The night passed quickly. After Joe Di finished tidying up his cave dwelling, Vaughn Che and the other two were already waiting for him.
"Brother Joe Di, let's go. Time to visit Nightlake." Vaughn Che greeted Joe Di with a hearty laugh, his tone cheerful and carefree, as if the threat from the Divine Radiance Squad was nothing to worry about.
Now that Joe Di understood the use of the Firegod Herb, no matter how difficult things became, he would not back down.
"Vaughn, I have a question I'd like to ask you." Joe Di speculated that cultivators at the Truth Transformation stage might still be unaware of the Firegod Herb's true value; otherwise, it wouldn't be just the Five Young Lords of the Sea List buying it up.
"Since we're teammates, we're brothers—no need to be so formal. If I know the answer, I'll tell you everything." Vaughn Che waved his hand, speaking with sincerity.
Joe Di gazed at the misty Nightlake and asked, "Vaughn, do the Five Young Lords of the Sea List often go out on trials together? And was the search for the Firegod Herb announced after one such trial?"
"That's right. On the surface, the Five Young Lords of the Sea List get along well and often go on trials together. But as for whether the search for the Firegod Herb was announced after a particular trial, I couldn't say." Vaughn Che's heart stirred at Joe Di's question, faintly guessing at something.
Joe Di understood and didn't press further. He simply said, "Let's head to Nightlake together."
"Big Brother Joe, was that really all you wanted to ask?" Liang Guqing looked at Joe Di in confusion, thinking the question was hardly worth asking.
"I had another question, but now I pretty much know the answer. Let's go—we can't waste time searching for the Firegod Herb." Joe Di replied casually.
Now he was absolutely certain: the Five Young Lords had all learned the use of the Firegod Herb during one of their joint trials. Yet these five were selfish—they never announced its true value, not even to the Truth Transformation experts of their sects.
Joe Di suspected that if it weren't for the opening of the Fivefold Dao Conference, and the need to compete for ranking in the Fivefold Dao Tower, the Five Young Lords might have come to Nightlake themselves to search for the Firegod Herb.
Perhaps their real purpose in not coming themselves was to make others believe that their search for the Firegod Herb was just a test of disciples' character, not because the herb was truly important.
......
As Joe Di stepped onto the grassland with the others, he immediately felt his spiritual sea assaulted by a storm, as if it could be torn apart at any moment.
Vaughn Che's timely warning came: "Brother Joe Di, once you enter the grassland surrounding Nightlake, don't extend your divine sense. If you do, you'll never get it back. Just guard your spiritual sea. As for the Firegod Herb, you have to rely on your eyes to find it."
Joe Di tried to withdraw his divine sense, and a sharp pain instantly shot through him. The portion he extended vanished without a trace, leaving his divine sense noticeably weaker.
"Thank you, Vaughn." Joe Di retracted his divine sense, deciding to wait until he reached the lakeshore before using it to search for Firegod Herb.
The four of them walked for nearly two hours, covering only about three hundred zhang. Nightlake was still roughly two hundred zhang away.
Vaughn Che stopped, catching his breath. "Let's search within this area. If we go any further, the damage to our spiritual sea will worsen. Even if we find more Firegod Herb, it won't matter if our spiritual sea is ruined."
"Yeah, this is as far as I can go too," Liang Guqing quickly added.
Bei Shitao nodded in agreement, saying nothing. Clearly, this was the limit for all of them.
From the World Tome, Joe Di had learned the characteristics of the Firegod Herb. He knew there must be Mind Crystals in Nightlake. Since the Firegod Herbs in the lake were of higher grade, that meant those on the outskirts would be of lower grade.
"My divine sense is a bit stronger. I'm going to try going a little further in," Joe Di said.
Vaughn Che nodded. "Be careful. If anything happens, you can't send a message here—just shout for us. We're a team, after all. We advance and retreat together."
The main reason for teaming up at Nightlake's outskirts was for safety in numbers. Otherwise, any Firegod Herb you found could easily be stolen by others.
"Thank you, Vaughn. I understand." After parting ways with Vaughn Che and the other two, Joe Di continued moving closer to Nightlake.
The nearer Joe Di drew to Nightlake, the greater the pressure on his spiritual sea became. It even felt like it might crack under the strain.
Joe Di began circulating the Soul Tempering Technique. To his delight, as he practiced, the pressure on his spiritual sea began to ease. When he tried to withdraw his divine sense, most of it still vanished, but this time he managed to recover a portion.
The Soul Tempering Technique was truly remarkable. Joe Di felt increasingly confident as he continued practicing it while approaching Nightlake.
When he was just a few zhang away from Nightlake, Joe Di found his first Firegod Herb.
Just as the World Tome described, this Firegod Herb was green, only three inches tall, and leafless.
Joe Di placed the Firegod Herb in his mouth. A bitter taste spread across his tongue. Before he could react, a 'boom' erupted—his spiritual sea felt as if it had been set ablaze.
It was as if his entire spiritual sea was about to ignite, with his aura surging uncontrollably outward.
Joe Di was alarmed. If he didn't act, his spiritual sea would surely explode. Even if it didn't, under such a terrifying onslaught, he'd be left an idiot. He could only blame himself for being careless—clearly, Firegod Herb wasn't meant to be consumed whole in one go.
The Soul Tempering Technique spun wildly. The terrifying burning sensation in his spiritual sea felt like it was being ground away by a giant millstone. With each cycle of the technique, a little of the burning aura was swept away, and the pressure in his spiritual sea lessened. Joe Di even sensed his divine sense growing slightly stronger.
This was incredible! Joe Di was thrilled, and his Soul Tempering Technique circulated even faster.
It took a full six hours before Joe Di finally stood up. He had completely absorbed the Firegod Herb. Checking his divine sense and spiritual sea, he found that his spiritual sea had indeed expanded, and his divine sense had grown much stronger.
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No wonder it's called Firegod Herb—this thing really does set your spiritual sea on fire.
Knowing the benefits of Firegod Herb, Joe Di searched for it nearby while circulating the Soul Tempering Technique. The combination of the Soul Tempering Technique and Firegod Herb was simply seamless here.
If the green Firegod Herb had such effects, one could only imagine how powerful the red and black varieties must be.
Joe Di was able to extend his divine sense, and being so close to Nightlake, searching for Firegod Herb was much easier for him than for other cultivators.
In just half a day, Joe Di had found nearly two hundred Firegod Herbs.
The reason was simple: when consuming Firegod Herb, he had to sit and refine it. Otherwise, Joe Di would have been able to search while eating the herb.
By now, Joe Di had reached the edge of Nightlake. From a distance, the lake looked as if it were tilted upright on the ground. But up close, Nightlake was no different from any ordinary lake. That earlier impression must have been a trick of the eye.
Joe Di tried to direct his divine sense into Nightlake. As before, the moment it touched the water, a terrifying heat surged up, stabbing his spiritual sea with pain and nearly knocking him out.
He quickly withdrew his divine sense and sat by Nightlake, regulating his breath for a long time before finally rising to his feet again.
As night fell, the surface of Nightlake seemed draped in starlight, making the entire lake stunningly beautiful. Unlike daytime, the aura flooding into his spiritual sea after dark was even more violent. Without the Soul Tempering Technique, Joe Di would have had to retreat far away.
Staring at Nightlake before him, Joe Di sighed inwardly. It seemed that finding the red Firegod Herb in the lake would be quite difficult.
Joe Di's gaze swept the lakeshore, and to his delight, he spotted more than a dozen red or half-red Firegod Herbs. The red Firegod Herbs each had a single leaf.
The half-red Firegod Herbs were half submerged, while the red ones were almost entirely underwater.
Joe Di was overjoyed. So it turned out that the red Firegod Herbs by the lakeshore only appeared at night.
As for the black Firegod Herb, Joe Di didn't even consider it. Nightlake was far too dangerous, and his current divine sense wasn't strong enough to enter the lake. For now, he just wanted to collect as many red and half-red Firegod Herbs from the lakeshore as possible. He'd search for the black variety once his divine sense was stronger.
Since he couldn't use his divine sense, he figured he could just grab them by hand.
Joe Di approached a red Firegod Herb that was completely underwater and carefully reached his hand into the lake.
Sss! It was like dropping quicklime into clear water—the water hissed and pain shot up Joe Di's arm, spreading through his body. He could even feel his bones being corroded. The corrosion quickly reached his spiritual sea, and Joe Di instantly withdrew his hand, not daring to grab the herb any further.
The part of his hand that had been submerged lost all its flesh, leaving only bone.
Joe Di sucked in a cold breath. As a Tri-King Realm body cultivator, his physical strength was formidable, yet even his hand was corroded. Who could possibly retrieve the Firegod Herb from the lake?
Fortunately, Joe Di was a Tri-King Realm body cultivator and possessed the Grand K'un Codex. By morning, his body had recovered, and even the hand that had been reduced to bone was restored.
The next day, when Joe Di checked again, there wasn't a single Firegod Herb visible by the lakeshore. Clearly, the red variety could only be found at night.
Entering the lake was out of the question—he could only try his luck again after nightfall.
During the day, Joe Di managed to find nearly two hundred more green Firegod Herbs. By now, he'd almost cleared out all the green Firegod Herbs on the lakeshore.
With three to four hundred green Firegod Herbs in his possession, Joe Di was no longer interested in searching for more. What he wanted were the half-red and red varieties.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)