Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Poisonous Core and Golden Core

After an hour, in front of him there are dozens of spiritual plants, more than twenty fruits and around ten spiritual petals . Of the treasures grown in this hundred zhang herb field, for over countless years, the only ones left are just these!

Qin Yu was grinding his teeth out of anger, but soon let out a helpless sigh . If it wasn't for Pheasant King, he probably wouldn't have found it . Being able to eat those fruits, it is that rotten chicken's luck .

This thought calmed Qin Yu down and gathered all the items together carefully . He went to clean himself in the spring, and after tasting the clear water he found it sweet and refreshing . Even more amazing is that this spring water contains trace amounts of spiritual energy!

His eyes flashed, and let a sigh of amazement . The world is filled with wonders . At the side of the herb field there must be a natural spring, close to a small spirit vein, letting the spiritual plants in the field to absorb it and speed up their growth .

Such coincidence! This underground field is actually such a wonder .

"This heavenly place is also excellent for cultivation . " Qin Yu looks towards the hut at the edge, "I wonder who is the senior that cultivated here? And why was he here?"

Pheasant King already said there was someone that lived here, proven by the dim lighting formations on the wall .

But the owner must have left, or died .

Qin Yu opened the door and entered .

A ragged praying mat, on which a skeleton is siting . Seems that he chose to pass away like this . In front of the skeleton there are three jade slips, covered in a thick layer and dust with a dim color .

Besides this, there is nothing else in this hut .

Qin Yu straighten his clothes and bowed to the skeleton, who seems to have been here for hundreds of years ago .

Besides the fact he died a long time ago, the bow isn't just for this but also for the herb field .

Qin Yu walked over and picked up a jade slip . This is the first time he came in contact with this kind of item . Carefully he brought the jade slip between his brows and send in a small thought .

Inside there is a letter, resembling a will, left by the person on the mat .

"I, Cang Mang, have stumbled upon cultivation, became a Rogue Cultivator and walked the path of Alchemy . Heard that in the Sacred Mountain Sect of South Kingdom, there is a great Alchemist, and traveled thousands of li for the purpose of deepening my knowledge in Alchemy . I will recount how I was met with disaster and trapped in this abyss, and embraced death…"

The letter is long and neatly written . The rough idea is that Cang Mang came to the sect to talk about refining methods, but unfortunately he was plotted against and ended up in this place . Here he should have died from the pill poison, but the Sacred Mountain Sect's Ancestor didn't know that Cang Mang has a poisonous body, that allowed him to survive .

When he was alive, the Sacred Mountain Sect was quite famous . It even had a Nascent Soul expert overseeing the sect, making the entrance formation so that it is easy to enter and hard to leave . With no choice, he could only stay here . As for his talent in alchemy, he actually found a way to break down waste pills and extract ingredients, so that he could continue refining pills .

Of course, the extracted ingredients also contain pill poison, and even with his poisonous body there is a limit of how much he can take . This and the fact that he began cultivating late with a low chance of advancing, are the reasons for his sorrowful death .

This underground space was accidently found by Cang Mang . He prepared the herb field, that ended up in Pheasant King's favor . If he knew this, he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry .

Furthermore, in the jade slip there is mentioned his Alchemy insights and a precious cauldron for the fated people that found this place to use them . But in this hut there isn't anything else, yet where is the cauldron? Did Senior Cang Mang, before death, has gone senile?

Qin Yu shook his head and put down the jade slip . Even though he is mentally exhausted from reading the first jade slip, couldn't help be excited about the second one . Inside, as he expected, there are Alchemy insights, pill recipes, as well as an exquisite pill refining method, that made Qin Yu overjoyed .

What please Qin Yu the most is the Art of Medicine inside the jade slip . The contents of this Art is about countless spiritual plants, their descriptions, illustrations and, more important, how to grow and maintain them .

The Art of Medicine is like a spiritual plants encyclopedia with endless value . Perhaps it is an inheritance that Cang Mang found in his youth .

Cang Mang's talent in Alchemy and the inheritance are his most important things in his life, that made his foundation, yet he still died a bitter death, without even a burial ground . Cang Mang and Wei Wei are the same, they both underestimated the viciousness of humans, and suffered the same fate .

For Qin Yu, that just entered on the path of cultivation is without a doubt a profound lesson .

As for the last jade slip, it absorbed Qin Yu thought and the faint light immediately scattered .

Qin Yu was left pondering . This jade slip should be some sort of identification . Cang Mang, after dying, his energy dissipated and some of it entered the jade slip, branding it .

Fortunately, only he could use this jade in this place .

And what Cang Mang left behind, was in hope of giving them to his family's younger generation .

Qin Yu destroyed the jade slip containing the letter, and the other two put them in his chest, to avoid any needless trouble .

Bowed and, "Senior Cang Mang, Junior can't return the favor, and can only give you a resting place . Please forgive me . "

With the floor being of soil, Qin Yu dug a square hole inside the hut .

He carefully moved the skeleton, piece by piece, inside the hole, and as he did this two beats fell to the ground .

Qin Yu was startled!

But he kept on moving the skeleton, until he finished, and with a final bow, turned his attention towards the two beads .

One gray, covered in cracks with faint golden light inside and one pitch black, like solidified ink, with smooth surface, letting out a serene light .

What is this?

As Qin Yu was thinking, his body suddenly stiffened . On the black bead in his hand, appeared a demonic face, that bit on his hand to the bone! A surge of black energy, like water bursting from a dam, rushed inside Qin Yu's body, and with it a chaotic, ruthless will, invading his mind .

Poison!

This bead is Cang Mang's poisonous body, after hundreds of years, and absorbing all kinds of poisons it took form . After Cang Mang's death, it kept on surviving, until these few years, when it gradually gained basic awareness .

Consciousness of pure poison, ruthless and destructive!

With the little blue lamp Qin Yu managed to survive countless poisons, but it is useless in daytime . Therefore, in an instant, he was overwhelmed by poison and would have died already, if it weren't for his cultivation and strong body!

Even like this, in just a few breaths, he feels even more pain . Soreness, aches, itchiness, numbness, all kind of sensations went through him, flooding his mind . The poison from the herb garden was merely a tickle compared to this .

But anything can happen in the world, even save Qin Yu from the brink of death . The gray bead full of cracks in his other hand, suddenly bursts with a blinding golden light, with a vague image of a person sitting inside . Like a needle it burrowed inside Qin Yu and suppressed the violent poison!

Golden Core! Golden Core!

This bead, is Cang Mang's Golden Core .

Qin Yu was stiff like a statue, caused by the devastating poison and ruthless will . But still tried to resist, fighting like a cornered beast, along with the golden light .

All of this happened in Qin Yu's body, and was under continuous assault, like countless knives cutting each inch of flesh and bones . This pain goes beyond what a youngster can endure . Wanted to opened his mouth to scream, but there was no sound!

Qin Yu wanted to faint, but the pain made it impossible, and instead more distinct . Yet, at this time, a certain memory finds its way inside his mind, becoming more and more clearer .

These are Cang Mang's memories!

Whether it's the poison core or the Golden Core, they both were in Cang Mang's body, that contain his energy, being absorbed by Qin Yu in this moment, and letting him see this scene .

At that time, in Cang Mang dried dead body, the poison core and Golden Core were at a standstill . And because of this, the poison core's strength couldn't erupt . If it did, the insignificant Sacred Mountain Sect would have become a dead land a long time ago .

Like this, the Golden Core being provoked, used its energy to suppress the poison core, until it reached this state today .

Time passes, and for Qin Yu it feels like each second is endless, the excruciating pain makes him feel like thousands of years gone by .

Night finally came!

As if it sensed Qin Yu's situation, a deep blue light from his chest came out, that seemed to penetrate everything . The poison core trembled, the vicious will inside Qin Yu's body let out a shriek, and soon disappeared . As if it was crushed by and invisible hand!

The demonic face on the poison core crumbles, transforming into black energy and entering Qin Yu's body .

To be more precise, it is actually sucked in!

It flows through his body and stops in his right index finger, quickly changing its color from dark green to black . This new poison's strength incomparable to before .

Afterwards, with a light crack sound, the poison core shattered and turns to dust .

Qin Yu's body immediately collapses, with ragged breath from exhaustion and his robes wet from sweat sticking to him .

The poison core shatters and disappears, while the Golden Core's light quickly retreats and with it the powerful pressure .

With a light sound, a new crack is added to the already damaged Golden Core, and with its gray color it appears no different from a river stone . Anyone who didn't see the previous scene wouldn't think this stone belonged to a peak Golden Core expert, half a step in Nascent Soul!

The image from before, in the golden light, was actually the soul of Cang Mang that was on the verge of advancing to Nascent Soul . With newfound memories, Qin Yu now knows what Golden Core is capable and expose a bitter smile .

Cang Mang's Golden Core, is like an arrow at the end of its flight . This final effort to suppress the poison core spent its last trace of energy .

But, speaking about uses, it still has one left… deterrence force .

Using energy to fuel the Golden Core, it can then release a Golden Core expert pressure, with only one use left . Coming back from the jaws of death, he obtained a half step Nascent Soul core .

Qin Yu doesn't know if he should laugh from escaping death, or should cry at his misfortune .