STNS: Chapter 461 (Patreon)

They decided not to remain within that room and quickly left. Master Yun Chi and Lili Ling joined up with them. They had witnessed the battle from start to finish, so Wu Jian wanted to consult with them and see if they had any ideas.

Wu Jian’s transformation had already worn off, so he was very tired now. Body of the Celestial White Tiger was an incredible power that increased all of his combat capabilities many times over. However, a power like that came with just as many drawbacks. He could only use it for a limited amount of time, and once that limit wore off, he would be exhausted. His chi was currently so low that he couldn’t use any space techniques. That meant he had to rely on his physical strength until he could recover.

Fortunately, Master Yun Chi had several pills that could restore chi, but they would take a while to fully replenish everything he had used up. He also couldn’t use Body of the Celestial White Tiger again until Byakko’s blood had a chance to recover. Unfortunately, Master Yun Chi did not have anything that could help this recover. He knew of methods, but he lacked the ingredients.

“Those terracotta guardians are incredibly powerful. You, Jian Wu, might be able to defeat one if you can release a strong enough attack, but the others will not,” Master Yun Chi said.

“What about alchemy? Are there any pills that can help us here?” asked Tang Tiantian.

Master Yun Chi stared at her. “You know very well that alchemy cannot fix everything. There are many things it can do, but just as many it cannot. That said…” He paused to cup his chin and mumbled to himself. “It may be possible. There is an alchemy pill called Ten Man Strength Pill. As the name implies, it can increase a person’s strength up to ten times. I have most of the ingredients for it, but unfortunately…”

“Are we missing one?” asked Wu Jian.

“We are missing two, actually,” Master Yun Chi said with a sigh. “And I only know where we can get one of the ingredients.”

“Where is it? Wait.” Tang Tiantian’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me…”

“Right.” Master Yun Chi grimaced. “The Echoforge Essence.”

The Ten Man Strength Pill, according to Master Yun Chi, was a tier 6 pill that required over 150 ingredients. He had all but two. The two most important ingredients--essence of souls and a tier 6 magical beast core.

Essence of souls was an ethereal substance, the manifestation of arcane energies emanating from the echoforge essence.  When an echoforce essence was defeated, it produced this residue as an ash-like substance that could be gathered. It was an extremely rare and powerful tier 6 ingredient that was only used in a few potions. One of those was the Ten Man Strength Pill.

“So in the end, we need to go after the echoforge essence anyway,” Wu Jian said with a sigh. It had been a mistake to fight those terracotta guardians, after all. They had made a bad call and now they had lost two of their members because of it.

“The only good thing we can take away here is that, with the death of two members, we won’t have to worry about those two being replicated by the echoforge essence,” Master Yun Chi said. “The downside is that we no longer have their firepower to fight against the terracotta guardians.”

The echoforge essence replicated anyone who entered its domain. Consequently, this meant that it could only replicate someone as long as they were within its domain. It also could not replicate anyone who was dead. Once a person within its domain died, any replica it made of them would disappear.

“That’s all well and good, but we still have to find the echoforge essence,” one of the survivors said. Er… what was his name again?

Nobody was too broken up about the deaths of their comrades. Death was a constant danger in the cultivation world. Cultivators were always walking side-by-side with death. Because everyone knew that you could die at any time, all of them were mentally and emotionally prepared to lose people. He was sure the two who had survived would grieve at a later date, but now was not that time.

“I might be able to create a pill that can help us find it,” Master Yun Chi said after a moment.

“Do you have such a pill?” asked Tang Tiantian.

“Not on hand,” Master Yun Chi admitted. “I’ll need to make it. Fortunately, I have most of the ingredients and we can find the rest in here.”

Legacy tombs always had lots of treasure. They had, in fact, already acquired numerous treasures simply journeying through here, though none of them were what Master Yun Chi wanted. Most of what they found were earth and spirit grade profound weapons and armor. None of them were better than what Wu Jian wore, so he hadn’t taken any, but the others had donned the armor and one of them was even using a sword they found.

“Are you sure we’ll find the ingredients here?” asked Wu Jian.

Master Yun Chi nodded. “Yes, we will--or rather, we will find them underneath the tomb itself.”

This legacy tomb, while mostly intact, had areas that had collapsed due to age and neglect. These sections led to underground tunnels where magical beasts had made their home. The many magical beasts they had run into actually came from those tunnels.

“What are we looking for?” asked Tang Tiantian.

“Sentient desert ahrooms,” Master Yun Chi answered. “They are a powerful natural resource that can be used in a variety of alchemy pills. You only find them in underground tunnels of desert regions like this one. We’ll need to travel deep underground until we run into a water source.”

He had never heard of this ingredient, but there was a lot that he didn’t know. He did know many desserts had water deep beneath the surface. Oasis were formed when the water rose up from these underground reservoirs. At the same time, they hadn’t seen a single oasis when they were wandering through the dessert.

Wu Jian sighed. “Let’s hope there’s a water source to be found then.”

***

The underground sections beneath Queen Medusa’s legacy tomb were even more labyrinthine than the tomb itself. Tunnels extended for the nine heavens only knew how many li underground, branching off into innumerable other tunnels that branched off even further. Some of them led to deadends. Sometimes the tunnel would be collapsed and other times there would just be nothing there. Wu Jian had already lost count of how long they had traveled or how far they had gone.

There were a lot of magical beasts down there as well.

Sand wyverns were easily the most dangerous of the creatures down there. They made their nests much further down than other magical beasts.

These serpentine creatures resembled desert-dwelling snakes; they carved out vast networks in the sandy substrate. Possessing powerful abilities and keen senses, they navigated the labyrinthine passages with ease, preying on smaller creatures that also dwelled within the tunnels. There were only a few of these creatures, fortunately. Sand wyverns, like most wyverns, were very territorial.

More common within these tunnels were the armored sand dillos. They were four-legged magical beasts that had a hard carapace-like shell, clawed feet for burrowing, and a long snout. They were not very powerful, being only at the Human Limit Realm. Their thick carapace provided protection against larger, more powerful predators like the sand wyverns. Armored sand dillos also traveled in packs and ambushed unsuspecting prey.

Among the magical beasts down in these tunnels, the crystal scorpions were perhaps the most elusive, with translucent exoskeletons that shimmered like precious gems. They came out of their nests very rarely to hunt for prey.

Wu Jian and his companions had run afoul one of their nests while traveling and had been forced to fight over a hundred of them. They weren’t a threat individually, but when you were battling against a horde like they had, they became a problem. One of their members even died underneath the sting of several hundred. Crystal scorpions released an extremely potent venom that was used in poisons strong enough to fell Deva Realm cultivators.

The further down they traveled, the more the terrain changed. Once sandy floors became harder like bedrock. It was clear this area had been transformed via other means aside from burrowing. If Wu Jian had to guess, he would have said the tunnels were shaped like this by water, which meant they were getting close to their destination.

“Do you hear that?” he asked suddenly.

Tang Tiantian looked at him. “Hear what?”

Wu Jian cocked his head. “I hear running water.”

“Really?” asked Lili Ling.

Out of all the people present, she was the most exhausted, both mentally and physically. Her entire body was sagging and she wore a haggard expression. She looked like she might collapse, but hearing that water was near caused her to perk up.

“Yes… it’s coming from over there,” Wu Jian pointed down a tunnel that branched off from the one they were following.

“Then let us go, but we must proceed cautiously,” Master Yun Chi said.

They all agreed and began moving.

The tunnel eventually widened into a much larger tunnel with curved walls. Wu Jian and the others stopped just before entering. This tunnel had a stream flowing through it. The clear water looked quite pure. Moss grew along the banks and there were several other types of flora.

“Hmmm.” Master Yun Chi hummed as he placed a hand against his mouth. “I see glowroot ferns, sandstone moss, and crystal cacti… but no sentient desert shrooms. That’s to be expected since they are intelligent flora, but it is disappointing. We’ll have to keep traveling.”

“I suggest we follow the stream then,” Tang Tiantian said. “It should lead to a reservoir.”

Tang Tiantian was correct. It took a number of hours, but they eventually came across a massive underground lake. Stalactites and stalagmites filled the room, either rising from the lake or jutting from the ceiling. While the waters appeared clear, the darkness of the cavern made it hard to see beneath the surface. Wu Jian was certain something powerful lurked underneath it. He still remembered the giant octopus magical beast that had been hidden inside of that underground lake in the Twin Fang Mountains.

His thoughts turned out to be true. A sand armored dillo was drinking from the lake not far from them, but mere seconds later, a massive tentacle shot from the surface and snatched the creature. The sand armored dillo squealed as it was dragged underneath the water and disappeared.

Everyone looked at each other.

“Let’s stay away from the lake,” Tang Tiantian suggested.

Lili Ling nodded quickly, her face pale, and even Master Yun Chi agreed.

They traveled along the lake’s edge, careful not to stay too close. This area did not have any sentient desert shrooms, so they found a side passage and continued on, eventually reaching a small pond that was being fed into by some holes in the bedrock. There, they found what they were looking for--a mushroom about half the size of an adult male. It was brown but had sand-colored spots along its body.

“Do not get too close,” Master Yun Chi warned them. “It has incredible senses and will flee.”

“How does it sense people?” asked Wu Jian.

“Through vibrations in the ground.”

“Then I can get it. Give me just a moment.”

Wu Jian held out his hand and created a portal just above the sentient desert shroom. It did not react. That meant it couldn’t sense chi, so it must have relied solely on vibrations. Lowering his hand caused the portal to lower as well, and the ingredient quickly disappeared before reappearing in a portal above Wu Jian. The sentient desert shroom landed on his hand.

He thought that would be the end of it, but the ingredient sprouted legs and tried to flee. Wu Jian was almost too shocked to move. However, he was fast enough to place the creature in a space lock, freezing it in place. Master Yun Chi came over and picked the creature up.

“With this, I can make a perception pill,” Master Yun Chi said.

Their first task was now complete.