Chapter 320: Spiritual Medicine

Chapter 320: Spiritual Medicine

"The Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace is elusive and intangible. How can we possibly locate its whereabouts?" The Cloud Marquis spoke with a grave expression.

The Dragon King replied, "Finding the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace is both difficult and not difficult. All it takes is a single drop of blood from a descendant of the Heavenly Emperor, dripped into the 'Sacred Lake,' to open the portal leading to the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace."

A descendant of the Heavenly Emperor.

The Sacred Lake.

Ning Xiaochiao's Mental Energy stirred as he stared at the Sacred Lake within Dragon Valley, his eyes flashing with astonishment. He quickly communicated with the Heavenly Emperor's Blade through his Mental Energy, "Could this Sacred Lake be the Cold Star Lake we've been searching for?"

The Heavenly Emperor's Blade did not respond to Ning Xiaochiao, nor did it give any indication.

Ning Xiaochiao immediately grew alert. The Heavenly Emperor's Blade was a demonic weapon abandoned by the Heavenly Emperor, and it certainly wouldn’t want the Dragon King to detect its presence in Dragon Valley. That was why it remained silent.

Others might not be able to sense the Heavenly Emperor's Blade's aura, but the Dragon King was no ordinary being. The slightest hint of its presence could be detected.

If the Dragon King discovered the Heavenly Emperor's Blade's aura, he would undoubtedly suppress it, preventing it from entering the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace.

Ning Xiaochiao and the Heavenly Emperor's Blade were now bound together like grasshoppers on a string. If the blade were exposed, Ning Xiaochiao would likely lose his chance to enter the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace as well.

Just as everyone was speculating about the identity of the Heavenly Emperor's descendant, ripples appeared in the void above the Sacred Lake, forming a mirror-like surface resembling a water curtain.

The mirror shimmered with radiant light, as the powers of Time and Space intertwined upon it.

"Whoosh—"

An ethereal and graceful figure stepped out from the mirror, traversing Time and Space, and stood above the Sacred Lake.

Her body was enveloped in a sacred glow, making it impossible to discern her true identity.

Powerful Martial Artists focused their vision, their pupils emitting Profound Qi as they strained to see the figure emerging from the fabric of Time and Space.

Her figure was enchanting, with perfect curves—her bosom full and voluptuous, her waist as slender as a spirit serpent. Even in the hazy glow, her silhouette rivaled that of the Demon Sect Saintess and Fairy Nie of the Tianyin Sect.

"Spiritual Void Venerable," Ning Xiaochiao murmured in surprise, recognizing her identity.

The descendant of the Heavenly Emperor was none other than the "Spiritual Void Venerable."

Xue Lingxu.

Many had assumed the Spiritual Void Venerable would not come, unaware that she possessed the "Chaos Heart Palace," granting her mastery over Time and Space. To her, traversing tens of thousands of kilometers was as effortless as the snap of a finger.

The Spiritual Void Venerable extended a single Jade Finger, its tip glowing faintly as a drop of blood fell into the Sacred Lake.

The drop of blood shone as brilliantly as the sun, crimson like a blood-crystal gemstone. Like a blood-red star plunging into the sea, it instantly stirred monstrous waves.

The waters of the Sacred Lake boiled in an instant, turning blood-red. Wisps of blood-red Freezing Energy rose into the air, as if a blood-red "moon" had been embedded into the earth.

"Whoosh—"

The light of the "Blood Moon" shot from the ground into the sky, churning the heavens with wind and clouds, lightning and thunder.

The clouds parted, the mist dispersed.

To those standing on the ground, gazing upward, it was as if they were witnessing the apocalyptic end of the world.

Through layers of dark clouds, one could see not a palace but a black sphere suspended in the distant void.

Because the sphere was so far from the ground, it appeared no larger than a fist, like a black spade floating in the sky.

"Is that the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace?"

Everyone strained their vision to the limit, trying to discern the true appearance of the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace. But the sphere was over 50,000 kilometers—perhaps even 500,000 kilometers—away. Even Martial Venerables couldn't make out what the black sphere truly was.

The water of the Sacred Lake grew increasingly frigid until it completely solidified into blood-red ice.

The lake's surface was perfectly smooth, yet it spontaneously formed an icy formation.

The Spiritual Void Venerable landed at the center of the formation, and the lake erupted with a flash of crimson light. In an instant, the Spiritual Void Venerable vanished from the lake's surface.

"That’s a teleportation formation left by the Heavenly Emperor—it must lead directly to the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace!"

"Whoever enters the formation first will reach the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace ahead of others and claim the treasures left behind!"

Everyone went wild, surging toward the formation on the lake.

"Boom!"

The Cloud Marquis struck out with a palm, sending all Martial Artists and Mystic Beasts flying as he stepped into the formation first.

A flash of light, and the Cloud Marquis disappeared.

Immediately, chaos erupted again by the Sacred Lake.

Prince Jindu, Ye Nan Tian, the Nie Sisters, the White Fox Heir, Yu Qing—anyone with extraordinary cultivation rushed into the formation and vanished in a teleportation flash.

The formation could only accommodate one person at a time. Only the strongest could reach the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace first.

Ning Xiaochiao glanced at the Demon Sect Saintess, a smile playing on his lips as he gestured for her to go ahead.

The Demon Sect Saintess didn’t hesitate, transforming into a streak of white light as swift as a meteor, landing in the formation and teleporting away.

Then, Ning Xiaochiao forcefully suppressed all challengers and charged into the formation himself.

Little Red, clinging to Ning Xiaochiao’s shoulder, tried to follow but was repelled by the formation’s light, tumbling head over heels.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

It scrambled up, standing on its hind legs, waving tiny red claws menacingly at the formation while howling.

Many Martial Artists couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the tiny creature’s tantrum.

The Small Red Dragon dashed forward, ramming its head into the formation’s halo. Miraculously, it forced a gap, its head squeezed out of shape, tongue nearly dragging on the ground—yet it managed to wedge its skull inside.

Ning Xiaochiao decided to lend a hand, grabbing its head and yanking it into the formation.

"Guh—"

The Small Red Dragon’s eyes bulged, tongue lolling, neck stretched twice its length.

"Snap!"

Finally, its entire body was pulled through.

The formation activated, and Ning Xiaochiao and the Small Red Dragon vanished, teleported away.

Ning Xiaochiao felt his surroundings ripple with multicolored light, his body under intense g-forces as if hurtling through the void at breakneck speed. But it lasted only three seconds before space opened again.

Ning Xiaochiao felt as if he had passed through a light gate. Suddenly, he experienced weightlessness and quickly controlled his body to maintain balance, landing steadily on the ground.

Thud!

His feet touched the ground, and a tremendous force acted on his legs, transmitting into the underground world and leaving a large crater in the surface.

Before Ning Xiaochiao could survey his surroundings, the Small Red Dragon fell with a thud, creating a small dragon-shaped pit in the ground.

This was an incredibly desolate world—vast and barren, with only black rocks covering the ground. Not a single blade of grass grew, nor was there even a trace of a river.

After observing for a while, Ning Xiaochiao found no other Martial Artists within a radius of 5 kilometers, nor did he see any palaces.

The entire world was eerily silent, devoid of life.

"The gravity here is 3.7 times that of the Yulan Empire, and the air density is only 0.02 times that of the Yulan Empire."

The harshness of the environment exceeded Ning Xiaochiao’s expectations. The immense gravity suppressed the Martial Arts Profound Qi within his body, reducing his combat strength to less than half of its usual capacity.

What was even more distressing was that the air density here was only one-fiftieth of that in the Yulan Empire. Martial Artists below the Transcendent Realm could survive in such conditions for no more than seven days.

Moreover, this unknown world might hold other dangers.

"Did we get teleported to the wrong place because you barged into the formation?" Ning Xiaochiao glared at the Small Red Dragon.

Little Red crawled out of the pit, covered in dust, its eyes and nose askew from the fall. It shook its head vigorously and extended a claw, pointing toward the left.

The Small Red Dragon’s spiritual perception was far sharper than Ning Xiaochiao’s.

Could the direction it pointed to be the location of the Heavenly Emperor's Divine Palace?

Ning Xiaochiao grabbed Little Red by the tail and swiftly dashed in the indicated direction. After running for half a day without spotting anything, he began to suspect if the Small Red Dragon’s head had been squashed stupid earlier.

Finally, Ning Xiaochiao caught a faint, peculiar fragrance—one that resembled the scent of a Profound Medicine.

As the fragrance grew stronger, Ning Xiaochiao suddenly halted and fixed his gaze on a distant black stone mountain. At its peak grew a small white herb.

The earth and sky were both pitch-black, making the herb, which emitted a White Light, stand out starkly.

The strange fragrance emanated from this herb.

In a place devoid of moisture, with thin air and only barren rock, the existence of a growing plant was utterly inconceivable—bizarre to the extreme.

The white herb had three delicate leaves, glistening with a soft radiance.

At the center of the leaves rested a white pearl the size of a marble.

The pearl’s surface was smooth and jade-like, surrounded by swirling spiritual energy and exuding a rich fragrance, resembling a spiritual pearl of the earth.

"This is… the Three-Leaved Life Grass!" Ning Xiaochiao had read countless books on Profound Medicine and recognized tens of thousands of herbs.

The Three-Leaved Life Grass was known as a miraculous herb capable of resurrection. It only grew in places devoid of life—the more impossible for life to exist, the more likely it was to find this extraordinary herb.

Profound Medicines were classified into nine grades. Those surpassing the Nine-Star Spiritual Herbs were known as "Spiritual Medicines," or simply "Miraculous Medicines."

The reason it is called a "Spiritual Medicine" is because once a medicinal herb surpasses the level of Nine-Star Spiritual Herbs, it gains sentience and even develops intelligence, capable of flying through the skies or burrowing into the earth, able to sense fortune and avoid calamity. If humans or Mystic Beasts appear within a 500-kilometer radius, it can immediately flee.

Thus, aside from Heart Nurturers skilled in herb gathering, ordinary Martial Artists can hardly even catch a glimpse of a Spiritual Medicine.

A "Spiritual Medicine" must grow for at least a thousand years. If its growth period is insufficient, its intelligence remains incomplete, its sentience lacking, and its efficacy is halved—such herbs can only be called "Semi-Miraculous Medicine."

Using the method recorded in books, Ning Xiaochiao observed that this "Three-Leaved Life Grass" had grown for about five hundred years. Its sentience was insufficient, so it could only be considered a "Semi-Miraculous Medicine."