Chapter 23 - Herb-picking Mission, Thousand Blade Valley

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Medicinal pills were a common resource in the sect. There were too many types, and Fang Yuan did not know exactly how many there were.

However, what he wanted this time was only the kind that could help with cultivation.

After accumulating for so long in the delivery business, it was time for him to break through!

Thus, Fang Yuan went to the sect’s pill pavilion and bought a large amount of medicinal pills before returning to his own courtyard.

This courtyard was not something that everyone could own. They had to rent it with primeval stones. Ordinary people simply could not afford it.

If it were not for the fact that Fang Yuan’s family sent resources up the mountain every month, he could only be like the others. Dozens of disciples squeezed into a room with a big bed.

Fang Yuan sorted out the pills that he bought one by one. Then, he boiled a bucket of hot water, crushed more than ten bottles of pills, and threw them all in.

The powder of the pills dissolved in the water, dyeing the water black.

But in this pitch-black color, there were two flashes of red and white light.

It was the elemental power in the pills.

Now that he could control fire and ice, he had to absorb more of these two elemental powers to strengthen himself.

Fang Yuan sat inside and opened his acupoints, letting the Gu worms and his body absorb these powers.

[Ding, your Gu worms have obtained a better cultivation environment, cultivation efficiency increased by 100%!]

It was twice as strong as when he used his spiritual essence to nurture them!

Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction and began to concentrate on his cultivation.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

There was bubbling in the medicine barrel from time to time, and the frequency was getting faster and faster, as if it was boiling.

In fact, after so long, the medicinal liquid had returned to its normal temperature.

This bubbling was caused by the spiritual essence surging out from Fang Yuan’s body.

His eyes were closed tightly and his aura continued to climb.

The last traces of elemental energy were absorbed by him.

Finally, there was a roar from the depths of his body.

Boundless power gushed out from his acupoints and circulated throughout his body, tempering his muscles, bones, and flesh at the same time.

After Fang Yuan had completely gotten used to this power, he slowly opened his eyes.

He had finally broken through!

Foundation Establishment layer seven!

After a few months of accumulation, coupled with the assistance of money, he had consecutively broken through two layers!

Moreover, the nine-turns rod technique had also reached the seventh revolution.

He felt that he was more than twice as strong as before!

However, along with the increase in his strength, there was a severe consequence.

Fang Yuan did not have any primeval stones again.

Looking at the bucket of medicinal bath that had turned into waste, he could not help but laugh bitterly.

“Cultivation, what a fucking waste of resources.” 

Over a thousand primeval stones had already been spent. This was hard to accept.

However, what made Fang Yuan feel comfortable was that the Gu worms’ cultivation buffs lasted for fifteen days.

In other words, as long as he could earn enough primeval stones within half a month, he could even extend this period.

With an average cultivation efficiency of over 200% , the overall progress could still be improved a little every day.

“I’ll just do a sect mission. With my current strength, the profits shouldn’t be bad.” 

Fang Yuan made preparations and once again walked towards the mission pavilion.

Although the sect mission’s salary was very low, the work was relatively safe. Moreover, there were exceptions.

For example, if you collected very precious herbs, or if the quantity of normal herbs was extremely large, the sect would consider giving you a higher reward.

When he arrived at the mission pavilion, the disciple at the counter had already recognized Fang Yuan.

“Junior Fang?”

The disciple at the counter had a deep impression of the way he acted yesterday. He asked with a smile, “What mission are you going to accept this time?”

“Does the sect have a herb-picking mission?”

“Wait a moment, I’ll show it to you.” 

The disciple at the counter flipped through it, then nodded and said, “Currently, there is a herb-picking mission at the Thousand Blade Valley. The number of people will soon be full. Junior, will you be going?”

“Alright, I’ll take this one.” 

“Alright, I’ll register for you. Just wait outside the pavilion on the left side. The inner sect’s Wan Qian, Senior Wan will lead the team.” 

Senior Wan?

It sounded a little familiar, as if he had heard it here a few days ago. However, he did not care at the time, and did not know who exactly it was.

When he went out, he saw the beautiful woman who had traded with him for the frost wolf a few days ago standing in front of a group of people. Her expression was cold, as if strangers were not allowed nearby.

It seemed that she was the one.

Fang Yuan remained calm and stood at the end of the group.

Wan Qian’s beautiful eyes moved. She looked in the direction of the mission pavilion for a while. After making sure that no one else was coming, she turned to the group and began to talk about the mission.

“The place you are going to this time is the Thousand Blade Valley in the west.” 

“There is no limit to the quantity and quality of the collection.” 

“If you encounter something you need, you can use your sect contribution to exchange for it. As for the rest, you can hand the herbs over to the sect in exchange for contribution or primeval stones.” 

“The only goal of this mission is the blood lotus at the top of the mountain. However, I don’t insist that you must collect it. I only suggest this to that junior who has the strength to try it.” 

As she said this, her gaze vaguely paused at Fang Yuan’s position.

This junior seemed to have become much stronger after they had not seen each other for a few days.

Very soon, a disciple raised a question.

“Senior Wan, May I ask what realm you need to have reached before you can be considered have the strength? Can a second layer of the Foundation Establishment try it?”

Before Wan Qian could say anything, a person beside her suddenly laughed mockingly.

“Pfft, second layer of Foundation Establishment? Junior, I advise you to take care of yourself. It’s better for you to stay at the outer edges.” 

“In the Thousand Blade Valley, every step is extremely difficult and dangerous. The valley is extremely steep, and it’s extremely dangerous. If you’re not careful, you’ll die tragically on the spot.” 

“Last time, a fourth layer Foundation Establishment senior died. Do you have the ability to be more powerful than him?”

That disciple was so scared that his face turned pale and he didn’t speak.

Wan Qian frowned slightly. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with this disciple’s behavior, she didn’t refute him. She knew that what he said was the truth.

The Thousand Blade Valley was indeed dangerous.

After thinking for a moment, in order to prevent the disciples who were lacking in strength and were unusually confident from wanting to try, she added on.

“I personally suggest that juniors who aren’t at least at the sixth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm don’t even need to try.” 

As soon as these words were said, more than half of the disciples looked disappointed. It seemed that they wouldn’t be able to get the final reward for this herb-picking mission.

However, there were also quite a number of people who were very calm. Perhaps they just wanted to collect the herbs they needed, or perhaps they were strong enough, so they were not worried about this at all.

At this time, Wan Qian spoke again, “Because the Thousand Blade Valley is too dangerous, the sect requests that you act in groups of two and support each other.” 

“To avoid trouble, you can have the people next to you as your team members. If there are no objections, we will set off immediately.” 

The disciple who had previously mocked the person next to him immediately raised his hand and gestured. He looked at the disciple who had asked the first question with disdain.

“Senior, if you want me to team up with this kid, won’t I be dragged down?”

Wan Qian only glanced at him indifferently and did not say anything. It was as if she was questioning if he had any objections to her decision.

The disciple was swept by her cold gaze. His body involuntarily shivered and he slowly lowered his hand.

“Does anyone else have any objections?”

The few hundred people were completely silent. None of them dared to answer.

“Let’s go!”

Wan Qian’s expression returned to being cold. She turned around and walked down the mountain..