In the practice room area for ordinary disciples of the Shao Sect, within a secret chamber, Lin Chu nodded slightly as he observed the layout of the chamber, a look of satisfaction on his face.
This secret chamber, in a way, was Elder Yang Yun's doing. After Lin Chu defeated Liu Feng of the Liu Luo Sect, Elder Yang Yun, upon returning to the Shao Sect, reported the matter to Sect Master Liu Fei Chen.
Upon hearing this news, especially seeing that Lin Chu had broken through to the intermediate stage of the Spirit Soul realm, it was specifically constructed for Lin Chu to commemorate his achievement.
This event had a significant impact among the ordinary disciples. After all, possessing a private cultivation chamber was a mark of core disciples. Instantly, Lin Chu's prestige among the ordinary disciples rose considerably.
However, this special treatment Lin Chu received naturally drew dissatisfaction from some. Within the elite disciples, someone had also stepped forward. During a challenge match with Lin Chu, he was defeated by a single move. Consequently, his elite disciple status was stripped, and he was demoted to an ordinary disciple.
Thus, no one dared to question Lin Chu's strength anymore.
"Just the Spirit Soul realm, nothing to fear," Qiu Shao Long said, a dismissive look flashing across his face upon hearing this news. He then waved his hand, signaling the messenger to leave, and re-entered his secret chamber.
Compared to Qiu Shao Long's reaction, Chen Lin Gang, Su Jin Long, and the others were naturally ecstatic. Their admiration for Lin Chu was from the bottom of their hearts. If Lin Chu hadn't entered the secret chamber at that moment, Su Jin Long and the other two would have certainly celebrated with him.
Inside the secret chamber, Lin Chu sat cross-legged. With his breakthrough, the familiar yet unfamiliar scene reappeared in his mind. However, apart from the vast expansion in size, he still couldn't see a single figure.
Helpless, Lin Chu suppressed the urgency in his heart and calmed his mind to examine the new content of the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture that had been unlocked with his breakthrough.
"Myriad universes, chaos at the beginning. Chaos's essence, evolves all things. One thing, can encompass all phenomena. All phenomena, are hidden within chaos. The Great Dao simplifies, born from spiritual roots. Spirit Soul condenses, immortal abode appears, chaos opens!"
As a ethereal voice echoed, Lin Chu suddenly felt a surge of information flooding his mind. The immense volume of information caused a dizzying sensation in his head.
After a while, Lin Chu slowly opened his eyes. A hint of joy flickered within them. This time, the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture had completely unlocked. The origins of the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture and the cultivation method for the Immortal Spirit Body were all revealed.
Moreover, as he read the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture, Lin Chu felt an indescribable joy.
The Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture and the Immortal Spirit Body complemented each other, inseparable like the Spirit Soul and the physical body. The cultivation methods within the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture were extremely profound. With Lin Chu's current strength, he couldn't fully comprehend them.
The Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture was divided into five stages. At his current progress, Lin Chu was still in the first stage. However, if he could master the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture completely, he would be capable of anything, traversing heaven and earth, moving mountains and seas, omnipotent.
Of course, cultivating such a powerful technique to perfection would be an arduous journey. Lin Chu felt a considerable pressure just by glancing at it.
The cultivation requirement for the second stage was to break through to the Violet Mansion realm and achieve the third level of the Immortal Spirit Body. One must remember that a cultivator in the Violet Mansion realm was enough to establish their own sect. As for the Immortal Spirit Body, Lin Chu was only at the first level.
"These requirements, I'm afraid, would be truly difficult for an ordinary person to fulfill," Lin Chu shook his head with a wry smile. Then, with a thought, he continued to examine it.
Although the second stage of the Heavenly Venerate Heart Scripture couldn't be cultivated yet, his Immortal Spirit Body could be worked on. After all, in his fight with Liu Feng, Lin Chu had felt the weakness of his physical body. With the grand competition approaching, it was time to cultivate his body.
"It seems I won't be able to enjoy this secret chamber for long," Lin Chu opened his eyes after a moment, looking at the chamber with a helpless smile.
To cultivate the second level of the Immortal Spirit Body, one needed to use the Soft Spirit Grass as a catalyst, fuse it with the blood of seven fifth-level beasts after immersion, to fulfill the first requirement.
Following this, one had to cultivate the Immortal Spirit Body under immense pressure until the physical body broke through its limits to achieve success.
Lin Chu knew of the Soft Spirit Grass. It was a neutral herb, gentle in nature, with a slightly sweet taste, and an essential ingredient for many herbal concoctions. When refining medicine, having a sprig of Soft Spirit Grass would increase the success rate by thirty percent.
However, this Soft Spirit Grass was extremely rare. Generally, it grew in remote, desolate mountains and deep forests. Many alchemists spent years searching for it, often disappearing from civilization.
Of course, alchemists held a very high status on the An Wu Continent and were naturally accompanied by powerful escorts. Even the Shao Sect did not have a single alchemist.
According to Bai Yu Wei, alchemists on the An Wu Continent were generally proud individuals, rarely willing to pledge allegiance to any single faction. After all, the conditions for becoming an alchemist were extremely stringent.
Yet, the spiritual medicines and elixirs refined by alchemists were highly sought after. Some of these could increase a cultivator's breakthrough probability by thirty percent.
One shouldn't underestimate this thirty percent. As cultivators grew stronger, subsequent breakthroughs became increasingly difficult. Some powerful individuals might even have less than a fifty percent chance of success.
However, with the elixirs refined by alchemists, the outcome would naturally be different. This was why alchemists held such an extraordinary status on the An Wu Continent.
Naturally, such elixirs came with a hefty price tag. According to Bai Yu Wei, there was once a cultivator in the Violet Mansion realm who, in order to break through to the Myriad Phenomena realm, exhausted all his wealth to have a sixth-grade alchemist refine a single pill for him.
It must be understood that the wealth of a Violet Mansion realm cultivator, while not enough to rival a nation, was still beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Despite such riches, they could only afford one pill for their breakthrough. This illustrated just how terrifying the price of elixirs could be.
Alchemists on the An Wu Continent were divided into nine grades. First to fourth-grade alchemists were quite common. Fifth to seventh-grade alchemists were extremely rare. As for eighth and ninth-grade alchemists, they were almost non-existent.
According to Bai Yu Wei, on other continents within the Ten Directions Continent, eighth and ninth-grade alchemists did exist.
"Alas, all beings that make one's aspirations falter," Lin Chu sighed, slowly standing up and walking out of the secret chamber. He then shot towards Saintess Peak at high speed.
Although he didn't know where to find Soft Spirit Grass, Qu Yan Xia, who had lived in the deep mountains for a long time, would undoubtedly know. Now, if he wanted to cultivate the second stage of the Immortal Spirit Body, he could only seek Qu Yan Xia's help.
"Soft Spirit Grass? Why are you suddenly looking for Soft Spirit Grass?" Qu Yan Xia asked, looking at Lin Chu with a hint of surprise after hearing his words. Even Bai Yu Wei, standing beside her, looked at Lin Chu with some confusion.
"My physical body has reached a bottleneck. To make any further breakthroughs, I need this Soft Spirit Grass as a catalyst..." Lin Chu then explained the conditions required for his body cultivation.
After listening to Lin Chu, Qu Yan Xia nodded in realization, "Tempering the body with fifth-level beast blood, and needing seven different types. No wonder you need Soft Spirit Grass. Without Soft Spirit Grass, your body would likely be directly corroded and driven mad by that beast blood."
"I do know where to find this Soft Spirit Grass. However, why should I tell you for free?"
"Yan Xia sister..." Bai Yu Wei exclaimed nervously upon hearing this, looking towards Qu Yan Xia.
However, Qu Yan Xia shook her head slightly before Bai Yu Wei could finish, looking at Lin Chu with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Three servings of roasted meat." Seeing this, Lin Chu knew what Qu Yan Xia wanted and shrugged helplessly.
Qu Yan Xia shook her head, "Ten servings."
"Woof woof." Upon hearing roasted meat, Tian Tian, in Qu Yan Xia's arms, also let out a bark.
"Alright, ten servings it is. But that's only if I get the Soft Spirit Grass first." Thinking of the importance of the Soft Spirit Grass to him, Lin Chu nodded helplessly.
A radiant smile spread across Qu Yan Xia's face. "Don't worry, that place will definitely have it. Since you need seven types of fifth-level beast blood, just bring those seven wild beasts back."
"Hmm, I won't accompany you this time. Tian Tian, go guide him. After you return, you'll get roasted meat."
Qu Yan Xia finished speaking, and Tian Tian in her arms shot towards Lin Chu. Lin Chu quickly extended his hand to catch the pouncing Tian Tian.
"Woof woof." Seeing that Lin Chu was still standing there, Tian Tian in Lin Chu's arms barked. It seemed to be scolding Lin Chu for not hurrying on his way, delaying his return for roasted meat.
"Truly a bunch of gluttons," Lin Chu chuckled wryly. He bowed slightly to Bai Yu Wei and Qu Yan Xia, then his figure moved, shooting towards the vast mountain range.
"Yan Xia sister, are there really Soft Spirit Grass in the vast mountain range?" Bai Yu Wei asked Qu Yan Xia curiously, watching Lin Chu's departing back.
Qu Yan Xia nodded, "If it were anywhere else, I wouldn't know for sure, but that place definitely has it. I had forgotten about it when I left. It was only when Lin Chu asked today that I remembered my grandfather planted a medicinal garden there. It's filled with almost nothing but Soft Spirit Grass."
"A medicinal garden? Yan Xia sister, I'm wondering what expression Chu Di's face will have when he sees that medicinal garden." Bai Yu Wei's eyes also showed a hint of shock.
It was extremely difficult for ordinary alchemists to find even a single sprig of Soft Spirit Grass, yet Qu Yan Xia's grandfather had cultivated an entire garden. And it was all Soft Spirit Grass.
Qu Yan Xia let out a chuckle, "Doesn't Sister Yu Wei miss the roasted meat?"
"Tian Tian, did you know this all along?" In the vast mountain range, looking at the spiritual medicinal garden before him, Lin Chu's mouth twitched. Tian Tian, on the ground, was happily jumping around.
"Woof woof." Tian Tian seemed to understand when Lin Chu mentioned it, and let out two barks towards Lin Chu. A look of schadenfreude was evident on its face.
"Your roasted meat is gone." Lin Chu said, amused and annoyed.
"Woof woof!" Tian Tian roared upon hearing this. Its body arched, as if ready to attack if Lin Chu didn't take back his words.
"It's not impossible to have roasted meat. Unless, you help me with something." Seeing Tian Tian like this, Lin Chu smiled and said, narrowing his eyes at Tian Tian.
"Woof." Tian Tian then recovered its posture, tiptoed, and looked at Lin Chu, as if trying to see through him. Lin Chu, unhurried, just gazed at Tian Tian with a smile.
Ultimately unable to resist the temptation of roasted meat, Tian Tian nodded humanely, then jumped into Lin Chu's arms and licked Lin Chu's cheek obediently.
"That's more like it." Lin Chu let out a hearty laugh. Then, looking at the medicinal garden before him, his heart burned with desire.
Soft Spirit Grass was a priceless spiritual herb in the market. If he harvested all this Soft Spirit Grass, wouldn't he make a fortune?
However, Lin Chu's thoughts turned. This medicinal garden was only a few hills away from Yun Shen's location, so it clearly wasn't something Qu Yan Xia had created. Other than his master, Yang Mo, no one else would have such a skill to cultivate so much Soft Spirit Grass.
If he harvested it all, his master would likely be furious.
"Forget it, I'll just pick ten stalks," Lin Chu muttered to himself. He then looked around and began to pick.
"I wonder how Master is doing now." After picking ten stalks of Soft Spirit Grass, and watching the medicinal garden instantly vanish, Lin Chu's gaze shifted towards Yun Shen. On that mountain peak, there was still a barrier covering it.
"Woof woof." Upon hearing Lin Chu mention Yang Mo, Tian Tian poked its head out of Lin Chu's embrace and let out two barks towards the mountain peak where Yun Shen was located.
"Alright, let's go. We'll come back again in the future." Lin Chu patted Tian Tian's head, his figure moving rapidly towards the distance.
Half an hour later, Lin Chu slowly stopped. Looking around, Lin Chu then placed Tian Tian on the ground from his arms. He then crouched down, a sly smile on his face, "Tian Tian, want some roasted meat?"
"Woof woof woof." Upon hearing roasted meat, Tian Tian excitedly barked.
"Then do you remember what you promised me just now?" Lin Chu asked with a mischievous smile.
"Whimper." Hearing this, Tian Tian seemed to nod reluctantly.
Lin Chu rolled his eyes at Tian Tian, "If you want roasted meat, how can there be no beasts? Tian Tian, go get seven fifth-level beasts. I'll only take a little beast blood, and then I'll roast it for you, Sister Yan Xia, and Sister Yu Wei, how about that?"
"Woof woof." Tian Tian nodded humanely upon hearing this. Then, without waiting for Lin Chu to speak, its body shot out instantly. In a flash, it disappeared from Lin Chu's sight.
"I don't believe you won't fall for it." Lin Chu's lips curled into a triumphant arc as Tian Tian disappeared.
In this vast mountain range, quickly slaying seven fifth-level wild beasts would take some time.
However, having witnessed Tian Tian scare even sixth-level beasts into not daring to resist, Lin Chu knew that Tian Tian, despite its appearance, was not to be underestimated. With Tian Tian's intervention, considerable time would be saved.