Stranger Danger

Chapter 1110: Precious Treasures Everywhere

“The Rising Dragon Grass! It’s the Rising Dragon Grass!” Yi Pin exclaimed in surprise.

Legend had it that the Rising Dragon Grass was a type of celestial grass that was created from natural draconic qi. Anyone who consumed it would be able to dodge a heavenly tribulation and become a true dragon immediately. Hence the name.

In less vague terms, the Rising Dragon Grass could be consumed to temper one’s physical body and vigor, create a true dragon destiny, empower oneself with fate, and rise to the heavens like a dragon.

Legend had it that the founder of the You Dynasty had obtained an opportunity when he was young and consumed a Rising Dragon Grass. Empowered by the fate of a true dragon, he pacified the realm, suppressed the evils, and created peace for countless people. Today, everyone knew him as the legendary ruler who grew from a man of humble origins to the founder of a dynasty.

The human world still had Rising Dragon Grass, but it was only two-thirds of a meter tall at most and shaped more like a snake than a dragon. They had nothing on this Rising Dragon Grass be it in terms of height, shape, or the fact that it could manifest the expression of a divine dragon. Given another thirty to fifty years or so, this Rising Dragon Grass could even become sentient and transform into a true dragon.

In conclusion, this Rising Dragon Grass was beyond priceless. One could even say that it was one of a kind.

Yi Pin did not hesitate to make a grab for the Rising Dragon Grass, but to his surprise, his hand passed right through it.

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, Yi Pin tried a couple more times to no avail.

The second the illusion disappeared, the Rising Dragon Grass began withering at a visible rate. In fact, it was completely dead in just the blink of an eye.

“The hell? What happened?”

Yi Pin frowned and grabbed the Rising Dragon Grass again. Then, he tried to pull it upward.

The grass did not move even a little.

“Arise!”

Yi Pin yelled and pulled until his complexion was beet red. It looked like he was employing every ounce of strength he had. Alas, the Rising Dragon Grass did not budge even an inch.

Seeing that his strength was insufficient, Yi Pin coughed awkwardly and beckoned for Ye Qing to come over. “Ahem… why don’t you give it a try, brother?”

Ye Qing obeyed and grabbed the Rising Dragon Grass. As he pulled the plant upward, the soil of nearly the entire mountaintop was lifted into the air. Hidden beneath the soil was none other than the Rising Dragon Grass’ humongous roots.

The roots were as thick as an infant’s arm and as winding as a dragon. Not only that, each root was at least dozens of meters long and spread out in every direction. Without exaggeration, the Rising Dragon Grass’ roots encompassed the entire peak. No wonder Yi Pin was unable to pull it out of the ground.

Something was wrong though. The roots were withered yellow in color and gave off a faint rotten smell.

Yi Pin snapped one of the roots and checked the middle section. It was completely rotten.

Yi Pin then grabbed some of the soil attached to the roots and rubbed them a little. The soil immediately scattered into fine powder.

“No wonder. Not only are the roots rotten, there isn’t a speck of spiritual qi in the soil…”

Yi Pin said disappointedly, “This Rising Dragon Grass is long dead.”

“If the Rising Dragon Grass is long dead, then…”

Suddenly, Yi Pin realized something and turned pale. He immediately dropped the soil he was playing with and flew toward another mountain.

As for Ye Qing, he shook off the soil and rotten roots and put away the grass. Then, he chased after Yi Pin.

Although the Rising Dragon Grass had withered, its stem remained unbelievably tough. It could be used as a forging material.

After Yi Pin landed on another mountaintop, he immediately walked toward a lingzhi.

The lingzhi boasted cyan and red colors and cloud-like rings. It was, in fact, as big as a cloud as well. Wafts of medicinal scent were coming from it.

“The Sky Cloud Lingzhi… It’s the Sky Cloud Lingzhi!”

Yi Pin’s face was red with excitement.

The Sky Cloud Lingzhi was a rare natural spirit plant that could increase one’s lifespan. Shaped like a cloud with cloud-like rings, it gained a new ring every time it aged sixty years. Every ring could increase one’s lifespan by one year as well.

In the outside world, the longest living Sky Cloud Lingzhi was only a thousand years old. It boasted thirty cloud-like rings and so could increase one’s lifespan by thirty years.

This Sky Cloud Lingzhi had over a hundred cloud-like rings on its surface though. This meant that it could increase one’s lifespan by at least a hundred years. An additional one hundred years of lifespan was something no one could ignore, much less an old man like Yi Pin.

Frankly, even Ye Qing was feeling a bit of temptation. He might be a young Great Grandmaster with a high probability of becoming a Sage in the future, meaning that he had at least a couple more centuries to live, but who in the world would complain about having too much lifespan?

Unfortunately, the second Yi Pin’s finger made contact with the Sky Cloud Lingzhi, it immediately crumbled into powder like it was rotten wood or ash.

“No! My Sky Cloud Lingzhi!”

Yi Pin let out a miserable wail, but there was nothing he could do. In a moment, the entire Sky Cloud Lingzhi had crumbled into dust, and the fragrant scent in the air was no more.

Yi Pin looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears left in his body. “My Sky Cloud Lingzhi…”

Ye Qing’s heart was aching too, though of course he wasn’t feeling nearly as sad as Yi Pin. He consoled him, “Why don’t you try collecting the powder and drinking it like tea? Who knows, it might still retain some of its longevity properties!”

“You’re right!”

Yi Pin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately produced a bag from his sleeves. He then gathered every speck of powder and threw them all into the bag.

“......”

Ye Qing opened his mouth as he wondered if he should speak up. He was really just teasing the old man. The vitality and the spiritual qi in the Sky Cloud Lingzhi had disappeared completely. Naturally, it could not possibly increase one’s lifespan even a little.

In the end though, Ye Qing decided against depressing Yi Pin. This stuff was no different grass or wood powder, so it was probably safe to consume.

Probably.

While Yi Pin was busy collecting the powder of the Sky Cloud Lingzhi, Ye Qing released his demonic thought and perceived the surrounding energies.

In his senses, the air was still filled with celestial qi, but it felt incredibly thin. In fact, it wasn’t just this mountain. The celestial qi of this entire world was incredibly thin.

It wasn’t too obvious when he was standing on the clouds just now, but the disparity became unmistakeable once he soared up to the peak. The higher they were, the thinner the celestial qi became.

This probably meant that this world was running out of celestial qi. It would explain why the celestial plants and divine medicine were dead.

If his speculation was true, then the treasures on the other peaks were probably in the same condition.

To verify his speculation, Ye Qing temporarily left Yi Pin behind and flew toward the other peaks.

He was right. He checked several peaks in a row and confirmed that the celestial plants and divine medicine growing on them were all dead.

That wasn’t all. Some of the peaks had Strange Artifacts instead of plants, but they were completely missing their spirituality. In other words, they were no different from ordinary objects.

“How wasteful! How wasteful!”

Yi Pin had caught up to him at a certain point, and the old man could not stop swearing every time they found a ruined treasure. At first, Ye Qing was able to hold in his curses, but when he saw four floating bronze cauldrons with not a speck of energy in them, he finally lost it and started swearing together with Yi Pin.