Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 321: Encountering Spiritual Medicine at Home

Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Encountering Spiritual Medicine at Home

Before the ripples from the incident involving Shi Quan’s severed hand and Shi Shaofeng’s tumultuous escape had faded, the Shi Family issued a challenge to the Han Family.

The initiator was Shi Taiyan, and the challenger was... Shi Hao!

"Shi Hao? Who is Shi Hao?"

"Hiss, you don’t know Shi Hao? He’s the ruthless one who crippled Shi Quan’s hand!"

"So it’s him. No wonder the Shi Family is targeting him now."

"This time it’s Shi Taiyan who has taken action. That Shi Hao is in trouble."

"Unless Han Feihuo is willing to take Shi Hao’s place."

"Hmm, Han Feihuo has now awakened a Dual Spirit Root. In terms of talent alone, he’s already the foremost among the Four Great Geniuses. As long as his realm catches up with the highest, Zhang Santian, he will then become the number one among the Four Great Geniuses."

"Will Shi Hao accept the challenge?"

"Definitely not. As long as he hides in the Han Residence, can Shi Taiyan really storm in there?"

The city was abuzz with heated discussions, and within the Han Residence, Han Dong was also being scolded to the point of tears by Han Liren.

This is the Sect Leader’s younger brother we’re talking about, you brat! You actually got him into this mess!

Now, will Shi Hao accept the challenge or not?

If he doesn’t accept it, he will become the butt of all jokes, utterly humiliated. But if he does accept... that’s Shi Taiyan, and not even Han Liren thinks Shi Hao stands a chance.

He knew Shi Hao’s cultivation level, merely one island. And what about Shi Taiyan? Six islands, and he could even fight across two levels, his real combat power was that of eight islands.

Unless Shi Hao could fight across seven levels, he was sure to lose.

Fight across seven levels?

How could that be possible!

Forget finding such a talent in the Eastern Fire Continent, even the Southern Fire Continent would not have such a monstrous genius.

So, could Han Liren help being angry? He directly hung up the little fatty and whipped him.

Oh, I just praised you for having potential, and you turn right around and cause such a disaster?

Han Dong screamed miserably but did not make any excuses, for it was indeed him who had taken Shi Hao to the gambling den. This trouble was firmly on his shoulders.

"Report to the family head." A seasoned servant appeared quietly; he was an expert of Self-Observation, who followed Han Liren around as a servant due to the life debt owed from the years gone by, but he was deeply trusted by Han Liren, to the point that calling him an old brother was no overstatement.

Thus, he was the only one who could enter without announcement at this time.

"Young Master Shi has already accepted the challenge!" he declared.

What?

Upon hearing this, Han Liren’s anger surged further, "You unworthy descendant, I’m going to thrash you to death today!"

Beat him, beat him fiercely.

However, Han Liren was merely venting his anger, he had no intention of actually beating Han Dong to death, and he quickly stopped to ponder the situation.

"My little junior brother absolutely cannot be harmed."

"So, worst comes to worst, I will intervene, I must keep him safe at all costs."

"As for the Shi Family... we may simply cede some benefits."

He had already made up his mind.

Unlike the others who were overwhelmingly in favor of Shi Taiyan, Shi Hao was utterly calm.

With the Cloud Piercing Step in his possession, he already stood on invincible ground, so what was there to fear?

He had countless methods at his disposal. During his fight with Luo Jian, he had nearly caused his opponent to lose face. Now facing Shi Taiyan, who was merely a six islands cultivator, it seemed even less significant.

However, in a direct confrontation, Shi Hao would probably still not be a match, for Shi Taiyan was not an ordinary six islands cultivator.

"Unless I can advance to the second island."

Regrettably, even if he consumed the Vermilion Fruit, it likely wouldn’t be enough to elevate him to the peak of one island.

"The competition is in just three days, time is too tight, otherwise, I could have sought out the Cheng and Zhang families to win a few more rounds, probably obtaining enough spiritual medicine and spirit fruits to help me take one more step towards the peak."

"Huh?"

Shi Hao sniffed, detecting a faint scent.

He followed the fragrance and arrived at the backyard, then zeroed in on a large tree.

He was certain the scent was emanating from beneath the tree.

He didn’t use the Spirit Exploration Compass, since he was in the Han Residence which surely possessed all kinds of treasures—why bother himself?

Spiritual medicine beneath this tree?

Shi Hao was surprised. Looking at the environment, it didn’t seem likely at all. It didn’t match the conditions required for the growth of spiritual medicine.

But regardless, he decided to dig first and ask questions later.

As he started to dig, a large yellow dog rushed over as if possessed.

"Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing?" The dog reached the tree and positioned itself defensively in front.

As if I’m desecrating its ancestors’ graves, why so agitated?

"Move aside." Shi Hao was naturally not going to be courteous with the large yellow dog, and he brushed it aside.

He dug again and hissed, "Damn!"

There turned out to be a hole beneath the tree, filled with gold, silver, jewelry, bones, and other items—a bizarre and incongruous collection.

Looking at the large yellow dog, Shi Hao thought that the gold and silver were one thing, but upon seeing the bones, he was sure that the dog was the digger, hence its agitation.

It was a guilt-ridden thief.

"Whoops, suddenly remembered something else I gotta do, gotta run." The dog took off as soon as its "crime" was discovered.

Shi Hao chuckled lightly, not intending to delve further into the matter.

He tossed out all the gold and silver, then continued digging deeper, as the fragrance grew stronger.

Finally, a vermilion tuber appeared before Shi Hao.

"Dark Cloud Stem!" Shi Hao was first taken aback, then overjoyed.

This was a type of spiritual medicine that grew underground. Usually, it required a hundred years to mature and then could be used as medicine. With each additional year it grew, the effects would improve slightly.

Based on the size of this Dark Cloud Stem, it must have grown for at least eight hundred years!

Eight hundred years, that’s double the lifespan of Founding King Court’s almighty beings.

Struck gold, struck gold!

After consuming it, his cultivation was bound to see an astonishing increase, advancing to the second island realm wouldn’t be a problem at all.

However, after the initial excitement, Shi Hao’s expression turned to one of doubt.

How could the Dark Cloud Stem be growing here?

First, the conditions didn’t match its growth requirements. Second, how could it have remained undug for so long, only to be discovered by him? Third, the large yellow dog had dug a hole right above it, burying its stolen goods; how could it have missed the stem?

A dog’s sense of smell is much keener than a human’s, and given the dog’s greedy nature, how could it have missed this?

If you ask Shi Hao, it seemed more like someone had just recently buried it there.

But the problem was that once uprooted, the Dark Cloud Stem’s viable time outside the earth was extremely limited. Even if Han Liren himself did it, Shi Hao didn’t believe that he could have transported it from somewhere and quietly buried it there, for him to just "casually" find.

Moreover, if Han Liren wanted to give it to him, wouldn’t it have been much easier since they were "brothers"? There was no need for such roundabout methods.

Shi Hao couldn’t make sense of it, but the Dark Cloud Stem was undeniably real.

Never mind, what’s most important was to increase his strength—that was the undeniable truth.

Shi Hao took the Dark Cloud Stem back to his room. After a brief preparation, he began to extract its essence using the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture.

Suddenly, his cultivation soared.