"This trip was not in vain," Meng Zhang thought to himself. "Regardless of any other gains, just the value of this profound ginseng is immeasurable."
In the Endless Sea of Sand, there are not many legacies that have lasted for over five hundred years. The number of forces capable of cultivating hundreds of years old medicinal herbs is scarce.
In the Cultivation World, there are some forces proficient in the Spirit Plant technique, mastering the secret art of using spiritual energy to accelerate the maturity of medicinal herbs. This allows them to produce herbs of longer cultivation periods in a shorter time. However, herbs ripened using spiritual energy are far inferior in terms of medicinal properties compared to naturally grown ones.
The natural growth of the profound ginseng before Meng Zhang's eyes is something that cannot be bought in the Endless Sea of Sand, no matter how many spirit stones one is willing to spend.
Among the spoils collected from Li Nu and the others, besides storage bags, there were several special boxes known as Spirit Boxes. These boxes were unique spatial equipment used to temporarily store living items. Apart from storing beast eggs and young beasts, the most significant use of Spirit Boxes was for transplanting various Spirit Plants.
In remote places like Singing Sand City, it's rare to find Spirit Boxes for sale, but Li Nu, being an external scout for the Flying Swan Sect, was well-equipped with various tools.
Meng Zhang had some knowledge in Spirit Plant techniques, and the profound ginseng was not a high-level Spirit Plant, so transplanting it was not difficult. With Jue Ying's assistance, they spent some effort and managed to transfer all the profound ginseng, along with the attached soil, into the Spirit Box.
Meng Zhang and Jue Ying dealt with the profound ginseng and then entered a stone chamber on the right. This chamber was filled with abundant spiritual energy, clearly indicating the presence of a spirit vein's spiritual eye.
Before entering the cave, Meng Zhang had carefully examined it and determined it was a First Rank spirit vein. Although it was only a First Rank, it had already formed for many years, producing spiritual items.
In the center of the chamber, there was a small pool. Occasionally, a few drops of milky white liquid fell from the stone wall above, all of them landing in the pool.
The spiritual item produced by this spiritual eye was stalactite. Stalactite was a natural spiritual herb used not only in the refining of many elixirs but also for directly restoring expended mana when ingested.
Stalactite was the best recovery item. Ingesting stalactite to recover mana didn't leave any pill toxins behind, unlike ingesting elixirs.
Though the yield might not be high, after several centuries of accumulation, the pool contained a considerable amount of stalactite.
Having learned from the previous incident when he stole the Crimson Feather Liquid from the Zhao Family, Meng Zhang was now always prepared with special jade vessels to store large quantities of spiritual fluids.
Meng Zhang took out a pile of jade bottles, and with Jue Ying's help, they stored all the stalactite from the pool into the containers.
In a corner of this stone chamber, there was a pile of items. After dealing with the stalactite, Meng Zhang and Jue Ying began to sort through this pile.
The largest number of items in the pile were jade slips, numbering about thirty or more. Jade slips were information carriers used in the Cultivation World to record various important information. Many sects preferred using jade slips to record Cultivation techniques and other inheritance information because the cultivation techniques stored in jade slips were more accurate than those recorded in books.
Information recorded in books needed to be conveyed through writing, leaving room for personal interpretation and potential errors. On the other hand, the information stored in jade slips was directly infused into a person's mind, ensuring precision.
Unfortunately, both creating and accessing jade slips required at least a cultivator at the Foundation Building stage. Currently, Taiyi Sect did not have any Foundation Building cultivators.
Jue Ying proposed taking the jade slips back to her master first, to have them copied, and then returning the original to Meng Zhang.
The pile also contained various talismans and elixirs, including some Second Rank talismans and Second Rank elixirs.
Normally, such items would have lost their effectiveness due to the loss of spiritual energy over time. However, being stored in the abundant spiritual energy of the spiritual eye allowed them to remain intact.
Then, there were four Second Rank magic tools.
To utilize Second Rank magic tools to their full potential, a cultivator needed to reach the Foundation Building stage. Now that Meng Zhang had obtained these Second Rank magic tools, it would save him a lot of trouble after he reached Foundation Building.
Meng Zhang chose two of the magic tools, the Second Rank flying sword "Crimson Flame Sword" and the "Stonebreaker Hammer."
Jue Ying picked a whip named "Wind Dance Whip" and a jade pendant called "Calm Spirit Jade Pendant."
All four of these Second Rank magic tools were exceptional and not ordinary items.
Lastly, there were several empty storage bags among the items, but there were no spirit stones among their haul.
The deceased cultivator was at the Foundation Building stage, and his daily cultivation required the abundant and high-quality spiritual energy of a Second Rank spirit vein. To cultivate above a First Rank spirit vein, he would have needed to spend a large number of spirit stones to meet his cultivation needs.
It is estimated that the cultivator had already exhausted all of his spirit stones during his lifetime.
Purple Gold Sect truly deserved to be a dominant sect in the Endless Sea of Sand several hundred years ago. Even an ordinary Foundation Building disciple left behind such a rich inheritance. Meng Zhang couldn't help but marvel at it.
It was said that the bases of Purple Gold Sect were once spread throughout the entire Endless Sea of Sand. In the future, he might pay attention to any relevant news. Meng Zhang pondered in his heart.
All the gains, including those from Li Nu and the others, were evenly divided between Meng Zhang and Jue Ying. Both of them were generous and didn't quibble over their shares.
After processing all the loot, Meng Zhang and Jue Ying followed the instructions from the deceased cultivator's letter and cremated his body.
With a First Rank spirit vein and the precious stalactite produced by the spiritual eye, Meng Zhang thought it would be best to possess this place secretly, making it a hidden stronghold for Taiyi Sect.
As the saying goes, one should prepare three nests like a cunning rabbit. Considering the current situation of Taiyi Sect, it was time to start building some backup plans.
After confirming that Jue Ying had no interest in this place, Meng Zhang was determined to occupy it. Both the cultivator's cave and the spirit vein were buried underground, making them relatively concealed. Meng Zhang planned to discuss with Deep Earth Spirit General later to see if there was any way to make it even more hidden.
Upon returning to the surface, the two bid farewell and went their separate ways.
Back at Taiyi Sect, Meng Zhang quickly called Daoist Clear Spirit and Deep Earth Spirit General to help him transplant all the profound ginseng from the Spirit Box into the spirit field.
These precious profound ginseng would be personally cared for by Daoist Clear Spirit in the future.
Once everything was sorted out, Meng Zhang finally discussed the gains from the cultivator's cave with Deep Earth Spirit General. While Deep Earth Spirit General wasn't interested in most of the items, he showed a strong interest in the stalactite that Meng Zhang took out and even cheekily asked for some.
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