94: Chapter 94 Black Wind Cliff

The morning mist had not yet dispersed.

Jiang Yan sat cross-legged in the center of the Spirit Gathering Array in his cultivation room, the pitch-black vortex in his Dantian rotating at a steady speed, absorbing the thin Spiritual Qi gathered by the array into his body, thread by thread.

After reaching Qi Refining Stage 7, the speed of his cultivation progress had slowed down; after meditating for an entire night, the total amount of Qi in his Dantian showed almost no visible change.

A very faint fluctuation suddenly came from the warning Restriction at the courtyard gate.

He opened his eyes and swept his Divine Sense outward.

Standing outside the courtyard gate was a person with Qi Refining Stage 5 cultivation, thin and gaunt, wearing a black robe.

This person was standing on tiptoe, peering into the courtyard, his right hand raised halfway and then lowered, as if hesitating whether to knock on the door again.

Jiang Yan recognized him.

A few days ago in a corner of a teahouse, this person had been complaining to a few companions about his bad luck recently, saying something like "I can't even pick a decent Spirit Medicine," and was mocked by his companions.

At that time, Jiang Yan was sitting at the next table and had heard their conversation word for word.

He got up, went downstairs, crossed the courtyard, and opened the gate.

The Loose Cultivator was stunned for a moment, his gaze lingering on the silver-white robe on Jiang Yan—the spiritual fluctuation of the robe was restrained to the point of being almost imperceptible, but the moon-like luster emanating from the material itself could not be faked.

He immediately put on a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching up into a fan shape.

"Fellow Daoist, apologies for the disturbance. I am Liu San, a Loose Cultivator from Black Stone City."

He cupped his hands in a gesture, his movements somewhat awkward, his fingertips rubbing against his cuffs, "I heard you posted a mission to collect star grass, and the price is fair. I have... I have a piece of information I would like to sell to you."

Jiang Yan did not reply, only nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

Liu San swallowed and glanced left and right down the alley.

There were two sparrows squatting on the crooked locust tree at the entrance of the alley, and other than that, there was no one around.

He leaned forward half a step and lowered his voice: "Last month, I was chasing a spirit deer in the south of the Manghuang Mountains, and when I chased it near Black Wind Cliff, I saw star grass in a crevice on the cliff wall. There were several stalks, the silver star spots on the leaves were dense, and the quality was far better than those that occasionally appear on the market."

He stopped here to observe Jiang Yan's expression. There was no expression on Jiang Yan's face.

Liu San swallowed again and continued: "But below that crevice is the nest of a Black Water Mysterious Snake. That snake is coiled in a cold pool, and the pool water is right below the cliff. I lay on the edge of the cliff and looked down—my legs went soft, so how could I dare to go down and pick it."

When he said the words "Black Water Mysterious Snake," his Adam's apple bobbed up and down several times, and his gaunt palms rubbed his robe cuffs unconsciously.

Information about the Black Water Mysterious Snake flashed through Jiang Yan's mind.

A Peak First-Rank Yao Beast, water-attribute, massive in size, with scales harder than fine steel, capable of spitting venom that corrodes bones and flesh, and also able to manipulate water arrows to attack.

Snake-type Yao Beasts have extremely keen perception and are especially sensitive to surface vibrations and temperature changes.

Their nests are often built near water bodies, preferring shade and dampness.

Peak First-Rank. He was now at Qi Refining Stage 7, and with his three hundred years of combat experience from his previous life, as long as it wasn't a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast, he had the strength to fight it.

Even if he couldn't win, escaping on his Flying Sword would not be a problem.

"Did you see the star grass with your own eyes?" Jiang Yan's voice was very calm, "How many stalks?"

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Liu San held up three fingers, then hurriedly held up another one, "Four stalks! One of the stalks has leaves as big as a palm, the star spots are dense, and it has at least three hundred years of age."

"The remaining three are smaller, but their quality is also better than those on the market. I swear by my Dao Heart; if there is a single word of falsehood, may I be stuck at Qi Refining Stage 5 for the rest of my life, unable to make any progress."

Swearing by one's Dao Heart. For a Loose Cultivator, this was the heaviest oath; cultivation was the only lifeline for a Loose Cultivator, and no one would joke about their own path of Dao.

Jiang Yan believed the credibility of the information a little more. "How many Spirit Stones?"

Liu San rolled his eyes and tentatively held up five fingers: "Fifty Spirit Stones."

Jiang Yan glanced at him.

This glance had no special expression, just looking at him calmly.

But Liu San was looked at in such a way that his finger involuntarily retracted, and he changed his words: "Forty. Forty will do."

Jiang Yan took out forty Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch and handed them over.

Liu San took the Spirit Stones, the smile on his face piling up even higher, his fingers flying as he stuffed the Spirit Stones one by one into the Storage Pouch at his waist.

He described in detail the location of the crevice—on the southeast side of Black Wind Cliff, there was an oblique crevice in the middle of the cliff wall, and about three feet above the crevice was a clump of rare ink-colored moss, which was easy to recognize.

Thirty zhang below the crevice was the surface of the cold pool; the Black Water Mysterious Snake often slept at the bottom of the pool, occasionally surfacing to breathe.

The best time to pick the medicine is at noon; when the noon sun shines directly on the cold pool, there is only a layer of shimmering reflection on the water surface, and the snake at the bottom of the pool cannot open its eyes, making its perception the dullest.

"If you manage to pick it, Fellow Daoist, don't forget my small trouble fee." Liu San turned back to add a sentence before leaving, smiling and revealing two yellowed front teeth.

Then he shrank his neck and walked quickly along the alley, his back flickering a few times in the morning mist before turning the corner of the alley and disappearing.

Jiang Yan returned to the cultivation room and checked the Magical Artifacts in his Storage Pouch one by one.

flame gold flying sword, purple-veined thunder sword, top-grade Flying Sword, god-slaying flying knife, wind-ripping claws, spirit-binding whip; the spiritual light of the Restrictions of all the Magical Artifacts was intact, and the spiritual power circulation was smooth.

He touched the breath-concealing Restriction on the inside of his robe collar again—the patterns of this Restriction were all hidden in the interlayer of the double-layered fabric, and when activated, it could compress spiritual fluctuations to the point of being almost imperceptible.

Ready. He left the Immortal Cave, the Wind Control Technique exploded under his feet, and he swept toward the outside of Black Stone City.

When passing through the city gate, the Li family Cultivator guarding the gate was leaning against the stone wall of the city gate tunnel.

Seeing someone leaving the city, he just raised his eyelids, swept his gaze across Jiang Yan's face, and then moved it away.

Those entering the city needed to be checked, but those leaving did not—the rules of Black Stone City only concerned what people from the outside brought in, not what people from the inside took out.

The forest of the Manghuang Mountains retreated rapidly under his feet.

After entering the depths of the mountains, the traces of Yao Beasts gradually became dense.

Flying in mid-air on a Flying Sword was certainly fast, but flying in the depths of the mountains was a living target.

Second-Rank Yao Beasts have an extremely strong sense of territory; a strange spiritual fluctuation passing overhead was equivalent to announcing "I am here" to all predators within a hundred li.

Jiang Yan used the Thousand Illusion Demon Mask to change his face into an unremarkable, dark-skinned face, and used the Wind Control Technique to glide silently between the treetops.

When encountering open areas, he lowered his altitude to glide close to the ground, spreading his Divine Sense to the limit of ten zhang, avoiding several First-Rank Late Stage Yao Beasts that were foraging in advance.

Once, while passing by a slope of scattered rocks, his Divine Sense captured several Iron-Backed Gray Wolves napping on a giant rock fifteen zhang ahead.

He bypassed them silently, passing through a thicket of dead shrubs; his boot soles made a very faint creaking sound on the gravel, and the ears of one of the Gray Wolves twitched, but it did not open its eyes.