Chapter 41, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, Yi Zhu

  But it is said that the Divine Farmer's Tripod was held by Shennong, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of humanity, as a treasure of great merit, with functions including creation and transformation, nourishing all living things, refining elixirs, and having wondrous uses without end.

  It is itself a top-grade pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, together with the Nüwa Stone, Xuanyuan Sword, Sui Ren Drill, Youchao Tiangong and He Shi Bi, as the Human Emperor's Supreme Treasure, suppressing the human race's luck.

  There is also a rumor that the Shen Nong Ding was originally a fragment of the Hun Dun Ding, a treasure from the time of chaos. When Pangu opened up the sky, the Hun Dun Ding could not withstand the force and broke into three pieces.

  The largest part transformed into the Qian Kun Ding, a precious vessel of Heaven and Earth. A slightly smaller piece transformed into Lao Jun's Zi Jin Ba Gua furnace. The smallest portion became the Shen Nong Ding.

  So Shennong Ding also contains the secret of creation of Hundun Ding, so using Shennong Ding to refine Dan and equipment can also achieve amazing effects.

  But in any case, it fully explains the extraordinary nature of the Shennong Ding, and what is most admired by Hong Haier are the two words "merit" and "virtue". The Ren Huang merit virtue sacred instrument, with great merit and virtue contained within. Can suppress the aura, and its power is enormous, killing without leaving any cause or effect.

  The golden cudgel in the monkey's hand, only because it was once used by Yu the Great as a measuring rod to measure the depth of water during his water-control efforts, had absorbed the merits of the human emperor and become an ordinary treasure, allowing the monkey to gallop through the three realms with great advantage.

  But the Golden Hoop Rod is far inferior to the Divine Farmer's Cauldron, what's the difference between clouds and mud? If he himself had obtained the Divine Farmer's Cauldron, he would probably have immediately increased his vital energy.

  Hong Haier thought so, but his eyes shone brightly, yet he didn't think that he had already obtained the He Shi Bi, although it was not as good as the Shen Nong Ding, it was even more mysterious, although it couldn't be refined, just covering up the heavenly machine had a kind of effect that made him feel very useful, compared to the Golden Hoop Rod, I don't know how many times it surpassed.

  This is human nature, and human nature is greedy, which can be divided into big and small. Ordinary people are greedy for small gains, and even saints cannot escape the vulgarity of comparing trifles. Although saints seem to have no desires or demands, it's just because their vision is high, and they look down on worldly things. What saints care about is the Way of Heaven, the movement of energy.

  So Zhuangzi said: The sage does not die, and the great thief does not stop! The sage is not without greed; the sage's greatness lies in his greed for Heaven!

  At this time, Hong Haier was like this, looking at the Shen Nong Ding in the great hall, but he was full of fancies, and felt that if he had the Shen Nong Ding, it seemed that everything would be there.

  His heart was surging with emotions, and he walked unsteadily towards the grand hall, his eyes shining brightly.

  "Bang!"

  As soon as Hong Haier stepped into the Temple of Shen Nong, the thick vermilion carved flower gate closed with a loud bang, which shocked Hong Haier awake.

  "Woof woof!"

  Xiao Hong saw that the Red Boy had entered the main hall, and she also planned to follow him in. However, she didn't expect to get stuck on the gate, and was even bounced off by the restrictive light emitted from the gate's mechanism, flying far away.

  "Little Red!"

  Hong Haier was shocked to see this, and he stuck his head out of the carved flower door window to look outside, only to see Xiao Hong standing at the entrance with a look of urgency on her face, but then she let out a sigh of relief.

  With both hands grasping the door handle, exerting force to push open the large gate, yet no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge. Looking around with a keen eye, he saw that the gate was heavily sealed, various magical powers intertwined and intersecting, evoking both shock and anger.

  "Roar!"

  It seemed to have sensed the anxiety of Hong Haier, and outside the gate, Xiao Hong let out a loud roar, revealing his true form as a blood beast dozens of feet tall, charging towards the gate with brute force.

  "Boom!"

  A loud crash, Hong Haier only felt that the gate emitted a million feet of golden light, dazzling his eyes, and then heard a mournful cry, and saw Little Red's huge shadow flying up.

  "Boom!"

  Another loud crash, but Xiao Hong landed on the White Jade Platform, countless array patterns lit up, and the White Jade Platform was surprisingly solid, without any damage.

  "Woof woof!"

  A burst of red light dissipated, and Xiao Hong transformed into a size of about ten feet, running up the stone steps, standing outside the door, shouting at Hong Haier, but his voice was somewhat strange, seemingly fearful of the crimson carved flower gate, not daring to get too close.

  "Haha!"

  Xiang saw Little Red doing nothing, but Little Red suddenly smiled and hurriedly signaled him to wait outside. At this moment, Little Red's heart had calmed down, since he was only locked in the grand hall and hadn't made a move against himself and Little Red, it must not be the doing of the demons from Muxian An. If his guess was correct, it must be the work of Ren Huang Shen Nong.

  At this point, Hong Haier was still calm and unruffled. Well, since he could come in, it was also a fate, there should be some benefits. Thinking about it again, he thought of the Divine Farmer's Tripod, his eyes burning with excitement as he turned to look again.

  "Ah!"

  A cry of surprise escaped the Red Boy's lips as he discovered that the Shen Nong Ding, which had been in the center of the great hall just a moment before, had changed its appearance. Although it still had three legs and two ears, with an ancient and mysterious style, its natural aura had completely changed, and the entire cauldron had become dazzlingly brilliant, with golden light flashing within it.

  What's even stranger is that the mountains, rivers, insects, fish, grass, trees, birds, beasts, sun, moon and stars above all disappeared without a trace, replaced by strange ancient seals. Just from the breath alone, it was weaker than before by at least ten thousand times.

  "Ah!"

  The little red boy let out a blood-curdling scream, his heart was torn to pieces, he felt toothache and stomach ache, everything hurt, it was as if he had an intense feeling of hatred.

  "Who stole my Shennong Ding!"

  Hong Haier loudly shouted, but regardless of everything, he rushed forward, hugged the big tripod in his arms, and looked around. But when he got his hands on it, the big tripod suddenly shrunk to the size of a fist.

  Golden light flashed, exquisite carvings, but small and delicate. Hong Haier repeatedly flipped through it, after a while, tears fell. He was certain that this tripod was the one from just now, but it wasn't the Shen Nong Tripod.

  It turned out that this tripod was also unknown what material casting, the whole body golden light flashing, engraved with countless seal characters, looking quite extraordinary. The reason why it was mistaken for Shennong Ding was because of the green light emitted from the mouth of the tripod.

  There was a faint green glow emanating from the mouth of the cauldron, which seemed to contain a special aura. Amidst the haze, a figure suddenly appeared, and a giant cauldron flashed in the green light.

  "Shennong, remember this for me."

  Hong Haier was now filled with great hatred in his heart. Without thinking, this must be the deliberate act of the Holy Emperor of Huoyun Cave. The large cauldron was just an ordinary post-heavenly spiritual treasure. If it were an ordinary person who came in, they would naturally be delighted to obtain a spiritual treasure.

  What a pity, Red Boy is who? As a traverser, naturally the vision is high, what's the big deal about the Post-Heaven Spirit Treasure? I have two top-grade Pre-Heaven Spirit Treasures, uh, okay, it seems like neither of them can be refined and used.

  But that's already something I've taken note of, it's mine. What do you mean by this, Shen Nong? You set up a restriction to make people think it was the Shen Nong Ding, but in the end, it's just a fake. Have you considered the disappointment of the treasure thief?

  Hong Haier thought about it, but his teeth were itching, so he took a small cauldron in his hand and bit into it.

  "Ouch!"

  A loud cry of pain, and the Red Boy felt that the seal script on the small cauldron emitted a powerful force, almost shattering his good teeth.

  "You're bullying me too!"

  The little boy saw this and was furious. He threw the small cauldron to the ground with a loud thud, then frantically stomped on it several times.

  "Hmmph!"

  After a long time, the red boy picked up the small cauldron again and began to study it. Well, the thief didn't leave empty-handed, pfft, who's the thief? How can a scholar's affairs be considered stealing? That's not very elegant.

  The mosquito is small but it's still meat! Hong Haier muttered in his heart, and began to observe the seal characters on the body of the small cauldron.

  "This is it!"

  Just after reading a few sentences, Hong Haier suddenly exclaimed, and his eyes emitted a scorching light again.

  "Shennong Ben Cao Jing!"

  Hong Haier's heart was filled with inexplicable joy at this moment. Okay, although the mortal world also has a circulating "Shennong Bencao Jing", that must be an abridged version, which can only be used to treat the illnesses of mortals.

  And what was inscribed on the small tripod's body was not the same, it was Shennong's lifelong insight, including cultivating Tao, refining elixirs, refining instruments and so on. Although in the vast wilderness everyone knew that the most powerful alchemy was that of Taishang Laojun, followed by the saints of various sects.

  But Shen Nong, with a mortal body, comprehended the great Tao and became the sacred emperor of humanity. Apart from his merits in teaching and virtue, his own alchemical cultivation was not ordinary.

  Even Hong Haier, who was knowledgeable and well-read in the Taoist scriptures of the Upper Clarity School, felt greatly benefited from reading Shen Nong's description of the alchemical path.

  "Hehe! Found treasure!"

  At this moment, Hong Haier was holding a small tripod in his hand, carefully reading the seal script on it, and a silly smile appeared on his face.

  "The Tao of Shen Nong's Elixir is indeed profound and subtle!"

  After a long time, the Red Boy finally came back to his senses from his deep thought, and let out a light sigh. In his heart, however, he had also begun to have some respect for the Three Emperors of the Human Tribe.

  "Huh?"

  As he flipped through the small cauldron in his hand, Hong Haier's gaze stopped at the mouth of the cauldron. The small cauldron was only the size of a fist, but inside the mouth of the cauldron was a piece of dark blackness, as if there was an infinite and profound small world. From time to time, a bright green light burst out from the mouth of the cauldron, and then turned into sparkling spots that dissipated.

  The little red boy saw this and was extremely curious. Without thinking carefully, he stretched out his hand to grab something, and unexpectedly really caught hold of an object.

  Is it a pearl? Hong Haier was puzzled in his heart, but he only felt that as soon as the object entered his hand, an infinite vitality overflowed from it and flowed into his own body.

  "Hiss!"

  The infinite vitality flowing in the meridians gave Hong Haier an extremely comfortable feeling, which was even stronger than when he touched Taiyi Yuanjing's hands earlier, and it felt somewhat like eating a ginseng fruit.

  "What is this?"

  The red boy's face was filled with an expression of disbelief, but he withdrew his hand and, under the soft light of the grand hall, opened it to take a look. He saw a single, crystal-clear jade bead that seemed like glass, with a faint, hazy glow surrounding it.