Chapter 33

（Very low collection, very low clicks, very low red tickets, very low monthly tickets — I am now a four-low youth, let me cry for a while...）

The streams in the valley flow according to the terrain; the growth of grass and trees also follows their nature.

As long as a person learns to emulate the ways of heaven and earth, many principles are interconnected.

Chen Xun's journey north, deep into the lake and marshlands, to find herbs for refining the Yuan-gathering ointment, yielded much more than what ordinary people would imagine, of course not by luck.

Chen Xun followed the patterns he had discovered over the years, and together with Su Tang, they searched along the edges of the wild beast territories for places in the peaks, valleys, forests, and ravines where the Dao's essence and spirit energy were more likely to gather, hoping to find medicinal herbs that could help with Su Tang's injuries.

However, Su Tang had reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Rebirth Realm, and the divine power condensed from the ancient bloodline of the giant ape had severely injured her soul sea, far beyond the healing capabilities of ordinary medicinal herbs.

However, the places with the most abundant Dao's essence and spirit energy in this mountain were all occupied by fierce birds and beasts. The two of them searched the mountain for three days, finding many medicinal herbs, but none that could help with Su Tang's injuries.

These medicinal herbs were of no benefit to Su Tang's injuries, but for Chen Xun, who was at the peak of the fifth level of the Savage Martial Realm, they were extremely beneficial.

Over these three days, Chen Xun, following Su Tang, learned about thirty to forty more types of herbs.

Although Su Tang, limited by the clan's rules, could not teach Chen Xun the complete alchemy formulas, she took the time to explain the properties of these herbs to him whenever they rested.

Chen Xun did not dare to experiment with the herbs lightly.

With his current cultivation, even if he had the courage to test the herbs on himself, he might not be able to discern their properties. But with Su Tang's detailed explanations, it was a completely different story.

Over the past two days, Chen Xun had almost figured out two different alchemy formulas.

Seeing Chen Xun's astonishing insight, Su Tang couldn't help but say, "The sect leader has agreed to let the Xuwu Commandery recommend the tribal youths from the northern mountains of Pythontooth Ridge to enter the Canglan Academy for training. How about I go back to Canglan and find Uncle Thirteen to have him transfer you to me as a disciple?"

Su Tang's words slipped out, and she immediately regretted them.

She had already reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Rebirth Realm and was a top talent among the young generation of Canglan, long qualified to teach disciples at the Canglan Academy.

However, in front of this thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, she felt clumsy in every way, even needing him to take care of her. How could she qualify to be his teacher?

Chen Xun had long recognized his own insignificance. Joining the Su clan and entering the Canglan Academy to practice more profound mystic arts was his next plan.

To have a better chance of being selected by the Xuwu Commandery to enter the Canglan Academy and practice mystic arts, Chen Xun decided to go north after winter to deeply cultivate in the lake and marshlands.

However, after entering the Canglan Academy, whether to practice mystic arts with Su Tang, Chen Xun was somewhat hesitant and asked Su Tang, "How old are you this year?"

Chen Xun's question made Su Tang, who was already somewhat guilty, react as if her tail had been stepped on. Her extremely clear almond eyes widened, and she lightly scolded, "Do you doubt my qualifications to teach you? Rest assured, I am qualified to teach you until you reach the Tianyuan Realm."

Chen Xun smiled, thinking: She really has a little girl's temper.

Seeing the still immature look on Chen Xun's face, Su Tang felt her teeth grind with anger. She thought that if a young barbarian child looked down on her, it would be a laughingstock for her, the top talent.

Su Tang, fuming, got up and climbed up the cliff, grabbing onto a vine, ignoring Chen Xun who followed behind.

This cliff stood alone in a wide valley, towering about 500 to 600 meters high, like a giant stone pillar, with a unique terrain.

Su Tang climbed to the top of the cliff, where there was another section of the cliff.

The valley with overlapping cliffs was a place where spirit energy gathered, making it easy for medicinal herbs to grow.

Su Tang, who now relied on the Yuan-gathering ointment to barely nourish her blood and qi, had eyes that could see far. Looking up, she saw a strange flower with a stem like a snake's neck blooming on the second level of the cliff, about 100 meters high, amidst the snow and ice.

Stone Snake Lotus?

Yes, it was the Stone Snake Lotus.

Not only did the flower stem resemble a snake's neck, but the stone patterns on the stem and leaves were also very clear.

It had even bloomed two petals, indicating that this Stone Snake Lotus had been growing on this cliff for several hundred years.

Su Tang's heart was suddenly filled with joy.

Even in the deepest parts of the vast Tushan, a fourth-grade medicinal herb was a rare treasure.

Her greatest hope was to find a first- or second-grade medicinal herb to stabilize her injuries.

She never expected that in this isolated mountain, she and Chen Xun would actually see a fourth-grade medicinal herb like the Stone Snake Lotus.

Although this Stone Snake Lotus could not completely heal her injuries, it was enough to revive her damaged and dormant mystic acupoints.

Once the mystic acupoints were revived, they could generate the Dao's essence and true yang.

With the abundant low-grade medicinal herbs in the mountains, as long as she could generate the Dao's essence and true yang in her body, she could quickly recover to the peak of the True Yang Realm.

The peak of the True Yang Realm was equivalent to the peak of the ninth level of the Savage Martial Realm.

Although she could not rampage through the lake and marshlands, as long as she was careful and avoided direct encounters with the savage beasts, she and Chen Xun could safely return to Canglan without any problems.

Seeing the Stone Snake Lotus, although it had not fully grown, it had already bloomed two petals, and the faint medicinal aura wafted over. Su Tang, feeling a sense of vitality growing in her long-dormant mystic acupoints, was overjoyed:

Truly a fourth-grade treasure!

She was eager to climb up the cliff and pluck the Stone Snake Lotus to consume it immediately...

However, Chen Xun suddenly dragged her down the stone cliff.

Su Tang, who was only slightly stronger than an ordinary savage warrior, was no match for Chen Xun, who had already cultivated to the point where his savage soul could leave his body.

Dragged down the stone cliff by Chen Xun, Su Tang could not struggle and was furious. Just as she was about to ask him what he was doing, Chen Xun covered her mouth with his hands, preventing her from speaking.

Chen Xun pressed Su Tang to his body, making her silent.

Although he did not know what kind of treasure the strange flower with a snake-like stem was, he could see its extraordinary nature standing alone on the icy cliff. The faint medicinal aura was far purer than any other medicinal herb he had seen before.

However, the moment he climbed to the first level of the cliff, a sense of unease in his soul made him realize that there was a great danger near the medicinal herb.

The few fierce beasts' nests that Su Tang had previously discovered in the mountain were not nearby. However, the medicinal herb was about to mature, and the medicinal aura had already spread, yet no strange beasts had come to gather it, which was very unusual.

"What's wrong?" Su Tang, now calm, realized she had been too rash.

Low-grade medicinal herbs were one thing, but the entire isolated peak might only have one fourth-grade medicinal herb like the Stone Snake Lotus. If the strange beasts in the mountains did not fight over it, that would be truly strange.

The absence of strange beasts gathering the herb suggested that the beasts had already fought over the Stone Snake Lotus and decided its ownership.

But why did the area around the Stone Snake Lotus show no signs of abnormality?

Su Tang's soul was shattered, and her mystic acupoints were dormant. Although her senses were extraordinary, she could not sense the abnormalities in the stone wall. She could only look at Chen Xun helplessly—she suddenly realized she had been under him for a long time.

"You're so heavy!" Although Su Tang only saw Chen Xun as a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, she felt embarrassed being under him and quickly pushed him away.

Chen Xun's eyes were fixed on the cliff, not paying attention to the intimate feeling.

They were two levels below the cliff, separated by 600 to 700 meters. Even with his sensitive spiritual senses, he could not detect any abnormal aura on the cliff.

The top of the cliff was covered with a thick layer of ice and snow, but the stone wall below, except for some cracks, showed no abnormalities.

"If there's anything abnormal, it's likely hidden in those cracks."

Chen Xun pointed to the cracks for Su Tang to see, picked up a stone, and threw it near the Stone Snake Lotus. It hit the cliff wall and rolled down, but there was no movement on the cliff.

"The Stone Snake Lotus is a fourth-grade treasure. If there is a guardian beast, it would certainly be extremely powerful and would not allow us to approach within 300 to 400 meters. The guardian beast might have met with an accident," Su Tang said.

In the wilderness, anything could happen. However, the sense of unease Chen Xun felt when he climbed to the first level of the cliff was not baseless. He told Su Tang:

"Move back a bit, I'll go up and check again."

Su Tang also knew that Chen Xun's spiritual senses far exceeded those of ordinary savage warriors. She took off her iron bow and gave it to him: "Shoot an arrow at the Stone Snake Lotus and see if there's any reaction..."

She would rather destroy the Stone Snake Lotus than let Chen Xun take the risk of gathering it.

Chen Xun's spiritual senses could only detect auras within 30 meters. The cliff was 600 to 700 meters away, and his archery skills were not yet divine. He said, "From this distance, how can I hit it?"

"You haven't learned any mystic cultivation techniques, yet your spiritual senses are so sharp?" Su Tang found it strange.

"That day I hid in the valley, Ge Yi could sense me from 400 to 500 meters away. My spiritual senses are nothing special."

Chen Xun had estimated that even if he cultivated his savage soul to the ninth level, he could only sense weak auras within 100 to 200 meters, far less than Ge Yi's ability to detect enemies 400 to 500 meters away.

Chen Xun never thought his spiritual senses were particularly sharp.

Su Tang gave him a speechless look, thinking that Chen Xun must have naturally sharp spiritual senses and had not practiced any mystic cultivation techniques. After a moment of internal struggle, she muttered to the southeast:

"Ancestor, Tang is doing this to save her life, not to deliberately violate your rules! Ancestor, rest assured, I will only teach Chen Xun the first level of the technique. He's not very smart, so he won't learn much..."

Chen Xun was speechless and said, "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. If I learn the Dragon-Binding Arrow, I won't use it. Do you have to call me stupid?"

Su Tang gave Chen Xun a glare, feeling too guilty, and stuck out her small tongue, saying, "I'm teaching you the basic Dragon-Binding Arrow technique. It's fine to use it. Currently, the basic archery techniques of various sects are not much different. As long as you don't say I taught you and don't reveal the technique, there's no problem."

Chen Xun was delighted, thinking that if he really had a young, tongue-sticking girl as a teacher, it would be quite amusing.

********************

Chen Xun and Su Tang retreated to the valley. After listening to Su Tang explain the Dragon-Binding Arrow technique and basic cultivation methods, Chen Xun realized that true sects had reached a level of mastery in controlling spiritual senses.

Chen Xun listened to Su Tang's explanations and practiced for half a day, gradually getting a feel for it.

He visualized his savage soul and recited the technique, and a profound and distant bell sound resonated in his soul sea. His previously spontaneous spiritual senses suddenly became as lively as ripples in water.

His thoughts extended, and his spiritual senses followed, grasping the auras of insects, grass, trees, and even the wind and water.

The sensitivity gradually weakened at 300 meters.

This feeling was like a radar scan.

Previously, he could not control his spiritual senses, and his detection range was limited. After learning the Dragon-Binding technique, his spiritual senses, when focused in one direction, increased tenfold, making him both surprised and delighted.

When he held the bow and drew the string, his body and mind were in perfect harmony, and he was certain that his thoughts and spiritual senses could guide the iron arrow.

He deliberately aimed slightly off, and indeed, he could no longer maintain the subtle state of harmony.

He shot two arrows, and both iron arrows hit the stone wall 300 meters away with perfect accuracy.

He never expected the Dragon-Binding Arrow technique to be so profound, allowing him to achieve perfect accuracy right from the start.

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