Chapter 323: Strange Encounter in the Valley
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
All he could see was golden light. After the golden light dispersed, Mo Wen realized he was in a grassy, wooded valley. The trees were green and formed a canopy, and the sound of birds chirping and insects buzzing could be heard.
Mo Wen looked around and noticed that there were many medicinal herb fields in the valley. Large patches of medicinal herbs had apparently been planted there.
“So many expensive spiritual medicines.” After glancing around, a glint of surprise flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. All the medicinal herbs planted in the field were uncommon, and almost all of them were spiritual medicines. Some of them were even precious spiritual medicines, such as the arrays of Purple Immortal Mushrooms. They were considered rare Profound-level spiritual medicine, even in the Immortal Cultivation world. Under normal conditions, they were rare finds.
However, there were big patches of Purple Immortal Mushrooms planted in the valley. There were hundreds of them. Moreover, most of them were matured spiritual medicines, thousands of years old. Any stalk would most likely cost a fortune in the Immortal Cultivation world.
Besides that, there were Curvy Ginsengs, Eight Spiritual Flowers, Sky and Moon Grass… All of them were rare spiritual herbs and medicines in the Immortal Cultivation world, but they were aplenty in the valley as though they were weeds. Mo Wen couldn’t help but be excited. He took a few steps forward, preparing to pick a stalk of Sky and Moon Grass.
However, just when his hand touched the mysterious silver grass, his hand went through it, and he didn’t touch anything. Everything seemed to be an illusion. Mo Wen waved his hand through the Sky and Moon Grass. Indeed, he touched nothing. Even though the grass was right before his eyes, it was like a phantom.
He smiled wryly. It was indeed unreal. It was but a shadow. His burning desire was instantly extinguished.
Well, the Sky and Moon Grass and the Curvy Ginseng were both rare spiritual herbs and medicines in the Immortal Cultivation world. They required very particular conditions for their growing environment. Only places filled with spiritual energy could produce such spiritual plants.
It was rather impossible to have piles of high level spiritual medicine lying around in the valley. After all, the spiritual energy within a ten mile radius would most likely be used up growing a stalk of Profound-level spiritual medicine. It would then be impossible to grow a second stalk of spiritual medicine.
Could it be that I am in an illusion? A glint of thoughtfulness flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. He looked around. There were many valleys with tall mountains on both sides, and he couldn’t see the end. Since the spiritual medicine and spiritual herbs were all illusions, the surroundings would most likely be an illusion, too.
After all, he had been in the Devil Demon Palace a moment ago. It was obviously illogical for him to appear here in the blink of an eye. Even with teleportation, it was impossible for him to be teleported so far away in one try. It was possible that his body was still in the peculiar palace; however, his thoughts were trapped in this illusion.
Mo Wen frowned, trying hard to concentrate. He attempted to remove his consciousness from the illusion and return to his body. Unfortunately, after trying hard for a long time, his efforts were for naught. In the end, he could only give up and walk helplessly towards the center of the valley, hoping that he would discover something.
The valley was huge with a radius of dozens of miles. As he went deeper, the plants became more sparse. A big altar slowly revealed itself. The altar was built among the plants. The altar was three meters tall, and there were many odd runes carved on it. The runes were dark red in color and emitted a cold aura.
There was a cauldron on the huge altar. The cauldron was more than 20 meters high with a diameter of more than ten meters. It was shockingly massive. It was reddish green in color, and emitted a quaint and wild aura.
There were all sorts of ferocious beasts carved into the cauldron. There were wild mythical beasts such as the Ya Zi, Torch Dragon, and Suan Ni. Those mythical beasts were vivid, as though they were real creatures. Even at a few hundred meters away, Mo Wen could sense the pressure emitted by the ferocious beasts.
At the moment, an old man in white robes sat on top of the cauldron as though he were a cloud of white light. He gave out an illusory vibe. Mo Wen took a deep breath and stared at the old man in white robes. He noticed the old man was staring at him, too.
“I have accidentally trespassed here. Greetings to you, senior.” He was a little nervous and quickly bowed respectfully. Mo Wen had no idea who this old man was, but since the old man could appear in this place, he would definitely not be simple.
The old man in white robes seemed to not notice that Mo Wen was greeting him. His gaze was empty, and he stared at Mo Wen indifferently, as though he was but a body without a soul.
“Successor, you can only receive my inheritance if you pass my assessment.” An emotionless voice slipped out of the old man’s mouth. It was as though a machine was talking.
“Inheritance?” Mo Wen was stunned for a moment and did not respond immediately, but then he realized…
“Primordial Soul Pearl!” he exclaimed. Could it be that he was accepting the inheritance of the Primordial Soul Pearl? He hadn’t forgotten the scene earlier. Seemingly before the incident happened, a golden Primordial Soul Pearl had hit him as he lost consciousness. Was it possible that the Primordial Soul Pearl took favor in his potential and was trying to pass him the inheritance?
Absurdity welled up in Mo Wen’s heart. He was not an immortal cultivator. He was but an ancient martial art practitioner. In the eyes of the immortal cultivators, what potential could he have? He would have never dreamed that a Primordial Soul Pearl from an immortal cultivator had chosen him.
It was almost impossible. He was well aware of his ability; therefore, just now when they were in the mysterious palace, he was shocked to discover so many Primordial Soul Pearls. At the time, he hadn’t had much of a response to them.
Could it be that the accident that had occurred in the Devil Demon Palace had caused the Primordial Soul Pearl to lower its standard of selecting a successor? Could it be that the pearl had reached the point of “beggars can’t be choosers,” so it simply found someone to pass down its inheritance to?
Mo Wen was confused as to why such a peculiar thing would occur, but he knew that what was before him might be an opportunity. If he could seize the inheritance of a great immortal cultivator, it was likely that he could embark on the journey of cultivating immortality.
A glint of fervor flashed in his eyes. His gaze towards the old man in white robes had changed instantly.
Knowing the Primordial Soul Pearl, he knew that the old man had passed away a long time ago. The remnant now was but a shadow of his lifetime inheritance. It did not have any soul or thoughts. It was only responsible for passing down the inheritance following the prescribed instructions.
Mo Wen took a deep breath and bowed sincerely towards the old man in white robes. Then, he walked up to the altar. When he reached the altar, it lit up. The runes brightened up one by one, enveloping the surroundings with their glow.
The old man in white robes waved his hand, and a streak of white light instantly encircled Mo Wen. It formed a circle of light with a diameter of around five meters, and Mo Wen stood in the center.
After the white light encircled Mo Wen, the old man in white robes didn’t attend to him anymore. Instead, he leaped down form the cauldron, walked a distance of around 20 meters away from Mo Wen, and sat down. He waved his hand, and the huge cauldron started to shrink. In a moment, the cauldron had changed into a medicine furnace the size of a palm.
The old man waved his hand again, and the shrunken medicine furnace changed into a streak of red light. With a flash, it appeared in his hand. He pointed a finger, and a bright golden flame appeared below the medicine furnace.
Then, acting as though no one else was present, he took out some medicinal herbs from a quaint ring. With the flash of a creamy white light, stalks of herbal medicines appeared. A total of more than ten of types of herbal medicines were arranged neatly before him.
Mo Wen naturally knew that the ring, which medicinal herbs could be taken out of, was a storage ring in the Immortal Cultivation world. There was a not-large-not-small storage space within the ring. Even though it was not a rare item in the Immortal Cultivation world, not everyone could have one, either.
In the past, Mo Wen had never gotten the chance to acquire a storage ring. He was always envious of the storage ring possessed by the alchemist who had taught him how to concoct pills.
The magical instruments used for storage were naturally not limited to the storage ring. There were also storage bracelets and storage hairpins. Even a handkerchief could be a magical instrument for storage. There were all sorts of things. However, for many immortal cultivators, even acquiring the cheapest storage sack was not easy. Naturally, they wouldn’t consider other magical instruments for storage.
After taking out many medicinal herbs, the old man started concocting pills. He put the medicinal herbs into the medicine furnace one by one, then he made many mysterious hand gestures. The fire was flickering, and a batch of pills was slowly being concocted.
The speed at which the old man concocted pills was fast. In seven minutes, he had concocted a batch of pills. The thick aroma of medicine filled the surroundings and lingered in the air.
He concocted the same type of pills three times consecutively. After he had finished concocting three batches, he stopped. His gaze slowly shifted towards Mo Wen. At some point, a cauldron had quietly appeared beside Mo Wen. The same medicinal herbs used by the old man to concoct the pills were there, too.
“Testing my alchemy art?” A glint of understanding flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Just now, the old man seemed to have mentioned that he could only succeed in taking the old man’s mantle if he passed his assessment.
The old man was obviously skillful in the art of alchemy. It was possible that the old man was a master in alchemy, a peerless figure like the King of Pills.
Mo Wen had absolutely no idea what pills the old man had concocted just now. they looked simple, yet they seemed to have some hidden mystery.
After watching three times consecutively, Mo Wen had gained a bit of experience. He started concocting a batch of pills based on the steps the old man in white had taken.
Naturally, Mo Wen’s alchemy ability could not be compared to the old man’s. Mo Wen needed a whole two hours before his concocting came to a slow finish. The last step was to open the furnace and take out the pills. This step determined whether he had succeeded or failed.
When Mo Wen opened the furnace, his face instantly turned sullen. All he could see was a bunch of gooey, pitch-black stuff. There was no pill at all. A disgusting smell filled the air. It was vastly different compared to the thick aroma that had formed when the old man was concocting.
He had failed!
Mo Wen knew that he had concocted a batch of useless pills. It was common to have concocted useless pills during the process of alchemy. Normally, if one was not a master of alchemy, he couldn’t guarantee that he would succeed every time.
Therefore, Mo Wen didn’t lose heart. He started concocting a second batch of pills. After all, he had enough medicinal herbs and everything else he needed to continue concocting pills.
However, as the process of alchemy continued, the further Mo Wen went, the sulkier his facial expression was. After 13 consecutive batches of pills, none of the batches was successful. All of them had failed.
Before this, when he was watching the old man concocting, it seemed simple without much difficulty. So why had he failed repeatedly when it was his turn to concoct?