Chapter One Hundred and One: Azurewood Grove

The time had come for the Carnivorous Flower King to move. The flower king Jiang Yan had been watching had shifted to the very center of the road. As Lu Tiannan’s Watersplit Coldlight Sword passed by, the creature’s immense petals suddenly flew open and clamped down upon the sword’s thin blade.

With a harsh metallic crack, like teeth biting into iron, the sound rang out through the arena. Then everyone saw the great petals open once more, and the purple Watersplit Coldlight Sword, broken into who-knew-how-many pieces, was spat back out.

A stab of pain shot through Lu Tiannan’s heart. His throat turned sweet, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips. His spiritual artifact had been bound to his very heart veins, and its destruction had injured them.

Another metallic crunch sounded in the arena as the carnivorous flower bit down again.

White Senior Brother’s Golden Flow Greatsword had been knocked aside by Tang Wan, its direction skewed. In midair, it happened to reach the front of the flower king, only to be bitten cleanly around the middle. Yet this time, the flower king was not so fortunate as before.

The Golden Flow Greatsword was a top-tier rank-one spiritual artifact. In quality, it surpassed Lu Tiannan’s Watersplit Coldlight Sword by who knew how many times, and it was far superior even to the Golden Flow swords carried by the other disciples of the Golden Flame Sect. The flower king was only an upper-tier rank-one demon; how could it possibly bite through a spiritual artifact of the same rank?

A crack seemed to ring in everyone’s ears, as though teeth themselves had been shattered. Startled, Tang Wan turned back and saw a carnivorous flower king, about the height of two men, suddenly leap into the air, its roots still wrapped in thick clumps of soil. The flower king was flying through the sky.

For a moment, everyone fell silent. Aside from Jiang Yan, who was still sprinting forward, all of them stared blankly at the flower king suspended in midair, its roots caked with earth.

With a sharp whistle, the Golden Flow Greatsword was flung free by the flower king, turning into a streak of golden light that shot straight toward White Senior Brother and buried itself deep in the ground before him.

With a thunderous crash, the flower king, still carrying the soil on its roots, struck the earth. The impact shook the heavens, and the ground trembled along with it.

Jiang Yan sent his spiritual sense outward to probe from afar, then changed form in a blur and turned into a streak of light, carrying Tang Wan on his back as they vanished into the depths of the flower king’s highland.

...

A flash of gold cut through the air, and Jiang Yan came to rest before a woodland filled with crisp, emerald trees.

Reluctantly releasing the hand that had been supporting Tang Wan from behind, Jiang Yan said softly to the girl clinging to his neck, "Junior Sister, we have reached the Azurewood Grove."

"We’re here?" Tang Wan’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum. She let go of Jiang Yan’s neck and slowly stood on the ground, gazing at the green, shadowed forest. "At last I can see green trees, Senior Brother. Are there no more carnivorous flowers here?"

Jiang Yan took several steps forward into the woodland and pointed at a herb on the ground. "There are many spiritual medicines here, but no carnivorous flowers."

Tang Wan cried out in delight. She bent down and carefully dug up the herb called West Wind Drop, then placed the soil-wrapped roots into the treasure pouch at her waist. She intended to transplant it into the sect’s spiritual fields once they returned, so that the sect would have sufficient medicinal materials for refining pills.

Seeing that Tang Wan had finally finished with the West Wind Drop and was now reaching for a Dragon Claw Locust Tree nearby, Jiang Yan stepped ahead and said, "Junior Sister, there are still plenty of spiritual medicines here. If you try to dig up every one of them, we won’t need to go looking for the Azurewood Hook Tree."

Tang Wan cast a regretful glance at the Dragon Claw Locust Tree on the ground, then hurried a few steps to catch up with Jiang Yan, saying with obvious reluctance, "Senior Brother, there are so many spiritual medicines here. If I dig up a few more, I won’t have to worry about materials for pill refining in the future."

Jiang Yan suddenly reached out and pinched her fair nose. "Enough, girl. Business comes first. Time is running short. We only have one hour left. If we cannot reach the place where the Azurewood Hook Tree grows and obtain it, I’m afraid we will have no way to return to Linqing Prefecture."

"Ah!" Tang Wan exclaimed in surprise, stuck out her little tongue, and then followed behind Jiang Yan as they hastened toward the place where the Azurewood Hook Tree grew.

The Azurewood Grove was the general name for an unbroken stretch of forestland, so named because it could produce the third-rank treasure, the Azurewood Hook Tree.

Before this demon-hunting expedition, although the various sects had not known as Jiang Yan did that they would encounter the Azurewood Grove, the Hall of Wonders had sold a compendium of curiosities containing detailed information about it. Nearly every sect master possessed a copy. Thus, aside from Jiang Yan, many sects knew that spiritual medicines were everywhere within the Azurewood Grove.

By the time the two reached the grove, some sects were already searching the forest for medicinal materials.

However, it was not that these sects had moved quickly and arrived before Jiang Yan. Rather, once the Demon-Hunting Gate opened, these minor first-rank sects had been teleported first to this region and thus entered the Azurewood Grove. Of course, this arrangement was meant to ensure that the smaller sects could obtain enough benefits from the hunt to survive and continue their line.

Still, the first-rank sect Cold Moon Mountain was an exception. It had been accidentally teleported to Black Bear Valley instead. Such accidents happened every year; Cold Moon Mountain was merely this year’s unlucky victim.

"Sect Master, here is a spiritual herb I do not recognize. Come identify it for me," said a disciple of the first-rank sect Crescent Moon Sect.

"Idiot, that’s wild greens, not some spiritual herb," roared the Crescent Moon Sect’s sect master, Li Ru, in embarrassment and anger.

"Sect Master, over there, a Dragon Claw Locust Tree." The disciple hastily changed the subject.

The sect master of Crescent Moon Sect turned his head, saw the Dragon Claw Locust Tree, and abandoned his scolding. He bent down to dig it up. Seeing that the disciple was still standing there, Li Ru barked, "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and keep searching. When we want to return to Linqing Prefecture later, we’ll have to rely on these spiritual medicines to trade with those second-rank sects for beast cores."

"Sect Master, a second-rank sect," the disciple said, pointing into the distance.

With his backside thrust high in the air, the sect master carefully dug up the Dragon Claw Locust Tree. Hearing the disciple, he glanced back. Seeing that the boy was still standing there, he nearly exploded with rage. "What nonsense about a second-rank sect? They’re still rushing this way and probably don’t even know about the Azurewood Grove yet. Hurry up and dig up the spiritual medicines for me!"

"But the second-rank sect..." The disciple pointed into the distance, trying to say something, only for his sect master to cut him off again.

"You brat, are you asking for a beating? Hurry and dig up the spiritual medicines. When the second-rank sect arrives, we need to exchange for a beast core right away. This concerns life and death, so move faster!" the sect master of Crescent Moon Sect shouted furiously at his disciple, then lowered his head once more to dig at the Dragon Claw Locust Tree.

"I wonder how you plan to trade spiritual medicines for beast cores?" A gentle voice suddenly came from behind them.

"We don’t trade, no..." The Crescent Moon Sect master was still raging as he impatiently raised his head, but once he clearly saw Jiang Yan’s clothing, he sprang up from the ground at once.

"P-predecessor, you want to exchange for spiritual medicines? You decide. As long as you give me one beast core, however many spiritual medicines you want, if I have them, I’ll trade them all to you." The sect master stammered, though his heart was already roiling with shock.

Dressed like this, of this stature, the two youths should be the second-rank sect master and his companion who had knocked at the gate of the Grand Life Temple that night, only for the abbot to personally come out to receive them. He had not expected them to be so fast. With an hour still left before the Demon-Hunting Gate dispersed, they were already here. One had to know that in past demon hunts, second-rank sects generally only reached the teleportation region of first-rank sects within the last half hour.

Tang Wan’s delicate face was full of joy. Her clear eyes curved into crescents, and beneath the veil her lips lifted into a gentle smile. In her heart she thought quietly, Senior Brother is still willing to trade for spiritual medicines for my sake.

Postscript: The recommendation support is somewhat lacking. I had been rather disheartened and did not really want to post this chapter. But seeing those recommendations, and seeing Brother Keleiyu’s tip, I decided to post it after all. After all, there are still some readers who are following Huashan and hoping for Huashan’s strength. For Huashan’s strength, I earnestly ask for your recommendation votes. To those who have already given them, are giving them now, and will soon give them, Huashan’s strength depends on you.