Chapter 158: Blood Ban Trial

Han Li understood Wu Feng's advice was well-intentioned. He reluctantly mumbled a few agreeable sounds to change the subject, finally asking about the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Brother Han, do you want to know the origin of spirit herbs like the Jade Marrow Ganoderma?" Wu Feng asked, surprised.

"Yes, Senior Brother, you've been in the sect for so many years; you must know something!" Han Li asked, his voice full of hope.

Hearing this, Wu Feng pondered for a moment before replying:

"Of course I know a little, but I advise you to give up on this idea! Not only is that place extremely dangerous, but it's also impossible to approach under normal circumstances. You can only enter it at specific times and locations, with the help of sect elders."

Initially, Han Li was delighted to hear Wu Feng knew about it, but the subsequent words surprised him, and he quickly pressed for more information.

It turned out that these types of spirit herbs had become scarce in the cultivation world long ago, disappearing entirely from ordinary places. The only remaining locations where they could be found were the so-called "forbidden lands." Since cultivators called them forbidden lands, these places were naturally extremely dangerous, often located in remote areas with harsh environments. Some were even lairs of demons, requiring constant fighting to pass through, while others were protected by ancient forbidden spells that needed to be painstakingly broken to gain entry.

For years, the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill for sects like Yellow Maple Valley in Yue State had come from the latter type of forbidden land: a place sealed by an ancient wind-attribute restriction. The restriction there was incredibly powerful, and originally, the cultivation sects had no hope of opening it. However, it was later discovered, by unknown means, that the restriction would weaken for five days every five years. During this period, if several Core Formation cultivators worked together to forcefully break the restriction, a temporary passage could be opened, allowing a certain number of people to enter.

However, when the passage appeared and all cultivators tried to enter, another unexpected problem arose. All cultivators who had already reached Foundation Establishment were blocked by another strange inner restriction, while those at the Qi Condensation stage entered unimpeded. They collected large quantities of rare spirit herbs and brought them out.

This discovery immediately caused a sensation in the Yue State cultivation world. Consequently, every five years, the Seven Great Cultivation Sects would dispatch a group of disciples below the Foundation Establishment stage into the forbidden land to gather large quantities of spirit herbs, with the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill being the absolute priority.

Initially, disciples from various sects acted independently and without conflict; for those selected, it was a great opportunity. However, as continuous gathering and plundering over the years led to the gradual scarcity of spirit herbs within the forbidden land, disputes and fierce battles between sects over specific rare herbs began to occur frequently. Several centuries ago, during one such incident, disciples even lost their lives in the fighting.

That loss of life led to the major sects completely discarding civility. They openly adopted the philosophy of "the strong prey on the weak" and "heaven and earth are ruthless," encouraging their disciples to plunder others, thereby thoroughly staining the forbidden land expedition with blood. As a result, spirit herbs gradually diminished, and the competition within the forbidden land became increasingly fierce and bloody with each successive expedition.

In recent centuries, due to the increasingly brutal battles, fewer than one-third of the disciples who entered the forbidden land managed to return alive, causing significant losses among the elite low-level disciples of various sects. This led to disciples from all sects beginning to call the expedition the "Blood Forbidden Trial," and they increasingly tried to avoid it. At one point, there was even the awkward situation where no one was willing to go.

As for forcing disciples to go, that was, of course, out of the question. This was because if a disciple wasn't genuinely committed to seeking herbs in the forbidden land, they would likely just go through the motions. Nine times out of ten, they would find a hiding spot and simply emerge safely once the time limit was up. Such incidents had indeed occurred, infuriating the higher-ups who dispatched them, but there was nothing they could do. After all, the disciples were unwilling to go in the first place; if they were forced into such an extreme danger, what could they be blamed for?

Consequently, with the Yue State sects increasingly coveting the spirit herbs but few disciples willing to risk it, all sects began offering substantial rewards to recruit disciples for the forbidden land expedition. The value of the reward was directly tied to the quantity and quality of the spirit herbs brought back from the forbidden land.

Leaving other sects aside, let's consider Yellow Maple Valley itself. Starting from the last few expeditions, the sect had explicitly stipulated that any disciple who signed up would receive a mid-grade spirit stone and a sect spirit tool as an upfront incentive. Furthermore, once spirit herbs were successfully brought out of the forbidden land, the sect would award even richer rewards based on the quantity and quality of the items. These rewards ranged from spirit stones to magic tools and spirit pills. Even higher rewards included a Foundation Establishment Pill from the sect's secret reserves, which was enough to make low-level disciples risk everything.

Such generous rewards indeed led to a surge in sign-ups for a period, but this situation only lasted for two or three expeditions before completely dying down. The bloody reality made the disciples soberly realize that these hefty rewards were not easily earned. Before the incentive of generous rewards, about one-third of participants survived the competition in the forbidden land. However, after the rewards were introduced, fewer than one-quarter managed to emerge from the "Blood Forbidden Trial." Furthermore, among those who survived, very few were able to bring back spirit herbs; most returned with severe injuries and absolutely no gains, let alone enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

It was in this situation that Han Li asked Wu Feng about the origin of several spirit herbs. Now, after hearing everything Wu Feng said, Han Li felt nothing but immense frustration. He hadn't expected that gathering these medicinal ingredients would require going to a forbidden land, fighting other sect disciples, and only then, if victorious, could he escape. Moreover, the survival rate was astonishingly low: fewer than a quarter of participants made it out of this so-called "Blood Forbidden Trial."

The risks involved were simply too great! He was no master; among Yellow Maple Valley's low-level disciples, he was merely of average skill. He possessed neither profound magic power nor powerful spells. His only reliance was a few decent magic tools and a not-so-foolish mind. Yet, relying solely on these, Han Li couldn't possibly believe he would certainly be among that surviving quarter.

In his frustration, he couldn't help but ask Wu Feng: "Why can't the immortal sects restrain their disciples and simply share the spirit herbs equally? These herbs are, after all, used collectively to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, so why must they cause such animosity and conflict?"

Wu Feng listened, then immediately replied with a bitter smile:

"You don't understand, Junior Brother. Even though the Foundation Establishment Pills are refined collectively, the distribution of the pills depends entirely on the quantity of spirit herbs each sect contributes, allocated proportionally. Under such circumstances, how can sects not desperately fight for the spirit herbs?"

Han Li was speechless for a long time.

Finally, with his mind heavy with concerns, after confirming that the next "Blood Forbidden Trial" was six months away, he left the Scripture Pavilion under Senior Brother Wu's advice and returned to the Hundred Herb Garden. For the next few days, Han Li pondered the matter listlessly, repeatedly weighing the stakes and the risks involved, trying to force himself to make a wise decision.

It was clear that these three spirit herbs could not be found anywhere else in Yue State outside of the forbidden land. Otherwise, the Seven Great Immortal Sects wouldn't need to engage in bloody battles every five years, weakening themselves internally. If Han Li didn't want to undertake such extreme danger, his only hope was that the spirit herbs could be found in other regions outside Yue State. Otherwise, Foundation Establishment would be utterly hopeless, and he would turn into a pile of bones in a hundred years or so. However, upon careful consideration, he knew that searching for spirit herbs abroad was even more incredibly remote, with virtually no hope at all.

But if he really participated in the "Blood Forbidden Trial," a mortality rate of over three-quarters was simply too high! The probability of him dying there was extremely high! This truly left Han Li in a dilemma.