Chapter 395 Earthly Fiend Sect
A sudden gust of wind blew under the moonlight, and two crimson clouds, as brilliant as rosy clouds, adorned the boundless sky.
Ji An pointed to the distant twinkling lights and smiled:
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Rotten Peach Mountain."
Although they were too far away to see clearly, it was clear that the light there was constantly moving, indicating that the cultivators were searching for treasure by lamplight.
"Then let's work harder," Han Yan said, a hint of joy flashing in her eyes.
Since such a momentous event as the shattering of a small world or secret realm has occurred, it is something we cannot afford to miss.
Junior brother is right. If the news gets out, those major powers in the Southern Continent will definitely clear out and expel the other cultivators.
If such a stroke of good fortune were to happen near a sect, the sect would do the same, for no other reason than the immense profits would be too great.
If a faction or individual obtains a world core, it is equivalent to gaining an exclusive resource realm.
Although the core of the world may not exist, we will search high and low as long as there is even the slightest possibility.
What needs to be done now is to gain some benefits before the major powers clear out the market.
The two adjusted their direction, and the crimson cloud increased its speed even further, trailing behind a trail of dazzling rosy light.
Upon arriving at his destination, Ji An managed to make out the terrain of Rotten Peach Mountain by the light of the moon and the glow of the luminous pearls and torches in the hands of the cultivators.
It's more like a valley than a mountain, surrounded by mountains on the east, north, and west sides, with a depression in the middle.
The mountains and fields are bathed in light, making this region resemble a brightly lit modern city at night.
"Junior brother, how about we split up and each try our luck in the search?"
Han Yan suggested that the two of them go treasure hunting together. If they found some spiritual artifacts or ores, they could simply divide them equally.
If we really obtain the ethereal core of the world, how should it be divided?
Everyone wants to possess this priceless treasure, and even if the output is agreed to be divided equally, who controls the treasure is still a huge problem.
In situations like these, when faced with such enormous profits, trust between people becomes incredibly fragile.
There is a very high chance that this will cause conflict, so it is better to rely on luck and avoid any unpleasantness that could damage the harmony among fellow disciples.
Life and death are preordained, wealth and honor are determined by fate.
Ji An nodded slightly; what the other person said was exactly what he wanted to say.
"Senior sister, be careful. I'll choose to search in the east."
According to the interpretation of the Five Elements, the East belongs to Wood, which symbolizes vitality and rising energy, and is considered auspicious.
"I'll go to the west."
Han Yan summoned the puppet beast, and the Sun-Devouring Pearl was also summoned, hovering above his head, emitting a blazing light, replacing the Night-Shining Pearl.
The puppet beast was inscribed with magical restrictions that allowed it to be sized as it pleased; at this moment, it was only the size of a robust ape.
She controls the range of light emitted by the magical artifact. If she were to fully activate the Sun-Swallowing Pearl, she could illuminate this mountain forest as if it were daytime. But doing so would be doing the work for someone else.
Ji An watched his senior sister leave, took out the Golden-Winged Bird, gave the command, and released it. He then summoned the Golden Fur.
The spirit beast pouch is a very special space. When a demon beast enters it, it will quickly fall into a deep sleep. When it comes to the outside world, it will immediately wake up. It is very magical.
Golden Retrievers are as big as fat pigs, chubby and no longer have the cute and innocent look they had when they were puppies. When they bare their teeth, they have a fierce look to them.
Ji An rode the clouds to the eastern edge of the mountain ridge.
He didn't rush to search; he waited for the golden-winged bird to scout out the terrain.
Due to insufficient light, the entire panorama cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Sharpening your axe won't delay your woodcutting; there's no need to rush. Treasure hunting is something that will happen eventually if it's meant to be.
He lowered his altitude and carefully observed the nearby vegetation, discovering that apart from some weeds, there was only a peach orchard growing wildly.
When the nearby cultivators saw the crimson cloud descend, they immediately chose to stay away. Who knew what kind of temperament the newly arrived high-level cultivator was? If they encountered a tyrannical one, their treasure hunt would be a path to their deaths.
Ji An extended his divine sense and felt that there was a special wood element power hidden in the soil.
As a cultivator at the peak of the Wood Element Divine Palace, he could tell that the soil contained poison.
He frowned slightly, took out an antidote pill from his storage bag, and fed it to the golden retriever.
The soil contains toxins, and the spiritual plants here must also contain toxins. In such an environment, those spiritual creatures that have not yet been contaminated by toxins will inevitably become targets.
"Go down and search, but don't go too far. Collect all the spiritual creatures that are non-toxic or have very weak toxicity."
The Spirit-Seeking Rats have the ability to distinguish toxins, and Ji An himself can also do so. This treasure hunt may be easier than expected.
"Squeak," the golden retriever shook its head, its fluffy fur ruffled, and jumped down happily.
If you sleep in the spirit beast pouch for too long, your whole body will become sluggish, and you'll need to come out and move around every few days.
Ji An once again rode the clouds into the sky, looking down at the earth, observing whether any lucky ones had found something good.
The wait was rather long; about half an hour passed before the golden-winged bird flew back from afar.
'This place is quite large,' Ji Anxin thought. The puppet's flying speed was extremely fast, even slightly faster than his Golden Feathered Eagle. He hadn't expected it to take so long.
Holding the bird in his hand, he probed his consciousness into the recording stone to read the information. A moment later, a three-dimensional 'sand table' projection was generated in his sea of consciousness.
This area is rectangular, slightly wider in the middle, about thirty li long and twenty li wide, with low mountains on the east and west sides and high mountains on the north side.
Now that he had a plan, he ordered the golden-winged bird to circle overhead and wait for orders, and recalled the golden-haired bird.
"Squeak, squeak," the burly spirit-seeking rat held a finger-thick branch with a few plump leaves on it in its two paws.
The leaves are pale green with red, fuzzy edges and very fine, though not very noticeable, serrations.
Ji An bent down and picked up the spiritual plant. Many roots spread from between his fingers and pierced into the leaves. He felt the surging spiritual power inside and was overjoyed.
Regardless of medicinal properties, judging solely from the spiritual energy contained within, these few leaves contain more spiritual energy than a mid-grade second-tier spiritual peach.
He tried hard to search his memory, but still couldn't recognize what it was.
Ji An abandoned his thoughts and carefully stored the spiritual plant in his virtual space, preparing to have his senior sister test its medicinal properties.
"Well done," he praised, taking out a Spirit-Nourishing Pill and tossing it to the golden retriever as a reward for its excellent performance.
"Squeak," the golden retriever squeaked proudly, its fur appearing even fluffier.
Ji An ordered the golden-haired dog to begin searching along the ridge, while he himself used his divine sense to search the hillside alongside the beast.
Not long after, he made his first discovery: a small piece of bright red spiritual plant root that resembled ginseng, somewhat like blood-tonifying ginseng, but not the same species.
The gaps in the rhizome were very irregular and did not resemble marks from being torn apart by a monster.
The golden retriever also found something and brought over a piece of sacred wood covered in brown patterns, with oval leaves that were only the size of a fingernail.
Ji An didn't recognize this spirit tree either, but he sensed that its life level was only at the first-grade high level, so he didn't pay much attention to it and casually put it into his storage bag.
At this moment, he was basically certain that this was the product of an explosion caused by the spatial collapse of a secluded realm that had been isolated from the world for many years and whose lifespan had come to an end.
The unknown species inside might bring new vitality to the cultivation world.
Ji An felt both delighted and worried. He was delighted that he might have found a rare treasure out of nothing, but worried that the news would get out.
Other major powers will follow suit quickly, and at that time it will be more than just a simple clearing out.
"Speed up the search."
Ji An gave the golden retriever the order and, without hesitation, used his divine sense to search even faster.
He took out a small bronze incense burner about the size of a fist, lit the incense, and carried the burner as he walked.
This can compensate for the depletion of spiritual energy and increase endurance.
Ji An and his beast tamer searched quickly, sometimes encountering other cultivators. At these times, he would unhesitatingly release his spiritual pressure at the Chaoyuan stage, but no conflict erupted.
Occasionally, they would encounter cultivators of the same level, and everyone would remain restrained. Most cultivators understood that they could only get a share of the pie before the major powers intervened.
The joy of the night seemed too short, and before we knew it, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first light of dawn.
Ji An was already feeling exhausted in his soul. He stopped searching and looked around to confirm his current location, preparing to rest before making any further plans.
Now in the unfamiliar Southern Continent, he needs to maintain a good state of mind at all times. Finding treasure is important, but actually protecting the treasure is the most important thing.
He put the golden fur into his spirit beast bag, rode the clouds to a place two or three miles east of Shandong, and summoned the Golden Feathered Eagle.
He gave his beast a few instructions, and the golden-feathered eagle let out a clear cry and spread its wings to fly westward.
Ji An sat cross-legged on the futon, took out the stove, lit the spirit charcoal, released the Minor Cloud and Rain Technique to fill a pot with water, and put it on the stove to boil.
The water had just boiled when Han Yan flew over on a cloud, with a golden eagle following beside her.
Her face was flushed with excitement, and her breathing was a little rapid.
Ji An raised an eyebrow and smiled:
"It seems that Senior Sister has made great progress. Come and have a cup of spiritual tea. Let's keep up the good work later."
He took out a blue porcelain jar, grabbed a handful of Jade Dew Golden Buds tea leaves, and brewed it. The stronger the tea, the better it would nourish the soul.
Now is not the time to be stingy; let's make the most of every second.
Han Yan walked to his side, took out a futon and sat down cross-legged, lowering her voice to say:
"Thank you, I found a cave stone with an internal space of eight feet square."
She didn't hide anything; it was just a Void Stone, and with her junior brother's resources, he wouldn't be envious.
Ji An exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Sister, you're so lucky!"
Void Stone is a truly valuable item with extremely high demand. It can be used as a form of hard currency, whether to exchange for elixirs or ores.
He encountered many stones and picked them up one by one to identify them. Most of them were ordinary stones. His best find was a piece of purple-gold copper ore the size of a goose egg, which was worth only a few dozen spirit stones.
He handed her the teacup, saying, "Senior sister, please have some tea."
"Hehe, thank you, junior brother."
Han Yan took the teacup, blew on it, and took a sip. After the hot tea went down her throat, she immediately felt a cool sensation spreading through her mind, and her tired soul was refreshed.
"I've taken so many good things from my junior brother during the journey. When I return to the sect, I'll definitely refine some pills for him as a gift."
After the two left the sect, she was able to drink a cup of spiritual tea every day, either a second-grade superior-quality Cloud Peak Silver Needle or a second-grade mid-quality Jade Dew Golden Bud.
Such treatment, unlike the hardships of traveling and eating only dew and wind, was actually more comfortable than being in a sect.
"Haha, Senior Sister, you're too kind."
Ji An changed the subject and said jokingly:
"But I'm really looking forward to seeing what gift my senior sister will give me."
He took out some second-grade high-quality pine nuts from his storage bag and invited the other person to eat them together.
"I will make sure my junior brother is satisfied."
"By the way, I discovered that most of the spiritual plants I harvested were ones I'd never seen before. I'll need Senior Sister's help to test their medicinal properties."
"No problem. Putting everything else aside, if we can find any useful new medicinal herbs, this trip will be worthwhile."
Han Yan exclaimed that such a gain was unimaginable even in the sect.
She now truly understood why the Enforcement Hall gathered so many outstanding fellow disciples. Although carrying out missions outside was somewhat dangerous, one might just strike it rich someday.
While the life of a weapon refiner or alchemist within a sect is secure, resources must be accumulated bit by bit.
The two drank tea and chatted, their depleted spiritual energy quickly recovering.
A golden sun rose from the east, and the ground temperature began to rise. Han Yan stood up and said:
"Junior brother, time is precious, we can't delay any longer."
Ji An nodded. Just as he stood up, he suddenly saw a large number of cultivators taking off and flying towards them.
He was startled, wondering what had happened, and then he saw the cultivators descending in twos and threes.
Han Yan was also surprised, wondering why these cultivators had stopped searching for treasure.
She ascended into the sky on a cloud and quickly descended, shaking her head and smiling bitterly:
"Pink miasma has appeared in the mountain valley. Without special means, it may be impossible to search inside."
Upon hearing the story, Ji An took to the air to investigate and shook his head helplessly. The toxicity of the Peach Blossom Miasma was not very strong, but it had hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac effects.
He landed and said:
"So that's why so many people are working late into the night. It turns out the root cause is the miasma. No wonder those cultivators who can handle the miasma are making a fortune."
This explains why the soil contains toxins.
Han Yan sighed, "This is going to be difficult. I checked the map and noticed that the Earthly Fiend Sect is located more than 7,000 miles south of Rotten Peach Mountain."
Two days have passed now. If they have very efficient intelligence channels in Rongman Immortal City, we only have two nights at most to search.
The Earthly Fiends Sect is another dominant force in the Southern Continent, with a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge.
Ji An took it in stride and smiled:
"How much we get is up to fate, there's no way to force it. Anyway, it's a windfall. If the Earthly Fiend Sect wants to take over this place, then we'll just leave."
The arm can't twist the thigh; let alone a Nascent Soul True Monarch, even a few Golden Core True Persons could drive away all the cultivators here.
Although there are many cultivators gathered here, they are not united and cannot compete with Golden Core cultivators at all.
The two of them simply found a quiet place to stay and took turns resting.
As evening approached and the setting sun ceased to illuminate the mountain valley, the miasma quickly dissipated, and the cultivators flocked into Rotten Peach Mountain to continue their treasure hunt.
Around midnight, a powerful pressure appeared simultaneously from the four directions: east, west, south, and north, clearly indicating the Golden Core level.
"This area is now under the jurisdiction of our Earthly Fiend Sect. Everyone, stop and leave in an orderly manner according to our instructions. However, you must undergo our inspection before leaving, and we will purchase suitable spiritual items for you."
An uproar erupted in the mountain valley. Ji An grinned. Clearing the area was one thing, but they also wanted to inspect the cultivators' spoils? How dare they?
"The Earthly Fiend Sect is so domineering, I've really seen something. What if we don't want to?"
Two astonishing auras rose from the mountain valley, revealing two Golden Core cultivators hidden within the treasure hunt.
Ji An breathed a sigh of relief. This made things easier. With a Golden Core cultivator taking the lead, the Earthly Fiend Sect wouldn't dare to act so blatantly.
"You don't want to? You have no choice!"
A faint voice rang out from the sky, and in an instant, yellow sand filled the air and a chilling wind blew.
(End of this chapter)
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