Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Never Lower Your Guard

They thought the show was over. After the crowd dispersed and Young Sect Master Fu left surrounded by fellow sect disciples, they finally walked toward the herb garden gate, only to run into a familiar face.

“Look, it’s the one who stole our Exotic Flame,” someone hissed. Su Hua spoke through clenched teeth. Of them all, he alone had a Fire Spiritual Root yet had failed to obtain a flame. The Exotic Flame the young man took still stuck in his craw; if not for that theft, that flame should have been his.

Sensing the stares, the young man and the uncle beside him turned. The youth chuckled first: “Let me think… oh, you’re that bunch of trash.” He added lazily: “Trash should find a place with more garbage and stay there obediently.” Su Hua flushed with anger: “You—” The others’ faces also soured.

“Hmph.” Finding them too timid to even talk back, the young man lost interest and said: “Uncle Feng, let’s go in.” The man bowed: “Yes, young master.” The two went through the gate.

After they left, gloom settled over Han Cheng Yun’s group. That man had come to the herb garden too; if they ran into him inside, he might snatch their herbs. Su Hua muttered once the youth was gone: “Who is he really? He acts so mysterious. Maybe it’s all just an act.” Han Cheng Yun glanced at him: “Do you believe that yourself? To produce a pill that ignores the secret realm’s rules and temporarily spikes one’s strength is not something an ordinary person does.” Yun Gao Fei frowned: “So we just swallow this?” Su Hua clenched his fists: “Even if it was a pill, its effects end eventually.” “Enough,” Han Cheng Yun warned. “Don’t stir up trouble out of nothing. He’s had that Exotic Flame long enough to have refined it by now.”

Then he turned to Rong Shu, tone softer: “Fellow Daoist Lin, we will need your help once we enter the herb garden.” Rong Shu nodded: “I’ll do my best.”

Many rare spiritual herbs grew in the secret realm’s herb garden. A common cultivator, if he obtained even one stalk, could sell it for a handsome sum. The herbs remained rooted and did not run about, but each had attendant spirit beasts or demon beasts guarding them. If you could not beat the guardians, or could not refine the specified pills according to the rules, you could not touch the herbs in the slightest. Ferocious beasts also kept watch over the approaches.

All these spirit and demon beasts had been reared long ago by the Secret Realm Master to watch the house and guard the grounds. After so long, their clans had turned over countless generations, yet one thing never changed: they guarded the herb garden. The beasts also strictly enforced the rules set by the Secret Realm Master in those days: every key intersection required the refining of a qualified pill. Only when the blocking beast approved could one go deeper into the garden. It was much like the rules of the Scripture Tower, except the herb garden was different in one respect. Formations and mechanisms are cold; beasts are alive and have tempers. If you accidentally offended a garden beast, you would suffer for it.

Once inside, a black-furred tiger-shaped demon beast blocked their path with a roar. Han Cheng Yun immediately looked at Rong Shu: “Fellow Daoist Lin.” She understood at once, produced her Pill Furnace, and began refining a pill right before the tiger. The requirements were carved on a stone stele nearby. She glanced over it. Nothing difficult, merely a first-grade pill.

Seeing someone start refining, the tiger stopped roaring and paced around them instead. Soon, Rong Shu finished and set the pill on the ground. The tiger came over, lowered its head, sniffed twice, then sat down, no longer bristling as before.

“So… that’s a pass?” Rong Shu glanced at Han Cheng Yun. He nodded: “Fellow Daoist Lin, let’s go.” “All right.” The tiger let them pass through.

Deeper within, the spiritual energy was clearly more than double that outside. Herbs grown in such an environment not only had better form and quality, they also matured faster. Cries went up one after another: “There’s a Qiluo Flower here.” “Over there is a Wisteria White Lotus.” “And there…”

This zone was under the tiger’s watch. Since it had already recognized them, they were free to pick here. “Wait… don’t pick too much. Remember the rules,” Han Cheng Yun called when the corner of his eye caught Clan Brother Su harvesting too many of the same herb. The herb garden had a rule: any cultivator who entered could not overharvest any single kind of herb. If the beasts found someone taking excessively, they would drive that person out at once. “I know…” Clan Brother Su looked regretfully at the sea of herbs, but had to restrain his impulse. Better herbs lay ahead; they could not ruin things now and be expelled for a small gain.

They continued deeper. Each time they stepped into another guardian’s territory, Rong Shu refined the required pill. After many repetitions, her willing toil faded in their eyes and became something taken for granted. Some of the others merely showed poor attitude, while Su Hua began to urge openly: “Are you done yet? Refine faster.” Rong Shu’s gaze flickered, but her expression remained as calm as ever. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, she quietly added a few herbs not in the formula, then finished the batch successfully.

“All set.” She distributed the pills and said, “The Antidote Pill lasts for the time it takes one stick of incense to burn. Two pills per person.” Su Hua muttered in dissatisfaction: “Why only two?” They were halted before a large herb field shrouded in poisonous miasma. The Antidote Pill she had refined was tailored from the Antidote Herbs growing nearby, with a single purpose: to counter this specific poison.

“Don’t waste time. Let’s go in.” Han Cheng Yun asked with a smile: “Fellow Daoist Lin, we just take them directly, yes?” Rong Shu nodded and, under their eyes, swallowed a pill first: “Yes. Take it straight, but mind the moment it wears off.” “All right.” Once they saw her take it, the others followed suit, gulped down their pills one after another, and strode eagerly into the fog.