Chapter 108 - 105: Jade Essence Flower
Chapter 108: Chapter 105: Jade Essence Flower
After nightfall, Li Yuan closed the door to his stone house and took the bottle of Evil Essence Pills from his storage bag.
Li Yuan poured one out and tossed it into his mouth.
As the pill settled in his stomach, a burst of icy energy erupted from within.
Li Yuan didn’t try to suppress it, allowing the Evil Qi to course through his body.
With the aid of his Body Tempering and his deliberate guidance, the Evil Qi sank between his fascia and bones.
It surged through his muscle fibers repeatedly. Its density halved after the first pass and was almost completely exhausted after the second.
The muscle layer beneath his skin grew slightly more compressed.
The Evil Qi was fully absorbed almost as soon as it entered his body.
Li Yuan flexed his fingers, then squeezed his forearm.
He took out a second pill and swallowed it.
The effect of this pill was weaker than the first; his body had already partially adapted.
However, the Body Tempering effect of the Evil Qi continued to work steadily, and he felt no discomfort.
A third pill, then a fourth.
By the fourth pill, his body’s absorption had slowed considerably. It wasn’t an issue with his ability, but rather that his muscles had reached their tempering limit for the time being.
Li Yuan stoppered the bottle and returned it to his storage bag.
’I’ll save the rest and use them slowly over the next few days.’
He sat cross-legged to meditate for a moment, circulating his energy to smooth out the residual Evil Qi. Then, he rose, walked to his desk, and spread out a sheet of talisman paper.
’The night is quiet. Perfect for drawing talismans.’
He drew three Fireball Talismans before switching to Rejuvenation Talismans to practice. The Wood Element Spirit Patterns of the Rejuvenation Talisman required a more uniform application than those of the Fire Element. The slightest deviation in pressure would cause the energy to disperse, so it required constant practice to master.
As he was drawing the fifth talisman, a frantic patter of footsteps echoed from outside the stone house.
Immediately after, the turquoise light screen of the herb garden’s Array fluctuated violently.
’It wasn’t something breaking in from the outside. The Array itself was vibrating abnormally, as if to warn me.’
The brush in Li Yuan’s hand froze, and a small blot of Spiritual Ink bled across the paper.
He set down his brush, pushed the door open, and stepped outside.
Outside the herb garden, two disciples from the He family were running toward his stone house.
One was eighteen or nineteen years old, at the Early-stage of Qi Refining. His face was ashen, and he stumbled as he ran. The other, slightly older and in his early twenties, was also at the Early-stage of Qi Refining and was panting heavily.
"Li Dao You—"
The younger one shouted before he even arrived, his voice cracking with strain.
"There’s trouble at the southern herb garden! We’re under attack!"
Li Yuan was already outside the stone house.
"How many?"
"I-I don’t know, at least five or six..." The young disciple bent over, gasping for breath. "Uncle Zhou, who guards the garden, is holding them off. He sent us to get you."
Li Yuan asked no more questions. A flash of fire ignited beneath his feet.
"Lead the way."
The two He family disciples turned and ran. Li Yuan followed, deliberately slowing his pace to match theirs.
A low ridge and a sparse patch of woods separated the rear mountain herb garden from the southern one. The night was pitch-black and the mountain path was treacherous. The two He family disciples stumbled onward, nearly tripping several times.
By the time they crested the low ridge, the scene ahead came into view.
In the distance, bursts of Spiritual Light flickered in the direction of the southern herb garden—not the glow of an Array, but the flash of clashing Magic. A crimson flare and a grayish-white one blinked in alternation, punctuated by the clang of Magical Artifacts.
The outline of the stone-railed herb garden was faintly visible in the strobing light. The perimeter Array was mostly shattered. Only a small section of the turquoise light screen on the southern side remained, glowing faintly, while the rest was just gaping, dark breaches.
The stone railing itself had been smashed in several places, scattering debris across the ground.
Li Yuan suddenly accelerated, pushing his Fire Escape Skill to its limit. In just a few bounds, he burst out of the treeline.
The situation inside the herb garden was worse than he had imagined.
The medicinal plots were utterly wrecked, a mess of soil and herbs. Deep footprints and scorched craters from Magic attacks marred the ground. Several Spirit Medicines, half as tall as a man, had been uprooted and tossed aside.
In the center of the garden, a Cultivator from the He family was desperately holding his ground.
He was a stocky man in his forties with a flushed face, holding a thick-backed round shield enveloped in Spiritual Light. He was locked in a stalemate with two assailants. His robes were torn at the left shoulder, and blood was still seeping from the wound, making the movements on that side of his body noticeably sluggish.
’Qi Refining Sixth Level.’
The two men attacking him were both around the Qi Refining Fifth Level. Further out, two more figures stood in the shadows at the garden’s edge, clearly acting as lookouts.
Li Yuan’s gaze swept past them and settled on the deepest part of the garden.
There was one more person there.
He was squatting in the middle of a specially cordoned-off medicinal plot, his hands digging frantically in the dirt.
’The strongest Cultivation.’
’Qi Refining Seventh Level.’
Firelight flared in Li Yuan’s palm. He unleashed the Fireball Technique, sending it hurtling between the two assailants.
BOOM!
The crimson Fireball exploded between the two men, sending rubble and dirt flying.
The two assailants leaped back in unison. One of them had shielded himself with his right arm, scorching a section of his sleeve. A look of astonishment flashed across his face.
The He family’s Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator seized the opportunity to retreat two steps. He planted his round shield on the ground to support himself, panting heavily.
"You’re here—" he called out hoarsely, glancing toward the back of the garden.
Li Yuan followed his gaze.
At the back of the garden, the Qi Refining Seventh Level assailant had already risen from the medicinal plot.
He was clutching a Spirit Medicine.
It wasn’t large, about a foot long, with a vibrant green stem. At its tip bloomed a fist-sized flower with translucent, jade-white petals. The edges of the petals gave off a faint luminescence, making it clearly visible even in the dead of night.
The assailant carefully placed the Spirit Medicine into a pre-prepared jade box, closed the lid, and tucked it inside his robes.
"We got it. Let’s go."
His voice wasn’t loud, but every assailant in the garden heard him.
The two Cultivators who had been blasted by the Fireball immediately turned and fled without a second’s hesitation. The two lookouts on the perimeter also turned, and the group of figures rapidly retreated toward the southern forest.
The Qi Refining Seventh Level leader was the last to leave.
He glanced at the He family’s Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator and then at Li Yuan. The corner of his mouth twitched, a motion that might have been a smile, or might have been nothing at all.
Then, with a flicker, he shot toward the forest with incredible speed.
Li Yuan formed a compressed Fireball in his palm and hurled it in the man’s direction.
The Fireball exploded against a tree trunk at the Forest Edge, snapping two branches and sending a shower of leaves into the air.
But the man had already vanished into the darkness.
’A Qi Refining Seventh Level cultivator, retreating at full speed after achieving his objective... With my current Cultivation, I can’t catch him.’
The herb garden fell silent.
Once the Spiritual Light from the clashing Magic faded, the surroundings plunged back into darkness. Only the last remnant of the Array’s light screen on the southern side still glowed faintly, like a dying lamp.
The He family’s Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator was kneeling on one knee, his round shield propped on the ground. Blood still streamed from his left shoulder. His right hand gripped the hilt of his knife, his knuckles white. His lips were pressed into a thin, silent line.
The two He family disciples who had led the way caught up. The younger one ran to the Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator’s side and clumsily tried to staunch the bleeding. The older one stood beside the ravaged medicinal plot, his face ashen as he stared at the empty hole in the ground.
"That plant..." the younger disciple asked in a hushed voice.
The Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator didn’t answer.
The older disciple spoke first, his voice low and hoarse.
"The Jade Essence Flower."
He knelt, picking up a crushed leaf from the edge of the plot and clenching it in his hand.
"The family has been secretly cultivating it for years. It was almost ready."
Li Yuan glanced at him.
"What is it?"
The older disciple stood up and tossed the broken leaf back onto the ground.
"It’s an ingredient for a type of Foundation Establishment Pill."
He paused.
"And it’s not just for the Foundation Establishment Pill. Consuming the pistil of the Jade Essence Flower can help a Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator break through to the Seventh Level. The family was planning to give it to Uncle Zhou once it bloomed."
He glanced at the Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator, who was still trying to stop the bleeding.
Li Yuan was silent for a moment.
’The He family’s only Qi Refining Seventh Level Cultivator... Last time, they mentioned he was "gone."’
Li Yuan stood his ground, his gaze sweeping over the ruined herb garden.
The medicinal plots were destroyed, the Array was mostly shattered, the Jade Essence Flower had been stolen, and the Qi Refining Sixth Level Cultivator was injured.
’The He family has dozens of members, at least twenty or thirty of whom are Cultivators. They aren’t a small clan.’
’And yet, their strongest warrior is only at the Qi Refining Sixth Level.’
Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and glanced in the direction of the He family’s main residence.
The distant valley was devoid of light, completely shrouded in darkness.