Chapter 136: Huge Harvest
Fang Hao dragged his half-dead body through the forest, stumbling about like a headless fly, fleeing for an entire day and night.
He dared not stop, fearing that True Person Chiyang, that old dog, might still have accomplices, or that the commotion from their recent battle might attract something even more terrifying.
Several times he nearly stumbled into toxic miasma or ran into a patrolling Third-Ranked Demonic Beast, but relying on the early warnings from his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes and the agility of his Divine Spirit Steps, he narrowly escaped each time.
It was not until he felt he could no longer hold on, his Spiritual Qi completely exhausted and his chest aching as if it were splitting open, that he found a narrow crevice in the middle of a highly concealed cliff face completely covered by vines, just big enough for one person to squeeze into.
Gritting his teeth, he used his last bit of strength to push aside the vines and crawl inside.
To his surprise, it was a hidden gem of a place—a small, dry, and well-ventilated cave, seemingly an abandoned nest of some small Demon Beast.
"This will do!" Fang Hao could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, his vision fading in and out.
He hurriedly fished out a handful of healing Medicinal Pills from his storage ring, not caring what they were, shoved them all into his mouth, and then activated the Chaos Derivation Art to begin healing with all his might.
He sat there for three days and three nights.
During this time, he woke up in pain several times; his entire body felt like it was falling apart, and it felt as if countless needles were stabbing into his Meridians.
Chaos Qi had performed a great service this time; though weak, its endless nourishing power, combined with the medicinal effects, slowly repaired his damaged Meridians and internal organs.
By the evening of the third day, Fang Hao slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long, turbid breath that tasted of blood.
His injuries had finally stabilized; while he was still far from a full recovery, he could at least utilize a portion of his Spiritual Qi and wouldn’t cough up blood so easily.
"Damn it, I almost died there..." Fang Hao touched his chest with lingering fear, where it still ached faintly.
A Golden Core Cultivator was truly no joke.
If that old dog True Person Chiyang hadn’t been an Alchemist with lacking combat experience, and if he hadn’t used all his trump cards in a life-or-death strike, he would surely have been the one to die.
After the relief of surviving the disaster came irrepressible excitement!
He couldn’t wait to take out the Storage Ring he had stripped from True Person Chiyang’s hand.
The ring was ancient in style and still had a faint trace of a Divine Soul imprint on it, but since the owner was dead, Fang Hao erased it without much effort.
He probed inside with his Divine Sense, and good heavens! Fang Hao’s eyes went wide instantly!
"This... this old dog is too rich!" He couldn’t help but gasp!
The space inside this storage ring was ridiculously large!
It was more than ten times bigger than his previous best storage ring!
Everything inside was neatly categorized and piled up like small mountains!
The most eye-catching thing was the Spirit Stones!
Low-Grade Spirit Stones were piled into several actual mountains; a rough glance showed at least fifty million!
There were also seven or eight hundred thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones!
There were even over a thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones, emitting a soft, pure glow!
Did he rob a national treasury?
How could an Alchemist at the Early Golden Core Stage be this rich?!
Besides Spirit Stones, there were Spirit Medicines!
Various jade boxes and wooden cases filled another corner.
Fang Hao opened a few at random, and they were all high-quality Spirit Medicine with sufficient age!
Third-Ranked and Fourth-Ranked ones were everywhere, and there were even a few boxes with special Talismans containing fragments or seeds of Fifth-Ranked Spirit Medicine!
He couldn’t name many of the medicinal Materials, but just looking at the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, he knew they were worth a fortune!
Then there were the Medicinal Pills!
Bottles and jars were everywhere, a dazzling array!
From the most basic qi gathering pills and rejuvenation pills, to the ningyuan pill and barrier-breaking pill used during the Foundation Establishment Stage, and then to various Spirit Pills for enhancing cultivation, healing, and extending life for the Golden Core Stage, the variety was complete and the quality extremely high!
Many of the pills had pill patterns on their surfaces, clearly indicating they were High Grade or even top-grade!
True Person Chiyang was truly worthy of being a Fourth-Ranked Alchemist; his wealth was immense!
Fang Hao also discovered a separate jade shelf on which several Magical Artifacts were placed.
The most prominent was a waist-high, crimson-red Pill Furnace; the furnace body was carved with flame patterns and exuded an imposing Spiritual Qi.
One look and it was clear it was no ordinary item, at least at the level of a High Grade Spiritual Artifact!
Additionally, there was a flame feather fan and a red copper precious mirror, both of which were decent fire-attribute Magic Treasures.
It was a pity that Fang Hao’s main cultivation was not fire-attribute, so they weren’t very handy for him to use, but taking them to sell would also fetch a large sum of money.
Besides these, there were some miscellaneous items.
For instance, a few Jade Slips recording Alchemy insights and fire control techniques, some rare Ore Materials, a few sets of spare Daoist robes, and even some... hmm, high-quality spirit tea and alcohol.
This old guy really knew how to enjoy himself.
Finally, Fang Hao’s gaze was drawn to two things.
One was a palm-sized, warm white jade plaque engraved with a pattern of a Medicine Cauldron, surrounded by four stars, with a line of small text below reading ’Cangxuan Continent Alchemist Association Certification’.
"Fourth-Ranked Alchemist Token?" Fang Hao weighed it in his hand.
This thing represented a certain status and position, which should be somewhat useful in the Alchemist circle.
However, he didn’t need it for the time being, so he tucked it away.
The other thing was a thick book made from some kind of animal hide, with the cover titled ’Chiyang Pill Formula Collection’.
Fang Hao curiously opened it, and his breathing suddenly quickened!
The book was densely packed with hundreds of Pill Formula from the first to the fifth rank!
Although he knew or could easily obtain most of the first to third-rank Pill Formula, the dozens of fourth-rank Pill Formula and the few fifth-rank Pill Formula recorded inside were priceless treasures!
Especially a few types of Medicinal Pills that Golden Core Cultivators dreamed of, such as the ’Jinyuan Pill’ that could advance cultivation in the Early Golden Core Stage, the ’Yangjin Pill’ that could repair Golden Core damage, and even a fragmentary Pill Formula for the ’Huaying Pill,’ which could increase the success rate of forming a Nascent Soul by thirty percent!
"I’m rich! I’ve really struck it rich this time!" Fang Hao was so excited his hands were trembling.
The value of this Pill Formula Collection even exceeded that massive amount of Spirit Stones!
With it, as long as his Alchemy level kept up, he would never have to worry about Medicinal Pills again!
Moreover, there might even be more detailed records regarding forming golden core!
He couldn’t wait to flip to the page recording forming golden core.
Sure enough!
The Pill Formula for forming golden core collected by True Person Chiyang was much more complete than the fragmentary formula he had purchased at the auction!
Although the core concept was the same, it supplemented many missing auxiliary drug ratios and key details of fire control!
It even recorded several strange phenomena that might occur when the Medicinal Pill was forming and how to deal with them!
"Great!" Fang Hao slapped his thigh in excitement!
With this more complete Pill Formula, his success rate in refining for forming golden core could be increased by at least twenty percent!
This was truly timely help!
He carefully put away the Pill Formula Collection, his mood unable to calm down for a long time.
This life-or-death battle, although extremely dangerous, yielded unprecedentedly rich rewards!
Not only did it solve the problem of Spirit Stones and Spirit Medicine, but more importantly, he obtained a complete Pill Formula for forming golden core and a large number of high-rank Pill Formula!
This would be of immense help to his future path of cultivation!
"As expected, a man cannot get rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse cannot get fat without night grass..." Fang Hao sighed.
Of course, one must have the life to take such unexpected wealth.
He steadied his mind and began to count and categorize his harvest this time.
He put away the Spirit Stones, Spirit Medicine, Medicinal Pills, and Magical Artifacts in their respective categories.
He couldn’t use the Chiyang Pill Furnace for now, but he could keep it.
As for the other Magical Artifacts, he would deal with them when he had the opportunity.
After doing all this, he looked at the astonishing wealth in his storage ring, and his heart felt much more at ease.
Next, it was time to heal his injuries with peace of mind, and then find a way to refine for forming golden core!
He glanced at the faint light filtering into the cave and took a deep breath.
After his injuries recovered, he would have to leave this place and find a safer location to make final preparations for the Golden Core breakthrough.
He could no longer stay in the Hundred Flowers Mountain Range; he had to return to Hundred Flowers City or look for another place.
However, before that, he had to fully heal his injuries.
This injury was not light, and it was just the right opportunity to use the healing Medicinal Pills left behind by True Person Chiyang, combined with Chaos Qi; perhaps he could even turn a misfortune into a blessing and advance his cultivation a step further.
Fang Hao closed his eyes again, swallowed a few precious fourth-rank healing Medicinal Pills, and once again entered a deep state of healing.
In the cave, only his steady breathing and the faint medicinal fragrance emitted as the pills dissolved remained.
