Translator: Timothy_ Editor: mjn0898
âThereâs an ancient ruin on the Great Zhou mountain?â Ye Mo asked after a while.
The monkey-mouthed foundation establishment state cultivator was dazed for a moment and said uncertainly, âSo, friend, youâre not here for the ruin. Well thereâs indeed a ruin in there....â
âMonkey Jian, youâre scamming people again.â A tall handsome male cultivator walked up to Ye Mo and saluted with his fists. âFriend, itâs your first time at the Mang Mountain right? Donât trust Monkey Jian, this guyâs tricking you. How can there be so many ruins?â
Monkey Jian saw this foundation establishment state cultivator and his face immediately changed. He turned to leave without even saying anything to Ye Mo.
Ye Mo studied this handsome male cultivator, he was also foundation establishment state but was at the peak stage. He seemed cheerful and genuine, but Ye Mo had the feeling that his words werenât as truthful as Monkey Jian.
âThis is your first time here at the Mang Mountain town right? Iâm Duan Yitai, Iâve been here for some time. That guy you just saw is Monkey Jian, he scams foreign cultivators. You donât need to believe him friend.â Duan Yitai smiled seemingly very genuine.
Ye Mo saluted with his fists and asked, âThen may I ask brother Duan if there really is an ancient ruin on the Great Zhou mountain?â
Duan Yitai smiled. âMonkey Jian isnât completely lying to you about this, everyone knows about the ancient ruin on the mountain, but that isnât the case now. It was ten years ago, large amounts of ancient ruins were revealed. Many cultivators came to search them. More and more cultivators came eventually forming a small market. Mang Mountain Town was built at that time.â
âIn that case then how is Monkey Jian scamming?â Ye Mo asked in confusion.
Duan Yitai shook his head. âItâs because the ruin isnât real. Six years ago, those people searching for the ruin eventually found a large lava pond. Almost all cultivators thought that was the entrance to the ruin, but in the end the lava pond exploded and none of the cultivators survived. There were said to be tens of thousands of casualties. Even now, you can still find some magic artifact shards at the outskirts of the lava pond. Some lucky cultivators might even get a golden core state masterâs storage ring.â
Ye Mo frowned, thinking that Xin Zhida âs grandpa was also tricked into coming here and died to the lava pond.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Duan Yitai explained, âAfter the lava pond exploded, many masters came to check it out â there was even a truth realisation state cultivator â but they dindât find anything. In the beginning, people came looking for storage rings, but as time went on, there were less and less people.â
So that was it â Ye Mo finally realized why the town was built so well but the population was so low. The spirit chi here was arid and it really didnât seem like a place the herb king spirit range was at.
Ye Mo was sure that Duan Yitai didnât lie to him about this as he could ask other people at any time about this.
Just when Ye Mo wanted to leave, Duan Yitai stopped him and said, âAlthough the ancient ruin is fake, thereâre quite some good things not far away from here.
âThis isnât a place to talk, please come with me.â
Ye Mo was a nascent soul state level five cultivator and wasnât going to be afraid of Duan Yitai, so he followed without question.
Duan Yitai was very happy with Ye Moâs attitude. The two didnât go very far before coming to a luxurious small building. There was a decent spirit gathering formation outside.
Going inside, Ye Mo realized that it was a spirit rest tower. Many cultivators were resting here and chatting. A few foundation establishment states were discussing about the pill king tournament loudly. Ye Mo and Duan Yitai walked up slowly and listened.
âBrother Hong, is that pill king Ye really that strong?â a middle aged man female cultivator with a knife scar on her face asked upon hearing that skinny old man talk.
The old man looked at the female cultivator in contempt and raised his voice, âHeâs not just strong, just when everyone thought he was a level seven spirit pill master and didnât have a rare flame, he beat all the pill kings in the first and second round and got first. On the 12 pill king steps, he took out the rare flame Purple Flower Fire and fought his way up. No pill king could compare with him, not even a Half Immortal pill king.â
âHow come Iâve heard that there was a pill king called Jiu Qian? He seems to be on par with that pill king Ye,â another cultivator said.
The old manâs face was very excited. âYea, that Jiu Qian is also a tough guy. He acted as a level nine spirit pill master but was actually a level six pill king. He even took out heaven flame One Purple Flare at the tenth pill king step...â
Many cultivators exclaimed hearing this.
âBut at this time, that level seven pill king Ye Mo reached out his hand and also released a flame, do you know what flame it is?â the old man asked.
âWhat flame is it?â a few cultivators subconsciously asked.
âHehe, also a heaven flame called Mist Lotus Heart Fire. Its color was deeper than the One Purple Flare. In the end, pill king Ye concocted heaven grade level seven pills with Mist Lotus Heart Fire, but Jiu Qian failed.â
âBrother Hong, how do you know it so well?â another cultivator asked.
The old said proudly, âBecause I saw the pill king tournament. When I was close to pill king Ye, it was only 10 meters.â
Suddenly, the knife scarred female cultivator asked shakily, âBrother Hong, did you say that pill king Ye is Ye Mo? Heâs really Ye Mo?â
The old man said in contempt, âHeâs called Ye Mo for sure, he changed his name to Luo Xiaomo and then admitted he was Ye Mo. He also has a city called Mo Yue City, why would I lie? There were many people who went to see the tournament, if you donât believe me you can ask around.â
The female cultivator became very excited and said shakily, âBig brother Hong, can you give me a painting of pill king Ye? Iâll give you spirit stones.â
Ye Mo scanned that female cultivator with his spirit sense, he didnât think that an irrelevant pill king would cause her to be that excited.
Ye Mo watched her closely and realized that he had indeed never seen her before. He didnât know why she was so excited after hearing his name, but suddenly, Duan Yitai said to Ye Mo, âFriend, weâre here.â
He opened the room and Ye Mo saw there were two cultivators there already, both foundation establishment state. One was actually a monk, the other of middle build, with short hair and black cultivator robes.
Duan Yitai brought Ye Mo in and said, âThese two are Lu Xiu and Li Jilei.â Then he said to the two, âThe person who came with me is...â
Ye Mo saluted with his fists and said, âIâm Ning Xiaoma, greetings.â
Duan Yitai waited for Ye Mo to sit down before saying, âSince everyone knows each other now, Iâll be straightforward. Brother Ning, thereâs a swamp in the outskirts of the Great Zhou Mountain called Zhou River Swamp. Have you heard of it brother Ning?â
Ye Mo shook his head.
âBrother Li, you can tell him, you found it,â Duan Yitai said to that blue robed short haired cultivator.
Li Jilei nodded. âHalf a month ago, I went to Great Zhou Mountain with a few friends to look for magic artifact shards, but I smelled this aroma. I was sure that it was herb aroma. Just smelling it cleared my spirit, I feel itâs at least a level seven or above spirit herb.â
âAt the time, we were all very excited and charged to the source of the aroma. However, we found it to be inside the Zhou River Swamp. When we went inside, we startled a level five spirit beast. Before we did anything, the spirit beast was enraged and two of my friends died in the swamp. Only I survived.â
Then, Li Jilei subconsciously glanced at Ye Mo and saw that he was listening intently, so he said with some excitement, âI went back and invited a few more friends over, but I never smelled that aroma again. My frends thought I was lying to them so they all left, but I stayed. After a few more hours, I smelled that aroma again and it was different than the herb smell last time. This time, it only lasted about 8 minutes.â
At this moment, Duan Yitai intervened, âAfter we heard what brother Li said, we felt itâs an ancient herb garden. Itâs very ancient and has many types of spirit herbs.â
Li Jilei nodded again. âThatâs right, we went and checked a few days later and gathered that there would be herb aroma at midday only.â
Ye Mo suddenly asked, âSo you want me to go with you guys to find that spirit herb garden?â