The moonlight was obscured by thick dark clouds, and Cao Yi held a piece of fluorite in her hand, barely illuminating the path ahead.
The place where they camped was not far from the city gate of Luocheng, but it was still several miles away.
In fact, lighting a source of light in the dense forest in the middle of the night is a very unwise act. A large bonfire can indeed repel some wild animals, but if it's just a torch, it will only attract greater danger.
Especially a moving source of light.
Nocturnal predators will regard sporadic light sources as provocations from their prey and launch a sneak attack relying on the shrubs in the forest.
But Cao Yi doesn't have this concern now, because Su Huai was able to slap Yan Shu so easily, which proves that he has the strength to kill at will in this peripheral area.
But as they walked, Su Huai suddenly stopped.
Cao Yi looked at him with a tilted head: "What's wrong?"
"Look up, there is something blocking the road."
"Ah?"
Cao Yi raised the fluorite in her hand and saw an old man in a white robe standing quietly on a branch of a big tree in front, extremely conspicuous in the pitch-black forest.
The old man's hands were tucked into the wide sleeves, his eyes slightly narrowed, making it difficult to see his face clearly, only the large mole at the corner of his eye looked extremely funny.
"Younger generation of the Su family, you have gone too far..."
Su Huai sighed: "Who are you?"
"I am the deacon of Tianhan Palace... Qin Shan."
"From Tianhan Palace?"
The old man shook his head: "Exactly!"
"This trip of the Su family is the first time in more than ten years that the direct disciple of the Xianjian Peak of Tianhan Palace, Yan Shu, has come down the mountain for a visit."
"The immortal realm is fraught with dangers. The peak lord is concerned about the safety of this reckless young man, so he has specially dispatched me to protect him covertly."
"Quite the setup, having a bodyguard when you're out and about?"
"Calling it a bodyguard is not wrong."
"Unfortunately, it seems that I, as a bodyguard, am not very competent..."
Su Huai was not flustered, but instead grinned as he chatted with the old man on the tree, one high and the other low. "Incompetent? What do you mean?"
"First, before arriving at Black Iron City, due to various reasons, cultivators above the fourth order are not allowed to enter..."
"I didn't know there was such a rule in Black Iron City? But my dead father was only of the fourth order. What qualifications does he have to set such a rule... Ah! Could there be some hidden bigwig in the Su family guarding in the dark?"
"Hehe, otherwise, what do you think Black Iron City relies on to occupy a mineral realm and stand firm in an area near the middle of the Burial Star Mountains, where third and fourth order demon beasts are everywhere?"
"Relying on Su Zhengheng, whose cultivation is barely at the fourth order?"
Su Huai tilted his head: "So, what are you trying to express?"
"I failed to enter Black Iron City, but I knew that after leaving the city, Yan Shu was disheartened and his Dao heart was damaged...
I was originally a bit annoyed because I couldn't find out the reason until just now, when I saw you bullying him..."
"Stop! I didn't bully him!"
"Ha, that slap, even I heard it from dozens of meters away..."
"It was an accident! An accident, do you understand? Who let him suddenly pounce on me, my hitting him was purely an instinctive self-defense!"
The old man no longer argued.
He lifted his foot, stepped on the void, and in the next moment, he appeared behind Su Huai.
His gloomy face with a sinister smile, his withered hand on Su Huai's shoulder, a faint scent of medicine quietly spread from under the white robe.
At this moment, the distance was closed, and the old man's face was finally fully presented in front of Su Huai.
The skin as pale as a corpse was tightly attached to the bones, with very little flesh and blood. The whole face was covered with dense blood-colored runes. Even the deep eyes in the eye sockets were also a strange dark green, and the corner of the eye was not a mole, but a dark brown medicinal fungus.
Cao Yi covered her mouth and screamed, startled by his ghostly face, and sat on the ground with a thump.
Su Huai, however, frowned slightly, and his voice carried a hint of surprise.
"Medicine person?"
"Hehe, you do have some insight..."
"Tsk, it seems that the problem of Tianhan Palace is indeed not small... At least the peak master of Xianjian Peak in your mouth is definitely not a good person, of course, it is more likely that the entire Tianhan Palace has rotted to the core."
The old man's expression also showed surprise. Su Huai's reaction was a bit unexpected, but in the next moment, he felt his wrist being held by someone.
Click—
The arm bones were easily broken like a withered branch.
Then, a fist the size of a sandbag quickly enlarged in his eyes, and with a loud bang, his head was pounded into the ground.
He finally reacted, and the dark green spiritual power surged out, converging into a strange plant on his body.
The plant was a large flower, with the stamen flowing a viscous venom, and the petals covered with small sharp thorns, like countless teeth, biting towards Su Huai's head.
"Oho! Bone-eating flower?"
Su Huai reached out and grabbed the petals of the large flower, just about to tear it in half directly, but the silver Ouroboros ring on the middle finger of his right hand flickered a faint crimson light.
The cool touch was transmitted to the brain through the skin, and the ring seemed to have turned into a real silver snake, darting into the stamen of the large flower along Su Huai's fingertips.
Hiss—
The basin-sized Bone-eating Flower suddenly closed back into a bud and began to wriggle in mid-air.
Swinging, struggling, like a lonely boat hit by wind and waves.
Finally, it suddenly stopped in an instant, and fell on the old man's chest with branches and leaves, the bud slightly undulating, and the branches trembling, which was pitiful...
Su Huai was shocked, and this scene was somewhat indecent, which inevitably reminded him of some popular pre-sleep exercises.
But...
A snake and a flower... It's a bit too much, isn't it?
His random thoughts hadn't ended when he saw the silver snake crawl out of the bud and climb back to his right middle finger, turning back into a ring.
However, the red light in the eyes seemed to be a bit stronger.
He subconsciously raised his right hand and stroked the ring, and the snake's eyes on the ring glanced at him, then turned back into a small snake, opened its mouth, let go of its own tail, and bit him instead.
"Damn it!"
Before he could curse, a warm energy surged into his finger through the snake's teeth, and then flowed into his limbs and bones.
It was a very strange feeling.
The meridians were nourished by this energy, emitting a faint fluorescence, and Su Huai felt that even his soul made a comfortable and joyful sound.
[Power Rating: 9.3]
[Potential Rating: 2]
[Overall Rating: 13]
[I'm tired, I'm going to sleep for a while.]
[Call me when you get to the Stele of Enlightenment.]
[Also, don't touch me randomly!!!]
The aloof little snake turned back into a ring, and the crimson snake eyes returned to dimness, as if it was just an ordinary craft ring made by a fan of "Chuuni" (middle school second-year syndrome).
His potential increased by two points, from zero to two. Su Huai closed his eyes and felt it, and found that there was a colorless spiritual root in his empty Dantian.
Although it was very small, at least it was there.
The spiritual root represents a person's cultivation talent and is the most important thing for cultivators.
Having only a spiritual root without cultivation will be despised by others.
Having only cultivation without a spiritual root will be regarded as a freak. Once it is found out, it is very likely to attract the attention of the Immortal Emperor and then be captured for dissection.
Su Huai didn't expect that his talent in this life would be so easy to improve.
You should know that in the last life, he succeeded in condensing a spiritual root at the age of twenty, and it was only the worst first-class spiritual root. If converted to the little snake's evaluation, it would only be...
One point.
Later, after going through all kinds of hardships, it took hundreds of years to successfully improve to the eighth grade with a large amount of pills from his wealthy wife, coupled with opportunities and efforts, and finally broke through to the immortal respect.
Yes, having a high-grade spiritual root does not necessarily lead to the peak, but those who reach the peak must have
a high-grade spiritual root.
The way of heaven rewards diligence is all nonsense, the reason why the ugly duckling can become a white swan is that it was originally a swan chick...
Similarly, a cultivator's realm cannot be more than one level higher than their own spiritual root grade.
But in fact, the way of heaven has ninety-nine, and one is missing.
The grade of the spiritual root can actually be improved.
But in fact, no force will do this kind of loss-making business.
After all, the resources required to improve a waste spiritual root, if given to a genius with a high spiritual root, theoretically, can cultivate at least five strong people of the same strength.
Su Huai was an example in his previous life, with various heavenly materials and earth treasures, a huge amount of precious resources piled up, and the full support of a ninth-grade alchemist, which allowed Su Huai to step by step to the end.
Especially that ninth-grade alchemist.
She was a woman who could make Su Huai, an old lecher, willingly give up the whole forest in the last life, and hang himself with a rope on a crooked neck tree.
...
And in this life, just one day out of the house, he already had a second-class spiritual root, which is really promising for the future!
Su Huai lowered his head, ignoring the Bone-eating Flower that had been hollowed out, and looked at the old man lying motionless on the ground.
He was already dead.
The Bone-eating Flower lost its "soil" and would not live much longer, and it would wither in half an hour at most.
The medicine person is an evil, even malicious secret method.
The most common method of refining the medicine person by evil cultivators is to take a newly born baby with a good talent and plant the spiritual plant seed in its body. As the baby grows up day by day, the spiritual plant seed will also take root and sprout in its body.
Finally, when the spiritual plant matures at a certain moment, the child as a carrier will also die...
The second method is the one in front of this old man.
Control the mind of the strong with secret methods, let them willingly become the servants of the seed medicine person, and directly plant the spiritual medicine on the heart.
This method is simple and crude, with quick results, and does not need to be taken care of often. The only disadvantage is the high cost, an average of one flower consumes a five-order strong person.
Su Huai clasped his hands together and prayed for the deceased old man.
After all, this selfless old man just generously dedicated himself and made Su Huai successful.
If everyone has this selflessness, Su Huai would have long broken through the immortal emperor, shattered the void, and been alone...
Forget it, it's better not to be alone for a long time. The high place is too cold and scary, and Su Huai is afraid of loneliness.
After the prayer, Su Huai fumbled in his spatial ring and took out a small shovel and threw it to Cao Yi.
"Come on, Cao Yi, give me a hand."
"Bury this old man who suddenly dropped dead while walking on the road..."
Cao Yi swallowed his saliva.
What suddenly dropping dead while walking, don't think I didn't see you punch someone to death!
Can you make excuses more seriously, please?