vncnus 523. Peak Treasure Trove
523. Peak Treasure Trove
Quite a few people had entered this mountain; Xiao Yan encountered them three times during his journey. Everyone was extremely cautious, wary of one another. Xiao Yan could tell they had all acquired considerable items, but the Pill Gathering was, after all, a competition for alchemists to exchange knowledge; without any enmity, Xiao Yan naturally wouldn't be willing to commit murder and robbery.
All Xiao Yan really did was increase his speed. The harvest of the last five herbs, along with the auxiliary materials, basically met the requirements for refining a pill. Xiao Yan could roughly guess that these herbs were originally scattered throughout the Pill Realm, but now that they were all gathered together, they were much easier to find.
Although Xiao Yan had five herbs, they were all randomly collected, and these alone were not enough to refine a complete Grade 8 pill. Not to mention that there is a probability of failure in alchemy, it would be safer to prepare two or three sets of materials.
As Xiao Yan ascended the mountain, he didn't bother to look in any other directions. There were bound to be medicinal herbs in those places, but with so many people going into the mountain together, even if there were any left for him, there would probably be very little.
Why not try your luck at the top of the mountain? After all, logically speaking, the best things are usually kept at the top.
When Xiao Yan arrived at the mountaintop, he found that more than ten people were already waiting there. The weakest of them was at least a peak sixth-grade alchemist. On the ground lay the dismembered carcass of a demonic beast, blood still slowly flowing from its body, clearly the work of these people.
Even with their battle qi suppressed, a magical beast at the peak of the Dou Zong level had no chance against a group of more than ten alchemists of the sixth rank or above.
All eyes were fixed on a small clearing atop the mountain. The iridescent light shimmered on their faces, casting flickering shadows. The rare treasures growing in the crevices of the jade-colored rocks were absorbing visible energy from heaven and earth.
Ten plants!
There were ten top-grade medicinal herbs right there, and Xiao Yan subconsciously recited their names: "Mysterious Heaven Green Wood Vine, Life-Extinction Grass, Snow Bone Ginseng..."
Nine intact herbs stood there peacefully, seemingly waiting to be picked. Only the one at the very edge, a gnarled and twisted branch, was now broken, as if it had been deliberately damaged.
One of the seventh-grade mid-level alchemists was carefully releasing his soul power to probe the herbs. Just as his soul power successfully reached the top of the first herb, a sudden change occurred!
Ten ancient gray runes instantly appeared around the herbs, and an invisible pressure arose, instantly suppressing the dust around the herbs. The alchemist's soul was also instantly suppressed; the seventh-grade intermediate alchemist trembled, gasping for breath, but still firmly controlled his soul power to begin digging.
However, as the runes flowed, the oppressive aura tormented his differentiated soul power every moment.
The man's neck veins bulged like wriggling earthworms, but his movements never stopped, and the last dark golden herb was pulled up half a finger. At this moment, everyone was somewhat moved. Most of them had already tried to obtain it, but none had succeeded. Unexpectedly, this seventh-grade mid-level alchemist had actually managed to obtain one!
"Elder Huang truly lives up to his reputation as a senior alchemist; what young person can match his profound knowledge and skills?"
"I think he's just putting on a brave face..."
"Just wait and see, Mr. Huang, keep it up!"
Xiao Yan, standing to the side, slowly shook his head. He had already realized that this person had reached his limit and was about to give up.
Just as Xiao Yan had predicted, the herb had barely moved a few inches and was still outside the rune when Old Huang's face turned a deep liver color, his soul power could no longer be sustained and completely dissipated.
The herbs also fell to the ground from mid-air, but since their grade had already been raised, this level of fall wouldn't have much of an impact.
On the contrary, Elder Huang was clearly exhausted of his soul power, and collapsed slumped down after the attempt. The other onlookers were also somewhat disheartened. Elder Huang was already the strongest person here, and if he couldn't do it, the chances for the others were even slimmer.
"This restriction is too abnormal. Apart from those few eighth-grade alchemists, no one else could possibly obtain it. What was the Pill Tower thinking!" The speaker was relatively young and was quite agitated.
Upon hearing this, the experienced elders slowly replied, "The fact that the Pill Tower has gathered all the high-grade medicinal herbs this time is actually beneficial to us. Otherwise, based on past experience at Pill Gatherings, obtaining high-grade medicinal herbs is by no means easy!"
"I've already acquired quite a few good things on the way up the mountain; let those be left for someone more capable to acquire!"
"Gentlemen," a delicate-looking young man in white suddenly spoke up from the crowd, "Since we've gone through all that trouble to kill the guardian beast here, and yet we can't obtain any of the herbs, why don't we just destroy it?"
As soon as the young man finished speaking, half of the alchemists showed displeasure. Because of their profession, they all valued medicinal herbs highly, especially high-grade herbs with excellent medicinal effects. Just now, a seventh-grade alchemist with an impatient temperament had accidentally destroyed one of the herbs during his attempt, which had caused quite a bit of resentment from the others.
Destroying all these herbs in front of them right now, even if the herbs didn't belong to them, would be difficult to do.
However, these people already knew who the person before them was, and out of respect for his background and status, they didn't reprimand him harshly. Instead, they kindly advised, "Young Master Chenxian, these herbs are rare treasures of heaven and earth, and their formation is not easy. We are all alchemists, and no one knows the value of these things better than us. We don't take them because of our weak strength, but destroying them is truly unnecessary!"
Chen Xian chuckled, "I know their value precisely because I don't want to keep them for others. After all, we're here to participate in the Pill Refining Competition; influencing our opponents strengthens ourselves!"
"We'll see," Chen Xian said, changing the subject. "The Pill Tower hasn't prohibited this behavior, so why not?"
Having regained some of his strength, Elder Huang also stood up to object, saying, "Such behavior will inevitably be despised; it is absolutely unacceptable!"
"Hehe, I'm going to do it today, let's see what you can do!" Chen Xian said, disregarding everything else.
The two old men behind him stepped forward, protecting Chen Xian behind them. Chen Xian looked at the nine medicinal herbs, his eyes showing little hesitation; destroying them and taking them out were completely different levels of difficulty.
Suddenly someone exclaimed, "I met Xiao Yan in the mountains; he can definitely take them all out!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xian gave a cold smile: "If he were here, I would destroy him even more!"