Chapter 139 – New Harvest
"Xumi Palace, also known as Mantuo Shen Mansion, was created by a Xumi Taoist using a myriad of the world's spiritual objects. Refined over many years, it has now become a divine artefact. Since the beginning, when the Mi Luo and Xian Luo continents were formed, there were rumours. These rumours said that whoever possessed Xumi Palace obtained heavenly law, and that whoever obtained heavenly law, would rule all lands under heaven. Therefore, the person who inherits this divine artefact must be descended from a divine bloodline. They must harbour virtuous thoughts and beneficence towards common people, otherwise, they will be devoured whole by heavenly law itself."
"Xumi Palace is divided into nine palaces and eighty one doors, the nine palaces are; Spirit Firmament, Black Firmament, Green Firmament, Blue Firmament, Scarlet Firmament, Jade Firmament, Amethyst Firmament, Highest Firmament, and Divine Firmament. Each palace has nine doors, and each of the nine doors have a set location. But if the nine doors open all together, a formation will be activated and the nine doors will disappear, changing into a palace instead."
Hexi continued to read, discovering that in addition to storing treasures in Spirit Firmament Palace, the biggest feature here is the time stagnation. Of course, this kind of time stagnation could only be useful for storing foods as it was unable to be used for cultivation, so it’s only function is keeping food fresh.
When Hexi went to look at the information detailing the other palaces', she found that the text was covered by a layer of white mist, causing it to be unreadable. It seems that the information will only be readable once the palaces are unlocked.
Moreover, looking at the meaning of this guide, it appeared that each palace served a different purpose. Inside each palace there are probably more treasures concealed, so once all of the palaces are open, there would be a large sum of money, enough that it could make one very wealthy.
Unsatisfied by the lack of information, Hexi put the guide down and picked up the remaining jade slips.
In these four jade slips, three contained the same type of content; they were ancient records from the Xumi Taoist, called the All Living Things Record. The All Living Things Record was divided into sections documenting spiritual plants, spiritual beasts, and spiritual tools. Everything that the Xumi Taoist had seen throughout their life was described inside and instead of vague details, each characteristic, as well as the locations of where they could be found, was documented with great care. It included information about all kinds of rare treasures, rare birds, and unusual beasts, there was even a clear image of each thing accompanying the jade slip.
Wasn't the All Living Things Record like a version of the Compendium of Materia Medica[1]? Hexi had been afraid that because she herself is a newbie in this different world, that she wouldn’t be able to recognise or understand anything and be considered a country bumpkin. Now she doesn’t need to be worried!
By the time Hexi had reached the last jade slip, she was positively overjoyed. Her previously neutral expression transforming into a brilliant smile.
Recorded in the last jade slip is the knowledge on how to refine pills, written by Old Man Xumi himself. Called the Overflowing Cauldron Pill Scripture, it lists the prescription for every kind of precious pill.
In her previous life, Hexi was known as an accomplished doctor with excellent medical expertise, so when she arrived in this strange cultivation world, of course she wanted to learn how to refine pills. But unfortunately in Mi Luo continent, becoming a doctor is a scarce profession. The art of pill refining is secretly passed down between family members, or between master and disciple. If you were able to find a book regarding pill refining at the market, describing its basic foundation, it would be priceless.
And yet here this jade slip regarding pill refining was found, listing in detail all kinds of medicine ingredients and prescription combinations. Combinations detailing the choosing and usage, how to pair them, contradictory medicines, and even how to refine fire attribute and temperature control. So once Hexi saw this, she exclaimed in joy.
"Mother, I'm hungry. How about you roast this egg for me to eat?"
Hexi, immersed in the Overflowing Cauldron Pill Scripture, extricated herself with reluctance as Dandan's eager voice reached her ears.
Hexi turned her head in surprise, and seeing Dandan holding something round, she couldn’t stop black lines from forming on her forehead. Isn't that the nameless egg from one of the jade boxes?
"You’re not allowed to eat that! I'll go out now to find food for you, so behave and take good care of the egg for me. If you dare eat the egg, don't ever think about eating anything in the future!"
[1]Materia Medica = Latin for Medical Material. Here it refers to a collection of medical books. For more infos.
Chapter 140 – Seeing Zhu Que Again
What a joke, this is a treasure Old Man Xumi left! Maybe one day it would hatch into a divine beast, so if she let Dandan eat it, wouldn't she cry to death with regret?
Dandan blinked it’s big eyes towards Hexi, "I won’t eat the egg. Mother, how about you take me out so we can eat together, I’ll be obedient."
Hexi's brows raised. Staring at it’s eye catching appearance, the corner of her mouth couldn't help but raise, and shaking her head she said, "For the time being, no. There are a lot of bad people outside, if they catch and cook you, what would you do? You better stay in the space for now, I will bring you delicious food."
Old Man Xumi had said that Dandan's identity will trigger greed and desire in humans. Her current strength is too weak, how could she dare to casually bring this little guy out?
Once it heard that bad people would want to catch him, Dandan's small antennae trembled with fear, leaving it no choice but to quit asking about going out.
Feeling aggrieved, it held the egg as it pitifully said, "Then Mother, you should quickly bring in food for me to eat, Dandan hungry~"
After saying that, it’s small face rubbed against the eggshell. Hexi has good vision and noticed that when Dandan rubbed against the egg, a faint light seemed to be emitted from within.
Putting aside thoughts of the egg, she picked up the two strange pills and sniffed them. Yet without being able to figure out what they were for, and not wanting to randomly eat them, she tossed them back into a jade box, deciding to temporarily leave them for now.
Withdrawing from her space, Hexi let out a long sigh of relief, her mood brighter than it had been since she had awoken.
As expected, now that her strength is increasing and she finally has the ability to defend herself, she is at last able to feel a sense of security.
Touching her grumbling stomach, Hexi got up and walked out of the room. Yet as she reached the inner courtyard, she stared blankly as before her eyes is a gorgeous palace with an exquisite garden on display.
Just a moment ago when she was inside the room, she had noted the unfamiliar decorations and furnishings, but it wasn’t until this moment, seeing this luxurious and noble residence, that she felt that her intuition was right.
When she was losing consciousness after being attacked by the assassins from Drought Demon Organisation, she vaguely remembered seeing a familiar face and hearing a grave voice in her ears that caused her to feel relieved.
Nangong Yu, that must have been Nangong Yu!
Hexi covered her chest with a hand and felt her heart palpitating incessantly, a grateful expression slowly emerging in her eyes.
If she’s not mistaken, only Nangong Yu has the Yuan Yang Fruit, and only Nangong Yu knew how to unseal her muddled dantian. Moreover, when she was being chased, the imprint on her hairpin protected her from a fatal strike, so Nangong Yu certainly would have known of her situation.
So, he saved her life in the nick of time, as well as helping her unseal her dantian.
Thinking of this, Hexi's footsteps accelerated. At this very moment she was eagerly wanting to see Nangong Yu, she didn’t want to delay meeting him for another second.
Looking for someone to ask for directions, Hexi had barely made it to the courtyard's gate, when she heard noises from outside.
The voice of the man was very familiar to Hexi as it belonged to Bai Hu, that freeloader who would come to her courtyard everyday for food and drink.
But that woman's voice…at first Hexi thought it was unfamiliar, yet as she continued listening, she felt it was somewhat familiar.
Listening to them, she heard Bai Hu's voice cold with disapproval, "Zhu Que, don't cause trouble again. This is Master's order, don't tell me you won't even obey Master's orders?"
Zhu Que? Zhu Que! Hexi suddenly realised that no wonder she felt this woman's voice was unfamiliar yet familiar, and that she thought it was faintly annoying. So as it turns out, it was that arrogant woman who claimed she came to present pills to Hexi by her Master's order, yet who tried to kill her instead.
Saying all this, the person who saved her must really be Nangong Yu!