Chapter 157: Difficulties At Every Corner

　　Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: – –

　　Back at his house, Mo Wuji flipped open the immediately.

　　When he spent 100 earth grade spirit stones to purchase this book, he felt that it was a little expensive. However, once he opened the book, he knew that the price of 100 earth spirit stones was not a high one at all. This was because the was already disseminated to the masses, otherwise even with a million earth spirit stones it would be difficult to buy this book.

　　The whole book was almost 10 centimetres thick, each piece of paper as thin as an insect’s wing. But this was not what shocked Mo Wuji the most; the most shocking thing was that there was a picture of every spiritual herb mentioned, and even the living conditions and main uses of each spiritual herb were detailed down clearly.

　　The only flaw with the book was the lack of pill formulas and any analysis of possible combinations of spiritual herbs. For these aspects, the wordless pill manual was much more superior, just that it only detailed how to refine pills, combinations of spiritual herbs, and some pill formulas. As for introductions to spiritual herbs, it was not as in depth as this book.

　　The was definitely a must have spiritual herb encyclopedia for all pill refiners. Only after reading two pages, Mo Wuji already had a newfound respect for Mo Xue. For a pill refiner to spend the time and leave behind such a momentous work, it was a highly revered act. Moreover, this pill refiner was very generous, with nearly no information being held back. Obtaining this book was as good as obtaining the knowledge a Heavenly Pill Refiner had about spiritual herbs.

　　It was Mo Wuji’s greatest desire to study the book now, but the more pressing issue on hand was opening his meridians. Hence he quickly flipped through the pages to search for what exactly the purple lotus, that he had dug up, was.

　　A mere ten over minutes later, his hand stopped flipping the pages. The picture of a beautiful light red lotus flower greeted him, identical to the one he had harvested. He found the page at last.

　　His eyes landed on the uses section of the spiritual herb instantly, “Purple Jade Toad Lotus, Tier 7 spiritual herb…”

　　Mo Wuji’s heart almost jumped out of his chest upon seeing the term Tier 7 spiritual herb. Although he was able to obtain some Tier 6 spiritual herbs, and Tier 7 spiritual herbs were only a tier away from Tier 6 spiritual herbs, but in reality there existed a vast gap between the two. Even 10,000 stalks of Tier 6 spiritual herbs might not be enough to trade for a proper Tier 7 spiritual herb.

　　An example of a Tier 7 spiritual herb would be the Flower of the True Gods. Who didn’t know how valuable it was? It was a treasure that gave Earth Realm Nihility God Stage cultivators a chance to step into the Heavenly Realm Real God Stage. Out of all the people that entered the Five Elements Desolate Domain, most of them were gunning for the flower.

　　“…The Purple Jade Toad Lotus’ flower is light red in colour, its stem gives off a slight fragrance which makes people feel mentally refreshed and more energetic. The Lotus is purple, lotus strips green, and its most valuable parts are the lotus flower and lotus strips. The greatest effect of this spiritual herb is that it can open and repair spirit channels, and is one of the best spiritual herbs for targeting spirit channels…”

　　His hands slowly curled into a fist. It turned out that his guess was spot on; the Purple Jade Toad Lotus was the best spiritual herb for meridians.

　　After flipping through this page on Purple Jade Toad Lotus, he carried on looking, this time spending less time than he did previously, before stopping at the page with a gem-like red crystal on it.

　　This was exactly the object that he obtained from the bottom of the ice mountain, and the only thing he knew was that it had some relationship with firestones. Initially he was still a little afraid that the would not have information on this type of crystal, but unexpectedly, he found it, and not only that, its write up was very detailed too.

　　“Fire Jade, the purest of all fire affinity spiritual objects, can be found at the mouth of volcanos or within earth fires. It appears transparent and shiny, with a pure red colour. There are many grades of Fire Jade, and high grade Fire Jade can be used to cultivate firestones…”

　　So what he had was actually a piece of Fire Jade, and at the same time the mystery behind why where were so many firestones surrounding the Fire Jade was solved. Those were the firestones that it cultivated. Since this piece could perform such an act, its grade must be quite high.

　　“…Normally Fire Jades that can cultivate firestones or are gold in colour, are Tier 7 and above. This sort of spiritual objects are very rare, and can help a cultivator enhance his potential…”

　　Another Tier 7 spiritual object. Closing the , Mo Wuji tried to force himself to calm down, before taking out a pill furnace, drug refining equipment , and ingredients for the new channel opening solution.

　　With his current level in Pill Dao, purifying the rest of the ingredients shouldn’t be a problem. Only for the Purple Jade Toad Lotus and Fire Jade was he slightly worried.

　　According to Mo Xue’s write up, the piece of Fire Jade in his possession was a Tier 7 spiritual object. At his current level of cultivation, whether he could purify a Tier 7 spiritual ingredient was the most crucial part.

　　Regardless of the result, he had to try it out.

　　Mo Wuji started with purifying the Purple Jade Toad Lotus strips, and as a precaution, this time he used a yellow firestone.

　　A blazing flame rose up, following which the pill furnace was cleaned multiple times, before he carefully placed a piece of green Purple Jade Toad Lotus strip inside. The green lotus strip melted easily, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief, but as his pill techniques landed on the newly melted green lotus strip, wild spiritual energy was unleashed and could not be put under control.

　　Pill technique after pill technique was throws out fervently by Mo Wuji, as both his hands moved at a speed that even he could not follow anymore, in an attempt to suppress the wild spiritual energy. However, the spiritual energy started to break down, and within half an incense’s time, a poof rang out from the furnace, followed by a faint burnt smell.

　　Mo Wuji fell to the ground, pale as a sheet.

　　With the fast pace of using pill techniques, it had drained his elemental energy and spiritual will greatly. Even though it only lasted for half an incense’s time, his hands were already trembling uncontrollably.

　　After a good half day’s rest, only did Mo Wuji begin to clean up the pill furnace begrudgingly. One piece of precious Purple Jade Toad Lotus had been ruined, but that was secondary to the fact that he could not make a new batch of channel opening solution.

　　No way, not being able to produce channel opening solution meant that he could not cultivate further. If he could not cultivate, then would he just wait for death there? Yan’Er had Granny Linglong to take after her, and did not need him to worry about her anymore, but he could not just die here. Why did he choose District D which had sparse spiritual energy? Wasn’t it to open new meridians?

　　WIthin the shortest amount of time, Mo Wuji was determined to succeed. He would make another trip to Heaven Seeking City, in order to buy a green firestone.

　　Although a yellow firestone could melt the Purple Jade Toad Lotus strip, but to use it to purify Tier 7 spiritual ingredients was still a little inadequate. The flame’s grade was too low, and as a result, it did not allow him to control the explosion of spiritual energy from the Purple Jade Toad Lotus.

　　If it were something else, perhaps he would have gone to ask for Granny Linglong’s help in purifying. However, both the Purple Jade Toad Lotus and Fire Jade were too sensitive, and once they were purified, he had to refine the solution immediately, which definitely could not be done by someone else other than himself. As for the sect’s pill refining rooms, even if he could borrow one as an outer disciple, he wouldn’t dare to.

　　There would be expert pill refiners all around there, and once the fragrance of his Purple Jade Toad Lotus leaked out, they would immediately notice that he had Tier 7 spiritual herbs.

　　…

　　“Elder!” Seeing Mo Wuji visit Luo Hai Merchant House again after such a short period of time, the shop assistant was elated, hence frantically going forward to greet Mo Wuji. In his heart, a rich king was before him. Wouldn’t one be considered to be rich if he could purchase yellow firestones at a whim?

　　Mo Wuji nodded in response, but as he was about to speak, a rather familiar figure appeared.

　　Dong Lun? He almost exclaimed. However, Mo Wuji soon noticed that this man had some differences from Dong Lun. His eyes were more shady, and he was also a little taller than Dong Lun. From his aura, Mo Wuji could see that this guy was much stronger than himself.

　　Quickly retracting his gaze, Mo Wuji acted as though nothing happened and carried on asking the shop assistant, “I want to buy a green firestone…”

　　Once these words landed on the shop assistant’s ears, he became so excited until he almost bit his own tongue. A green firestone cost 150,000 Earth grade spirit stones, and if he could sell one, he would at least earn over a hundred Earth grade spirit stones.

　　“Yes, yes, please follow me.” The shop assistant even became slightly incoherent, then guiding Mo Wuji to the third floor.

　　“Oh right, there was a man on the first floor with a vicious gaze, who is that?” Mo Wuji casually asked.

　　The shop assistant’s mind was already preoccupied with the 150,000 Earth grade spirit stones worth of business he was about to get, so he did not really take note of what Mo Wuji was saying, and just replied automatically, “That guy’s name is Dong Mingzi. He’s an expert, and since his arrival in Heaven Seeking Palace, it seems like he’s been trying to buy a few things. He’s made a few rounds at the various shops already. Even for our shop, he’s been here a few times already, just that his requests were too weird, hence he probably hasn’t obtained them yet.”

　　So that man indeed had the surname Dong, Mo Wuji was sure that this guy had some relationship with Dong Lun. Many of Dong Lun’s things got blasted to bits by the Ice Burst Talisman. Luckily he did not touch any of Dong Lun’s things, much less even taking any out to sell. This guy was definitely looking for the person that killed Dong Lun as he asked around.

　　Deep inside, Mo Wuji laughed coldly. Killing Mo Wuji was just the start. Once he grew in strength, he would strut into Supreme Sword City and wipe out the whole Dong Clan.

　　…

　　This encounter of Ding Mingzi made Mo Wuji even more desperate to raise his cultivation level. As soon as he completed the purchase of the green firestone, he sprinted back to the outer sect peak. Without strength, it would be a joke to desire revenge at Supreme Sword City.

　　As a mortal without spiritual roots, the only reason he could cultivate was that he had opened a completely separate path for cultivation. Other people opened spirit channels while he opened meridians. Hence in order for him to climb to greater heights in cultivation, he would have to open even more meridians.

　　Back at his house, Mo Wuji brought himself back to tip top condition, then took out a bottle of Earthly Soul Protecting Pill. His current level of cultivation was definitely insufficient to purify the Tier 7 Purple Jade Toad Lotus and Fire Jade. Thankfully he had his own strengths, and while his strength was not up to standard, he possessed spiritual will of a decent level. This was the spiritual will that others would only start cultivating at the Nihility God Stage. On the Lost Continent, how many people could condense their spiritual will at the Channel Opening Stage like him?

　　However, his cultivation was after all much too low, and in the purifying process his spiritual will might not hold out all the way. This was not an issue though, as he had the Earthly Soul Protecting Pill, which was made specially for recovering spiritual will.

　　In order to make the new channel opening solution, Mo Wuji decided to put everything on the line.