Chapter Forty-Five: The Secret Medicine Garden

  After several days of summary, Su Che determined that during the noon period, the disciples who managed the extreme-grade medicine field would all cultivate and do their homework after lunch, and basically would not come to this side of the medicine field. So, on this day at noon, Su Che prepared sufficiently and came to a cliff near the extreme-grade medicine field.

  According to Xianyu prisoner 'Han Youming', a topographic map left by his old father shows that the location is roughly here.

  This place is extremely steep and belongs to the extreme position of the second-level medicine garden, which has no connection with the lower-level medicine garden. Looking down from here, it is a truly precipitous cliff, surrounded by clouds and fog, and it is impossible to judge the specific height.

  "Master, the oddly-shaped large rock in front is the most accurate coordinate point. From that rock as a starting point, head southwest for twelve zhang, then climb down over 160 zhang to find a hidden cave entrance on the sheer cliff." Old Black sighed: "A distance of 160 zhang has exceeded my detection range, and I temporarily can't see that cave entrance. Master, you need to take the risk of climbing the rock."

  "It doesn't matter, ordinary people who pick herbs can climb vertical cliffs, let alone me, a cultivator."

  Su Che followed Lao Hei's guidance, taking a strangely shaped large stone on the edge of the cliff as a coordinate to determine the final position, and began the downward vertical climb.

  The natural cliff, it's impossible to be as smooth as a mirror, you can always find protruding rocks or stone seams, it's indeed difficult to trap Su Che and other cultivators, let alone the old black's penetrating detection, which can remind Su Che to avoid those loose or rotten rocks.

  Han Youming's father had emphasized in his will that, in order to avoid being discovered, whenever entering or leaving the cave, they could not use ropes to climb, because the disciples here were all high-ranking masters of the later stages of Qi training. Once they found out about the rope hanging from the cliff, they wouldn't need to bother climbing down, they could just fly down with their flying swords and easily investigate.

  At that time, Han Youming's old father was because he had obtained a flying treasure of the spiritual instrument level, and his blood was boiling. He flew randomly outside the cliff, but due to his limited strength, he was still struggling to control the spiritual instrument treasure. Accidentally, he crashed into the cliff and instantly created a huge hole, only then did he discover that there was a cave inside, and coincidentally obtained this hidden cave mansion.

  Su Che couldn't fly, so he could only climb down bit by bit like this. It took quite a long time before he finally descended over 160 zhang in height.

  Lao Hei had already determined the location of the hidden cave entrance and reminded, "One zhang to the left below, Han Youming's old man set up some simple yet practical mechanisms to conceal the entrance. It has been twenty years since then, but these mechanisms are still effective."

  The method to open these small mechanisms is not difficult, Su Che, under the guidance of Lao Hei, successfully drilled into a narrow cave entrance that was over one person tall. This cave entrance was where Han Youming's father had blasted out, and in order to keep it secret, he did not enlarge the entrance again.

  Entering the cave, Su Che activated the mechanism and sealed the entrance. Whether entering or exiting, this entrance could not be opened for a long time, only with such caution could ensure that a secret would remain undiscovered by others for a long, long time...

  The cave entrance closed, and it was pitch black inside. However, this did not affect Old Black's detection abilities at all. Su Che still habitually took out a luminous crystal, and with a thread of true energy, he could illuminate an area of several meters.

  The cave entrance is closed all year round, but the air inside is surprisingly fresh, indicating that this cave has a natural ventilation system. Su Che was not surprised at all, because high-grade spiritual grasses have extremely strict requirements for their living environment, and if the conditions inside the cave are not good enough, the spiritual grass will not be able to survive.

  At this moment, the location is a narrow and winding natural aisle, and the ground underfoot is also rugged and uneven. Su Che holds up the illuminating crystal stone and jumps forward in a skipping manner, with a speed that is not slow.

  Lao Hei had already scouted out the path ahead and within a hundred meters, if there was any danger, he would definitely have time to warn Su Che, so Su Che could boldly display his fastest speed.

  "This path is really long!" Su Che silently calculated, having already run over 300 zhang of distance, and the front was still unfathomable. This secret cave was indeed deep in the mountains.

  Lao Hei laughed and said, "It's precisely because it was hidden deep enough that the Tianxuan Sect has been passed down for over ten thousand years, but only Han Youming's father discovered this place. The successive 'Mystic Machine Masters' were all completely unaware of its existence."

  "Indeed." Su Che also said: "Even if they are great masters in the Yuan Ying period, their divine sense cannot penetrate too deep into the rock layer."

  All of a sudden, he sprinted again for hundreds of meters in depth and finally heard Old Black extremely exaggeratingly exclaim: "Wow! I'm going to...!"

  Su Che immediately guessed that this path was about to reach its end, and Lao Hei had seen some scenery inside the mountain belly in advance, which is why he exclaimed.

  With unparalleled anticipation and excitement, Su Che's feet accelerated, like a final sprint, carrying a stream of air, whooshing forward.

  Wow!

  After rounding several bends in succession, the scene before me suddenly brightened greatly, and the illuminating crystal in my hand completely lost its use...

  Su Che slammed on the brakes and stood frozen at the end of the corridor!

  A huge cave, hundreds of feet in diameter, with countless crystalline columns hanging from the ceiling, the shortest of which was several feet long. These crystal columns all had a fluorescent interior and different colors. Countless tiny lights gathered together, illuminating the entire cave with colorful, bright and dazzling lights, like an incredibly wonderful illusory world.

  Looking again at the bottom of the cave, in the mud, between the rocks, on the stone walls, all sorts of spiritual grasses were growing everywhere. Su Che was able to identify some of them: Jiuyang fruit, Chiyan fruit, Peiyuan fruit, Blood ginseng, Purple snow lotus, Fog spirit flower, Five-color spiritual mushroom, Seven-leaf moon orchid branch...

  There are even more varieties, and for the time being, I can't recall their names.

  "What a pity! What a shame!"

  Su Che was still blinded by golden light, extremely excited, but heard Lao Hei shaking his head in the immortal prison, shouting what a pity.

  "What a pity?" Su Che asked in his heart at the same time, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down his turbulent emotions.

  "Master, haven't you noticed? Among these spiritual grasses, the majority are of high quality, with fewer medium-quality ones, but not a single top-grade spiritual grass can be seen." Old Black reminded in a low voice.

  "Is that so?" Su Che was taken aback, muttering to himself: "Just now I was thinking, the spiritual grasses I know are all high-grade and medium-grade. Those unfamiliar ones, I thought were rare and precious varieties... Could it be that they're not top-grade spiritual grasses after all?"

  "Not really." Old Black pointed to the thick stack of 'Spirit Grass Compendiums' at his feet, saying: "You need to work harder and haven't even had time to flip through these books. I've memorized them all. The spirit grass here, I can recognize every single one, indeed there isn't a single top-grade one."

  "What's going on?" Su Che was puzzled in his heart: "Although Han Youming's old man didn't describe these things in detail in his will, I always thought that the cave entrance was near the top-grade medicine field, and the spiritual grass here should be..."

  "Ah, I see! Although the cave entrance is located below the top-grade medicine field, the winding tunnel inside stretches for over a thousand feet. This means that the area above this cave is no longer part of the top-grade medicine field..."

  "Yes, master." Old Black analyzed: "Just now, I calculated the route we took to get here, and it can be basically confirmed that this cave is located directly below the top-grade medicine field. So, the reason for the formation of this secret medicine garden should be that the seeds of the spiritual grass in the top-grade medicine field were washed into the underground spring channel of the Mysterious Peak by the flood during the rainy season, and then came here with the underground spring water. Over time, it also created such a wonderful scene. The Tianxuan Sect was founded for tens of thousands of years, and such a long history can create countless miracles. This natural medicine garden hidden under the ground is one of them."

  After listening to Lao Hei's explanation, Su Che was speechless for a long time, and he felt deeply moved in his heart: "Yes, tens of thousands of years are indeed very long, and all sorts of miracles have the opportunity to appear. However, the so-called miracles in the eyes of us small people are just casual strokes of the creator's brush."

  As for what Lao Hei said, 'No extreme spiritual grass, it's a pity', Su Che didn't think there was anything to be pitied. People should learn to be content, this natural medicine garden is already a super treasure that makes one smile in their dreams.

  These spiritual herbs have been growing underground for who knows how many years, and no one has ever picked them. It seems that Han Youming's father only consumed a small portion of it, so the medicinal age of these spiritual herbs is very long.

  Su Che's heart was filled with curiosity, and he asked in his mind: "Lao Hei, Tian Xuan Sect has been established for over 10,000 years. I wonder if there is any nearly matured 10,000-year-old spiritual grass here?"

  "It's impossible, Master." Old Black explained: "Although this cave is close to the underground spiritual vein of Xuán Jī Peak, it lacks nothing in terms of spiritual spring water, air, light, and other conditions. However, after all, it is a closed-off place that does not have the conditions or opportunities for cultivating ten-thousand-year-old spiritual grass. Moreover, with so many spiritual grasses gathered together, there also exists a subtle competitive relationship between them. If any one spiritual grass becomes too powerful, it will deprive other spiritual grasses of their right to survive. Therefore, the spiritual grass here can live at most for a thousand years; when its lifespan is up, it naturally withers and dies."

  "Yes." Su Che nodded in his heart: "The Ten Thousand Year Spiritual Grass, how can it be easy to obtain? I don't know how much heavenly essence is needed, what kind of harsh growing conditions are required, and what kind of opportunities and blessings are necessary to cultivate a single stalk of this rare treasure... We cultivators are the same, the path to immortality is difficult, the competition is fierce, and achieving greatness is so distant!"

  The treasure was right in front of him, and Su Che was naturally ecstatic and filled with emotions. However, communicating with Lao Hei's mind was as fast as lightning, many times faster than normal conversation, so not much time was wasted.

  Next, it's time for harvest. So, how to collect the spiritual grass? How much should be collected this time? And how to preserve it properly?

  PS: Thank you for the evaluation vote from book friend 'Haha Haha Pao Pao'. If I'm not mistaken, Big Sister Pao also followed me from Tianjing, thank you very much for your continued support.