Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Encounter with Tiger in the Night
Translator: 549690339
“Reach the summit?” Fang Lin’s face showed a hint of confusion.
Wu Mengsheng explained, “Every time the three Medicine-Seeking Peaks are open, the person who reaches the top will receive a huge reward. Now that
Kang Lu and Ding Linglong have both lett this Medicine-Seeking Peak, with your strength, Fang, reaching the top of this peak should pose no difficulty.”
At these words, Fang Lin’s expression changed. So, reaching the peak of the Medicine -Seeking Mountain had such significance. It made sense – with the reward for reaching the peak, the competition for the Medicine-Seeking Peak would certainly intensify.
Fang Lin had not been overly interested in reaching the summit of the Medicine-Seeking Peak before, but now that he knew about the reward, he certainly wouldn’t pass it up.
“What kind of reward will there be once we reach the top? Do you know?” Fang Lin asked.
The look on Wu Mengsheng’s face was slightly embarrassed. “I don’t know. Every time someone reaches the top, they receive a reward individually, but it should be substantial,” he replied.
Fang Lin nodded.
After scaring off Ding Linglong’s group, Fang Lin’s party freely harvested the various medicinal fields halfway up the mountain.
Everyone, apart from Fang Lin, was ecstatic about gathering herbs, like farmers harvesting their crops. Their faces were filled with joy as they busied themselves in the medicinal fields.
Fang Lin wasn’t picking herbs. He was going to refine pills.
He found a relatively flat, quiet spot. Slapping his Nine Palace Bag, he pulled out the Golden Flame Cauldron he carried with him.
Fang Lin quickly threw several types of herbs into the Pill Furnace, and a flame rose from the bottom of the furnace.
After an hour, Fang Lin used the Shaking Three Mountains technique. After three strikes, a pill fragrance spread from the Pill Furnace.
Seeing this, Fang Lin smiled and ignored the Pill Furnace, sitting there with his eyes closed to gather his energy.
Four hours later, the pill fragrance became stronger and stronger. The people nearby who were picking herbs also smelled it. However, Fang Lin had warned them not to come near, so they didn’t disturb him even though they were curious.
By the afternoon, Fang Lin finally opened his eyes and patted the Pill Furnace to extinguish the flame.
After waiting a moment, Fang Lin lifted the furnace lid, and a rush of heat hit his face, accompanied by a pleasant fragrance.
When the white smoke cleared, Fang Lin peeked inside and saw four ancient bronze-colored pills, perfectly shaped.
“With these Concealing Qi Pills, no matter where Kang Lu stirs up trouble, I’ll stand unbeatable.” Fang Lin thought to himself as he put away the four pills and Pill Furnace.
By this time, everyone else had mostly finished picking. Each person was brimming with happiness, their Nine Palace Bags full of herbs. “How was the harvest?” Fang Lin asked with a smile.
“The harvest was huge, all thanks to you, Fang.”
“Yes, we’ve been to Medicine-Seeking Peak before, but we’ve never harvested this many herbs.”
“Fang, thank you so much. I cannot express enough gratitude.”
Everyone spoke all at once, but all were expressing their gratitude to Fang Lin. Without him leading them, they would not have made it this far this quickly and harvested so much.
Even Xu Shangao now referred to Fang Lin as his older disciple. After all, Fang Lin’s martial arts and Alchemy Tao skills far surpassed everyone else present. To keep calling Fang Lin his junior would no longer be appropriate for Xu Shangao.
As for their new way of addressing him, Fang Lin did not find it inappropriate. In any given place, the strong are always respected more. Although he became an official disciple much later than anyone else present, his skill was already far beyond theirs.
Seniority certainly matters, but ability matters even more.
“Fang, should we continue climbing overnight?” Wu Mengsheng suggested.
Fang Lin nodded. Two days had passed, and the last day was fast approaching. They had enough time to reach the summit, but it would be tight. The higher up they went, the more Demon Beasts they would encounter and the more troubles they would face.
Therefore, climbing overnight was somewhat risky, but Fang Lin believed he could handle it.
Everyone else spent some more time harvesting herbs. Once they had enough, they stopped gathering and moved further up the mountain.
Having crossed the halfway point, everyone apart from Fang Lin became more alert. The second half of the journey was the real test.
Most Disciples of the Pill Sect had stopped at this point, either because they encountered insurmountable obstacles or they faced a powerful Demon Beast.
Fang Lin and the others knew that they were likely progressing quicker than anyone on the first Medicine -Seeking Peak. Other groups would still be wandering down the slope, perhaps only reaching halfway by midnight. Their pace was slow as the day was completely dark. In the poor visibility, they needed to be careful.
“Watch out! There’s a big snake!” Wu Mengsheng who was leading the way suddenly warned.
Looking ahead, they saw a huge snake with green markings coiling around a tree, its cold eyes fixed on Fang Lin’s party.
“A Phase One, Rank Six snake is no threat,” Fang Lin said calmly. The aura of his Human Origin Eight unleashed instantly frightened the snake. Seeing Fang, the snake was visibly afraid and quickly slithered away.
The cunning of Demon Beasts is limited, but their fear of a more powerful being was rooted in any life form’s instincts. Fang Lin’s aura of Human Origin Eight was sufficient to deter most beasts with a Rank Eight or below.
Seeing that the snake was scared away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They felt even more that following Fang Lin was a wise decision. Without him, even if they had worked together, they might not have been able to handle that snake.
They walked on for a while, but as it drew deep into the night and the mountain path became rugged, their speed further slowed.
Fang Lin had already asked Wu Mengsheng to return to the group, and he was now leading the way on his own.
Under the pitch -black night, Fang Lin’s eyes were brighter than during the day. Even in the darkness, his vision was not much weaker than in sunlight.
Crack!
Fang Lin stepped on a twig, instantly a gust of wind blew, catching everyone off guard and knocking them off balance.
“Watch out!” Fang Lin shouted, immediately grabbing the poisoned dagger in his hand and staring intently at the darkness ahead.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a giant White Tiger leaped out from the darkness, its roaring causing everyone’s eardrums to throb with pain.
“Phase One, Rank Eight!” Fang Lin narrowed his eyes. This White Tiger was certainly at Phase One, Rank Eight or potentially even higher. Its aura was incomparable to any ordinary Demon Beast.
The White Tiger didn’t target Fang Lin, instead, it went straight for a Pill Sect disciple behind him.
Seeing the White Tiger pounce at him, the young man tried to dodge, but the White Tiger was too fast to avoid..