Chapter 122: The True Strength of Waveglide Town (Part One)

Could it be that I am truly this unlucky? I killed three direct disciples of the Langya Merchant Association in Lingbo Town, only to gain nothing at all? If I had known this would happen, I might as well not have killed them.

Jiang Feng was secretly lamenting his misfortune when something extremely small on the bodies of the three men suddenly caught his eye. Each wore a small brocade pouch beneath his clothes.

Every pouch was about the size of a palm, decorated in black and white with embroidered symbols of two intertwined fish representing yin and yang. A deep, obscure fluctuation of nether power emanated from them. They appeared to be rather fine treasures.

“Treasure Pouches! The Treasure Pouches worn by disciples of the Langya Merchant Association in Lingbo Town.” Seeing the three palm-sized pouches embroidered with yin-yang fish, Jue could not help exclaiming, “Three thousand years ago, the people of the Eastern Nether said they would equip their disciples with Treasure Pouches. Unfortunately, without a material called Void Crystal, they were impossible to refine. Who would have thought that, three thousand years later, they would finally succeed? These Treasure Pouches contain a certain amount of space. Though they are nowhere near as impressive as the Jiangshan Bottle, they are still magical treasures that contain their own miniature voids. They are not Dao artifacts and possess no other functions; they can only store objects.”

“So all three men’s pills and treasures are inside these pouches?” Jiang Feng laughed heartily as he opened them one by one.

“The Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town truly has immense wealth. They even possess things like Treasure Pouches. From now on, gathering herbs outside will no longer involve the trouble of carrying everything by hand. This will save us a great deal of inconvenience.”

As Jiang Feng opened the Treasure Pouches, he sighed with admiration, yet his heart was filled with anticipation. The three pouches were not easy to open. Countless fine strands of magical power were intricately wound around them. Jiang Feng was certain that if he forced them open, the pouches would be destroyed immediately, and everything inside would be crushed into powder when the space within collapsed.

The force produced by the collapse of space was astonishingly powerful. Apart from Dao artifacts, even an ultimate-grade treasure such as the Five Hells King Cauldron would be destroyed.

Jiang Feng had learned this clearly from Jue, although his current cultivation was still far from allowing him to come into contact with the transformations of space.

Space and time were mutable and unpredictable laws of Heaven and Earth. Those in the Void Nether Realm could not touch them; even those in the True Nether Realm could not. Only experts above the Empty Nether Realm could begin to comprehend their mysteries.

Jiang Feng had no need to destroy the Treasure Pouches by force, however. He possessed Nether Soul energy, a form of true energy specially suited to invading various kinds of magical power and washing away spiritual imprints. With a thought, he drew up some Nether Soul energy and poured it over the pouches. Hissing sounds immediately arose, and all three pouches opened at once.

Jiang Feng hurriedly swept through them with his consciousness.

“Hmm? This space is not very large.”

The first Treasure Pouch he examined had been taken from Lei Peng. Of the three direct disciples, Lei Peng possessed the strongest magical power and the highest cultivation. He should naturally have more magical treasures than the others, so Jiang Feng began by searching his pouch.

His consciousness entered the pouch. The space within was not large—smaller even than the White Emperor Glazed Cauldron. It was roughly the size of a tiny stable, large enough for perhaps five or six horses. Even placing a Scarlet-Eyed Blackwater Serpent inside would likely be somewhat cramped.

Still, such a space was sufficient for storing important items.

The first things to catch his eye were two enormous gourds, each as tall as a person. One had yellow skin, the other green. They were not cast from bronze or iron but made of wood, as though they had grown directly from gourd vines. Although no gourds of such immense size existed in the mortal world, Jiang Feng was not surprised in the slightest. In the righteous cultivation world, nothing was impossible.

There was no need to inspect them closely. They must surely be used to store medicinal pills.

“I wonder what sort of pills the disciples of the Langya Merchant Association take?”

As Jiang Feng thought this, he sent out his true energy and drew something from the yellow gourd.

Only then did he discover that the gourd contained water rather than pills. A single droplet was drawn out. It displayed six colors that constantly shifted and flowed, while a fierce, intensely masculine force radiated from it. When Jiang Feng’s Wood Emperor true energy made the slightest contact with the droplet, that masculine force merged into it. He immediately felt his magical power change. His true energy became more nimble and ethereal, obeying his commands with greater ease, and he seemed to have drawn several steps closer to cultivating Daoist nether power.

“What kind of sacred water is this? It can actually temper true energy and strengthen magical power?”

Jiang Feng instantly understood that this was no ordinary water.

“This is Six-Yang Sacred Water.”

Yan’s consciousness also entered the Treasure Pouch. Upon seeing the yellow gourd of sacred water, he immediately explained, though a trace of regret could be heard in his voice.

“Six-Yang Sacred Water? Is it pure-yang water? If you drank it, could it increase your magical power and restore some of your former strength?”

Jiang Feng’s heart stirred.

Yan shook his head and sighed. “What a pity, what a pity. This sacred water contains six kinds of yang energy, not nine. There are nine kinds of spiritual energy in Heaven and Earth, leaked from that spacetime known as the Immortal Realm. Once one reaches the True Nether Realm, one can collect these nine kinds of spiritual energy and transform them into pure water. That is known as Nine-Yang Sacred Water.

“Anyone who reaches the True Nether Realm no longer needs to consume food from the mortal world. Instead, they draw in the spiritual energy leaked from the Immortal Realm and nourish themselves with their own magical power. That is why their nether arts become vast and their power boundless. Any magical treasure refined with Nine-Yang Sacred Water becomes pure yang, its substance utterly pristine and its power immense.

“Even if I spent several decades recovering, I could become an expert of the True Nether Realm again. Therefore, no matter what else I ate, it would not increase my magical power. I would have to consume a pure-yang treasure—in other words, absorb the Nine-Yang Sacred Water contained within it.”

“Experts of the True Nether Realm must absorb spiritual energy leaked from the Immortal Realm in order to increase their magical power and advance their cultivation?” Jiang Feng asked, gaining a deeper understanding of the realm.

“Exactly. One of the most important characteristics of the True Nether Realm is comprehending the Gate of the Immortal Realm. When one’s cultivation of nether arts reaches the ninth stage, the final point of defying Heaven and changing one’s fate, comprehending the Gate of the Immortal Realm allows one to enter the True Nether Realm.

“Once one reaches the tenth stage of the True Nether Realm, one becomes an immortal and ascends into the mysterious spacetime of the Immortal Realm. After entering the True Nether Realm, ordinary medicinal pills are of little use. It is like an expert of the Nether Arts Secret Realm eating ordinary rice and meat. They contain too many impurities. What benefit could they possibly provide?”

“Then this Six-Yang Sacred Water is useless to you?” Jiang Feng asked regretfully. The stronger Yan became, the safer Jiang Feng would be. This artifact spirit grew vastly more formidable with every rise in cultivation. At the same level of true energy, Yan could defeat Jiang Feng with ease; his experience alone was overwhelming.

Moreover, as Yan’s strength increased, the many wonders of the Jiangshan Bottle would truly be unlocked, allowing it to become a genuine Dao artifact. At present, however, it was merely a tool for storing objects. It offered little assistance in battle and was inferior even to the White Emperor Glazed Cauldron.

“It is useless to me, but extremely useful to you. It can help you temper your true energy, strengthen your physique, and even refine and transform certain treasures. That reminds me—take the fragment of the sacred tree from the Immortal Realm that you obtained and soak it in this Six-Yang Sacred Water. See whether anything comes of it.

“Also, if Duan Xingyun refines some of this Six-Yang Sacred Water, his Star-Sand Nether Power may advance another step. That child appears to possess the bloodline of the stars. He may be a Starborn.”

“A Starborn?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Xuan Xingzi is a natural deity, formed from the origin energy of the stars. Since Duan Xingyun is his disciple, he may have been nurtured from childhood on the power of the stars. That is why he is called Starborn. His constitution is somewhat inferior to true stellar origin energy, but he is exceptionally attuned to the power of the stars.”

Yan paid no further attention to the Six-Yang Sacred Water and opened the other, green-skinned gourd.

This gourd truly contained medicinal pills. Each was about the size of a longan, sky-blue and translucent. At the center of every pill, an illusory infant seemed to be seated.

“What superb pills! These are genuine medicinal pills—the Nether Infant Pills of the Langya Merchant Association in Lingbo Town. Only pills like these can truly be called top-grade. They are far superior to Essence Pills, Grain-Repelling Pills, and Life-Extending Golden Pills.

“Every sect possesses medicinal pills for preserving life and nourishing the body, but the Langya Merchant Association’s Nether Infant Pills are unrivaled. There are a full thousand pills in this gourd. From now on, you should take these pills yourself; they will greatly benefit your cultivation. The rest can be bestowed upon your disciples to win their loyalty, or used to feed the asuras.”

Yan praised the Nether Infant Pills without end. It was clear that the Blood Pills and Grand Azure Pills of the Yellow Springs Sect were both inferior to them as life-nourishing medicines.

“The Star-Gathering Dharma Pills of the Sect of Myriad Stars are also extraordinarily wondrous. They are no worse than these Nether Infant Pills,” Jiang Feng said.

“The Star-Gathering Dharma Pills are not life-nourishing medicines but dharma pills. Such pills are extremely difficult to refine. It seems I must teach you something about pill refinement.

“Medicinal pills are generally divided into five grades: human, spirit, earth, heaven, and immortal. Each grade is further divided into four ranks: inferior, moderate, superior, and ultimate.

“Ordinary pills for consumption are human-grade pills, such as Essence Pills, Life-Extending Pills, and Grain-Repelling Pills. The Nether Infant Pills, however, are ultimate-grade human pills, while Grain-Repelling Pills are inferior-grade.

“Those pills commonly consumed to nourish the body are called human pills. The Star-Gathering Dharma Pills, on the other hand, are spirit pills, a level higher than human pills. They are extremely difficult to refine and possess exceedingly high quality.”

Jiang Feng gradually understood. “Then what grade are the Yin-Yang Longevity Pills and the Life-Extending Golden Pills?”

“They are heaven-grade pills. They can break through bottlenecks, increase one’s lifespan, temper the physical body, and strengthen magical power. They possess every benefit. Heaven-grade pills are extraordinarily precious. Refining a single pill often takes a hundred years, and only experts of the True Nether Realm can afford to spend so much time.”

“There is so much knowledge involved in medicinal pills, and the classifications are so detailed? No wonder the two life-nourishing pills of the Langya Merchant Association in Nine-Cliff Town—the Grain-Repelling Pill and the Essence Pill—differ in effectiveness, with the Grain-Repelling Pill inferior to the Essence Pill. It seems the Essence Pill must be a moderate-grade human pill.

“The books I have read never explained matters so precisely. They merely listed various pill formulas, the properties of the medicinal ingredients, the proper control of the refining flame, and the different techniques.”

“Once you reach the True Nether Realm and can truly refine ultimate-grade nether artifacts and all kinds of medicinal pills, the elders of the Jiang family—or perhaps your grandfather—will certainly teach you these specific systems of classification.”

“What kind of pill is the Mad Demon Life-Shortening Pill? If I obtained one, it might prove useful when I had to fight for my life.”

Jiang Feng suddenly remembered the pill that had caused Lei Peng and the other two men’s magical power to surge.

“That is an ultimate-grade earth pill. How could there be a second one? The disciple of the Langya Merchant Association in Lingbo Town carried that single pill precisely for use in a desperate struggle.”

Yan shook his head and looked around. He found no second spirit pill, but he did discover another treasure: a scarlet tiger about the size of a fist, carved from an unknown material. It was so lifelike that it seemed almost alive.

The scarlet tiger was covered in countless talismans. Alongside them were line after line of mnemonic verses—the cultivation method for the nether art known as the Scarlet Tiger’s Heavenly Might.

“I have acquired another nether art!”

Though Jiang Feng could not learn it at present, once he reached the True Nether Realm, he would be able to cultivate all kinds of nether arts. He also discovered that the scarlet tiger contained a tremendous amount of magical power, yet no formation of any kind. Clearly, it was not even an ultimate-grade nether artifact.