A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 267 Yin Soul Grass and Yin Gathering Stone

Within a few breaths, through the connection of minds, the Netherwind Beast gave a reassuring response: there was indeed no dangerous aura inside, but rather a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Luo Ming made up his mind and stepped inside.

The cave was somewhat narrow at first, but after walking less than a hundred feet, it suddenly opened up into a very spacious underground hall. The dome hung high, hidden in darkness, and the walls were covered with jagged rocks.

At the innermost part of the hall, a giant stone chair several meters high could be seen. It was carved entirely from some kind of black rock, and the back and armrests were covered with hideous and twisted ghost faces and skull reliefs, which looked particularly sinister and terrifying in the dim light.

Seeing this, Luo Ming couldn't help but chuckle: "This Ghost King certainly knows how to put on a show."

His gaze swept around and was then drawn to an open space to the left of the stone chair.

There, three small, bright green grasses, each less than a foot tall, grew neatly in a triangular formation. In this gloomy, deathly silent environment, they exuded an incongruous, vibrant vitality. Their blades were as clear as jade, radiating a soft, pale green glow that brightened the surrounding gray and black hues.

"This...could this be the legendary 'Soul-Suppressing Grass'?"

The voice of Tianjing Sanren, filled with surprise and doubt, rang out in Luo Ming's mind at just the right moment. It was filled with undisguised astonishment: "This herb grows in the most yin place, yet it can generate yang from yin, nurturing a wisp of pure life force. It has miraculous effects on nourishing the primordial spirit and repairing damage to the soul; it is a rare and precious medicine for the soul!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Ming's eyes lit up immediately.

He naturally knew the name of Yin Soul Grass. It was a top-grade spiritual object that could repair and nourish the soul, and it was especially effective for damage to the primordial spirit and hidden injuries to the divine consciousness. Its value even exceeded that of many pills that could enhance cultivation.

They usually only exist in those desolate places where yin energy has accumulated for thousands of years, and only by sheer chance can a sliver of life be nurtured. I never expected to find them here, and three of them at that! It seems that the Ghost King collected them together.

In such a place of extreme yin, for a spiritual herb to grow with such pure vitality is indeed the ultimate principle of "yin giving rise to yang." He cautiously stepped forward and observed carefully.

These three Yin Soul Grasses are entirely jade-green, with narrow, elongated leaves, numbering only seven or eight. From the center of each leaf, faint wisps of milky-white mist can be seen circulating, which is the most precious "Yin Soul Essence" that can directly nourish the soul.

"It is indeed the Yin Soul Grass. Judging from its shape and spiritual energy, it is at least a thousand years old."

Tianjing Sanren spoke with certainty and a hint of joy, "Such spiritual herbs have long been extinct in the outside world. Only in such naturally formed, extremely yin and secluded places can they possibly be nurtured over many years. You must be careful when picking them. You need to use jade tools and supplement them with spirit-sealing talismans to preserve their medicinal essence to the greatest extent."

Luo Ming nodded; he was not entirely unfamiliar with handling such spiritual treasures. He immediately took out three high-quality jade boxes from his storage bag, along with several "Azure Spirit Sealing Talismans" specifically used to seal the spiritual energy of herbs.

He crouched down, his movements gentle and precise, a thin layer of magic power gathering at his fingertips. He carefully dug out the three Yin Soul Grasses along with a small clump of black soil around their roots, which emitted a faint fishy smell but contained a strange vitality. He placed them into the jade boxes and quickly sealed them with talismans.

Feeling the cool, warm scent emanating from the jade box, Luo Ming put them away with satisfaction.

With these three thousand-year-old Yin Soul Grasses, I will have plenty of confidence, whether it is for unexpected events in my cultivation of divine sense techniques or for exchanging for other urgently needed resources.

After carefully putting away the Yin Soul Grass, Luo Ming began to carefully scan the spacious cave hall. Although the huge ghost-faced skull stone chair had a terrifying appearance, it seemed to be just a seat for the Ghost King to display his majesty, and there was no special fluctuation in its power.

However, he sensed that the Yin energy in this area was much stronger than the surrounding area, indicating that this stone chair was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

"Could it be?"

As if he had thought of something, Luo Ming's heart stirred, and a crimson-gold flame emerged from his fingertip, which then transformed into a nimble firebird that pounced on the stone chair.

The stone chair, which had appeared unremarkable in the original location, began to emit a dense yin energy after encountering the firebird, resisting the erosion of the supreme yang fire.

"This thing... could it be a Yin-Gathering Stone? It's so big!" Heavenly Mirror Hermit's surprised voice rang out.

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, this stone chair, which is several meters in size, is carved from a huge piece of Yin-gathering stone." Luo Ming looked at the stone chair in front of him with a happy expression, thinking to himself that he almost missed this thing.

The Yin-gathering Stone looks like a stone with a heavy Yin energy. Because of the dense Yin energy in this place, Luo Ming had previously overlooked it.

However, this object can naturally condense and purify Yin energy. For ghost cultivators, having such a large Yin-gathering stone by their side is equivalent to an ordinary cultivator carrying a spiritual eye, and it is a top-grade spiritual eye.

"So that's why the Ghost King used this as a chair. Although I have no use for this Yin Gathering Stone, if it were traded with cultivators who practice the Yin Ghost Path, its value would be as high as that of Geng Essence for sword cultivators."

Luo Ming happily put the entire stone chair directly into his storage bag. If his storage bag hadn't been big enough, it would have been difficult to fit it all in.

After putting away the stone chair, Luo Ming's gaze fell on an inconspicuous corner to the right and behind the original stone chair.

There were some grayish-white things scattered on the ground. They were not conspicuous in the dim light, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be fragments of broken bones. Judging from their shape and size, they seemed to be the bones of a human cultivator.

The Wind Fox Beast seemed to have some interest in the pile of bone fragments as well, crouching low, its nostrils flaring slightly, emitting a low whimper.

"It seems these bones were left behind by the Ghost King when he killed human cultivators." Luo Ming stepped forward and carefully brushed away the dust and rubble on the surface. The bones had been eroded by Yin energy and were extremely fragile; they would turn to dust at the slightest touch.

In a more secluded corner to the right of these scattered bones, there lay a dozen or so artifacts of various shapes and sizes, including flying swords, small shields, and copper rings, all dull and covered with a layer of gray grime formed by the erosion of yin energy.

He casually picked up a cyan flying sword, probed it with his divine sense, and found that the internal restrictions had been broken. He then checked the other swords in succession, and the situation was similar. They were all mediocre magical treasures, and had been worn down by the extreme yin energy of this place over the long years. Their spirituality had been greatly damaged, and their power was less than one-tenth of what it used to be.

"I thought this Ghost King's lair would at least contain some good magical treasures, but all I've found are these junks." Luo Ming couldn't help but feel disappointed, shaking his head and sighing softly.

"Hehe," Tianjing Sanren's laughter echoed in his mind, tinged with understanding. "Kid, you should be content. The Yin Soul Grass and Yin Gathering Stone ahead were already quite valuable. These items were mostly relics of cultivators who perished here. If they possessed truly great treasures, how could they have been so easily subdued by that Ghost King? True protective treasures are either destroyed in the fierce battle or annihilated along with their owners. What remains are mostly ordinary items."

Luo Ming smiled wryly upon hearing this: "What you say is absolutely right, senior. It was I who was greedy."

He glanced at the pile of broken magical artifacts again and thought to himself, "However, they are still materials for magical artifacts. Even if their spiritual essence is damaged, the material is still intact, and they are still much stronger than top-grade magical artifacts. Taking them out can still get us some spirit stones, so they are not entirely useless."

He stopped hesitating, rolled up his sleeves, and stored all ten-odd broken magical artifacts into his storage bag. After carefully scanning every corner of the hall with his divine sense to confirm that nothing was missed, he turned and transformed into a shadowy figure, quickly retreating from the cave along the same path.

His figure reappeared above the abyss, his divine sense spreading out like a tide. As expected, Xuan Gu's figure and aura were nowhere to be seen.

"He left quite decisively." A cold smile played on Luo Ming's lips. That Xuan Gu Zhenren must have been certain that he had ventured into a dangerous place and would not return, or that he might have even been devoured by the Ghost King, so naturally he wouldn't wait here in vain.

"That's good, it saves us a lot of talking and guarding."

Luo Ming flashed out of the abyss rift, and behind him, a crimson-gold light and a gray-black phantom flew out at the same time and landed beside him—it was the Fat Sun Bird and the Wind Fox Beast, whose aura was completely different and whose body was surrounded by a faint cold aura.

"Walk!"

He let out a low shout, chose a direction, and transformed into a shadowy figure, speeding deeper into the Land of Ghostly Resentment. Two spirit beasts flew alongside him, one on his left and one on his right, keeping pace with him.

With these two exceptionally gifted spirit beasts, specializing in subduing evil spirits, by his side, Luo Ming's journey became easier than ever before. Wherever he passed, the yin winds retreated, and ghosts wailed.

Perhaps because there were so many evil spirits and ghosts in this place, the Fat Yang Bird, which originally coveted any kind of yin energy and would devour it on sight, has now become "picky".

It merely glanced arrogantly at those wandering, weak Qi Refining stage Yin spirits before flapping its wings and flying away, showing little interest.

Only when it encounters a ghost or spirit whose aura has reached the Foundation Establishment stage or even stronger will it excitedly let out a clear cry, spread its wings, and unleash crimson-gold flames. It will either directly burn the target into pure soul power and devour it, or first burn the ghost or spirit to the point of near death, and then calmly peck at its core soul source.

Having devoured countless powerful Yin spirits along the way, Luo Ming could clearly sense that the divine soul essence of the Fat Sun Bird was growing stronger and more solid at a considerable speed, seemingly not far from the threshold required to advance to the seventh level. All that remained was the gradual accumulation of spiritual energy and the tempering of its physical body after returning to the outside world.

Compared to the Zhiyang Bird's "picky eating" and violent devouring, the Fengli Beast, which has just awakened the Netherworld Bloodline Divine Power and successfully advanced to the seventh level of demon beast, exhibits a completely different hunting method that can be described as "art".

It seemed to have transformed into the true master of this haunted land, composed and even somewhat elegant. It did not compete with the fat sun birds for the readily available prey, but instead often broke away from Luo Ming's side, quickly swimming around, emitting a deep, strange sound wave from its throat that seemed to be able to directly communicate with ghosts.