The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 499: Going to Dragon Fall Abyss_1
Having learned the medicinal properties of the Grade V Chaotic Yuan Pill, and with Shen Mo’s attainments in the Alchemy Path, he could deduce most of the spiritual medicines required to refine this pill.
Of course, alchemy was not merely a matter of piling all the spiritual medicines together.
The proportions of raw materials, the order of smelting and refining, the critical heat for extracting the essence, the timing of pill condensation, refining techniques, and so forth, all required profound research. A slight error in any step could lead to a result that was off by a thousand miles.
After gathering all the spiritual medicines, Shen Mo would still have to undergo numerous trials, modifications, and refinements. He might even have to discard the initially chosen types of raw materials and reformulate his plans entirely.
To put it another way, if Shen Mo possessed the complete elixir recipe for the Chaotic Yuan Pill, he would only need to prepare ten sets of raw materials to refine a batch of qualified Elixirs.
As things stood, the trials alone would consume hundreds, possibly even thousands, of portions of medicinal materials. If bad luck struck or he took a wrong turn during the process, the losses could easily multiply several times over.
It would be one thing if it were a Grade II or Grade III Elixir, but the Chaotic Yuan Pill was a Grade V Elixir.
The cost of raw materials alone was enough to bankrupt a medium-sized Sect, one ranked just below the Five Great Sects.
After some calculation, Shen Mo tentatively drafted a list of spiritual medicines.
"A Thousand-year Ice Lotus, Nine Leaves Crystal Root, Gold Tear Bamboo Juice, Fire Lotus Seed, a whole Rosy Cloud Grass..."
There were thirteen types of medicinal materials in total. He was confident about eight of them, but the remaining five were uncertain and might need to be substituted with other spiritual medicines.
Subsequently, Shen Mo listed various alternative spiritual medicines one by one, expanding the number of types on the list to thirty-one.
"This is quite troublesome! With so many kinds of spiritual medicines and spiritual materials, I only have four types on me, and the quantities aren’t sufficient either."
Shen Mo rubbed the space between his eyebrows, a troubled expression on his face.
After some thought, he quickly recalled the Jade Pool Dungeon of the Riverside Sect.
When he had previously entered this Dungeon for secluded cultivation, his Alchemist instincts had led him to identify and memorize all the medicinal materials there.
Among them, twenty-one spiritual medicines from his initial list could be found and collected within the Jade Pool Realm. The remaining ten were backup options that might not necessarily be needed.
More crucially, time flowed faster within the Jade Pool Realm. Consequently, the spiritual medicinal materials cultivated there were of advanced age and plentiful in quantity.
If he could freely gather and use the spiritual herbs and medicines within the Dungeon, more than half the obstacles before Shen Mo would vanish. He was sixty percent confident he could reproduce the Chaotic Yuan Pill’s elixir recipe. Even if its medicinal effects weren’t as good as the original, they wouldn’t be too far off.
"Patriarch Zhou needs to oversee the subsidiary courtyard at Chong’a Mountain and cannot personally go to the Jade Pool Dungeon."
"During this time, he has also been vexed by his inability to contact Elder Li, the guardian of the Dungeon, to obtain spiritual medicines to supply the subsidiary courtyard..."
"In that case, I shall make the trip myself!"
"And while I’m at it, I can look for a Blessed Land suitable for my breakthrough, as well as Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures like the Chaotic Yuan Fruit and Clear Spirit Qi."
Shen Mo put away the jade slip in his hand, stood up, pushed open the door, and walked towards Zhou Zhiwei’s quarters.
The entrance to the Jade Pool Dungeon was not within the Linjiang Mountain Range. Instead, it lay at the bottom of a ten-thousand-foot-deep abyss south of the Void Sky Mountain Range in the northern region.
This abyss was named Dragon Fall Abyss. Ancient legends told of a True Dragon that had fallen to its death there, its impact creating the vast chasm. After the True Dragon died, its Resentment Qi did not disperse, and its fierce spirit often roamed the Dragon Fall Abyss, harming cultivators who strayed into it.
Hundreds of years ago, a Golden Core Realm Supreme Elder of the Riverside Sect had ventured into the depths of Dragon Fall Abyss and discovered the entrance to the Jade Pool Dungeon.
Therefore, the tales of dragon slaying were pure fiction.
However, it was worth noting that Dragon Fall Abyss was indeed extremely dangerous. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
It was perennially shrouded in black fog and miasma, filled with soul-consuming, bone-chilling yin winds, and from time to time, lethal attacks of unknown origin would materialize out of thin air.
Furthermore, after the Riverside Sect gained control of the entrance to the Jade Pool Realm, they took measures to prevent outsiders from discovering this treasure trove and inviting endless trouble. They intentionally laid down numerous Prohibitions and killing arrays, significantly increasing the danger of the area.
Any cultivator who inadvertently entered Dragon Fall Abyss without Golden Core Realm cultivation strength indeed faced a high probability of dying within.
Only using the Teleportation Array to enter the great hall at the abyss’s bottom was relatively safe.
However, the entire teleportation network of the Red Flame Zone was currently inoperative. Even though they had the coordinate marker for the grand array within the hall and had rebuilt a Teleportation Altar in the Chong’a Mountain subsidiary courtyard, no one dared to attempt teleportation.
Under the current circumstances, who knew where the Teleportation Array might send someone?
In any case, cultivators who hadn’t realized this two years ago and were transported away by the grand array had vanished without a trace; not a single one had returned.
It was precisely because of this that Zhou Zhiwei was somewhat troubled.
On one hand, the Red Flame Zone was now fraught with peril, and he had to remain at the Chong’a Mountain subsidiary courtyard to ensure the Riverside Sect’s legacy endured.
On the other hand, a vast number of spiritual plants and spiritual grasses were cultivated within the Jade Pool Dungeon. If he could contact Elder Li and gather a batch of spiritual medicine, it would greatly alleviate the subsidiary courtyard’s pressing needs.
At the very least, he could continue to distribute the monthly stipends to the Elders and inner disciples.
But given the current situation in the Red Flame Zone, even as a Golden Core Realm expert, he would have to travel with extreme caution, doing his utmost to avoid various forbidden lands, creatures from the Outer Zone, and all sorts of miscellaneous Evil Spirits.
A round trip would take at least three to four months, and during that time, it would be difficult to guarantee that no mishaps would occur at the subsidiary courtyard.
Besides Patriarch Zhou, perhaps only Shen Mo, in the entire sect subsidiary courtyard, possessed the strength to safely reach the bottom of Dragon Fall Abyss and contact Elder Li.
After two years of arduous closed-door cultivation, his Realm had, as he wished, advanced to Layer IX of the Spirit Sea Realm.
With enhancements from his Destiny, magic proficiency, Skills, and other aspects, his combat prowess had also soared to an extremely terrifying level, already surpassing Peak Master-level figures like Zhou Shili and Tang Lv.
Although still half a step from the Golden Core Realm, he was now capable of contending with early-stage Golden Core Realm experts.
Even if outmatched, he could easily preserve his life against them.
Moreover, Shen Mo’s defense, vitality, recovery ability, and so on were all exceptionally astonishing.
No matter how treacherous the Dragon Fall Abyss was, as long as he didn’t encounter any indescribable and incomprehensible Evil Spirits, Shen Mo could force his way through. Even if he were severely injured, reduced to a mere piece of Flesh and Blood or a severed limb falling into the abyss, his Skills could preserve his life.
Zhou Zhiwei was indeed overjoyed that Shen Mo volunteered for this task.
Contacting Elder Li and entering the Jade Pool Realm to gather spiritual medicine was already a significant gain. Moreover, Shen Mo was using the pretext of gathering spiritual medicine resources and attempting Core Formation!
If Shen Mo successfully achieved Core Formation, the sect’s subsidiary courtyard would gain another Golden Core Realm expert.
Even if the sect couldn’t return to its former glory, Zhou Zhiwei’s pressure would be greatly reduced. At the same time, he could also dedicate more energy to his own cultivation and other matters.
Having received the authorization from Patriarch Zhou as he had hoped, Shen Mo departed from Chong’a Mountain.
However, he did not immediately fly north towards Dragon Fall Abyss. Instead, he flew directly toward the forbidden land where the Flower Fairy was known to frequent.
