“No, it doesn’t seem right,” Li Che immediately rejected his own conjecture, scratching his head in confusion. The ancient records he read also mentioned some things about the Nether River. “I’ve only read about the Nether River in books. It’s said that back then, there were no Three Realms, just one vast realm where humans, demons, and devils lived. The Nether River flowed underground in the extreme north, where the surface was eternally frozen, the land incredibly hard, and almost nothing grew. Only the Netherworld Thorn grew by the river, and it was extremely difficult to harvest.”
Both the Nether River and the Netherworld Thorn were legendary to medical cultivators. Otherwise, as the only son of the sect leader of Jingyuetian and its genius young talent, Yan Xuan wouldn’t be left with no cure and fall into despair after his inner core was damaged.
“Mm.” Meng Qi responded softly.
“Could the Nether River and the Netherworld Thorn truly exist?” Li Che murmured again, turning to Meng Qi. “Does this mean Yan Xuan can be saved?”
Meng Qi didn’t answer his question; her gaze fell on the inconspicuous, grass-like small plants. The dark red markings outlining the leaves gave them an eerie appearance, even in the sunlight.
“Is this really the Nether River?” Li Che looked at the creek in disbelief, finding it hard to reconcile the small, clear stream with the legendary Nether River.
Meng Qi had already taken out a pair of gloves from her storage pouch. The silver gloves were exceptionally tough, impervious to poison, water, and fire. She carefully reached out toward the Netherworld Thorn.
“Be careful!” Li Che grabbed Meng Qi’s wrist. He also had a similar pair of gloves, as medical cultivators often needed to gather ingredients themselves. He put on his gloves and said, “Let me do it.”
“Netherworld Thorns look like ordinary grasses, but they are named ‘thorn’ for a reason,” Li Che explained. “The thorns on the underside of the leaves are very dangerous.” He adjusted his posture, popped an antidote pill into his mouth, and continued, “It’s said that although the thorns are as fine as cow hair, they silently penetrate human skin, entering the spiritual sea and vital organs through the meridians. In just ten breaths, they can kill a cultivator at the Comprehending Perfection stage.”
“A Comprehending Perfection cultivator,” Li Che emphasized, “is just two steps away from the Great Ascension stage, a top-tier expert.” He adjusted his stance again, cautiously reaching out to the Netherworld Thorn. “It’s said that as soon as the thorn touches, one must sever the limb—cut off the hand if touched by the hand, cut off the leg if touched by the leg—to barely survive. But…”
“It’s also said that when the thorns touch human skin, it goes completely unnoticed. By the time one realizes it, the thorns have already invaded the spiritual sea and vital organs…” Li Che sighed. He reached out for the Netherworld Thorn again but soon hesitated, unable to bring himself to touch the leaf.
…
“He’s so talkative!” The black-robed sword cultivator sat lazily with his arms crossed over his chest, watching the scene unfold from a faraway cliff. Curling his lips, he then turned with great interest to the red-clad woman and the white-haired man behind him. “How about we make a bet? Let’s see if he dares to touch that Netherworld Thorn.”
The white-haired man snorted disdainfully and looked away.
The woman in red glared, “I bet he will pick it!”
“Then I’ll bet he won’t.” The sword cultivator grinned. “Seeing how scared he looks, I bet he won’t pass this level.”
“If he can’t even pass the first level, the remaining six, each harder than the last, will doom the little girl as well. I wonder what he was thinking, insisting on sending two people through each trial. If one fails, it’s all over. Tsk, tsk…” The sword cultivator shook his head and sighed.
“Hey! Are you gloating?” The woman in red glared at him again. “We don’t have much time left. If they fail, we might not make it through the next hundred years.”
“I’ve said it before, even if the Three Realms are destroyed, so be it. Since we would have perished anyway,, who cares if the Three Realms are engulfed in catastrophes and turn into a purgatory?” The man in black curved his lips into a mocking and carefree smile.
Hearing this, the woman in red exchanged a worried glance with the white-haired man. They remained silent, standing quietly behind the sword cultivator. The mountain wind blew through their hair, and after a moment, the woman in red couldn’t help but ask the white-haired man, “Do you… do you think they’ll pick it?”
“Maybe they will, maybe they won’t.” The white-haired man shook his head. “Although I’m also a medical cultivator, I can’t predict every thought of my fellows.”
He paused, then added, “Or perhaps they’ll come up with a better solution.”
…
Li Che’s hand remained still for a while, hovering above the Netherworld Thorn near the creek. Closing his eyes, he spoke partially to Meng Qi and partially to himself, “What if… what if this isn’t the Netherworld Thorn?”
“Well…” Meng Qi responded; her expression remained calm. “Let me try.”
She reached out for the Netherworld Thorn.
“Wait!” Li Che grabbed Meng Qi’s wrist again, stopping her. “Let’s look around first and see if there’s anything else nearby.” He thought for a moment and said, “If this really is the Netherworld Thorn, and it’s as dangerous as the legends say, what will we do if something happens to us and we can’t break the Seven Emotions Array?”
“Alright.” Meng Qi nodded. Medical cultivators were not reckless—after all, they could only help others if they could protect themselves. Withdrawing her hand, Meng Qi got up and stood up with Li Che. “In the creek…” her gaze fell on the stones at the bottom of the creek, faintly sparkling with tiny dots. She took a few steps closer to the creek, squatted down, and examined the stones closely. “They are indeed Stardust Stone.”
“They really are…” Li Che was stunned. Stardust Stone was rare in the Three Thousand Worlds, though it could still be found in the two other realms.
But the Nether River…
He glanced warily at the flowing creek, then looked into the distance. They were on a vast plain. With no mountains in sight, it was as if the horizon itself were blending with the sky. The creek, running across the plain, also disappeared into the horizon.
“Eh? Wait—” he suddenly realized, “Where… where are the others?!” He had been so engrossed in the spiritual plants here that he hadn’t noticed until now that only he and Meng Qi were present. Sikong Xing and the others were nowhere to be seen!
“Meng Qiqi!” Li Che nearly jumped up. “Where are the others?” Both he and Meng Qi were medical cultivators, with the weakest combat abilities among the seven. If something happened, they wouldn’t be able to fight back.
“Didn’t you hear a voice talking just now?” Meng Qi asked.
“Huh?” Li Che looked at her in confusion.
“This is the first trial,” Meng Qi explained calmly. She looked around and said again, “We need to get through this trial together. Once we pass it, we’ll move on to the next level.”
“S-so… so it’s just the two of us here?!” Li Che was momentarily stunned.
“Yes,” Meng Qi nodded. “It seems that way.”
“Then where are the others?” He asked, bewildered.
“I don’t know,” Meng Qi shook her head.
“How do we pass this trial?” Li Che asked again.
“I don’t know,” Meng Qi shook her head once more.
“…” Li Che stood there in silence, staring at Meng Qi’s composed face. “Then what should we do?”
“Let’s first see what we can find around here.” Meng Qi smiled slightly and echoed Li Che’s earlier suggestion.
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