Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 70

With the woman gone and Senior Apprentice Lu departing the hilltop with her, the remaining disciples dispersed. Han Li, too, boarded his magical artifact and headed towards the Hundred Herb Garden.

Upon reaching his residence, Han Li retrieved two jade cylinders and began studying the recipes for the Foundation Establishment Pill. After a while, he set the cylinders aside, lost in thought.

After pondering for half a day, he went out to the yard to examine the medicinal herbs he had planted.

‘The thirty-one auxiliary ingredients, like the Thousand Knot Flower, Black Peony Grass, and Golden Essence Ginseng, are all doing well. They’re planted in the yard, and anything grown for about a hundred years should be sufficient. The problem lies with the main ingredients: Jade Marrow Fungus, Purple Monkey Flower, and Heavenly Spirit Fruit. I can’t find even a single root of these here, and I’ve never even heard of them.’

Han Li hesitated for a long time before deciding to ask someone. Old Man Ma, an expert in medicinal herbs, was the obvious choice.

* * *

Seven days later, when the old man visited the Hundred Herb Garden, Han Li directly inquired about the three medicinal herbs needed for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

‘Do you know anything about the Jade Marrow Fungus, Purple Monkey Flower, and Heavenly Spirit Fruit?’

The old man stroked his beard, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Han Li.

‘Hehe, so you want to know about the three main ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill. Surely, you don’t think you can refine pills yourself, do you?’ Senior Apprentice Ma said with a sneer.

‘It’s not that; I just want to learn about these three medicinal herbs. Even the auxiliary ingredients with hundreds of years of potency are missing, so how could a junior like me possibly obtain them? Moreover, the oldest thing in your garden is the hundred-year-old Dragon Transformation Grass. In this situation, how could I dare to think about refining the Foundation Establishment Pill?’

‘If you don’t intend to refine pills, then why do you want to know about those ingredients? I’m busy, and I don’t have time to waste talking.’

Han Li cleverly avoided the question, but the old man refused outright, as if he were made of wood or stone. Knowing his peculiar nature well, Han Li wasn’t flustered and said with a smile, ‘It’s just that the names of these herbs are quite unique, and I’m curious about their appearance and medicinal properties since I don’t know anything about them. But what I don’t understand is why there isn’t a single root of these in your Hundred Herb Garden. If they’re such rare species, I would have thought you would have tried to find seeds and cultivate them. Could it be that they’re too difficult to cultivate, and even you haven’t succeeded?’

‘Nonsense! Do you think there’s something wrong with my skills? The fact that those herbs aren’t in my garden has nothing to do with whether I can cultivate them or not. They’re species that grow naturally by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Where would I even get the seeds? Even if I were lucky enough to find a sprout, their growth environment is so specific that they wouldn’t survive in this ordinary soil. It’s almost a hundred percent chance of failure. If that weren’t the case, why would I have left them alone?’ Senior Apprentice Ma scolded loudly, clearly angered by Han Li’s questioning of his skills.

‘There are no seeds? How can that be?’

‘Hmph! What do you mean, how? If it were possible to cultivate medicinal herbs that are so helpful for a cultivator’s practice, every sect would have already cultivated them. If that were the case, would the quantity of Foundation Establishment Pills decrease every year?’

Despite the old man’s harsh words, Han Li’s heart sank. No matter how effective the green liquid was, if there were no seeds, how could he promote growth?

‘Then I’m leaving! I’ll come to get the medicinal herbs in two months.’ As if he didn’t want to stay any longer, Senior Apprentice Ma turned to leave.

‘Then where do the ingredients used to make the Foundation Establishment Pills every ten years come from? If, as you say, they require a special growth environment, then there must be known natural habitats.’ Han Li’s head turned towards the old man like a gust of wind. He was desperate to find the last remaining way out. It didn’t matter if there were no seeds. If he could get even a few sprouts, he could promote their growth.

‘I see now that your curiosity is truly strong! But give up on that idea. Going there to search for those three herbs is no different from going to your own death.’ The old man answered as if he were tired, then flew away. And Han Li, left alone, stood rooted to the spot for a long time.

‘I will definitely get my hands on those three herbs! Do you think I can’t figure it out just because you won’t tell me?’ Han Li thought as he let out a long sigh towards the sky. During his two years of life in the Yellow Maple Valley, besides Senior Apprentice Ma, the only familiar figures were Steward Yu and Core Disciple Wu Feng.

Steward Yu was a deep schemer, but he was not someone worth getting close to because he chased after power. So, the first person Han Li went to see was Senior Apprentice Wu Feng. If he couldn’t get any clues from him, he was prepared to go back to the Evil Spirit Hall, even if it meant losing a lot of wealth. Although he might lose a lot of wealth, the chances of getting what he wanted there were high.

* * *

When he arrived at the Core Hall, Wu Feng was in the middle of explaining low-level spells to a few young boys. Wu Feng made eye contact with Han Li and then continued with his work.

Although Senior Apprentice Wu had not yet succeeded in establishing his foundation even after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, his understanding of low-level spells was outstanding, which amazed others, and he was enthusiastic about helping others.

But what surprised him the most was that after Wu Feng took on the duties of a core disciple, he taught the senior and junior apprentices who asked for guidance with all his heart, without discrimination.

He shared all his insights and secret techniques without any ulterior motives, so he was undoubtedly an amazing person.

At first, Han Li thought that Wu Feng’s character was fake and was wary of him, but after interacting with him for over a year and observing his every move, he realized that his actions were not a pretense.

They weren’t close friends, but their relationship was much closer than that of ordinary disciples.

He patiently listened to Wu Feng’s lecture. Wu Feng was so meticulous that he spent two full hours just explaining a single intermediate-level Fire Snake Spell. Moreover, he demonstrated it several times to help the boys learn it well.

Among the Five Elements Spells, Han Li had not properly mastered many of them, except for the few he had learned at the beginning. Even after two years of cultivation, he had not mastered all the basic spells freely.

This made him disappointed in his own aptitude and made him even more eager for the Foundation Establishment Pill. When the boys left the room, Wu Feng finally turned his gaze to Han Li.

‘Junior Apprentice Han, it’s been a while! Have you decided to start learning intermediate-level spells?’

‘Senior Apprentice, you know that my aptitude is poor, and I’ve wasted over two years just learning basic low-level spells! If I learn intermediate-level spells here, it will take me seven or eight years just to get a feel for them.’

At those words, Wu Feng frowned and spoke in a reproachful tone. ‘Junior Apprentice, why are you so discouraged! If your aptitude is poor, you should work harder and cultivate more!’

Knowing that the other party was urging him out of good intentions, he agreed and eventually managed to steer the conversation to the Foundation Establishment Pill.

‘So, what Junior Apprentice Han wants to know is the natural habitat of herbs like the Jade Marrow Fungus?’

‘Yes. You’ve been here for a long time, so you must have heard something.’ Wu Feng was puzzled, but Han Li asked again with anticipation.

‘I do know something, but it’s better not to be interested in that place. It’s extremely dangerous, and you can’t usually get close to it. You can only enter at specific times and locations, and even then, you need the help of senior apprentices.’ Han Li, who was initially happy to hear that he knew about the natural habitat of the herbs, asked questions one after another at the other’s warning.

After listening to the story, it turned out that these herbs had long hidden their species in the cultivation world, and the only place to obtain them was a place that could not be entered carelessly.

The place where the Yellow Maple Valley and other cultivation sects in the Yue Kingdom obtained the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill was a kind of forbidden area that was always sealed with a restriction of the wind element.

The power of this restriction was so great that even the power of the cultivation sects could not break through it. However, there was a period of five days every five years when it weakened, and during this period, several Core Formation cultivators [cultivators who have reached the Core Formation stage, a significant milestone in cultivation] would use powerful spells to break the restriction, creating a passage that only a few people could pass through for a short time.

Only Qi Refining cultivators [cultivators who are in the Qi Refining stage, the initial stage of cultivation] could enter that place and bring out rare spiritual herbs. So, every five years, the large sects would send a group of disciples into the forbidden area to collect a large number of spiritual herbs. Among them, the most important were the spiritual herbs that were the main ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

At first, the groups from each sect did not interfere with each other and carried out their respective missions, but as the spiritual herbs in the forbidden area gradually decreased, the competition for spiritual herbs gradually turned into a struggle of the strong preying on the weak.

As a result, the spiritual herbs disappeared much faster, and the fighting within the forbidden area became more and more intense.

After that, many disciples avoided going to the forbidden area, and some sects even had no disciples who wanted to go, creating a difficult situation.

However, they could not force disciples to go on the forbidden area expedition. The disciples who were forced to go would only pretend to do their work and secretly hide, only to come out after the time was up.

This happened frequently, but the disciples could not be blamed. So, the cultivation sects of the Yue Kingdom promised great rewards to the disciples who volunteered to participate in the forbidden area expedition.

Not to mention other sects, even the Yellow Maple Valley had set internal regulations from the past few expeditions, promising intermediate-grade spirit stones [currency used by cultivators] and sect magical artifacts to the volunteers.

In addition, the rewards became even more generous in proportion to the quantity and potency of the spiritual herbs brought back from the forbidden area. The huge rewards temporarily increased the number of volunteers for the expedition, but after two or three expeditions, the number of volunteers dropped sharply.

Before each sect offered rewards and recruited, one out of three people would return alive, but now it had become a place where it was difficult for even one out of four people to return alive.

Moreover, even the disciples who returned alive only brought back a small amount of spiritual herbs or suffered serious injuries, and many returned empty-handed. So, receiving the Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward was truly absurd.

Han Li, who had asked Wu Feng about the natural habitat of the spiritual herbs, could not help but feel discouraged after hearing the story. He had to enter the forbidden area to collect the herbs, and he had to fight to the death with disciples from other sects there!

Only the last survivors could escape the so-called ‘Blood Forbidden Trial,’ and even that had only a one-in-four chance.

The risks he had to take were too great. He was not a great master, and he was only at an average level among the low-level disciples of the Yellow Maple Valley. He did not have high magic power, nor had he mastered powerful spells, so how could he be sure that he could survive?

‘Why don’t the sects share the harvest of the disciples fairly? Since they’re going to use it together to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill, there’s no reason to create animosity, is there?’ At Han Li’s words, which seemed a little angry, Wu Feng smiled wryly.

‘Even if the Foundation Establishment Pill is refined together, its distribution depends on the amount of medicinal herbs provided by each sect. In this situation, isn’t it natural for them to be desperate to seize the spiritual herbs?’

Han Li confirmed that the Blood Forbidden Trial was in half a year and left the Core Hall with Wu Feng’s advice.

Back at the Hundred Herb Garden, Han Li was dejected and thought about this matter over and over again. Clearly, there was nowhere else in the Yue Kingdom to find these three spiritual herbs except for this forbidden area.

And even if it was dangerous, he had to participate in the Blood Forbidden Trial. However, if he participated in the Blood Forbidden Trial, there was a three-in-four chance that he would die.

This situation left Han Li unable to decide what to do.