STNS: Chapter 496 (Patreon)

Wu Meiying was still unconscious. Wu Jian would have normally waited for her to wake up, but he had no idea when that would be, and there was so much that could happen in the interim. He decided they should begin making plans now before any danger showed up.

“Shuchang, you’ve been out exploring several times now. What sort of place are we dealing with?” asked Wu Jian as they sat around a campfire, though he used that term loosely for himself. He was leaning against Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua, using them for support. He still didn’t have the strength to support himself. Youmei had laid her head on his left thigh. His legs, what was left of them, was spread out before him.

“The area around us is pretty desolate. There’s honestly not much nearby,” Shuchang admitted. “Food is scarce and there’s very little water.” He glanced at Wu Meiying, still unconscious and lying on several futons. “She picked a hell of a place to send us.”

“I believe she sent us here for a reason,” Wu Jian said. “It is most likely one of the few places the Zhou Clan cannot reach--at least, not right away.” At the mention of her clan, Zhou Lihua shook behind him. He patted her hand as though to reassure her and continued. “You don’t recognize this place?”

Shuchang shook his head. “I don’t.”

So the immediate vicinity was little more than a desolate waste? That would limit what they could do here. They’d need to expand their search radius, but that came with its own risks. What if the ones exploring ran into a powerful magical beast? Speaking of…

“Did you run into any cultivators or magical beasts?” he asked.

“I didn’t fight any if that’s what you’re asking, but I did see several during my exploration. None of them were that strong on their own. I’d say they were at the Human Limit Realm, but there were so many of them I decided it wouldn’t be worth it to fight them.”

“That was a good decision,” Hou Jingshu said with a nod. “We can’t afford to get into fights that we can avoid unless there’s a good reason.”

“In either event, we need to figure out where to go from here.” Wu Jian grimaced as he looked at his missing legs. “Ideally, I’d like to restore my legs if possible. Wu Meiying said it was possible, but…”

“There is a way to restore your legs,” Zhou Lihua said at last. Everyone turned to her as she continued. “I’ve… only read about it in books, but I know what ingredients are needed and the process to refine it.”

“Alchemy really is incredible,” Hou Jingshu mumbled. “So, what is this pill? And what ingredients do we need?”

“The pill is called eternal Genesis Rebirth Pill. When ingested, it releases an intense surge of chi that targets the areas with the missing limbs. It cannot regenerate a leg, but it can be used to reattach missing limbs. The problem are the ingredients we need.”

“What are they?” asked Shuchang, placing his hands on his knees and leaning forward.

“Azure Dragon’s Bone Marrow--specifically, we need the marrow extracted from the spine of a young azure dragon. Mystic Dew Herb. It’s a plan that only blooms under a full moon and only in places that offer ample moonlight. Golden Thread Root, which are found at the base of sacred mountains that contain a strong chi. Phoenix Ash and Celestial Lotus Pollen from a one thousand-year-old Celestial Lotus. Those are the most important ingredients. The rest are easily found auxiliary ingredients.”

“I don’t even know what half of those ingredients are, but I doubt we’re going to find them in a place like this?” Shuchang leaned back and crossed his arms.

“You are right. We’ll need to travel further out,” Zhou Lihua agreed.

“I can probably find us an Azure Dragon,” Hou Jingshu said. She was a princess with the blood of the Azure Dragon within her, which meant she had unique powers to locate and control--to an extent--dragons.

Of course, Zhou Lihua wasn’t talking about the Azure Dragon, but an azure dragon. An azure dragon was a powerful magical beast that wasn’t quite at the same level as a flood dragon. However, they had a very pure bloodline and also descended from the Azure Dragon. Hou Jingshu should have an easy time finding one, provided there was one around for her to find.

Shuchang sighed. “I suppose… I can look for Phoenix Ash. I saw some volcanoes quite a distance off. It will take long time to reach, but if there is a phoenix nearby, it would be there.”

“Youmei… Youmei will find the other ingredients! She has a good nose! She can find plants easily!” Youimei chimed in.

Everyone looked at her.

“That’s all well and good, but do you know what those plants smell like?” asked Hou Jingshu with a gentle smile.

“Not at all!”

“Then how do you plan to find them?”

“I don’t know!”

“Of course you don’t.” Shuchang rubbed his forehead.

“I will provide you with a detailed description of them, so you should be able to locate them by sight,” Zhou Lihua assured them. “While you guys go out, I suppose I’ll stay here. Someone has to watch over Jian and Mei…”

“I don’t particularly enjoy being treated like an invalid who needs someone to watch over them…” He glanced at his missing legs once more and grimaced. “But I suppose there’s no choice, given the circumstances.”

Everyone else would be leaving, with the exception of Zhou Lihua, and Wu Jian hated that he would be left out. If only his legs hadn’t been cut off. If only he had been stronger. He knew thinking like this would get him nowhere, so he did his best to banish those negative thoughts to the back of his mind. All he could do right now was rely on his companions. He trusted them. However…

“You three need to be careful when traveling,” he said at last. “We still have no idea where we are or what’s out there. Don’t act rashly. Avoid fights you can’t win, or fights that don’t serve some purpose and come back quickly.”

“Of course. Just leave it to me.”

“You take it easy, Jian. Rest as much as you can and let us take care of you this time.”

“Youmei will do her best!”

Wu Jian glanced up at the ceiling as the three prepared to leave. He hoped they wouldn’t be gone for long.

***

Three figures stood on a rocky cliff face, eying the patch of desolate wasteland that stretched out for who knew how many li in every direction. They had already used the stars to create a basic compass. There were four stars that always remained in the same places. The Black North Star, the Vermillion South Star, the White West Star, and the Azure East Star. Each star belonged to a constellation known collectively as the Four Auspicious Constellations.

Hou Jingshu was looking at a mountain far in the distance. She could not judge how far away it was, for a thick mist and ethereal blue lights covered most of the mountain. That alone was enough to let her know the mountain was something special, and while she didn’t know if it had what she sought, she believed it was her best bet. Her instincts told her something was there.

“I’m going to head that way,” she said at last.

“In that case, I’m heading that way,” Shuchang pointed south.

Hou Jingshu glanced at where he was pointing. It looked even further away than the mountain, but she saw what appeared to be a forest that was lit ablaze. The brilliant red covered trees enough that she could just barely make them out in the distance, and behind them, a massive active volcano erupted with lava. It looked like a dangerous place, but phoenixes normally lived in hot places like that.

“Sounds good.” She turned to their last companion. “Which way are you going, Youmei?”

“Um…”

Youmei sniffed the air several times, turning her head left and right.

She would have the hardest time between the three of them. Hou Jingshu and Shuchang only needed to find a single ingredient, but she had to find three. It would likely take her much longer to gather everything than it would them.

“Youmei is going that way!”

Following Youmei’s finger as she pointed in the opposite direction Hou Jingshu had decided to travel, she found herself staring at a vast sea of sand dunes that stretched out far beyond her line of vision.

“Are you sure you should travel that way?” she asked uncertainly.

“Um, Youmei is sure! This way is good!”

“Well… all right.”

“Let’s get going,” said Shuchang. “We should try and find those ingredients as soon as possible.”

“Right.”

Hou Jingshu agreed, and with that, the three of them split up.

It took time to travel through the barren badlands. Hou Jingshu had to wander through a landscape sculptured by centuries of erosion. She felt like she was traveling through a multi-dimensional maze. She’d traverse through gullies, ravines, and ridges, never able to see more than a few dozen chih in any direction. This made knowing when danger was afoot difficult. Several times she was ambushed by magical beasts, but fortunately, all of them were relatively weak. The strongest one she fought was at the Asura Realm.

Magical Beasts grew more intelligent the higher their cultivation. A magical beast at the Asura Realm was smart, but it still had the intelligence of an animal, but once it reached the Human Limit Realm, it would attain a human level intellect. That was also why magical beasts could learn human speech patterns upon reaching that realm like Youmei had.

A magical beast at the Human Limit Realm would not attack someone with her power unless they had a good reason. She was at the Seeker Realm. Magical beasts had strong senses, much stronger than most humans, which meant they would recognize her power and go out of their way to avoid her.

Days passed. The cycle of night turning to day and day turning to night happened several times before she finally reached the end of the badlands. She recognized the shifting terrain when the elevation began increasing. The soft sedimentary rock and clay-rich soil shifted into harder, more resistant rocks, though she didn’t recognize the type. It wasn’t like she was a rock specialist. What had once been a land filled with sparse vegetation and little water transitioned to an area with an abundance of plants and flowers and flowing water. The floral scent filling the air was almost nice but too poignant for her tastes.

More than anything, however, what marked her arrival at her destination was the thick fog and blue lights surrounding this area. Hou Jingshu narrowed her eyes as she stared into the mist. She could scarcely see through it. Now that she had arrived, she could see that the mist was much thicker than expected.

What to do… I could try just walking through, but something tells me that would be a bad idea…

Hou Jingshu trusted her instincts, and they were telling her not to just try walking through the mist. She didn’t know what would happen. However, it would likely not result in anything good.

She set up a camp not far from the base of the mountainous region, just a little ways from where the mist began. One thing that let her know this mist was not normal was how it only stuck to a specific region. It literally stopped at the edge of the border between badland and mountain as though a wall were keeping it from traveling further.

Several more days passed, and on the second day, it happened. Several stars in the nightsky became aligned and shone down upon the mountain. Hou Jingshu furrowed her brow as the mist slowly cleared to reveal a pathway that led deeper into the region. It seemed she wasn’t at the base of the mountain but a valley leading to the mountain. With a deep breath, she began walking forward.

The entire area had changed. It wasn’t just a visual change, but a feeling as well. Hou Jingshu could sense the vibrancy of life in this place, which was a far cry from the sensation of death that permeated the badlands. Birds chirped, animals croaked, and howling echoed in the distance. She continued walking, a sense of wariness about her, and as she did, a feeling of sudden death loomed over her/

Hou Jingshu jumped away from where she had been standing just seconds before something massive slammed into the ground. It shook the earth and caused cracks to appear. What had struck the ground was a massive paw covered in bristling dark fur. She looked up, her gaze traveling from the paw to a massive leg, then even further up into a muzzle full of sharp teeth and glaring red eyes.

“What’s this? A human in my territory? You are either very brave or very foolish,” the creature, a massive wolf, growled out in the human tongue before releasing a hair-raising howl.