Chapter 188: Chapter 124: Heart Test in Medicine Garden 1
Translator: 549690339
As Lin Yi passed by the Medicine Garden, he could feel the dense spiritual energy within; it was far more concentrated than the outer forest.
Such an environment significantly boosted the growth rate and medicinal properties of the spirit grass.
Lin Yi cautiously navigated the center of the canyon passage, dare not to peek at the beautiful scenery around him, despite its enchanting beauty.
The fog below occasionally rolled and tumbled, perhaps the giant python was engrossed in cultivating, absorbing the essence of sun and moon.
As recorded in the Secret Realm Manual, there was a tale of a cultivator who attempted to traverse the canyon using a spirit boat, only to be swallowed by the python several centuries ago. There’s a saying, a python transforms after hundreds of years, becoming a Jiao Dragon after thousands of years, and then a proper dragon after tens of thousands of years. Perhaps, this giant python has already transformed into a Jiao Dragon.
Considering the lifespan of human cultivators, with a Golden Core one can live for five centuries, and with a Nascent Soul, a millennium. If this python has truly transformed into a Jiao Dragon, its realm might even have reached, or even exceeded, the Nascent Soul.
If one could truly claim this secret realm, the rewards would not merely be the Medicine Garden where spirit grass can grow, but also these powerful monster beasts.
After crossing the canyon passage, Lin Yi swiftly picked up his pace. He took off the title “Little Compassion, Little Mercy” and replaced it with one that would bolster his speed, thus hastening his journey to the Cave Mansion.
In the storage bags of the killed Xuan Yin Sect and Blood Demonic Sect cultivators, there were also maps of the secret realm pinpointing the concealed locations of medicinal herbs.
The places in the secret realm where the spiritual energy is highly concentrated are not limited to just the Medicine Garden – there were other secretive spots where wild medicinal herbs grew.
He had temporarily put these maps away. Regardless of how precious the spirit grass was, their priority could not be higher than reaching the Cave Mansion.
Although he had successfully crossed the Misty Forest and had formally entered the deep parts of the Wood Element area, the deeper it got, the more risks were hidden.
Dangerous insects, flying ants, some plants around him, as well as the monster beasts living within the forest, all could potentially attack.
However, with the disappearance of the mist, Lin Yi, being a Foundation Building Cultivator, had his strong perception restored. Also, the effect of the title “Fearless of Poison” allowed him to avoid many dangers in advance.
As he ventured deeper into the Wood Element area, the surrounding spiritual energy grew more and more dense and was almost enough to satisfy one in the late stage of Qi Refining.
This was the freely floating spiritual energy, even without the usage of a Spirit Gathering Array. The Wood Element area was the most suitable place for cultivation. Unfortunately, the Qi Refining cultivators who entered the Secret Realm could only stay here for a month.
Once the time was up, they would be forcibly teleported out. With such a short time frame, it was already a race against time to find spirit grass, leaving no time for cultivation.
According to the Secret Realm Manual, a total of four Medicine Gardens existed in the Wood Element area: one on the outside, two in the middle, and one at the farthest depth.
The Medicine Garden of the outer Misty Forest was the one with the most conflict, as anyone who wished to enter the deeply-seated parts of the Secret Realm had to pass through this particular garden.
Once that garden was crossed, there were no such required passes in the subsequent Wood Element area and one would enter a larger forest.
As one ventured deeper into the Secret Realm, the spirit grass in the Medicine Gardens would become increasingly precious and rare, with the ones growing in the deepest garden potentially possessing life-extending and transformative properties.
However, practically no one could enter the deepest garden. The last time it was opened, the disciples of the Golden Sword Peak returned empty-handed.
It was uncertain whether the garden would open now that the Secret Realm was fully accessible.
Apart from the deepest garden, the other three would usually open and were relatively safe, with no spirit beasts guarding them.
Regarding the wild herbs in the secret realm, there were definitely monster beasts guarding them until they matured and could be consumed to aid in cultivation. Thus, many cultivators’ first objective was the Medicine Garden.
Only when the spirit grasses in the garden had been picked clean would they consider searching for wild spirit grass.
The primary source of danger within the Medicine Garden came from other humans, as some spirit grasses needed a few more days, or even weeks, to fully mature.
Consequently, more cultivators would flock to the garden, and some would not abide by the rule of first-come-first-serve. Disputes could easily escalate into fights.
Lin Yi was currently advancing forward in a straight line, based on the location he left the Misty Forest. With his quickness as a Foundation Building cultivator, he guessed that no one else could reach the Cave Mansion faster than him.
However, he had one doubt: Would the cave mansion of the Dan God, Zhang Dao Xuan, open as soon as he was the first person to reach there?
Or, would it only open after a certain period, waiting for more cultivators to gather?
Even though the latter seemed more likely, he would still make the trip, while grabbing some lambswool along the way.
Otherwise, if he failed to pass the trial of the Dan God’s Cave Mansion and was unable to enter the deepest Medicine Garden, his trip here would have been for nothing.
In the central area of the Wood Element region, the two Medicine Gardens were quite far apart. It’s essentially impossible to visit both, once you’ve chosen to visit one of them.
The Misty Forest was located at the center of the Wood Element area, thus both gardens were equally distant from it.
Lin Yi recalled the contents of the Secret Realm Manual and decided to head towards the garden with the more valuable herbs. In the Wood Element area, no one could outrun him..
