Chapitre 234: The Herb-Picking Father and Daughter
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen walked out of the cave and arrived at a desolate, empty area where no one was around.
He placed the spirit beast pouch on the ground and had the Ghost King and the Silver Corpse guard it, ready to attack at any moment. He also deployed two Sacred Gu around the perimeter, on alert for any movement.
As for himself, he retreated to a distance of about twenty feet away, so that if something unexpected happened, he could quickly use the Blood Escape Technique to flee.
With a flash of spiritual power, the two-zhang (about 6.6 meters) long giant turtle suddenly appeared from the spirit beast pouch, covered in scars.
The Ironback Turtle had been gravely injured, and after being placed into the spirit beast pouch by Daoist Qingyan, it had fallen into a deep slumber, using a unique secret technique of its species to reduce its physical consumption and draw in all available spiritual energy to heal its body.
Now, suddenly released from the pouch, its secret technique was broken, and the Ironback Turtle immediately woke up. It quickly realized that its master was already dead.
At that moment, it noticed a ghost and a corpse attacking the gaps in its shell, clearly intending to kill it.
In the sky, about twenty feet away, a figure stood, staring at it intently.
"Don't kill me, I can serve you as my master."
A voice suddenly echoed in Song Wen's mind, sounding old and weak, clearly transmitted by the Ironback Turtle.
For a moment, hesitation flashed through Song Wen's mind.
Being offered servitude by a third-tier spirit beast was a highly tempting offer.
But in the next instant, he discarded the thought.
The Ironback Turtle was far too recognizable, and anyone would immediately know that it had belonged to Daoist Qingyan. Even the spirit beast pouch it resided in had the distinct markings of the Beast-Taming Sect.
More importantly, the gap in strength between Song Wen and the turtle was too large, and the two had a blood feud. At any moment, the turtle, with its far superior cultivation, could break the soul contract and retaliate, seeking revenge for its former master, Daoist Qingyan.
Song Wen couldn't afford to keep such a dangerous threat by his side.
The Ironback Turtle was extremely weakened, and the long sword in the Ghost King's hand pierced its body without resistance, releasing a torrent of ghostly energy that ravaged the turtle's insides.
On the other side, the Corpse King also struck, tearing through the turtle's flesh with its hands and forcibly ripping off its left front limb.
Under the combined assault of the ghost and the corpse, the Ironback Turtle soon lost its life.
What Song Wen didn't notice was that the moment the severely injured Ironback Turtle appeared, the two Sacred Gu began to stir.
As soon as the turtle died, the two Sacred Gu swarmed over like cats drawn to the smell of fish, drilling into the Ironback Turtle's body and heading straight for its demon core.
The pigeon-egg-sized demon core of the Ironback Turtle quickly had a large portion gnawed away by the two Sacred Gu.
After feasting, the two Sacred Gu wobbled back into Song Wen's body, as if they were bloated from overindulgence.
Seeing the Ironback Turtle's demon core rapidly losing its spiritual energy, Song Wen hurriedly performed a corpse-refining secret technique to seal the turtle's body and slow the loss of spiritual energy.
Since the Sacred Gu were interested in the Ironback Turtle's corpse, he decided to keep it as their food.
With the Ironback Turtle dealt with, Song Wen returned to the cave.
He set up the Spirit Concealment Formation and the Nine Palaces Yin Array, then began his cultivation.
Both the Ghost King and the Silver Corpse were severely injured and needed to be properly nurtured to recover.
The materials the Ghost King required for healing were mainly yin souls and various ghost path spiritual items. Song Wen had obtained quite a few of these from loose cultivators like Jing Lu, making them perfect for the Ghost King's recovery.
TL: Jing Lu mentioned in Ch196.
As for the materials needed for the Silver Corpse, Song Wen also had no shortage of corpse path items.
After refining both with the appropriate materials, the Ghost King settled in the Eight Banners Ghost Soul Flag, while the Silver Corpse rested in the Corpse-Nurturing Coffin to recover slowly.
Song Wen then calmed his mind and began meditating for cultivation.
The Longevity Technique had only been at the Foundation Establishment stage for six months, and just as Song Wen had barely stabilized his cultivation, he made another rapid breakthrough, advancing to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.
However, advancing too quickly in cultivation could lead to an unstable foundation.
Song Wen needed prolonged meditation and cultivation to solidify his progress.
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Six months later.
A man and a young woman appeared by a rugged, rocky cliff.
The man looked to be in his forties, with the cultivation level of the third layer of Qi Refinement. His figure was somewhat thin.
The young woman, around sixteen or seventeen years old, had a cultivation level of the second layer of Qi Refinement. She was petite and charming.
"Father, look! It's Wind Spirit Grass!"
TL: Previously translated as "Wind Spirit Flower" in Ch99.
The young woman exclaimed in delight, excitedly pointing towards the edge of the cliff while waving her hands.
The middle-aged man followed her gaze.
About twenty zhang (approximately 66 feet) down the cliff, two stalks of spirit grass, about an inch tall, swayed gently in the wind, growing from a crack in the rock.
Judging by their appearance, these two stalks of spirit grass were at least fifty years old.
Wind Spirit Grass was a mid-grade first-tier spirit herb, and these two plants were worth at least twenty spirit stones, which was a considerable sum for low-level rogue cultivators like them.
The man took out a rope and tied one end to a large boulder on the cliff's edge, securing the other end around his waist.
Having spent many years gathering herbs, the man was well aware that this seemingly calm cliff could hide unknown dangers.
Strong winds could arise at any time, and venomous snakes or insects lurking in the cracks could deliver a fatal bite. With the rope tied securely, at least he wouldn't have to worry about panicking and falling to his death if something went wrong.
"Qingqing, wait here for me. Don't move around. I'll go down and pick the Wind Spirit Grass."
"Mm-hmm!" The girl, named Qingqing, nodded eagerly.
The middle-aged man moved deftly, like an agile monkey, climbing down the steep cliff face.
Qingqing paced anxiously at the top, feeling a mixture of joy and worry, concerned for her father's safety.
She would occasionally lean over the edge to check on his progress.
Before long, the middle-aged man reached the crack where the Wind Spirit Grass grew and easily picked it. Just as he was about to store the herbs in a jade box, he heard his daughter let out a sudden, heart-wrenching scream from above.
Looking up, he could no longer see his daughter, but her cries for help echoed down to him.
The man's expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, he produced a yellow talisman, activated it with spiritual power, and soared upward.
It was a flight talisman, the only mid-grade first-tier talisman he had, kept for life-threatening situations.
When the middle-aged man reached the top of the cliff, he saw that the spot where they had been standing had collapsed, leaving a hole about a zhang (3.3 meters) wide.
The hole was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
"Qingqing, Qingqing..."
The man called out loudly while flying down into the hole, disregarding any potential danger that might be lurking inside.
The hole wasn't a straight drop; it twisted and turned. At some of the bends, he could see fresh scuff marks, clearly left behind when his daughter had fallen.
(End of the Chapter)
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone