Chapter 72

"Is there anything inside the inheritance bead?" Su Mei Yao, seeing Shen Xiang so delighted, quickly asked.

"Hehe, it's a treasure manual for forging, along with some forging insights!" Shen Xiang said with a smile. There were more weapon forgers than alchemists, and low-rank weapon forgers were common, but grandmasters of forging were extremely rare, just like alchemists who could create powerful tools.

But after seeing the "treasure manual for forging," Shen Xiang suddenly felt confident that he could become a powerful weapon forger, of course, with his main focus still on alchemy.

Su Mei Yao took the inheritance bead and looked at it, a seductive smile appearing on her face. "It's indeed a good thing. There are even instructions for forging treasure weapons, along with many design plans. You need to master them well."

"Of course," Shen Xiang said with a smile. "What's drawn on that animal skin?"

"It's a map," Su Mei Yao said, passing the inheritance bead to Bai You You so she could take a look as well.

"What kind of map?" Shen Xiang asked hurriedly.

"A map of a medicinal garden. However, to open that garden, a key is needed, and the method to forge that key is inside the inheritance bead," Su Mei Yao explained.

Shen Xiang quickly flipped through the information that had flooded his mind and soon found the method to forge the key. The materials were easy to obtain, but the difficulty lay in carving complex spirit patterns onto the key.

"The key is with me; it fell when I opened the map." Bai You You spread her fair palm, revealing a small black key the size of a finger, covered in golden patterns. These were the spirit patterns that generated unique powers, the result of countless years of research by weapon forgers.

Spirit patterns were essential for tools; otherwise, they would be ordinary mundane tools. The Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace Shen Xiang obtained had many complex spirit patterns both inside and out, which gave it its unique power.

Most spirit patterns could be passed down. As long as they were accurately carved onto the tool during forging, they would succeed, and the difficulty was not too great, which was why there were many weapon forgers.

"These things seem to have been around for a while. If that medicinal garden still exists, there might be many mature spirit medicines inside," Su Mei Yao said with a smile.

Shen Xiang nodded and asked, "Where is that medicinal garden?"

"It's on the way to Taiwu Sect. It seems you need to head to Taiwu Sect earlier. If the garden is full of spirit medicines, you should be able to reach the ninth level of the Mundane Martial Realm there," Su Mei Yao said.

Finally, it was time to go to Taiwu Sect!

Shen Xiang felt a slight excitement in his heart. "I'll go back and pack up, and say goodbye to Father and the others."

Back at the Shen family, Shen Tian Hu was the first to find Shen Xiang. Seeing that Shen Xiang had returned safely, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're back!" Shen Tian Hu said with a loving expression.

"Father, you look much better. Here's the detoxifying pill; taking it will help you recover faster." Shen Xiang said with a smile, tossing a small bottle to Shen Tian Hu. This was obtained from Jiuduzi and could detoxify a large portion of the poison.

Shen Tian Hu did not ask Shen Xiang what he had done to the Jiuduhang. He knew that Shen Xiang had brought back the antidote, so he knew the Jiuduhang no longer existed. He understood Shen Xiang's style of action.

"Father, I'm about to set off," Shen Xiang said with a smile, though he felt very reluctant.

Shen Tian Hu sighed slightly and smiled. "Yes, it's time for you to go to a place where you can show your skills. You have contributed a lot to the Shen family, helping it establish itself in the capital."

"Father, I'm off!" Shen Xiang stood up and walked over to embrace Shen Tian Hu.

"Sure, you've grown up, and I have great confidence in you! Take care of yourself!" Shen Tian Hu was also very reluctant, patting Shen Xiang's back. He knew that Shen Xiang might not return for many years after going to those martial sects.

Shen Xiang gave Shen Tian Hu some high-grade mundane pills and then left the Shen family, heading straight for the Pill King Pavilion. After saying goodbye to Meng Bo and Shen Lu Zong, he set off for Taiwu Sect.

Although parting made Shen Xiang feel melancholic, the thought of future reunions filled him with great anticipation. He believed that by then, he, his father, and the entire Shen family would undergo a tremendous transformation!

Shen Xiang looked far into the capital, one of the cities with the most powerful individuals in the secular world, feeling deeply moved. Although there were many strong individuals there, they were nothing compared to the martial sects!

"Xian Xian, I'm coming!" Shen Xiang clenched his fist, looking at the vast mountains stretching for thousands of miles, and sprinted forward.

To reach Taiwu Sect, one had to cross a large forest where demonic beasts often appeared. The journey was long and perilous. As long as one could safely reach the other side of the mountains, they would arrive at a place rich in spiritual energy, the location of the martial sects.

The secular world and the place where martial experts gathered were separated by a vast mountain range, so those with weak strength had no chance of survival if they entered that area.

"Mei Yao, how is the research on the Dragon Slayer Divine Martial Art going? Is there anything powerful about it?" Shen Xiang asked, eager to learn more powerful martial arts.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you how to learn the dragon martial arts once my senior sister and I have thoroughly studied the book. Don't be impatient," Su Mei Yao replied.

Having these two mysterious beauties as companions made Shen Xiang very happy. They were like his mentors, always patiently guiding him and helping him overcome difficulties in cultivation.

The route to the medicinal garden was already memorized by Shen Xiang. As soon as he entered the vast mountain range, he easily found the starting point, a mountain that looked like a gourd, which was a marker on the map.

To speed up the search for the medicinal garden, Shen Xiang used the Vermilion Bird Fire Wings, soaring high in the sky. His fire-attribute Vermilion Bird True Qi had condensed into a form, and after compression, it was thick and powerful. He didn't need to worry about it running out quickly.

To avoid being discovered while flying, Shen Xiang dove into the clouds, hiding himself.

The speed of flight was extremely fast, and he quickly entered the depths of the forest. This also helped him avoid some demonic beasts, although he was not afraid of them.

The location of the medicinal garden was in a very dangerous and hidden mountain range, situated in a small valley. After three days of travel, Shen Xiang finally saw the valley, but there was nothing inside it.

Shen Xiang dove from the sky and landed in the valley. The scenery inside was beautiful, but outside the valley, there was a thick, toxic fog and various poisonous plants with thorns.

There was a cave in the valley, marked on the map. Shen Xiang searched for a bit and found that the cave was covered by vines. He took out a long sword and cut away the vines, then carefully entered the cave, lighting a torch.

"Hidden in such a place, it would be really hard to find without the map," Shen Xiang muttered to himself, wondering why the medicinal garden was inside a cave.

Deep inside the cave, Shen Xiang was blocked by an iron door. He tried to push it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it. No matter how much force he used to strike the iron door, the cave didn't even tremble. If he had struck an ordinary mountain, it would have been shattered by now.

"This door must be absorbing your strength. You'd better use the key to open it," Su Mei Yao said.

Shen Xiang quickly found a keyhole on the door, inserted the key, and turned it. He heard a "click," and the iron door slowly opened, revealing a blinding light from inside.

When the iron door was fully open, Shen Xiang saw the scene inside and was completely stunned!