Chapter 173: The Core Clue of the Clear Heart Pill

Zhang Mei's movements were swift and skilled, like an experienced old butcher. The huge python's corpse was quickly dismantled under her hands. The bloody, foul-smelling blood stained the ground red, but she didn't care, precisely digging out a fist-sized crystal core that flickered with a dim light, and carefully extracting the intact snake gall and a piece of extremely tough snake skin.

Li Hu stood like a doorguard, knife in hand, guarding the entrance to the ruins, his ears and eyes pushed to the limit, vigilant for any stirring.

Wang Shan sat cross-legged on the spot, his breath still chaotic, but his eyes shone remarkably. He didn't rush to heal his wounds; instead, he first ordered the system in his mind to mark for recovery all recognizable, still slightly spirit-infused strange plants in this broken herb garden.

【Ding! Collected third-order mutant blood orchid… Spirit Plant Points +1800.】

【Ding! Collected second-order ghostface vine… Spirit Plant Points +950.】

……

【Ding! Collected peak Foundation Establishment soul-devouring giant python crystal core, obtained beast source energy, converted into Spirit Plant Points +.】

【Ding! Collected soul-devouring giant python gall, skin and other materials, Spirit Plant Points +3200.】

A series of notification sounds rang in his mind, the Spirit Plant Points number surged wildly upward.

"Calculate total." Wang Shan silently muttered in his mind.

【Current Spirit Plant Points balance:.】

Over sixty-eight thousand!

After this haul, almost everything he'd spent to stay alive has been recovered. In this damned place, Spirit Plant Points are life, they are everything.

"Exchange for the fourth-order Clear Heart Pill recipe." Wang Shan hesitated not.

【Exchanging for the fourth-order Clear Heart Pill recipe, consuming Spirit Plant Points.】

【Exchanging refining materials…… consuming Spirit Plant Points.】

The pain is real, but life is more important. Right now his body is like hosting a ten-thousand-beast party; if he doesn't find strong security to hold things down, sooner or later these creatures will tear him apart.

The pill furnace was taken out, and various strangely scented materials were skillfully thrown in by him. As he infused his Foundation Establishment spiritual power, the furnace flames rose, and a rich medicinal fragrance quickly spread throughout the ruins.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei smelled the aroma, turned and glanced. Their master in this state actually still had the mind to refine pills? And judging by the posture, what he was refining was no ordinary thing. They exchanged a look, silently stepping back, afraid to disturb him.

After several hours, the pill furnace let out a soft 'hum', three wholly jade-green pills, as if containing a spring of clear water, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

Success.

Wang Shan picked up one, without hesitation tossed it into his mouth.

The pill melted upon entry, a surge of icy-cold warmth instantly washed over his limbs and bones. The feeling was like having a bucket of ice water poured over his head in scorching heat, or like being suddenly pulled from a noisy, chaotic market into an absolutely silent meditation chamber. The beastly power rampaging and roaring in his meridians, as if encountering its natural enemy, was instantly soothed and subdued, obediently hiding away.

"Huuu..."

He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, tinged with a hint of darkness. Wang Shan opened his eyes; although his face remained pale, the confusion and madness in his gaze had faded, restoring his former depth and calm.

His injuries remained, but the greatest hidden danger had been temporarily suppressed.

"Master, are you alright?" Li Hu approached, his face showing undisguised joy.

"I won't die." Wang Shan waved his hand, his gaze falling on the animal hide processed by Zhang Mei and a few broken stone slabs. "Bring the things over."

He picked up that piece of hide from an unknown fierce beast; the twisted, ancient script on it was not the common script of the present Tianyuan Realm.

"System, parse."

【Ding! Parsing Beast Taming Sect ancient script…… comparing database…… parse successful.】

Line after line of translated text appeared directly in his consciousness.

"……Ten Thousand Beasts Origin, the sect's foundation, and also…… the calamity of devouring the master……"

"……Only with same-source power can one guide all beasts to unity and break the curse of devouring the master……"

"……If the core is not extinguished, the beastly nature will not cease……"

Wang Shan read each word, his breathing gradually becoming hurried.

Same-source power? All beasts united?

He suddenly recalled the line on the recipe after slaying the giant python: "Same-source can resolve."

"System, combine all clues and analyze the 'Beast Source Core'."

【Analyzing…… target 'Beast Source Core', it is the core of this secret realm's power, the root sustaining the existence of all mutant creatures here.】

【At the same time, the 'Beast Source Core' is the ultimate source of the Beast Taming Sect's forbidden art 'Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal' power.】

【Projection conclusion: Obtaining or controlling part of the power of the 'Beast Source Core' has a 92% chance to eradicate your host's technique backlash, and an 85% chance to resolve the same-source strange poison inside your grandson Wang Zhitao's body.】

【Warning: The 'Beast Source Core' area has been locked onto by an ancient guardian consciousness; danger level rated as: Extinction. Any outsider approaching will suffer indiscriminate attack.】

Indeed so!

All the clues have now been strung together. Whether it's his own backlash or his grandson's strange poison, the root lies in this 'Beast Source Core'!

This is a dead end, yet also the only path to life.

"Wait here to die, or charge in to find a way to live…… is there even a choice?" Wang Shan gave a self-mocking smile.

He looked around; although the ruins were dilapidated, some of the seals laid down when the Beast Taming Sect built the herb garden back then still retained a trace of their divine rhythm.

"Li Hu, Zhang Mei, come over." Wang Shan rose to his feet, his voice low but carrying an undeniable authority: "We'll settle here. Li Hu, you go to the stone tablet to the east and bury that crystal core there. Zhang Mei, hang this snake skin on the crossbeam of the collapsed pill room to the west."

Although the two didn't understand, they immediately complied.

When they had placed the items, the whole ruins seemed to faintly 'hum', an invisible energy shield flickered into existence, sealing off this place from the chaotic aura of the outside world, forming a relatively safe zone.

"Master, this is……" Li Hu stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

"It's a residual seal of the Beast Taming Sect; by borrowing these items containing beast source energy, we can barely activate it, at least enough to fend off minor troubles outside." Wang Shan explained briefly, then pulled two ordinary monster beast crystal cores he had previously slain from his storage bag and tossed them to them.

"You two shouldn't idle either. The energy in these is violent, but it's good for you. Try to absorb it; absorb as much as you can. Don't think you can gulp it all and get fat—be careful not to burst yourselves."

"Yes!" The two were overjoyed, hurriedly taking the crystal cores as if they had obtained treasures.

Having arranged his subordinates, Wang Shan walked to the corner, looking at his still-unconscious grandson Wang Zhitao. He crushed a freshly refined fourth-order Clear Heart Pill, carefully mixed the powder with clear water, fed it into the grandson's mouth, and placed the tiniest beast source crystal core on his chest.

After doing all this, he finally let out a genuine sigh of relief.

The makeshift camp was built, his subordinates were striving to grow stronger, his grandson's life was temporarily sustained, and his own injuries stabilized.

Next came the biggest problem.

He lifted his gaze toward the depths of the ruins, the direction where that ancient will was awakening.

Wan Tianxiong that old thing is definitely also somewhere in this damned place, bumping around like a headless fly, and deeper inside, there is also a 'landlord' who wants to kill all living things.

Wolves ahead, tigers behind, and I'm also dragging along two burdens and two little ones.

This card game is really exciting.