Chaos Spirit Field

Zhao Shanhe possessed an exceptionally keen sense of perception, and had long sensed that someone was quietly following him, and quite a number of them. However, he didn't expose them, continuing to happily pick those precious spiritual herbs, seemingly oblivious to all that was happening.

The Secret Realm of Immortal Grass is shrouded in thick fog year-round, limiting visibility and lacking any detailed, accurate maps. However, several renowned locations exist within, and encountering any of them promises immense wealth. The most renowned of these is undoubtedly Black Dragon Pond, legendary for being the site of a feng shui treasure discovered by the former leader of the Black Water Sect, who once obtained rare treasures. Other locations include Green Ox Ridge, Lihuo Forest, and Heavenly Sword Canyon, all of which have also yielded treasures of divine power.

At this moment, Zhao Shanhe was already at the shores of the legendary Black Dragon Pond. The pool before him puzzled him: It looked exactly like a turtle! There was no trace of a dragon at all, making it puzzling why it was named "Black Dragon Pond." If he knew the name of the Black Water Sect's leader, perhaps he would suddenly understand.

The Black Dragon Pond lies on the southwestern edge of the forbidden area. Its core area is a deep, bottomless pool stretching several dozen feet across, with four smaller tributaries branching out in all directions. In front of and behind the pool stand two protruding boulders, their shapes reminiscent of a turtle or tortoise.

Such a renowned place naturally had a detailed description in the sect's records. It not only nurtured numerous rare herbal resources, such as Smoke Cloud Flower, Rot Bone Grass, and Cold Marrow Jade Ganoderma, but these were all key ingredients needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

In the very center of Black Dragon Pond, a rare and precious treasure called the "Frost Fruit" appears approximately every thirty to forty years. However, the timing of the fruit's ripening is uncertain, making it a formidable task. It requires both immense strength to withstand the overwhelming swarms of demonic beasts and a significant degree of luck, as unripe treasures are of no value.

When Zhao Shanhe arrived at Black Dragon Pond, he noticed a small sapling growing in the center of the pond, with a few unripe green fruits sparsely hanging from the tree. Judging from their appearance, these fruits seemed to have some time to mature, and might not even reach maturity before the next opening of the Immortal Grass Secret Realm.

Generally speaking, unripe natural treasures are practically worthless. However, for Zhao Shanhe, who possessed the Primal Chaos Spiritual Field, the situation was completely different: they were simply priceless! Out of caution and to ensure complete safety, he decided to first eliminate the cultivators who had been following him.

Zhao Shanhe jokingly said, "Everyone, you've been following me for so long, but you still haven't found the right opportunity to take action? It's so hot, I want to take a bath. If you know what's good for you, get out of here right away. The grudges between the four major sects are not something you second- and third-rate sects can mess with."

As soon as he finished speaking, six people emerged from the darkness. The leading cultivator said, "Zhao Shanhe, hand over the method for cultivating spiritual herbs, and I will spare your life."

Zhao Shanhe quipped, "I'm really scared. You're just a bunch of scumbags, not even enough to warm me up. You're so arrogant to spare my life. You're planning a sneak attack. One sword can shake mountains and rivers, two swords can illuminate the sun and moon."

Just as he finished speaking, two streams of blood spurted out from five feet away from Zhao Shanhe. At the same time, two heads flew up and landed right in front of the group of people.

Zhao Shanhe said sinisterly, "My welcome gift is quite good, isn't it? My move was clean and sharp. Before I even felt the pain, my soul had already flown to the sky. Would you like to try it? I can serve you for free."

The leader said calmly, "You have the embryonic form of sword intent, and you are a genius. I will give you a chance. Hand over the method of cultivating spiritual herbs. For Yang Xiaochan's sake, I will spare your life."

"You know my aunt, so you don't seem to be a disciple of some second-rate sect. Let me calculate with my fingers, you are from the Wuxiang Sect of Xizhou."

The leader said in surprise: "You are the heir of Tianji Sect."

Zhao Shanhe laughed heartily and said, "I am a disciple of Yuxu Palace, and my master is Yuanshi Tianzun. You are seeing a true god and yet you still don't kneel."

The leader was stunned at first, then realized that he had been tricked. He immediately flew into a rage and shouted loudly: "Zhao Shanhe, you dare to play tricks on me? You are really courting death."

Zhao Shanhe said jokingly, "You're not stupid at least. You know I'm teasing you. You're only at the Foundation Establishment stage, and it's not like you haven't killed before. Let me solve the problem first, and then I'll play with you. Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin, Seventh Level Sword Intent."

The leader didn't dare to be careless. The name of the move, "Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin," sounded powerful, so he quickly defended with all his might. Only after hearing a few screams did he realize that Zhao Shanhe's target was the people around him.

Zhao Shanhe said, "That's good now. No one's disturbing us anymore. We can now officially compete."

The leader knew he had been tricked, but this time he wasn't angry at all. He sarcastically said, "Zhao Shanhe, you're not very smart either. You should have run away when you had such a good opportunity just now."

Zhao Shanhe replied, "When two meet on a narrow road, the brave prevails. If I run away, I'm afraid I'll be courting death. Take it."

In an instant, the two men started fighting. Zhao Shanhe was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and his cultivation was far behind that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Relying on the bonus of his sword intent, he fought back and forth with the leader, with no clear winner.

After a hundred rounds, Zhao Shanhe's spiritual power gradually ran out. He said, "We are evenly matched. How about we stop? Ever since my aunt left, I've felt really depressed staying in the Qingniu Sect. As long as you send me to the Tianmo Sect, I will cooperate with you."

The leader withdrew from the battle and said, "Zhao Shanhe, you've grasped the sword's essence at such a young age. You're a genius. If you want to achieve something in the future, the Heavenly Demon Sect is indeed a good place to go. As long as you hand over the method for cultivating spiritual herbs, I will spare your life."

Zhao Shanhe said bitterly, "Senior, if I could really cultivate spiritual herbs, would the Qingniu Sect be willing to let me take this risk? To be honest, the Wuxiang Sect's plan has been discovered. I was just the bait. Senior, may I ask how you managed to hide from the test array?"

The leader replied, "I have obtained a secret manual for training spiritual consciousness, which can suppress a major realm, so that even a Yuanying cultivator cannot see it."

"Do you carry the secret book with you?"

"Such an important item is naturally kept close to me. Now that your plan has been exposed, I will not play with you any longer. I will send you on your way."

Zhao Shanhe said in horror, "Senior, if you don't keep your promise, aren't you afraid of my aunt's accountability?"

The leader said, "Zhao Shanhe, didn't you say that if you are afraid of death, why would you cultivate immortality?"

Zhao Shanhe suddenly shouted, "Master, it's your turn to take action."

The leader said angrily, "Zhao Shanhe, you're trying to trick me again."

A flash of green light appeared, and the leader felt himself being restrained. Before he could react, his head was chopped off by a sword. Zhao Shanhe rubbed his aching wrist and muttered to himself, "The neck is so hard. If I hadn't comprehended 30% of the sword intent, I wouldn't have been able to cut it off. And the head didn't fly off. What a failure."