The core medicine storehouse of Hundred Herbs Peak was one of the most heavily guarded places in the entire Sky Profound Sect, its importance even surpassing the seclusion caves of some elders.
This storehouse was not built on the surface but was hidden deep within the belly of Hundred Herbs Peak. The only entrance was a massive stone door forged from thousand-year-old profound iron, inscribed with over a hundred layers of defensive and warning runes. In front of the door, two Golden Core stage elders stood guard in rotation year-round. No disciple, not even an alchemy genius like Li Haoran, could ever set foot inside without a handwritten order co-signed by three or more elders.
However, at this moment, this door, which symbolized the highest secrets of Hundred Herbs Peak, was slowly opening for Yue Qingqian, a new disciple who had only joined the sect for a few months, under the personal guidance of Elder Liu and his token that represented supreme authority.
Rumble—
With the heavy sound of mechanisms turning, the stone door opened inward. A peculiar fragrance, a mixture of thousands of rare medicinal herbs and more than ten times richer than the air outside, rushed out. Just by taking a single breath, Yue Qingqian felt the spiritual energy in her body begin to cheer, and an indescribable comfort spread throughout her.
The scene behind the door was even more shocking to her. It was a deep passage paved with green jade. The stone walls on both sides were inlaid with moonlight stones that emitted a soft glow. At every ten steps, there was a flickering array node, alternating between light and dark, and the air was filled with a powerful restrictive force.
Elder Liu walked in front. With every step he took, a rune would light up on the green jade beneath his feet, corresponding with the token in his hand, temporarily deactivating the restrictions ahead. As he walked, he did not forget to "educate" the "genius disciple" behind him, his tone filled with pride.
"Disciple, you see, within the stone walls on both sides of this passage, there are a total of three hundred and sixty-five layers of the 'Spirit-Locking Micro-Dust Array.' Not only do they prevent the medicinal properties from leaking out, but they also prevent any spiritual sense from prying. The 'Seven Star Step Lotus Restriction' under our feet, one wrong step, and it will trigger a calamity of ten thousand lightning strikes. Even a Nascent Soul old monster would not get off easy!"
On the surface, Yue Qingqian showed just the right amount of awe and curiosity, but in her heart, she was rapidly memorizing and analyzing the structure and energy flow of these arrays, preparing to report back to her senior brother.
After passing through the long passage, the two finally arrived in a huge, palace-like cavern.
This was the true core great medicine storehouse.
Countless jade shelves, crafted from ten-thousand-year-old cold jade, were neatly arranged. On them were placed, category by category, jade boxes with spirit-sealing talismans. Within each jade box lay a peerless spiritual medicine that would drive any cultivator in the outside world into a frenzy.
Elder Liu led Yue Qingqian directly through rows of medicine shelves to the deepest part of the entire storehouse.
Here, there was only a single, independent jade platform, enveloped by a faint golden light screen. Upon the platform, a strange flower floated quietly.
The flower was only the size of a palm, its petals a dreamlike, translucent, glazed color. It had no roots or stem and just floated in mid-air. The space around it, because of its existence, produced slight, water-ripple-like distortions visible to the naked eye.
This was one of the ultimate goals of Lin Fan's "Shearing the Sheep" plan—the Void Spirit Flower!
"Do you see it, disciple?" Elder Liu pointed to the flower, his eyes filled with fervor and reverence. "This is the Void Spirit Flower! The only one in the entire sect. It was brought back by the founding patriarch from an ancient secret realm after a life-and-death struggle! It is, in itself, a living 'law of space'! Go, feel it with your heart, listen to its 'voice,' and see what inspiration it can bring you!"
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal and temporarily deactivated the protective light screen.
Yue Qingqian was ecstatic, but she knew that now was not the time to reveal her true purpose. She suppressed her excitement, slowly walked to the jade platform, closed her eyes, and pretended to be in a state of "enlightenment."
She extended a wisp of her spiritual sense, carefully, towards the Void Spirit Flower.
The moment her spiritual sense touched the petal, a profound and mysterious feeling, filled with the secrets of space, instantly flooded her mind! She seemed to see countless invisible threads, woven from the laws of space, intertwining, folding, and extending throughout the world...
Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, this brief contact gave her a vague but real understanding of the "Dao of Space" that her senior brother had spoken of!
And while Yue Qingqian was immersed in this wonderful comprehension, Elder Liu, at her side, was also concentrating on observing her reaction, afraid of missing even the slightest spark of inspiration.
At this moment, an "accident" that no one had anticipated occurred.
Perhaps it was because Yue Qingqian's spiritual sense had triggered the unstable spatial properties of the Void Spirit Flower; or perhaps it was because her "Innate Sword Heart," suppressed to the extreme by the "Breath-Concealing Jade" but fundamentally noble in nature, had resonated in a peculiar way with the law of the Void Spirit Flower.
The quietly floating Void Spirit Flower suddenly trembled slightly.
Immediately after, one of its translucent petals... actually, silently, detached from the flower's core!
The detached petal did not fall onto the jade platform. It traced a bizarre arc in the air, as if drawn by an invisible force, and floated lightly, unerringly, right into Yue Qingqian's... palm, which was slightly open due to nervousness!
In an instant, the air in the entire core medicine storehouse seemed to freeze.
Elder Liu's eyes instantly widened to the size of bronze bells, his mouth agape enough to fit an egg. He stared blankly at the petal lying quietly in Yue Qingqian's palm, his mind a complete blank.
This... this...
The Void Spirit Flower only blooms once every thousand years. Its petals are incredibly tough, containing the power of laws. Even a Nascent Soul old monster might not be able to completely remove a single petal with their great magic power.
But now, it... it had dropped a petal on its own, and it had even actively flown into his disciple's hand?!
What did this mean?
This meant—it was the will of heaven! The spiritual object had chosen its master!
Elder Liu's "rationalization" technique, at this moment, broke through the heavens!
When he looked at Yue Qingqian again, his gaze was no longer that of looking at a genius, but at a true—Daughter of Destiny, favored by both the Dao of alchemy and the laws of the Heavenly Dao!
"So be it... so be it..." Elder Liu muttered, dazed, and then, an unprecedented determination erupted in his eyes. "It is the will of heaven! It is the will of heaven!"
He gritted his teeth and, towards the still-dazed Yue Qingqian, said in a tragic tone, as if entrusting his last affairs:
"Disciple! This is the will of heaven! It is the Void Spirit Flower that has chosen you! You must immediately! Right now! Put this petal away safely! This matter is known only to heaven and earth, you and me! You must not mention it to a third person! Otherwise, it will surely bring about a great catastrophe!"
Yue Qingqian held the "strategic material" that her senior brother had dreamed of, which had been obtained a myriad times easier than she had expected, and a monstrous wave surged in her heart.
She had only intended to "take a look," but... the other party had directly "gifted" her a piece?!
This... this also works?!
Senior Brother's "Shearing the Sheep" plan had once again, in a way that completely exceeded the script's expectations and was even more absurd, achieved an epic... huge success!