Ashen God
Chapter 372 - 371: Cave Heaven Blessed Land

Chapter 372: Chapter 371: Cave Heaven Blessed Land

"And the third option," he said, "is about the news of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass. I didn’t expect this series of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to come in so many colors—Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass, Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass, and Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass. Are you telling me these cover the whole three primary colors?"

Although the usage effect of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass was more conventional in increasing defensive power rather than the increase in the Energy value limit that Zhang Yanhang most desired, it was still a freely obtained Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, and one really couldn’t be too demanding.

Moreover, increasing defensive power was quite practical. It could make him immune to more damage from monsters, so even though he was slightly disappointed, overall he was actually quite satisfied. Or perhaps it could be said that as long as it was free, he generally found it very appealing.

"Speaking of which, this piece of Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass turned out to be an immature Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure." In the adventure triggered by Zhang Yanhang, the occurrence of immature Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures was quite rare, hardly amounting to even a handful in total. Therefore, he was quite surprised to encounter an immature one this time.

"The immature Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass, coupled with Multiple Choice allowing me to explore the remaining ranges of the Lao Mountain Range when I have spare time, probably means the Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass and Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass on other mountains haven’t matured yet, right? So that’s why it reminded me not to waste my effort..."

Zhang Yanhang felt that this guess was quite reasonable as Multiple Choice wouldn’t let him give up exploring other mountain ranges for no reason unless exploring there would yield him no benefits.

It must be mentioned that Zhang Yanhang wasn’t actually very keen on going to the Lao Mountain Range initially. After all, it was the territory of Lao Mountain Taoism, and he was worried about whether picking Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures there might lead to misunderstandings or conflicts with the locals of Lao Mountain Taoism.

Because such matters require consideration from others’ perspectives. If someone found a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure right outside Zhang Yanhang’s own door, he would definitely be unhappy.

After all, if the outsider hadn’t picked up that Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, then the most likely person to have picked it up would have been Zhang Yanhang himself. Thus, just based on this reason alone, going onto someone else’s territory to pick Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures was indeed not a wise choice.

Moreover, if he really had to go, he would have to sneak in unnoticed, for once discovered, conflicts were likely to arise. Although it was the Spiritual Qi Recovery Era, the Empire was still a law-abiding society, and if it was possible to avoid alerting the authorities, it was best not to alert them, given the risk of being caught and sent to pioneer in the Ashen World.

It was precisely because of these concerns that Zhang Yanhang had only been searching for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the subsidiary ranges of the Lao Mountain Range. Otherwise, he could have gone directly to the most renowned peaks of the main Lao Mountain Range to search from the start.

The environment of the main range of the Lao Mountain wasn’t comparable to these subsidiary ranges located within the city area. Not to mention anything else, just the difference in altitude alone was overwhelming.

The peaks in the main range often had altitudes over a thousand meters, whereas the highest altitudes in these city-based subsidiary ranges were just over a hundred meters. The difference was more than tenfold, which was simply incomparable.

And there’s no need to mention the denser concentration of Spiritual Energy and the conditions of the trees and vegetation. As a bona fide Taoist Holy Land and one of the registered Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, in this regard, Lao Mountain definitely ranked amongst the top within the Empire. How else could it have become a Cave Heaven Blessed Land?

"So, I choose Option Three, to stay at Xiang’er Mountain and wait for the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass to mature."

After Zhang Yanhang made his choice, the Time Pause instantly disappeared, and he headed straight for the summit of Ivory Mountain. He had already scanned the location of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass during the Time Pause; the cave it occupied was on the upper half of the mountain.

Thus, Zhang Yanhang planned to use Alchemy to dig directly into the mountain from the summit, which was only a matter of digging twenty to thirty meters—a task all too familiar for someone who had excavated seventy-four kilometers of Crimson Iron Ore pillars in Crimson Iron Ore Veins.

After spending a few seconds reaching the summit, Zhang Yanhang immediately activated his Alchemy. Perhaps because the top of Ivory Mountain was covered with ordinary soil and rocks, the speed of sculpting the pillar with Alchemy was several times faster than mining Crimson Iron Ore pillars in the ore vein.

Although the entire depth required was twenty to thirty meters and the diameter needed to be wider than that of the Crimson Iron Ore pillars, it still took only a few seconds to complete the excavation—a speed that made Zhang Yanhang, used to mining high-quality Crimson Iron in the depths of ore veins, somewhat uncomfortable.

Taking advantage of the pillar having just separated from the surrounding rock walls and not yet slid into the cave, Zhang Yanhang immediately stored it in his waist bag.

Incidentally, his waist bag compartments had become plentiful again since he no longer needed to carry Crimson Iron Ore pillars. It wouldn’t be a problem even if you asked Zhang Yanhang to dig up the entire mountain top—they were, after all, simply small hills with only about a dozen meters in diameter.

Having smoothly dealt with the pillar, Zhang Yanhang didn’t hesitate to jump into the vertical tunnel he had just excavated. Since the tunnel was only twenty to thirty meters long, unlike the Crimson Iron Tunnel where falling alone could take several minutes, Zhang Yanhang arrived inside the cave in just two seconds.

Although he had already scanned the cave environment during the Time Pause, after entering the cave, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but scan it again. The cave was only about two to three meters high and three to four meters wide, overall quite narrow and cramped, and devoid of any living creatures.

Of course, Zhang Yanhang’s main focus wasn’t on the cave environment, but rather on the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass inside the cave.

It’s uncertain whether it was because this series of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures preferred stones, but the previous Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass was hidden in a small pile of rocks, while the Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass grew on the back of a stone.

If the first two were somewhat normal, this time, the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass was quite outrageous as it grew directly on the cave’s stone wall. Zhang Yanhang could clearly perceive that the roots of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass had forced their way in after breaking the original stone structure.

It must be said, worthy of being Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, ordinary plants could hardly even sprout in such conditions devoid not only of soil but also of light, let alone proceed through the rooting stage.

Yet the growth condition of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass was quite good, basically consistent in size with the Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass and the Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass.

Moreover, in this observation, Zhang Yanhang also discovered a second characteristic of this series of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, resembling rosemary.

But typical rosemary is usually harvested in large bunches, while Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass is a single-plant species, making its appearance more akin to pruned rosemary.

Well, perhaps besides the appearance, the functionalities are somewhat similar too, as fresh rosemary can invigorate and sharpen the mind. This quality is also reflected in Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass and Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass. Upon consuming them, Zhang Yanhang’s sleepiness vanished without a trace.

If possible, Zhang Yanhang hoped that Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass could have the effects of dried rosemary used in traditional medicine, which shifts from mental stimulation to calming and promoting sleep. Unfortunately, these weren’t within Zhang Yanhang’s control.

Thus, Zhang Yanhang speculated that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the side effects of Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass would be consistent with those of Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass and Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass, which also invigorate the mind and banish drowsiness. This side effect was extremely unfriendly for someone like him who wanted to sleep.

After briefly observing the cave environment and the roots of the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass, Zhang Yanhang began to ponder over the harvesting method.

Given that this Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass grew in a stone wall, to prevent damaging its roots and hence lowering its efficacy, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t yank it out directly like he did with the previous Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass and Sky Demon Green Crystal Grass. Such a brutal harvesting method would be too much for the roots of Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass to withstand.

So, Zhang Yanhang thought that he perhaps needed to dissolve the stone around its roots using Alchemy before he could fully extract the Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass.

Just like that, after briefly considering the harvesting method, and facing the yet-to-mature Sky Demon Yellow Crystal Grass, Zhang Yanhang suddenly found himself with some free time.

"Since it will take another half hour to mature, should I find something to do now? Like perhaps going online again to look up some sleep aid tips?"

Zhang Yanhang felt this would be a good idea, but before that, he wanted to first observe the conditions along the main vein of Lao Mountain Range.

Multiple Choice suggested that Zhang Yanhang should explore the place some other time, but hey, he could use Time Pause. By using Time Pause, he could scan the area for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within Lao Mountain Range and verify their existence in no time.

"Moreover, with Time Pause, I don’t have to worry about running into any conflicts with the people from Lao Mountain Taoism. I’m quite a little clever ghost."

Thinking made him act immediately. Zhang Yanhang casually chose an option to trigger Time Pause, "Choice! What should I eat for my midnight snack tonight?"

Yes, although he had entered the Fasting phase, Zhang Yanhang still chose to use the midnight snack question to trigger the option.

It wasn’t that his Grain avoidance ability had failed or that he was hungry; it was simply because, during his online search for sleep aid tips, one suggestion was that eating could help one enter a sleep state more quickly.

Zhang Yanhang quite trusted this sleep aid tip, as being full before sleeping was a common occurrence when Zhang Yanhang rested at home. Due to his abundant experience in this area, Zhang Yanhang felt whether he ate a midnight snack or not might determine if he could sleep in the early hours of the morning, which was genuinely very important.

Therefore, Zhang Yanhang casually used the midnight snack question as a catalyst to trigger the Multiple Choice.

[What should I eat for my midnight snack tonight?]

[Option One: Just eat something (since the main purpose of having a midnight snack is to aid sleep, you think it doesn’t really matter what you eat as long as it’s fulfilling. With this thought, you bought a bunch of bento boxes and rice balls from the 24-hour 7-11 convenience store to serve as tonight’s midnight snack.)]

[Option Two: Don’t have a midnight snack (even though you read online that eating at night could help one sleep faster, you felt that this sleep aid tip wasn’t very reliable. Thus, you decided to abandon the idea of having a midnight snack and chose to search online for other more credible sleep aid tips.)]

[Option Three: Have a sip of water (one of your Awakener friends, concerned about your situation after noticing you hadn’t been attending school for several days, decided to check on you. Perhaps because you didn’t need to sleep at night, she flew into Xingfuli District to see if you were alright. After learning that you had safely returned to the Main World from Ashen World but had disappeared again late into the night, she still left a cup of water for you at the window. Just coming home from a long nighttime run, you felt quite thirsty and picked up the cup from the windowsill. Although you didn’t know where this cup of water came from, you unexpectedly sensed a sweet fragrance and a faint milky aroma. After savoring this wonderful flavor, you realized your drowsiness had vanished, restoring you to full energy, and your Physical Strength, which had been almost depleted, was now recovered to the pre-run level.) ]

"Ah, this? Beautiful Awakened girl’s saliva? Are we that close?"

Though the Multiple Choice Options did not specify the Awakener’s name, Zhang Yanhang could somewhat guess who it was, having known her before he even became an Awakener.

But the specifics of getting closer happened after he became an Awakener. Back then, Zhang Yanhang, focused on Cultivation, frequently visited her place to sip water.

Although her bodily fluids provided only a minor effect in accelerating Cultivation, a mosquito leg is still meat, after all. Thus, Zhang Yanhang persistently kept going to her place for water, and even bizarrely ended up drinking a cup of Yangzhi Ganlu that could heal injuries, diseases, and help one stay focused.

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