Chapter 121: The Flood Dragon Overturns the Waters

As the Gao family mobilized all their connections to conduct a thorough search for the "Corpse Daoist" throughout Qinghe County, Jiang Chen reverted to his true appearance and appeared in an unnamed river valley.

He encountered no obstacles during the process; after all, the Gao family was currently hunting for the evil cultivator known as the Corpse Daoist, not the Sect Master of Taiping, Jiang Chen.

"The raging floods have significantly altered the terrain along both banks, and this valley is a product of those very floods."

With a faint, spectral gleam in his eyes, Jiang Chen scrutinized the unnamed valley under the cover of night.

In the next moment, the intangible illusion shrouding the valley was pierced. Its true face revealed itself to him: the place was thick with gathered yin energy, and beneath the foul silt lay piles of bleached bones. Growing atop this mire were clusters of jet-black, wild-wheat-like spiritual herbs—these were the Malice-Grasping Grass.

"The floods must have washed countless corpses here, eventually undergoing a strange transformation to create this gathering place for malice."

Having seen the true nature of the site, Jiang Chen formed his own hypothesis about its origins. He had learned of its location through soul-searching the mind of Gao Sixing and had rushed here immediately to avoid any complications.

Of course, Gao Sixing had not discovered the place himself; the original discoverer was a rogue cultivator. Unfortunately, that cultivator lacked the necessary knowledge to identify the Malice-Grasping Grass. He was caught by Gao Sixing while picking a single stalk to sell. In the end, the rogue cultivator was silenced, and the site fell into Gao Sixing's hands.

"To monopolize the profits from the Malice-Grasping Grass, Gao Sixing never told anyone about this place. With this intangible illusion in place, ordinary cultivators would never have found it. That rogue cultivator only stumbled upon it by accident."

With these thoughts, Jiang Chen used his Yin-Spirit Eyes to bypass the illusion and stepped into the cursed ground.

"Fifty-six stalks of Malice-Grasping Grass—a truly magnificent harvest. It is more than enough for both practicing spells and refining magical artifacts."

Scanning his surroundings, Jiang Chen condensed his Qi into threads, harvesting all the mature Malice-Grasping Grass and placing them into pre-prepared wooden boxes.

"I will leave the immature ones for now, though I have no idea when I might return. Even though Gao Sixing didn't tell anyone about this place, as a precaution, I should avoid returning here for some time."

With that thought, he wiped away all traces of his presence and turned to leave. Traveling under the cover of night and carefully concealing his trail, Jiang Chen successfully returned to the Taiping Sect after some time.

"There were quite a few unexpected gains this time."

Inside the Serene Heart Cottage, Jiang Chen laid out all his loot and examined it with satisfaction. These items had come from the Daoist of Grey Bones, the Old Man of Black Heart, Gao Sihui, and Gao Sixing.

"Gao Sixing's greatest contribution was organizing the ambush against me, which provided me with a sufficient quantity of Malice-Grasping Grass. His other belongings were few, but that is to be expected of a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Sensing stage."

"As for the Old Man of Black Heart and Gao Sihui, although they were Qi-refining cultivators, they didn't possess much of note—their belongings were quite mediocre. The most valuable item is likely the low-grade magical artifact, the Green Snake Whip, belonging to Gao Sihui. However, as it is a signature item of the Gao family, it cannot see the light of day for some time. It is unsuitable to either sell or use."

"The true surprise actually came from the Daoist of Grey Bones."

Jiang Chen turned his gaze toward three bone-crafted objects: a tiger-leopard battle armor, a bone sword, and a bone bead. The first two were mid-grade magical artifacts; while their quality was not exceptional, they were genuine mid-grade artifacts of significant value.

As for the third item, the bone bead, it was a prototype for a high-grade magical artifact. It was precisely to finish refining this item that the Daoist of Grey Bones had accepted the contract to hunt Jiang Chen down.

"A high-grade magical artifact—a treasure typically used only by cultivators at the Great Completion of Qi-refining. Of course, high-grade artifacts are notoriously difficult to refine; many who reach the Great Completion of Qi-refining still only use mid-grade ones."

Jiang Chen picked up the bone bead, turning it over in his hand and carefully sensing its aura.

The Daoist of Grey Bones had once had a stroke of luck, acquiring a secret method for "Bone-Sacrificing Weaponry," which allowed him to refine artifacts using the bones of various demonic beasts. Although it had many limitations—it could only produce armor and swords, and its power was not outstanding among artifacts of the same tier—the materials were easy to collect, and the refining process was relatively simple.

Because of this, the Daoist of Grey Bones, as a rogue cultivator with no mentor, had been self-taught, succeeding in refining two mid-grade artifacts and creating the prototype for a high-grade one. One must understand that the way of artifact refining is vast and profound; a qualified refiner is not easily trained.

"The Flood-Covering Dragon Armor: a piece of armor refined primarily from the bone of a Tier-2 flood dragon. Once worn, it grants the user the strength of a dragon and enhances all water-based spells. Once fully completed, it will be a high-grade magical artifact. Because of its excellent foundation, if refined with care, it has the potential to become a top-grade artifact, or perhaps even have a slim chance of becoming a spirit tool."

"It is indeed a fine treasure. It is no wonder the Daoist of Grey Bones was willing to risk his life for it, ultimately losing it in the process."

Jiang Chen shook his head, lamenting the fate of the Daoist. It must be said that as a rogue cultivator, the Daoist of Grey Bones had lived quite comfortably thanks to this Bone-Sacrificing technique, never lacking in ordinary cultivation resources. His luck had been good enough to accidentally obtain a Tier-2 dragon bone, but fortune and disaster are intertwined. Had he not obtained that bone or attempted to refine the armor, he might never have accepted Gao Sixing's contract.

"After nearly ten years of refinement by the Daoist, the Flood-Covering Dragon Armor is essentially complete. It only lacks the final cleansing. As long as I use the Malice-Grasping Grass for this final process, I will possess a high-grade magical artifact. That is not a difficult task."

"This Bone-Sacrificing method is truly a unique technique. It is worth studying. Compared to conventional refining methods, this one is more suitable for me—and for the current Taiping Sect. It is, above all, economical and practical."

With his mind made up, Jiang Chen put away his spoils. He began practicing the "Tortoise-Snake Heart-Guarding" technique and focused his full attention on contemplating the Bone-Sacrificing method. If he could truly master this, it would open up a new path of wealth for him. Although he had accumulated some assets, most of them were merely transient wealth.