Chapter 193

The two immediately sprang into action. Zhang Jun channeled pure yang energy into the Yang Jade, while Lin Xue guided her profound yin energy into the Yin Jade. The two completely different energies intertwined in midair, forming a faint ta

Okay, walk!

The two of them, holding up this wobbling shield, crept cautiously toward the Jin Yao Pu. The closer they got, the thicker the dark-green miasma became; the shield's surface rippled like water, and beads of fine sweat appeared on both their faces—maintaining the shield drained them of too much strength.

Finally, they reached the edge of the black wooden fence surrounding the Jin Yao Pu. By the faint light of the yin-yang shield, they could finally make out what lay inside the fence—

The plants inside grew peculiarly, nothing like ordinary flora. Some stems and leaves were black as ink yet speckled with faint fluorescence; some flowers were blood-red yet exuded a bone-chilling cold; still others were wholly transparent like crystal, yet inside flowed dark-green sap.

"These are mutated medicinal herbs!" Lin Xue couldn't help but exclaim softly. Her healer's instinct told her that, though these strange plants were terrifyingly toxic, their medicinal value was off the charts. "Good heavens, that black jade ginseng over there must be several hundred years old at least! I've only seen descriptions of it in medical classics."

Just as they were both shocked and a little excited, a low, prolonged humming suddenly came from deep within the medicinal garden, sounding like some living creature breathing. As the hum rang out, the surrounding dark-green miasma instantly boiled like a pot, like molten lava, surging wildly toward the shield.

"Something's been awakened!" Zhang Jun's face changed; he hurriedly poured out more true qi, trying to make the shield sturdier.

The animal-skin fragment in Lin Xue's bosom suddenly grew hot; she hurriedly pulled it out to see that the characters "Hundred Herbs Classic" on it were faintly glowing, tracing a pale line of light in the air that pointed straight to the center of the medicinal garden.

"Zhang Jun, the fragment of the Hundred Herbs Classic is right in the center of the medicinal garden! I guess that humming is what it's emitting."

"We have to find a way through—this shield won't hold much longer." Zhang Jun's forehead veins were about to burst; maintaining the shield had drained most of his strength.

Lin Xue glanced around; her gaze fell on a narrow stone path not far away. The path led deeper into the medicinal garden, and though the miasma on either side was also thick, it seemed somewhat thinner due to some special arrangement.

"Over there! Look at that stone path—it's covered in old runes; it might be a safe route left by True Person Shouyi."

Zhang Jun followed her pointing direction and indeed saw that the inconspicuous stone path was etched with countless tiny runes, heavily weathered but still faintly discernible.

"Let's give it a try!"

Clenching their teeth, they drove their nearly exhausted true qi to stubbornly uphold the yin-yang shield, inching step by step onto the stone path. When their feet finally touched the path, the previously wobbling shield miraculously steadied; the runes glimmered faintly, as if responding to their arrival.

"This really is a path left by the Medicine Sect's predecessors!" Lin Xue's face lit up with delight.

As they walked along the path inward, the humming grew clearer and the animal-skin fragment in Lin Xue's bosom grew hotter. When they finally reached the center of the medicinal garden, what lay before them made them both hold their breath—

A huge, wholly translucent, crystal-clear lingzhi mushroom stood silently on the stone pedestal at the garden's center; its shape resembled a miniature taiji diagram, one side flashing golden light, the other emanating blue light—and that prolonged humming issued from it.

At the base of the lingzhi was set an ancient-looking jade tablet, inscribed with a few seal-script characters: "Hall of Hundred Herbs, Extinction and Life."

"This is the fragment of the Hundred Herbs Classic left by True Person Shouyi!" Lin Xue's voice trembled. "So… the Hall of Hundred Herbs is here…"

"Looks like this place doesn't welcome outsiders." Zhang Jun murmured, the light of the Yang Jade flickering uncertainly in his palm as his muscles tensed.

"The fragment of the Hundred Herbs Classic is definitely inside—we have to go in!" Lin Xue spoke without hesitation; the animal-skin fragment in her bosom burned alarmingly, clearly pointing the way.

No longer hesitating, they bore up the faltering yin-yang shield and continued feeling their way deeper into the medicinal garden along the stone path.

The strange plants lining the stone path seemed to have come alive.

A vine, its tip bearing a pallid, human-face-like flower, silently shot out a tendril that wound toward Zhang Jun's ankle.

Zhang Jun didn't even glance; he stomped down with a foot wrapped in pure yang energy, and the vine exploded outright, spraying foul-smelling green liquid.

Several brightly colored, bizarre little snakes darted out from cracks in the stones, flicking their tongues, moving so fast they left afterimages, and lunged straight at Lin Xue's face.

Lin Xue reacted even faster; she flicked her fingers, and several gleaming silver needles shot out, arriving ahead of the snakes to pin them at the seventh inch. The poisonous snakes spasmed, frozen midair, then fell to the ground.

Moreover, swarms of tiny flying insects, like mosquitoes but capable of spraying flesh-corroding venom, buzzed up to surround them.

Zhang Jun stirred his pure yang energy, and a scorching heat wave burst outward, incinerating those poisonous insects to ash.

Lin Xue also scattered her specially formulated insect-repelling powder; its medicinal fragrance spread, and the remaining poisonous bugs scrambled to flee.

Inside the medicinal garden, things were completely different from the outer illusionary formation.

Everywhere lay killing intent—every blade of grass, every tree, every insect and ant bore a lethal threat.

The arrangement bore the flavor of an ancient, sinister medical forbidden art, as if using the harshest means to test the medical skill and adaptability of anyone who dared intrude.

"This place isn't really a medicinal garden at all—it's more like a trial ground built from poison and forbidden arts." Lin Xue said, using powder to repel a few poisonous scorpions burrowing up from the soil, speaking softly.

Zhang Jun said nothing, merely nodding silently.

In this eerie place, his pure yang energy was consumed at a frightening rate, yet each time he stubbornly endured a poisonous assault, he felt his energy condense a bit more, as if his very body were being tempered stronger by the omnipresent toxicity.

Finally, after passing through a patch of purple blossoms exuding a sweet, hallucinatory fragrance, the scene before them shifted abruptly.

An ancient altar built entirely of black looming stones appeared ahead.

The altar was sizable, its surface covered in blurred crimson runes that exuded a barbaric, bloody aura.

In the altar's center sat a three-legged, two-eared bronze cauldron of archaic style, its body mottled with rust yet emanating a deep, solemn, weighty power.

Around the altar stood seven or eight figures, motionless like wooden stakes.

They wore uniform dark-green robes that covered their whole bodies, their faces hidden behind cold masks that revealed only a pair of hollow eyes, devoid of any sign of life.