The Verdant Heaven Root

Han Li was still deep in thought when Wei Wuyai let out a long breath.

“Not bad. These are indeed scales shed by a transformed poisonous flood dragon. They suit me perfectly. It seems my magic treasure may yet gain a significant boost in power.”

Having said this with obvious delight, Wei Wuyai returned the blood-red scales to their box with a pleased expression. A flash of light, and the jade box vanished.

He then looked up and took another measure of Han Li before speaking in a more serious tone.

“To be honest, Fellow Daoist, I was quite surprised that you could produce something so precious. These flood dragon scales are extremely important to me. While this exchange is a matter of mutual benefit, you are still representing the Heavenly South in the gamble battle. I cannot afford to let you suffer too great a loss. So, let me do this. I have one last piece of Geng Essence in my possession, originally set aside for my descendants. Since you clearly need it so badly, I will give it to you as well. That way, I won’t feel I have taken advantage of you.”

Wei Wuyai flipped his hand, and another piece of Geng Essence the size of a chicken egg appeared in his palm. He tossed it to Han Li without further ceremony.

“So there was still one more piece.” The corners of Han Li’s mouth lifted slightly as he received the item with a surge of quiet satisfaction.

With this additional piece, he would have more than enough Geng Essence to refine all thirty-six flying swords at once. This outcome had largely fulfilled the purpose behind his earlier display of such a rare material.

Otherwise, the value of an eighth-grade demon beast material still slightly exceeded that of the Geng Essence. If he hadn’t produced something of such caliber, insisting on his continued participation in the gamble battle would have been difficult to justify.

If Wei Wuyai and the others had any more Geng Essence in reserve, his move would likely force them to bring it out.

Of course, this intention required no explicit statement. The two elders understood perfectly well what such a generous gesture implied.

After all, they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. None of them would mistake the other for someone easily fooled. Otherwise, Han Li could simply have accepted the first batch of Geng Essence, turned around and left, treating it as an ordinary transaction without ever mentioning the gamble battle. The two old monsters would have been left with nothing to protest.

Meanwhile, Supreme Zenith Yang had also finished examining his item. A faint smile crossed his face, indicating that he too was quite satisfied with the tortoise shell he had received.

But when he saw Wei Wuyai produce yet another piece of Geng Essence, a flicker of hesitation appeared on his face. After a brief moment of thought, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pale yellow object, roughly the thickness of a thumb and five or six inches long. It looked like a section of a plant’s root or stem.

“I can tell that you have an extremely strong wood-element aura about you, Fellow Daoist. I assume your primary cultivation art is wood-attributed. I don’t happen to have anything suitable on hand, but I do have this small segment of an ancient immortal vine’s root. Whether used to refine a wood-element magic treasure or simply carried on one’s person to nourish wood-element qi, it is of great use. It should adequately compensate for the eighth-grade tortoise shell you gave me.” Supreme Zenith Yang spoke in a measured tone.

“Oh, that thing is…” Seeing the item in Supreme Zenith Yang’s hand, Wei Wuyai’s expression shifted to one of surprise, as if he had recognized something.

Han Li was initially somewhat disappointed, but Wei Wuyai’s reaction sparked a sudden thought.

An ancient immortal vine? Could this be related to the Verdant Heaven Vine that the righteous and demonic sects had tried to revive by stealing the spirit liquid?

He stared at the object in the other man’s hand, a look of surprise spreading across his face.

Supreme Zenith Yang showed no astonishment at Wei Wuyai’s recognition. He simply continued in a calm voice:

“Given your status, Brother Han, you must be aware of the Verdant Heaven Vine’s appearance some time ago. Unfortunately, we tried every method we could, but we were unable to revive it. In the end, we could only divide the vine with the demonic path and use it as refining material. This piece is one quarter of that vine’s root. My cultivation art is fire-element, so this material is of no use to me, rare as it is. I’ll give it to you.” With that, he tossed the item over.

“Verdant Heaven Vine.” Han Li caught the pale yellow object, murmuring the name to himself in genuine surprise.

Having read through countless ancient texts, Han Li naturally knew what a Verdant Heaven Vine was. He also understood why the righteous and demonic sects had gone to such lengths to revive it.

The term ‘immortal vine’ was a broad, general classification. Any vine-type spiritual root with exceptional properties could be called an ‘immortal vine’ in this realm.

But a Verdant Heaven Vine was different.

Only a handful of the most ancient vine-type spiritual roots were worthy of the title ‘Verdant Heaven’ before the name ‘immortal vine.’ Such vines were invariably ancient spiritual roots that had appeared at the dawn of creation, when heaven and earth first separated and chaos first gave birth to order. Whether they bloomed or bore fruit, their products possessed incomprehensible divine abilities that could ignore the laws of heaven and earth in this realm. They were truly heaven-defying existences.

But exactly how many types of Verdant Heaven Vines there were, and what great divine abilities they possessed, had long been lost to the passage of time. No one could identify them anymore.

The reason the righteous and demonic path cultivators had been able to recognize the seemingly ordinary withered vine as a Verdant Heaven Vine was because of notes left behind by the ancient cultivator who had once owned it.

Naturally, both sides had initially regarded it as a supreme treasure. They had even clashed several times over possession of it.

Later, after the high-level figures of both factions had deliberated, they decided to first see if the vine could be revived. After all, even if it were revived, its blooming and fruiting would be a matter of countless millennia. For a Verdant Heaven Vine, a cycle of tens of thousands of years between fruits would not be unusual.

They had tried every method imaginable. First, they attempted to revive it with miraculous techniques and secret arts. Then they watered it with spirit liquids and spiritual waters. They even turned their attention to the sacred tree spirit liquid of the three sects like the Falling Cloud Sect. But all their efforts were in vain. The vine showed no signs of revival whatsoever.

Finally, the righteous and demonic paths had no choice but to give up. After some brief negotiation, they cut the vine into over a dozen pieces, root, stem, and all, and split them evenly. At least they hadn’t wasted their efforts entirely.

As the Grand Elder of the Righteous Alliance, Supreme Zenith Yang naturally had cultivators currying favor with him, and one had presented him with this small segment.

As for why Wei Wuyai recognized it, it was because he too possessed a piece of the same vine, though his was a small section of its stem. It had come into his possession after being traded from some cultivator of the Nine Nations Alliance, who had somehow acquired it from the righteous or demonic path.

A Verdant Heaven Vine that could not be revived and had been cut into over a dozen pieces was, at best, a top-tier refining material. In Supreme Zenith Yang’s eyes, its value had plummeted. Despite its awe-inspiring reputation, he did not place much importance on it. Moreover, the wood-element material was something of a white elephant to him due to the nature of his cultivation art, so he had given it to Han Li without much thought.

Wei Wuyai, meanwhile, had already grasped Supreme Zenith Yang’s reasoning. His expression of surprise quickly faded.

Though Han Li now knew the origin of the root in his hand, he felt no surge of joy, only a faint sense of disappointment.

He was not short of top-tier refining materials at the moment. What he truly wanted was more Geng Essence. Otherwise, he would not have produced eighth-grade demon beast scales and a tortoise shell.

His intrinsic magic treasure, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, still needed extensive nurturing and refinement. He had no surplus spiritual energy to spare for forging new magic treasures. It would be more practical to acquire a few more ancient treasures.

It seemed that Supreme Zenith Yang truly had no more Geng Essence. Otherwise, he would not have parted with such a precious item as the Verdant Heaven Vine root.

Han Li said nothing more. He simply took out a jade box and placed the vine root inside.

He had already made up his mind. When he returned, he would try to use the green liquid from his mysterious vial to hasten its growth. That green liquid had always struck him as mysterious and unfathomable. It had even been able to accelerate the growth of the three divine trees. Perhaps it could work a miracle and revive this Verdant Heaven Vine root.

Though the odds were slim, if it did succeed, he would have gained an enormous advantage.

With this thought, the flicker of disappointment in Han Li’s heart faded.

Before the other two could say anything more, Han Li cleared his throat and spoke proactively:

“Since I have obtained the Geng Essence, I will naturally participate in the gamble battle seven days from now. It is getting late, so I will take my leave. I still have some preparations to make before the battle.” Without any intention of prolonging the conversation, he took his leave.

“It seems Fellow Daoist Han is an impatient man. The gamble battle is no small matter, so it is only natural to make thorough preparations. We will not keep you any longer.” Supreme Zenith Yang smiled politely.

Han Li nodded, clasped his hands in a salute, and turned to walk out of the hall.

But just as he was about to reach the entrance, Wei Wuyai, who had been watching him leave, suddenly moved his lips slightly. An almost inaudible voice transmission drifted into Han Li’s ears.

“Fellow Daoist Han. For the sake of those flood dragon scales, I will let the matter of you taking Fellow Daoist Nangong away slide. Besides, a forced melon is never sweet. Let the matter between Fairy Nangong and my nephew end here.”

Hearing this, Han Li was startled, and his steps faltered for a moment. But after listening to the full message, a surge of joy welled up within him.

He did not turn back. He simply quickened his pace slightly and walked out of the hall.

Watching Han Li’s figure disappear through the hall entrance, Wei Wuyai and Supreme Zenith Yang both fell silent, their gazes flickering.

After a moment, Supreme Zenith Yang spoke slowly:

“What do you think? How could this Fellow Daoist Han possess eighth-grade demon beast materials? It’s truly incredible. Could it be, as our investigation suggested, that during his disappearance through that ancient teleportation array, he obtained the complete inheritance of some ancient cultivator? Otherwise, how could he have advanced to the Nascent Soul stage in such a short time and possess so many treasures?”

“Probably. But that has nothing to do with us. He is not the only one who has obtained ancient cultivation techniques and treasures. Fortune is a strange thing. What is there to envy? Surely you are not thinking of killing him for his treasures?” Wei Wuyai let out a cold laugh.

“Killing him for his treasures? Brother Wei, you must be joking! Not only is a great war imminent, making such an act unthinkable, but even in peaceful times, given his ability to escape from a Moulan Divine Sage, I would not invite trouble by trying to bite off more than I can chew. Besides, no matter how rare his treasures are, can they help me break through to the late stage and enter the Spirit Transformation stage? Why would I provoke such a troublesome person? And he is a member of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. The couple Long Han and his wife are not easy to deal with either.” Supreme Zenith Yang let out a light laugh and shook his head.