Shen Qian looked at the great alchemist standing in front of him.
He appeared to be an elderly man, with deep-set features and a high nose bridge that matched the unique characteristics of the Yan people.
His condition was strange. His life force should have been extinguished long ago, but he didn't seem to be completely dead. At this moment, he was staring intently at his feet, completely ignoring Shen Qian beside him.
Shen Qian found it strange, so he followed his gaze downwards and was immediately taken aback.
Only then did he notice a strange herb at the alchemist's feet. The herb, which he had never recognized before, was growing taller and taller. After reaching a certain height, it stopped growing, then slowly shrank until it disappeared, and then it started growing again...
It's like a cycle, repeating itself endlessly.
After staring at him for a while, Shen Qian was startled and suddenly woke up, taking a few steps back warily.
Holy crap, these ever-growing and dying little grasses seem to have some kind of magic; I almost got trapped in them myself…
Fortunately, the system pulled me out of the woods at a crucial moment.
Shen Qian didn't look at the herb again, but stared at the alchemist in front of him who seemed like a living dead, his brows furrowed.
So, could it be that this person turned into this ghostly form because he kept staring at this herb?
As if struck by a thought, Shen Qian looked around and saw hundreds of figures on the land, men, women, and children. Judging from their clothes, they were all alchemists from the Yan Clan. And like the old man in front of him, they all had their heads down and were staring intently at something.
"Why are there so many Yan Clan alchemists mentioned in the 'Compendium of Materia Medica'...?"
Shen Qian subconsciously took a step forward, and with a crisp "click," Shen Qian looked down and immediately shrank back.
He stepped on a decaying skeleton.
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, dust billowed up, revealing even more skeletons on this desolate land.
"What kind of hell is this place?!"
He was even more confused before sinking.
As if in response to his question, the old man standing in front of Shen Qian suddenly raised his head.
Shen Qian's gaze immediately shifted to him.
But the old man still didn't look down. His eyes, which seemed to have finally regained a bit of life, looked up at the empty sky. His body trembled for a moment and then calmed down. His face was peaceful, as if he had been relieved.
Peng!
His head exploded without warning, but instead of blood and flesh scattering, specks of light rose into the air and eventually coalesced into the shape of a medicinal herb, exactly the same as the one at his feet.
Rumble!
The sky seemed to crack open, and before Chen Qian's shocked eyes, a huge scroll emerged from the sky.
The scroll is in a torn and fragmented state, with nearly a third of it blank, while the other two-thirds are filled with countless magnificent herbal images.
The Classic of Materia Medica!
With just one glance, he instantly recognized it as the "Compendium of Materia Medica," the legendary work that led Shennong to become a god, the first and only comprehensive work on alchemy in the world.
But for some reason, Shen Qian felt a chill run down his spine.
Because of prolonged staring, those herbal symbols, which should have been symbols of the ultimate secrets of alchemy, began to appear grotesque.
The graphic, composed of countless symbols, seems to have transformed into a giant mouth, ready to devour someone.
Shen Qian didn't know why the "Hundred Herbs Classic," known as the "bible of alchemy," would look so terrifying, but considering the strange attitude of the Yan Clan leader and the various rumors before, Shen Qian realized that something was wrong.
At this moment, the illusory herbs that the old man had conjured finally flew into the sky and were absorbed by the scroll.
Thus, another herbal symbol appeared on the scroll, and in Shen Qian's keen observation, the originally incomplete scroll seemed to have become a little more complete.
Bang! Bang!
Two more explosions rang out, and the two figures standing on this vast land instantly vanished into nothingness, transforming into two shimmering herbal symbols before merging into the enormous scroll.
"Is the 'Compendium of Materia Medica' absorbing the power of these alchemists... is it becoming self-complete?"
He finally realized what was happening and came to this shocking conclusion.
Shen Qian wasn't surprised that the "Compendium of Materia Medica" had its own consciousness, but how could this consciousness be so strange?
If these people are indeed high-level alchemists of the Yan Clan, wouldn't that be human sacrifice?
The Flame King... he tacitly approved or rather facilitated this!
No wonder the other party agreed to my request so readily.
For a moment, Shen Qian's eyes turned cold, but he quickly regained his composure.
Right now, we need to get out of this strange space first.
The moment Shen Qian had this thought, the surrounding world suddenly became incredibly oppressive. Then, the enormous scroll rumbled and shifted its position, appearing directly above Shen Qian.
A feeling akin to being watched by a hungry beast sent chills down Shen Qian's spine.
"So, am I your prey too?"
He stared intently at the scroll high in the sky, his eyes narrowing.
Buzz!
The scroll, which was over a thousand feet in size, trembled, and a beam of dazzling five-colored light shone on him before he could react.
As his consciousness suddenly dissipated, when he regained his senses, he found himself in a simple thatched hut.
Inside the thatched hut, a young man dressed in cloth sat with a solemn expression. In front of him were three burning cauldrons and a pile of miscellaneous medicinal herbs.
That can't really be called a cauldron; it's more like a simple boiler. As for the pile of medicinal herbs at the feet of the young man in plain clothes, it's also strange. Some of them are indeed spiritual herbs used for refining medicine, but others look like ordinary plants.
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