With a "bang," the two high-grade magic treasures only carved out two small notches on the tentacles before being bounced away with a crisp sound, leaving Han Li stunned for a moment.
"So tough! Almost comparable to a medium-grade treasure!" Han Li secretly celebrated. If he hadn't employed a few tricks, dealing with this giant centipede would have been a real headache.
Seeing that the flying blades and golden bowl weren't very effective, Han Li casually put them away.
Although this creature had suffered a fatal wound, its vitality was too robust—it was still rolling around ceaselessly and didn't look like it would die anytime soon. Han Li frowned, then simply unleashed his movement technique and flashed past the beast's head at incredible speed. He didn't bother with the creature's fate any further and headed directly back through the tunnel to the stone chamber.
Inside the stone chamber, the few stalks of pale green "Purple Monkey Flowers" were still intact, filling Han Li with joy!
He took out several jade boxes of identical size from his storage pouch and placed them on the ground. Then he summoned his flying blades, carefully carving out the "Purple Monkey Flowers" along with the small chunks of purple stone beneath their roots. Using the blades to carry them flat, he brought them back to his hands and placed them inside the jade boxes, sealing them carefully with lids.
Only after all the spirit herbs had been harvested one by one and properly stored did Han Li let out a long breath of relief, his mind finally at ease.
He stretched, then casually scanned the stone chamber once more. After confirming that nothing had been left behind, he unhurriedly walked out.
When Han Li passed the spot where the giant centipede had been grievously wounded, the beast was already lying motionless on the ground, completely dead. The large pool of black toxic blood beneath it filled this section of the tunnel with a nauseating stench that made Han Li feel dizzy and lightheaded.
Startled, Han Li realized the toxic fumes from the blood were dissipating into the air. He quickly took some Clear Spirit Powder, which finally eased the discomfort.
He stopped when he was about seven or eight zhang away from the centipede's corpse, then released his flying blades to stab it seven or eight times. Only after confirming it truly hadn't moved an inch did he feel at ease enough to continue.
But after just a few steps, Han Li paused. He bent down and pulled out a dark, short blade from the ground. Gently wiping the black mud from the blade's edge with two fingers, the short blade immediately shimmered with golden light—it was a "Golden Knife."
It turned out that Han Li had been able to easily slice open the centipede's abdomen because during that brief period of disappearance, he had been using this "Golden Knife" to laboriously cut through the creature's dorsal shell.
Before long, several chunks of hard shell several feet in size had been cut away by Han Li, and he carefully stored them in his storage pouch. These shells could withstand a full-powered strike from top-grade treasures—truly rare and valuable items. If made into a simple inner armor, they would certainly prove very useful.
Actually, if it were up to Han Li, he would have loved to cut away all of the centipede's shell and take it with him. But doing so would take far too much time, and time was the scarcest thing for Han Li right now!
With a touch of regret, Han Li exited the cave and immediately headed for the next predetermined location, where there should also be some unripe "Heavenly Spirit Fruits."
Just as Han Li was rushing along, following his plan to gather various unripe spirit herbs, fierce conflicts erupted among elite disciples at the other well-known locations where spirit herbs were ripening. After all, these were the only places where the ripening of spirit herbs could be accurately predicted—a major clash among the "experts" of each sect was inevitable!
In a quiet valley to the southeast of Han Li's position, three people were locked in a tense standoff over two Purple Monkey Flowers—the very ones Han Li had just obtained.
Only these two Purple Monkey Flowers were no longer pale green but a dazzling, vivid purple, emanating a rich, exotic fragrance. Before these two extraordinary purple flowers lay a strange deer with a fiery-red horn, its body and head separated, lying in a pool of blood. It had been dead for quite some time.
A short distance from the beast's corpse, three people in different attire stood in a triangular formation, but none of them had made a move, each apparently wary of the other two.
"What exactly do you two want? I killed this Blaze-Horned Deer by myself—the spirit herb should belong to me!" Finally, one person spoke up, his face brimming with anger.
The speaker was a young man in blue robes, in his twenties, with a handsome face and a tall, slender build. In one hand he held a cyan flying fork, and in the other, a yellow orb. Both items radiated dazzling spiritual light, clearly top-grade magic treasures. No wonder he had been able to kill that seemingly formidable upper-stage beast single-handedly.
"Daoist brother, I didn't expect to meet you again this year. You and I really are fated!" This time it was an elderly man in green robes, leaning on a walking stick, who spoke. He looked kindly and benevolent, but he completely ignored the young man's questioning and instead addressed the other middle-aged Taoist priest.
"Indeed, I didn't expect to run into Benefactor Li again this year either!" The Taoist had a simple, sheathed long sword strapped to his back and spoke with a composed expression, also not sparing the young man a glance.
The youth from Heavenly Pass Fortress was furious. He had been gifted since childhood, came from a prestigious family, and was handsome and dashing—wherever he went, he was always the center of attention. Now, being so utterly humiliated by these two filled him with resentment.
But before he could say another word, the old man and the Taoist's next few sentences immediately wiped the color from his face and sent him into a panic.
"No need to bring up old matters. There are two spirit herbs here now—you and I can simply split them, one each. How about that?" The old man wasted no breath on pleasantries, extending an invitation to the Qingxu Valley Taoist across from him to join forces and divide the herbs.
The middle-aged Taoist heard this without a trace of surprise on his face. After a moment's thought, he nodded in agreement.
"That works. Our strengths are roughly equal, so a fight would only result in mutual injury. Let's go with that—I have no objections!"
The young man heard their conversation crystal clear, and his heart churned with both shock and fury!
Even though he was confident in the extraordinary power of his magic treasures, he knew he stood no chance if the two joined forces. But to simply give up the spirit herbs that were nearly in his grasp—he refused to accept that!
His mind racing, the young man suddenly shot backward, dashing straight toward the two spirit herbs. He intended to grab them and flee immediately.
"You're courting death!"
The moment the youth moved, the old man's expression darkened. He flung his walking stick outward, which transformed into a streak of green light hurtling toward the young man. The green light was incredibly fast—in just a flash, it had raced ahead and blocked the youth's path.
The young man was alarmed—what kind of magic treasure was this, so fast?! But there was no time for thought. He raised his hand, and the cyan flying fork shot up to meet it, his body charging forward without the slightest hesitation. It seemed he wouldn't stop until he had the herbs!
"Young friend, you're too late! Best to leave quickly—don't force this poor Taoist to kill today!" The young man had barely taken two steps when the Taoist's calm, unhurried voice came from right behind him, as if pressed close to his back, nearly scaring the youth out of his wits!
The young man's face turned ashen as he looked back. Sure enough, the Taoist was standing just a zhang away, smiling at him!
The pale-faced youth said no more. He immediately changed direction and sprinted out of the valley, not daring to look back even once. He knew the gap in strength between himself and these two was too vast—continuing to covet those spirit herbs was nothing short of suicide. That they had let him go at all was already unbelievable!
"Heh heh! Daoist brother's Spirit Fox Step is even more impressive than before—truly sublime!" Seeing the Taoist let the youth go, the old man was surprised but made no move to stop him. Instead, he praised his counterpart.
"It's nothing. Just a petty trick," the Taoist replied blandly, glancing at the retreating figure of the young man before speaking in a leisurely tone.