Chapter 89: Black Crows
"I hope it’s worth it." Jiang Yue grumbled as he handed the golden herb to Yu Nianzhen.
It took three months for all the light spots in the seven-point formation to be absorbed by the golden herb at the bottom of the rock crack.
After that, it took another week before the herb could be picked.
Considering they didn’t know the herb and what it could do, both Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were a little cross.
After all, they had wasted so much time waiting for the herb instead of exploring the remaining areas of the outer region.
"It wasn’t all a waste." Yu Nianzhen said.
Although they had missed out on other opportunities, they hadn’t wasted the three months.
While they waited, they had both taken the time to cultivate and consolidate their foundation.
Compared to three months ago, both their foundations were purer and more solid.
"There is that."
Jiang Yue circulated his qi, and the feeling was different.
After he absorbed the ginseng, most of the energy couldn’t be refined and was stored within his body.
However, after three months of effort, most of the energy had been refined.
This not only helped to purify his cultivation, but his physique also improved.
When he thought of that, he could accept the time spent waiting for the herb to mature.
"Let’s go." Yu Nianzhen said and began to dismantle the formations surrounding the rock crack.
"Shall we try the trade valley?"
"En."
They had been in the thousand herbs garden for five months, and the inner region would not open until four months later.
Until it did, the two planned to trade some resources and look for the fruit that would allow them to enter the inner region.
"I hope the trade valley hasn’t moved." Jiang Yue said as they walked.
"It shouldn’t have."
Yu Nianzhen frowned a little as he said that.
Everything they knew about the trade valley was what they learned from the female devil of the Heavenly Flower Cult.
They didn’t know if the information was right or not.
Even if it was right, the trade valley could have shifted to another place depending on the circumstances in the thousand herbs garden.
"Are those crows?"
Jiang Yue looked up and saw hundreds of crows traversing the skies.
The crows were packed together and flying at a very high speed.
"I thought there were no beasts in the thousand herbs garden?" He asked.
His voice had a little confusion as he looked at the black crows.
"They may belong to someone."
From what Yu Nianzhen knew, crows were excellent beasts for gathering information.
He didn’t know if that was the case in this situation, but he felt a little apprehensive.
"Let’s hide for a bit."
He grabbed Jiang Yue’s arm and dragged him behind a rock.
A moment later, he removed two talismans from his storage ring and handed one to Jiang Yue.
"Invisibility talisman?"
Jiang Yue was surprised.
He knew they had the talismans, but he didn’t understand why the other wanted to use them at this time.
However, he trusted Yu Nianzhen.
Yu Nianzhen was a swordsman, and swordsmen had a natural instinct for danger.
If Yu Nianzhen felt wrong about the crows, then there was probably something off about them.
Soon after, two invisible people stepped out from behind the rock.
"Where are you?" Jiang Yue asked.
"Look at the ground."
Jiang Yue did so and saw a set of footprints.
Although the low-grade silver rank invisibility talisman could make them disappear, their effects on the surroundings could still be seen.
However, this was not a concern for the moment.
Their primary objective was to hide from the crows, and this level of invisibility was enough.
"Let’s continue." Yu Nianzhen said and led the way.
As they walked, he didn’t forget to look at the crows that had stopped directly above their previous location.
The crows appeared to be looking for something, but they gave up after a while.
’As I thought, those crows belong to another cultivator. What or who are they searching for?’
When he thought that, Yu Nianzhen became vigilant.
He didn’t know what the crows were about, but he had a bad feeling about them.
After the first day, the two didn’t encounter any strange circumstances.
Not only did they not encounter anything strange, but they also didn’t encounter any herbs.
"As I expected, almost everything has been harvested while we were stuck at the rock crack."
"It doesn’t matter."
"You are right."
When they thought of their harvest since they entered the secret realm, both boys were satisfied.
Even if they didn’t get anything else for the remaining time, they wouldn’t be disappointed.
However, both boys were ambitious.
Although they couldn’t get anything in the outer region, they were still looking forward to the inner region.
Within the inner region, Jiang Yue hoped to find the soul-refining herb that couldn’t be found in the outer region.
Other than that, the inner region had the scarlet rock herb and a variety of other rare herbs.
With the treasure compass, there was also hope of harvesting some treasures in the inner region.
"Azhen, do you feel something wrong?"
Yu Nianzhen frowned a little before he spoke, "I don’t know what it is though."
After getting out of the formation at the rock crack, Yu Nianzhen felt that the secret realm was a little different.
The sun was still shining brightly, and the heaven and earth qi was still abundant.
However, he felt like there was a little more aggression in the air as compared to when they first entered the secret realm.
’Is it because people have been fighting over the resources?’ He wondered.
He then shook his head and refuted his own thoughts.
Although fighting could change the atmosphere of the secret realm, this felt a little more ominous.
It felt like the world was covered by an invisible ominous cloud.
"Let’s be more careful." Jiang Yue said.
At this moment, he remembered the trepidation he felt before meeting up with Yu Nianzhen.
’It seems that something has changed within the thousand herbs garden.’
After that, the boys became more vigilant as they walked.
Six days after the first time, they once again encountered the crows.
This time, the crows numbered in the thousands, but luckily, the boys were still using invisibility talismans.
"Should we try to follow them?" Jiang Yue suddenly asked.
He wanted to go to the trade valley, but he didn’t like the tension he felt.
In this case, he felt it was best to follow the crows to investigate what was wrong.
"They are going in the same direction." Yu Nianzhen pointed out.
Like Jiang Yue, he hated not knowing.
He hated the feeling of knowing that something was wrong without knowing the details.
It unpleasantly reminded him of the months before he broke through to the origin forging realm.
At that time, he knew his future would be dangerous, but he didn’t know why.
"Let’s speed up to follow them."
It was difficult, but the two managed to follow the crows across the secret realm.
On the eighth day of following, the crows led them to the mouth of a cave.
The cave was at the bottom of a medium-sized hill, and it extended horizontally to the middle of the hill.
"What do you think?" Jiang Yue whispered.
He wanted to enter, but he wasn’t a fool.
At the moment, they didn’t know the size of the cave and what was in it.
For all they knew, they could encounter an ambush as soon as they entered.
"Let’s observe first and then enter if there is an opportunity."
"Good."
The two walked a few metres from the mouth of the cave.
They stealthily set up a defence formation under a large tree that overlooked the cave.
After that, they settled in to wait.
Three hours later, a man came out of the cave.
The man was dressed in black, and his qi presence made the boys feel cold to their bones.
At the cave’s entrance, he held out his arm, and a black crow landed on it.
Soon after, the crow began to make strange noises, and the man nodded his head as if he understood.
A moment later, the man followed the crow away from the cave.
"Don’t be hasty."
Yu Nianzhen said when Jiang Yue stood up, as if ready to enter the cave.
"We don’t know if there is anybody else inside."
Jiang Yue felt a little sheepish when he heard that.
He knew he was a little impatient, but staying still had never been his forte.
After stretching his body, he settled in to continue waiting.
This wait lasted another hour.
When the man returned, two women were flung over each of his shoulders.
Yu Nianzhen couldn’t see the faces of the women, but he immediately recognised the white clothes and silver hair ornaments of the woman on the left shoulder.
