Chapter 226: Chapter 224: Strange Ghost Vine in the Medicine Garden_l
Translator: 549690339
“Junior Brother Lu, we have arrived at the Ancient Temple of the Blessed Land.”
Liu Su gazed at the majestic ancient temple before her with her beautiful porcelain face, her eyes revealing a hint of eager anticipation.
“Hmm.”
Lu Xuan nodded slightly. After excavating the nest of the Double-headed Armadillo Demon Beast, he proceeded straight towards the central region of the Blessed Land.
Along the way, he encountered several impudent demon beasts, all of which he easily eliminated.
Upon arriving at the ancient temple, he incidentally met Liu Su; they teamed up to take on the challenges together.
The ancient temple standing before them was located at the heart of the Blessed Land and was the primary destination for all Sky Sword Sect cultivators who ventured into the Blessed Land.
Various precious treasures, high-grade magic artifacts, cultivation techniques, elixirs, and even items of the fifth-grade level would occasionally emerge from within.
However, to enter the ancient temple’s core, one must pass through numerous formations and prohibitions; a common Inner Sect disciple would find it challenging to overcome these trials.
Only those with powerful families, exceptional talent and support from elders and mentors who gifted them with restriction-breaking magical tools could do so.
Lu Xuan and Liu Su knew only the specific location of the ancient temple, but they decided to try their luck, hoping for a fortunate break.
After all, treasures were meant for those ordained by destiny.
Once inside the ancient temple, the two of them darted around at high speed. The temple was vast, its floors and walls made of an unknown material. Probing it with his spiritual sense was like dropping a stone into the ocean; he encountered significant resistance.
“Medicine garden…”
Upon passing by a side-hall, Lu Xuan couldn’t restrain himself from stopping in his tracks.
On the bronze front door of the side-hall hung a plaque, bearing two large characters that bore an ancient charm.
“Junior Brother Lu, are you considering a look inside the ancient temple’s medicinal garden?”
Seeing Lu Xuan’s peculiar behavior, Liu Su also paused her steps and asked curiously.
“Indeed.”
“I want to see what kind of spiritual plants the ancient cultivators may have cultivated.”
Lu Xuan spoke in a solemn voice.
“I’ve heard from disciples who entered the Blessed Land before that there are numerous spiritual plants in the ancient temple’s medicinal garden, including some that are of the third grade.”
“However, it is rumored to be full of mutated monster plants that appear no different from regular spiritual plants but would suddenly attack any cultivator or demon beast that ventures too close.”
“Because of the difficulty in discerning them, many of our fellow disciples have suffered severe injuries within the medicinal garden. Moreover, as there is an abundance of third-grade spiritual plants in other regions of the Blessed Land, which are safer than the medicinal garden, fewer disciples have chosen to enter the garden over time.”
“Is that so?”
Lu Xuan looked at the two ancient characters on the plaque and murmured softly.
Something seemed to have crossed his mind, and his eyes flashed with determination. He then turned to look at Liu Su.
“Senior Sister Liu, as you know, I have a keen interest in spiritual plants and spirit beasts, to the point that it’s almost on par with cultivation. Therefore, since I’ve come across a medicinal garden left by an ancient cultivator, I must definitely pay it a visit and observe its wonders.”
“As for how much luck and opportunity I may obtain, that’s secondary.” “Junior Brother Lu, I didn’t expect you to be so sincere about cultivating spiritual plants. In that case, let’s temporarily part ways. Please, be careful.” Liu Su had no intention of entering the ancient medicinal garden with Lu Xuan; she was more interested in exploring other areas of the ancient temple to seize opportunities. Despite being amazed at Lu Xuan’s determination towards the path of spiritual plants, she quickly made her decision.
“Take care, Senior Sister.”
Lu Xuan gave Liu Su a fist salute and then turned to enter the medicinal garden.
Upon entering, it was as if he had arrived in a brand new world.
The medicine garden was larger than Lu Xuan had imagined, with scattered spiritual plants growing on the grey-black soil.
A smile tugged at Lu Xuan’s mouth. His decision to enter the garden was partly driven by curiosity, but more importantly, he sought opportunities and hoped to find a spiritual seed or two.
The probability of finding spiritual seeds in this blessed land was the highest. Not all spiritual seeds would naturally grow into spiritual plants. Some might gradually lose vitality and become waste seeds.
Some, especially high-ranking ones, could be in a dormant state due to the unsatisfactory growth conditions or cultivation methods in their surroundings. By entering this state, the loss of vitality within the seed could be significantly slowed down until the right time arrives for it to root and sprout into a plant. The Ghost Faced Stone Mushroom acquired by Lu Xuan in the secret land near Linyang Market was a case in point. It had awakened from dormancy and been nurtured using blended Yin Soul Resentment.
With such thoughts in mind, he entered the garden.
“Normal spiritual soil, nothing unusual,” he murmured, squatting down and picking up a small clump of grey-black soil, testing the spiritual power within it.
“Rightly so. If there were any special spiritual soils, they would have been scraped clean by my fellow disciples who entered the garden before me. There would be none left for me to collect.”
Lu Xuan stood up and ventured further into the garden.
He encountered some scattered spiritual plants along the way. However, they were all low-ranked species, and it was not worth the risk to pick them.
If he harvested them recklessly, he could stir up trouble and perhaps get ambushed by monster plants masquerading as normal ones.
As Lu Xuan delved deeper, the rank and species of the spiritual plants significantly increased, which raised his interest, having seen many grade three spiritual plants before.
Just when he intended to harvest, he suddenly felt strong spiritual energy fluctuations coming from the front.
Responding to the movement, Lu Xuan quieted his breath and transformed into a streak of light, arriving close to the commotion in just a few breaths.
There, three Inner Sect disciples were fiercely combating an odd spiritual plant. From beneath the ground, green-black vines similar to tentacles emerged now and again. The vines were covered in sharp spines and emitted an extremely harsh, shrieking howl, creating a gust of wind accompanied by a fishy smell as they frenziedly attacked the three cultivators.
With excellent teamwork, the three disciples effortlessly eliminated the odd spiritual plant.
“Junior Brother over there, why not come and chat for a bit?” called out an ordinary-looking youth towards Lu Xuan after the fight.
“Greetings, Senior Brothers. I’m just passing through and thought of seeing if I could find a couple of spirit plants in the garden.”
“Are you alone, Junior Brother?” questioned the youth, scanning with his spiritual sense and looking somewhat surprised.
“You need to be careful if you are alone here in this garden. There are many monster plants here. They are extremely aggressive. If you’re careless, they could catch you unawares.”
Upon seeing Lu Xuan nod, the youth advised him.
“Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. Is the weird-looking spiritual plant you three just dealt with one of the so-called monster plants?” Lu Xuan asked curiously, glancing at the odd-shaped spiritual plant not far away. “Correct, that monster plant is called a Strange Ghost Vine. It disguises itself as a common psychic plant and launches a sneak attack on cultivators and monsters who want to pick them.”
“The three of us work together – We pick normal spiritual plants at will, and if a monster plant tries to ambush us, we can solve it easily as a team. Although it’s a bit troublesome, the results are reliable,” the youth patiently explained. “Isn’t that just treading on a landmine?”
“Just ploughing through one spiritual plant after another, there’s no technique involved.”
Lu Xuan silently commented and, after saying goodbye to the three men, ventured further.