The green Spiritual Energy moved swiftly, like a miniature scanner; the woman did not pursue, rely followed slowly behind.
Wild animals like wolves and foxes that occasionally appear in the snowy mountains fled at the sight of the green aura, evidently avoiding it.
Not until after darting over three mountain tops did that flickering green Spiritual Energy finally co to a halt, lingering on a prominently protruding mound of snow.
The woman approached the area dominated by the green snow aura unhurriedly. When she arrived, she snapped her index and middle fingers together, and the green Spiritual Energy continuously shrank, eventually transforming into a leaf that floated down onto the mound of snow.
"All say leaves return to their roots; this truth is inescapable for all plants in the world. Even the centennial Snow Peak Blood Lotus, which knows to evade the pursuit of dicine Gatherers, cannot hide from the Root-Seeking Lotus Leaf I specially plucked from you years ago," the woman snapped her fingers again, and the Blood Lotus Leaf began to tremble vividly, amidst a flurry of snowflakes.
A mist of snow rose, revealing a red glow from within the snow.
What erged was a red lotus flower, as red as blood, with leaves like jade and petals like blood. A rare Tianshan Blood Lotus stood under the intense, bone-chilling cold, forced to break through the snow and bloom in its dying monts.
Beneath the layers of white snow, aside from the Snowdrops, glowed a red light; unexpectedly, this particular snowfield wasn’t normal. Above it lay pristine white snow, while beneath was a subterranean lava flow, capable of lting gold and disintegrating bone.
This expanse of a hundred li with snow drifting and a thousand li icebound, a harsh and bitter cold land, is situated within the Heavenly Mountain Range between Xinjiang and Tibet in China. What the woman sought in the mountains was the ultimate among the snow lotuses, the Tianshan Red Lotus.
In stories of the Tianshan Lotus varieties, the most famous tale cos from the White-haired Witch; the Devoted Witch Lian Ni Chang’s hair turned white overnight, and only the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus was reputed to cure her, with legendary effects of preserving youth and beauty.
The Snow Peak Blood Lotus, compared to the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus, becos more precious with age. Even rarer, the Blood Lotus demands an unrelentingly harsh environnt to grow: not only in the bitterly cold high-altitude snowy mountains but also within thermal fissures. Amid the snow and lava, a Blood Lotus blooms. Once flowered, the Blood Lotus will also hide along with the movent of the geothermal lava.
Had the woman not encountered an immature Blood Lotus years ago, and managed to snatch a leaf from it, it would be near impossible to confidently locate the Blood Lotus in the vast snow today.
"With the Blood Lotus, I can consider refining an elixir for advancent," the woman smiled at the thought, deeming the trivial trick of eternal youth as insignificant. What’s more important to her is the advancent of her cultivation.
Restraining the Blood Lotus with Spiritual Energy, the woman refrained from plucking the red lotus by hand, instead, observing it longer. Touching such spiritual materials as the Tianshan Blood Lotus with ordinary flesh and bone would result in imdiate disintegration, similar to touching concentrated sulfuric acid.
Fortunately, the woman ca prepared. She took out a brown bottle of the size commonly found in a village pesticide bottle, and between her fingers, a green Spiritual Energy Rope burst forth, encircling the Blood Lotus.
The Spiritual Energy Rope tightened around the Blood Lotus, which struggled fiercely, but in vain against the Spiritual Power Rope’s entrapnt. Weakened, the petals and leaves withered, and the red Spiritual Energy alternated with the green, being drawn into the brown bottle by the Spiritual Energy Rope.
Only a dry stem and leaves of the Blood Lotus were left, and the woman was satisfied with her capture. "To think, after many years, I, i Nian, have almost gathered all the essential dicinal herbs. If I can find a stalk of Purple Ginseng, I’ll be able to ascend in my path and face Cangqiong Palace, unveiling the secret to eternal life." The woman’s laughter echoed through the myriad mountains of the snowy peaks, traveling far and wide.
**
Huang Yaoshi waited in the shop for the delivery vehicle to return, from nightfall until the next morning, when the dusty vehicle finally arrived.
Upon inquiring, the driver explained that the two young passengers didn’t ride with him but had him drive the vehicle directly to a small town in Hebei.
"Hebei? By their accents, neither of the young custors sounded like they’re from Hebei," Huang Yaoshi wondered, montarily unconcerned about the fuel cost.
"Indeed! I was as shocked to hear I was heading to Hebei, but rembering your instructions, Huang Pharmacist, to deliver the herbal dicines safely and that they are very important custors, I followed through," the destination for the dicine delivery was a small pharmaceutical factory with only seven or eight workers.
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