Chapter 839: A Massive Fortune, Young Master Shen Cannot Stop Smiling!
Rumble!
Deep within Baiwu Valley, a colossal formation roared to life. Violent tremors shook the earth as the ancient array violently resisted the disruptive pulses radiating from Shen An'yu's Inverting Five Elements Formation Flags.
The stalemate lasted less than fifteen minutes. Under the stunned gazes of Liu Ruyan and the other two women, the dense, impenetrable white mist that stretched up to the sea of clouds suddenly sheared cleanly in half. A hidden stone staircase revealed itself in the rift.
It was as if a divine hand had cleaved the ocean apart, leaving towering walls of churning white clouds hundreds of meters high on either side.
"This..."
The sheer scale of the spectacle left them breathless. Liu Ruyan's red lips parted in shock, Zhong Lingyin's starry eyes widened to their limits, and Murong Jieyu stood frozen, her beautiful face etched with absolute awe.
If Shen An'yu's previous battle—where he effortlessly slaughtered Xiao Fan's master, Xiao Qingtian—had demonstrated his peerless martial dominance, then parting this endless sea of mist was nothing short of a miracle. It was an astonishing feat, executed to absolute perfection.
'Is he truly a celestial being descended to the mortal realm?'Murong Jieyu stared at his back, completely mesmerized. Her heart churned with violent waves. In all her twenty-odd years of life, she had never imagined, let alone dreamt of, a sight this magnificent. It shattered her understanding of reality.'This scoundrel is such a show-off...' Liu Ruyan bit her lower lip, glancing sideways at the mesmerized Murong Jieyu and the utterly starstruck Zhong Lingyin. She pouted, a hint of playful jealousy in her expression.
Yet, despite her internal grumbling, her alluring foxy eyes repeatedly drifted back to Shen An'yu's handsome profile, unable to hide the brilliant admiration overflowing in her gaze.
A faint, satisfied smile graced Shen An'yu's lips. The one and a half million destiny points he had spent on these high-grade Inverting Five Elements Formation Flags had been a steep price, but the results were well worth the cost.
By combining the flags with the legacy memories he had extracted from Heavenly Venerable Chen Yuhua, he had pinpointed the exact structural flaw in the Yin Wind Spirit Devouring Array—the core formation guarding Baiwu Valley. He used the Inverting Five Elements to forcibly reverse the flow of yin and yang, collapsing the array's domain from the inside out.
Using a formation to break a formation!
Without this method, no one below the level of a Golden Core realm formation grandmaster could have scratched this seventh-grade grand array. Even if a modern army bombarded it with thousands of artillery shells, the mist wouldn't have rippled.
"Let's go. Time to see what's inside."
Shen An'yu chuckled softly, his hands clasped behind his back as he casually strolled into the parted cloud passage.
Murong Jieyu, Liu Ruyan, and Zhong Lingyin hurried to keep up. The moment they crossed the threshold into the true Baiwu Valley, their vision exploded with color.
Vast expanses of spiritual flowers and exotic grasses stretched out before them, easily covering more than ten acres. The vibrant flora swayed gently in an unseen breeze, radiating a stunning, striking beauty.
Liu Ruyan took a deep breath. A refreshing, intensely fragrant floral scent flooded her senses, carrying a heavy, pure energy straight into her meridians. She gasped as her Martial Path True Essence actually thickened by a fraction.
Just taking a single breath here had such an immediate effect?
Murong Jieyu and Zhong Lingyin quickly noticed the anomaly as well, their faces lighting up with pleasant surprise as the dense spiritual energy washed over their skin.
Shen An'yu glanced back at them, explaining with a leisurely tone, "This place is an exceptionally rare spiritual land in the secular world, where ambient spiritual qi is normally barren. The valley is sealed by a Spirit Gathering Formation, locking all the energy inside. Every single flower and blade of grass planted here possesses at least a thousand years of medicinal potency."
He paused, his eyes sweeping over the glowing fields. "Cultivating here wouldn't just yield twice the result for half the effort. Calling it a thousand miles a day wouldn't be an exaggeration."
The corners of Shen An'yu's mouth curved upward. He was in an exceptionally good mood.
With over ten acres of thousand-year-old spiritual herbs at his disposal, he finally had enough raw resources to guarantee a flawless, tenfold breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment realm.
"Purple Sun Flower, one thousand years old. The primary ingredient for refining Purple Sun Pills, which drastically accelerate the growth of magical power in the Foundation Establishment realm. High-grade..."
"Phoenix Essence Fruit, one thousand years old. An incredibly precious spiritual fruit that purifies vitality and significantly extends lifespan. Finding even one in the outside world is a miracle, yet there are at least two acres of them growing here like weeds..."
"Black Blood Grass, also a thousand years old. Slightly toxic, but perfect for tempering the internal organs. A high-grade body-refining herb. Another full acre..."
"Tsk. There's even Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng. That will be immensely useful when it's time to break through to the Golden Core realm..."
Shen An'yu's smile widened into a full, predatory grin as he cataloged the staggering wealth laid out before him.
It wasn't that he lacked experience or had never seen the world, but this level of sheer abundance was staggering. Spiritual medicines that were normally fought over tooth and nail for a single stalk were being measured by the acre!
Further ahead lay a massive, swaying field of golden yellow. It was Huangliang Rice, covering seven or eight acres. It was the most abundant crop in the valley, known for its miraculous effects on expanding magical power and mental energy.
Wu Ming, the Child of Destiny who followed the Way of the Coward and possessed a portable immortal mansion, loved cultivating this exact strain of rice.
Shen An'yu had actually been slightly envious of that stash before. Unfortunately, that timid turtle was currently holed up inside his portable dimension, refusing to stick his head out no matter how much he was provoked.
But now, with this endless sea of Huangliang Rice right in front of him, Shen An'yu could feast until he was sick of it. also, this was thousand-year-old Huangliang Rice—a vintage that would make even Wu Ming drool with envy.
Why were all these plants exactly a thousand years old? The answer was simple. Ancient cultivators had likely planted this garden a millennium ago before abandoning the secular world for the Xuanhuang World. They had left this valley untouched, allowing the medicinal power of the crops to accumulate to the absolute extreme.
'Opportunity. A supreme opportunity. I really should take more trips out of the city if the rewards are this lucrative...'
Shen An'yu chuckled inwardly. Venturing deep into the Qinling Mountains had been the best decision he had made all month. Not only had he successfully conquered Murong Jieyu and crippled Xiao Fan, but he had also stumbled into a treasury of unimaginable wealth.
If news of these ten acres of thousand-year-old spiritual medicine leaked to the outside world, it would trigger a bloodbath of global proportions. This valley was worth more than a dozen massive gold mines combined.
The Phoenix Essence Fruit alone—capable of extending a person's lifespan—would drive the world's most powerful, aging elites into a frenzy, willing to sacrifice anything to obtain it.
Amidst his elation, a thought crossed Shen An'yu's mind.
Whose fated opportunity was this supposed to be?
He knew his own role perfectly well. He was the Great Villain of Destiny. The heavens didn't arrange hidden treasures and ancient legacies for him. This valley had been prepared for a Child of Destiny or a Daughter of Destiny.
Was it Xiao Fan's? Or Chen Yuhua's? Or perhaps the Sword God, Ye Linyuan's?
Shen An'yu pondered the possibilities. Any of them fit the bill.
Xiao Fan's master, Xiao Qingtian, had discovered the anomaly of Baiwu Valley long ago and had even brought Xiao Fan here. It was highly likely this was meant to be Xiao Fan's grand power-up. But Xiao Qingtian was now a corpse by Shen An'yu's hand, and Xiao Fan was a crippled wreck surviving on scraps in the wilderness, completely eliminated from the board.
Then there was Murong Jieyu, Ye Linyuan's Third Senior Sister. She had also discovered this place, meaning the plot might have intended for her to guide Ye Linyuan here. But Ye Linyuan had long since been played like a fiddle by Shen An'yu and was currently stuck doing primary school homework back at the Magic City Riverview Manor.
And Chen Yuhua had also noticed the valley, likely gathering materials to craft the exact formation flags needed to break the array.
Given how convoluted this novel's world was, with its swarm of destiny-blessed protagonists and intersecting plotlines, it was impossible to pinpoint exactly whose treasure this was originally meant to be.
Not that it mattered.
Shen An'yu sneered, his eyes flashing with cold amusement. Since the meat had already landed on his plate, there was absolutely no reason to let anyone else take a bite.
'I, Shen An'yu, am taking this opportunity. Even the gods themselves couldn't snatch it away from me!'
Only what he swallowed belonged to him.
Wasting no more time, Shen An'yu unleashed his mental energy, shaping it into a massive, invisible sickle. He ruthlessly swept through the fields, wantonly harvesting the priceless spiritual medicines and stuffing them directly into his spatial storage ring.
Liu Ruyan, Murong Jieyu, and Zhong Lingyin quickly joined in, their faces flushed with excitement as they helped gather the spoils.
The valley echoed with their cheerful laughter, everyone completely immersed in the overwhelming joy of the harvest.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
[Akarin's Note: "Way of the Coward" (苟道, Gou Dao) is a popular internet slang term in Chinese web novels. "Gou" literally means "dog" or "careless," but in gaming and novel contexts, it means to play extremely safely, hide one's true strength, avoid all unnecessary risks, and "turtle" until one is overwhelmingly powerful. Thus, the "Way of the Coward" or "Turtling Dao."]
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