As daylight slowly filled the sky and illuminated the clouds, Sky Rift Valley brightened. The range covered by the Divine Map unconsciously extended to its fifty-mile limit, making Yu Ci very happy. This proved that the reduction wasn't permanent and might only be an occasional change under the unique environment of Sky Rift Valley.
Despite staying awake all night and being in a highly tense state, Yu Ci's eyes were bloodshot, but his spirit was extremely invigorated. A quarter of an hour ago, the nocturnal beasts had gone silent, marking the time for him to move.
Harvesting Shrimp Whisker Grass was arduous work. Even with Yu Ci's advanced cultivation and the abundance of Shrimp Whisker Grass, it remained challenging. After a morning's effort, by the time the summer heat began to penetrate the layers of cloud and affect the area, he had only gathered a few hundred stalks. Moreover, the birds and beasts in the valley passed by several times, forcing Yu Ci to hide, making the task even more exhausting.
After working for another hour or so, the vigor he had cultivated overnight almost entirely dissipated in the monotonous task. He began to understand why the cultivators of the Sun Light Sect, despite their skills, would hire common people for this job.
Spending all day doing such a damned task, how could one cultivate and achieve longevity?
At that moment, a foul smell wafted through the clouds. Yu Ci sighed, his body dropping into a previously arranged hiding spot.
Just as he concealed himself, the sound of flapping wings echoed overhead. Yu Ci glanced out and saw a meat-winged flying ape he had encountered the previous day. Although it had meat wings, it could only glide briefly and typically lived in the higher regions of the valley. Compared to the terrifying beasts that had deeply impressed him, this one was less troublesome.
The flying ape appeared injured, its blue-gray fur stained with blood, and it looked listless. It seemed to have a strong purpose for coming here. After landing, it didn’t look around but directly sought a spot on the ground, using its forelimbs to dig.
That area happened to be a blank spot without Shrimp Whisker Grass. Yu Ci wasn’t worried about the beast damaging the herbs but felt a strong curiosity. From this angle, he couldn’t see what the ape was doing, so he used the Divine Map to align his view almost exactly with the ape's to see what it was up to.
Maybe this "worm" had some medicinal effect because the ape seemed invigorated after consuming it. It let out a cry, spread its meat wings, and glided away with the help of a strong wind.
Yu Ci was stunned. Some time ago, he had used the Divine Map to observe the surrounding terrain in great detail. Of course, he had seen this kind of "worm" but hadn’t paid attention to it. Seeing it now in the ape’s grasp, he realized it wasn’t a "worm" at all, nor even a living creature but a herb that closely resembled an insect.
He had seen medicinal plants like caterpillar fungus, but this was quite different. The stalk was extraordinarily lifelike. Except for not wriggling, it looked exactly like a worm, even with fine scales on its surface, giving it a lifelike sheen.
Magnified several times, one might mistake it for a small snake or eel, and Yu Ci might have believed it too.
Wait a minute, eel… fish?
He remembered the drunken herbalist’s words from the other day: The Sun Light Sect could make a potion by soaking a large quantity of Shrimp Whisker Grass. The best-preserved stalk, if properly soaked, could revive. This revived stalk would absorb the life force of its peers, transforming into a new herb.
That herb was called…the Dragon Fish Grass!
Yu Ci jumped out from his hiding spot and ran to the freshly dug earth left by the flying ape, examining it carefully. However, there was only that one stalk, which the ape had chewed up, leaving no trace behind.
Of course, Yu Ci couldn’t retrieve the herb from the ape’s stomach, but he had the Divine Map. With a wave of blue light, the detailed terrain around the slope appeared before him.
With a deliberate search, he soon found success. While the slope itself was bare, there were indeed seven or eight stalks beneath the surrounding cliffs. Moreover, extending his search further, about four miles away at the same depth, he found another growth area of Shrimp Whisker Grass with three to five similar herbs.
These herbs, however, grew in deeper rock crevices, some even locked several feet deep in rock layers. This made sense; if this herb had excellent medicinal properties, those growing in the open would have long been dug out by the valley's creatures. Only these deeply hidden stalks could survive.
Yu Ci let out a long sigh. He had to thank the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror and the Divine Map; otherwise, even if these herbs were right beneath his feet, he wouldn’t have discovered them, let alone confirmed their exact location. Digging them out would be a laborious task.
With a grunt, he pulled out the Nine Yang Talisman Sword. If this really was Dragon Fish Grass, the effort spent would be worthwhile.
As the sun set and rose again, nearly twenty hours passed in a flash. During this time, Yu Ci exhausted his skills, chiseling out deep pits in the iron-hard cliff walls to extract the herbs growing there.
It was no easy task. The surrounding cliff was as hard as iron, making it difficult to dig. The roots inside were entangled in countless directions, prone to damage with the slightest mistake. Over a day and a half, Yu Ci abandoned harvesting Shrimp Whisker Grass entirely and focused solely on extracting the eight herbs near the slope. As for the newly discovered spot four miles away, he hadn’t had time to start.
During the digging, he discovered a unique characteristic of the herb: within about half an acre around its growth area, there were no Shrimp Whisker Grass, though other vegetation could grow freely. This likely supported the earlier information that this herb absorbed the life force of other Shrimp Whisker Grass to thrive, causing their absence.
This further confirmed his suspicion that the herb was indeed the Dragon Fish Grass.
Yu Ci didn’t mix these herbs with the Shrimp Whisker Grass. Instead, he cleared out the stone box from Daoist Yan and carefully placed the eight herbs inside.
After completing these tasks, the area around the slope was a mess. The noise from his chiseling had attracted several fierce beasts, prompting Yu Ci to abandon the remaining thousand stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass and move temporarily to the newly discovered herb gathering point four miles away.
The new site was much more challenging than the slope, with no stable foothold. Fortunately, Yu Ci had gained experience from days of cliffside digging. Using a larger crack in the cliff, he chiseled out a shallow niche just big enough to stand in.
On the upside, this place was more concealed than the slope.
The quality of the Shrimp Whisker Grass here wasn’t great, but Yu Ci’s focus was on the suspected Dragon Fish Grass. He meticulously rechecked their positions using the Divine Map, confirming each one. Just as he was about to start digging, he noticed an unusual change in the light and shadow on the side edge of the Divine Map.
Focusing on it, he saw a familiar face.
When the person’s face became clear on the Divine Map, Yu Ci spat: “Damn monk!”
The person in the Divine Map was the same monk who had ambushed him two days ago, only to be outsmarted by Yu Ci. He still didn’t know the monk’s name, referring to him as the Snake-like Monk.
Unaware that someone was observing him from the depths of Sky Rift Valley, the monk was again up to no good, but this time he seemed to have the upper hand.
His opponent was a young man in white, struggling defensively with no ability to counterattack. Yet, every time he was in danger, a golden light would circle his body, and the Snake-like Monk appeared wary of this light, causing him to hesitate and giving the young man a chance to escape.
The two fought from the top of the cliff to the bottom, now battling on the sheer cliffs of Sky Rift Valley. With a drop of ten thousand feet beneath them, one misstep would mean a fall into oblivion, testing not only their skills but also their courage. The young man was no match for the seasoned Snake-like Monk and soon grew fearful. He never expected the monk to suddenly flick his sleeves, sending five or six ghastly green sparks flying towards him.
The young man was visibly shocked, his body freezing up as he instinctively leaned back, forgetting he was on a sheer cliff. He lost his footing and plummeted with a scream, the green sparks missing their mark.
This was all within the monk's calculations. He sneered, flicking his sleeves again to recall the green sparks. His figure then slid down the cliff, reaching out to grab the young man's chest, seemingly intending to capture him alive.
At that moment, the young man found a burst of courage and shouted. The golden light that had been protecting him reappeared, transforming into a long rainbow that slashed downwards. The monk was startled and changed his grip to a strike, his palm forcefully hitting the young man's chest, using the impact to dodge to the side. The golden light continued downwards, embedding itself deep into the cliff, revealing itself as a two-foot-long golden knife.
Though the monk dodged quickly, the blade's Qi still cut a gash on his face, bleeding profusely. Yet, he was overjoyed and, ignoring the young man, rushed to pull the golden knife from the cliff. Holding it in his hands and inspecting it for a long time, he suddenly burst into laughter. Though the Divine Map couldn't transmit sound, the monk's demeanor made it clear that the golden knife was an extraordinary treasure.
Yu Ci spat in disdain at the monk's behavior, feeling a pang of regret for the young man who had fallen into the clouds. The young man's skills weren't much weaker than the monk's, but his fear made him unable to use even a fraction of his abilities. Over-reliance on the golden knife led to his downfall… huh?
On the Divine Map, Yu Ci saw that after the young man fell, he initially plummeted rapidly. But after a hundred feet, his descent slowed, like a weightless leaf drifting down.
At first, Yu Ci thought the young man was feigning weakness, but he quickly realized the young man was genuinely unconscious. It seemed his robes were a magical treasure, protecting him autonomously. However, in the dangerous Sky Rift Valley, even if he didn't die from the fall, he would eventually be devoured by fierce birds and beasts.
Seeing this, Yu Ci stood up and rushed out of his hiding spot.
"Fine, consider yourself lucky!"
Yu Ci wasn't a saint. If the young man hadn't been protected by his robes and fell from such a height, not even a deity could save him. In that case, Yu Ci wouldn't have lifted a finger. But with the current situation, he could use the Divine Map to cover ten miles with just some sweat and save a life—why not?
Half an hour later, Yu Ci carried the still-unconscious young man back to the slope where he had previously stayed. This was the only suitable resting spot nearby.
He unceremoniously threw the young man to the ground. Despite being unconscious, the young man let out a low groan. From Yu Ci's perspective, the young man looked exceedingly young, his face still filled with the fear of death but also showing traces of innocence. He couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen years old, essentially just a boy.
Ignoring his poor combat skills, his level of cultivation at this age was enough to make Yu Ci want to bang his head against the wall. However, what truly exasperated Yu Ci was:
"This kid… fainted purely out of fear!"
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