Chapter 670: Herb Field
Hui Yue nodded his head. His friends all supported him, and he could not help but feel blessed because they were with him. Alone, this mission would have been many times more difficult, but having them with him and seeing their unfaltering trust in him made him feel invincible.
At the same time, though, this trust made him worried. What if he made the wrong decision? What if, because of what he decided, they all met their death here, or got trapped in a world for a long time? He felt the pressure, but every time it became too much, one of his friends would notice, step forward, and calm him down.
“We are here because we wish to be here! Don’t worry about our fates! Whatever happens, will be our destiny.”
Hearing this always made Hui Yue feel more at ease, but he could never take their lives for granted, and he wished to show that he was indeed worthy of their friendship and trust. He wanted to prove to them that everyone could and would come back alive.
Unfortunately, the Archaic World was no place to take a stroll; it was filled with danger at every turn. If he wished for everyone to survive, it would require much more than just wishes; he had to prove himself through his actions!
“Okay, this is going to be much more dangerous than what I had originally thought,” Hui Yue said with a frown on his face.
“The difference here in the Ancestral Worldpower that surrounds us is much greater than we are used too, and we will be in for a big problem if we encounter enemies who live here.”
“Before we enter a world, we need to get used to this new pressure.”
Having said that the others nodded their heads and no one objected as the shuttle moved further and further into the middle area of the Archaic World.
Worlds had been numerous in the outer perimeter of the Archaic World, but now that they entered into the middle area they found that even more worlds were present.
It was as if the entire void was filled with various worlds, and the further in one traveled, the more worlds they would find.
These worlds were filled with treasures, and they were the perfect place to go hunting for sentient treasures or supreme herbs, but the risks that came from the treasures here was as high as the price they could get for them.
During this time the shuttle floated through the void, allowing for them to get used to the Ancestral Worldpower's pressure, they came across a few groups which consisted of two or three experts.
These groups were the truly hidden dragons of the Archaic World. They were the absolute strongest in the area and only they dared to face the danger of the middle region.
It was near impossible to comprehend three major daos, but the galaxy was vast, and experts of this level could be found here. Although it was extremely difficult, Hui Yue was not the only one who had succeeded, and many of the experts in the Archaic World’s middle area had also comprehended two or three major daos.
These experts were the old masters of past eras. Their fame had at one time shook the entire galaxy, and their performance was not something anyone could look down on.
Pei Ziqi was one such reclusive master, and she recognized many of these supreme experts.
“Oh, the Blood Fist, Chen Ji,”, “Wait, that is Old Han!”, “What is the Myriad Sword Expert Wang Long doing here?”
Every time they came across the more famous experts, Pei Ziqi would say their names in astonishment, and then after a bit of pressure from the others, she would talk about their feats and what accomplishments had skyrocketed them to fame.
“The Archaic World is not only a treasure trove for those who wish to earn money,” Pei Ziqi explained one day when they were trying to adjust to the pressure. “Many experts who have reached a bottleneck in their cultivation will come here in an attempt to improve their understanding of the dao, increase their Ancestral Worldpower pool, or hope for a lucky break that can make them stronger.”
“Because of this, it is not hard to find hidden dragons around, and we will need to be extra careful in the middle area because of this.”
“These experts are sure that the pressure of life-threatening fights can rouse their potential, and they know that everyone who comes to this area is stronger than the average cultivator. For this reason, there are some who will fight anyone they come across.”
“But even still despite everyone's strength, many of them die here in the middle area either from being killed by other experts or from the dangers that lurk in the void and the many realms and worlds.”
Hui Yue nodded his head. It made sense that those who had been stuck with their cultivation would come here to look for a lucky break. It was exactly what the Alchemist God had done when he was stuck on his path of alchemy.
“This is dangerous,” he mumbled to himself as they all got used to the pressure. Hui Yue was now incredibly alert after hearing what Pei Ziqi said.
Fortunately, their rather large group of people was a strong deterrent. Although the experts they came across sent long glances towards these people and an eager fighting spirit arose in their eyes, no one acted on their temptation.
“We are okay now,” Xiao Ning said as he moved forward towards Hui Yue as the white-haired young man nodded his head.
He could feel that their bodies had now gotten used to the Ancestral Worldpower's pressure. Day in and day out for the last couple of weeks everyone had been sparring with each other to get used to fighting under the strange pressure. They got used to moving in this new environment and once again became proficient with their attacks.
“In that case, let's move out,” Hui Yue smiled. He too had been sparring with Pei Ziqi every day, and although he had been beaten black and blue at the start, his ability to fight had gradually become better and better. This caused him to completely avoid injuries by the end of the few weeks they had spent getting used to the Ancestral Worldpower’s pressure.
The fights between Hui Yue and Pei Ziqi were often watched by the others on the shuttle, and some snickered while others felt sorry for Hui Yue. It was clear that Pei Ziqi had been in the middle area of the Archaic World before, and she needed a lot less time to adjust than the others.
Still, under her relentless attacks, Hui Yue had gained a brilliant understanding of how to fight in this environment. In the end, he and Pei Ziqi were evenly matched.
Their shuttle, which had been floating through the void this whole time, slowly started moving again. This time it moved towards a nearby world, and as they reached it, they entered right away.
This world was beautiful, and they had landed right in the middle of a herb garden. Hui Yue’s heart was beating rapidly because as far as he could see, there were just herbs and plants. Was this the destination they had been looking for?
The others were equally thrilled, but no one dared let down their guard as they observed everything happening around them.
“While we are here, let's take some herbs,” Hui Yue said. Although they were not going to seek out treasures, when they arrived in the middle of a field filled with rare herbs, it was impossible to not want at least a little bit of the treasured herbs.
“Don’t clear out all the herbs. For every root you take, leave two so that the plants will continue to grow here.”
No one complained about this. There were so many herbs that they would get a great deal anyways, and even if they harvested plants for a full year, they would be incapable of harvesting all the plants that they could see.
“Amazing! These plants are all extremely rare! Some of them are even thought to be extinct outside of the Archaic World,” Hui Yue exclaimed thrilled.
He needed many of these herbs to concoct the pills he had gained the formulas for from the Universe Box, but he had given up on finding them previously. A few could be found at the underground marketplaces around the galaxy, but the majority were simply impossible to get a hold of since they only existed in the Archaic World. Even then, these plants were extremely rare in the outer perimeter.
“I never thought I would find such a harvest. Could it really be that we found the right place?” Hui Yue was getting more and more certain that this was indeed the right place, but as the days went on, they moved further and further into the herb field and sadly found that it came to an end.
The herb field was large and took up a great amount of space, but it was far from being as big as the entire world. This disappointed Hui Yue, but he did not give up.
“There is still a chance that the Alchemist God travel passed this world and because of the brilliant herb field, it could have tempted him to stay for some time.
If he had been here, he might have left some clues behind. He might even have stayed behind and concocted pills here instead of continuing his pursuit of the sentient pill.
‘The likelihood of that is very low,’ Lan Feng commented. ‘He arrived in the middle area for the sake of finding the sentient pill and to increase his abilities. He does not gain much more from these herbs, and at the time he had vanished, they were not as rare as they are now. He could easily get his hands on the herbs if he wanted. So although he might have been moved by the herb field, it would just be a passing interest. He would not stay here when his goal was to find the sentient pill.’
What Lan Feng said made sense, and it also caused Hui Yue to awaken from his dream. He wanted to find the Alchemist God as soon as possible, and because of this, he had allowed himself to be delusional and hope that the Alchemist God was still here.
“Well, either way, there might be some signs left behind by him. We will stay here for some time and explore. If we can find even the smallest clues, then we will be lucky. If not then we will move on and try the next world. All in all, we will not lose anything due to the herbs we can pick up here. They are treasures worthy of our time.”
Saying what they would do, Hui Yue started scouring the area. If the Alchemist God had indeed been to this world, then it was certain that he would have been at this herb field, but no matter how much he looked, he could not find any traces of him.
Sighing, Hui Yue walked the entire way around the herb field without finding anything. A process that took him an entire five days!
By the time he had reached all the way around, he saw a small hut in the distance. His eyes gleamed and his spirit rose. Someone had lived close to the field, yet how had he not noticed this before?
“Look at that!” he exclaimed as he pointed to the hut, and the others looked at him with a confused expression on their faces.
“Look at what?” Pei Ziqi finally asked with a sigh, causing Hui Yue to frown.
The only one who had walked past the entire field was Hui Yue. The others had stayed in the herb field harvesting plants. At first, Hui Yue had not seen the hut, but now after walking all the way around, it was suddenly visible to him.
Hui Yue felt puzzled, what kind of secrets were hidden within this hut that only certain people could see?