Xi Zhao was feeling... restless. Perhaps there were other words to better describe him, but he couldn't think of any at the moment. Frowning, he ignored the distracting thoughts, stood back up, bent forward slightly, and assumed a drawing position, though never pulled out the sword itself, maintaining a rather heavy equilibrium.
He had to endure the push and pull of the small space between the sword and the scabbard, with Qi slowly mounting as his hand began to shake and vibrate. Just before it resulted in an explosion of Qi, he yielded, letting loose the rancid breath and letting go of the sword's handle. The storm quelled and he found himself panting, sweat dripping down onto the cave's ground.
Sighing, he wiped the sweat and stretched. No matter how much he practiced, he couldn't focus.
He left the cave, standing on the edge of the extended plateau which overlooked most of the mountain below. He glanced up toward the peak, but decided against it; though confiding in Master might relieve him, he didn't want to bother the man unless absolutely necessary. Thinking through, he in the end turned his attention to a small pavilion on the left of him, built atop the same rocky plateau as his own. He leaped over in one stride, landing gently in front of the wide, wooden doors and knocking on them.
Rayce emerged a few moments later, face and fingers dripped in black ink.
"O-oh, forgive me, Brother Rayce; I didn't know you were working."
"It's alright," he smiled. "I was just about to take a break. Come in for some tea?"
"Hm."
He followed the young man inside whereupon the scent of ink and paper washed out all else. While most others have opted for caves, Brother Rayce chose a simple pavilion. Lanterns hung off of wooden walls, shielded by glass, illuminating a rather simple space. Xi Zhao caught sight of the workshop, with hundreds of papers strewn about the floor and the low desk, though young man led him to the adjacent room.
He tore apart a parchment and started a fire, putting on a pot of water over it to boil. Above was a shafted opening with protective arrays which guided out the smoke, reminiscent of the fireplace of Xi Zhao's first home when he was a child.
"Is jasmine tea alright?"
"Y-yes, it's fine."
Xi Zhao sat in silence on the cushion, cross-legged, waiting as his stomach began to rumble soundlessly. He was feeling nervous, though couldn't quite figure out why.
While the water boiled, Brother Rayce dipped outside for a quick wash; every cave as well as his pavilion had a small stream cutting nearby, sourced from Master's peak, with water so refreshing that Xi Zhao suspected it wasn't even water, but something Master created to look like water.
The young man came a few minutes later, just as the water started to boil, pouring it over two cups and stirring for a few moments with a wooden spoon. It was strange--even Uncle Shun didn't obey the ritual of tea making as much as Brother Rayce did, but Xi Zhao didn't say anything. The former sat down opposite him as steam from the two cups of tea swarmed out in silence. Neither spoke, prompting Xi Zhao to take a sip of tea, as if to seek some liquid courage.
"Brother Rayce," he broke the silence. "I... I need some advice." the young man simply took a sip of tea, staying silent and waiting. "I... can't concentrate. Every time i sit down to cultivate, or practice martial arts, my mind keeps wandering."
"Wandering where?" Xi Zhao winced, lowering his head and staring at the steaming cup of tea.
"T-to... someone..." he mumbled.
"Hm."
"Even if I force myself to not think about... someone," he continued. "It doesn't last for long. Especially now, when I'm making final preparations to break into the Revolving Core Realm... it's like an anchor weighing me down. Is it a Heart Demon?"
"I wouldn't know about that," Brother Rayce said.
"Oh, right."
"But," the young man added, his voice warm and quaint. "What I know is that not all distractions are bad or ill-intended. Hearts are... complicated things, Zhao. As are our minds. You say that your mind keeps wandering and thinking about someonewithout your intent, is that so?"
"Yes."
"But how do you feel when you think about them?"
"Feel...?" Xi Zhao looked up, meeting the young man's rather tender gaze. Brother Rayce was smiling gently, taking a sip of the tea.
"Right, feel. You say they are a distraction, but I ask what kind. Does thinking about them make you angry?"
"N-no, of course not!" he quickly exclaimed. "No," he added after, lowering his head again. "It's... it's a feeling in my stomach. Like a pit. But it's also like fire. It's not a bad feeling, necessarily, but the more I think about her, the more intense it becomes."
"Intense?" Brother Rayce repeated as Xi Zhao frowned. He couldn't put it into words, he knew. Unlike Master, who was a wordsmith beyond ages, and who could find the perfect set of words to fit together for every circumstances under the sky, Xi Zhao... he wasn't. He was dull with words, as he was dull with himself.
"My heart," he grabbed his chest. "Sometimes stops. It just... stops. Not for long, but it doesstop. What if, while I'm breaking through, I think of her? And what if in that crucial moment, my heart stops, disrupting my Qi?"
"Hm," Brother Rayce hummed for a moment as nervousness overcame Xi Zhao. No, it wasn't nervousness--it was something else. He felt his cheeks warm up as blood rushed into them, and he felt his palms began to sweat, and he felt his tongue turn strangely dry despite drinking tea. Was he getting sick on top of everything else?! Perhaps he should have gone to Uncle Shun and asked for some pills to heal him. "Your heart doesn't stop, Zhao," Brother Rayce said as Xi Zhao looked up, hopeful. "It skips a beat."
"Skips... a beat?"
"When you get overwhelmed thinking about her, it's like your heart needs a moment to catch its breath," Brother Rayce smiled even more gently, leaning forward onto the desk, elbow pressing into the wood while resting his head on the palm of his hand. "You're not sick, and you don't have a Heart Demon."
"I... I don't?"
"No. But, I can't help you any more than this, I'm afraid."
"E-eh? Why not?!"
"Because some things in life must be learned through living them," Brother Rayce said, pulling back. "If thinking about her makes you so nervous, why are you fighting it?"
"... hm?"
"Just think about her all the time, until it feels normal. And then break through. Ah, I just said I can't help you any more, and yet I did. Haah, me and my meddling," Brother Rayce sighed, standing up. "Just remember: you're amazing, Zhao. And I'm rooting for you."
"Uh."
"Now get out. I'm about to go on a word-writing frenzy to prepare us for the island. So, unless you're willing to watch me splash ink all over you, go back and steel yourself for the breakthrough. Ah--and don't go to Master about this. His heart... hm, let's say that his heart does stop."
"Uh, y-yes," Xi Zhao stumbled onto his feet, leaving the pavilion somewhat more confused than he was when he came in.
Alas, at least he had a goal: rather than fighting away Xiu'er's image out of his mind, he would let it be there and dominate him until it was normal. Until hearing her voice wasn't a quaint, heavenly melody, and until seeing her smile wasn't a manifested canvas of art. Until it was all a new normal, within which breaking through wouldn't be difficult at all.
Wan Lan kicked out, her right leg sweeping up diagonally towards Dai Xiu's ribs. The latter pushed forward, ducking underneath rather than retreating, left arm stretching out into an upward hook. Wan Lan raised her left one, elbowing down at the fist and causing a collision that swept out a harsh, biting wind, pushing both of them apart by about twenty yards.
Before either stabilized, Dai Xiu rushed forward yet again, immediately upon her, right fist pushing out. Rather than blocking, Wan Lan shifted her body so that the fist hit her left shoulder, punching out with her right arm towards Dai Xiu's face. The latter frowned, pulling back her punch and shifting backwards.
"Hey, you promised you wouldn't do that!" she yelled out as Wan Lan grinned.
"Sorry. It's instinct."
"Tsk, instinct my ass. You're just jealous I'm ten times prettier than you!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, let's rest for a bit," Wan Lan said, walking over toward Light who was reading through some book and sitting down under the shade of a tree.
"You can't ever just play out the deal," Dai Xiu rambled on as she sat down, too. "You always ruin it."
"I already apologized," Wan Lan said. "Don't push for anything more."
"Haah," Dai Xiu sighed. "Wasn't the point to help me figure out better ways of using Endless Qi Ocean? If you just push for trading blows, then there's no point. One punch from you would probably make me unconscious for about a week, and the only way I can deal any damage to that thing you call a body is if I go in with the intent to kill you. Hmm. Maybe I should just go in with the intent to kill you, then?"
"May as well," Wan Lan said, sighing. "Though I'm fairly certain only Brother Tao and Master can actually kill me at this point." she felt a chill run down her spine rather quickly as a pair of apathetic eyes peeked from behind the book. "Er, a-and our little Light, of course."
"Wow. You're really scared of her that much?" Dai Xiu said, shuffling over next to Light and throwing her arm around the little girl. "Light, can you teach me how to make her pee herself like that?"
"Become about a million times stronger than you are right now," Light said.
"Tsk. Only nonsense ever comes out of her," she sighed, pulling away and leaning back into the tree. "Right. Did you two notice anything off with that idiot Zhao?" Wan Lan's ears perked up and even Light twitched a bit, her eyes wandering away from the letters of the book.
"Why do you ask?" Wan Lan said.
"I don't know," Dai Xiu frowned. "The last few weeks, he's been acting... kind of odd. Andhe's started to avoid me."
"More than usual?"
"Yeah, more than usual!" she exclaimed. "I thought he might have been mad because I took that last piece of chicken, but when I asked him about it, do you know what he said?"
"What?"
"I don't care!"
"... er?"
"It's chicken!" Dai Xiu exclaimed. "He used to literally put his hand on the handle of his sword if I reached for his piece of chicken! I'd feel my neck tense up every time! What is he talking about, I don't care~? Tsk, damn bastard, trying to act cool." Light looked at her quite... pitifully, and even Wan Lan could barely shore herself up.
Most of the group had an ongoing bet of whether them two would become Dao Companions. The bet traced back to quitesome time ago, and though the progress between them had been minimal, it made sense as they were quite young. However, just recently, Wan Lan had noticed that Zhao had started looking at this berserk thing... differently. Her, on the other hand, Wan Lan could not read.
Though she was quite possessive of Xi Zhao, and had even admonished him in the past when he showed interest in other girls, it never felt like... jealousy, but rather something far more childish.
"What? Why are the two of you looking at me weirdly, too?" she frowned, immediately becoming aggressive.
"No, nothing. I just find it weird, too," Wan Lan said. "What do you think it is?"
"Hmm. Maybe he's sick?" she said. "Or maybe he's just weird because he's about to break through and understands he'll never be able to catch up to me because I'll keep leaving him in the dust? He he~"
"I think he's developed feelings for some girl," Light!!! Wan Lan nearly shouted as the little girl mumbled out the words that everybody else kept to themselves like the greatest secret.
"E-eh?" Dai Xiu winced, pulling back and staring at Light. "W-what are you talking about?"
"When we were in that auction," Light continued. "I saw him staring at that woman that was traveling with Elder Qin. She was quite pretty, so maybe he developed feelings for her is now feeling sad because she's gone?"
... Wan Lan did want to laugh and she did want to shout, but in the end stayed silent, closely observing Dai Xiu's changing expressions.
"Psh, no, no way," she said. "It's dumb Zhao. That idiot doesn't have anything but the sword on his mind."
"Hm. You're probably right," Light said.
"..."
"..."
"I knew it!!" Dai Xiu exclaimed, shooting up to her feet. "He's a beast, too! They're all beasts! How dare he think about some old hag when there's--when Master needs him to focus on cultivating! Hah, that bastard! Avoid me?! I'll avoid you with my fist! Just you wait... the moment he breaks through, I will beat him down until I knock that woman's face out of his memories! Damn bastard, how dare he?!" she sauntered off, leaving Wan Lan with her jaw hanging slightly.
She shook her head and turned to Light who'd resumed her reading, as if absolutely nothing transpired.
"You're a bit evil, aren't you?" Wan Lan asked.
"She was annoying me so I made her go away."
"... there were easier ways to do that," Wan Lan sighed. "Pushing her might backfire, you know?"
"Really?" Light looked up, meeting her gaze. "I think it's the opposite. Unless we spell it out for her, nothing will ever change."
"Then it wouldn't change," Wan Lan said. "Somethings can't--no, even if they can be forced, they shouldn't."
"... you're annoying, too. Why don't you go and make do with Brother Yimu instead of me, huh?" Wan Lan's eyebrows twitched as the little girl sneered.
"You don't say much, but you do sure hear everything," Wan Lan sighed. "He's... different."
"Different?" Light tilted her head.
"He's just slightly infatuated," Wan Lan said, standing up. "Besides, can you blame him?"
"I very much can."
"Maybe I ought to tell Master that our youngest isn't as nice of a girl as she pretends to be in front of him," that got quite the reaction out of the little one as even twilight-colored Qi materialized around her for a moment.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Keep testing me and see."
"... I'll cultivate with you for an hour."
"All is forgiven."
As Wan Lan stretched, her eyes inadvertently traveled downward where grandma (a word used only inwardly) Shufen was currently instructing Brother Yimu and Little Feng, telling them precisely how to build a terraced pavilion that was to eventually become their Alchemy Tower, where visitors will be able to buy and sell pills and herbs of all kinds.
There was just a small issue: neither of the two knew what they were doing. Wan Lan hoped Master would finally find some builders once they got to Gold City, as everyone was going just a tiny-touch insane over grandma Shufen's insistence and nagging over every last detail.
Just a tiny-bity-touch insane.
The system was... annoying. I mean, I've always known that, but every so often I am reminded of just how annoying it can be. Like now, for example. Perusing and playing around with recipe crafting window revealed a few things: one, there are actually two distinct ways of patching together an alchemy recipe. The first one was through effects; I simply select whatever effect I want the pill to have, and get a cost associated with it.
The second way is through the ingredients; namely, by adding ingredients to the pill recipe, I fine-tune the pill's effects. The reason the system was annoying? It was because the first option was a trap... and yet the only option I could realistically use. When I added the effect, the system didn't list exactly which ingredients the recipe would require--I'd have to create it before being told that--whereas when I was using the ingredients, I wouldn't be told what effects any of those ingredients had.
The punch in the gut was the fact that adding effects cost about three times as much as adding ingredients. I tested this with some herbs that I was familiar with, and creating a recipe through effects cost 380 points whereas it only cost about 120 when using the herbs. It was like the system was telling me to actually study alchemy, but how the hell could I?!
While it was annoying, there was a small loophole I could exploit with the system. When it came to alchemy recipes, what ingredients to use was just the first step. The rest of the recipe would be full of instructions, sort of like a cookbook. As such, per Lao Shun, most alchemists weren't actually all that guarded about letting the world know exactly which ingredients are necessary for their pills, as there doesn't exist a soul under the heavens who can reverse engineer a recipe just from the ingredients.
... well, there wasn't a soul under the heavens.
Especially now that we were on the island of the world's best alchemist, won't I be able to kind of steal hundreds of recipes if I'm lucky? It still didn't lessen my annoyance with the system, however, least of all when I realized that even the 1,000 points cap that I've got was just barely enough to add four distinct effects that I was looking for.
Rather than chasing something insane like 'Poison Immunity', I referred back to my fading knowledge of how a human body works. There are only so many ways that poisons and toxins interact with a human body on a molecular level. Enzyme inhibition, receptor binding, oxidative stress, protein denaturation, and so on. It's naturally impossible to address all of these in one pill as they cover an insane range of poisons and toxins, but addressing the most common ones isn't.
The first effect that I chose was 'Toxic Suppression'. Rather than empowering the body or neutralizing the poison itself, the effect would simply make it more difficult for poisons and toxins to latch onto enzymes, the body's receptors, ion channels, and other molecular targets. It wouldn't stop them, but slow them down enough so that the other effects kick in.
The second effect was 'Toxic Neutralization'. Kind of mimics how chemical binding agents and specific antidotes work. The reason why it comes second is that it's an extremely weakform of neutralization, and it needs more time, which Toxin Suppression is supposed to buy. The third effect is a bit of a stopgap, Vital Preservation; it sort of runs independently of the other three, but is triggered by the first two. It attempts to preserve cellular integrity, limit harmful oxidative reactions, and sustain essential body functions. It's sort of like an insurance policy of sorts, doubling in effect to also buy some extra time alongside Toxic Suppression.
The last effect was Accelerated Clearance. It attempts to rapidly flush out--through Qi radiation of sorts, mainly--all bodies determined to be 'alien'. It is triggered last as, due to the point limit, it in and of itself cannot recognize a 'host' versus 'invasive' molecule, or even specifically 'harmful' versus acceptable; not all toxins are inherently 'invasive' as human body contains them naturally. So, if there's an infection, for instance, and it's activated, it wouldn't just flush out harmful bacteria, but also red and white blood cells, proteins, coagulating agents...
As such, the first three effects sort of safeguard against it, isolating and becoming like a 'guidance system' for it. In the end, the whole thing added up to 995 points by some miracle, though I also knew that it was simply far too 'rainbow-coded' to be truly effective. While it might work in tempering all kinds of poisons and toxins, as it's not specific to any, there's a good chance that it might not be able to actually purge poisons of high grade at all.
Alas, for that, I'll just have to look through the specific antidote recipes, find out their ingredients, and create specific ones for each potent poisons.
For now, the recipe that I once again forgot to name would suffice.
[--congratulations, Host, on creating the 'Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill' Alchemy Recipe]
[...]
[Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill]
[Type: Alchemy Recipe]
[Rank: peak-Myth tier]
[Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)]
[...]
[Pill Effect: attempts to neutralize all poisons and toxins once ingested. The pill breaks down in the martial art's stomach, immediately entering their bloodstream seeking invading elements. It attempts to create isolating bubbles around toxic elements to prevent further damage to the body before aggressively destroying them and flushing them out of the system. For most optimal effect, the martial artist must guide anti-contagion elements of the pill on their own. Due to the recipe's nature, its ability to combat toxins is directly proportional to the quality and level of ingredients. There are precisely 7 levels of ingredients. Using the highest-grade ingredients will concoct a pill capable of flushing even the toxins of Divine-grade]
[...]
[Pill Ingredients, Level 1: Shadow Grass x10, Stalk of the Moon x3...]
[...]
[Creation Points Value: 995/1,000]
[...]
[Minimum Alchemist Level: Novice Tri-Aspects Rank Alchemist]
[...]
[Creation Bonus: 1x set of ingredients for Level 7 Anti-Contagion Supreme Pill]
[...]
[Good luck, Host!]
Alright.
That's actually... not bad. Well, to me, at least. I'm kind of apprehensive of showing the recipe to Lao Shun as he might finally see through the fact that I'm a bozo when it comes to alchemy, but it'd also be a good lesson for the future to know what to expect.
After checking out the recipe a few more times, I called for the old man who came up a few minutes later, seeming a bit displeased.
"Were you napping or concocting?"
"When do I ever nap? What am I, a child?"
"There's one universal truth," I said. "The youngest and the oldest love napping."
"... what do you want?"
"This," I procured the small booklet and handed it over. "Since we're facing the world's greatest alchemist, I figured having some safeguard against his most potent weapon might be in order, but I'm not sure if it's good enough. Do you have anything better?"
Lao Shun took the recipe, opened it, sifted through the pages in a minute, closed it, looked back up at me, rubbed the bridge of his nose, exhaled so deeply you'd think he had a hundred years worth of breaths stored in his lungs, and finally spoke.
"Your intention truly is to just make my heart stop beating and kill me that way, isn't it?"
Lao Shun was grappling with his inner demons. These ones, however, had nothing to do with his actual Heart Demon, an aberration of smoke and ash that had been slowly eroding his soul, but with this damned man who sat opposite of him and whom he called 'Master'.
It happened again.
The shocks have slowed down recently, at least alchemy-wise and especially so ignoring the appearance of a literal Dao Mountain, so Lao Shun had relaxed somewhat. He was even slowly setting up a proper alchemy rooms on the mountain, having requested a whole side of it from Shufen as he had plans of opening an Alchemy School and taking in a few disciples to rear for the future. Days were spent in leisure, with him slowly writing down a book of recipes and slowly studying that codex that this damned bastard had slid among other rewards way-back-when in the Deathless Phoenix Sect.
However, as soon as he heard the summons, his heart faltered. It was as if his gut was telling him to prepare, that this visit wouldn't be one of friendship and drinking. And, just as he expected, he hadn't been here for a minute before the man handed him a small, thin booklet. He cursed inwardly, so much so that he scared himself a bit with how vile and clever some of the curses got, but maintained a placid expression outwardly.
Perhaps, this time around, it wouldn't be anything terribly serious. Especially because the man implied that it wouldn't necessarily be 'good enough', and that Lao Shun might even have something better.
... something better my fucking foot!
He had to use Qi to prevent his fingers from trembling as he read through the pages of defiantly named Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill Recipe. Had the recipe come from literally anybody else, including the ever-elusive true master of the Alchemy Tower, Lao Shun--as well as all other alchemists in existence--would have immediately burned the booklet for daring to even imply such heresy.
Anything with 'Myriad Toxin' in its name was one of two things--a complete fake that needed the death of its creator to be fully cleansed, or a product of one of the most nefarious sects of the Upper Realm, Pavilion of Myriad Deaths. Anyone moronic enough to attempt and mimic something from that sect would be lucky to simply be beaten to death by clubs, for if they fell into the sect's hands, they'd spend eons in eternal suffering.
However, Lao Shun knew well enough that this recipe did not come from the sect, for even if they could procure a pill like this, they never would as it was pointless. All Disciples of the sect have to cultivate a method that slowly erodes their bodies with poisons and toxins, building up resistance over time. As such, by the time they become Elders, they also become practically immune to all but the most deadly of poisons.
It is even said that the Sect Master has reached complete and total immunity to all poisons. For them, the pill wouldn't have any benefits; rather, it was a complete opposite. It completely and utterly negated their greatest strength.
Thus, this was not of Pavilion of Myriad Deaths. So, was it a fake? Of course not! Lao Shun would sooner douse himself in oil and set himself on fire than believe this bastard would ever procure something fake. This was as real as it got, and after reading through it, he actually did want to set it on fire out of sheer fear.
It was the kind of an item that, should it be known was in their possession, would make it so that they were hunted down by the entire Upper Realm for it--No, wait, didn't this bastard already show off literally tens of these things?! Forget the entire Upper Realm, it's entirely possible all dead ancestors would arise from their tombs to hunt us down!
He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose yet again as that damned bastard shuffled in his seat, appearing restless. It made sense; Alchemist Yuan was well-renowned as the most established alchemist in the world, though that was only on the surface. Lao Shun was well aware that there were at least two people in Alchemy Tower with at least comparable, but highly likely greater skill.
Nonetheless, any alchemist who reached the heights Alchemist Yuan did would know just as much about curing a body as they would about destroying it. Even Lao Shun was well versed in over a thousand poisonous plants and a thousand more poisonous and venomous beasts and animals. Though he never concocted poisonous pills as he considered them beneath him, that didn't mean he had no ability to do so.
Because of that, he himself had plans on concocting several batches of some of the anti-venom pills he heard were used most commonly on the island. This, however, went well beyond that.
The more he studied the recipe, the more he realized this wasn't so much an antidote as it was a quasi-method of sorts. Most anti-venom pills contained traces of the venom itself so that the purging parts of the pill knew precisely what to target. Though this made them quite good, it also meant they were only ever useable for one poison--not even one kind, but just one particular poison.
Even something as simple as black toad poison, most common type in the world, had as many as ninety original variants, and each variant needed its own antidote.
Myriad Toxins Suppression Pill was different--it sought to isolate any manner of 'harmful' substance within, and as such wasn't restricted just to one type of poison. It did mean, obviously, there was a chance it might fail with some unique poisons, but...
"So, it's good enough?" that bastard really was out to raise his blood pressure to insurmountable amount.
"If this isn't good enough, what the hell is?" Lao Shun spat out, procuring a gourd of wine from the spatial ring and taking a few mouthfuls. "There are a few things to note, though. Even if I empty my coffers, best I can do is one batch of level three pills and maybethree batches of level two pills. Level one needs relatively common materials so I can concoct as many as needed, but there's a good chance we'll need at least level five for the pills to be able to combat Alchemist Yuan's creations."
"Here," the man tossed him a spatial ring casually. "There's one batch of ingredients for level seven."
"... eh?" Lao Shun staggered, the mouthful of wine that he'd just emptied into his mouth trickling out as his lips parted into an expression of shock. "Did y-u j'st s-y--" he spat out the wine as he tried to speak. "Did you just say level seven?"
"Yes."
"..." Yes? This bastard said just 'Yes'?! Oh, I'm going to kill you!
He did a cursory read of all levels, but even level five ingredients were incomprehensibly difficult to obtain. In fact, he might have just been able to secure a single or two at most batches if he was allowed access to all of the Alchemy Tower's vaults and coffers. Level six? That was a pipe dream. More than half of the ingredients didn't even exist in this world and would have to be sourced from the Upper Realms.
... level seven? More than half of the ingredients listed didn't even exist anymore. At least six had been extinct since Epoch of Magic, and a good number of others having gone extinct sometime in the Imperial Era.
And yet, this bastard just casually said he had a batch of level seven ingredients? Thinking he was just playing a cruel prank, Lao Shun--extremely carefully--glimpsed into the spatial ring. He saw them, lined neatly, all seventy-six plants.
And as soon as he did, he felt his mind spin and break. For the first time since becoming a cultivator, he straight up fainted out of shock, toppling sideways like a statue.