In the mountains, the days and months are not marked by the sun and the moon, but by the changes in the weather, hinting at the passage of time.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the season of summer. Flowers bloomed all over the mountains, and a verdant hue permeated nearly every corner. Yet, atop the eastern peaks of the Sky Rift Valley, the snow remained unmelted, with icy rocks piled high.
Yu Ci stood at the edge of a cliff, looking as far as his eyes could see. All he saw was an endless expanse of clouds, with no end in sight. The sound of the wind was even more stirring, howling like the roar of the ocean tide. It pushed the clouds and fog, striking against the rock wall beneath his feet, as if it wanted to sweep the man on the cliff into the boundless sea of clouds.
Could this be the boundary of heaven and earth?
Even though he knew this thought was absurd, Yu Ci couldn't help but think so. From where he stood, extending thousands of miles to the north and south, the landscape remained the same, seemingly endless. This was what he had determined over the past few months, relying on his own two feet. There was no doubt about it.
This endless sheer cliff, though uneven in places, was as smooth as a mirror surface when viewed from a distance of thousands of miles. It was as if a heavenly deity had cleaved the earth in two with a single sword strike.
"Sky Rift Valley, Sky Rift Valley... A spring forms a valley, I wonder if there will be a day when the sea of clouds disperses, allowing me to see the full view of this valley?"
It was a very normal thought, but during this time, he had traveled up and down the endless cliff hundreds, if not thousands of times, and regardless of the weather, he had never seen the sea of clouds disperse.
Yu Ci had been in the Sky Rift Valley for five months. During this time, he had been busy every day, with hardly a moment of rest. Sharing his experience were tens of thousands of herb gatherers nearby, who had also come for the Shrimp Whisker Grass, or more accurately, for the generous rewards promised by the White Sun Mansion.
The White Sun Mansion was the most powerful force in the city on the sheer cliff, a major stronghold in the Broken Realm Mountain Range. It firmly controlled a vast area within a radius of thousands of miles around the city, far surpassing the Twin Immortal Sect where Yu Ci had once stayed.
Ten years ago, the White Sun Mansion issued a long-term task: to purchase the Shrimp Whisker Grass unique to the Sky Rift Valley without limit on the quantity or duration, and set up a heavy reward for it.
The rewards included gold and silver, real estate, treasure artifacts, and spirit medicine, which endlessly stimulated the dreams of wealth for people of all kinds in the surrounding area. Over the past decade, countless herb collectors, wanderers from all corners of the world, and even ordinary people, flocked to the vicinity of the Sky Rift Valley. Regardless of the towering mountains and bottomless abysses, they climbed up and down the cliffs, risking their lives for the treasures they sought.
Yu Ci was one of them. He had wandered to the city on the sheer cliff half a year ago, and was immediately attracted by one of the rewards promised by the White Sun Mansion: a unique sword crafted by the mansion's artisan master, the Three Yang Talisman Sword. This sword combined the strengths of talisman and weapon crafting, its power was secondary, what was more precious was its formation idea, which might be an excellent reference for Yu Ci's talisman progress that had hit a bottleneck.
To obtain a Three Yang Talisman Sword, one would need a thousand stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass.
Thus, Yu Ci, a man, had joined the ranks of the herb gathering workforce. The journey from Sheer Cliff City to this place was over twenty thousand miles, taking a month on foot. The search for herbs took another five months. It was clear that even longer days were to be spent here.
"A thousand stalks... I might not be able to complete it before winter comes."
Brushing off these distracting thoughts, Yu Ci steadied his mind, took another step towards the edge of the cliff, and faced the oncoming gale. With his eyes slightly closed, he cut off his breathing, and his internal True Qi began to circulate spontaneously, slowly adjusting the rise and fall of his Qi and blood. When his body reached a higher state, he suddenly reached out, groping in the void, then wiped his nose, unblocking his nostrils.
This was the Wind-catching Technique, a miscellaneous skill Yu Ci had picked up during his wanderings. Guided by the Wind-catching Technique, a mixture of scents seeped in, which he quickly sorted out in his mind, like panning for gold. Yu Ci opened his eyes and grinned, "Today is a lucky day."
With a smile, he leapt down.
The Sky Rift Valley, torn apart by the forces of heaven, its ends unseen, its depths unfathomable. Yu Ci had not found the beginning or the end of the valley, nor could he fathom its depth. He jumped off the cliff, disappearing into the mist in a blink of an eye. The branches and strange stones growing horizontally between the sheer cliffs passed by him.
Using various obstacles to slow his descent, Yu Ci eventually landed lightly on a protruding rock beam on the cliff face. Here, the unique scent of the Shrimp Whisker Grass became more intense. But through the heavy fog, it would take some time to confirm the exact location.
After lingering on the Stone Beam for nearly half an hour, with no signs of the surrounding fog dissipating, Yu Ci had already locked onto his target. Without hesitation, he propelled himself towards the dense fog.
Using the cliff wall as leverage, he quickly traversed a distance of seven feet. As he had predicted, there were no obstacles in the way. The silhouette of a giant pine wedged between the rocks in the fog became clearer and clearer. Yu Ci slid up against the cliff wall and landed lightly at the root of the tree, his movements as nimble as a cat.
As he landed, a strong wind blew up in the canyon, causing the giant pine to creak and the surrounding fog to swirl rapidly.
Yu Ci strained his eyes through the thinning fog and was delighted to see dozens of hair-like thin shadows fluttering among the layers of pine branches in front of the tree trunk. They rose and fell as if they would be torn apart by the wind at any moment, but most of them were wrapped around the trunk and branches.
That was the Shrimp Whisker Grass.
Yu Ci had to thank his biological parents for giving him a talent beyond ordinary people. That was the extraordinary sense of smell he had used before. He was born with a keen sense of smell, able to distinguish complex mixed scents and notice subtle scents that others overlooked. He had relied on this talent a lot in his daily life, and in the Sky Rift Valley, it was entirely due to this talent that he was able to move up and down in the boundless fog and accurately locate the Shrimp Whisker Grass.
The goal was within sight, and Yu Ci found his mind increasingly at peace. He didn't rush forward to pick it, instead, he took out the Divine Bronze Mirror from his sleeve, activated the Green Spirit Guide, and began to draw talismans in the void.
Talismans, formed by the condensation of five-colored essence into characters, were the amalgamation of myriad truths, the total control of spirits, and the channeling of the power of celestial bodies and earthly objects. There existed the Cloud Thunder Script, the Dragon Phoenix Scripts, and the Monster and Ghost Scripts. All were imitations of the surrounding forces, used for connecting with nature.
Over a decade, Yu Ci studied the art of talismans every day. The "Shangqing Star Secret Talisman Book" that he had taken from the Twin Immortal Sect was his sole source of systematic knowledge. Although there were nearly a thousand talismans in the book, he was only proficient in about ten, but he had the various records in the book memorized by heart.
The "Shangqing Star Secret Talisman Book" recorded three sets of Charm Script Systems, namely the Cloud Thunder Script, the Dragon Phoenix Scripts, and the Monster and Ghost Scripts. The Cloud Thunder Script depicted the nature of heaven and earth, yin and yang. The Dragon Phoenix Scripts absorbed the vitality of birds and beasts. As for the Monster and Ghost Scripts, they borrowed the fierce power of sorcerer's ghostly ways.
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These three Charm Script Systems could each form their own patterns, but the truly exquisite talismans were those that combined all three, taking their essence.
Regrettably, Yu Ci's cultivation level was not high enough, his Taoist practice not deep enough. Even with the Divine Bronze Mirror, an excellent source of a Spirit Guide, he could accurately draw those ghostly talismans, but he was still unable to invoke the power of those advanced talismans. He could only learn some relatively simple and pure talismans that were mainly based on a single system, like the one he was using at the moment.
His fingers guided the Green Spirit Guide, drawing extremely abstract shapes in the void. The upper part was bird patterns, the lower part was tiger patterns, with constellations spread out around them, and the center was tied together with complex Seal Script Patterns. When all the talisman scripts were completed, the Azure glow patterns lingering in the void all lit up at once, then quickly condensed and shrank until they became a delicate talisman the size of half a palm, only then did they become still.
With a simple point of his finger, Yu Ci sent the talisman flying. Its trajectory was peculiar, revolving around the axis of his finger, the circle growing larger and larger, the talisman flying farther and farther, until it completely disappeared into the dense fog. Only then did Yu Ci withdraw his hand.
This was the Five-orientation Telepathizing Talisman, one of the most complex talismans Yu Ci had learned from the "Shangqing Star Secret Talisman Book". Although primarily based on dragon phoenix scripts, it slightly involved the systems of cloud thunder and demonic spirits. Just this one talisman took Yu Ci a full five years of practice before he could barely apply it.
This talisman had no offensive power, but it could use the caster as a reference to detect any intense activity of all living beings within a five-mile radius, and feed this information back to the caster's Divine Soul. Its sensitivity was beyond imagination, and Yu Ci used it as a warning tool.
Having prepared everything, Yu Ci then moved forward. Like walking on a single-plank bridge, he slowly made his way to the edge of the giant pine.
The Shrimp Whisker Grass was now within reach. Yet, Yu Ci was not in a hurry. He took out a prepared Stone Box from his sleeve and carefully placed it on a naturally formed stable platform created by the intersection of several pine branches. Despite this, he still wasn't reassured, so he used another talisman to secure it. Only then was he satisfied.
Only then did he bend down and carefully pick the Shrimp Whisker Grass.
The grass leaves were only as thick as hair, entwined around the tree trunk and tangled with the uneven tree bark, easily broken if not handled with care. Because of the medicinal requirements, the roots had to be taken down when picking, so Yu Ci had to untangle the entwined leaves one by one until he found the roots, and then carefully pull them out.
This kind of work was entirely a test of patience and was most afraid of accidents.
Fortunately, Yu Ci's luck today was not bad. In just over three hours, without any interference, Yu Ci successfully picked this patch of Shrimp Whisker Grass, mostly intact, with about a hundred or so strands. As he picked, he placed each strand into the Stone Box.
Just as he had told Xuanqing, the Shrimp Whisker Grass could absorb Yi Wood spiritual energy and was incompatible with metal energy, so it could not be stored in a metal or wooden box. Only this Stone Box given by the White Sun Mansion's steward could be used. In the Stone Box, a thin layer of Shrimp Whisker Grass had already been laid out, about three to five hundred strands, which was his total harvest for the past four months.
These herbs, when brought back to the steward of White Sun Mansion, would be carefully assessed based on appearance and condition, with their value reduced by a third or half. As for the discount, naturally, the White Sun Mansion would happily accept it. This was the norm, and as a wandering cultivator like him, there was nothing he could do about it.
Having completed all of this, the day had already dimmed. The half-set sun weakly cast its remaining light into the clouds, and Yu Ci carefully put away the Stone Box, dispelled various spells, and with the help of protruding branches and rock crevices, climbed this several-hundred-feet cliff like a monkey. Once he reached the top and the strong wind blew, he realized his clothes were soaked with sweat, a chill seeping in, a sensation far from pleasant.
Today's work should stop here. Yu Ci was also tired, he found a place shielded from the wind, rested for a while, waited for his clothes to dry, then set off. After a few leaps, he disappeared into the vast mountains behind him.
Having been around Sky Rift Valley for more than five months, traveling back and forth, Yu Ci's resting place was constantly changing. The place he had arranged yesterday was more than a hundred miles away, and the round trip alone would take nearly an hour.
But it was worth the extra travel. Over these months, Yu Ci had seen more than once, people who came here to gather herbs, fight to the death over a few Shrimp Whisker Grasses. The brutality was unimaginable unless one was involved. As the saying goes, people die for wealth, and birds die for food, that's exactly it.
Yu Ci was not a man who shied away from trouble, but after a hard day's work, he naturally wanted to find a safe place to rest and recuperate. Why would he have the spare time to deal with those greedy people?
After entering the dense forest, night fell quickly, the view became increasingly dim, but Yu Ci's leaping speed did not decrease at all. The unique scent of the forest blew past his nose, and he could distinguish the hidden, approaching danger from this mixture of thousands of scents, change his path in time, and unknowingly avoid many troubles.
Just as the destination was in sight, Yu Ci paused and then slowed down.
Where he was, the trees had become sparse, replaced by rugged rocks, thin and hard, extremely desolate in the night. Because of this, from several miles away, the remaining light of a bonfire could pass through the gaps in the trees and flicker in his eyes. Clearer than the light was the "human scent" brought by the mountain wind. Although it was extremely weak, Yu Ci could still catch the unique fragrance of Shrimp Whisker Grass.
If it were through the Stone Box, no matter how capable Yu Ci was, it would be impossible to smell that strand of scent at this distance. There was only one possibility for this situation, that someone had opened the Stone Box and was observing or counting the Shrimp Whisker Grass stored in it.
Yu Ci was sure that there were more than fifteen people over there. If the owner of the Stone Box could do this without any worries, then this group of people must be a team, coming here to pick herbs together. In the Sky Rift Valley, this was considered a relatively large team.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but scratch his head. He could bypass them, but the trouble was, the hiding place he had set up with great effort yesterday was not far from that group of people. If he bypassed them, he would probably have to sleep in the wilderness tonight.
Just as he was thinking, his expression changed slightly. He had not noticed it just now against the wind, but from the side, another seven or eight people were approaching, only half a mile away from his position. His left hand retracted into his sleeve, gripping the Divine Bronze Mirror.
How unfortunate, two days ago he had encountered a robbery on the road, the excellent sword he had bought in the city of sheer cliff with five golds was broken in the fight, he had lost his handy weapon, if he encountered a fight again, he would likely be at a disadvantage.
However, it didn't take long for his keen nose to discern some information: it seemed like they were familiar faces!
The figure in the distance finally noticed Yu Ci. Half a mile apart, was that even considered a distance? Even in the dark of the night, it only took a few moments for both parties to meet face to face. The group of people emerging from the forest was taken aback, the atmosphere instantly becoming tense. But soon, laughter rang out from the other side.
"Ha, Brother Yu, it's been a while. You look well."
Indeed, they were acquaintances. Before the other party spoke, Yu Ci had already recognized them by their aura. The one who spoke was Lu Bing, the leader of the group, who a few months ago, had knocked on the empty door of the dilapidated temple in the wilderness. A man of principles, Yu Ci had a good impression of him.
Lu Bing was a wanderer of the rivers and lakes (all corners of the world), with a cultivation level at the peak of Qi Breathing. His body was filled with genuine power, capable of tearing apart tigers and leopards. Apart from not having a Spiritual Response, there was no substantial difference between him and the Acupoint Developing Stage. He had quite a reputation in all corners of the rivers and lakes. This time, he had accepted a task from the White Sun Mansion, gathered more than a dozen comrades, and came to the Sky Rift Valley to gather herbs. This was a rare team combination in these parts.
After their chance encounter that night, they had traveled together for a few days and had developed a certain camaraderie. Yu Ci stepped forward, cupped his fists, and smiled, "Brother Lu, and everyone else..."
While speaking, Yu Ci glanced at the team and noticed that the number of people was significantly less than before, causing his brows to furrow.
The absent ones were likely more unfortunate than fortunate.
Gathering Shrimp Whisker Grass was no easy task. One had to be cautious of the fierce winds and mists on the cliffs, as well as the poisonous insects, predatory birds, and beasts that might jump out at any moment. Any carelessness could lead to a deadly end. Moreover, the Sky Rift Valley was hardly a simple place to gather herbs.
As they spoke, the two sides drew closer. Lu Bing noticed his concerns, but as a wanderer of the rivers and lakes, he had long been indifferent to life and death. He just laughed and changed the subject:
"Brother Yu, it's a pleasant surprise to meet you here. The group at the fire ahead are brothers we've recently become acquainted with. They're all straightforward people. It's meaningless to walk alone in this dark forest. Why not join us?"
Yu Ci, whose prearranged shelter had been occupied and was worrying about where to spend the night, readily agreed upon hearing this. However, his left hand was always lightly gripping the edge of the Divine Bronze Mirror, always maintaining a bit of vigilance. It seemed that the other party was doing the same.
After several months in the Sky Rift Valley, those who didn't have this kind of cautiousness were probably already dead.
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