Chapter 141: Seven-Leaf Yang Yellow

By the Lingyuan Marsh, within the Yanran Mountain Range, nestled in a southern valley.

The creek babbled gently, echoes reverberating through the empty gorge. This place was seldom visited, and at this moment, utterly deserted.

It was springtime, and a few spirit bees fluttered among the valley’s blossoms.

These spirit bees were no larger than a thumb, their bodies a pale azure.

A handful of them darted between the flowers like fleeting clouds, swift and elusive.

One little bee climbed to the center of a flower, folding its wings like a delicate insect and leisurely gathered nectar.

After a moment, having sipped enough nectar, it also collected a small clump of pollen on its hind legs.

It was time to return to the hive.

The little bee began to beat its wings, trembling as it prepared to take flight from the flower.

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

A palm descended from above, and the bee, startled, was caught mid-flight, halted abruptly by the flowing spiritual energy swirling around the hand.

Below, another palm rose to meet it, cradling a mass of spiritual energy which merged with the upper hand’s power.

Two streams of spiritual energy circled the little bee, gradually forming a transparent orb that imprisoned it within.

The sudden change filled the bee with terror as it struggled desperately within the dense aura but could not break free.

The young cultivator's presence concealed all trace of energy; to an ordinary divine sense, he appeared no different from a common man.

"A Yun Chi Bee, huh… valuable," Song Yan murmured softly.

A first-rank low-level demon beast, famed for its speed.

He slowly lifted the sphere of spiritual energy, scrutinizing the bee carefully.

Its wings were as thin as cicada wings, its tail needle slender and translucent.

If this tiny creature fought a cultivator, even a mid-stage Qi Refining practitioner would suffer serious injury from a single sting.

Moreover, its wing beat frequency was extremely high; when flying, it looked like a streak of azure light, making it difficult for most late-stage Qi Refining cultivators to catch with bare hands.

However, Yun Chi Bees usually traveled in groups of dozens, nesting on cliffs lush with spirit flowers, feeding on nectar.

If a lone bee were to be attacked…

Song Yan lifted his gaze slightly and saw that the few scattered bees in the air were now gathering, forming a dozen or so.

At this moment, they were slowly converging.

It seemed they were about to launch a collective attack.

"Don't panic, little one," Song Yan said as he placed the captured bee into a special spiritual insect pouch. "I know a good place, one with endless spirit flowers and precious nectar."

With that, he blinked slightly.

His golden eyes suddenly appeared, revealing a lotus-shaped golden pattern suspended within.

Above the valley, wisps of pale blue spiritual energy gathered, converging toward the swarm of bees.

At that instant, the gathering reached its peak.

Song Yan’s gaze fixed on the swarm, his entire being surging with sword aura.

A buzzing sound—

Like fleeting shadows, the swarm pounced in the blink of an eye.

But oddly, Song Yan was no longer in his original spot.

Only a trace of sword aura remained, which gently deflected the charging swarm, scattering them in all directions.

On the edge of the swarm, one little bee was thrown too far away.

It struggled to flap its wings again, only to see a pair of huge hands blotting out the sky.

Spiritual energy suddenly condensed and flowed, and another pitiable little bee was captured.

In the blink of an eye, the sword aura surrounding Song Yan propelled him about three meters toward the valley’s edge.

This was the foundational movement technique recorded in the Sword Sect’s teachings.

“Lingyun Intent.”

Buzz—

Another little bee fluttered its wings fiercely, charging directly at his face.

Its tail needle aimed straight, determined to perish alongside Song Yan.

In truth, he could have easily used the Cloud Sword to slay these bees one by one.

But that would waste too many spirit stones, and…

Using these little creatures to practice the body technique he had just mastered was a fine choice.

Song Yan remained motionless; at the moment a streak of azure light flashed in his vision, he ghosted one foot to the left-front by about thirty centimeters.

Turning back, he clasped his hands together.

He caught another insect.

Soon, the entire valley echoed with the buzzing of bees and the sharp, clear sound of sword aura.

Yet, the bee sounds grew ever quieter.

A moment later,

The last little bee wavered in the air. Song Yan raised his eyes slightly, noticing spiritual energy slowly condensing above—not towards himself.

Eyebrow raised: “Trying to escape?”

He urged his spiritual power; wind stirred at his feet. Before the energy in the air could fully condense, he leapt up.

Sword aura surged; in an instant, he soared into the sky.

Hands clasped.

Effortlessly, he trapped the little bee in his palm.

Swiftly descending,

Song Yan sat cross-legged in the valley’s center, patting the special dimensional pouch containing the spirit insects.

A bountiful harvest.

“Hm… no need to find someone to auction these. I’ll sell them directly to the sect.”

“This insect pouch is probably the lowest grade; the bees won’t survive inside long.”

Song Yan didn’t recall where he had obtained this pouch.

“If they suffocate inside, it’ll cost a lot fewer spirit stones.”

In a grand sect like the Cave Abyss Sect, what sort of enterprise didn’t exist?

Spirit rice, spirit valleys, spirit flowers, spirit plants—

Where there were spirit flowers, there was naturally nectar. Without these little bees, how could it operate?

Such things were perennial tasks within the sect’s demands.

There was no shortage of buyers.

However…

This trip to Yanran Mountain was not for these Yun Chi Bees.

They were merely an unexpected delight.

Song Yan slowly stood and walked out of the valley.

Over the past six months, besides cultivating his spiritual power and refining his divine sense, he had devoted almost all his spare time to practicing body techniques and ocular arts.

His body skill had achieved minor success, and his ocular technique progressed steadily.

Only lately, his eyes felt dry and sometimes itchy and painful.

He feared it was due to overtraining and needed a break.

According to the Sword Sect’s teachings, in the early stages of cultivating the Spectral Sword Eye, one could use certain calming eye elixirs to alleviate many discomforts.

After some research, Song Yan favored a spirit herb called Seven-Leaf Yanghuang.

It required no potion brewing; simply condensing its leaves into liquid with spiritual power and removing impurities would produce a medicine suitable for the eyes.

It was crude but natural.

Besides, making it himself gave him peace of mind.

After all, his eyes belonged to him; better to be cautious.

Yet, even among the spirit medicines used for ocular cultivation, Seven-Leaf Yanghuang was not widely available on the market.

Its price was high but profit low.

Song Yan had visited several pharmacies in Lingyuan Marsh, but all were out of stock.

At this last minute, it was also unlikely to find any at the barter market.

However, the shopkeeper at one pharmacy mentioned that their apprentice had once accidentally gathered a few Seven-Leaf Yanghuang plants on the southern side of Yanran Mountain.

So, Song Yan asked the apprentice to point out the approximate location and informed the shopkeeper to notify him once they had stock.

He then went to the Taiping Peak Task Hall, accepted several tasks, and ventured into the mountains to try his luck.

If he could gather some, it would save quite a bit of spirit stones.

Unfortunately, having completed most tasks and captured several Yun Chi Bees by chance, he still had not spotted any Seven-Leaf Yanghuang.

But he remained undeterred; if necessary, he could pause his ocular cultivation for a while.

“Huh? Where is this?”

Song Yan looked up slightly, before him stood a rather towering peak.

Amid the mist, a Taoist temple could faintly be seen.

Grateful thanks to the reader “Mimi Mengmeng” for their generous support!

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