Heaven Refining physique-Chapter 103: Valley between Four Mountains

"Senior, it’s not that it is impossible, it’s that they are not strong enough to know whether such a method truly exists or not."

Jiang Hao said

"True, they might have been the strongest here, but after ascension, that certainly wasn’t the case anymore."

Huan Caiyi nodded.

"There is also a possibility that these methods simply aren’t available in the world they ended up in."

Jaing Hao again pointed out.

Huan Caiyi nodded. She already knew that there were multiple worlds—this knowledge was already available in her previous sect.

"The senior who helped me on the path of cultivation had used a clone technique. I don’t know how it works, but he was able to cross the boundary of the lower realm to come to this world, and after that, he left a wisp of his soul to remain here until he found me.

His clone wasn’t able to survive for long in this world.

As for the senior who owns the Truth Seeker, I don’t know how she is able to stay here, as I didn’t ask about it. There was only one thing I was certain of—it definitely wasn’t her clone."

Huan Caiyi was about to reply when she sensed the flow of spirit qi change slightly. Jiang Hao also sensed it, and they both looked in a particular direction.

"Looks like a Grade 5 or 6 spirit herb. Let me go and check first. You stay here," Huan Caiyi said and left.

They were still in the mountain range of the border. It was quite vast, so it would take considerable time to cross it at the speed they were moving.

Huan Caiyi came closer and saw that, on a small peak, there was a lone spirit herb. It was wind-attributed and of Grade 5. She used her spirit sense but did not find any spirit beasts nearby.

The best part of Nirvana’s Veil was that even while using spirit sense, the skill’s effects did not wear off.

So, even if spirit beasts sensed her spirit sense, they would not be able to discover her.

After seeing that everything was safe and that it wasn’t a trap, she approached it. Upon climbing the peak, she easily took the herb and sighed inwardly. They had just ventured out a little while ago and already obtained a Grade 5 spirit herb.

The best part was that it wasn’t even protected by any spirit beasts. This went to show just how resourceful forbidden zones were.

Since most of the beasts were above Grade 7, they wouldn’t even pay attention to Grade 5 or Grade 6 spirit herbs.

Only the spirit beasts below them would have interest in these types of herbs, but those spirit beasts wouldn’t have the time to guard the herbs as they served their rulers. Not to mention, they stayed in their territories most of the time and wouldn’t leave unless necessary.

And from the looks of it, this area didn’t belong to any territory. So, encountering lower-grade spirit beasts here would be very rare. There might be one or two like Meiying who didn’t belong to any territory, but not many.

Because if these beasts encountered any territory lords, they would definitely have to pledge their loyalty to them. So staying in a border area like Meiying was a risky endeavour, and not many beasts took that step.

The border area wasn’t lucrative enough for Grade 7 spirit beasts, so it was natural that most of it didn’t come under any territory. So, if they wanted to collect spirit herbs of Grade 5 and Grade 6, then this mountain range was the perfect area.

But it wasn’t totally safe either. They had sensed the spirit sense of Grade 7 beasts many times over the past year. If not for the fact that they had covered the entire peak in an array, Meiying would have definitely discovered them by now.

That’s why they were quite cautious while moving. The main reason they were moving inside the mountain range was to find a territory itself.

Huan Caiyi and Jiang Hao’s main goal wasn’t to gather spirit herbs but to obtain blood cores. They could have gone back to the Dark Forest too, but the quality of blood cores in the territory of spirit beasts would definitely be far higher compared to the Dark Forest.

They might encounter one or two spirit beasts with good bloodlines in the Dark Forest, but here, they were guaranteed to encounter spirit beasts with good bloodlines—if they encountered any, that is.

If they found spirit herbs, that would be an even better result for them.

As for Zhi Hui and Ming Yue, their goal was only spirit herbs, so they wouldn’t be in much danger unless something truly unexpected happened.

Huan Caiyi returned to Jiang Hao.

"It was a Grade 5 spirit herb with no spirit beast around."

Jiang Hao nodded. This mountain range was quite rich in spirit qi and untouched by human cultivators, so the chance of encountering Grade 5 and Grade 6 spirit herbs was definitely higher than in the Dark Forest.

They kept their pace and crossed several other peaks. Along the way, they had already collected many Grade 3 and Grade 4 spirit herbs. Anything below that was completely useless to even Jiang Hao, so they left them be.

While moving, Jiang Hao’s mind again went to the question Huan Caiyi had asked him. He couldn’t help but wonder why he really didn’t feel right discussing Yao Ying with them.

Was he really too conscious of the fact that they were fated? But why?

The stronger he got, the easier it would be to at least control himself in front of her, just like how she didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he was her fated.

So once he got stronger, then maybe he could break that bond. Senior Yin Ni had said that although it was hard and quite hurtful to break the bond of fated, it wasn’t impossible.

True, he wouldn’t be able to do it now, but what about in the future? Forget about him—even Yao Ying might do it herself. She definitely had a deeper understanding of the Dao of Fate than he did, not to mention she had the Thread of Fate too.

She was a princess of the Xuanluan Clan, a proud clan with quite a high status in the upper world. She had a Celestial Physique too. She might already be the most famous woman in the entire upper world.

Although he didn’t want to sell himself short, other than the Celestial Physique, he really didn’t have anything.

So was she really alright with being fated to him? What did "fated" truly mean, actually? All Senior Yin Ni had told him was that they were inseparable. He could understand the notion, as he had felt it firsthand.

But was it just attraction, or was there something more? He didn’t know.

He couldn’t help but think—if by any chance he had the strength right now, would he break this bond? His mind went to that possibility, and he immediately discarded it. He really couldn’t. He was stunned by his own realisation.

He sighed. Maybe it was because he was weak. Simple. He blamed everything on that and let it pass.

Just as he was coming to his senses, he dodged to the side as Huan Caiyi was about to bonk his head.

"What are you daydreaming about?"

"Just thinking about what Blazing Valley is up to."

Huan Caiyi was surprised.

"Why? What happened? Although you used this answer to divert my attention, it definitely worked. So tell me—what happened in the city? You didn’t tell me much about how the auction went."

Jiang Hao nodded and started narrating everything he had done after entering the city.

He also told her that he had killed some disciples of Blazing Valley.

Huan Caiyi was surprised by how at ease he was about killing someone for the first time, but she didn’t dwell on it, as it was better this way.

She didn’t have to worry about making him experience such matters, just like how she had to do with Ming Yue before.

When she heard that Blazing Valley had made a fool out of themselves, she couldn’t help but smile, and when she heard that he had destroyed the shop with such ease, she smiled even more.

"You really did a number on them by destroying their shop. It would have been even better if you had a chance to loot them. After all, they definitely would have had a lot of spirit stones inside, not to mention all those weapons.

But oh well, since it wasn’t possible, we can only take the loss."

Jiang Hao didn’t even know what to say. How was it their loss? It’s not like it was their spirit stones. But it was definitely a loss indeed. He wondered if Senior Yin Ni would have taken the spirit stones if he had asked.

After all, she needed spirit stones to heal herself. But after thinking for a while, he thought otherwise—as she had only used high-grade spirit stones for herself. So she definitely would have shown disdain to work as a thief for those meagre low-grade spirit stones.

They came to a cliff of a valley. It was formed between four large mountains, and it seemed to contain its own forest inside. It truly was massive.