Chapter 519: Heaven-Sent Treasures at the Bottom of the Valley

"Hall Master, this honor is rare even in Fucheng, no, even in the entire Beixuan Zhou."

Zuo Lv and Lan Chengxiu, upon learning of the reward from the summons by the Monarch, were flushed with excitement.

The tens of thousands of martial artists in Fucheng, even if they exhausted their entire lives, might not have the qualifications to pay respects to the Monarch.

Yet Zhou You was personally received by the Monarch, who evaluated his merits and bestowed rewards; having his name registered before the Monarch meant his future was bright.

Not to mention...

Three days of time listening to lectures under the Monarch, aside from the gains in fist martial arts, nominally established a 'master-disciple' relationship with the Monarch, which was no different from an Amulet or a gold-plated death-immunity token.

Zhou You discovered that he had still underestimated the degree of reverence martial artists held for the Monarch.

In this era where the Martial Saint does not appear in the world, the Grandmaster is undoubtedly an existence viewed as a god by all martial artists.

Especially for folk martial artists like Zhou You, as long as one could establish a connection with the Monarch, one would be qualified to be recorded in the martial arts hall's genealogy and passed down to future generations to show off.

Lan Chengxiu patted his chest, "Hall Master, after returning to the martial arts hall, I will immediately assist Senior Brother Qi in holding the ceremony, requesting the hall genealogy, burning incense to pay respects, and recording this matter."

After this incident, the Daqian Martial Arts Hall's status had improved significantly; although it still could not compare to the Little Overlord Martial Arts Hall, it had already stood out among the many martial arts halls.

"I heard that Cao Wudang of Weinan Cheng has made such a great contribution this time that the city's noble families have decided to collectively forge a Tripod Vessel for him and gift it to the martial arts hall where he resides."

"Cao Wudang's martial arts hall may become the second martial arts hall in this prefecture to establish a tripod."

Which one was the first? The Little Overlord Martial Arts Hall.

After the great battle ended, both sides withdrew from the battlefield; the teams were neat and tight when they came, but they did not bother with such things when returning.

Many people left the team one after another to speed up their journey back, evidently needing to handle some urgent matters.

The Little Overlord Martial Arts Hall was the most anxious; after Yan Shan broke through to the Strong Martial Level, he had to hold a grand ceremony to announce it to all directions and invite guests from all walks of life.

Therefore, the Little Overlord Yan Shan took a group of people and returned ahead of time.

Yan Shan had also left long ago; as a Strong Martial, he was not a nanny and could not lead the team on the return journey.

Zhou You's group was not in a hurry and kept an unhurried pace, traveling alongside Qin Lie and the others from the martial arts hall.

"..."

In the desolate wilderness, a magnificent rift valley stretched across heaven and earth.

This was the place where Zhou You had originally rescued Zuo Lv and the others; after he left with them at that time, this place had fallen into silence.

Zzz, zzz, zzz—amidst the vibration sound brought by high-frequency trembling.

A large snake wound its way, following the rock crevices and the channels of the Underground Cave to reach the edge of this rift valley.

It raised its upper body, its pupils flashing with the Seal Character 'Control'.

That's right, this large snake was the one from Chongguang Cheng, which had been Dormant in the damp and dark underground; this long-distance trip to this place was to carry out an official duty under orders.

The large snake clung to the steep cliff of the rift valley, its smooth scales rippling like water as it wound and undulated; under the crushing force, soil crumbled and sparks flew from the rocks as it dove hundreds of meters deep in one breath.

The further it explored downward, the more the large snake's body gradually disappeared into the darkness at the bottom of the valley.

Although Zhou You was thousands of miles away, he used the power of the Seal Script to connect with the large snake's vision to observe the surrounding scenery.

The underground environment was vastly different from the surface, with both water and living things, constructing a closed and circular ecological environment.

Especially the cave platforms deep underground, where furry, unknown creatures often curled up in the lightless shadows. Soon, the large snake passed the depth where Zuo Lv and the others had been trapped and dove further into the depths.

Glug, glug! It had entered the groundwater layer; the large snake was very accustomed to such an environment and would not get lost, passing through the water layer in a few movements.

The reason Zhou You was certain that the bottom of the valley had a world of its own was because when he rescued the people that day, he sensed a cool breeze blowing from below and even saw a blurred footprint in the interlayer, which had formed a fossil over the long passage of time.

In other words, living people had once appeared in the environment at the bottom of the valley, which led to the large snake's journey to explore the underground world.

The large snake passed through the groundwater layer and shook its scales, splashing large drops of water into the dark environment.

It suddenly froze; a slightly sweet scent permeated the air, triggering its impulse to feed.

This was an independent Underground Cave, formed by the erosion of flowing water, with stalactites crisscrossing the ceiling and ground everywhere.

The cave was ventilated and had water; although it could not reach sunlight, it was not dim.

Besides the humidity, the air was filled everywhere with a slightly sweet fragrance that made the large snake drool with impulse, originating from the grass that spread like a carpet on the ground.

To be precise, it was moss, because it grew too long, looking like lush wild grass swaying in the wind.

Among these moss clusters grew strawberry-like red fruits, slightly emitting a sweet fragrance.

For a moment, the large snake was tempted so severely that it almost broke free from the Seal Script's restraint, regardless of everything, to rush over and gnaw on the fruits.

"Could it be..."

Zhou You remembered the white mushrooms in the giant crane's nest; could these fruits also be heaven-sent treasures? He suddenly thought of a fruit described in text in the Medicine King Canon that matched the characteristics of these fruits.

"Blood-Drip Pearl, avoids light and loves water, grows in the ten-thousand-zhang abyss underground, melts upon seeing light; after picking, it must be soaked in medicinal water to be brought back under the sky."

Zhou You ordered the large snake to eat one to taste it and determine if it was a Blood-Drip Pearl.

Sure enough, the taste detected by the large snake's taste buds was exactly the Blood-Drip Pearl recorded in the Medicine King Canon.

Zhou You breathed a sigh of relief, then felt excited; he already knew that the diet of the Strong Martial Level was mainly based on heaven-sent treasures, and the white mushrooms on hand were slightly insufficient, making it difficult to support the puppet 'Gu Lao'.

Finding this patch of Blood-Drip Pearls deep underground and confirming it was correct, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The puppet 'Gu Lao' was in a Pseudo-Strong Martial state; it did not consume energy during its daily sleep, but once it had to take action, it had to consume heaven-sent treasures, or it would immediately drop in realm.

"The medicinal water to process the Blood-Drip Pearls can wait until I return to Fucheng."

Zhou You decided to let the large snake stay in the depths of the rift valley to guard this Medicine Field of Blood-Drip Pearls.

The grass was interspersed with a large number of fruits, some ripe, some still green, and even flowers that had not yet withered.

It was conceivable that this was a field capable of sustainable production of fruits, which was very precious.

The large snake did not care; living anywhere was the same, but facing so many Blood-Drip Pearls, it was like a hungry wolf entering a sheepfold; expecting it to obediently be a sheepdog was impossible.

Zhou You thought it over; forcibly suppressing its impulse to eat went against its nature and did not conform to the essence of 'Control'.

After some bargaining, it was determined that one Blood-Drip Pearl would be fed to the large snake every month to make it guard this place.

In this Underground Cave, there were hundreds of ripe Blood-Drip Pearls, and more could continue to bear fruit and ripen later; the quantity was so vast that what was rewarded to the large snake was at most a drop in the bucket.

Zhou You was currently in the wilderness; only after returning to Fucheng and preparing the medicinal water could he enter the rift valley to pick the Blood-Drip Pearls, process them, and bring them out to the surface, where they could be preserved for a long time even when exposed to light.

With the backing of the Medicine King Sect, Hua Youxing will certainly be able to unearth the greatest potential of the Blood-Dripping Pearl.

(End of this chapter)