"Elder Han!"
As Lin Leiyue walked out of the secluded valley, a shadow followed her.
However, it seemed that she had already predicted it, and therefore her expression did not change. "Thank you for coming personally to settle this!"
"Hehe..."
Elder Han shook his head. He was already completely recovered by now and got back the calmness a Martial Artist (11th Gate) should have. However, he knew that he could not go head-on against the secluded valley. "The secluded valley has many secrets, especially Fang Yuan himself. Within the entire Sect, I'm afraid only the Sect Master can infiltrate successfully..."
"If what you said is true, then Fang Yuan's cultivation level is... 4 Heavenly Gates?"
There was shock in Lin Leiyue's eyes.
After being allies with Lu Renjia, the alchemy master had to bear with the pain and gave them a sizeable amount of spiritual pills in an attempt to improve their relations; Elder Han and Lin Leiyue both benefited from it, with one being able to recover successfully and the other able to break through the next gate.
However, as compared to Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan's improvement was still more shocking.
"Even I'll have to admit that Fang Yuan is gifted... I can no longer see what's going on in the secluded valley with the addition of that spiritual beast!"
Elder Han shook his head in dismay. After getting rid of the strong opposition, the secluded valley could actually be comparable to the Spirit Returning Sect.
After shock came fear.
"The Spirit Returning Sect kept a low profile, which led to the opposing powers being developed slowly... We could use this chance to teach them a lesson and get rid of them!"
He did not try to hide his motive.
On the battlefield, all it would take was an order and he could let martial artists die themselves, without using underhand means.
Only when the opposing powers within the county become lesser would the Spirit Returning Sect have the freedom to do whatever it wants.
And as for the secluded valley, it was indeed a miracle. Without much notice, it had developed so much over such a short period of time.
However, it still didn't matter much. With the Sect Master in charge, using her ability as a 12th Gate Martial Artist at her peak, it would be as simple as jumping over a wall.
The difference between Wu Zong and the normal martial artist was immeasurable; it was like comparing Heaven and Earth!
"How would Master deal with the situation..."
Lin Leiyue stopped and looked back at the secluded valley once more. Suddenly, her heartbeat became faster. She did not want to see Brother Fang reach this point of no return, but at the same time, she felt immense relief. She was resolute and walked away.
Both of them were extremely quick and disappeared into the forest within moments.
The serenity and tranquillity of the forest were intoxicating.
After a long while, Fang Yuan appeared and looked indifferent. "They even had to send Elder Han to spy on the secluded valley, so it seems that there is no other person capable enough in the Sect already!"
"Unless... Shi Yutong?"
...
After Fang Yuan returned to the secluded valley, even more news came in.
This rebellion went to the extremes. Not only did Qinghe County, Cangshui County and Jushi County leave the Secluded Mountain Prefecture's jurisdiction, they were led by the Spirit Returning Sect, Bone Melting Sect and Yellow Brothers Sect respectively to come together to form a large army of over 10,000 troops. Additionally, external forces joined in as well, and Lu Renjia became the undisputed alliance leader. He directly issued the challenge to Liu Yan without regard for any reputation.
As for the Xia royal family, and the other two prefectures, they would have to wait and see. Even if they tried guessing, they could only send out highly-skilled martial artists in disguise and had to be cautious.
Fang Yuan did not know the happenings in the other two counties, but in Qinghe County, the Spirit Returning Sect was putting in an effort to eradicate the rebels and remove those families who were loyal to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. This was all expected.
There was news that three entire families were eradicated, and they plundered a large amount of resources. The other families who knew of this lived in fear, afraid of being the next family to be dealt with.
From all these, Fang Yuan could predict that he did not have much time left.
However, there was a piece of news which made Fang Yuan wary.
"Lu Renjia could recruit the help of a mysterious spiritual knight, and this spiritual knight has blood-red light all over him; he must have the assistance of the Blood Dragon, which explained why he could suck the blood essence of 3 or 4 Heavenly Gate Martial Artists and 5 Inner Force Martial Artists at one go and that was extremely scary..."
"This description... Why does it sound so much like the Blood Magic Manual, could it be that this person is related to the Blood Killer?"
Thinking of this, he ended his speculations about Lu Renjia.
"If I create trouble for the Spirit Returning Sect now, I would greatly hurt their battle strength. It would become hard for Shi Yutong to take control of the entire county and unite all the forces together... By sending Elder Han and her other direct disciples all around already revealed her intention, but..."
If Fang Yuan really wanted to kill, then even two Elder Hans could not save their own lives.
However, killing mindlessly did him no good and was therefore not what he would do.
"Keeping them alive would buy me at least five days more..."
To a normal martial artist, it was impossible to gather opposition support and fight against the Spirit Returning Sect in just a mere 5 days, but to Fang Yuan, it was slightly more possible. He just had to dream.
...
Green Peak spiritual land.
Within the straw pavilion.
Fang Yuan placed a stone basin in front of him, and in it full of clear water. There were a few red dots suspended in the water.
Taking a closer look would reveal that the red dots were actually grains of Flame Jade Rice, swirling in the basin of water, at it seemed that there was a layer of gold that had yet to come off.
"Go!"
With the wave of his finger, he exerted a force and the water mixed with a flame-red colour flew out, landing on a bamboo paper placed at one side. It grew upwards quickly, forming a trace of red glow.
Fang Yuan took up the piece of paper and examined it.
"Based on the method for identifying poisons recorded in <>, I can now confirm that this spiritual rice is not poisonous. Using the water refinement method, I can observe from the paper that there is a hint of gold in the red. Its fire-type properties are strongest, but in it, there is a hidden metallic property as well, how unexpected... At the end, the trace is 1.6 inches long, which shows that its spirituality is of the higher tier of Yellow Grade. Because it is a spiritual rice, maybe it can be placed under the Mystery Grade?"
The method of appraising as described in this <> was founded by alchemy masters who realised that a vast variety of spiritual items existed.
And in it, the spiritual materials were classified into Heaven, Earth, Mystery and Yellow.
Based on the description in <>, the Vermilion Jade Rice, Emerald Grass, and even the Bamboo fruit and the Icy Fire Jialan were all of Yellow grade, and were just slightly above average.
As for the Flame Jade Rice, Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion Fruit, they were more extraordinary and could be classified under Mystery grade.
"The Flame Jade Rice's effects might not be better than that of the Icy Fire Jialan and were at the higher end of the Yellow Grade. However, since it could be harvested every season and stored in large quantities, its value could go up and therefore could be classified as Mysterious Grade... As for the Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion fruit, both of them are undisputedly of Mystery Grade..." As for the Questioning Heart Tea and the Vermilion fruit, both of them are undisputed..."
"After appraising the grade of the Flame Jade Rice and knowing its qualities, I can now produce it in large scales and start consuming it..."
Fang Yuan nodded his head, picked up the shell of the Flame Jade Rice, went outside and fed it to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle.
As the Black Eagle ate it, it wailed in happiness.
"The Flame Jade Rice is a fire-type plant. If Liu Yan or other fire-type spiritual knights know of this plant, they would do all they can in their power to get it and consume it every day. Its benefits are countless, but to me, it would only aid me if I chose to cultivate fire-type techniques in the future..."
The Flame Jade Rice he brought here to appraise was of a small quantity, and Fang Yuan was too lazy to cook it. He gave it all to the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to enjoy.
Afterwards, he went to a newly allocated spiritual farm, and grain by grain planted it in.
[Botany (Level 4)] was indeed impressive. Fang Yuan's natural actions made the action of sowing seeds even more delicate.
"If you want to enjoy such good rice next season, remember to properly guard this spiritual farm, and don't let anyone destroy it, understand?"
Fang Yuan stroked the Iron-tailed Black Eagle's head, as though it was instructing it.
After trying it out for itself, it would surely pay more attention to guard the spiritual farm.
Looking up, he realised that it was noon.
Fang Yuan stopped farming and cooked a full pot of Vermilion Jade Rice. He also instructed the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to catch two fresh fishes and smoked them for lunch.
The water quality in the spiritual land was rather good, and the fishes that came from it were fat and fresh. By using smoke to remove the fish's stench, the fish meat became crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. As he tore the fish, the meat and bone separated easily, and it was simply delicious. It was the perfect lunch.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Fang Yuan was enjoying his lunch, while the Iron-tailed Black Eagle was flapping its wings in unsatisfaction, as though it deserved more.
After trying the Flame Jade Rice, it was used to it and eating the Vermilion Jade Rice was a torture for it.
"Haha..."
Seeing how human-like the Black Eagle was, Fang Yuan laughed uncontrollably.
After a full meal, Fang Yuan returned to the spiritual farm and started to plan. "Following which, I will have to focus on the Flame Jade Rice! The Black Jade Rice, Green Striped Rice are just new flavours, while the Bone Quenching Flower and Three Star Fruit are not as useful. Maybe I can pass some to my servants for them to start growing them as well. Of course, the most important are still the Sickle Grass and Serrated Flower!"
Fang Yuan had high hopes for these two aggressive spiritual plants. He specially instructed the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to hunt for some wild animals and started to prepare the blood for these plants.
"Other spiritual plants thrive with spiritual water and spiritual fertilizer, but these two spiritual plants do not have requirements as for what type of soil, instead they need to be blood-fed and fertilized with flesh and bones..."
Fang Yuan specially chose a location far from the original spiritual farm and opened up a narrow but long plantation.
This was not only in consideration of the original spiritual farm but also for the growth of these two spiritual plants.
"After all, these spiritual plants are predators, and therefore they should have a larger area to themselves so that they can experience hunting for prey by themselves. That would also save me a lot of trouble!"
There were quite a number of wild animals in this spiritual land and it was sufficient for the growth of these two spiritual plants.
"Whoosh!"
Fang Yuan stirred a wooden bucket and used a gourd to scoops out a serving of blood. He watered it on the gourd, and the spiritual farm became a 'blood farm'. After which, he slowly planted the seeds one by one.
"Since I am using flesh as the fertilizer, they definitely will grow to become ferocious monsters!"
He had a strong feeling that with the increased chances of the special traits evolving that came with his [Botany (Level 4)], this farm would bring him a lot of surprises.
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