Hidden moth

Chapter 282: Pure Yang in the High Cold

As he spoke, Elder Gu sent a divine thought. He Kao was startled and quickly waved his hands, saying, "No, no, I can't imitate him. Mainly, I can't imitate his temperament..."

Elder Gu shook his head and said, "It's right that you don't imitate it. Being secretive and using a mixture of truth and falsehood is more believable! Then it won't be you who is exposed, but others who will think they have seen through your actions."

He Kao still tried to resist, saying, "But the Yin E Sha is no longer in my hands. I gave it to Lan Jiuwan."

Elder Gu: "Just bring it back when you need it."

He Kao: "Why him and not you?"

Elder Gu said in an enigmatic manner, "It has to be him. It has to be him. This is the mission of the clan law hall... While this move can deter the small crowd, it's also quite risky. I can only tell Mei Guyu. If anything really happens, you two can discuss it together."

He Kao could only nod helplessly. After a moment of thought, he asked again, "Elder Li also asked me to send him to Mount Everest last time. Was he here to rescue people too? Why do you all like to run here?"

Elder Gu: "This is my first time at Everest Base Camp, and I just happened to catch up. As for Old Li, he came here to collect herbs last time..."

Li Xiuyuan's last visit was to search for a parasitic spiritual plant called Golden Sun Blossom. This plant has extremely demanding growing conditions, requiring a location with strong and long hours of sunlight, a large temperature difference between day and night, and extremely cold temperatures.

Such places are rare, and they must meet the conditions of low latitude and high altitude at the same time. Currently, it is known that they only grow in the snow line area on the sunny slopes of the Himalayas, which are almost uninhabited areas that are difficult to reach.

Neither in Fengwei Township nor in Qihuang Lingyuan can the Golden Sun Broom be cultivated. It grows in extremely harsh, high-altitude cold regions, but absorbs the essence of the scorching sun and can be used to refine a variety of spiritual medicines.

In ancient times, it was used to refine the most common low-level elixir, the Essence-Nourishing Pill suitable for Foundation Building and first-level sorcerers. He Kao had also taken it. Due to its powerful effect, only a very small amount was required in the elixir recipe.

Don't underestimate low-level elixirs. Although He Kao doesn't need them now, everyone has experienced a period of needing them. They are the most widely applicable and most in-demand auxiliary cultivation resource, and they also determine the foundation of the art.

Jinyang Liedang is too precious and rare, so the ancestors of the magic school have been constantly improving and developing new elixir recipes for thousands of years, replacing it with other more readily available elixirs. It is rarely used in ordinary elixir recipes such as Yangjing Dan.

However, in some high-level elixirs, Jinyang Bletang is irreplaceable, such as the main ingredient of the Pure Yang Pill. It is said that the Pure Yang Pill even has the effect of rejuvenating the body. The main ingredient in the original recipe is the legendary Zhu Fruit.

In fact, although its magical effect is not as exaggerated as rejuvenation, it can also assist in the cultivation of high-level sorcerers and even great cultivators like Gu Chun and Li Xiuyuan.

The Vermilion Fruit is not found in the world; even He Kao had only seen it in novels. After various attempts, successive masters discovered that by combining several auxiliary ingredients, the Golden Yang Blossom could also possess the magical effects of the Vermilion Fruit, thus creating the Pure Yang Pill.

Elder Li's last visit to the Everest region was to collect Golden Yang Broomrape to refine the Pure Yang Pill. If the refinement was successful, He Kao might get a share based on his "contribution," but it was only a possibility.

Upon hearing this, He Kao quickly asked, "Did Elder Li find the Golden Sun Liedang last time?"

Gu Chun sighed and said, "How could it be that easy? He returned empty-handed. I originally wanted to give you some of the Pure Yang Pill after refining it. Just consider it as the reward for the Zongfa Hall's conscription of your service. We old guys will get a smaller share."

Later I heard that you took the initiative to ask for the Spirit-awakening Pills and Awakening Incense in stock, so I guess your help wasn’t in vain…”

He Kao was a little anxious: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? You should have told me last time. I don't have any other skills, but I have no problem helping to collect herbs!"

Gu Chun turned around and asked, "Do you know where it is?"

He Kao: "The Himalayas are over 2,000 kilometers long and hundreds of kilometers wide. There are many places along the sunny slopes and snow line! Why do we have to focus on Mount Everest?
"It's crowded, messy, and polluted here, so it's unlikely I'll find any. I've been to other places that meet the criteria, and now that I think about it, there might be some growing there, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time."

Gu Chun: "Those places you mentioned are not easy to get to. There is no transportation. Even if you control a flying device, there are risks, and there is no guarantee that you will find them."

He Kao hurriedly said, "Leave it to me, I'll find it!"

Gu Chun's eyes lit up and he became interested, and he immediately reminded her, "The golden sun hibiscus is a perennial parasitic plant that parasitizes on the rhizomes of other plateau plants such as the goldenrod.

It is invisible in winter and difficult to identify at other times. It is only conspicuous when it blooms and heads in midsummer. However, it should not be picked in summer or autumn because by the time it grows taller and produces inflorescences, most of its efficacy has been lost.

Therefore, in ancient times, people would collect herbs when they were in bloom in midsummer, mark the location, and then go back in early spring to pick the rhizomes. If not, they would have to use their spiritual sense to carefully search and identify them, which would be very inefficient...

It is now early April, and the tips of the buds have just emerged from the ground, making it the perfect time to pick them. However, this window is very short, no more than two weeks at most, and they are difficult to identify. If you miss it, you will have to wait until next year.

I originally planned to stay at Everest Base Camp for a few more days and wanted to try my luck to see if I could find it nearby.”

He Kao: "I'll try to find some time in the next few days and look for it along the Himalayas... I remember seeing something very similar to Jinyang Bletang more than a thousand miles to the west."

Gu Chun: "If you find it, send it to Elder Li immediately. Although he's not a master alchemist, he should have no problem handling the ingredients... He knows how to pick and preserve them, right?"

He Kao: "I know. It was mentioned in the recipe that Elder Li passed down to me."

He Kao immediately said goodbye and left. When he returned to Qiyuan, it was already dawn. Only then did he come to his senses and realized that this silly boy seemed to have been captured by Elder Gu.

In addition to saving Lina, Elder Gu actually gave him three tasks. The first was to secretly send him to Fengwei Township five days later, and the second was to impersonate someone at the appropriate time.

As for the third task, it was to find and pick the Golden Sun Oleander. Elder Gu didn't mention it directly, but He Kao volunteered. I guess he was secretly happy about it.

Even if Lina hadn't been in danger, Elder Gu would have likely found an excuse to get He Kao to Mount Everest in the next few days. After all, Elder Li hadn't found the elixir last time. If they missed this window of opportunity, they'd have to wait at least a year, and there was no guarantee they'd find it. At this time last year, He Kao wasn't as skilled as he is now.

Even after thinking about these things, He Kao was not unhappy. He would just help if he could. Besides, helping others is helping himself. He Kao himself also needed the Pure Yang Pill.

As one's cultivation gradually approaches the fourth level of perfection, the Jade Wutong Seeds can still play a role in replenishing vital energy, but their effect in assisting cultivation is no longer significant. The Pure Yang Pill is of course a highly sought-after good thing.

Especially for He Kao, the magical effect of Chunyang Pill combined with the wonderful effect of Xue Guanghan has another excellent effect in harmonizing yin and yang, which is not something that can be told to outsiders.

He Kao had a beautiful idea, but he was also determined to put it into practice. He started collecting herbs in the next two days.

Deep in the Himalayas west of Mount Everest, there is a time difference of more than two hours with Qiyuan. When He Kao went there after get off work, the sun had not yet set.

He had been to that area when he "lit up" the map. At that time, he avoided the steep snow peaks and tried to choose relatively easy routes. Now, he only strolled near the snow line with the help of teleportation.

After searching carefully with his spiritual sense, He Kao found that the best time he could hold out was only about an hour, which happened to be before dusk, and he surprisingly gained quite a lot.

The golden yam plant grows in clusters, and near one plant there are often clusters of other plants. He Kao didn't pick all of them, but only selected those with the most suitable medicinal properties. He picked eight on the first day and thirteen on the second day.

On the third day, Elder Li sent a message saying that the Golden Sunburst was sufficient for the time being and there was no need to take more. Let them continue to grow in the world and not take away all the glory or exhaust the resources.

He Kao wasn't completely exhausted. Elder Li had also revealed a more important reason. While Golden Sunburst was rare and hard to come by, refining it into Pure Yang Pills was even more challenging. It required the expertise of a master alchemist and required the combination of several other medicinal herbs.

The so-called master of alchemy must first of all reach the sixth level of cultivation, and secondly, be proficient in alchemy. Even Li Xiuyuan is still short of it. Although he can make alchemy, he has not yet reached the master level.

In the martial arts world, there are only three such masters known to the public: Qi Nansheng, the supreme elder of Danding Sect, Mei Guyu, the leader of Danding Sect, and Ye Fenghuang, the leader of Guanshen Sect.

Mei Guyu specializes in swordsmanship, and while she can barely refine elixirs, her level is still low, and she's not in a good enough state to start refining elixirs. Ye Fenghuang has been on a secret mission lately and hasn't been seen at all, so she probably doesn't have time for this.

Then the most suitable candidate is of course Qi Nansheng, who has retired and lived in seclusion.

In fact, on the third day, when Li Xiuyuan told He Kao that he didn't need to collect herbs anymore, news came from the Shumen: Qi Nansheng, the supreme elder of the Danding Sect, was entrusted by the Zongfa Hall to go into seclusion to refine the Pure Yang Pill, and no one was allowed to disturb him before the pill was ready.

This news had a huge impact, even beyond He Kao's expectations. Within the Shumen, especially among the top leaders, its attention far exceeded Mei Guyu's movements and the related gag order of the Zongfa Hall.

Because the Pure Yang Pill is beneficial to high-level cultivators, and no one in the Shumen has been refining it for more than ten years, the inventory of the Zongfa Hall, Danding Sect, and Guanshen Sect is zero.

This news was public among the higher-ups in the sect, but it wasn't detailed enough. Consequently, many people were asking how many spiritual herbs the clan hall had collected, how many Qi Taishang had been able to refine, and wondering if they had a chance to get a share.

Many people have even started to build relationships, visiting influential elders and friends with gifts, and asking indirectly or directly about the Pure Yang Pill.

He Kao didn't think much about it, because he was the one who picked the Golden Yang Lipulgium, and Elder Li also guaranteed that as long as the Pure Yang Pill was refined, he would definitely have a share.

He Kao did not meet Elder Li in person. He just sent the collected golden sunflowers to the place indicated by the elder, and someone would go to pick them up... Only when he looked back did he realize that they were taken to Qi Nansheng.

Qi Nansheng was in seclusion this time, refining the elixir, and had declared that he must not be disturbed until the elixir was complete. During this time, anyone who wanted to approach him would not only be stopped by the guardians but also be met with hostility from all the higher-ups in the sect.

The supreme elder of Danding Sect is in seclusion refining elixirs, and the current leader is working far away in Qiyuan. The Xianhu Cave Heaven where the sect's ancestral hall is located is manned by three deacons in turn, with a rotation every two months.

From early December last year to early February this year, it was Wan Zhongle's turn; from early February to early April, it was another deacon Wu Chongshan's turn; and after Wu Chongshan, it should have been Xiongrui's turn.

But not long ago, with the help of He Kao, Elder Li used his dream-entering magical power to find out that Danding Sect disciple Liu Haixiu had leaked the news of Mei Guyu's visit to Qiyuan.

Liu Haixiu was not qualified to know this matter. He claimed that the butler Xianrui told him privately. However, after investigating the matter, it was discovered that Liu Haixiu's whereabouts were unknown and it was suspected that he had been silenced.

As a result, Xianrui no longer served as the deacon of Dandingmen, and was succeeded by another fifth-level herbalist Geng Yanxin.

According to the public statement of the Shu Sect, Xian Rui resigned from the position of deacon in order to concentrate on cultivation in seclusion, but the real reason was that she was under investigation by the Zongfa Hall and had not yet been cleared of suspicion.

So the person who will be on duty in Xianhu Cave this time is the new deacon Geng Yanxin.

Qian Guran had privately told He Kao that something big was likely to happen in the sect, and that the time would be one and a half months from now. As for why, Old Qian said it was just his speculation, and he would never say anything without any evidence.

According to the time when Lao Qian said this, one of the things related to Dandingmen in a month and a half is that the new deacon Geng Yanxin who replaced Xianrui will be in charge of Xianhu Dongtian.

After finding out about the relevant situation, He Kao guessed what Qian Guran was speculating about, but he didn't dare to say anything because there was really no evidence to support his suspicion, which was a very serious accusation.

But judging from Elder Gu's reaction, he should have been prepared and on guard.

Geng Yanxin entered the intersection of Xianhu Dongtian and Wuchong Mountain on the morning of April 6, the last day of the Qingming Festival holiday.

But on the previous day, that is, on the night of April 5th, He Kao quietly sent Elder Gu to the vicinity of Fengwei Township, specifically to Longlin Slope in the mountains.

**
　I wish you all a happy new year! May all your wishes come true!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)