Chapter 16: Poisonous, Definitely Poisonous

The amount of Scarlet Sun Venomous Dragon Saliva was steadily decreasing, and the area Li Changshou had explored was growing wider.

His search in areas mentioned in ancient texts yielded no results, and his exploration around the Chaotic Miasma Treasure Forest was equally fruitless.

Three days after coincidentally saving Youqin Xuanya, Li Changshou still hadn't found the Immortal Dispel Grass. Instead, by venturing deeper into North Continent, he had gathered quite a few useful poisonous herbs and spiritual medicines.

He even caught two precious 'Corpse-Burning Bugs', which he could take back to refine into Corpse-Calcining Powder, increasing his methods for handling corpses to twelve.

Although he felt a slight annoyance in his heart, he never forgot that he was in a dangerous place like North Continent, and his vigilance never wavered.

Logically, although the Immortal Dispel Grass is precious, it is quite an unusual poisonous herb; there should be little demand for it.

Yet, all the areas he had searched met the required growing conditions for Immortal Dispel Grass, but he couldn't find even a single seedling...

This was truly bizarre.

Had he spent decades frantically squeezing out time from his cultivation to read ancient poison and medicine texts, only for them to be false?

'As expected, my master's luck is just too poor.'

Li Changshou could only comfort himself this way, expelling the reluctance in his heart. He began to consider when he should return.

He would go another two hundred miles to the west!

If he still couldn't find it, he would have to give up and then try looking for Immortal Dispel Grass for sale in that town... though the hope was even slimmer.

Moving swiftly, Li Changshou left trails of afterimages with his feet, determined to complete this final leg of his search.

After searching fifty miles, there was still no harvest.

After searching a hundred miles, he circled the entire area where Immortal Dispel Grass might grow. Still no trace of the Immortal Dispel Grass. However, he unexpectedly found several precious spiritual medicines for preparing 'Soft Immortal Powder'...

See? The poisonous herbs he needed were practically lining up to jump into his storage artifact. But for the poisonous herbs useful to his master, he couldn't even find a single strand.

This was probably the difference in character and aura.

Without the Immortal Dispel Grass, he naturally couldn't refine the 'Immortal Fusion Pill'. This path was a dead end.

Fortunately, he had previously prepared backup plans two and three. Although neither was as reliable as the 'Immortal Fusion Pill', they could still help his master somewhat.

A hum reverberated.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth fluctuated; someone was engaged in combat.

Li Changshou's spiritual sense immediately extended towards the source of the fluctuations. However, the miasma ahead was too dense, and the poisonous gas was also turbulent, limiting his effective detection range to just over twenty miles.

The combat was happening thirty miles away, and his spiritual sense captured several figures moving swiftly.

If he went further, would he reach the area where 'rogue cultivators' were active?

Many Qi Refiners were active on the borders of North Continent. They usually ventured thousands of miles deep into North Continent to find precious exotic flowers and fruits, which they would then barter for cultivation resources.

For example, the previously killed 'Thorn Dove', who had already cultivated to the Dao Return Realm, would, when not engaged in dirty work, earn cultivation resources through such arduous tasks.

Li Changshou immediately felt an urge to retreat.

Stopping his movements, Li Changshou hid behind a rock. He pondered carefully.

The areas recorded in ancient texts had already been explored, and Qi Refiners were engaged in combat in the direction he was heading. When would be a better time to retreat than now?

As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall. This trip to North Continent could only end with regret...

Suddenly, Li Changshou's spirit stirred!

His extended spiritual sense accidentally caught sight of something: on top of a cliff twenty-three miles to the northwest, three unassuming emerald green sprouts were gently swaying!

They resembled orchid grass in shape, but were much shorter. Their leaves bore mysterious patterns, and each sprout was enveloped in a faint glow.

Immortal Dispel Grass!

The Immortal Dispel Grass, capable of poisoning Golden Immortals to death and severely injuring True Immortals' nascent souls!

Moreover, judging by the number of demonic patterns on them, the one in the center was at least three thousand years old, and the companion sprouts on either side were also over a thousand years old!

Li Changshou almost leaped out from behind the rock.

But he immediately chanted a clear-heart spell, quickly calming himself down. The herb wasn't in his hands yet, so he couldn't rejoice too soon.

Calm down. He could only celebrate a little after getting the herb and safely leaving North Continent...

No, that wasn't right either. Refining pills was also very troublesome. At the very least, he should wait until he returned to the mountain and successfully refined the Immortal Fusion Pill. Only then would it be not too late to be happy.

Let's do this!

Employing Earth Escape, Li Changshou burrowed underground directly towards the Immortal Dispel Grass. At the same time, his spiritual sense spread out within the earth, analyzing the environment around the Immortal Dispel Grass.

Next to the Immortal Dispel Grass was a bare old cypress tree... Hmm, he could switch from Earth Escape to Wood Escape to approach the Immortal Dispel Grass.

But a poisonous herb thousands of years old would be a great tonic for venomous beasts. It was impossible for there to be no creature guarding it.

Sure enough, Li Changshou soon discovered a Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake.

This snake was cunningly hidden beneath the cliff. It also knew how to conceal its aura. Its three-zhang-long body blended into the rocks, and its emerald green scales emitted an unusual eerie glow.

If Li Changshou hadn't meticulously checked every inch, he wouldn't have discovered this venomous creature blended with its environment.

The center of the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake's head already had a bulging fleshy lump. It looked a bit unsightly and could easily evoke some bold thoughts.

Its triangular snake head had begun to lengthen, and its body was also thicker than that of ordinary snakes.

Clearly, it was on the verge of transforming into a Flood Dragon and achieving immortality.

And the oldest Immortal Dispel Grass should be the key to its transformation into a Flood Dragon and achieving immortality. It's just that the toxic potency wasn't enough yet.

'This won't be easy to handle.'

Li Changshou also noticed that there were many white bones beneath the cliff, many of them human skeletons.

He couldn't fight head-on; he had to rely on strategy.

This venomous creature, nearly immortal, possessed formidable strength. It was inherently a highly poisonous demonic beast. Although he carried nine different types of poisons, each with distinct effects and capable of threatening ordinary Golden Immortals, they would all be useless against it.

With the spells he mastered, a direct confrontation might not necessarily lead to defeat, but the surrounding environment was too perilous, with unstable factors everywhere.

How to outsmart it?

Use Wood Escape, grab the grass, and run?

Most serpentine fierce beasts were extremely agile, so this plan was clearly unfeasible.

Li Changshou, rapidly traversing through the earth, now fell into deep thought. His mind quickly came up with more than a dozen plans.

As he drew closer to the long-sought Immortal Dispel Grass, Li Changshou's spiritual sense also detected the combat situation further away. He took a closer look and couldn't help but choke on his breath, coughing a few times while still underground. He almost turned around and left immediately.

How did he encounter her again...?

Was this Youqin Xuanya cursed? She might as well change her name to 'Poisonous Xuanya'...

He had drawn her a map to go southwest. How did she end up here?

She was a full two thousand miles away from the expected location!

Li Changshou's mouth twitched a few times. He felt as if he had inexplicably stumbled into some blind spots of knowledge...

"Hmm? Among those pursuing her, there's the aura of an immortal?"

A flash of insight appeared in Li Changshou's mind. As his spiritual sense captured the chase and fight on that side, he suddenly had a plan to strategically acquire the Immortal Dispel Grass.

Thinking carefully, if it weren't for the combat fluctuations in this direction, he wouldn't have discovered these three Immortal Dispel Grasses.

And this location, according to his previous route planning, he would most likely not have found it.

From this perspective, he had to thank 'Poisonous Xuanya' this time.

"I saved you last time," Li Changshou muttered, "This time, I'll make a small use of you. That should make us even."

Li Changshou muttered, paused briefly in the earth, then once again used Earth Escape.

He unleashed his full magical power and suppressed his aura fluctuations with all his might. He swiftly and silently approached the cliff, beginning to observe those pursuing Youqin Xuanya.

At this moment, Youqin Xuanya was surrounded by flying swords burning with flames. Her figure was suspended in mid-air, and she was also moving towards the cliff.

The flying swords around her spun rapidly, forming an impenetrable defensive line.

But Li Changshou could tell at a glance that Youqin Xuanya was merely putting on a brave front. Her sword manipulation spell wasn't fully mastered; she only knew fixed moves and couldn't adapt on the fly, making her unable to effectively counterattack while defending.

Those pursuing Youqin Xuanya were six black-clad individuals: two at the Dao Return Realm and four at the Void Return Realm. Although they attacked with full force, their moves never targeted Youqin Xuanya's vitals, clearly indicating they intended to capture her alive.

It was also Li Changshou's good fortune that this group had two other Golden Immortals currently maintaining a Dragon-Trapping Array. A certain True Immortal over there was causing a significant commotion, which also tied up the attention of those two Golden Immortals.

'These few guys probably aren't even enough to be a snack for this Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake.'

Fortunately, two more auras were still in the air, not yet having made a move. And Li Changshou was quite familiar with both of them:

Yuwen Ling, the Grand General of the Royal Court of that certain kingdom;

and Yuan Qing, his fellow disciple from Potian Peak.

Within a thirty-mile radius, only Yuwen Ling, an immortal, had been detected. The immortal aura he had sensed earlier came from him.

Li Changshou's thoughts immediately became active.

But then again...

Why hadn't Yuan Qing, this big 'warm guy', made a decisive move yet? Why was he just dragging this on? Did he really think their Immortal Ascension Sect had no powerful individuals?

Although the Immortal Ascension Sect was considered only a mid-tier immortal cultivation sect, it was still a widely recognized Immortal Sect of the Three Religions. Even if a worldly kingdom had a few immortals guarding it, the Immortal Ascension Sect wouldn't give them a second glance.

If Martial Aunt Jiu Jiu and the five of them didn't return to the sect at the appointed time, immortals would inevitably go north to search for them. Yuan Qing and his group procrastinating like this was simply courting death.

At the end of the day, wasn't this fake 'warm guy' just coveting this fake 'iceberg's' body?

Tsk, how despicable!

In Li Changshou's eyes now, from Yuwen Ling, the immortal in the clouds, to the few people below pursuing Youqin Xuanya, they had all been labeled as 'tools' one, two, three, four...

With his spiritual sense locked onto Youqin Xuanya, Li Changshou activated a spell, using the 'Wind Whisper Charm', to directly transmit a message into Youqin Xuanya's ear.

"Considering your current facing direction as Qian position (northwest)," he instructed, "retreat towards Zhen position (east), a distance of eight chi."

Youqin Xuanya, who was currently manipulating her sword to defend against the incoming magic treasures, suddenly felt her spirit stir.

Senior Brother Changshou!

How was he here?

Although bewildered, Youqin Xuanya subconsciously followed the instructions. Stepping on her flying sword, she retreated close to the ground as two streaks of light precisely zipped past the side of her sword array!

They were a short blade and a long nail that had rapidly assaulted her, but directly missed!

"Retreat again, Li position (south), six chi."

Li Changshou's transmitted voice was slightly more urgent. Youqin Xuanya dodged again as instructed, and another two streaks of light slipped past on her other side.

Following this, Li Changshou's voice continuously entered her ear:

"Don't just stand there stunned; if you have energy, counterattack. Pay attention to your expression; don't let them suspect anything.

There's a powerful venomous creature hidden under the cliff. Lure them over and use the venomous creature to defeat the enemy.

Li position (south) three chi, then turn to Zhen position (east) five chi."

Youqin Xuanya's originally somewhat dim eyes now quickly regained their brightness.

She tightly pressed her lips together and hummed inwardly as a response.

Soon, she retreated left and dodged right, gradually becoming graceful and controlled. In the eyes of the six pursuers and the two above, Youqin Xuanya suddenly became agile.

Breaking through during battle?

She continuously dodged most of the six people's attacks. Her flying swords, which had only been able to defend, immediately found an opening and began to counterattack.

With this increase and decrease, Youqin Xuanya's pressure suddenly decreased significantly. She retreated in an orderly manner towards the cliff where the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake was hidden.

At the same time, Li Changshou had already appeared in the rock layers above the cliff, only a little over a hundred zhang away from the Immortal Dispel Grass.

The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake seemed to have sensed something. It poked its head out from beneath the cliff, cautiously observing its surroundings.

In front of the Immortal Dispel Grass was a patch of grass. A sturdy black-barked cypress tree stood sixteen zhang from the cliff edge, and its shade covered the Immortal Dispel Grass.

Li Changshou located the main root of the black-barked cypress tree. In the rock layers, he canceled his Earth Escape. Enduring the immense pressure squeezing in from all sides, he gritted his teeth and used Wood Escape, burrowing into the main root of the cypress. Concealing his aura, he decisively surged upward.

The old cypress tree: ...

Huh?

Hmm...