Chapter 374 - Chapter 374: Sacred Ground
Chapter 374: Sacred Ground
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Upon hearing the sound from the tree, a smile of joy appeared on Chen Fei’s face. After months of watering the Summoning Elixir, to be honest, Chen Fei’s hopes had dwindled as time went on.
He hadn’t truly given up in the end, only because he didn’t want Baka’s spiritual wisdom to simply dissipate.
And today, within the tree fragment, Baka’s spiritual wisdom finally reawakened.
A quarter of an hour later, the original tree fragment had transformed into the appearance of a small tree spirit. However, compared to Baka’s original form, it was undoubtedly much smaller and its aura much weaker.
The first time Chen Fei encountered Baka, it was already a peak-level first-stage creature, just a step away from entering the ranks of second-stage creatures.
But now, Baka’s strength had already fallen to the early first stage, making it one of the weakest creatures. It was estimated that any random cultivator in the Body Refining Realm could easily defeat Baka.
Fortunately, although Baka’s origin had been damaged, its foundation was still there. It was estimated that with some time, it could recover to the peak of the first stage. As for the early second stage, that would be more challenging.
When the mystic realm ascended to the second stage, all the creatures inside gained tremendous benefits, and Baka took the opportunity to break through to the level of a second-stage creature. However, due to greed, it climbed halfway up a half bottle mountain and ended up being pursued by other creatures from the half bottle mountain. In a panic, it fell into the Bizarre City.
The Bizarre City was a place where there was no way to cope, and a single day there could lead to your death. Many of the more than twenty cultivators who entered the Bizarre City initially didn’t even make it past the first day.
Baka, relying on its inherent characteristics as a creature, resisted for several days. However, merely withstanding the pressure was not a solution to the fundamental problem. Eventually, its spiritual wisdom had to hide within its core, taking on the appearance Chen Fei had seen when they first met.
If Chen Fei had arrived even a little later, even this trace of spiritual wisdom would have been eroded away through sheer force. At that point, Baka would have truly become a tree in the Bizarre City, a withered one at that.
“Good friend, I never expected to meet you again,” Baka said, with the look of someone who had been through a life-changing experience.
When Baka initially revived from the core of the tree, it was actually bewildered upon seeing Chen Fei. Baka didn’t even know where it was at the moment and subconsciously believed it was still within the Bizarre City.
If it were in the Bizarre City, Baka would have thought it was a lost cause, and Chen Fei wouldn’t have fared much better.
However, it later discovered that it had already been taken away from the Bizarre City by Chen Fei and was now within Chen Fei’s sect.
Just thinking about the experiences in the Bizarre City sent shivers down Baka’s spine. There was simply no chance for retaliation there; everything was meticulously planned, and there was no outsmarting the bizarre elements within the city.
“What can help you recover?” Chen Fei asked Baka with a smile.
“This place is fine, but it’s a bit lacking in spiritual energy,” Baka replied.
Baka glanced around the surroundings and walked up to a potted plant. After checking with Chen Fei and receiving no objections, Baka pulled the plant out of the pot and jumped in, planting itself in the empty pot.
In the mystic realm, Baka had originally transformed from a medicinal herb through a fortunate encounter. Now, with severe injuries, it could use this method to recover.
“Spiritual energy?”
Chen Fei pondered for a moment. The courtyard had a formation, which could both conceal movements and gather some spiritual energy, but its effectiveness was limited.
Compared to the concentration of spiritual energy inside the second-tier mystic realm, both Chen Fei’s courtyard and the sect’s main peak were certainly incomparable.
Now, the second-tier mystic realm was occupied by the Yu family, and outsiders had no way to enter.
With a dominant force like the Yu family occupying a second-tier mystic realm, no one dared to object. Although the mystic realm was originally co-owned by several members of the Primordial Sword Sect, no one dared to oppose the Yu family’s claim.
Therefore, in the short term, neither Baka nor Chen Fei would be able to enter that second-tier mystic realm.
“You can absorb some elemental stones; it should help you recover faster.”
Chen Fei produced a piece of elemental stone in his hand and crushed it into powder, sprinkling it around the soil where Baka was planted.
The elemental energy in the powdered elemental stone nourished Baka, and Baka’s two small eyes squinted in satisfaction.
“Thank you, Chen Fei. Once I’ve recovered, I’ll help you cultivate medicinal herbs.”
Baka looked up at Chen Fei with a serious expression and said, “Those medicinal herbs can be sold for money. When I grow a lot of them, you can also sell a lot.”
Upon hearing Baka’s words, Chen Fei was slightly surprised. He immediately remembered the appearance of the cave in the mystic realm where Baka lived, which clearly showed signs of cultivating medicinal herbs, although Chen Fei wasn’t sure at the time.
The key was that those medicinal herbs were extremely old.
“Did you grow the medicinal herbs you gave me back then?” Chen Fei whispered.
When Chen Fei first met Baka, he was surprised to see Baka casually take out medicinal herbs that were decades old and consume them. However, at that time, Chen Fei was more interested in whether Baka had collected these medicinal herbs himself.
After all, in a first-tier mystic realm, rare spiritual plants were not common, but there were indeed many high-age medicinal herbs.
“Yeah, 1 grew them all. Can they sell for a lot of money?” Seeing that Chen Fei was interested, Baka quickly nodded.
“They can indeed sell for quite a bit of money. However, if you want to cultivate medicinal herbs of that age, there must be certain requirements for the elemental energy in the soil, right?”
Chen Fei wasn’t too surprised by the possibility of high-age medicinal herbs. Increasing the age of medicinal herbs was indeed impressive, but there were likely some conditions involved.
As the saying goes, you can’t make bricks without straw. If some basic conditions were not met, many things could not be accomplished.
Just like in Chen Fei’s previous life, it was a world without elemental energy. No matter how perfect your body or skills were developed, in the end, you were just a slightly more capable ordinary person.
Without the ability to manipulate elements and without longevity.
Because the basic conditions didn’t allow for it, anything developed on that basis naturally couldn’t become more powerful.
“That’s right.” Baka thought about the surrounding elemental energy and realized that medicinal herbs cultivated under these conditions couldn’t reach the same level as those in the mystic realm.
ii
It’s not your fault,” Chen Fei said softly when he saw Baka looking a bit disheartened.
If Baka were in the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, where there was not only a first-tier mystic realm but even a second-tier mystic realm, it might still be impossible for him to cultivate spirit plants, but there would certainly be plenty of high-age regular medicinal herbs available.
Within the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, the value of possessing such high-age medicinal herbs skyrocketed.
For cultivators in the Body Refining Realm, using pills crafted from high-age medicinal herbs could help establish a solid foundation, increasing the likelihood of breaking through to the Aperture tempering realm.
Therefore, for powerful sects like the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, Baka’s value suddenly became apparent.
It was just a pity that the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect didn’t have a first-tier mystic realm; otherwise, Baka would have found his place there.
Shang Wu City.
Due to the influence of Master Xi Lian, Shang Wu City had recently gained widespread fame. People from afar were aware of the presence of a formidable threat in the city.
Many factions had stationed people here to monitor the city’s movements. If anything unusual occurred, they needed to report it immediately. However, Shang Wu City had been unusually quiet lately, with no signs of movement or any peculiarities.
Because the area was sealed off, there was naturally no chance for outsiders to wander in and fall prey to Shang Wu City.
In addition to representatives from various factions, there were also many independent cultivators who had come to Shang Wu City. They weren’t here to cause trouble or destruction, as such actions would only lead to collective retaliation. Independent cultivators typically acted with a clear purpose, often driven by the pursuit of profit, which was the primary motive for most people.
Zeng Zixin manipulated a jade bottle in his hand, allowing strands of chilly energy to flow into it. After an hour, he sensed that the bottle was full, and a smile appeared on his face.
Zeng Zixin had cultivated to the Visceral Tempering realm. In larger sects, this level of cultivation might be considered ordinary, but among independent cultivators, it was quite remarkable.
In some smaller cities, it was even possible to establish one’s own family and live a life of luxury.
However, Zeng Zixin didn’t choose that path. He had his own aspirations within the realm of cultivation.
When he heard about the formidable threat that had appeared in Shang Wu City, he hurriedly made his way there from afar.
Zeng Zixin practiced a unique cultivation technique. While other Body Refinement Realm cultivators focused on tempering their internal organs and purifying their vitality, Zeng Zixin’s technique allowed him to harness Yin energy to assist in his cultivation.
The higher the quality of Yin energy, the faster Zeng Zixin could progress in his cultivation.
Generally, collecting Yin energy required either refining eerie objects or venturing into places like the Eerie City or Eerie Realms, where Yin energy abounded.
However, given Zeng Zixin’s Visceral Tempering realm cultivation, he could easily extinguish common eerie entities but found their Yin energy insufficient to provide significant assistance in his cultivation.
Eerie Realms or Eerie Cities typically housed second-tier eerie entities, equivalent to cultivators in the Aperture tempering realm. For someone like Zeng Zixin, entering such places was like being offered a feast.
As a result, Zeng Zixin’s cultivation had always been constrained by these less-than-ideal conditions, making it difficult for him to progress.
Until this moment, when he heard about the situation in Shang Wu City, he came running, hoping to give it a try. As he had expected, the formidable eerie being in combined aperture tempering realm was indeed incredibly powerful.
Even though they were separated by several dozen miles, the Yin energy pervading the outskirts had an exceptionally high quality. Compared to the Yin energy that had to be acquired by venturing deep into eerie realms, this place was like a sacred ground for Zeng Zixin’s cultivation.
At this moment, there were many individuals like Zeng Zixin scattered around Shang Wu City. This pervasive Yin energy was an invaluable treasure for many cultivators.
Zeng Zixin returned to a camp where many other independent cultivators like him had gathered, all with the same purpose: to gain benefits from this extraordinary place.
“Old Zeng, did you happen to see Senior Fang today?” a person suddenly appeared in front of Zeng Zixin, looking fatigued with bloodshot eyes.
“I saw him a couple of days ago,” Zeng Zixin replied, shaking his head. He furrowed his brow and asked, “Are you injured?”
“No, it’s just that I haven’t been resting well lately.”
After the person left, Zeng Zixin stood in place, watching his retreating figure. In a moment of absent-mindedness, he felt as if there was something behind that person..