Gao Yi’s voice spread far and wide. He sounded surprised as though he was in disbelief.
Liu Xiangrong was slightly stunned, and he thought, ‘How can a cultivator from the Golden Pill Sect make a fuss about nothing? He doesn’t know the rules at all.’ Nonetheless, his head thudded when he turned to look where Gao Yi was looking, and he could not help but gasp.
If he was not holding it in, he would have screamed as well.
This was because something unimaginable was happening in front of him.
The vitality of the Interspatial Spiritual Tree—the small tree that he and the other candidates had been fighting for—seemed to have improved at this moment.
It was not a significant improvement as the spiritual tree was still far from living again and growing sturdily. Even so, there was a drastic change from when it was half-dead earlier.
If something like that happened to a human, other people would suspect if it was a momentary recovery of consciousness just before death.
When the sudden change happened to the Interspatial Spiritual Tree, the professionals were extremely boggled.
“Th-this…” Liu Xiangtong’s mind was blank. He glanced at Ou Yangming and did not believe that this was the contribution of that drop of unknown liquid just now. He stammered and questioned curiously, “Is this a sudden sign of prosperity before its death?”
Gao Yi was startled, then he remarked snappily, “Brother Liu, please forgive me for being ill-informed, but I’ve never heard of medicine that can make a plant flourish in such a short time.”
Plants and humans had vastly different lives. They would also undergo a final bloom before they died, but no medicine had been so effective before.
Liu Xiangrong’s face reddened a little. He had only blurted earlier because he was too shocked, hence he had not thought it through. On second thought, he sounded quite unreasonable indeed.
Nevertheless, he could not imagine what the drop of liquid was for it to benefit the Interspatial Spiritual Tree so much.
There was not too much of a difference in terms of the spiritual tree’s outer appearance, but cultivators like them with in-depth knowledge about plants could sense the change in it.
In particular, they were in awe of the enormous change in the spiritual tree’s breath of life.
Before this, the Interspatial Spiritual Tree was similar to a dying old man; now, the old man suddenly gained energy for a new life, which allowed him to prolong his life.
Liu XIangrong, Gao Yi, and the ratman looked at each other. They could tell how astonished they all were, and they noticed the covetous look in each other’s eyes.
No matter what Ou Yangming used, they desperately wanted to get their hands on it.
Since the item could let the weak Interspatial Spiritual Tree linger on with its last breath, what if it was used on other plants? In fact… If humans or spirit beasts consumed it, what magical effects would there be?
When Mao Jianbi saw how the looks on the 3 candidates’ faces changed, he immediately understood that Ou Yangming had made a hit.
Although Mao Jianbi had a notable cultivation base, his understanding of plants was far from that of professionals. Judging from the candidates’ expressions, the great elder could vaguely tell that the spiritual tree’s situation had changed for the better, but he could not tell how favorable the change was.
He looked deeply at Ou Yangming and thought, ‘There’s a reason he’s valued by Sir Venerable One indeed.
‘This young fella has an unusually high cultivation base, and he also has unpredictable tricks up his sleeves. He isn’t even skilled in planting, but he shocked 3 professionals in the trade just like that.’
Gao Yi suddenly went forward and kowtowed to Ou Yangming. “Brother Ou, I have a presumptuous request.” He turned his hand and retrieved a bottle of pills before he continued, “These are 10 Foundation Cultivation Pills, which I refined from collecting 100 herbs throughout a decade. They’re wonderfully effective if one’s cultivating one’s foundation. Even for someone in his or her seventies or eighties, as long as one was still alive, one can easily cultivate after consuming one of these pills.” He paused for a while before he continued, “Moreover, these pills have the unique effect of prolonging one’s life, so they’re considered one of the finest pills among pills consumed by ordinary people.”
He was similar to a potter praising his pots but given the Golden Pill Sect’s reputation, he was not exaggerating it.
Ou Yangming’s heart skipped a beat. “Foundation Cultivation pills—helpful in the cultivation of one’s foundation and can prolong lives?”
“Yes,” Gao Yi responded without any hesitation, “Brother Ou, don’t worry. If even the slightest mistake occurs, I’m willing to give you a 100-times compensation.”
“Brother Gao, you’re being too polite. You’ve refined pills for a decade, so how can I not trust you?” Ou Yangming chuckled. He continued after a pause, “What do you need from me, Brother Gao?”
Ou Yangming had nothing else to say since Gao Yi presented something irresistible that moved him. No matter what the man’s condition was, he would try to fulfill it.
Gao Yi nodded and asked, “I’d like to know what you used just now, Brother Ou. If it’s possible, may I have a drop of it?”
Ou Yangming pondered for some time. The concentrated immortal liquid was rare, but it was only rare to most people. As for himself… As long as the lazy turtle was still around, he could get at least a drop or two every day. Besides, even without the turtle’s production, could he not gather as many drops of such an immortal liquid as he wanted if he returned to the secret realm and make a small cut on the Wutong Tree?
In any case, Ou Yangming yearned for Gao Yi’s Foundation Cultivation Pills very much.
Once he settled down in the Spiritual Realm, the first thing he would do would be getting Old Craftsman and the others here, and he would let them consume the pills. As old as the old man was, the young fellow would find ways for him to embark on his journey on the path of cultivation.
As soon as Ou Yangming made up his mind, he retrieved 2 jade bottles—one that contained the concentrated immortal liquid while the other was empty.
He transferred a drop of the liquid to the empty bottle and said, “What I have here is an immortal liquid.”
“Immortal liquid?” Gao Yi exchanged his bottle for Ou Yangming’s, then he sniffed the liquid and asked in confusion, “Is this really an immortal liquid?”
Liu Xiangrong witnessed their exchange, and he could not help but envy them. Whether it was the 10 Foundation Cultivation Pills or the drop of a magical medicine, he coveted them. Of course, as long as he had not gone mad, he would not dare to rob them here.
Despite that, he could not help but give up on the thought after he heard the conversation between Ou Yangming and Gao Yi. He expressed, “Brother Ou, are you trying to bully us thinking that we’ve never seen immortal liquids? Heh, how can that colorless and odorless liquid be an immortal liquid?”
Behind him, the ratman nodded in agreement. “That’s right—an immortal liquid wouldn’t look like this.”
Gao Yi was dumbfounded for some time. He inspected the jade bottle that contained the drop of liquid.
Liu Xiangrong and the ratman only took a glance, but he carefully observed the liquid.
He recalled the legends about immortal liquids, but almost every one of them had its distinguishing feature, and they had nothing similar to the liquid in the jade bottle.
It seemed like he had been tricked.
Just as he wanted to question Ou Yangming, a term appeared in his head.
‘What if it’s that thing?’
Gao Yi’s eyes lit up right away. He lowered his head and observed the liquid closely. At this point, his eyes were burning in a way that even he could not understand.
‘Is this it? Is this really it?’
The more Gao Yi stared at the liquid, the more he was convinced that it was what he was thinking about. He could not help but become agitated because it was the only thing that could let the dying Interspatial Spiritual Tree regain some life.
After a brief moment, Gao Yi looked up and said to Ou Yangming seriously, “Brother Ou, I think I know what it is.”
Liu Xiangrong and the ratman were struck dumb. They looked strangely at Gao Yi as they could not understand what he was saying.
Gao Yi took a deep breath and asked, “I just don’t understand—how did you do it?”
Ou Yangming grinned. Since Gao Yi raised such a question, he naturally guessed the truth. The young fellow did not try to keep it a secret, so he answered, “Through a Parasitic Spiritual Herb.”
“Ah! A Parasitic Spiritual Herb—it was a Parasitic Spiritual Herb!” Gao Yi exclaimed as he came to a sudden realization. He slapped his head and laughed. “Yes, it’s probably because of that. Hasn’t it disappeared in Danzhou? How did you get it?”
Ou Yangming chuckled and cast a weird look at Gao Yi.
Gao Yi understood him at once. He smiled embarrassedly and quickly apologized to the young fellow. It was not only an abrupt question, but it could also be a bad intention. Fortunately, they were out in the public. If Gao Yi had asked Ou Yangming in secret, he would not be able to cry for injustice even if the young fellow decided to kill him.
“A Parasitic Spiritual Herb?” Liu Xiangrong and the ratman looked uncertain.
Ou Yangming and Gao Yi did not converse loudly, but they did not try to keep their conversation a secret, thus everyone on the high platform heard them well.
Liu Xiangrong and the ratman finally reacted to the situation after they heard the term.
“The concentrated immortal liquid—it’s the concentrated immortal liquid!” Liu Xiangrong mumbled. The look on his face was simply indescribable.
As for the ratman, it sighed and said, “I should’ve known. Other than the legendary concentrated immortal liquid, what else can give such a marvelous effect…”
After knowing what Ou Yangming possessed, the faces of Liu Xiangrong and the 2 other candidates became unusually strange.
They thought that the young fellow was being too generous to use the concentrated immortal liquid to save the Interspatial Spiritual Tree.
In terms of value only, about 10 drops of the concentrated immortal liquid would be able to save the dying spiritual tree. Furthermore, due to the disappearance of the Parasitic Spiritual Herb, the concentrated immortal liquid had also become a legendary item, so nobody could measure its worth.
Ou Yangming looked around and asked with a smile, “Now that the test is over, do you still have anything to say about me wanting to join the competition?”