After transplanting the Gale Tulip and searching the bodies of the dead Moon Dragon disciples, the group returned to their carriages and continued their journey towards the inner parts of the hidden realm.
The carriages stopped once night rolled around, forming a circular formation with a campfire in the middle. Zhu Chun returned to focusing on absorbing the Earthen Heart, doing his best to quickly increase his strength. Because of that, the dinner preparation was left to Liang Chen, prompting a quick comment from Yan Ling.
"Eh, You are the one cooking, Little Freak? Are we sure we can eat this?"
Yan Ling sent a sideways glance at the cauldron of stew that Liang Chen was preparing. She knew that he could use the element of poison, so her words were simply meant as harmless small talk. Because of that, Liang Chen simply ignored the statement and continued the cooking. He quickly finished up the food, handing everyone a bowl. Everyone eating in silence seemed to annoy Yan Ling, so she decided to pull out some more banter after tasting the food.
"What's this, it's actually good? You can do something besides fighting?"
Yan Ling swept the group that sat around the fire with her eyes, seemingly hoping for someone to join in on her banter. She looked a bit pitiful, so Liang Chen decided to throw her a bone and at least respond with a shrug of his shoulders.
"It's just something my mother taught me. There is no need to be so dramatic about a bit of cooking."
Since he hadn't had any interest in cultivation or training as a child, his mother and father had taught him some cooking and other various small skills that would be useful to know if one didn't have any cultivation. Yan Ling got someone to join in with her small talk, but the answer wasn't what she had hoped for, so she could only lower her head slightly and let out a low murmur.
"But I can't cook..."
Her big brother was the Young Master of the Storm Wolf sect, so her position could be imagined. It was not strange for someone like her to not be able to cook, as people in her position were more predisposed to viewing it as a plebeian skill. Yan Ying seemed like he couldn't stand to watch his little sister get ignored like this any longer, so he clapped his hands and drew everyone's attention
"Alright, enough about that, let's talk about our future plans."
Before they could charge into the inner parts of the hidden realm, there were still some things that they had to do first. Everyone quickly focused their eyes on Yan Ying, lowering their bowls of food. After making sure that he had the attention of everyone around the fire, Yan Ying spoke up.
"In six days we will reach our third destination. We might encounter people from the Fiendgod sect, but as long as it's Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui they are unlikely to fight us over the Glacial Shroud. We might have to give them a few of our treasures, but it's better than engaging in a bloody battle."
The Storm Wolf sect didn't have a bad relationship with all the other sects. The Fiendgod sect was one such example, they were rivals, but still on good terms with each other. It wasn't like the Moon Dragon sect or the Ghost Soul sect, where a battle was practically guaranteed once they met.
"Seven days after that, we'll reach Four Clouds city, the last city before the unexplored area. We'll stop there for a few days to rest up and wait for the remainders of our scattered forces to gather together, marching into the unexplored area as one large group."
Liang Chen's eyes lit up after hearing that they were going to enter a city again. Zhu Chun and the others had given him all the items that the people he killed had on them, so he had a bit more capital now, capital which he could use to buy poison element Demonic beast parts. Yan Ying's expression quickly turned serious, his eyes landing on Yan Ling.
"Once we enter Four Clouds city, we must stay low and do our best to not attract too much attention to ourselves. The other sects likely have people there as well, and there are a large number of unaffiliated cultivators there as well. If they learn that we are from the Storm Wolf sect, they might band together to rob us, forcing us to expend a lot of energy to flee. Do you understand?"
Yan Ling stuck out her tongue, but she still nodded her head to show that she understood. The group returned to eating, but this time they humored Yan Ling and started chatting a bit so that the area wasn't dominated by silence.
Once dawn rolled around, the group continued their journey towards their third destination. As the days passed, the area got colder and colder, with more and more snow gathering on the ground. Once the sixth day arrived, the group abandoned their carriages and made the rest of the journey on foot, as it would get too cold for their steeds once they got even closer to their goal.
While wading through the snow, which by now already reached up to Liang Chen's waist, Yan Ling spotted a bright red rose growing out of the snow a short distance away. Her eyes lit up as she made her way towards the rose, calling out to Yan Ying.
"Big Brother, look at this pretty flower!"
The flower wasn't far from her, so she quickly reached it and stretched out her arm to pluck it. But before she managed to grasp the rose, Liang Chen dashed through the snow at full speed, grabbing onto her wrist and forcefully pulling it back.
"Don't touch it!"
Yan Ling was caught completely off guard by Liang Chen's sudden action, her expression becoming slightly annoyed. She turned her head and sent a slight glare at Liang Chen, planning on scolding him.
"Hey, what ar-"
Before she managed to start scolding him, Liang Chen grabbed onto the rose and pulled it up, revealing the thorns that were a faint pink in color. He pricked the thorns with his finger, giving a short explanation.
"It's poisonous. Touch it and you might end up losing your hand."
Yan Ling looked at the pink thorns, trying her best to examine them. But even after examining them closely, she was unable to tell if they were actually poisonous, so she looked at Liang Chen with eyes that carried a trace of doubt.
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"You can tell that it's poisonous?"
She wasn't able to tell if it was poisonous, even when she was so close to it, but he had seemingly already noticed it while she was making her way over to it, otherwise he would not have been able to stop her in time. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulder and gave a simple explanation.
"I'm very sensitive to poison."
Just like lightning element materials, his body craved poison element resources. The moment he had noticed the rose, his instincts and body had started salivating, urging him to go and eat the flower.
After giving his explanation, he tore the stem of the rose in half, a faint pink liquid spilling out and dying the snow pink. Once the pink liquid landed on it, the snow started to fizzle and seethe, a faint fishy smell spreading through the air, convincing Yan Ling that it was in fact poisonous. And because she was now convinced that it was poisonous, she couldn't help but comment on Liang Chen's actions.
"You just said we shouldn't touch it!"
He said that she might lose her hand if she touched it, but not only had he touched it, he had even torn it in half. Even when the pink liquid dripped on him, he didn't seem affected at all, he even seemed to find it pleasant. Liang Chen finished pouring the pink liquid onto his arm, correcting Yan Ling.
"I said YOU shouldn't touch it. Poison like this isn't too effective on me, so I can touch it as I please. It's even beneficial to me."
The poison swiftly sank into his skin and traveled through his body, entering his Ascended Tower. Liang Chen was slightly worried that the poison would be absorbed by the Lightning Seed, just like all the lightning he absorbed was. But in the end, it seemed that his worry was needless, the poison smoothly settling in his Ascended Tower.
He absorbed some more poison, but it did nothing to raise his cultivation. His body and Ascended Tower, as well as his Lightning Seed, were all baptized by azure, crimson, and violet lightning, which was then stored away inside the Lightning Seed. If he wanted to raise his cultivation, he would need a large amount of poison, enough to balance out the lightning he had already absorbed, allowing his Ascended Tower to be perfectly balanced.
This had both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that his cultivation couldn't rise until he actually balanced the two forces. But the advantage was that once he actually managed to balance the two forces, his cultivation would skyrocket, as he would have everything necessary to build up his Ascended Tower.
Yan Ling looked at the spot on Liang Chen's arm where the poison had been absorbed, her eyes lighting up with interest as she reached out and gave it a few pokes.
"He~eh, something like that is possible? Seems like you would be a rather useful thing to bring along for journeys."
Not only could he produce a downright freakish amount of power, but he could also cook and detect poison, he was an excellent all-around type tool. Facing this strange type of praise, Liang Chen could only roll his eyes.
"I'm flattered at your praise."
Yan Ling seemed somewhat dissatisfied at how nonchalant Liang Chen accepted her praise. As he continued to follow Yan Ying and the others, she quickly chased after him to enlighten him about how he should act.
"Why do I feel like you aren't taking my praise as seriously should? Do you know how many people would cry tears of joy if I were to praise them?!"
Liang Chen simply rolled his eyes again, deciding to temporarily ignore Yan Ling, who seemed to hope that Liang Chen would realize her greatness and prostrate himself.
The group continued to walk for a few more hours until they finally reached their goal, stopping a short distance away from it. Yan Ying stretched out his arm, pointing at a small hill made out of ice.
"That's the Glacial Shroud. We're in luck, it seems to have reached the 100-year grade. Old Chen, you can just go ahead and take it, we'll protect you."
The hill of ice was almost completely clear, with only a small part located right in the middle of the hill being murky, a strange fog rolling around within it. The hill itself wasn't the Glacial Shroud, it was, in fact, this fog that was the Glacial Shroud they had come for.
It was extremely condensed ice energy that had been saturated with so much Qi that it turned corporeal. Absorbing it would allow one to strengthen their own ice element, making it purer and tougher, as well as making it easier to absorb ice element energy.
Two hours after Old Chen started to dig into the hill, the sound of people walking through snow reached the ears of Yan Ying and the others. Shortly thereafter, a group of people walked into view, the leader clicking his tongue upon seeing Yan Ying.
"Tch, of course our luck ended up being so shit that you guys got here first."
The group that had arrived were clad in the uniform of the Fiendgod sect, pitch black robes that were embroidered with a black turtle that had a snake for a tail, the snake coiling around the entire turtle. The male leader who had clicked his tongue had a rather slim body, amber eyes, short and spiky brown hair, and nails that were strangely long and sharp. Yan Ying didn't draw his weapon upon seeing the youth, he instead raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Xuan Bao, they actually sent you?"
For this attempt at pushing into the inner parts of the hidden realm, Yan Ying had expected the Fiendgod sect to send Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui, or at least Jia Xiang. This Xuan Bao was a bit weaker than those three, causing Yan Ying's mind to start moving. Could it be that Xuan Bao had made a breakthrough in his Fiendgod cultivation?
Not everyone cultivated in the same way, creating an Ascended Tower and then opening Heaven's Gate. The true disciples of the Fiendgod sect, for example, cultivated their bodies, using various resources and Qi to strengthen their body to the peak, giving them superhuman strength and recovery powers. Facing people who used Fiendgod cultivation, just chopping off their heads or piercing their hearts wasn't enough to kill them.
One could even cultivate several different techniques at once, but the number of people who did so was generally low, as splitting one's focus like this would drastically slow down their speed needed to advance in cultivation. Xuan Bao glanced at the hill of ice behind Yan Ying for a short moment, eventually returning his gaze to Yan Ying and stretching out his arm, opening his palm.
"Yan Ying, because of your relationship with Senior Sister Yahui, I can let you take the Glacial Shroud without a battle, but not for free."
Xuan Bao wasn't willing to enter a bloody battle with one of his sect's allies, not for something like a Glacial Shroud. But that didn't mean he would just leave, he had to at least make some profit. Yan Ying's face lit up with a smile as he pulled out an interspatial ring, tossing it to Xuan Bao.
"Thank you. These should about cover the value of the Glacial Shroud."
Xuan Bao caught the yellow ring, quickly scanning the contents with his mind. After giving it a quick look-over, he let out a snort, his eyes landing on the hill of ice.
"Don't try to scam me, that is a 100-year Glacial Shroud. What you have given me is only equal to a 75-year Glacial Shroud."
His meaning was very clear, pay me more. Yan Ying's smile turned slightly awkward as he fished out another interspatial ring, tossing it over to Xuan Bao and giving a shake of his head.
"And here I was hoping you'd be blind enough to not notice, my bad."
Xuan Bao caught and checked the interspatial ring, giving a satisfied nod of his head. He put away the two rings and had his group of people turn around, preparing to leave. Before he left, however, he turned his head slightly, giving Yan Ying a solemn reminder.
"We can trade like this here, but once we enter the unexplored parts, don't expect me to be able to show mercy like this. Should it come to it, we will disregard the alliance and all past relationships."
All the sects were curious at what could possibly be located at the center of this hidden realm. If they could inherit the legacy of whatever mighty cultivator that created this hidden realm, it was worth having a falling out with the other sects. Yan Ying gave a solemn nod of his head, as he too understood that he could not show mercy if it should come to that.
Old Chen quickly finished digging out the ice that surrounded the Glacial Shroud, carefully putting it into his interspatial ring so that he could start absorbing it while they continued their journey. The group quickly retraced their steps, returning to their carriages.
They turned the carriages around and left the icy area, retracing their previous steps and taking a different path to reach Four Clouds city. While traveling, Zhu Chun focused on absorbing the Earthen Heart, and Old Chen focused on absorbing the Glacial Shroud, trying to get it done as fast as possible.