Free Web NovelChapter 353: Finding the nine-leaf star grass
From that frozen platform upwards, the path was no longer meant for humans to walk.
The wind was like a blade, howling and shrieking, whipping up ice shards and snowflakes that slammed into him head-on.
Fang Hao felt as if he weren’t climbing a mountain, but rather grappling with a frenzied Ice Dragon.
The cliff face was as slippery as if it had been greased, covered in permafrost that had never melted for ten thousand years. It was absurdly hard; if he could leave a white mark when digging his fingers in, it would be considered impressive finger strength.
Fang Hao dared not be careless, circulating his Chaos Derivation Art to the limit. Spiritual Qi flowed through his body with a rushing sound, and the platinum light on his skin shone like a small sun, barely managing to keep the cold at bay.
Like a giant gecko, he used both hands and feet, his fingers acting like iron hooks, forcibly gouging small pits into the ice wall as he inched his way up.
The higher he climbed, the thinner the air became, making it difficult to breathe, as if a large stone were pressing against his chest.
The gale winds also became increasingly bizarre; sometimes, when they blew, it felt like crashing into an invisible wall, enough to knock him off balance.
Fang Hao had to divert more Spiritual Qi to stabilize his body, causing his consumption to skyrocket.
After climbing for half a day and estimating that he was still quite a distance from the summit, Fang Hao found a slightly recessed ice crevice and squeezed inside to catch his breath.
He shoved a recovery Medicinal Pill into his mouth and felt the freezing air travel down his throat, chilling his lungs until they ached.
"This damn place is truly not meant for people to stay in," Fang Hao cursed, poking his head out to look upward.
Clouds and mist swirled around the waist of the mountain, while the sky above was a cold, deep blue. A few particularly bright stars could be vaguely seen, even in the daytime.
The summit remained hidden behind thicker clouds and snow, making it impossible to see clearly.
After resting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Fang Hao felt his breath steady. Just as he was preparing to continue, his ears suddenly twitched.
"Hiss, hiss..."
A faint sound, like something rubbing against the ice, drifted down from somewhere diagonally above him, mixed into the howling wind and nearly inaudible.
Fang Hao’s heart tightened. He immediately held his breath, suppressed all his aura, and shrank deeper into the ice crevice, leaving only his eyes exposed to stare fixedly in the direction of the sound.
He saw a head slowly poke out from behind a protruding ice rock several dozen zhang above.
The head was triangular, covered in fine sky-blue scales, with amber, vertical pupils that were cold and devoid of any emotion.
Following that, a long, slender body as thick as a bucket and covered in the same colored scales slithered silently from behind the ice rock, coiling itself onto the steep ice wall.
This was a snake, or rather, perhaps more like a flood dragon?
It was sky-blue all over, blending almost perfectly with the color of the ice wall; without careful observation, it would be impossible to detect.
It was over ten zhang long, with a slight protrusion on its forehead that looked like an unformed horn.
Its entire body radiated a cold and powerful aura, shockingly reaching the Peak of the Fourth Rank. It was likely only one step away from transforming into a flood dragon at the Fifth Rank!
"Ice Scale Profound Python!" Fang Hao’s pupils constricted.
He had seen this Demon Beast marked on the map Tiger Zhao gave him. It was a powerful Demon Beast unique to the depths of the Ancient Elephant Mountain Range, especially near Heavenly Pillar Peak. It favored cold environments, excelled in stealth and ambushes, and could breathe out extreme icy breath capable of instantly freezing a Cultivator into an ice sculpture. Its strength was comparable to, or even greater than, the Perfected Golden Core stage.
Judging by its size and aura, this guy was a formidable character among the Ice Scale Profound Pythons, and it seemed to have claimed this area as its territory.
Fang Hao cursed his luck. He was currently hanging halfway up the mountain, with neither sky nor ground beneath him; fighting such a creature would put him at a huge disadvantage.
Furthermore, if the commotion became too large, it might attract something even more dangerous, or startle the potential guardian beast of the nine-leaf star grass, which would be even more troublesome.
He made up his mind to avoid fighting if possible. Holding his breath, he pressed himself into the crevice like a real piece of ice, remaining perfectly still.
The Ice Scale Profound Python didn’t seem to have discovered him. It flicked its scarlet tongue, and its amber vertical pupils slowly scanned the ice wall below, as if searching for something.
After a while, seemingly finding nothing unusual, it slowly turned its massive body and slithered toward the higher ice wall, soon disappearing behind the wind, snow, and ice rocks.
Fang Hao waited for another full incense stick’s worth of time, and only after confirming that the creature had truly left did he let out a long sigh of relief, cold sweat nearly breaking out.
Being targeted by such an ambush-prone Demon Beast in a place like this was no laughing matter.
"I must be doubly careful." Fang Hao dared not be careless again. He focused his Divine Sense within a ten-zhang radius around himself, carefully sensing any minute movements or fluctuations in Spiritual Qi, before continuing his climb.
For the rest of the journey, he was even more cautious, and his speed slowed down.
He encountered a few more Demon Beasts, including "Snow-Winged Vultures" capable of flying in the gale winds, and "Ice Thread Worms" that hid in ice crevices to launch surprise attacks. He discovered them all in advance, either bypassing them or silently eliminating them without causing too much commotion.
As he climbed, Fang Hao suddenly felt an extremely subtle change in the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
Amidst the originally biting and chaotic icy Spiritual Qi, there was a trace of an extremely pure, cool aura that carried a faint sense of starlight.
This aura was very faint, almost imperceptible, but Fang Hao was no longer unfamiliar with the Power of the Stars and immediately captured it.
"Is it the aura of the nine-leaf star grass?" Fang Hao’s spirits lifted, and he immediately adjusted his direction, climbing toward the location from which that trace of aura emanated.
The source of that aura seemed to be not far to his upper left, beneath a protruding Eagle-Beak Rock covered in thick ice and snow.
Fang Hao cautiously approached. As he got closer, the trace of starlight aura became clearer; although still very weak, it was definitely there.
He climbed onto the Eagle-Beak Rock and discovered that below the rock wall, in a sheltered spot, there was a small cave entrance half-hidden by ice and snow, only large enough for one person to crawl into.
The pure aura of the stars was drifting out from this cave.
Fang Hao did not go in immediately, but instead released his Divine Sense to carefully investigate the area around the cave entrance.
The ice and snow at the edge of the cave entrance seemed to have traces of being gnawed or rubbed by some small beast, and they were very fresh.
Moreover, on the ice near the entrance, he discovered a few extremely tiny, light-blue scales that almost blended into the ice crystals.
It was the scales of an Ice Scale Profound Python again! And judging by the size and color, it was very similar to the one he had just seen; it might very well be the same one!
"Could this nine-leaf star grass have a guardian beast? And is it the one from just now?" Fang Hao’s heart sank.
If it was that Fourth Rank Peak Ice Scale Profound Python from earlier, then it would be troublesome. Fighting it in its own lair meant the geographical advantage was entirely on the opponent’s side.
He hesitated, but the temptation of the nascent soul forming pill was simply too great. The nine-leaf star grass was within reach, and he was unwilling to give up just like that.
"Wealth is sought in danger; I’ll risk it! As long as I’m fast, I can pick the grass and run; it’s not impossible to succeed."
Fang Hao gritted his teeth, took out several high-grade concealment talismans and aura-suppressing talismans from his storage ring, applied them to himself, and suppressed his aura to the extreme. Only then did he slide into the small cave entrance like a shadow, without making a sound.
The cave entrance was narrow at first, allowing only one person to crawl forward. Inside, it was winding, but the further in he went, the larger the space became.
On the cave walls, faint glimmers began to appear; they were Ores containing the Power of the Stars.
The air was filled with a strange, fragrant scent, carrying the chill of ice and snow and the coolness of the stars. Inhaling a breath of it was enough to make one feel invigorated.
After crawling for about a dozen zhang, the space ahead suddenly opened up into an ice chamber that was not very large.
In the center of the ice chamber was a small, naturally formed ice pit. There was no water in the pit, only a soft, cool, moonlight-like halo of light circulating within.
At the center of that halo, a Spiritual Plant, entirely emerald green and as if carved from jade, was growing quietly.
The Spiritual Plant was not tall, only about a foot long, with nine narrow leaves. Each leaf was dotted with silver-white spots, as if the brilliant galaxy had been branded onto the leaves.
As the halo circulated, those spots seemed to twinkle slightly, looking magnificent.
The nine-leaf star grass! And judging by its form and the Power of the Stars it radiated, its age definitely exceeded a thousand years!
Fang Hao’s heart rate accelerated instantly, and wild joy surged into his heart. He had finally found it! The final main ingredient for the nascent soul forming pill!
He forced down his excitement and did not step forward immediately. His gaze quickly swept across the ice chamber.
The ice chamber was not large. Apart from the ice pit in the center and the nine-leaf star grass, there were some withered bones and animal fur piled in the corner, appearing to be the nest of the Ice Scale Profound Python, but the giant python was not there at the moment.
"Heaven helps me!" Fang Hao no longer hesitated, his figure flashed, and he arrived at the edge of the ice pit.
He carefully took out a cold jade box he had prepared beforehand, took out a small jade shovel, and prepared to transplant the nine-leaf star grass, root and soil intact.
This kind of Spiritual Plant was extremely delicate; if left out of the soil for too long, its medicinal power would dissipate.
However, just as his jade shovel was about to touch the soil at the roots of the Spiritual Plant, a sudden change occurred!
At the entrance of the ice chamber, the ice and snow covering the opening he had masked with concealment talismans suddenly melted and vaporized silently. A sky-blue, bucket-thick, terrifying figure slid in like a ghost, its amber vertical pupils coldly locking onto Fang Hao’s back!
It was that Fourth Rank Peak Ice Scale Profound Python! It hadn’t gone far, or rather, it had long since detected Fang Hao’s infiltration and had been guarding the vicinity all along!
A cold, bone-chilling, and fishy killing intent instantly enveloped Fang Hao!
The hairs on Fang Hao’s body stood on end. Without thinking, he abandoned the harvesting, exerted force with his feet, and his body shot sideways like a cannonball!
Almost at the same time he moved sideways, a visible white stream of cold energy, like an angry dragon, brushed past his body and slammed into the spot where he had just been standing!
"Crack!" Where the cold stream passed, the ice surface was instantly frozen and then shattered, forming an ice pit several feet deep! The edges of the ice pit were covered with a thick layer of frost emitting cold air.
A cold sweat broke out on Fang Hao’s back. If he had been hit by that, even with his Physical Body strength, he would likely have been frozen stiff for a moment, and that would have been the end of him!
Having missed its strike, the Ice Scale Profound Python let out an angry hiss. Its massive body suddenly lunged like an arrow released from a bow, opening its blood-red maw to reveal two venomous fangs shimmering with eerie blue cold light, biting toward Fang Hao! Its speed was astonishingly fast!
"You beast! You’re courting death!" Fang Hao was also provoked into a rage.
Seeing the Spiritual Plant right before his eyes only to have this beast ruin things, a cold light flashed in his eyes. Instead of retreating, he advanced. The platinum light on his skin flared brightly, his right hand balled into a fist, and surging with Chaos Spiritual Power, he punched fiercely at the hideous snake head biting toward him!
The wind from his punch surged, carrying a terrifying power capable of splitting mountains and shattering stones, clashing violently with the Ice Scale Profound Python’s bite!
