Chapter 74: On the Way Back

It was still impossible to determine what attributes the Clear Flow of Black Stone possessed. However, Su Che guessed that the red-tailed fox must have relied on this miraculous energy to break through the limitations of its innate bloodline. That was why it guarded the island in the lake so tightly, preventing anyone else from approaching.

Perhaps, for the red-tailed fox, the island in the lake was far more important than that golden flag of unknown purpose.

Taken together, these factors proved that the Clear Flow of Black Stone had miraculous effects that could harness the power of nature itself. Unfortunately, the black stone was enormous, and Su Che couldn’t think of any way to claim it for himself. He could only stay there like the red-tailed fox and never leave.

Above the island, the red-tailed fox had long driven away the flame monster. Now, it lay on the black stone, enjoying the cool breeze that nourished its body and strengthened its bloodline. This scene had likely continued for decades, even centuries…

Below the island, Su Che hid in a cave at the bottom of the black stone. After resting for a few hours, he resumed his agonizing cultivation method, which was like being fried in fire.

The Clear Flow of Black Stone and the Warm Current of the Immortal Prison merged together, igniting his internal vital energy and turning Su Che into a human made of fire. He began to frantically absorb the intense fire energy from the underground fire veins. At the same time, he kept swallowing various pills. The formation of his fire-type vital energy accelerated like a runaway horse, getting faster and faster…

As a result, Su Che’s cultivation speed increased several times over. In fact, as long as his body and willpower could endure more pain, he could increase the amount of energy from the Clear Flow of Black Stone and the Warm Current of the Immortal Prison, further boosting his cultivation speed.

In the cave, Su Che leaned against the soil layer, pressed his palms against the black stone, gritted his teeth, and turned pale… Every cell in his body was burning. Such pain was beyond the imagination of ordinary people and would be unbearable. Fortunately, with the Immortal Prison guarding his mind, he managed to stay conscious and avoid becoming a mentally deranged madman.

Thus, after enduring another five days of extremely painful but highly effective cultivation, he was forced to stop.

One reason was that the half-yearly duel he had agreed to with Song Pàngzi and Jiang Chen was about to expire, so he needed to return to Tianxuan Sect two or three days early.

The other reason was that the Earth Spirit Pills used to assist his cultivation had run out.

He needed four Earth Spirit Pills per day, and the consumption rate was astonishing. So, while Su Che’s cultivation progress seemed impressive, the daily cost was also extremely high.

“It’s a shame. If I had ten more days, I could definitely reach the fifth level of Qi Cultivation,” Su Che thought with regret.
“It’s okay, master,” Lao He reassured him. “After dealing with Song Pàngzi and Jiang Chen, we can make more Earth Spirit Pills and come back to continue practicing. After all, the Yin Wind Gorge is already our territory.”
“There’s no other way,” Su Che nodded silently.
To avoid being detected by the red-tailed fox above, Su Che needed to use another Earth Displacement Pill when leaving the cave to slip away secretly from the depths. The market price of an Earth Displacement Pill was at least 200 spirit stones, but its cost was less than 20 spirit stones—something Su Che could easily afford. Moreover, he didn’t plan to sell such special pills to others; selling them to potential enemies would be like shooting himself in the foot!
In the past ten days, the prison inmate ‘Luo Lianqiao’ had refined five batches of Earth Displacement Pills, with two batches being defective and three batches successful, yielding a 60% success rate. Currently, Su Che still had 24 Earth Displacement Pills.
When leaving, he didn’t set any traps in the tunnel leading to the underground fire veins in the gorge, nor did he order the Yin Wind Rats to guard the entrance. He left it as it was—after all, no human cultivator had discovered this secret for countless years, so there was no need to go to extra lengths to hide it.
Besides, there was a powerful red-tailed fox hidden inside. Sealing the tunnel might alert it and lead to unpredictable consequences.
Upon arriving at the supply town at the northern end of the gorge, Su Che continued to disguise himself as someone at the third level of Qi Cultivation. At the town’s market, he overheard several disciples from the Tianxuan Sect whispering, “The task of gathering Earth Poison Vines is getting harder. Our team spent half a month in the Yin Wind Gorge and only collected seven vines—not even enough for one person’s quota. It’s really frustrating.”
“Us too,” another person nodded. “It seems the Earth Poison Vines in the gorge are running low. We won’t be able to take on this task for years.”
“That’s right!” another person said loudly, in an expert-like tone. “Think about it—the number of Earth Poison Vines is limited, and their reproduction cycle takes decades. How can they withstand constant harvesting? We need to give them time to grow slowly. We must not exploit them excessively, or else these spiritual herbs might go extinct…”
“Yes, yes, yes,” the others nodded in agreement.

Hearing these words, Su Che smiled inwardly. In fact, the Underground Poison Vines weren’t about to run out of light; rather, they had been hidden by the Army of Wind Rats using natural elements such as weeds, stones, and trees. He would have to collect them slowly in the future.

The Underground Poison Vines were extremely important to him, but Su Che wouldn’t exploit them to the point of depletion—he still needed to ensure their normal reproduction. So, he simply had the Army of Wind Rats hide and protect them.

After that, Su Che didn’t stay any longer. He left the town straight away and rushed toward Xuanji City, which was hundreds of miles away.

On the wilderness, after traveling nearly half the distance, he suddenly heard Lao He giving a warning: “Master, there’s a disciple from the inner sect of Tianxuan Sect in the later stage of Qi cultivation flying toward you.”

Su Che instinctively turned to look. Sure enough, there was someone flying on a sword in the sky, diving straight toward him.

sensing that the other person had hostile intentions, Su Che quietly took out a defensive spirit talisman and a Underground Pill. These two items were the best combination for dealing with someone highly skilled.

The sword-flying man flew past Su Che’s head and landed on the ground, blocking his path about ten zhang away.

Without Lao He’s reminder, Su Che could already see that the man wore a “Mystery Jade Token” around his waist, and his white Taoist robes were embroidered with two silver lines—clearly indicating he was an inner sect disciple of Mystery Peak.

Normally, since they were all disciples of Mystery Peak of Tianxuan Sect, belonging to the same sect, meeting in the wild, even if they didn’t feel particularly close, they should at least be friendly. But Su Che saw that the other man’s gaze was sharp and had nothing to do with “friendliness.”

“Outer sect disciple Su Che, greeting my senior from the inner sect.”

Anyway, Su Che still wanted to show basic courtesy to avoid accusations. Moreover, through Lao He’s reminder, he already knew that the other side of the Mystery Jade Token bore the inscription “Zheng Jun.” These two characters must be either his name or his Taoist name.

“Su Che…” Taoist Zheng Jun sneered, “You made me stay in that miserable supply town for over a month before I finally found you today!”

“Looking for me?”

Su Che was stunned. He instinctively guessed that this Zheng Jun must have been entrusted by Senior Yu Qing to come to the Wind Valley to find him. But since those who were stronger than others weren’t allowed to enter the valley, he had to wait in the town for over a month, which explained his resentment…

So he asked, “I’m truly sorry for making Senior wait so long. May I ask why you’re looking for me?”

“There’s nothing else,” said Daoist Zhengjun with a smile, slowly approaching. When he was close enough, he suddenly shouted harshly, “I’m just interested in your ability to heal spiritual herbs!”
As he spoke, he suddenly attacked, sending his flying sword toward Su Che’s right leg.
The distance was too short, and the sword was too fast. Su Che didn’t have time to activate a spiritual talisman and could only dodge hastily. As he leaped to the left and twisted his waist, he narrowly avoided the sword’s direct strike, but the sharp energy from the sword still carved a deep wound in his thigh.
Whoosh! Blood sprayed everywhere…
Only in mid-air did Su Che manage to activate a spiritual talisman—a top-quality earth-type defensive talisman worth 120 spirit stones.
With just one encounter, Su Che had used a top-quality talisman and been injured, all because his opponent was far stronger than him and had launched a sudden attack.
With insufficient strength, he had to make up for it with spirit stones. On this trip to the Valley of Yin Winds, Su Che had acquired low-grade specialties worth 50,000 spirit stones, so a few top-quality talismans was definitely affordable.
Protected by the talisman, Su Che landed and sealed the wound on his leg with his vital energy. Then he asked, “Senior brother, what’s your intention?”
“Using a top-quality talisman right away—you’re really rich!” Daoist Zhengjun sneered. “Perfect. Everything you possess will now belong to me.”
As he spoke, he sent his flying sword to attack again. With a whoosh, the earth-type defense protecting Su Che emitted a dazzling glow. At the spot where the sword struck, an illusion of a diamond wall appeared, blocking the sharp magic sword.
It was the “Diamond Wall Technique” again—identical to the top-quality talisman Su Che had given Mu Yun at Tianji Peak last time, naturally replenished by Su Che later at Wuhua Peak.