Chapter 4: Struggle for the Spirit Medicine

  A year has passed in a leisurely manner.

  Inside the room, a man with shoulder-length hair and wearing a green robe sat cross-legged. His hands were playing with a piece of celadon stone, his eyes fixed on the words on it, and he muttered to himself: "Chi... what kind of chi are you after all?"

  This bluestone strip was picked up by him in the stone cave inside Mount Everest at that time. At that time, he just thought it was an antique and wanted to bring it back home for experts to study. However, after staying in this world of Juntian for a full year, he always felt that this bluestone strip seemed to have some extraordinary place, but couldn't find out where the extraordinary place was.

  "It's probably just a leftover from a broken artifact, let's keep it!" He shook his head and sighed, then suddenly flipped his hand over, putting the green stone strip into his body, placing it in his dantian.

  No, he is now a master of the Qi Sea realm. To open up the Qi Sea, no one knows how much suffering he has endured, thousands of knives and millions of cuts? Ten thousand arrows piercing his heart? These sufferings are nothing to him now, like being bitten by ants.

  For a whole year, every time he guided the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body, it was as if tens of thousands of snakes were tearing at his skin, flesh, muscles and bones... And he also went from initially feeling unbearable pain to gradually becoming numb. Just a month ago, he felt that his qi sea had grown large enough, wanting to build a heavenly ladder connecting the lower dan tian and middle dan tian, something unexpected yet reasonable happened: as soon as he activated his magical powers to 'build' the heavenly ladder, his flesh, internal organs would be severely damaged!

  He tried again and again, but was also injured again and again, until he finally gave up yesterday. Of course, what he gave up on wasn't cultivation, but continuing to build the heavenly ladder!

  During this time, Mu Qingling had also come to see him several times, only each time she came with full of hope and left with disappointment. Every time Huo Ran saw Mu Qingling's eyes filled with complex emotions, he felt a sense of suffocation, and it was this feeling that made him repeatedly pick himself up and comfort himself that he would definitely be able to continue cultivating.

  In order to continue his cultivation, he had flipped through countless ancient books, especially those about the legends of the mainland, and finally found a solution - the elixir!

  Rumor has it that in this world, there exist several divine medicines with the effect of reviving the dead and reversing heaven. The saying "life and death are just a matter of flesh and bones" refers to these divine medicines! What's more, even those great emperors who were crowned as "invincible", they also yearn for these divine medicines. Not a few great emperors relied on the divine effect of these medicines to revive at the end of their lives and extend their own glory.

  The elixir of immortality can bring a person back to life, let alone just change one's physical body?

  "Panacea... Elixir of Life..."

  He shook his head and smiled, thinking that in the past, Qin Shi Huang had gone to great lengths for an elixir of immortality, and now he was also seeking something almost as non-existent. He thought to himself that in this world, even emperors who were close to being immortal feared death, and at the same time, they cherished rare things. What's more, this thing not only was scarce but also had a divine effect that went against heaven, so it must be something that ordinary people couldn't obtain. But no matter what, this was his only hope, so from today on, he decided to go to the back mountain of the Mu family every day to search for medicine.

  Of course, if there were any immortal medicine in the back mountain of the Mu family, it would have been taken away by the older generation of the Mu family long ago. How could it be his turn? He just wanted to try his luck and find some spiritual medicine that was a bit older, which would still be good for his body.

  With the idea of having a pie fall from the sky, he suddenly gathered his things and went out.

  Along the way, they met many people, almost all of whom gave Huo Ran a cold shoulder and some even jeered at him! All because Huo Ran's reputation as a waste had long been spread throughout the outer reaches of the Mu Palace, especially in the Taihe Hall area.

  Whether it was ridicule or disdain, Huo Ran didn't take it to heart. These people looked down on him, and he looked down on them just the same! They had good qualifications but were used to being inferior and willingly became servants of the Mu family! In Huo Ran's opinion, these people were despicable!

  "Hey...... isn't that Hao Daxia? What's going on, is Hao Daxia leaving?" A gloomy young man raised an eyebrow and exchanged a sly glance with his companion, his face full of mockery.

  He glanced at the gloomy young man with a sudden movement, smiled slightly, and then left on his own.

  This young man named Mu Ke, was not originally a member of the Mu family, but because his cultivation speed was still decent, he was granted the surname 'Mu', following the same logic as when emperors in ancient times would grant their imperial surname to favored ministers. Although Mu Ke's cultivation speed was still decent, his personality was narrow-minded and petty. At this moment, he thought that Ho Ran, who was of a lower status than himself, was ignoring him, and with a fierce glare at Ho Ran's back, he said in a low voice: "Ho Ran, you piece of trash, I'll make you pay sooner or later!"

  Since he had already made arrangements with Muhe, also known as River Uncle, no one stopped him along the way. Huoran quickly walked out of the back door of the Mu Mansion and saw a majestic high mountain in front of him, estimated to be at least 2,000 zhang tall. Behind the green mountain, there was a pillar that seemed to have no top, even if it was thousands of miles away, he could still feel its majestic and sacred aura being emitted.

  "The book says that after crossing this mountain, it is a forbidden place in the realm of Jun Tian. Thinking back to the description of the forbidden place in the book, Huo Ran couldn't help but shiver and muttered to himself: "It seems that I still need to be careful, otherwise, if I don't find the spiritual medicine, I might end up losing my own life, what a joke!"

  As he spoke, he took a deep breath, strode forward with a big step, and rushed towards the high mountain with one stride for every ten feet.

  The cultivators of the Qihai realm cannot fly in mid-air, but even so, Huo Ran's current speed is not much slower than that of a car racing on the highway on Earth.

  When he arrived at the foot of the mountain, Huo suddenly stopped running and began panting heavily.

  "I'm exhausted... I'm going to die from exhaustion. It seems that my body is really weak, even after reaching the Qi Sea realm, my physical body still can't keep up with the realm!"

  At this time, the mana in his dantian had not been consumed much, but his body was already exhausted. After resting on the spot for a while, until the soreness disappeared, he stepped up to the majestic green mountain one step at a time.

  In fact, this mountain is equivalent to the Mu family's medicine mountain. Many of the spiritual medicines on it were cultivated by the Mu family themselves, all for the purpose of benefiting future generations. Since Mu He had already reminded him beforehand, Huo Ran's goal this time was a spiritual medicine that was over a thousand years old.

  "Hmm... that's probably a 300-year-old fire spirit mushroom, that one is a 500-year-old clear heart grass, and that one is..."

  Huoran's hands grasped a boulder, and his eyes fell upon several stalks of spiritual medicine whose age was too young to be picked. Helpless, he could only continue climbing upwards. His magical powers circulated through his ten fingers, which instantly became as hard as iron, and then fiercely stabbed into the rock...

  This is a cultivator of the Qi Sea Realm. Not only does his physical strength exceed the limits of ordinary people, but once he mobilizes his spiritual power, he will completely surpass and leave behind the gap between him and ordinary people!

  Half a time had passed, and Huo Ran climbed to a height of 100 meters. He saw dozens of spiritual herbs, but none of them were over 1,000 years old, which made Huo Ran feel stifled and secretly thought that his luck was truly unmatched in its rottenness. Of course, he also knew that as the medicine mountain of the Mu family, the spiritual herbs with sufficient age had long been picked by others, so it was not his turn to pick them.

  "It smells so good!"

  A moment later, Huan Ran, who was lying on the rock like a gecko, sniffed lightly and suddenly caught a whiff of fragrance that made his spirit shake. He hastily looked around to find the source of the scent.

  "It seems like it's inside the cliff above..."

  He looked up at a huge boulder protruding three feet above, and without hesitation, he quickened his climbing speed, using both hands and feet, and in the blink of an eye, he climbed onto the boulder.

  "This is..."

  Just in front of five zhang outside the cliff, a red flower that is exceptionally similar to the Manjusaka on Earth continuously emits a refreshing fragrance, making Huo Ran drunk with delight.

  "Bloody Tears of the Demon Flower!!!"

  When he saw this exceptionally gorgeous red flower, his eyes suddenly burst with sparkling light. He recognized this flower, which was recorded in ancient books as the "Blood-weeping Demon Flower". It had the effect of easily defeating marrow and increasing lifespan. Moreover, judging from its appearance and the fragrance it emitted, it was estimated to be at least 5,000 years old!

  "Five thousand years of the Blood-weeping Flower!" Huo Ran let out a sigh of emotion, you know this Blood-weeping Flower is not rare, but its most effective petals only bloom for a few moments, it can be said to be fleeting! If one misses the moment when the flower blooms, then it's just an ordinary flower, even if picked, it's useless.

  Huo Ran never thought that his luck would be so good, not only did he encounter the 5,000-year-old Blood Tears Flower, but it was also in full bloom! He believed that as long as he consumed this Blood Tears Flower, his cultivation of the Heavenly Ladder would be completely problem-free. Even if he still couldn't cultivate, wouldn't it at least increase his lifespan?

  "Bloody Tears of the Demon Flower!!!"

  Just as he was about to go forward and pick it, a sudden cry of surprise sounded from behind him. He frowned and turned his head back, just in time to see Mu Ke climbing onto the giant rock, standing right in front of him.

  "Holy cow! I didn't expect a useless person like you to have such good luck, looks like following you was the right choice, hahaha!!!"

  Mo Ke climbed up with a manic laugh, his eyes moved to the open and gorgeous Blood Tears Flower, and the greed in his eyes was not hidden at all.

  "The Blood-weeping Flower is mine, don't even think about getting any ideas!" Seeing Mu Ke's expression, Huo Ran couldn't help but guess that he was thinking of stealing the Spirit Medicine. He coldly said: "Don't forget, the Mu family has a rule, whoever finds the Spirit Medicine first gets to keep it, or do you want to taste the Mu family's punishment?"

  Upon hearing Huo Ran's words, Mu Ke didn't restrain himself but instead became even more arrogant. He pointed to the empty surroundings and sneered, "Look around, is there anyone else here? Who can confirm that you were the first one to find the demon flower?" After a pause, he gave an evil smile and said, "Even if someone finds out that I snatched the demon flower, would the Mu family punish me for the sake of a useless person like you?"

  "It won't." To be honest, even if Mu Ke had snatched the demon flower, the Mu family wouldn't pursue Mu Ke's responsibility for the sake of this useless person who couldn't cultivate to the Heavenly Ladder realm. After all, not expelling him from the Mu Manor was already a great favor. Huo Ran saw this point very clearly.

  Snatching the Rejuvenating Elixir! This was not something that Huo Ran hadn't thought of before, but with his current cultivation at the Qi Sea Realm, could he really snatch it from Mu Ke who had already reached the Five Elements Realm? Struggling desperately, for a matter that didn't have even half a chance of success, if one still struggled desperately, then this life would truly be in vain.

  Death is acceptable, but death without value is not.

  "You still have some self-awareness!" Mu Ke sneered with a smile, and then walked straight towards the beautiful Blood Tears Flower that was swaying gently in the breeze like a dancing beauty.

  The entire flower was three feet tall, its whole body as if infused with fresh blood, bright red and dripping. Mu Ke's trembling hands slowly reached out, wanting to pull the demon flower up by the roots, while secretly thinking that if he took the demon flower, he would definitely break through to the Five Elements realm!

  He could even imagine that if he broke through to the Five Lines Realm, relying on his own talent, he would definitely be recruited into the Mu family's inner door. At that time, there would be more cultivation resources, and in the future, it was not impossible to make a name for himself!