Nine Qi Soul Purifying Flower

Trails of blood stained the white field of snow. A new sensation coursed through Mu Yu's body as he ran his hand along the wood spirit sword.

"Wait… the 'nine qi soul purifying flower' Shi Minghui took is actually a nine yin flower?"

"Correct. The two fools actually thought they procured the nine qi soul purifying flower. When the wood spirit and I fused, I received an influx of data on all plants in the world. That's how I can tell."

Nine yin flowers always accompanied nine qi soul purifying flowers in the latter's vicinity. Additionally, the former was easy to mistake for the latter. The sole difference was nine yin flower's leaves had a black line on them, while the latter was void of them. Shi Minghui pointed out the black line, also pointing out his ignorance in the process. Nine yin flowers existed to protect nine qi soul purifying flowers. Shi Minghui's mix up displayed the decoy function nine yin flowers served. Nine yin flowers carried an undetectable poison that would ruin one's meridians and numb their body once crushed. An hour later, the victim would perish.

"Where's the nine qi soul purifying flower, then?" Xiaoshuai asked.

"I wish I knew. We've already searched this entire mountain." Mu Yu studied his map again. He clapped and said, "I know where we went wrong. This isn't the tallest peak!"

"What do you mean? We confirmed this is the highest peak from below before we came up here. Look, we can see all the other peaks from here."

"That proves our judgement missed the target. The map Gramps drew counted the peaks from left to right. The first mountain is actually the tallest. Since it collapsed for whatever reason, this mountain has become the tallest mountain. I imagine Shi Minghui also made the same mistake. That would be why he set the trap here."

"If it has collapsed, the flower wouldn't be buried in the ground, would it? We're not going to dig a metre into the ground, are we?"

"I doubt the flower survived if the peak was destroyed. Nine qi soul purifying flower is a fan of blistering-cold weather. It'd wither once the temperature is too high. There used to be two nine qi soul purifying flowers. Gramps and Shi Dengtian plucked one and left the infantile one behind. Let's go search those small hills."

After searching high and low, Mu Yu was unable to find any signs of the nine qi soul purifying flower, dampening his hope. Even so, he clung to hope and continued to deliberate other potential locations. The wood spirit responded to his silent plea and flew into the sky. It seemed that joining with the wood spirit strengthened their link, allowing them to read the thoughts of one another.

"What's its deal? Can't it give a heads up before running off?" whined Xiaoshuai, following Mu Yu.

They flew up higher than the peak they were on before. The change in altitude exposed them to lower temperatures and thinner air. Not even spiritual energy could excrete the cold from Mu Yu's body. Xiaoshuai, shivering, hid inside Mu Yu's shirt. After ascending dozens of kilometres, they saw an ice bridge stretching over the horizon. Dead centre of the bridge was none other than the nine qi soul purifying flower still in perfect shape!

Having closed in, Mu Yu sensed something was amiss about the Spirit Collection Formation disguised as a bridge and used to seal the spiritual qi oozing from the nine qi soul purifying flower. Whoever the formation master was, they utilised cold qi as the foundation of the formation. There was only one man who could imagine creating a bridge out of thin air that high in the sky – Feng Haochen.

"Hey, I found a few characters," informed Xiaoshuai.

The text read, "This is a precious item. I accidentally crashed the mountain down. Therefore, I built this bridge to replace the flower's home. May the fortunate have it – Illusionary Clear Rain."

The handwriting had been exposed to the ravages of time.

Mu Yu:Who in the world is Illusionary Clear Rain? They can't be a fiend based on the timing of this. I'm guessing the mountain they crashed down was the tallest mountain. Crazy to think a human was here and crashed that gigantic mountain down. I can't imagine any Primordial Infant Realm cultivator pulling that off. I'm really starting to question if this world is merely a desolate world where fiends roam.

"Hey, Xiaoshuai, do you know who Illusionary Clear Rain is? You claimed you could knock the mountain over, didn't you?"

"Sounds familiar. Don't you reckon their name resembles the white beard old man?"

"White beard old man? My Shifu? Sword Shadow Dust Gale and Illusionary Clear Rain. Oh, hey, they both have the character for shadow in their name and share some similar themes. Could they be associated somehow?"

"Beats me. I think he mentioned the name before, but I don't remember now. Who cares? Anyway, let's just take the flower and go. It's freezing up here."

"Good point."

The moment Mu Yu pulled out the flower, small ripples shook the air. He stored it in a wooden container Ku Mu gave him. Ku Mu cast Mystic Ice Formation on the container so that it could preserve the flower. The bridge crumbled and returned to the atmosphere as air once it had fulfilled its duty.

Mu Yu's next target was to find the dark herb. In respect to escaping Second Heaven, well, that was on the back burner for the meantime. There were still plenty of unexplainable things. Nevertheless, at least, he had finally obtained the nine qi soul purifying flower.