Chapter 3663 — Deliberate Sabotage
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
And to think this was only the outer fringe of the back mountain! What would the inner fringe, or the more central reaches, look like? Never mind those Heaven-stage-peak newcomers—Wei Zhao felt that even a skilled hand like himself, at the early Foundation Establishment stage, absolutely could not survive a single day here.
What Wei Zhao did not know was that although quite a few powerful and vicious Foundation Establishment spirit beasts prowled the outer fringe, they were hardly so numerous that one could stumble over them with a casual step. Had such python-caliber creatures been everywhere, the other newcomers, with only Heaven-stage-peak strength, could never have survived, let alone gathered herbs.
The reason he had run into vicious things one after another the moment he arrived was not simply bad luck. Someone behind the scenes had deliberately put in a word, precisely so that he would be dropped into the most dangerous stretch of the outer fringe and done to death in some spirit beast's jaws.
To arrange that word, Meng Jueming had even gone out of his way to enlist Xu Lingchong's help. With his own influence, the Back Mountain Hall's skilled hands would not have given him the time of day, much less run errands for him. But Young Master Xu Lingchong was another matter entirely—that was a face they had to grant; besides, it was a trifling favor, no trouble at all.
A trifle to them, perhaps, but a matter of life and death to Wei Zhao. Had he not concealed his early Foundation Establishment strength, being dropped into a place like this would have meant certain death nine times out of ten.
After that eye-opening show of force, Wei Zhao's movements were noticeably more cautious. Perhaps because a top-tier python like that held sway here, however, no other powerful creatures could be found within several li; and if there were any, they were mostly harmless small beasts like the little killer marmot (see Chapter 2221, "Hogging It All").
Wei Zhao reckoned that even if such small beasts were trussed up and delivered to the python's very jaws, it probably would not bother to open its mouth.
Having reached that conclusion, Wei Zhao allowed himself a measure of reassurance. Moving about beside such a powerful spirit beast was extremely dangerous, but it was not without its advantages—at least it spared him a great many petty troubles.
And the python had just swallowed a mid-Heaven stage black ape whole; by the usual habits of serpents, it should not need to feed again for some time. That was an inborn instinct, and presumably that Foundation Establishment python was no exception. In other words, for at least a while to come, there should be no further danger in this area.
That suited Wei Zhao perfectly, giving him a prime opportunity to search for herbs. And normally, under the looming menace of the python overhead, other spirit beasts and wild creatures should not dare set foot lightly within several li of this territory—which meant the herbs here ought to grow better than anywhere else.
His mind made up, Wei Zhao dropped down from the canopy. Herbs, after all, did not grow on trees, barring a very few exceptions.
Sure enough, the moment Wei Zhao reached the ground, he found something.
It was a pale blue blossom growing amid the grass, utterly unremarkable at first glance. But look closely, and one would discover that the flower was composed entirely of a single petal, its shape curving with a mystery beyond mystery, as though it harbored some profound secret of heaven and earth. Above all, small as the blossom was, it brimmed with spiritual energy—the hallmark of a medicinal herb.
"Could it be a One-Petal Flower?" Wei Zhao pondered briefly. The shape of this little blue blossom was familiar to him; the walls of the Back Mountain Hall were carved with several hundred of the back mountain's more common herbs, and he had skimmed through them before setting out—this very flower had happened to be among them.RS