Chapter 299: Fellow Daoist, What Are You Watching From the Side?

"You’re right. Chen Miaomiao also found an extra segment in the mantra for the All Living Beings Skill."

A few days later, the system relayed this message to Song Jiulai.

Song Jiulai was taken aback. "There is?"

The All Living Beings Skill was a rather heaven-defying Cultivation Technique. Its main purpose wasn’t combat.

It was more like healing.

Spirit Grass that couldn’t be kept alive before would recover quickly with the use of the All Living Beings Skill.

Since it was an Ancient Cultivation Technique, its effects were surely not that simple.

Even the Taixue Sect’s Cultivation Technique was developed from fragments of the All Living Beings Skill. This meant the full technique had to have some even more incredible use.

Chen Miaomiao’s experiments with Spirit Grass were still quite limited.

Its other uses were still under investigation.

"Yes. She might not have noticed it herself. I gave her a hint, and she spent a few days confirming that the All Living Beings Skill does indeed have an extra segment in its mantra."

’This is a big deal.’

The Moonlight Sword Technique had an extra segment in its mantra, and so did the All Living Beings Skill.

So what exactly were these extra segments?

Recalling the few patterns that had escaped when she used her own technique, Song Jiulai suddenly had a guess. "If several of the techniques have this, could the mantras of the five techniques combine to form a new Cultivation Technique?"

She pinched her chin, then quickly refuted her own idea. "No, that’s not right. It could also be... an Array."

After all, Arrays were more likely to involve patterns.

System: "I don’t have that in my database."

Song Jiulai: "No kidding. I wasn’t counting on you. If you knew, wouldn’t you have said so already? But a mantra that combines five Ancient Cultivation Techniques... how powerful must that be?"

System: "Well, isn’t the solution simple? Just have the few players who are practicing them speed up their progress. When the time comes, they can put the mantras together and see what it is."

Techniques like this that were split apart would definitely have a reaction if they were combined.

It was just that the players were all just starting their practice, and their proficiency wasn’t very high.

It had taken Chen Miaomiao several days just to confirm there was an extra wisp of Spiritual Energy escaping.

The other players hadn’t even found that trace, which meant they hadn’t reached that level of practice yet.

Song Jiulai nodded. "That’s true."

System: "Is that person you mentioned still following you?"

Song Jiulai’s eyes darted around. "I haven’t really felt it these past two days."

But she couldn’t let her guard down.

What if the other person had realized she’d been discovered?

With nothing happening for a while, Song Jiulai was also starting to feel that this place wasn’t safe.

It was just that she hadn’t finished collecting the spirit materials the Sea View Sect needed for the month.

As she was thinking about this, she passed by a canyon.

And from within the canyon, distinct fluctuations of Spiritual Energy could be felt.

Someone was clearly fighting inside.

Gently extending her Divine Sense, she found several Cultivators in the canyon.

They were unleashing various Cultivation Techniques on each other, and the battle was fierce.

And at the center of their battle, in a fissure in the canyon wall...

...a Third-rank Heavenly Sound Grass was emitting a soft, lustrous glow.

Song Jiulai’s eyes widened.

’A Third-rank Heavenly Sound Grass!’

This was the main spirit material for refining the Heavenly Sound Pill.

And the Heavenly Sound Pill was a wonderful Elixir Pill that could help a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator break through to Core Formation in one go.

Some attempts at Core Formation could fail, but the Heavenly Sound Pill greatly boosted the success rate.

Thus, this Elixir Pill was extremely expensive and often unavailable even if one had the money.

Although the success rate of a pill refined from a Third-rank Heavenly Sound Grass was lower compared to one made from the required Fourth-rank Heavenly Sound Grass, there was still a chance.

And moreover—

Song Jiulai took a closer look. The Third-rank Heavenly Sound Grass actually had Dragon Breath Spirit!

’Holy crap.’

’That’s a truly top-grade item.’

No wonder the Cultivators up ahead were fighting like their lives depended on it.

The few Cultivators were locked in a fierce battle. They were all in the Foundation Establishment Stage, and one of them was even at Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

But since he was tied down by the other three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he couldn’t gain much of an advantage despite being at the Late Stage.

Everyone wanted to snatch that Heavenly Sound Grass.

"You people are shameless! We were the ones who discovered this Heavenly Sound Grass!"

One of the Cultivators roared in anger. The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator sneered. "I’ve been in the Yunzhou Continent for a long time, and I’ve never heard of any rule that says whoever finds a wild Spirit Grass first gets to own it!"

That was true enough.

Because the Yunzhou Continent really didn’t have such a rule.

As long as it wasn’t private property, there was no such thing as "first come, first served." Whoever managed to seize it, owned it.

After all, these were items that could improve one’s cultivation. Who was going to be polite about it?

Some people even had their private property stolen, let alone something out in the open!

If you couldn’t get it, that just meant you weren’t skilled enough.

Song Jiulai observed from the shadows.

After all, it was a Third-rank Heavenly Sound Grass. If she couldn’t get her hands on something so good, the thought alone would make her itch with desire.

Even if she didn’t need the Heavenly Sound Pill herself, the spirit material was incredibly valuable, and it even came with Dragon Breath Spirit.

Most importantly, Chen Miaomiao could study these things now.

Among these people, there was also a female cultivator in a felt hat standing off to the side.

Unlike the others, she was only at Late-stage Qi Refining.

If she joined the fray, she would just be cannon fodder.

The few fighting Cultivators hadn’t made a move against her.

Song Jiulai carefully concealed her aura, glanced at the woman, then observed the battle again as she moved a little closer.

The entire battle consisted of three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators fighting one at the Late Stage. Even though the Late-stage Cultivator was a minor Level higher, he was still struggling slightly against their combined assault.

They had all taken out their Magic Treasures. Song Jiulai estimated that with her current strength, dealing with these people wouldn’t be a problem.

That was, assuming the combat prowess they were displaying was all they had.

"You court death!"

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator was soon enraged by the three-person siege. The three Mid-stage Cultivators worked together with great coordination, and for a moment, he couldn’t hold them off. It looked like he was about to meet his end right there.

After a furious roar, countless secret patterns suddenly appeared on his face. Then, something utterly horrifying happened.

The back of his head split open, and three bloody, steaming skulls crawled out from within.

His body also swelled to several times its original size, and an incomparably dreadful, sinister aura erupted from him.

Not only were the three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators facing him dumbfounded, but even Song Jiulai blurted out, "What the hell is that thing?"

She considered herself worldly and experienced by now, but she had truly never seen a Cultivation Technique like this!

It didn’t seem much like a Cultivation Technique; it was something far more sinister.

"You..."

One of the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators had a terrified expression. "The Evil Spirit Technique! You actually—"

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, whose appearance had completely changed, gave a hideous grin. "You found me out. In that case, none of you will be leaving today! My ascension to the Golden Core is just around the corner, especially after I devour the three of you!"

The next second, the bloody skulls, carrying a massive, sinister aura, shot straight for the heads of the three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

In an instant, they were enveloped.

Song Jiulai’s intuition told her the situation had turned sour. She planned to slip away and come back later.

However, before she could escape, one of the bloody skulls suddenly swiveled and shot directly toward her.

Its speed was beyond imagination.

A sinister, ghostly voice echoed.

"Fellow cultivator, what are you watching from the sidelines?"