Chapter 147: Return to the Spirit Herb Valley

Jiang Yan walked lightly through the Spirit Herb Valley. Having not visited in over a year, he found the place entirely unchanged: the man-sized Venus flytraps, the chubby brown bears, the cunning and suspicious spotted leopards, and the swift wind wolves all remained as he left them.

However, Jiang Yan felt a twinge of annoyance. Along his path, he had discovered quite a few carcasses of spotted leopards—some sliced in half, some decapitated, others with their limbs severed. In total, he had come across over a dozen of these beasts left in a gruesome state.

The only ones with free access to the Spirit Herb Valley were the disciples of the Huashan Sect. To hone their combat prowess, Jiang Yan had specifically designated this place as a trial ground. Over the past year, the disciples had grown rapidly, with those at the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining becoming a common sight.

Yet, while their strength had increased, their character had declined significantly. Killing the leopards for their beast cores was one thing, but why discard the carcasses everywhere? This was a trial ground intended for future generations of Huashan disciples to improve their skills; if the leopards were to develop a fear of humans, what would become of the trials? Jiang Yan resolved to establish strict new rules upon his return.

"Big Brother, wait for Ying'er! I haven't had enough fun yet!" The exquisitely beautiful little girl, Yun Ying, came hopping along. Behind her, two spirit beasts—one black and one white—bounded joyfully, chasing their young master like the wind.

"Awoo..."

A muffled beast roar suddenly erupted from the grass ahead of Yun Ying. The bushes shook, and a spotted leopard lunged out like a streak of yellow light, soaring high into the air and diving straight toward the running girl.

"Ah!"

Startled, Yun Ying stopped abruptly, her fair face beaded with sweat and filled with fear as she stared at the leopard.

"Roar!"

The howl of the Sky-Barking Hound sounded just in time from behind her. A sphere of cyan wind essence shot past Yun Ying, colliding head-on with the airborne leopard.

"Awoo!"

A shrill, miserable screech echoed through the air. The leopard was sent flying backward faster than it had lunged, crashing through several trees before landing limply on the ground. Struck by the sonic attack of a second-grade Sky-Barking Hound, the beast would likely never rise again.

"Woof, woof!"

The hound ran in front of Yun Ying, barking excitedly as if asking for a reward. Its tail wagged like a broom, and its bright eyes were fixed longingly on the small pouch slung across Yun Ying's shoulder, circling her legs repeatedly.

"Phew..."

Yun Ying patted her small chest and let out a long breath. She glanced at the tail-wagging hound with appreciation and praised it happily, "Little White is amazing!" With a wave of her hand, she chased after Jiang Yan again.

"Woo-woo..." Seeing Yun Ying run off, the hound drooped its head in disappointment. Why didn't its little master give it a spirit beast pill this time? It had been so long since it had a treat...

The Azure Wood Grove remained as it always had—towering trees and dense spirit herbs. However, amidst the herbs, there were many chaotic footprints, and the trees bore numerous carvings of swords and blades, along with various inscriptions:

"Huashan disciples visited here."
"Yan Feng of Huashan visited here."
"Lin Ke of Huashan leaves this memento."

Jiang Yan rubbed his temples. These disciples had a powerful talent for mimicry; he had only offhandedly mentioned leaving a "visited here" mark when they first entered the valley, never expecting them to take it so literally.

Floating in the air, Yun Ying noticed Jiang Yan stopping before these carvings and asked curiously, "Big Brother, where are we going? You've already walked through almost the whole place."

Jiang Yan turned his path, rounding the trees marked with the disciples' names, and continued forward. "Ying'er, do you remember those Azure Wood Beasts?"

Hearing this, Yun Ying became instantly interested. She flew above Jiang Yan, wrapped her arms around his head, landed on his back, and clutched his neck tightly, giggling. "Of course I remember! Big Brother, you left them here, but I've been here dozens of times and never ran into them once."

Jiang Yan reached back to steady her. "I'm taking you to find them, and while I'm at it, I'll see if the Azure Origin Wood has sprouted an Azure Hook Wood for me."

...

Inside the Langya Heaven, Jiang Yan stood before the Azure Origin Wood, looking at a tiny sprout, and sighed helplessly. "Spirit treasures are truly not so easily cultivated."

A year ago, Jiang Yan had placed the Azure Origin Wood in the Spirit Herb Valley and stationed seven Azure Wood Beasts to guard it, hoping it would naturally produce an Azure Hook Wood. He had dreamed of striking it rich, but after a year, while a hook wood had indeed sprouted, it was far too small.

"Giggle..."
"Maa-maa..."
"Woof, woof..."

Yun Ying was playing happily with the Azure Wood Beasts, while the Sky-Barking Hound and the Soul-Howling Hound rolled around on the ground like two balls, chasing the wood beasts.

Since the Azure Hook Wood was still small, Jiang Yan abandoned the idea of moving the origin wood into his spirit fields. He picked up Yun Ying, who was having a great time, and prepared to leave the Langya Heaven. Using the Psychic Pact, he commanded the wood beasts to continue their vigil before exiting and heading toward the location of the Realm Gate.

His primary purpose for entering the valley this time was to resolve the instability of the spatial channel between the Realm Gate and the Sword Token. Although the path was stable, the unique properties of the Sword Token meant the connection was severed whenever the Huashan Great Array was active. Several disciples had perished after entering the Realm Gate only to find the connection to the Sword Token cut off. To ensure a lasting link between Huashan and the Yunlan Demon Realm, Jiang Yan had spent much time forging a new Realm Gate.

His plan was to link this new gate with the one in the valley and install it at Huashan. This would create a new starry channel, ensuring that Huashan disciples could traverse to the trial grounds without being affected by the protective array.

As Jiang Yan emerged from the Azure Wood Grove, he saw a group of Huashan disciples lined up neatly.

"Greetings, Sect Master! Greetings, Uncle-Master Ying!" The resonant chorus of voices echoed through the valley, startling the birds and beasts.

"Why haven't you returned to Huashan?" Jiang Yan asked with curiosity. He spotted a female disciple in the front, Yin Ling'er, and pointed to her.

Yin Ling'er's face flushed red, her heart filled with pleasant surprise—the Sect Master remembered her name!

"Reporting to the Sect Master, we were preparing to return when we received a flying sword message from the Senior Brother. It said the protective array would be activated an hour early today, so we should wait before entering the Realm Gate. When we heard the Sky-Barking Hound, Brother Wen guessed it was you, so we lined up to welcome you."

Despite her nervousness, Yin Ling'er answered clearly. Jiang Yan glanced at the disciple identified as Brother Wen. He was impressed; the boy had a sharp ear for the hound's bark. He made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Still, he wondered what Yan Feng and the others were tinkering with to trigger the protective array early again.

After destroying the Heavenly Mountain a year ago, Jiang Yan had taken in the rune-master apprentices who knelt at the mountain gate and taught them the "God-Refining Chapter." They had not disappointed him; in just one year, they had all advanced to first-grade rune-masters. In terms of the number of rune-masters, Huashan could now rival even the Tiannan Sword Sect.

Jiang Yan gestured for the disciples to step back. Once they had cleared a space, he stretched out his palm and rubbed the sect master ring on his finger.

"Boom..."

A cloud of dust rose, nearly obscuring the vision of those present. When it settled, a massive white jade memorial arch stood beside the Realm Gate.

The character for "Wood" on Jiang Yan's forehead glowed, and his consciousness surged out, rushing toward the blank plaque atop the gate.

"Hum..."

The plaque emitted a blinding white light. Startled cries arose from behind; some disciples had been dazzled and injured. Jiang Yan frowned, his consciousness rapidly enveloping the plaque to suppress the rune array within, compressing the light into the stone to prevent further harm. Since he had forged the gate himself, he knew its structure well and could suppress the array without damaging it.

"Phew..."

Jiang Yan took a long breath, guiding his consciousness along the internal channels of the gate.

Connecting the two gates was normally simple—placing them together and imprinting a specific signature on the plaques to allow a rune-master to navigate the endless starry void. However, because the first gate was already linked to the Sword Token, they could not simply rely on the natural attraction between the two gates. Jiang Yan had to use his consciousness to leave a special mark through the existing array.

Once he returned to Huashan and installed the new gate, he would sever the link between the Sword Token and the old gate, then re-establish the connection through the void. From then on, disciples could travel directly to the valley via the Huashan gate without being hindered by the protective array.

"Hum..."

The blank Realm Gate began to vibrate with a soft white glow...