AST 891 – Getting Hold of the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s, Escaping In A Pathetic State

Before Qing Shui dashed out, he circulated all his abilities to their limits, not having the wishful thought that he would be able to stop the opponent’s attack. However, sometimes, doing this could still save his life.

The Long-armed Vicious Monkey King noticed him the moment he dashed out. Letting out a furious bellow as if he was going to tear the sky apart, he ignored the Five-Headed Demonic Spider and dashed for Qing Shui.

The Five-Headed Demonic Spider naturally would not allow the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King to attack Qing Shui and quickly followed. Its spider webs had tightly wrapped around the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King but the latter was still das.h.i.+ng toward Qing Shui.

The strength of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider couldn’t be compared to that of the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King and the spider webs were quickly torn up. Even the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was tugged and sent flying toward the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King.

Corrosive Poison Web!

Corrosive Poison Web!

…

A few layers of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider’s poisonous web were thrown out toward the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King. In mid-air the Five-Headed Demonic Spider tried very hard to change its direction.

With this help, Qing Shui managed to gain some time and he had reached the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s. Reaching out his two hands, he grabbed one with each hand and tugged them out fiercely.

He succeeded!

Qing Shui did not have the time to feel happy when he sensed a huge force whipping out toward him. There was no way he could avoid it. Qing Shui was already using the Seven Star Armored Vest but he knew that this little defense would do him no good.

He didn’t have enough time to return to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Abruptly flying up, his body inclined forward, he concurrently used the Heavenly Palace’s “Divinity Protection” and the “Seemingly Sealed Shut” from his Taichi Fist techniques.

Boom!

Qing Shui was blasted out like an arrow and while in mid-air, his consciousness was blurred. However, he knew that he mustn’t pa.s.s out. The tremendous pain he was feeling also woke him up instantaneously.

Fresh blood splurted out freely and was even flowing out from his ears, nose and eyes. Other than his heart, all his other internal organs had been badly damaged…

Earlier, he had already checked out the direction and called for the Five-Headed Demonic Spider to wait for him there. Therefore, Qing Shui was caught by the Five-Headed Demonic Spider and the strong impact once again hurt Qing Shui.

The Five-Headed Demonic Spider brought Qing Shui with it as it dashed off, swift as the wind. It deliberately looked for positions where the webs had been formed and it worked its way through them like a fish in water. Moreover, in the condition where the “Flying Spider Silk” was activated, its speed was definitely extremely powerful.

The Long-armed Vicious Monkey King bellowed out and chased after the Five-Headed Demonic Spider. At the start, he stomped through several tens of the Corrosive Poison Webs and the webs’ extremely sticky and corrosive nature gradually slowed the big fellow down.

Qing Shui didn’t pay any heed to it. The moment his body recovered a little, he immediately took out a petal of the “Golden Buddha Aura Lotus”, eating it. Earlier, even with the Seven Star Armored Vest, Divinity Protection and Seemingly Sealed Shut activated, he was still almost instantly killed. Toward the end, he had even used the boost from the impact.

He had no other way out but to do this. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten his hands on the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s. Moreover, he had also relied on the fact that he had the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal which could extend his life.

This was how powerful a divine medicine was. Qing Shui recovered at such a rapid speed that it could be seen with the naked eye and the unbearable pain also gradually subsided.

Fiery Golden Eyes!

Emperor’s Qi!

Once he regained his abilities, Qing Shui didn’t stand on ceremony and just weakened his opponent before feeding the Five-Headed Demonic Spider one Gale Pellet. The pill it had taken earlier should be wearing off soon. Although the Five-Headed Demonic Spider’s Corrosive Poison Web caused the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King’s snow white fur to turn into an extremely bad state, they didn’t cause it too much damage.

This Long-armed Vicious Monkey King had also relied on its powerful physical strength to push forth relentlessly. However, it now discovered that its speed was slightly lacking and there were poisonous webs in the surroundings, which were driving it crazy.

And Qing Shui’s amazing weakening impact was also driving it crazy.

Qing Shui let the Five-Headed Demonic Spider head back to where he had set up the tent earlier. His other demonic beasts were still there and he needed to quickly leave this place with them. If the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King had some killing technique, they would be in trouble.

Once they arrived at the tent, Qing Shui quickly put them all in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, even the Five-Headed Demonic Spider and himself.

Almost at the same moment he entered, a huge gush of power swept by where Qing Shui was standing earlier like an impact wave, turning everything in the surroundings into dust. The Long-armed Vicious Monkey King let out a furious bellow which could be clearly heard across 10,000 li.

Only after entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal did Qing Shui truly feel relieved. He looked at how half of the “silver mountain” outside had been flattened. The Long-armed Vicious Monkey King was still venting its frustrations incessantly.

In this dog eat dog world, this was how things were. There were no owners to heavenly and earthly treasures. Looking at that ferocious demonic beast outside, Qing Shui could only say that it was just plain unlucky.

Looking at the two Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s which he had tugged out, Qing Shui realized that although their roots were torn off, it might not affect their growth. Qing Shui quickly planted one of the two in the soil.

Qing Shui intended to use the other one to refine medicine and thus didn’t plant it. Looking at the three Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s he had in total, each of them having an age of over 5,000 years, moreover with two of them close to 10,000 years, Qing Shui was very agitated.

It has been very long since he had left Greencloud Continent and now his goal was accomplished. Moreover, he had also gained a lot of benefits. This time around, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was the most useful. Otherwise, there was no way that he would be able to get the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s from the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King.

Regulating his breathing, recuperating, cultivating!

Qing Shui was previously seriously damaged by the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King’s impact. Although it was healed by the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus, it still required some time before he could completely recover. Now, he was in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and thus it would not take more than a few days time.

However, during those few days, Qing Shui would not perform alchemy. He wanted to perform alchemy only after his abilities and condition has been returned to their optimal state. The medicinal herbs were hard to come by and he could not allow for there to be any mistakes.

Every once in awhile, Qing Shui would look out. He realized that the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King was still circling the place, bellowing non-stop. The entire silver mountain had been thrashed.

Looking at how it was late and his time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was going to be up soon, Qing Shui directly left the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal to take a look at where the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King was in case it would dash toward them.

Nine Continents Steps!

Qing Shui used the Nine Continents Steps.

He then repeated it again.

The first time, he was brought 200,000 li away and the second time, he was brought 100,000 li away. It was because Qing Shui wanted to head to where that deity was, to the place where he had been together with Mu Qing. Qing Shui wanted to stay there for some time.

Now, Qing Shui was 300,000 li away. By rights, if he were to travel 200,000 li away for each of the time he used the Nine Continents Steps, he would be able to reach 400,000 li away. However, this time around, Qing Shui wanted to go kill that Golden Jiao King.

After all, he now had the Five-Headed Demonic Spider and it shouldn’t be too hard for him to kill it. Qing Shui wanted the materials from the Golden Jiao King. Previously, even the 10,000 Years Coldsteel Needle was not able to pierce through it. The reason why Qing Shui had made this decision was also because he now had the Five-Headed Demonic Spider. Otherwise, he would just make his escape. With his current abilities, he would only end up being instantly killed if he were to encounter the Golden Jiao King.

It was already late and he had already used up the time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and thus he could only wait till the second day if he wished to enter the realm. He couldn’t enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, nor could he use the Nine Continents Steps. Now, at 200,000 li deep in the mountains, Qing Shui didn’t need to worry. It was because he still had the Five-Headed Demonic Spider, which was an unrivaled existence in this area.

He found an empty spot, set up his tent and let out his demonic beasts to get some fresh air. They were in the wilderness and he decided to let them get some fresh air while taking turns to be on guard while he himself lay down on the bed, thinking of things.

Now, the thing he thought about the most was the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and the Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet. Their alchemy recipes appeared clearly in Qing Shui’s mind and other than the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s, all the other ingredients were fully prepared. Now that he had gotten his hands on the Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s, everything was ready.

Qing Shui only entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal in the later part of the night, entering with the Five-Headed Demonic Spider and the others. After a round of cultivation, Qing Shui started to prepare the medicinal herbs he needed.

He then tempered the medicinal herbs. This preparation work took a lot of time as well. Just like that, preparing some after a while of cultivation, he only finished up when it was time for him to leave the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

Leaving the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui headed towards the Golden Jiao King’s nest with the Five-Headed Demonic Spider. They neither traveled at a fast nor a slow speed. Qing Shui planned to reach it before daybreak.

To have encountered a demonic beast at this level, other than the Thunderous Beast, all the other demonic beasts he had were of no use at all. And even the Thunderous Beast could only provide support. Actually, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant could do the same, such as to use the Vajra Subdues Demons. However, it was a pity that their abilities were too weak. Otherwise, their battle techniques would be very heaven-defying.

It seemed that he would need to raise the abilities of these demonic beasts in the future. Their progress in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was not slow but to Qing Shui it was still slow.

Qing Shui didn’t wish to see their progress be so slow. At the very least, he would need to try to let his demonic beasts reach the level the Five-Headed Demonic Spider was at as soon as possible.

Thinking about it, it seemed to be very difficult. It was very difficult to attain a breakthrough to the Martial Emperor level. There was still a very long path on which he would have to travel. He had refining demon, he had the Ice Snow Sacred Fruit and now he had the Jade Spirit Fruit Tree, he was still very confident.

Qing Shui once again went up to the nest of the Golden Jiao King. Although the Golden Jiao King’s body was much longer than that Long-armed Vicious Monkey King, it was not as wide. The Golden Jiao King’s body was primarily long and although it was many times longer than the Long-armed Vicious Monkey King, it was much weaker. Now, the Golden Jiao King was probably weaker than the Five-Headed Demonic Spider.

Roar!

This time around, from afar, he could already hear the Golden Jiao King’s huge roar. It might be because of the Five-Headed Demonic Spider’s aura. Very quickly, Qing Shui once again saw that familiar golden colored figure circling in mid-air.

Qing Shui had to admit that this Golden Jiao King was really handsome looking and its cry was a little like that of a Jiao King’s howl, giving off a sense of astonishment. It was a pity that after looking at its horrible looking head, all that feeling from earlier disappeared.

Qing Shui stood there, not moving, speechless. It was because when the Golden Jiao King saw the Five-Headed Demonic Spider, it abruptly dashed down, bringing about a huge splas.h.i.+ng sound before it turned completely silent.

It ran away?

Qing Shui had not expected that such a powerful demonic beast would throw away its pride and escape.

Qing Shui and the Five-Headed Demonic Spider rushed to where the Golden Jiao King had appeared earlier. It was only then that he did realized that there was an inner sea in this area. The previous time Qing Shui had been forced to make his escape in a pathetic state and had not noticed this sea.

The water of this inner sea was a faint golden color and appeared to be extremely beautiful. Moreover, the Spiritual Qi in this water seemed to be very high. Thinking about this Golden Jiao King entering the water, Qing Shui once again recalled that ancient poetry, ‘Regardless of its height, any mountain can be famous with the presence of an immortal; regardless of its depth, any water can be holy with the presence of a Jiao King [¹].’

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AST 892 – Golden Snake Gra.s.s, Silver Snake Gra.s.s, Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet

Although this Golden Jiao was not a true dragon, it was still uncertain whether if the dragons from the legends truly existed. Qing Shui believed that they existed but they might not be as mystical as he thought. After all, Qing Shui's idea of them was that they were a G.o.d-like existence, it was a concept that he refused to change.

Perhaps dragons in the World of the Nine Continents were just extremely strong Demonic Beasts. They were probably not the G.o.dly chinese dragons that Qing Shui imagined. However, they were likely to be very strong, they might even have a little 'G.o.dly' aura. According to the legends, the phoenix should be similar. Aside from these, there were probably others as well but the ones that Qing Shui had the most opinions on were the dragons and phoenix.

These might not be accurate either. The dragon in Qing Shui's memory existed in a desolate era. Even in the ancient times, they were the mounts of deities.

Thus, all of these were just guesses. Qing Shui now felt that everything was possible. If Qing Shui was told that deities existed in this world, Qing Shui might believe it.

Standing on the seash.o.r.e that was not considered big, he felt a little angry now that he had arrived here. This was because he could see many turtles. Perhaps the creatures that were on the bottom of the food chain were not afraid of this Golden Jiao.

Since they were able to scare away the Golden Jiao, Qing Shui felt a.s.sured. Finding a good position, he took out the Pure Gold Fis.h.i.+ng Rod. He had not gone fis.h.i.+ng for a long time.

Qing Shui felt that the quality of the water here was very good, plus it was rich in Spiritual Qi. Thus, he felt that there must be something that was filled with spirituality. Even if he could not catch anything good, it didn't matter. He would just consider it taking some time to relax. After all, he had already gained a lot from traveling in the Sky Penetrating Mountains.

Qing Shui, who was not expecting anything, actually managed to hook something the moment he cast the Pure Gold Fis.h.i.+ng Rod into the water. He immediately pulled it up. He felt that this fis.h.i.+ng trip would result in many fish, prawns, crabs, and turtles.

When Qing Shui pulled up the rod, he found a stalk of gra.s.s, a water plant, Golden Snake Gra.s.s!

Qing Shui did not expect that he would be able to obtain Golden Snake Gra.s.s here. Looks like this body of water was filled with spirituality. He looked at the herb in his hands and felt very satisfied.

This herb was incredibly valuable but only played a supporting role. It would not increase any medicinal properties. However, it was something that every alchemist would seek. This was because when a stalk of this was added, the refining of that pill would be 100% successful.

It was a heaven-defying supporting herb. The success rate of refining medicine was very low in the World of the Nine Continents. However, with the Golden Snake Gra.s.s, it would be a definite success.

For example, an important medicinal pill might require many precious and rare herbs. If the refining failed, all the herbs would be gone. At that moment, one would realize the preciousness of the Golden Snake Gra.s.s.

It was even more precious than those precious herbs. This was because it could bring out the most optimal use of those herbs. Or else, those precious herbs would end up being wasted.

Thus, even though it was not considered a miraculous treasure, it was more valuable than those miraculous herbs.

The Golden Snake Gra.s.s grew in the water, so Qing Shui threw it into the pond in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He had never expected to have such a good beginning. He had received a good harvest on this trip to Sky Penetrating Mountains.

Although Qing Shui was very confident in his ability to refine medicine, it was not at a 100% chance. Just like the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

The herbs needed for these two pills were especially precious. If he failed, Qing Shui might cry till his tears ran dry. He had three Sky Penetrating Gra.s.s, thus Qing Shui could afford to fail once. As he had great confidence in his ability to refine medicine, if he failed once, Qing Shui was still quite confident in refining the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

However, now with this Golden Snake Gra.s.s, refining those two pills was now something set in stone. After this, Qing Shui continued to fish, he hoped to be able to obtain more Golden Snake Gra.s.s. With this, he could either keep it for his own use or exchange it for something good.

After the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, the rod moved again. Qing Shui paused for a breath of time before pulling the rod up. When he saw it, he was stunned. There was a herb that was looked almost exactly same as the Golden Snake Gra.s.s but it was silver in color.

Silver Snake Gra.s.s!

It had a similar effect to the Golden Snake Gra.s.s but it was not a 100% percent success. Instead, it increased the success rate by 50%. Although its value was much less than the Golden Snake Gra.s.s, it was still a very valuable item. After all, it was not easy to find either, thus the number people able to use it weren't many.

The rarer the item, the greater its value!

To others, an increase of 50% success rate would not result in a 100% success rate. However, it was different for Qing Shui. When using this Silver Snake Gra.s.s, Qing Shui was confident that he could achieve a 100% success rate.

It seems like this body of water was a huge treasure trove. Qing Shui actually managed to obtain two very valuable herbs. Although that Golden Jiao ran away, his gains were not inferior to that of killing the Golden Jiao.

Qing Shui cast the rod in for the third time, his mood was incomparably peaceful. This time, he was not too greedy for anything. Although he loved having good stuff, he knew that these matters could not be forced.

He caught a turtle on his third cast but he released it.

His fourth cast caught an ordinary fish.

His fifth cast was the same.

…

Qing Shui did not feel any dissatisfaction, he felt peaceful. With his current mental state, he felt that fis.h.i.+ng was an enjoyable experience. Time slowly went by, he intended to catch one more thing before sleeping.

This time, he fished up an Interspatial Silk Sachet.

Interspatial Silk Sachet!

Qing Shui was astonished as he held this unimpressive Interspatial Silk Sachet in his hands. This kind of item was would not change even after a long period of time. However, the Interspatial Silk Sachet was weak to flames.

Qing Shui held the Interspatial Silk Sachet feeling curious but he was not anxious to open it. Instead, he brought the Five-Headed Demonic Spider away from this area. He intends to stay here for a few more days to fish and refine the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

After he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal at night, he decided to bring in the Five-Headed Demonic Spider as well after thinking for awhile. He originally intended to leave it outside to watch for the movement of the Golden Jiao. However, in the end, he felt worried about doing that.

Although when the Golden Jiao saw the Five-Headed Demonic Spider, it would be frightened away, he was still worried. Right now, that Golden Jiao was no longer important to Qing Shui. Thus he did not have to put the Five-Headed Demonic Spider at risk.

After entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he circulated the Ancient Strengthening Technique for a cycle, raising his state to its peak before starting to refine the pills.

Taking out the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron, Qing Shui first threw in a few herbs that were refined already.

Then, he prepared the other things as well. He refined the Golden Snake Gra.s.s and placed it to the side.

Qing Shui was very confident in himself but he was still prepared to use the Golden Snake Gra.s.s. This was because he could not make any mistakes.

During this time, Qing Shui's spiritual sense and spirit energy were much stronger than before. When he refined the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet, he realized that any increase of spirit energy would result in an increase in his refining abilities.

He expanded his spiritual sense!

He then proceeded in an orderly manner. It was slow but smooth.

There was a bubbling sound coming from the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. There was a layer of Emperor’s Qi in the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron that did not disperse.

He needed to wait for two hours before throwing in each pre-refined herb. The Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet required tens of herbs. A conservative estimate of the amount of time he needed was seven days.

……

It was nine days later before Qing Shui finally added the last herb. He had added the Golden Snake Gra.s.s long ago. Although the Golden Snake Gra.s.s could guarantee a 100% success rate, he still had to follow the normal process of alchemy. If someone who was not an alchemist blindly attempted this, it would fail.

"Ding!"

It was in the last 15 mins of the ninth day when Qing Shui heard that familiar 'ding' that comforted him. This melodious sound meant that it had succeeded.

Even though he knew that it would succeed, he was still incomparably happy.

Qing Shui did not even bother to take a look at that Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and went to his bed and rested. He was too tired, he had spent nine days in a state of high concentration. Even with his strong cultivation, he still felt very tired.

Eight hours later, Qing Shui woke up. Regardless of how tired he was, Qing Shui would normally wake up after eight hours. After he woke up, he made some fish porridge and drank two bowls of it. He left some behind so he could heat it up later and eat it.

After that, Qing Shui eagerly walked towards that Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. After he opened it, he saw a violet colored pill about the size of a walnut. He knew long ago that there would only be one pill but he still hoped to see two or three pills.

He checked out the effects of the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet: Increase of the body's abilities from 50% to 100%. Depended on the absorption ability of the consumer. Will open the Tiantu acupoint.

……

After thinking for a long time, he stored this precious Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet in a porcelain bottle. He breathed in relief. After that, Qing Shui was not anxious to refine the Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

He wanted to spend the next few days fis.h.i.+ng, to see if he could obtain more Golden Snake Gra.s.s. Without a 100% guarantee, he did not want to make any careless moves.

Suddenly, he remembered that Interspatial Silk Sachet he acquired fis.h.i.+ng the last time. Now that he had nothing to do, Qing Shui wanted to check it out. After all, it was obvious that this Interspatial Silk Sachet had belonged to a human.

Taking out the Interspatial Silk Sachet, Qing Shui scanned it with his spiritual sense first before looking inside of it. At this instant, Qing Shui only had this thought, I earned big…really big…

The first thing he saw was tens of stalks of Golden Snake Gra.s.s. This caused Qing Shui to feel like he had earned big time.

There also seemed to be even more Silver Snake Gra.s.s in there than Golden Snake Gra.s.s. Although the s.p.a.ce in this Interspatial Silk Sachet was not big, it was filled with many precious items. Aside from the earlier mentioned items, there were many other herbs.

This caused Qing Shui to feel puzzled. Practically everything in the Interspatial Silk Sachet was herbs. Furthermore, they were precious herbs. This unexpected gain caused Qing Shui to think.

The owner of this Interspatial Silk Sachet was definitely an alchemist. He probably had found the Golden Snake Gra.s.s and Silver Snake Gra.s.s and stayed to look for more herbs.

Before finally dying at the claws of the Golden Jiao. This was Qing Shui's guess. However, this should be quite accurate or at least quite close to the truth. After all, if a person easily found a Golden Snake Gra.s.s here and then managed to find another one within a short amount of time…

He might have stayed here to continue picking herbs. There would not be a lot of people who could control their greed after that. Maybe the Golden Jiao was not here then and had gone out, when it came back, it resulted in the death of this alchemist.

Qing Shui continued to search in the Interspatial Silk Sachet. Suddenly, he saw a piece of beast parchment in the corner. He felt excited because it was likely to be an alchemic recipe.

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