Chapter 001: Hell Spirit Grass
Lightning flashed through the air and dark clouds covered the sky. A heavy rain was about to fall.
Inside Wohu City, Chen Xiang, while looking up the sky, muttered to himself, “I cannot delay any longer, If I don’t find a good spirit herb soon I might never get the opportunity again.”
Chen Xiang had just turned sixteen this year, and his build was more robust than others of similar age. Although he had a handsome face and youthful countenance, his eyes have a sense of maturity that was not present in others his age.
Although his grandfather was the Patriarch of the Chen family, because Chen Xiang didn’t have any Spiritual Veins, he had to pick herbs for himself. Not having Spiritual Veins meant he was incapable of practicing martial arts. Since he was a child, he had been diligently training his own body and secretly going out to train, he once even fought a tiger-type beast. Although he was young, due to the amount of life and death experiences Chen Xiang had endured, his mental state was far more fortified than the mental states of his peers.
“Chen Xiang? What are you doing out here? A storm is about to blow in! Are you sure you want to be out in this weather?” An old steward spoke while walking towards him. Seeing the amount of hard work Chen Xiang did every day, the old steward could not help but admire him. However, a sliver of regret could be seen in his eyes.
Chen Xiang had worked very hard and practiced every day for six years. But he was stuck at the 3rd level of the Mortal Martial Realm. Other Chen family members, of a similar age, had already entered into the 4th level of the Mortal Martial Realm, and some had even reached the 5th level.
This was all due to the fact that he didn’t have any Spiritual Veins. As such, the family didn’t attach any importance to him, and he was only treated as an ordinary member of the Chen family.
Although he lacked Spiritual Veins, he had never been discouraged by it and had been diligently training himself. The process of attempting to train allowed him to feel a sense of accomplishment.
“Old Ma, I was just going to pick some herbs.” Chen Xiang laughed and ran up to the old steward, who sighed and shook his head. “It’s useless since you do not have any Spiritual Veins, no matter how hard you practice, you still won’t be able to advance!”
Chen Xian had heard such words all throughout his life, but he still insisted that, no matter what, he would not give up.
A middle-aged man walked up to the two of them. “Xiang Er, are you really going to go out in this weather?” Chen Xiang, with a small smile on his face, said, “Dad, the storm is a good opportunity for me to pick herbs as no one will be there to snatch them from me.”
The middle-aged man was Chen Xiang’s father, Chen Tianhu, a very famous and formidable cultivator and also one of the most promising candidates to inherit the position of Patriarch of the Chen family. Though his son was somewhat crippled, he had always encouraged Chen Xiang, and, from time to time, provided him with precious pills. Unfortunately, the pills didn’t have any effect on Chen Xiang.
“Here.” Chen Tianhu smiled helplessly and threw a small box towards Chen Xiang.
Chen Xiang took the box without even looking at what was inside because he knew that it contained a pill. He smiled and said, “Dad, thank you. Now I don’t need to steal the chickens that Old Ma raised for his health.”
That comment made the steward frown. He didn’t know that his chickens had been targeted.
Watching Chen Xiang, as he left, Chen Tianhu could only let out a sigh because although he had a very high status within the Chen Family, the elders in charge of managing the pills were very strict, as pills were precious resources for cultivation, and thus, he could only save a few of them for Chen Xiang. Sadly, their therapeutic effect actually was not that significant, because they were too few in number to affect Chen Xiang.
What father doesn’t hope for his son to become successful in life? As Chen Tianhu did not have any other methods, all he could do was acquire some pills for Chen Xiang, and hope for the best.
……
‘Immortal Devil Cliff’. This was a very desolate place, and, at the moment, a bare-chested teenager was climbing down the cliff.
Under the heavy downpour, Chen Xiang was actually climbing down the cliff! This was extremely dangerous, as the ‘Immortal Devil Cliff’ was very deep and filled with a type of black Qi that gave off an aura of death, therefore many people didn’t even want to approach this place.
Nevertheless, Chen Xiang still came here to pick some herbs and was gradually descending into the ravine, slowly approaching the bottom. If others were to know about this, they would laugh at him for being a madman. At a place, that even birds don’t shit, which was eternally filled with death Qi, it was hard to imagine that it was an ideal location for spirit herbs.
Of course, Chen Xiang was not stupid, he knew that this ‘Immortal Devil Cliff’ had been present for many, many years and had always been full of Death Qi.
According to common sense, this lifeless place shouldn’t have any spirit herbs, but Chen Xiang didn’t actually believe that, as he knew that when things reached to an extreme, there was bound to be some reason for that extreme to exist, and he believes this eternal death Qi is caused by a legendary spirit herb.
‘Hell Spirit Grass’. Although this spirit herb sounded very deadly, it was actually a very strange herb, which could even make a dead skeleton regrow its flesh. It ordinarily grew in ancient battlefields or in cemeteries where the Death Qi was abundant.
Only on rainy days would the black Qi sink, all due to the rainfall, because of this, Chen Xiang was able to see down into the deep precipice. He wanted to go deeper into this place so that he could search for the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’.
He doesn’t want the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ for himself, but if he got this sacred herb, he could trade it for many precious pills, which would allow him to be free from his current predicament and gain formidable strength.
Raindrops continuously fell on Chen Xiang, making him feel very uncomfortable while also making the rocks on the cliff-side very slippery. He became very cautious, and carefully climbed down the cliff, so as not to fall.
Nobody knew what was at the bottom of the ‘Immortal Devil Cliff’, and there had been many who have gone down, but the number of people that have climbed back up was zero. To fall down meant death!
Two hours had passed and the rain continued to fall. Chen Xiang had been exercising for many years and, just by relying on his strong body, he had descended several dozen feet into the deep precipice.
Chen Xiang carefully observed his surroundings and found a good temporary shelter. Then he saw something which made his heart beat rapidly.
‘Hell Spirit Grass!’ Chen Xiang shouted out with excitement, gazing straight down, he saw something similar to a white sesame seed cake. He was confident that this was the legendary ‘Hell Spirit Grass’.
The whole ravine was filled with black Death Qi, and, to top it all off, the color of the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ and the cliff was the same, making this herb very difficult to spot.
Though Chen Xiang was very excited, he calmed himself down and rested for a moment, before continuing his journey down.
It wasn’t long before Chen Xiang arrived next to that ‘Hell Spirit Grass’. He swallowed his saliva and looked at the white ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ that was the size of a bowl. He could feel the vigorous life force emitted by the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’.
Chen Xiang picked up the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ with one hand. He estimated that this ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ had been growing for more than a thousand years. Selling it on the auction would earn him an astronomical sum.
Chen Xiang picked up the spirit grass, put it inside his storage pouch, and then grinned: “Haha! It’s time for this daddy’s salted fish to stand up from failure!”
So long as he is able to sell this ‘Hell Spirit Grass’, he will be able to purchase a lot of good rank pills, then he will be able to advance by leaps and bounds!
The rain was gradually easing up and Chen Xiang was very content right now so he didn’t continue searching the huge cliff, and, instead, choose to climb back up. After all, his strength was very limited, and climbing up was a very hard and dangerous task.
After climbing for more than half an hour, the precipice suddenly started to tremble and shake! Chen Xiang’s heart was palpitating as he realized that something bad was happening. As he looked above, he saw many small stones falling from the cliff-side. As they fell into the abyss, the trembling cliff began to shake much more severely.
“Damn, I finally got the ‘Hell Spirit Grass’ and this happens. Heaven, are you fuc*** kidding me!” The cliffs sudden shaking couldn’t help but make Chen Xiang curse bitterly. He wanted to remain calm, so he made himself hold onto the rugged cliff, otherwise, he would’ve fallen down in shock.
The tremors continued to increase in strength and Chen Xiang gradually fell into despair. He, again, looked up and saw a giant piece of rock falling towards him. At the same time, the rock he was holding began to crack.
“God, I just got the Hell Spirit Grass, but now you are bringing me down to hell, are you f**king with me!” Chen Xiang could not help but curse , but this time, the black Qi started to rise up, and the rock Chen Xiang was holding broke………..
“Ah - !” Chen Xiang’s body fell into the abyss, filled with black Qi, and shouted, with unwillingness filling his voice….
After an unknown amount of time passed by, Chen Xiang finally opened his eyes.To his surprise, he was able to see light within the abyss, and what astonished him the most was that there was water present here. He was also able to breathe!
Chen Xiang floated to the surface, and he saw that he was currently in a pool shining with a white aura.
What shocked Chen Xiang, even more, was that, not far from him, there were two stunning girls with long hair, sitting on the ground. And even more shocking than before was that these two celestial beauties were naked! Their two perfect and flawless jade bodies were completely visible in front of him!
Those two, with their pure faces, which were like meticulously carved jade statues, being without the slightest flaw. Their twin peaks were abundant and their waists were slender and smooth. They were beautiful and breath-taking …… this was Chen Xiang’s first time seeing women as beautiful as them.
The fragrant and stunning scene had a great impact on Chen Xiang, shocking him into stillness, his whole face flushed red and his heart and breathing seemed to have stopped! The two girls were hunkered down and looking at each other. After some time, they finally found Chen Xiang, but they totally disregarded him, and, seeing this, Chen Xiang felt humiliated, as he was totally disregarded by the two beauties.
After a period of absent-mindedness, Chen Xiang was finally able to see that the crevasse was falling apart. There were many cracks and pits visible, broken stones were scattered on the ground and, alongside the broken stones, there were pieces of scattered white silk, which gave him the idea that a battle had been fought here. He speculated that it was these two girls that were the cause of the battle, which had led to their clothes being torn apart.
Chen Xiang did not know about why these two stunning and alluring girls were fighting here, in this abyss, but he realized that these two women were quite formidable, and their strength was beyond the scope of his knowledge, being able to shake the earth and move mountains with their power.
“These two are the cause of my current predicament. They shook the cliff and caused me to plunge down here, but, fortunately, I had some good luck and did not die!” Chen Xiang was angry, but, at the same time, he was curious about these two mysterious girls.
Chen Xiang, slowly walked towards the two women, marveling at their flawless jade bodies.
The abyss next to the ‘Immortal Devil Cliff’ was called hell, but, for Chen Xiang, this hell was similar to paradise. There was a deep pool filled with a soothing white aura and,most importantly, beside this pool there were two stunning naked girls.
Only, at this time, the two girls realized that not far from them, a pair of fiery red eyes were glancing at them, and they felt shame and anger at his leering gaze.