Chapter 168: Experiment (II)

Only the concept diagrams that were incomplete and could only be used as reference were available to the disciples for free.

To earn points, one needed to complete missions for the sect. Chen Yiming had only joined the sect for a week, so he didn’t have any points yet.

As for the free cultivation techniques that he had been eyeing for a long time, he could not use them for the time being. He had to wait until he had accumulated enough Skill Points to upgrade his swordsmanship talent to the third level.

Many ideas that he had could only be tested in the future.

After achieving his goal, Chen Yiming had no intention of staying any longer. He melted back into the darkness and left.

When Chen Yiming returned to the residence, a group of disciples from the Kunshan Sect went to the valley to investigate.

The masked man that Chen Yiming turned into was considered to be at the third stage of the warrior realm.

Therefore, as long as a situation like the collapse of a mountain which resembled a natural disaster was discovered, a hunting team passing by would report it to the Kunshan Sect in return for a reward.

These Kunshan Sect disciples were the team that had received the news and been sent to the scene of the incident.

“Gasp! I’ve never heard of an earthquake in this area, but half of this mountain peak actually collapsed for some reason,” a young disciple of the Kunshan Sect said.

Another male disciple frowned and said in a low voice, “Since half of the mountain still remains standing, it should have been caused by a single strike.

In this case, it was either caused by a big shot at the third stage of the warrior realm, or by the masked man we are looking for.”

“There’s no time to lose. Let’s quickly report the situation,” a muscular male disciple urged.

After the news was reported on a private phone line, the group of disciples from the Kunshan Sect quickly received a reply to put a pause on their search for traces of the masked man.

The disciples of the Kunshan Sect looked at each other in confusion.

The clues were clearly right in front of them, but the higher-ups of the sect had suddenly changed their minds.

They did not know what the reason was, but they knew that something huge must have happened that tied the hands of the Kunshan Sect’s sect master.

…

Chen Yiming pushed open the door to the house and realized that Qian Bingnan, Dai Yuanhang, and Bai Hengliang were all there. The three of them were chatting enthusiastically, and Qian Bingnan in particular was so excited that his face was red.

Seeing Chen Yiming return from outside, Qian Bingnan couldn’t resist saying, “Have you heard? The willow tree cores that mature once every three years on the East Sea Mist Island are ripe for picking. It’s time for the various factions to fight for them again.”

As long as the roots were not destroyed, after losing its core, the willow tree could still grow back.

Due to the fact that the tree cores on the Mist Island were harvested as soon as they had matured, the next batch of willow tree cores would take approximately the same time to mature again.

Chen Yiming’s interest was piqued and he sat down at the stone table.

Chen Yiming might not have known about the willow tree cores before he had joined the Myriad Phenomena Sect.

However, he had already gained a lot of martial arts knowledge through the library in the Mantis Snake Court.

Both plants and animals could evolve under the influence of the space-travel passage in the same way. After evolving, the plants were called mutant plants.

However, compared to animals that could move about freely, plants that were rooted in place had a much lower chance of evolving.

The reason was not that animals had more talent than plants, but that most plants were too far away from the space-travel passage. The plants near the space-travel passage could easily be trampled by mutant beasts before they could grow successfully.

In the Plum Blossom Sky Pit, the strange tree guarded by the giant three-tailed turtle was one of these mutant plants.

The mutant fruits produced by mutant plants usually contained the essence of what the mutant plants had accumulated over time. Whether it was mutant beasts or humans, most of the mutant fruits could help with their cultivation.

This was also one of the reasons why there were far fewer mutant plants compared to mutant beasts and humans.

Qian Bingnan waited for Chen Yiming to sit down before continuing, “It would be great if we could get one of them. We’re talking about the core of a willow tree after it evolved, after all.

I heard that it can not only help one comprehend the concept diagrams of water and earth attribute internal forces, but also improve one’s physique and martial arts talent by a small margin.”

It would help one comprehend the concept diagrams of the water and earth attribute internal forces, and improve one’s physique and martial arts talent.

The former was useful for Chen Yiming’s meteorite concept diagram, but it wasn’t something he urgently needed. After he upgraded his swordsmanship talent to Level 3, there was a high chance that the effect would be better.

However, the latter was very useful to Father Chen, Mother Chen and Chen Yingying. Especially for Chen Yingying, whose progress in tempering her body was still very slow even though Chen Yiming had provided the best conditions for her.

If he could obtain a large number of willow tree cores, not only could he increase Chen Yingying’s martial arts talent, but he could also help Father Chen and Mother Chen improve their physiques.

Across the stone table, Dai Yuanhang couldn’t help but give them a dose of reality. “Stop daydreaming. There aren’t even enough willow tree cores for the court heads. How can the disciples get their hands on it? Unless you go to the Mist Island to fight for it yourself.”

Bai Hengliang still had some resentment towards Qian Bingnan from the previous night, so he smiled and said, “I think we can give it a try. Qian Bingnan, your combat strength is one of the best among the inner sect disciples of the Mantis Snake Court. If you’re lucky, you might be able to snatch a willow tree core.”

Chen Yiming turned to Qian Bingnan and asked, “Are you going to Mist Island?”

As an inner sect disciple waiting for the court head’s assessment to be promoted to a true disciple, Chen Yiming couldn’t find a suitable reason to go to Mist Island.

If Qian Bingnan planned to go, he could use the excuse that they were working together and go along with him.

Qian Bingnan’s expression froze. He didn’t reply to Chen Yiming, but instead, he shouted at Bai Hengliang. “If you dare to go, I’ll go too. Whoever backs out is a coward.”

Bai Hengliang was a little embarrassed and said with a smile, “I’ve made some progress in my cultivation of the concept diagram recently. I don’t think I’ll join in the fun.”

“Tsk, I knew you wouldn’t dare to,” Qian Bingnan muttered.

“Why don’t the two of us go to Mist Island together? We can watch from afar. If there’s a chance, we’ll make a move. If not, we can just forget it,” Chen Yiming suddenly suggested.

Bai Hengliang’s eyes lit up as he said, “Qian Bingnan, someone invited you. Are you afraid to go?”

Qian Bingnan’s face turned red, and he was put on the spot. After a while, he explained, “Do you really want to go? Those willow trees that have evolved into mutant plants are not easy to deal with. Each willow branch is equivalent to a human hand.

Countless willow branches covered in internal force can stab out at the same time. Humans of the same level would find it difficult to withstand them.”

Before Chen Yiming could speak, Dai Yuanhang reminded him, “Don’t be rash. There’s a strange phenomenon on Mist Island. Almost all the willow trees are above the ordinary warrior realm.

It was said that in order to prevent the willow trees on Mist Island from being completely destroyed, the new willow trees in the disciple realm would be absorbed by the other willow trees as nutrients if they could not break through to the warrior realm within the corresponding time.

Therefore, it’s very inappropriate for ordinary warriors to go there. You cannot deal with the willow trees in the warrior realm, and willow trees in the disciple realm are very rare. Unless you happen to be at the edge of Mist Island, there is no chance of encountering such trees at all.

In addition, even if there happens to be a suitable target, with a large group of big shots at the second stage of the warrior realm around, they might snatch the willow tree core from you.”

Chen Yiming nodded and did not continue to insist on inviting Qian Bingnan to Mist Island.

Qian Bingnan had invited Bai Hengliang, but Bai Hengliang had found an excuse to reject him. Chen Yiming had invited Qian Bingnan, but Qian Bingnan had not dared to accept. In the end, Chen Yiming had no choice but to find another excuse to go to Mist Island.

Qian Bingnan and Bai Hengliang didn’t take it to heart. Both of them thought that Chen Yiming, who had just joined the sect for a week, didn’t understand the situation, which was why he had thought of heading to Mist Island.

Mist Island was the battlefield for the likes of the court heads. The inner sect disciples, including the true disciples, were still too weak. If they recklessly participated in the fight, they could easily lose their lives on Mist Island.

Dai Yuanhang, Qian Bingnan, and Bai Hengliang quickly continued to discuss the news about Mist Island.

Chen Yiming didn’t say much and just listened to their conversation.

Soon, Chen Yiming got a rough idea of the situation on Mist Island from the three of them.