"When will they make a move?"
Ji Yuan suddenly withdrew his gaze and asked the elder beside him.
From their posture, the cultivators had been gathered here for some time. Even with a formation separating them, he could still sense that they were poised for action.
Hearing this, Huang Tianci sighed softly but said nothing, merely signaling for the others to leave the bamboo forest with him.
As his divine body continued to decay and the divine power within him gradually drained, he no longer had much strength for teleportation. He even needed to conserve the power of the formation to deal with the numerous cultivators outside the water mansion.
Because of this, Ji Yuan had the opportunity to take a good look at the residence built at the bottom of the lake, tens of feet deep.
"Why didn't the Crimson Heart Daoist act against this place back then?"
He walked through the water mansion, gazing at the magnificent pavilions and towers, and asked with a hint of confusion.
To this question, Huang Tianci smiled and retorted, "Didn't you guess it long ago?"
Ji Yuan's eyebrows shot up. He had indeed already guessed it, and seeing the smile on his face, he immediately understood.
In fact, when one thought about it carefully, it wasn't difficult to understand. No matter when, a Pill Dao Grandmaster held immense weight. Such beings, even within the entire Great Yu Dynasty and its surrounding kingdoms, numbered no more than a handful.
If the Crimson Heart Daoist succeeded in his blood sacrifice, he would require a steady supply of elixirs to stabilize and enhance his cultivation. Even if he failed, as long as he had a breath left, he could quickly recover from his injuries and return to his peak condition.
"To make a Pill Dao Grandmaster obedient, Crimson Heart fell out with me before the blood sacrifice and secretly brought everyone from the water mansion to the Small Profound Yellow Palace."
Huang Tianci spoke in a calm tone, his voice trembling slightly, carrying a trace of undetectable anger and hatred.
In fact, if it weren't for this, how could the water mansion have remained unscathed? With a Pill Dao Grandmaster participating in the battle, the final outcome would have undoubtedly been different.
He possessed elixirs that could heal injuries, or stimulate potential, and unleash greater power for a short period, enough to supply several Golden Core Grand Cultivators in combat.
With ample elixir support, even if the Crimson Heart Daoist's magical power was immense, he would not have escaped being surrounded and killed.
"This is the sorrow of mountain and marsh rogue cultivators and itinerant cultivators. No matter how strong an individual's power is, as long as it hasn't reached the pinnacle, there will always be someone stronger than you."
Huang Tianci earnestly admonished, "Therefore, before you possess absolute strength, it is best to rely on your own Pill Dao attainments to find a trustworthy and sufficiently powerful backer."
This was a lesson he had learned from his own experiences. If he hadn't been greedy for freedom and unwillingness to bear too many burdens back then, he wouldn't have ended up in such a state.
Ji Yuan nodded in deep agreement. Since entering this underground dojo, he had felt what it was like to have a strong backer multiple times.
If it weren't for the assistance of disciples like Zhao Yuansong from the Nine Xuan Sect, even if he had stumbled upon some fortuitous encounter, he would not have been able to take it away with so many enemies surrounding him.
As they conversed, the two walked side by side into a vast medicinal garden, stretching as far as the eye could see. The large area was neatly divided into hundreds of plots.
About half of the medicinal fields looked simple, with nothing extraordinary. However, some were transformed into dense forests, or various other environments.
Ji Yuan saw a medicinal field, or rather a pond, where several colorful lotuses were planted in spring water rich with spiritual energy.
Not far from it, there was a muddy swamp, from which an unknown strange flower bloomed with a nauseating black light.
This place was densely covered with formation patterns, connecting each medicinal field and harmonizing their powers, forming an almost perfect cycle.
Each medicinal field took what it needed, and the excess was extracted and channeled to other areas, becoming nutrients for the growth of other spiritual herbs.
"It's a bit unfortunate. The spiritual herbs here were harvested decades ago, and there aren't many mature ones now."
Huang Tianci pointed to the medicinal field in front of him, his expression one of helplessness.
Despite the immense effort and countless sacrifices he had poured into this medicinal field, he had to harvest spiritual herbs periodically to maintain his divine body over the thousands of years.
It had only been a few decades since the last harvest, and most spiritual herbs had not yet recovered their vitality. Even if forcefully used for alchemy, they would not be very effective.
Moreover, given the state of these spiritual herbs, if they were transplanted now, their roots would likely wither and die as soon as they were unearthed, leaving no possibility of survival.
At Huang Tianci's signal, Ji Yuan began to walk through the medicinal fields. Although ninety percent of the spiritual herbs had been harvested and had not yet fully recovered their vitality, many had not been touched.
However, considering the other party's instructions to leave some to delay the cultivators outside the water mansion, he only selected a few mature spiritual herbs and harvested the parts that could be used for medicine.
"These are the seeds of some spiritual herbs, and the methods for planting and cultivating each type."
Huang Tianci handed over a Qiankun bag. Inside, besides seeds of twenty to thirty types of spiritual herbs, there was a mountain of jade slips.
These jade slips contained not only records of transplanting, planting, and cultivating numerous spiritual herbs but also his insights and understandings in this regard.
"My attainments in the Pill Dao have all been infused into the 'Vast Sea Qiankun Furnace'. You can slowly comprehend them later."
He said with a smile.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan's eyes immediately sparkled. Compared to the method of refining pills through water, the entire attainments and insights of a Pill Dao Grandmaster might be even more precious.
However, his expression soon darkened as he sensed a death wish from the other party.
The young man couldn't help but think that if it weren't for ensuring his safe departure and the continuation of his legacy, the other party would have long stopped persisting and allowed his divine body to collapse and perish.
"Thank you."
Ji Yuan pondered for a long time but found that any words seemed pale and weak for the first time.
"I am also just ensuring the continuation of the legacy."
Huang Tianci shook his head and gently patted the young man's shoulder.
He seemed to always wear a smile and told Ji Yuan in a relaxed tone that there was no deep friendship between them, so there was no need to feel sad or mournful about it.
"If you are willing, perhaps in the future, you can take a disciple for me."
He smiled slightly. When he mentioned taking a disciple on his behalf, a faint light flickered in his eyes, which were filled with the will to die.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan nodded solemnly, promising that if he encountered a suitable opportunity and a suitable person, he would take a disciple on his behalf.
He would also allow this disciple, taken on his behalf, to leave his tutelage and establish their own sect, thus continuing this lineage of inheritance.
"Hahahaha, that's good, that's good!"
Huang Tianci suddenly burst into laughter. The dissipating divine power within his body began to condense, and an extremely strong fluctuation swept out.
Although he claimed to have lingered on for thousands of years, he had once been a cultivator at the peak of the Third Realm. Even though he now specialized in the divine path, his accumulation over long years, even with his divine body on the verge of collapse, still possessed immense power.