Free Web NovelChapter 42: Chapter 42: Completed
Soul-Breaking Cliff was deep within West Mountain, shrouded in mist year-round. Its face was as steep as a blade, and the wind whistling through its crevices sounded like the wails of ghosts.
"The Green Blood Ganoderma grows in the crevices midway down the cliff," Elder Huang said, pointing at the cloud-wreathed cliff face. "And it’s guarded by Ghost-faced Bats. Those things travel in swarms. A single one is only Tier One, but if a few hundred of them descend on you, even someone at the Transformation Force Late Stage would be in serious trouble."
Wang Li looked up at the precipitous cliff. "Then how do we get down?"
Elder Huang pulled a coil of specially made rope from his herb basket. "This rope is mixed with Golden Silk, making it incredibly tough. I’ll lower you down. Once you’ve picked the Ganoderma, give me the signal, and I’ll pull you back up."
He paused. "Remember three things. First, be quiet. It’s best not to disturb the bat swarm. Second, the Green Blood Ganoderma must be picked whole, including the root. If even a sliver breaks off, its medicinal efficacy will be halved. And third—"
He swept his gaze over the three of them and said, word by word, "If anyone dares to pull any tricks down there and causes us to fail in retrieving the Spirit Grass, I’ll personally let him taste a Bone-Eroding Pill."
Wang Li’s expression changed, and he quickly lowered his head in agreement. Three ropes were tied around each of their waists, and Elder Huang personally inspected the knots.
Wang Li was the first to descend the cliff.
His palms were like claws, gripping the rock crevices as he slowly descended. His movements were steady; his Transformation Force Late Stage Cultivation allowed him to navigate the steep cliff face as if it were level ground.
Sun Yan followed close behind, his Body Technique nimble. He occasionally tapped the cliff face with the short blade at his waist to gain purchase.
When it was Liang Cheng’s turn, he flipped over the edge and began his descent without the slightest hesitation.
After descending for about three hundred feet, the mist grew thicker, reducing visibility to less than thirty feet. Liang Cheng looked down and saw a faint, dark-red glow emanating from a crevice diagonally below him.
It was the Green Blood Ganoderma. Shaped like a solidified clot of blood, it exuded a faint, medicinal fragrance in the mist. Just as he was about to continue downward, a faint rustling sound came from above his head.
He looked up, but the mist was too thick to see clearly. However, he felt an unnatural tremor in the rope around his waist. Liang Cheng immediately grabbed onto a rock crevice with one hand to steady himself, while his other hand quickly checked the knot at his waist.
’The knot is fine. That means someone above is cutting the rope!’
His eyes turned cold. He instantly activated his Stone Armor Skill, a grayish-white halo flowing beneath his skin. At the same time, he drew the dagger hidden in his leg wrappings with his left hand and plunged it fiercely into the cliff face.
SNAP!
The rope suddenly broke, and Liang Cheng plummeted downwards!
But the dagger in his left hand was lodged firmly in a crevice, and his fall was brought to a jarring halt. Loose stones trickled down as he hung there, with only a broken piece of rope less than three feet long left at his waist.
Sun Yan’s hushed voice came from above. "Senior Brother Wang, I think the rope broke?"
Wang Li’s voice drifted down faintly. "It was probably old and worn out. Focus on picking the herb and mind your own business."
’The two of them are still above me!’
Liang Cheng’s body was suspended midway down the cliff, nearly a hundred feet from the nearest foothold below. He took a deep breath. The Perfection of his Mixed Element Stance gave him incredibly precise control over his body.
He tentatively reached out with his right foot, trying to find purchase on a protrusion to the side.
CRACK.
The rock was loose. A piece broke off and tumbled into the abyss, its echo returning only after a long moment.
’I can’t use brute force.’
Liang Cheng’s eyes scanned his surroundings. About twenty feet below and to his right, a withered pine tree grew diagonally from a crevice. Its trunk was as thick as a bowl, and though it was dead, its roots still clung to the rock and soil.
He suddenly tensed his core, kicked off the cliff face with both legs, and shot out sideways like an arrow loosed from a bow. Twisting his body in mid-air, he stretched his right hand to its absolute limit.
SMACK!
His five fingers seized the dead pine’s trunk!
CREAK—!
A grating crack came from the pine’s roots, but his momentum was finally arrested. Liang Cheng seized the opportunity, planting his feet on the cliff face. In three quick bounds, he managed to scale his way back up to a protruding rock thirty feet above where his rope had been cut.
He panted for a moment, then looked down at the broken rope at his waist. The cut was smooth—it had clearly been severed with a sharp blade.
’Wang Li, Sun Yan!’
A cold glint flashed in Liang Cheng’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed his emotions and re-secured the rope at his waist. ’Now isn’t the time to settle scores. I have to survive first.’
He looked up. About two hundred feet above him, three Green Blood Ganodermas grew together, their dark-red glow particularly striking in the mist.
But what made Liang Cheng more wary was the cave above the Ganoderma. The entrance was dark and shadowy, and he could faintly hear the sound of flapping wings.
’The Ghost-faced Bat nest.’
At that moment, Wang Li and Sun Yan were already approaching another spot where the Ganoderma grew.
Sun Yan lowered his voice. "Senior Brother Wang, that kid’s been gone for a while with no activity. He must have fallen to his death, right?"
Wang Li sneered. "A fall from a thousand-foot cliff? If he isn’t dead, he’s crippled. Focus on picking the herbs. These three Ganodermas are of excellent quality, enough for the two of us."
The two took out their Jade Sabers. Just as they were about to act, a dense series of "SQUEAK SQUEAK" sounds came from above. Sun Yan’s face turned pale. "The bat swarm is awake!"
From the cave above, hundreds of palm-sized black bats flew out in a dense swarm. Each one had ghastly white markings on its face, as unsettling as a ghost’s mask. Smelling the scent of living humans, they immediately grew agitated.
"Hurry up and pick the herbs!" Wang Li shouted urgently.
The two swung their Jade Sabers, cutting the Ganoderma and placing them in a Jade Box. But their movements ultimately disturbed the swarm, and the few leading Ghost-faced Bats shrieked and dove at them.
Sun Yan swung his short blade repeatedly, cutting down three of them. But bat blood splattered onto his arm, and green smoke immediately began to rise from it. He cried out in pain as his arm rapidly turned black.
"The bat blood is poisonous!" Wang Li slapped away a few more bats, then grabbed Sun Yan. "Go!"
The two scrambled upwards, but the bat swarm was already descending upon them like a black cloud!
Below, Liang Cheng had also run into trouble.
Though his earlier movements had been slight, they were still detected by a few patrolling Ghost-faced Bats. Now, a group of more than twenty was circling him, their screeches piercing the air.
’I can’t wait for them to summon the rest of the swarm.’ Liang Cheng flipped his right hand, and three pebbles he had broken off the cliff face appeared between his fingers.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The pebbles shot through the air, precisely piercing the skulls of three Ghost-faced Bats. The small swarm fell into disarray, and Liang Cheng seized the opportunity to leap straight for the three Green Blood Ganodermas.
More Ghost-faced Bats poured out of the nest. A fierce look flashed in Liang Cheng’s eyes as he fully unleashed the agility granted by the Perfection of his Mixed Element Stance. He moved on the steep cliff as if on level ground, reaching the Ganoderma in just a few breaths.
He swung his Jade Saber, cleanly harvesting the three Ganodermas and placing them in his Jade Box. By now, the bat swarm had grown to nearly a hundred, and they descended on him in a dark, pressing mass!
Instead of retreating, Liang Cheng advanced. Pushing his Stone Armor Skill to its limit, his body became like a grayish-white boulder, and he crashed directly into the swarm.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The Ghost-faced Bats smashed against him as if hitting an iron plate, their bones shattering. Poisonous blood splattered all over his robes, but the defense of his Stone Armor Skill prevented the toxins from penetrating his skin.
He held onto his rope with one hand and threw a continuous series of punches with the other. Each fist carried the concussive power of Fierce Bull Force, and the bats fell like raindrops.
After ten breaths, nearly a hundred Ghost-faced Bats were all dead. Liang Cheng panted heavily and looked up. ’At this rate, I won’t be able to last much longer.’
His face expressionless, he immediately pulled the signal flare at his waist.
FWOOSH!
A red flare shot up toward the top of the cliff.
「At the top of the cliff.」
Seeing the signal, Elder Huang immediately began to pull in the ropes. A moment later, Wang Li and Sun Yan were the first to be hauled up. Their clothes were tattered, and Sun Yan’s left arm was black and swollen—he was clearly badly poisoned.
Wang Li’s face was livid. The Jade Box in his hand held only two Ganodermas, and they were of ordinary quality. Right after them, Liang Cheng was pulled onto the clifftop. His grayish-white robes were stained with bat blood, but his posture was steady as he handed a Jade Box to Elder Huang.
Elder Huang opened it. Three Ganodermas, the color of dark-red jade, lay quietly inside, exuding a rich medicinal aroma.
"Superior quality." Elder Huang nodded. He glanced at Sun Yan’s blackened arm and tossed him a small bottle. "An Antitoxic Pill. Fifty points, on your tab."
Sun Yan quickly swallowed it. The blackness in his arm began to recede, but it remained swollen and painful.
Wang Li glared at Liang Cheng, who stared right back at him. The atmosphere between them grew tense, but Elder Huang cut them off. "We have all the Herbs. Let’s head back."
