Chapter 8 Yunmengze
The light of the teleportation array dissipated, and moist and slightly fishy air blew in the face.
Bai Qingchen held ten taels of silver and set foot on the land of Yunmengze.
The scene before me was completely different from the ruggedness of Rock City. It was covered with a dense network of waterways and mist, and islands of all sizes were scattered everywhere like flags.
In the distance where the water meets the sky, the outline of a huge ship can be vaguely seen.
He went straight to the largest Yunsuo Chamber of Commerce in Yunmengze and asked about the flying boat to Lingdu in Yaowang Valley.
"Are you going to Medicine King Valley?" the clerk behind the counter flipped through the thick itinerary booklet without looking up. "The route there only runs once a year."
Bai Qingchen's heart sank slightly. "May I ask when the next voyage will be?"
The steward finally looked up and gave him a sympathetic look. "What a coincidence! This year's Cloud Shuttle left port just a month ago. We'll have to wait until this time next year."
Next year! This means he will be stranded in Yunmengze for a whole year.
"Is there no other way?" he asked with the last glimmer of hope.
The steward shook his head. "Between Yaowang Valley and Yunmengze lies the Shenxing Sea. That place is truly treacherous, with turbulent winds and giant deep-sea monsters appearing one after another."
"Only a top-tier flying boat like the Cloud Shuttle, equipped with a protective shield, can safely cross the river. Going by other means would be a death sentence. Just wait patiently for a year."
Bai Qingchen took a deep breath and suppressed the annoyance in his heart. Since it has happened, he might as well accept it.
The main city of Yunmengze is prosperous and bustling, but the entrance fee is high, and one low-grade spirit stone must be paid every day.
This was a considerable burden for Bai Qingchen, who needed to stay for a long time and save up money for a flying boat ticket. He could only settle for the second best and look for a place to stay in the area outside the city where independent cultivators gathered.
The scattered cultivation area outside the city is built against the huge city walls of Yunze City, like a huge, chaotic market.
It's a mixed bag, but it also has a lively atmosphere.
Bai Qingchen found a relatively secluded corner near the water source and built a simple bamboo house.
Shiliang was very curious about his new home and went in and out excitedly, wagging his tail.
Yunmeng Lake is rich in water and spiritual energy, and is home to a variety of aquatic spiritual plants and unique mineral medicinal materials.
Bai Qingchen used the knowledge gained from being the young master of Medicine King Valley in his previous life to quickly figure out which medicinal herbs were valuable and relatively easy to obtain.
Every morning he would go out with ten taels of silver to collect herbs on the small islands by the lake, or even on the edge of some dangerous shallow waters.
Shiliang's spirituality played a huge role at this moment. It was sensitive to spiritual energy and could often discover hidden treasures and give early warning of dangerous monsters.
The collected medicinal materials were processed with his exquisite techniques and then put into the alchemy furnace for refining.
The pills he refined, whether they were basic Qi-recovering pills, water-repelling pills, or slightly more complex detoxification powders and heart-clearing pills, were of far superior quality to the ordinary stuff on the market, and their efficacy was pure and stable.
Bai Qingchen no longer took the risk of setting up a stall like he did in Yancheng, but chose to sell the refined pills to the Lingyao Pavilion in the city, which had a good reputation.
Although the purchase price is kept low, it is safe and stable.
There is a lot of personnel turnover in the scattered cultivation area outside the city, but after more than half a year, the cultivators who reside in this area basically all know this taciturn young pharmacist who is good at alchemy, and the white fox Shiliang beside him who is getting rounder and rounder, with shiny fur, and basking in the sun lazily all day long.
Bai Qingchen doesn't like dealing with people, but adhering to the inheritance of Yaowang Valley, if he encounters a casual cultivator who is injured or poisoned and asks for help, he will help as long as he can.
Sometimes it was a few pills, sometimes it was a simple treatment and bandaging. He charged a low fee, even for free for monks who were really in trouble.
In the small open space in front of his bamboo house, one could often see monks coming to seek medical treatment and medicine.
Bai Qingchen always had a calm expression, but his movements were gentle and skillful. Shiliang lay obediently beside him and took a nap, occasionally sweeping his master's legs with his tail.
In his previous life, he mainly practiced alchemy and supplemented with formation talismans. Now he is only a cultivator with five spiritual roots, and he is already far behind others in cultivation. Now he can only focus his main energy on the art of formation, which relies more on comprehension and materials.
Nourished by the rich spiritual energy of Yunmengze, the incomplete martial arts technique ran much more smoothly than in Yancheng.
More than half a year has passed, and he has advanced from the initial stage of Qi training to the middle stage, and is steadily approaching the late stage of Qi training.
The spiritual power in the body becomes more condensed, and the sensitivity to the surrounding spiritual energy becomes more acute.
As summer approaches, it rains non-stop in Yunmengze. The continuous drizzle falls on the thatched roof of the bamboo house. The water vapor is so thick that it cannot be dissolved, and it carries a slightly fishy smell unique to the depths of the swamp.
Bai Qingchen's pen tip was stained with a little cinnabar and was suspended above a piece of talisman paper that was mostly drawn, with a slight frown on his face.
When the talisman paper gets damp, the spiritual energy can hardly flow smoothly. This rainy season by the lake is really annoying.
He was drawing a talisman to ward off miasma in preparation for his upcoming trip out to collect herbs. A batch of Blood Lotus Pills would be arriving in the city soon, and he was still short of a main herbalist.
Deep in the heart of Yunmeng Lake, the air suddenly became thick and heavy. No longer simply rain, but a miasma mingled with toxins and a strong fishy smell.
Bai Qingchen was surrounded by a thin layer of pale blue halo, which was the protection formed by the miasma-repelling talisman he had activated in advance.
But the corrosive force contained in the miasma was pervasive, and slight crackling sounds kept coming from the edge of the halo, and the spiritual power of the talisman was slowly being consumed.
With his keen perception of the scent of spiritual herbs and his understanding of the distribution of poisonous miasma, he navigated through the maze-like swamps and twisted dead trees.
Finally, in the middle of a relatively open area of water ahead, several lotus flowers in full bloom appeared in sight. These were the main materials for refining the Blood Lotus Pill.
Using the Water-Walking Technique, he quickly approached the center of the lake, and a strong wind blew from under the water.
Beneath the seemingly calm waters, a massive shadow silently emerged and expanded. Then, the surface suddenly exploded. A pair of vertical pupils flashed with a cold, cold light, locking onto the intruder.
"Wire Crocodile!" Bai Qingchen's heart trembled.
Bai Qingchen was caught off guard by the sudden attack of the wire crocodile. Although he retreated quickly with the help of his body skills, his left arm was still hit by the crocodile's tail, causing him excruciating pain.
A paralyzing poison also spread along his arm, and the warning formation he had set up was instantly shattered by the crocodile's brutal attack.
The wire crocodile opened its bloody mouth, and seeing that its attack failed, it turned around and pounced on Shiliang.
Bai Qingchen's spiritual power was disturbed by the poison, and the formation was broken again. It seemed that Shiliang was about to be injured.
At this critical moment, a violent and unfamiliar force originating from deep within the blood suddenly erupted.
His pupils instantly shrank into dangerous vertical pupils, and his fingertips uncontrollably popped out sharp claws like hooks.
His speed, strength, and reaction speed increased to an incredible level in an instant, and he almost instinctively swung his claws sideways.
In the blink of an eye, three blood scars deep enough to see the bones appeared on the iron crocodile's hard scales. The pain caused the iron crocodile to pause its attack.
Bai Qingchen was also stunned by his sudden change, and the numbness in his arm seemed to be temporarily suppressed by this force.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Iron Crocodile was injured and confused, he immediately picked up the frightened Shiliang and took away the Water Heart Lotus.
Without hesitation, he threw out several powerful smoke pills that he had prepared long ago, and at the same time, he used all his strength to activate the stealth formation. With the cover of smoke, he escaped from the death swamp with Shiliang at a speed far exceeding the usual speed.
Only after confirming that it was safe did Bai Qingchen begin to breathe heavily.
He looked at his hands, which had recovered but still felt torn at his fingertips, and a huge wave of emotion surged in his heart.
Vertical pupils, sharp claws, extraordinary speed and strength, and a pair of white animal ears on the head.
It turns out that the little demon in his previous life was his ancestor. It was also a kind of fate.
Shiliang on the side looked at the slightly embarrassed Bai Qingchen. It turned out that the little human was a half-demon who could not fully control his transformation. He was only slightly stronger than him.
He raised his head proudly and wanted to stroke Bai Qingchen's fluffy tail, but was ruthlessly rejected by Bai Qingchen.
After finally suppressing the bloodline and everything returning to normal, Bai Qingchen rushed back home with his harvest and ten taels of silver.
When we reached a bay, a faint, sweet smell of blood wafted through the air, mixed with the familiar fragrance of herbs.
Bai Qingchen paused and followed the scent, pushing aside the dense reeds.
A figure lay face down in the shallow mud, half of its body submerged in water. Its dark green robe was torn in many places, revealing wounds deep enough to see the bone, with the edges tinged with a strange bluish-black color.
A blood-stained hand tightly grasped several herbs with heart-shaped leaves and silver lines on the edges.
"Lin Feng?" Bai Qingchen saw the man's profile clearly and frowned slightly.
This man is a well-known sword cultivator in the early stage of foundation building among the wandering cultivators outside the city recently. He has a cheerful personality and I have bought elixirs from him several times.
He quickly stepped forward, turned the man over, and checked his breathing and pulse, which were extremely weak.
"Red snake venom." Bai Qingchen quickly determined the source of the injury, his eyes solemn.
Lin Feng was obviously fighting with the guarding beast in order to pick these Zexin grasses. If it weren't for his foundation-building cultivation that helped him hold on, he would have been dead by now.
Without hesitation, Bai Qingchen immediately carried the man on his back. Shiliang alertly cleared the way ahead, avoiding the slippery mud and puddles.
After returning to the bamboo house and placing Lin Feng on the only bed, Bai Qingchen quickly lit the alchemy furnace.
Ordinary detoxification pills are completely ineffective. The only thing that can detoxify this poison is the Blood Lotus Pill.
He happened to have just collected the Heart Lotus, the main ingredient for refining the Blood Lotus Pill.
Bai Qingchen glanced at the unconscious Lin Feng, then looked at the several water lilies lying in the storage bag. He took a deep breath. Saving lives was the most important thing now.
He washed his hands and concentrated his mind. The fire in the furnace rose, and with the help of water lotus and several other detoxifying elixirs, the liquid in the furnace churned and gradually merged into a sticky red-gold color.
The whole process was smooth and flowing, with an almost artistic rhythm. Even Shiliang, who was lying on the side, was watching with fascination.
Half a cup of tea later, a strange fragrance filled the air. The lid of the furnace was opened, and a pill with red gold patterns all over its body, spreading like blood vessels, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.
Bai Qingchen took out the pill and carefully fed it into Lin Feng's mouth.
Seeing the terrifying blue-black color on Lin Feng's face fade away at a speed visible to the naked eye and his breathing gradually become steady and strong, Bai Qingchen breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair tiredly.
Shiliang jumped onto his knees and rubbed his hand with his head. Fortunately, he happened to pass by there and rescued Lin Feng in time, otherwise the poison would have invaded his heart and his life would have been in danger.
Three days later, Lin Feng slowly woke up.
"Bai... Pharmacist Bai?" His voice was hoarse. He looked at the white figure at the table tinkering with the Fu array, his eyes filled with confusion and gratitude for surviving a disaster.
"You're lucky." Seeing Lin Feng wake up, Bai Qingchen handed him a bowl of warm medicine and said calmly, "You almost lost your life for a few Zexin grasses."
Lin Feng took the bowl and said with a wry smile, "I was careless. I didn't expect that beast to be so cunning. Thank you, Pharmacist Bai, for saving my life. I will definitely repay the spiritual medicine I spent."
"No need." Bai Qingchen interrupted him, pointing to the washed Zexin grass on the table that was absorbing the morning dew. "The medicine fee has been paid."
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, then he understood, and his eyes showed even more gratitude.
He struggled to his feet and solemnly clasped his fists. "I cannot repay your life-saving grace. Lin Feng's abilities are not great, only some rudimentary swordsmanship. When Pharmacist Bai goes out to collect herbs in the future, if needed, Lin Feng is willing to protect him."
Bai Qingchen frowned slightly: "No need. I'm used to being alone."
"Master Bai, please don't refuse." Lin Feng said anxiously, "This deep Yunmeng Lake is full of dangers. If something goes wrong while collecting herbs..."
He paused, a little embarrassed, "You saved my life. If I don't do something, I will feel uneasy."
Bai Qingchen looked at Lin Feng's sincere and stubborn eyes, and thought of his rare medicinal herbs that needed to be collected in dangerous places, and... his half-demon bloodline that could be exposed at any time due to accidents.
If there is a sword cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage to protect you, it can indeed save you a lot of trouble, at least it can deter most of the ignorant monsters and wandering cultivators with ulterior motives.
After a moment's silence, he finally nodded faintly, which was considered as his tacit agreement.
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