"Three thousand blooms, combined with other medicinal ingredients, can concoct a medicinal liquid suitable for cultivating the Indestructible Golden Body, and it's enough!"
"There will even be some left over, which can be sold or directly exchanged for other resources."
Ying Chen said.
Then he strode forward, selecting a flourishing flower to pluck it.
Ying Chen needed to determine the medicinal potency of this Shanjun flower to adjust the medicinal liquid ratio for the Indestructible Golden Body accordingly.
*Crack!*
It sounded like bone cracking, even though he was only plucking a flower.
It was as if Ying Chen hadn't broken the stem, but had twisted the head of a tiger.
This was also one of the Shanjun's characteristics.
Its stems and leaves, while appearing translucent and soft, were actually as hard as jade.
After obtaining the flower, Ying Chen brought it close to his nose.
Instantly, a rich floral fragrance wafted out, accompanied by a faint hallucinogenic sensation.
This was also why Shanjun flowers were extremely precious in the past.
Mature Shanjun flowers released a substance that was ineffective on ordinary people but caused hallucinations in cultivators.
Crucially, this hallucinogenic effect was very real; without a certain level of cultivation, it was difficult to distinguish between illusion and reality.
Many cultivators sought after this flower, using it as an addictive substance.
The Shanjun flowers available for medicinal purposes were already insufficient, let alone being competed for by such addicts, making Shanjun flowers even rarer and more elusive.
"Alas, my cultivation is ultimately suppressed too much by the environment. In the past, the hallucinogenic properties of Shanjun flowers would never have affected me?"
"But now, just a light sniff has caused a hallucinatory reaction. It seems my cultivation has been suppressed to around the early Earth Spirit realm."
"To return to the peak of the Heavenly Spirit realm, I can only grit my teeth and resist the suppression of the world's environment, raising the ceiling of this era step by step."
"It's difficult!"
Ying Chen sighed.
At this moment, the hallucinatory effect of the Shanjun flower began to intensify.
Ying Chen not only saw that the sky was filled with Shanjun flowers but also saw a dragon lying among the blossoms.
Its body was coiling, its scales were fierce, and its lantern-sized eyes stared intently at Ying Chen.
"You want it too?" Ying Chen said with a silly smile, offering the Shanjun flower in his hand.
He mistook the dragon in the illusion for a pet, intending to feed it and pet it.
Others pet cats and dogs; Ying Chen would pet a dragon.
How majestic would that sound if it got out?
However, the dragon in the illusion did not seem cooperative.
It shook its body, opened its massive mouth, and lunged at Ying Chen with its blood-red maw.
It not only wanted to eat the Shanjun flower but also swallow Ying Chen whole!
"Tsk, you're being naughty."
"You deserve a beating!"
Ying Chen said with a simpleminded tone.
He flipped his wrist that was holding the flower, retracting it.
Simultaneously, he formed a Dragon-Subduing Seal with his other hand. A surge of power, combined with his cultivation, erupted, falling upon the dragon's head with supreme might.
*Bang!*
A loud sound echoed.
The dragon cried out in pain, its entire body writhing furiously, emitting a shrill howl.
Its tail swung fiercely towards Ying Chen!
"You dare to fight back?"
Ying Chen pouted in displeasure.
Instinctively, he raised his hand to grab the dragon's tail.
To his surprise, his grasp missed, and when he looked again, the dragon's tail had somehow moved behind him.
It coiled around Ying Chen and lifted him high into the air!
*Thump!*
Ying Chen was thrown heavily to the ground, rolling a considerable distance.
The Shanjun flower in his hand shattered into powder.
"Quite fierce..."
Ying Chen said, lying on the ground.
But the next second, Ying Chen jolted, instantly awakening from the hallucination!
Something's wrong!
This wasn't an illusion!
Because Ying Chen felt a clear pain in his body!
The area where the dragon's tail had swept him left a visible mark!
Furthermore, the Shanjun flower had shattered, so the illusion should have vanished.
Yet, it persisted!
This meant that what had just happened was real!
Thinking of this, Ying Chen couldn't help but look towards the flower field.
He then gasped in shock!
In the flower field, a dragon-like creature, over thirty meters long, was indeed coiled there!
However, this dragon-like creature had no horns on its head, no whiskers on its mouth, but had grown many scales on its body.
A pair of blood-red vertical pupils stared at Ying Chen, cold and emotionless.
"Did the tables turn that quickly?"
"I just said this era would never have spirit-channeling animals, and one immediately appears?"
"No, wait! This isn't a spirit-channeling dragon, it's a snake!"
"A mutated snake!"
"It doesn't possess any spiritual aptitude at all; it's simply a natural mutation that's why it's so extraordinarily large."
"It's my fault too. After seeing such a vast expanse of Shanjun flowers, my head was clouded by excitement, and I forgot that extremely malevolent places can foster mutated creatures. This snake must have dwelled in the malevolent energy and constantly devoured Shanjun, thus growing to this physique."
"It considers the Shanjun its private property, so when it saw me plucking Shanjun flowers, it naturally became displeased and attacked me. The young disciples of the Shennong Sect who disappeared in those years must have also fallen victim to this snake."
Ying Chen muttered to himself.
He had instantly figured out the entire sequence of events.
He slowly got up from the ground, staring at the giant snake: "I'll give you one chance to become my spirit pet and share this Shanjun flower field with me! If you agree, nod your head; if you disagree, then..."
*Boom!*
The giant snake didn't give Ying Chen a chance to finish speaking and directly chose to disagree.
Its long and powerful tail, like a whip spanning across the sky, descended towards Ying Chen's head.
Large swathes of air were ripped apart by the tail, emitting a world-shattering sound.
It was only then that Ying Chen clearly saw that the giant snake's tail actually had a barb!
The barb was incredibly sharp, like a thorn or a knife.
A mere graze would result in death or severe injury!
"This is... a Xuan Yin Hook Snake?"
Ying Chen's pupils constricted, and he exclaimed.
Ancient texts had records: In Mount Xian, there was a Hook Snake, seven to eight zhang long, with a bifurcated tail. The snake would lurk in mountain streams, using its tail to hook humans and cattle on the bank to eat them.
This was exactly identical to the one Ying Chen was seeing!
Ying Chen had always thought it was folklore and legends, never expecting it to be real!
"Hmph, so what if it's a Xuan Yin Hook Snake? Since you rejected my offer, you can only die!"
Ying Chen said coldly.
The next second, he transformed into a streak of light, a terrifying power tearing through the void, surging towards the Xuan Yin Hook Snake!