Yu Ci let out a low, "Oh," his expression turning solemn.
Even when facing Old Demon Butcher, the Ghost-binding Charm Chain wouldn't be so easily shattered. This outcome didn't imply that Fish-Dragon was significantly stronger than Tu Du, there must be another reason.
When the Talisman Power was activated, Yu Ci had felt it. Yin Du's Black Law Binding Ghost Symbol was not ineffective, but when it latched onto the Divine Soul and tried to pull, it couldn't budge!
This was a new situation that Yu Ci had never encountered before.
Talismans had their specialties. In the classification of the "Shangqing Star Secret Talisman Book", Yin Capital Black Law Binding Ghost Curse belonged to the Monster and Ghost Scripts System. The released Ghost-binding Charm Chain, made purely of Yin energy, was extremely effective at capturing ghostly spirits, but its effect was diminished when dealing with the souls of living beings who hadn't experienced soul detachment. Particularly those who were strong and healthy, with their essence and blood at their peak, their bodies brimming with life force, the Ghost-binding Charm Chain wouldn't even be able to approach them without being evaporated.
If Tu Du had first covered himself with the Sun Soul Banner, with double layers of fire protection, Yu Ci would never have used this Talisman, to avoid inviting trouble.
But Fish-Dragon was different. The Ghost-binding Charm Chain easily penetrated Fish-Dragon's flesh and blood, touching the Divine Soul, but when it tried to pull, it felt as if the Divine Soul and the flesh body were fused together, almost inseparable. Capturing the Divine Soul was like capturing the flesh body. The Ghost-binding Charm Chain, formed of Yin energy, naturally couldn't move it and was instead broken by the sudden surge of blood and essence from Fish-Dragon.
Thinking back to how the black gas poisonous snake's curse technique, which shook the Divine Soul and induced heart fire, was ineffective, it probably had something to do with Fish-Dragon's condition.
This was troublesome.
While he was worried, on the other side, within the mist, Fish-Dragon seemed to be incredibly carefree. Having just smashed the Ghost-binding Charm Chain, it was now swaying in the mist without any sense of crisis. Yu Ci could only be patient, not making a move for the time being, but keeping a close watch with the Divine Map, looking for the next opportunity.
After leisurely swaying enough, Fish-Dragon seemed to feel tired. It slightly sped up, returning to its resting place.
Yu Ci followed closely using the Divine Map.
This place was about two hundred feet away from the "eaves", and only a hundred feet away from the "Transmitting Incense Talisman" mark drawn by the black gas poisonous snake. Fish-Dragon had just launched its series of attacks from here, obliterating the black gas poisonous snake.
The dwelling place of Fish-Dragon was a semi-withered dwarf tree. Although the gloomy region was devoid of sunlight, this plant was still clinging to life, strong and tenacious. On the branches, as hard as iron bars, a few narrow, dark leaves still clung. Fish-Dragon crawled onto a side branch, its seven-foot-long body coiling around it, and soon became motionless.
Perhaps, would it be more appropriate to catch it bare-handed?
Despite having witnessed Fish-Dragon's astonishing speed, its sluggish response was admirable. Yu Ci considered the possibility, then took out the Jade Medicinal Hoe given to him by Ye Tu, dug footholds on the nearly vertical cliff wall, and slowly approached the creature.
Of course, being quiet and hidden was the first priority. A distance of about thirty feet would be enough for an attempt... As Yu Ci was digging into the rocks, he continued to observe any changes on Fish-Dragon and the surrounding environment. So far, he had managed to get within ten feet without Fish-Dragon reacting, a promising sign.
However, Yu Ci stopped.
His eyes widened, only one thought in his mind: What's happening today?
With this question in mind, he examined the dwarf tree where Fish-Dragon resided through the Divine Map.
The dwarf tree was entirely dark, with sparse leaves devoid of veins. The broken branches oozed a sweet, white sap. Its roots were long and straight, with lumpy stems, growing in the Sky Rift Valley where the Yang energy was depleted and Yin energy was abundant...
A Yin Realm Tree?
This information suddenly popped into Yu Ci's mind. To prevent any mistakes, he even took out the Jade Slip given by Yu Zhou and compared the details of the medicinal materials recorded on it with what he saw. They were identical.
On the Jade Slip given by Yu Zhou, there were records of six medicinal materials: Blue Sky Ling, Fog Dragon Silk, Seven Vein Bead Grass, Swallowtail Flower, Ghost-Face Flower, and lastly, the root and stem of the Yin Realm Tree...
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He had found it strange that in the gloomy region, the most common vegetation would be moss, with the occasional odd grass species being a rare sight. A tree, even a half-dead dwarf tree, was something Yu Ci had not seen in days.
Experience proved that great anomalies often led to great discoveries—aside from not chopping off a branch to confirm the color of the tree's sap, Yu Ci could find no reason to deny this discovery.
The Divine Map showed very clearly the roots of the Yin Realm Tree deeply embedded in the cliff wall, slender and tough, burrowing about a foot deep into the rock layer, then vertically downward for nearly two miles. At the end, the roots gathered inward, penetrating an irregularly shaped, greenish tuber, which was quite eerie.
According to the Jade Slip, this tuber absorbed the Yin energy and transported it to the Yin Realm Tree above through its roots. After being transformed in the trunk, a special secretion was formed on the branches, which was very helpful for purifying impurities in living beings. It often attracted the most powerful living beings in the vicinity to linger around, frequently licking and exhaling Yang energy to communicate with it, thereby replacing the role of sunlight, and mutually benefiting each other.
Looking back now, it seems that the Yin Realm Tree was attracting the Fish-Dragon.
"Fate, fate!"
Yu Ci had not expected that the two precious things he had been searching for so hard in recent days would appear before him in such a dramatic fashion, as unreal as a dream.
But he would certainly not miss such a treasure as if he were dreaming.
He stopped the work in his hands. The original plan did not take this tree into account. One could imagine that if he rushed at the Fish-Dragon, there was a high possibility that he would directly break the tree. Heaven knows what impact it would have on the tree's roots and stems.
After all, being entrusted by others, he must be loyal to them. Yu Ci did not want to end up with any mishaps.
He glanced at the Fish-Dragon again. The creature was still entangled in the branches, seemingly dead asleep. Without any further hesitation, Yu Ci, relying on the power of the Divine Map, slid down two miles, and found the location of the Underworld Tree Root.
The process was very smooth, with no one disturbing him. He used a Jade Chisel to cut open the cliff wall, applied the root-cutting technique taught by the Jade Slip, gathered the Yin energy on the root, successfully extracted it, and placed it in a prepared Silk Bag.
Having successfully obtained the root, Yu Ci let out a long sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that after sinking another two miles, the Yin energy in the Sky Rift Valley became heavier. Apart from the green light emitted by the Divine Map, he could not see his hand in front of him. The wind was bringing fog, changing shapes, and seemed to be mixed with countless black threads. Apart from the wind and occasional insect noises, there was no other sound, gloomy as if in a ghost realm.
However, the nearby demons were pitifully few. Accustomed to the scene of demons roaming at night, Yu Ci felt somewhat uncomfortable in this quiet environment.
Exhaling a warm breath, Yu Ci put the Silk Bag into his Storage Ring. At this time, the Ghost-Face Flower was already placed inside. He had found two of the six medicinal ingredients recorded on the Jade Slip, which was a pleasing progress. He silently clenched his fist in celebration.
Without truly seeking these few medicinal ingredients, it was hard to imagine the difficulties in the process. Although the Jade Slip detailed the characteristics of the medicinal ingredients, possible locations, surrounding environment, and whether there were any poisonous insects or beasts guarding them, the Sky Rift Valley was so vast. Even if all the descriptions matched perfectly, there were hundreds of places, let alone some extremely dangerous places that he could not venture into at present.
In fact, he had never truly believed the reason why Yu Zhou entrusted this task to him. But he was very willing to repay the favor in this way, and still is to this day.
At this moment, he glanced at the Divine Map again, only to be slightly stunned. He saw that on the branches of the Yin Realm Tree above, the Fish-Dragon seemed to sense something. The body coiled around it sprung up halfway, seemingly looking around. In the end, it sprung off the branch and turned downward.
"Discovered just after the root was dug up?"
Yu Ci speculated that the Fish-Dragon might be particularly sensitive to what it needs most, "food". Whether it was the black toxic snake that was suspected to be the Divine Soul of Zheng De, or the Underworld Tree Root that was dug up now, it reacted promptly, contrasting sharply with the sluggishness it demonstrated at other times.
However, wasn't the Fish-Dragon's pounce in accordance with his intention?
As the thought crossed his mind, the Fish-Dragon's body broke through the clouds and charged straight down.
He gave a faint smile, already holding the Pure Yang Talisman Sword. Instead of urging the flame sword blade, he used the wooden sword body to pick up, facing the Fish-Dragon's impact head-on.
With a dull "thump", the Fish-Dragon rebounded and hovered two feet away, shaking its head as if dizzy. The impact it brought shot straight from Yu Ci's wrist to his shoulder, numbing his entire arm. Given the Fish-Dragon's size, such a force was quite considerable. However, if it was just that, it was not something to be feared.
For caution's sake, Yu Ci also held the Heart-Tugging Horn in his mouth. In this way, the Fish-Dragon's seemingly soul-absorbing technique should be able to be resisted.
He was ready for the second hit, but to his surprise, the Fish-Dragon turned and left after failing to hit him. Yu Ci reacted quickly and pounced, but his speed was not on the same level as the Fish-Dragon's. By the time he unfolded his body, the Fish-Dragon had already slithered into a narrow crack in a cliff wall a hundred feet away and did not come out again.
Yu Ci was not in a hurry. He slowly climbed up. According to the Divine Map, it was a dead end inside, only about five feet deep, and only about ten feet up and down. The Fish-Dragon was in it, still swaying slightly, but...
What was that place next to it?
At this time, in the Divine Map, the Fish-Dragon's slender body twisted a few times and actually drilled through another extremely small crack inside the crevice, reaching a suddenly enlarged space next to it. How big was the enlargement?
It was as big as the main hall of the Still Heart Temple, where the Three Pure Ones were worshipped!
This area was almost pitch black, even in the Divine Map, the light was very dim, and the contrast was not clear. Yu Ci had not noticed before that there was such a huge space behind the cliff wall.
The Fish-Dragon's wisdom seemed really limited. Finding such a spacious place, it immediately forgot about the threat behind it and started frolicking inside.
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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e