Chapter 80: Seven Springs Trial Ground
The Medicinal Cuisine Room is located to the east of the Purple Tree Forest. It is quite spacious, with more than ten sets of stone tables and chairs neatly arranged.
Medicinal cuisine!
It is made by refining exotic beast blood with dozens of precious medicinal herbs. Naturally, one cannot pursue taste, it can only be said to be swallowable.
However, after only one month of consumption, everyone’s physical body strength and power have significantly improved. They are full of energy and their internal power feels inexhaustible.
For the past month, Yao Yin has been in the Cave Mansion every day, practicing the Medicine King’s Fundamental Martial Art “Heavenly Wind Palm Technique” that she selected, sleeping no more than two hours each day.
The palm technique’s energy strikes made the cliff face vibrate, and Li Weiyi couldn’t sleep at all, only passively participating in her intense training.
The process of practicing martial arts moves and practicing breathing techniques also hones the internal Veins.
It is precisely with the assistance of the medicinal cuisine that Yao Yin can torment her body to such an extreme, developing her physical body’s potential without fear of it collapsing.
As long as one person is striving, everyone’s pace is driven.
Li Qing and the four Open Eight Springs Martial Cultivators are also desperately cultivating their chosen Nine Kings’ Fundamental Martial Arts in the Silver Beach River Valley. On the opposite bank of the river valley, the younger Martial Cultivators of lower realms are doing the same.
Effort is merely the most insignificant basic condition for success.
Everyone is desperately fighting for their lives.
…
Today’s medicinal cuisine is quite special, emitting a rich aroma during its preparation.
In the Bronze Cauldron used for cooking, it boils incessantly, emitting colorful, smoke-like medicinal energy that illuminates the stone house with precious light. Even before tasting it, everyone knows that many Precious Medicines have been added to the cauldron today.
The Young Man of the Tiger-like Deformed Humanoid Race who cultivates the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Axes, seeing everyone’s gaze fixed on the Bronze Cauldron, laughed, “Are you all anticipating it? The Hidden Sect is too humane, knowing this is your last meal, so they’ve prepared better quality medicinal cuisine to send you on your way.”
In just one month, he has already cultivated the first axe of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Axes to Heavenly Law Integration. Several Silver Veins have been quenched in his body, and he is naturally high-spirited.
He cannot imagine what height he will reach after one year.
A child of the Deformed Humanoid Race who has opened the Fifth Spring said with a tender voice, “The higher the cultivation, the greater the danger of the trial. Whose last meal is it, it’s hard to say yet.”
Everyone sitting here is a mortal enemy.
They naturally confront each other; there’s no need for false politeness or fake harmony.
…
When the precious light overflowing from the cauldron reached its peak, the Soup Elder instructed everyone to fetch it.
The medicinal cuisine is not portioned.
As long as it’s not taken away or wasted, how much one can eat depends entirely on their appetite.
The physically large Deformed Humanoid Races naturally have an advantage; they cannot help it, their combat power in the same realm is stronger than that of Mortals.
Following custom, Li Weiyi first served a basin to seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors. The basin used is no smaller than those used by the Deformed Humanoid Race Martial Cultivators. These seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors have been eating to their hearts’ content during this time, almost living in the Medicinal Cuisine Room, and their bodies have visibly grown.
However, according to their Spirit Tablet Master, they need to grow to two inches long before their combat power can be comparable to Five Seas Realm Martial Cultivators.
They are at most an inch and a half now.
Three figures in black walked along the bluestone path below the Mind Power Stone Wall, arriving at the center of the Martial Training Square outside the Medicinal Cuisine Room, looking at the crowd still eating their last meal.
“Twenty-Four, I heard this batch is of very high quality. Who do you think will survive until the end?” Yin Twenty-Three is a Bear-like Deformed Humanoid Race, his physique, like Yao Zheng Sheng’s, is much taller than ordinary Deformed Humanoid Races, possessing natural divine strength.
Yin Twenty-Four said calmly, “There are two who are quite good! One is a Mortal with Nine Springs and ninety Veins, Li Qing, who just arrived at the Hidden Sect and could withstand one of Yin Nine’s axes.”
“The other is the granddaughter of the Medicine Li Tribe Leader, Yao Yin, who possesses a Pure Immortal Body. Both are very competitive!”
Not all Hidden Persons of the Hidden Sect remain secluded from the world. After reaching a certain cultivation realm, many are dispatched.
Either to wander Under Heaven, competing to forge a new identity.
Or to infiltrate opposing forces, lie in wait within tribes, or infiltrate Lingxiao Palace…
Although the vast majority of Hidden Persons are in a dormant state, there are still those specifically responsible for collecting information.
Therefore, the Jiu Li Hidden Sect’s understanding of external information is no less than that of the Jiu Li Dao Academy.
Yin Twenty-Three was surprised, “A Pure Immortal Body, and the Tribe Leader’s granddaughter, sent to the Hidden Sect?”
“I heard she has a physical problem and could only come to the Hidden Sect to seek a sliver of hope for survival,” said Yin Twenty-Four.
Yin Twenty-Five, a Young Man who is even younger than Yin Twenty-Four, said, “It’s said that Yin Five sent back some information related to this batch of people. Besides that Li Qing, he also specifically mentioned Li Weiyi. Have you heard?”
Yin Twenty-Three shook his head.
Doubt appeared in Yin Twenty-Four’s eyes. Yin Five had been dormant for many years, so anyone mentioned in his suddenly returned message must have extraordinary qualities. It seems he had underestimated him before.
Seven Springs?
Insect Tamer?
After finishing the medicinal cuisine, twenty-six young men and women gathered in the square.
Yin Twenty-Three’s voice thundered, “My name is Yin Twenty-Three, and I only came here three years before you. I have bad news for everyone: from now on, the protection period is over.”
“You can use your own means to eliminate competitors and make it easier for yourselves to survive until the end.”
“But there is one ironclad rule: you must not, in any way, deal with competitors whose cultivation is weaker than your own.”
The Open Eight Springs Martial Cultivator of the Tiger-like Deformed Humanoid Race said, “That means we can only fight within the same realm, or lower realms killing higher realms. But, if a Martial Cultivator of a lower realm dares to provoke me, can I kill him?”
“Of course,” Yin Twenty-Three said.
Li Qing scanned the crowd and said in a threatening tone, “Then I will advise all of you not to come and die. My sword is faster than it was a month ago, and it is eager to taste blood.”
Yin Twenty-Three said, “I have another piece of bad news for everyone. The trial officially begins now. Those who have opened the Nine Springs and those who have opened the Eight Springs, follow me.”
Yin Twenty-Five said, “Those below Seven Springs, follow me.”
After everyone left, Yin Twenty-Four looked at the remaining Li Weiyi and Yao Yin, “Let’s go!”
The three groups of people boarded the ship by the Blood River and headed to different trial grounds.
Riding a flatboat over ten meters long, they drifted downstream.
All three had very quiet personalities. Yin Twenty-Four stood at the bow of the ship, his back straight and upright, but it was slightly thin and frail, not suggesting he was a Five Seas Realm expert.
Yao Yin sat at the stern of the ship, head bowed in thought, her entire body glowing white, so beautiful she was a painting in herself.
Li Weiyi sat in the center of the boat.
He discovered that this flatboat was formed by splicing two smaller boats together, connected by chains.
After walking out for dozens of miles, Yao Yin couldn’t help but ask, “I’m going to train with him?”
“The same realm naturally means trials in the same place. The trial ground for Seven Springs Martial Cultivators is the gathering area for Soldier-level Fierce Insects, the Flying Winged White Spiders,” Yin Twenty-Four said.
Yao Yin’s small face grew serious; the protection period had already ended, and perhaps the Flying Winged White Spider was not the most terrifying danger in this trial.
The flatboat entered a tributary of the underground river, only a few meters wide. Because there were no more luminescent plants, the light became dim.
Li Weiyi’s brow lit up, spilling spiritual light particles that faintly illuminated the darkness.
“We’re almost there!”
Yin Twenty-Four glanced at Li Weiyi. “A word of advice, once inside the cave, try not to use spiritual light. Use your senses. If you awaken a large swarm of Flying Winged White Spiders, the two of you will likely be buried inside.”
Li Weiyi was someone who listened to advice, and his brow darkened.
Even without light, with his current cultivation, he could still see the figures of the two women within a few meters. Especially Yao Yin, her skin was somewhat conspicuous even in the darkness.
Li Weiyi asked, “What do we need to do to pass the trial?”
“It’s just the first trial, you don’t need to do anything. Just ride this boat safely through the spider cave. Generally, the boat will go downstream and you’ll be out of the cave in three days. I’ll wait for you at the exit,” Yin Twenty-Four said.
Is it that simple?
Went to the Fierce Insect’s territory, yet hoped not to disturb them, how is that possible?
Yin Twenty-Four walked to Li Weiyi’s side and untied the chains connecting the two ships. He added, “That’s right! The spider silk in the cave is a treasure. You can collect some if you have the chance. If the quantity is large enough, it can be exchanged for Precious Medicine.”
“I’ll see you off here. Good luck to both of you.”
Yin Twenty-Four released magic energy within his body, enveloping the small flatboat beneath him, and returned against the current.
Li Weiyi and Yao Yin, riding in a flatboat that was half its original size and only a few meters long, continued downstream along the blood river. The surroundings were pitch black and unnaturally quiet, with only the sound of the flowing water remaining.
The underground river passage became lower, and the two had to lie flat to pass.
Li Weiyi could hear Yao Yin’s rapidly beating heart, so he said in a low voice, “I know you misunderstand me. But I suggest we’d best not kill each other in this trial. If we break the flatboat, we’ll all die here.”
Yao Yin said, “That’s exactly what I want to say! No matter what your intentions are, they are not as important as life itself. We are competitors, but why can’t we eliminate the others first?”
“Furthermore, don’t covet small gains and bring about great disaster. Collecting spider silk will definitely disturb the Flying Winged White Spiders more easily; we just need to pass through the spider cave safely.”
“Okay!”
Li Weiyi had just agreed when he sensed something, sniffing his nose: “So fragrant… this scent makes one want to take a risk…”
Yao Yin’s teeth itched incessantly, hating him to death.
He felt Li Weiyi was deliberately teasing him with words.
She indeed had a unique natural body fragrance, and in this dark and desolate cave, the scent would undoubtedly be amplified.
“It’s medicinal fragrance, there’s Precious Medicine nearby.”
Li Weiyi suddenly sat up. The originally low cave became vast. About ten feet above his head, a scarlet precious medicine grew.
“They’ve all grown to be scarlet red, in other words, this is a five-hundred-year-old Rou Cong Rong.”
Li Weiyi mobilized his magic power, sending it towards his ears, eyes, and nostrils, raising his senses to their strongest state. Not finding any fierce insect auras nearby, he then leaped up.
After Yao Yin sat up from lying down, her snow-white, jade-like cheeks couldn’t help but feel scalding hot, realizing she had misunderstood the other person.
But soon, her guilt vanished like smoke, replaced by shock.
At a height of ten zhang, it was impossible for them to reach directly with their Spring Gushing Realm cultivation.
But the man before him, with magic energy surging beneath his feet, was able to tread through the air as if stepping on invisible stairs. His movement technique was so advanced that it didn’t seem like something a Spring Gushing Realm Martial Cultivator could possess.
In the past month, Li Weiyi has newly mastered three moves of Heavenly Law Integration, including “Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven.”
He took nine steps in the void, finally grabbing that crimson-colored Rou Cong Rong, which felt slightly hot to the touch.
After being torn from the cliff face crevice, Li Weiyi’s body plummeted rapidly.
Even if the Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven reaches Heavenly Law Integration, it is already the limit to be able to leap ten zhang. The magic energy beneath his feet had already dispersed, making it difficult for Li Weiyi to control his downward momentum.
Yao Yin was greatly alarmed, and quickly used the Heavenly Wind Palm Technique, pushing out a palm strike that stirred up a wind force to sweep up Li Weiyi who was falling.
“Whoa!”
Li Weiyi used the momentum to land back on the ship, holding nearly a hundred pounds of bright red Rou Cong Rong and said with a smile, “Thank you!”
“I was just saving myself! Who knows if the commotion you caused when you fell might alert a large number of Flying Winged White Spiders?” Yao Yin’s pretty face was very cold, full of resentment: “At the beginning, didn’t we agree? Don’t be greedy for small advantages, passing through the spider cave safely is the most important thing.”
“This is not a small advantage!”
Li Weiyi corrected: “This is a hundred pounds of five-hundred-year-old Rou Cong Rong, worth nearly a hundred million. Rou Cong Rong nourishes Yang and benefits blood; if consumed entirely, it is enough to significantly enhance the physical body.”
Worth nearly a hundred million, even as the Tribe Leader’s granddaughter, Yao Yin was slightly taken aback.
Li Weiyi naturally had to risk it all. With this Rou Cong Rong collected, feeding the seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors to two inches long would be within reach.
“You did help a little just now, so I’ll give you two pounds later.” Li Weiyi was generous, not wanting to owe a favor.
“You’d better keep it for yourself!”
Yao Yin sat back on the ship, her expression a little worried, and said, “The medicinal fragrance emanating from the precious medicine might alert the Flying Winged White Spiders. I suggest you throw it away. Greed can be fatal, and I don’t want to suffer along with you.”
