Wedge
The vast and majestic Divine Continent, in the eastern part of which there is a massive mountain range spanning over a thousand miles, known as the Qiyun Mountain Range. The main peak, Qiyun Peak, located at the center of the mountain range, stands tall with a height of three thousand zhang, like a sharp sword, piercing through the clouds and sky.
On this day, a sixteen or seventeen year old youth appeared on the north peak of Mount Qi Yun. The western sun stretched his lean figure long in the deep mountains and ravines.
His arms and legs were wrapped in cloth strips, with faint bloodstains seeping through. The youth only pursed his lips, a symbol-adorned flying claw wrapped around his waist, the rope at the tail of the claw tightly wound around his waist, while the claw's head was held in his hand, as he slowly climbed along the rugged mountain path towards the depths of North Peak.
The flying claws in hand were occasionally sacrificed, and a red light was drawn out of the void, firmly grasping the protruding rocks and thick branches. Then, with the help of the flying claws, they climbed over the treacherous terrain.
His eyes also kept scanning the stone crevices and precipices around him, searching for any signs of the possible existence of spiritual medicine. These places were prone to gathering spiritual energy, or there might be spiritual medicine present.
His name is Ling Xiao, an ordinary outer disciple of the Qiyun Sect on Mount Qiyun. He came to this deep mountain and ravine to pick spiritual herbs.
Qiyun Sect is the largest immortal force in the Qiyun mountain range.
Qiyun Zong's outer sect disciples need to complete certain sect tasks every month in exchange for the resources needed for cultivation, such as elixirs, cultivation techniques, and guidance from the sect's elders.
Zi Yun Sect specializes in alchemy, requiring a large amount of spiritual medicine. Therefore, collecting spiritual medicine is the most common and least restricted task. Other tasks such as refining elixirs, crafting artifacts, setting up arrays, capturing and raising beasts require specific talents or strong cultivation. Although the rewards are better, there are more restrictions. It's not something that Ling Xiao, who has just entered the sect and only has a first-level Qi Refining cultivation, can complete.
Ling Xiao carefully borrowed the flying claws, gradually approaching the depths of Beifeng's Eagle Gorge. Looking down at the steep cliff to one side, the clouds and mist obscured the view, making it impossible to see the bottom, sending a chill through one's heart.
To be honest, picking spiritual herbs in these deep mountains is not easy. You have to know that the living environment of these spiritual herbs is extremely harsh, and most of them grow on cliffs and steep walls that ordinary people can't reach, or in the dens of fierce beasts. Even for someone like Ling Xiao, a novice disciple who has just started learning magic, it's extremely difficult to pick them. Every year, more than 10% of the disciples will give up and leave because they are afraid of the hardship, which means they have given up on their cultivation path.
But Ling Xiao was orphaned at a young age, and as a child, he wandered around, suffering greatly. Therefore, later on, when he had the opportunity to join the Qi Yun Sect, he cherished this rare chance even more.
Although the conditions of being an outer sect disciple were tough, he was delighted, because he understood that this was his best opportunity to change his fate! The legend of the immortal family has been passed down since ancient times: living forever, roaming freely in the nine heavens... Compared to having a chance to fulfill these wishes, what's a little hardship?
This flying claw is a talisman bestowed by Qiyun Sect.
When outer sect disciples enter the sect, Qi Yun Zong will bestow upon them a low-grade storage bag and a low-grade talisman. Although the storage bag is only about three cubic feet in size, it greatly facilitates their completion of sect tasks.
As for the other artifact, there are many options: the flying sword Qingfeng Sword with its swift and fierce attack speed, the Qinglian Knife with its powerful and majestic momentum, the artifact Qingsi Net that balances offense and defense... Although they are only low-grade artifacts, when paired with the corresponding incantation, they can greatly enhance the combat power of these outer sect disciples.
While most of his fellow disciples chose knives or flying swords as their symbols, Ling Xiao had a different idea.
He was forced to be independent at a young age, and his experiences and city manners far surpassed those of his peers; as soon as he entered the sect, he carefully investigated all sorts of situations. Considering that he would have to go deep into the mountains to gather herbs, he couldn't do without borrowing the climbing power of the flying claw, so under the gaze of others who didn't understand and ridiculed him, he silently chose the most inconspicuous Hundred Refine Flying Claw.
But it was precisely by relying on the flying claws bestowed by the sect that he dared to go to other outer disciples, who were not easily accessible to the precipitous cliffs. As for the rest of the knives and swords, although they looked good and defended well, but in the depths of the mountain, their practicality compared to the flying claws was far inferior.
Although Ling Xiao was young and only at the Qi Refining stage, ranking last among the outer sect disciples, he had been able to complete most of the sect's tasks with ease in the past.
But this month, something unexpected happened.
He is accustomed to collecting medicine in the northern peak. What is said to be the northern peak, in fact, refers to the large area north of the main peak of Qiyun Peak, which stretches for over a hundred miles. This is one of the places with the most abundant spiritual energy in the Qiyun Mountains, where there are countless rare and precious medicinal herbs, and it is also one of the most common places for outer disciples of the Qiyun Sect to collect medicine.
In addition to several other places, although it is not possible to say that the spiritual medicine will be taken without exhaustion, there should be enough for their needs.
But this month, not to mention Tongling Branch and Peiyuan Grass, which have stronger medicinal properties and are relatively rare, I haven't seen a single stem of the main medicine for refining elixirs; even the auxiliary medicines like Ganning Flower and Binglu Lan, which can usually be harvested at least four or five stems every month, are rarely seen.
It's almost mid-month, the day of the sect's task assessment. The contribution points he can exchange for the spiritual medicine he picked this month are less than a third of what he usually gets!
It seems that this month's Pei Yuan Dan will not be exchanged for even one grain. Pei Yuan Dan is the kind of elixir that outer disciples like him, who are practicing Qi from layer one to three, often take to assist their cultivation. Without Pei Yuan Dan to aid him, his cultivation speed will only become slower.
After much hesitation, Ling Xiao finally made up his mind and headed towards Eagle Gorge, one of the most treacherous places on North Peak.
The northern peak of Qiyun Peak was originally steep, and most of it went straight up and down. The rocky body here was even harder and thicker, the mountain trend was straight as a knife cut, and there was almost no place to stand. Even if he had a low-grade artifact like the Hundred Refinements Flying Claw, he wouldn't dare to set foot in it easily. Even the inner disciples of Qiyun Sect who could barely control flying artifacts would not dare to come forward when facing such a dangerous place. Not to mention other outer sect disciples.
Of course, fewer people come here, so the number of spiritual medicines that exist is naturally more than in other places. This is also the reason he ventured here.
Eagle Gorge
Ling Xiao's hand tightly grasped the rope, carefully making his way down. Beneath him was an abyss that seemed to have no bottom, and if he were to lose his grip and fall, even a hundred of him would be smashed to pieces. Only by cultivating to the fourth layer of Qi Refining and possessing a flying artifact could one barely fly with their sword, but for Ling Xiao, all of this was still too far away.
As a result, Rao was originally bold and steady in nature, and his actions at this time were even more careful and meticulous.
Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and he glanced sideways to see a dark recess under the wisteria trellis, where a finger-thick, snake-like spiritual herb was winding its way out, almost escaping his notice if he hadn't looked carefully.
Ling Xiao's heart skipped a beat as he thought it might be the Ninefold Grass. He hastily and carefully borrowed force from the steep cliff, slowly making his way over.
Jiuzhicao is a second-grade spiritual herb, its value surpasses that of Tonglingzhi and Peiyuancao.
But as he got closer, his nose caught a strong medicinal scent. Ling Xiao couldn't help but feel a slight doubt in his heart; the fragrance of the Nine芝 grass was too intense; besides, how could the Nine芝 grass possibly grow in such a dark place?
He had been collecting medicine for many years, and his careful and meticulous nature made him extremely familiar with the properties of various common spiritual medicines. The fragrance of Jiuzhi grass was very light, its stem was long and thin, with triangular pale blue leaves that tasted like orange blossoms, which bloomed only once every four years, and usually grew on warm and sunny cliff walls. In such a humid and shady place, it was difficult for them to survive.
With a few doubts in her mind, Ling Xiao carefully crawled forward and took a peek, only to see that what was winding out of the hole was indeed a Nine芝 grass.
This nine-purple grass is less than half the height of an ordinary nine-purple grass! The color is not light blue, but a deep and dense blue, it's really strange.
In the Xianxia world, elixirs are roughly divided into nine grades, with grade one being the lowest and grade nine being the highest.
People like them, low-ranking cultivators, often take the Peiyuan Pill, which is only a first-grade pill. However, the Jiuzhi Grass is the main medicine for refining the second-grade pill, Jiuzhidan, and it's much more precious than the Peiyuan Grass or Tongling Branch, which are the main medicines for the Peiyuan Pill! With Jiuzhi Grass, you can exchange for many more contribution points in the sect.
Like Pei Yuandan's auxiliary medicine Ganning Flower, it is worth only 1 contribution point; while the main medicine Tongling Branch is worth 6 contribution points...... Jiuzhicao is worth a full 15 contribution points!
Zi Yun Sect has a rule, to exchange for the cultivation required Pei Yuan Dan, at least 100 contribution points are needed! With this additional nine芝grass, although this month's contribution points are still not enough, it's much better.
Although he was somewhat puzzled in his heart, he didn't think much of it and reached out to brush away the surrounding soil, carefully digging up that nine-purple grass bit by bit.
The medicinal properties of Jiuzhicao are mainly concentrated in its roots, so it should be handled with extra care.
But unexpectedly, as soon as he picked the grass, a green flame-like thing suddenly flashed out from the rock crevice at the base of the grass and pounced on the palm of his left hand!
This is ——
Ling Xiao was shocked, and his hand hastily withdrew, but the thing's speed was incredibly fast, and it suddenly jumped onto his palm. Ling Xiao immediately felt an uncontrollable fatigue, as if all his strength had been drained away. His vision blurred, and a faint green light flashed before his eyes. His right hand, which had been tightly gripping the rope, lost all its strength, and he let go of the rope, his body weightless, and he fell towards the precipice.
