-Order Explosion Talisman, at one moment a flash of inspiration struck him. The arrangement of these runes, the order of their strokes—how could they bear some… indistinct connection to the fragmented Beast Taming Sect runes he had seen on the Ten Thousand Beasts General Compendium Stele and that black jade slip?

"Huh?" Wang Shan paused his brush, picked up the black jade slip, and compared it with the talisman he had just drawn, falling into contemplation.

The Beast Taming Sect's runes seem more inclined toward control and guidance, whereas general talismans focus more on instantaneous burst and effect. Yet their core principle of spiritual power operation appears to share common ground. Could it be… that many of the Beast Taming Sect's secret arts are also evolved from these basic rune formations? Or perhaps they originally share the same source, merely developing in different directions?

As this thought arose, Wang Shan suddenly felt his vision broaden somewhat. If that's true, then studying the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance could also, conversely, enhance his understanding of the talisman way.

"Kind of interesting…" Wang Shan's mouth corner unconsciously twitched upward. This journey into the Man Yun Mountain Range is becoming ever more mysterious and intriguing, and ever more something to look forward to.

He tucked that thought away for now and told Li Hu and Zhang Mei: "Alright, we've rested enough. Our goal is to the southeast—to find Zhize and Zhitao, while also watching for clues about Purple Monkey Flower and other high-grade spirit plants. The Wan Family's lackeys also need constant vigilance."

"Understood!" Li Hu hoisted his greatsword onto his shoulder.

Zhang Mei had also finished preparing, slinging her bow and arrows onto her back.

Wang Shan stowed the freshly drawn third-tier talismans close to his body, checked over a Third-Tier Hidden Trace Transmission Talisman once more, then led the two away from this temporary cave stronghold, heading into the unknown depths of the mountain range and toward that faint yet steadfast hope, setting out again.