Chapter 254: The King's Spiritual Grass and the Second Batch

"Ah..."

A series of heart-wrenching, hair-raising screams echoed from afar; clearly, the disciples of the various sects had attempted to traverse beneath the seawater, only to find the bone-chilling cold unbearable, and ultimately failed to escape the attacks of the gadflies.

Heng Xian withdrew his gaze from the seaside and surveyed his surroundings.

This peach blossom forest was vast, with the flowers blooming in competition, looking quite gorgeous, but the tree trunks and the ground were covered in giant spiders the size of basins. They came in all sorts of colors—flowery and green—with eyes the size of fists and bodies covered in thick fur, a sight that made one's skin crawl.

The air not only lacked any refreshing floral scent but was instead filled with a pungent, fishy stench.

The reason Heng Xian had stopped here was due to the rules of the trial in this area.

This place was the domain of poisonous insects, rodents, ants, and beasts, all of which were gregarious, with each group more aggressive and venomous than the last.

For the sect disciples to force their way through here without the protection of armor, even a Yuan Dan Realm expert would eventually succumb to exhaustion and be devoured by the swarms of poisonous insects and beasts if they were not careful.

But the "Mysterious Yellow Heavenly Hexagram" indicated that being poisoned or injured was actually not a major issue, because every nest of these venomous creatures contained a spiritual grass. These items could not only neutralize toxins and heal injuries but also contained vast amounts of spiritual energy.

For him, this was the perfect treasure for refining his Qi Sea!

The spiritual energy of the previous insect swarms had been too weak, but he could sense abundant spiritual energy coming from deep within this spider colony—if he didn't snatch it, he'd be a fool!

Thinking of this, he attempted to walk into the peach blossom forest. The moment he entered, the spiders sensed him and rushed over, screeching "Ji-ji."

They were multicolored, basin-sized, moving rapidly, and spraying venom all over the sky.

The scene was quite spectacular.

However, protected by his armor, he feared nothing. He employed his light-body techniques, leaping and bounding as he dashed toward the depths of the peach blossom forest.

The further in he went, the larger and more vibrant the spiders became. Seeing an intruder, they showered him with venom and spider silk.

Heng Xian, covered in spider venom and silk, reached the deepest part and couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

At the very center of the forest was a mountain hollow, where a spider king the size of a house lay dormant. It was covered in blood-red spots, and its two fangs looked sharp enough to cut through metal and stone.

It was currently sleeping.

But its sheer size and presence alone were a threat, even if it hadn't done anything yet.

And on the cliff wall above the spider king's head grew a crystal-green medicinal herb; the rich spiritual energy and fragrance could be smelled from far away.

That was it!

Heng Xian couldn't help but feel happy. This damned ancient ruin was actually quite logical—danger and opportunity always coexisted. This thing was worth months of bitter cultivation in Hanshan.

"Swish, swish..."

The dense swarm of spiders behind him was catching up, surrounding him from all sides, poised to pounce.

Heng Xian immediately observed the spider king, the spiritual grass, and the surrounding environment. After weighing the pros and cons, he tapped his foot, vaulted over the spider king's head, and landed on the cliff wall, reaching for the spiritual grass.

The very moment his hand touched the grass, the spider king below woke up and let out a shrill, angry shriek.

Heng Xian's heart tightened. He immediately plucked the spiritual grass, landed on the spider king's back, and taking advantage of the fact that the other spiders dared not approach, he utilized the "Twenty Paths of Creation Escape Technique" to leap over the spider swarm, reach the peach blossom forest, and run for his life.

"Ji..."

The spider king was furious, letting out shrill, strange cries as it chased after him, snapping peach trees and scattering petals in its wake, causing the very earth to tremble.

"Damn it, who said spiders couldn't scream?"

Heng Xian cursed, reaching the edge of the peach blossom forest in a few strides.

However, the spider king showed no signs of giving up and chased him out as well.

He couldn't fly on his sword here, as it would attract more monsters, so Heng Xian picked a direction and continued to run for his life.

After twisting and turning, he ran for a full twenty miles before finally shaking off the spider king.

Heng Xian leaned against a large tree to catch his breath and surveyed his surroundings. This was a valley nestled between several small mountain peaks, covered in reeds and strange black stones.

The most urgent task now was to find a place to try absorbing the spiritual grass.

Just as he thought of this, the black stones around him suddenly moved closer, opening their blood-red maws and biting at him with a fishy stench.

They weren't stones at all, but a dense swarm of deformed crocodiles; if one didn't look closely, they looked exactly like stones.

At the critical moment, he had no choice but to fly up on his sword and flash onto a nearby mountain peak.

Fortunately, the peak was bare, with no poisonous insects or monsters.

Below, the reeds were practically boiling with the roars of the deformed crocodiles and their muddy bodies thrashing about, a sight that made one's scalp tingle, but they didn't climb up.

He glanced toward the seaside where he had come from. The screams had stopped; it was unlikely the sect disciples had been wiped out, so he estimated some had died, and the rest had escaped.

Where had they gone?

It didn't matter.

He looked around and saw a mountain rock crevice about a person wide nearby. He squeezed in, chiseled out a cave with his spiritual sword, blocked the entrance with stones, and took out the spiritual grass.

He didn't know the variety of this spiritual grass; it had nine leaves and one flower, the leaves were crystal clear, and the flower was fragrant.

The best way to absorb it would be to refine it into pills, but the conditions didn't allow for it.

He simply swallowed the whole plant.

The spiritual grass melted in his mouth, turning into vast amounts of cool spiritual energy that surged wildly into his limbs, bones, and acupoints.

Heng Xian immediately held his center, circulated his cultivation technique, focused his mind, and guided the spiritual energy to refine his Qi Sea bit by bit.

Time passed slowly, and soon night fell.

The hills and forests at night were exceptionally lively, with strange, bizarre roars mixed with faint human voices coming from all directions.

However, after a heavy rain in the early hours of the morning, all the noise vanished completely.

At dawn the next day, the rain stopped, and Heng Xian woke up from his meditation, his eyes shining brightly.

A single spiritual grass had actually refined more than one-tenth of his Qi Sea.

At this rate, he would only need a dozen more spiritual grasses to complete the sixth refinement of his Qi Sea.

He was one step closer to the Yuan Dan Realm!

Just then, a series of conversations drifted in from outside:

"Senior Brother, do we really have to kill these black crocodiles?"

"If we don't kill these ugly crocodiles, Junior Brother and the others will surely die!"

"Is there an antidote in the black crocodile's nest?"

"Last night, Jiang Ruyan of the Overlord Sect and Xiao Yujian of the Falling Clouds Valley joined forces to kill a snake king, and in the snake king's cave, they found a magical spiritual grass that saved over a dozen sect disciples poisoned by snake venom..."

"I understand! This is just like what the elders often said before I entered the sect: if you get bitten by a snake on the mountain, there must be an antidote spiritual grass nearby!"

"That's about the logic. Everyone, be careful, we'll kill our way in from the side!"

"Understood!"

Heng Xian frowned slightly. Judging by this, these people outside were a different batch from him and the group of Yu Qiuyi and Niu Wanli.

In other words, at least two batches of sect disciples had entered these hills and forests!

This group seemed slightly smarter than Niu Wanli's lot, as they had actually discovered the secret of the beast kings and the spiritual grass.

He quietly moved the stones and looked out.

He saw over a dozen people on the hillside diagonally opposite, crouching low, preparing to pounce.

Sure enough! He didn't recognize a single one of them.

(End of chapter)