Chapter 10 – Star Concealing Grass
The three things Xiao Che asked for made Xia Qingyue pheonix-like eyes instantly open: “What are you trying to do?.”
“Does this mean you actually have a way to get your hands on them?” Xiao Che asked hopefully, after seeing that Xia Qingyue had not immediately outright rejected him.
Xia Qingyue slightly furrowed her eyebrows, and started to slowly speak: “I have never heard of a Seven Profound Gem Grass but a Earth Profound Realm beast’s core can only be obtained after killing the beast. And how many people in the Blue Wind Empire could actually successfully hunt a beast training in the ways of the Profound? Even in Frozen Cloud Asgard, one who could do that would certainly be quite rare. And a Purple Veined Heaven Crystal is a priceless immortal treasure that even the Four Major Sects would go crazy for! Even one would be worth more than ten years of a person’s lifetime cultivation. Those three things, don’t even mention me, even if it was the Mistress seeking those things, it would still be almost impossible to obtain.”
Xiao Che’s chest heaved up and down as he closed his eyes, silent for a long time.
“What are you planning to do with those three things?” Xia Qingyue asked spontaneously.
“Repair my profound vein.” Replied Xiao Che.
“…I am unable to help you.” At the same time, Xia Qingyue said that, she did not believe that those three items could repair a profound vein. Otherwise, there was no way her master would not know this method.
Xiao Che shook his head as if it did not matter: “Those three items are not things that an ordinary person could obtain, I was only casually asking about them.” After a small pause, he spoke again in a little small voice: “Wife, after you return to Frozen Cloud Asgard, will we ever meet again?”
“Do not call me wife again! My name is Xia Qingyue!” Xia Qingyue said as her voice pitched higher and her voice got colder.
Indifferent, Xiao Che spoke in a carefree tone: “I married you and you married me. We have already bowed in the face of heaven and earth with thousands of people as our witness. We have also went through the entire wedding process. I am now your husband and you are my wife. If I don’t call you wife, what else would I call you?”
“……” Xia Qingyue became speechless. After a while, she indifferently spoke: “Whatever, suit yourself.”
Xiao Che suddenly grinned broadly… this wife was untouchable, but had no conversational skills!
“You still haven’t answered my previous question… When you return to Frozen Cloud Asgard, will we meet again?” Xiao Che asked again.
“No.” Xia Qingyue replied.
“Good!” Xiao Che nodded his head and leaned his head against the wall as he closed his eyes: “In fact, you should return to Frozen Cloud Asgard as early as possible and not have to worry about me. For someone as talented as you are, you should not stay in this little Floating Cloud City and also not be tied down by me. When you leave, your status of being a disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard would become public. At least in this Floating Cloud City, no one would dare to hurt me and I would live more comfortably… Oh right, you should not have any objections about my opinion?”
“….As you wish.” Xia Qingyue said, expressionless.
“Mmm, this is more like it, since you would never see me again. If you do not let me get a concubine, I might really divorce you.”
The forgiving Xia Qingyue’s heart was as calm as water but she had a spontaneous urge to kick him out of the room.
At the same time, she suddenly saw Xiao Che stand up and walk to the door. She hurriedly asked: “Where are you going?”
“Can’t sleep, I’m going out to watch the stars.” As Xiao Che answered her question, his heart groaned… This woman, how about you squat down here in the middle of the night. Let’s see if you can sleep that way!
Xia Qingyue did not speak anymore and Xiao Che opened the door as he proceeded to walk outside.
It was in the middle of the night and all was still. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, Xiao Che looked at the sky full of stars with a determined expression in his eyes. However, deep inside, he was at a loss with an unsettling and perplexing unease.
Today was the first day he had been reborn. Although his mind had changed greatly if compared to the past, with a change that could even be said to have turned the world upside down, even his strong mind could not find a way to get out of his current damaged Profound Vein situation.
If he could obtain the Seven Profound Gem Grass, Purple Veined Heaven Crystal, and the core of an Earth Profound Realm’s beast, he would have more than a 50% success rate when repairing his Profound Vein. However, with his current ability, to even get one of the three items he needed as prohibitively difficult.
After all, only the strong were respected in this world. Without enough power, achieving what one wants was but only just an illusion.
What was he suppose to do…
Suddenly, a slight throbbing sensation came from Xiao Che’s left hand. He subconsciously raised his left hand and saw impressive glimmers of rapid flashing faint light come from the Sky Poison Pearl’s pattern in his palm.
Xiao Che’s eyes contracted as he turned around, facing north.
“This is….”
In addition to being poisonous and having a strong refining capability, the Sky Poison Pearl had an additional ability. It had the special kind of ability that could sense nearby toxic medicinal herb ingredients! If within a certain distance from a highly toxic ingredient or drug, it would perceive where it would be, emit flashing light, and point in it’s target’s location… but it’s prerequisite was that the material must be one of the highest of qualities. The level of sensing that the Sky Poison Pearl had was unrivaled. If compared, the highest level that a person could reach achieve would not even reach that of the Sky Poison Pearl’s. On the Azure Cloud Continent, the Sky Poison Pearl had only flashed six times, each time letting him find the rarest of the most exotic treasures!
Although this was its first day on the Profound Sky Continent, the Sky Poison Pearl actually had such an induction! Even this place hid a secret hidden treasure?
The Sky Poison Pearl’s targeted direction was to the north… which was the direction of Xiao Clan’s mountain.
Xiao Che had his own little courtyard, it’s location could be said to be the most dangerous out of all the Xiao Clan’s property. This is because over his courtyard walls, laid the mountains. This mountain was still actually the private property of the Xiao Clan. The occasional wandering low level profound beast would break into the courtyard by climbing over it’s walls. And if one wanted to come from the back of the mountain and sneak in to make this area it’s own, that would be a very good choice. However, in the face of the Xiao Clan’s power in Floating Cloud City, no one has ever dared to have done that to this very day.
Xiao Che did not hesitate and directly climbed over the wall. Although his profound strength was low, climbing over a wall of three meters was no problem.
The mountain area was quiet and somber, and if it was the previous Xiao Che, he absolutely would not come here in the middle of the night. The moon in the sky was still hanging up high and the countless stars there were also not that dim. Xiao Che glanced all around him and when he was sure there was no one in sight, he tread softly in the direction the Sky Poison Pearl was pointing toward.
The mountain under the light of the moon seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of mist, making it seem both mysterious and dangerous. Not long after, Xiao Che arrived at the foot of the mountain. In this place, the Sky Poison Pearl’s flickering light was at it’s highest frequency. Xiao Che stopped and wondered… was it around here? But this was clearly only the foot of the mountain area. Xiao Clan pharmacists must pass through here everyday so how could it even grow here? Whether it be a heavenly treasure or a somewhat decent type of medicine, it would have been found already; why would it wait for him to find it for harvest.
However, the Sky Poison Pearl had indeed reached this rapid frequency which meant that the target would be at least ten footsteps away.
In the moonlight, Xiao Che’s brow tightened as his eyes slowly and carefully searched every inch of the land around him.
Under normal circumstances, the more precious the medicinal herb was, the more dangerous and extreme the place it grew would be. At first glance, this area at the foot of the mountain was covered entirely in weeds and Xiao Che could not help but be tempted to suspect that there was a problem with the Sky Poison Pearl’s natural sense.
As his eyes carefully scanned the ground in a circle, aside from only weeds, Xiao Che could not find even the most common of medicinal herbs. Right when he was about to give up, his eyes suddenly landed on a place with some kind of indistinct variety.
The Xiao Che of today had a sharp intuition. He raised his head and looked in the direction of the uncomfortable feeling that he suddenly felt for the first time in this world. There was a mass amount of weeds there as well, but a certain weed at the edge of a rock that had not been trampled had caught his attention. Xiao Che walked to the rock’s side and squatted down next to it and stared at the mass of weeds for a long time. Firmly locked in the middle of all those weeds were… smaller weeds with a tenacious amount of vitality. Without interference, one can say that they are clinging on to dear life by rooting at every opening available. In the middle of those untrampled weeds was an even smaller chasm. The hole was very small for only two blades of grass grew there. However, if one looked closely, it was apparent that the grass there was significantly different than that of the other weeds around them.
A gust of the gentle night breeze blew by, swaying the small weeds in the area. At this time, Xiao Che’s eyes had been firmly locked onto the small hole and suddenly saw the bizarre form of those two blades of grass… they appeared in a blink of an eye and then disappeared, without a trace.
Xiao Che’s eyes widened and he was suddenly filled with ecstasy. He quickly stretched out his left palm that contained the Sky Poison Pearl towards the little hole. Under the faint green light, the two blades of grass slowly appeared again.
“Star Concealing Grass! It really is Star Concealing Grass! And there were even two of them!” Xiao Che excited growled in a low voice as he lowered his left hand with the intention of uprooting them. The Sky Poison Pearl flashed and the two blades of Star Concealing Grass were recovered, in the palm of Xiao Che’s hand.
The high quality the medicinal herb was, the harder it was to harvest for even the slightest mistake during harvesting may cause damage to the materials and lower it’s efficiency or even complete destroy it’s effectiveness. But with the Sky Poison Pearl, no matter how complicated the herb, one had no need to worry. The Sky Poison Pearl could harvest a herb without bringing any possible harmful side effects by using it’s aura, completely wrapping around a herb without any sort of spiritual power leakage.
“Instead of saying that it was a surprise, it’s better to say that this was a miracle!” Looking at the two blades of Star Concealing Grass that were partly hidden in the palm of his hand, Xiao Che’s arm quivered in excitement. In his entire twenty-four year life, he had traveled almost everywhere on the Azure Cloud Continent and only found one Star Concealing Grass. However, on only the first day that he came to the Profound Sky Continent, he had actually found two! And it was in his own family’s back mountains!
One could say that there was no difference when comparing the differences between a Star Concealing Grass and the common weed, for it was almost impossible to differentiate between the two even if one tried. At the same time, it had a very unusual ability… it could become invisible! In a way, it meant that if one wanted to find one, it would be even more difficult to do. His teacher had once told him that the Star Concealing Grass was an treasure of the heavens and earth, but there were few who knew of it’s existence. The amount of people who had the ability to identify it were no more than five in the Azure Cloud Continent. In addition, the only thing in the world can could completely refine this heavenly treasure was the one and only Sky Poison Pearl!
“This is truly the heaven’s grace assisting me. Owning these two blades of Star Concealing Grass is equivalent to having a surefire trump card! After refining them into Star Concealing Pills, my life would be insured even if I wanted to kill or rob people… I could do whatever I wanted to!” Xiao Che laughed as he clenched the Star Concealing Grass in the palm of his hand and sent it into the interspatial storage within the Sky Poison Pearl.
The flashing light that came from the Sky Poison Pearl stopped completely after he did that. The happy Xiao Che no longer had a reason to linger any longer and turned to go back home. As he was turning around, a cold light suddenly flashed in the corner of his eye.
Xiao Che’s stopped in his tracks to turn in the direction of the cold light. In the not too dim moonlight, he saw a vague blurry mass less than fifty meters north of him. It was an obscure white shadow.
What was it?