Chapter 33: Obtaining The Heavenly Star Grass

Fang Hao stood in the wind and snow, watching the Sword Qi of Li Xuan and Zhu Pang fade into the distance, his heart struggling.

Returning to the Sect would be safe, but Lin Wan’s fate was unknown; staying would be fraught with danger, yet there might be a slim chance of survival.

"Senior Sister Lin encountered danger because of me, how can I escape alone?" Fang Hao clenched his fists, determination flashing in his eyes.

He turned and looked once more toward that Starry Sky Cliff that pierced into the clouds. The wind and snow grew heavier, visibility dropping to less than ten zhang, but this could not stop his resolve.

Fang Hao first found a relatively safe ice cave as a base, then began to formulate a search plan. The Starry Sky Cliff was vast and fragmented by spatial rifts; finding someone was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"I must conduct a systematic search." Fang Hao spread out on the ice cave floor and used his spiritual power to carve out a map of the surrounding terrain. "Searching by area, centered on the point of the fall."

On the first day, Fang Hao searched the East District. The space here was relatively stable, but Tundra Wolves often appeared. He was cautious, needing to find the person while avoiding the beasts. After a full day, he had found nothing.

On the second day, the West District. Spatial rifts were dense here, and Fang Hao was nearly swallowed several times. Once, to avoid a rift, he fell into an ice crevice and had to exert great effort to climb out. There was still no sign of Lin Wan.

On the third day, the North District. This was the territory of Frost Giant Bears, and Fang Hao had to take a detour. During the detour, he discovered a hidden ice valley, and there were signs of fighting in the valley!

"This is..." Fang Hao investigated carefully and found sword marks on the ice wall—it was exactly the Azure Cloud Sect sword style! There were also scattered bloodstains, already frozen.

Fang Hao was startled and followed the traces deep into the ice valley. The marks were intermittent, clearly indicating a fierce battle had taken place.

Finally, at the end of the ice valley, Fang Hao discovered a cave half-hidden by ice and snow. There was a simple Restriction at the entrance, which was exactly the technique of the Azure Cloud Sect!

"Senior Sister Lin!" Fang Hao hurriedly broke through the Restriction and rushed into the cave.

The cave was not deep. By the faint light filtering through the entrance, Fang Hao saw a figure curled up in a corner, covered in blood and breathing weakly—it was Lin Wan!

"Senior Sister!" Fang Hao rushed forward to check her injuries.

Lin Wan seemed to have fallen into a coma, her face as pale as paper. A wound on her left shoulder was deep enough to see the bone, her right leg was clearly fractured, and her spiritual power was almost exhausted.

Fang Hao immediately took out the best healing Medicinal Pill, carefully fed it into Lin Wan’s mouth, and used his spiritual power to help her dissolve the medicine’s power.

Then he carefully treated the wounds. Cleaning, applying medicine, setting the broken leg... his movements were skilled and gentle.

After finishing these tasks, Fang Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although Lin Wan’s injuries were severe, her life was not in immediate danger.

He strengthened the Restriction at the cave entrance and set up several early-warning Formations before staying by Lin Wan’s side to adjust his breathing.

In the middle of the night, Lin Wan finally woke up. She first gripped her sword alertly, only relaxing when she saw it was Fang Hao.

"Junior Brother Ning..." her voice was weak, "Why... didn’t you leave?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Fang Hao handed her warm water: "Senior Sister encountered danger because of me, how could I leave alone?"

A flash of emotion crossed Lin Wan’s eyes, then she said urgently, "Go quickly! It’s dangerous here... that beast might come back!"

Fang Hao frowned: "What beast?"

Lin Wan said with lingering fear, "A mutated Ice Crystal Scorpion, extremely powerful... I barely escaped here after a life-and-death struggle..."

Just as she spoke, a rustling sound suddenly came from outside the cave! Fang Hao’s expression changed: "It’s here!"

Looking through the Restriction, he saw a giant scorpion, body like ice crystal, approaching! This scorpion was about a zhang long, with a dark blue tail hook, clearly highly venomous.

"Third-tier Peak..." Fang Hao was shocked. This mutated Demon Beast was much stronger than an ordinary third-tier one!

The Ice Crystal Scorpion seemed to sense someone inside the cave and began to ram the Restriction! The light of the Restriction flickered, looking as if it would shatter at any moment!

"Senior Sister, rest. I’ll go deal with it!" Fang Hao stood up resolutely.

Lin Wan said anxiously, "No! This scorpion’s poison is incredibly potent!"

Fang Hao had already rushed out of the cave. He knew that fighting inside the cave would limit his movements and be even more dangerous.

Seeing someone come out, the Ice Crystal Scorpion immediately lunged! Its tail hook pierced straight forward, bringing a flash of blue light!

Fang Hao used Divine Spirit Steps to dodge, while his azure steel sword was unsheathed, and he performed the Starfall Sword Art with all his might! But the sword struck the scorpion’s carapace, leaving only a faint white mark!

"What a hard shell!" Fang Hao was shocked. The hardness of this mutated scorpion’s carapace was comparable to a Magic Treasure!

The scorpion tail pierced again, extremely fast! Fang Hao barely dodged it, but the poisonous wind brought by the tail still made him feel dizzy!

"I can’t fight it head-on!" Fang Hao changed his strategy, focusing on kiting. He moved constantly, leading the scorpion away from the cave.

On the ice field, a man and a scorpion engaged in a fierce battle. Fang Hao’s sword technique was exquisite and his footwork flexible, but he couldn’t break the scorpion’s carapace; the scorpion was powerful and venomous, but it couldn’t catch Fang Hao.

During the stalemate, a sudden flash of inspiration hit Fang Hao: "Ice scorpions fear fire!"

He immediately shifted his tactics, pushing his fire-attribute Spiritual Root to its limit! The sword blade glowed red, and every strike carried scorching Sword Qi!

Sure enough, the Ice Crystal Scorpion began to shrink back! Although the fire-attribute Sword Qi still had difficulty breaking the shell, the high temperature made it extremely uncomfortable.

Seeing this, Fang Hao immediately unleashed all his fire-attribute Talismans! Instantly, flames shot up into the sky, turning the ice field into a sea of fire!

The Ice Crystal Scorpion screamed repeatedly and finally dared not fight any longer, turning and fleeing into the depths of the ice field.

Fang Hao breathed a long sigh of relief and returned to the cave. Lin Wan was struggling to come out to help, and only felt at ease when she saw he was unharmed.

"Junior Brother has great methods!" Lin Wan praised. "This mutated Ice Crystal Scorpion is extremely difficult to deal with; even I suffered a great loss."

Fang Hao said modestly, "It was just luck. How is Senior Sister’s injury?"

Lin Wan gave a bitter smile: "My leg bone is broken, I need to rest for a while. But why did you insist on staying? It was too risky."

Fang Hao said seriously, "Senior Sister took risks for me. If I were to abandon you, how would I be any different from a beast?"

Lin Wan stared at him blankly, a complex look in her eyes: "You... you are just as Senior Sister Liang said, a person who values loyalty and friendship."

Fang Hao was stunned: "Senior Sister Liang, she..."

Lin Wan smiled slightly: "Senior Sister Liang often pays attention to you in secret, it’s just that she has a cold personality and isn’t good at expressing herself." She paused, "I was saved this time also because the life-saving Magic Treasure she gave me worked in the spatial rift."

A warm current flowed through Fang Hao’s heart. It turned out Liang Ling had been caring for him in secret all along.

Over the next few days, Fang Hao took care of Lin Wan while searching for heavenly star grass in the vicinity. Unfortunately, he found nothing, though he did find several other Spirit Medicines that helped with healing.

Lin Wan’s injuries gradually improved, and she could barely walk. This day, she suddenly said, "Junior Brother Ning, I know a place that might have heavenly star grass."

Fang Hao was pleasantly surprised: "Where?"

Lin Wan pointed to an ice peak ahead: "There is a Starlight Platform at the top of that peak, which is said to be able to gather the Power of the Stars. I originally intended to go there to search, but I unexpectedly encountered the Ice Crystal Scorpion."

Fang Hao looked; that ice peak was exceptionally steep with biting astral winds, indeed dangerous. But for the heavenly star grass, it was worth the risk!

"Senior Sister, rest here. I’ll go investigate."

Lin Wan said urgently, "No! That place is extremely dangerous! Wait until my injury is better and we’ll go together!"

Fang Hao shook his head: "Senior Sister’s injury is not yet healed, it’s not suitable for you to take risks. I know what I’m doing."

He settled Lin Wan and set off for the ice peak. The higher he climbed, the stronger the astral winds became, like knives cutting his face. Fang Hao had to fully circulate his spiritual power to resist.

As he neared the summit, he suddenly felt a strange vibration—the Power of the Stars!

Fang Hao’s spirits rose, and he accelerated his climb. Finally, he reached the summit, and his vision widened.

The summit was as flat as a platform, covered with a crystal-clear layer of ice. Under the ice, dots of starlight flickered, as if the night sky were sealed within the ice.

Most striking was a silver-white Spiritual Plant growing quietly in the center of the platform. Its leaves were like starlight, emitting pure Power of the Stars!

"heavenly star grass!" Fang Hao was overjoyed! He had finally found it!

He cautiously stepped forward and, after confirming there was no danger, carefully harvested it. This heavenly star grass was extremely delicate and had to be removed completely with its roots and soil.

Just as Fang Hao successfully harvested the heavenly star grass, a warning sign suddenly arose in his heart! A dark shadow lunged from the side!

Fang Hao dodged hurriedly, but his arm was still scratched. Looking closely, it was actually that Ice Crystal Scorpion! It had been lurking here all along!

It turned out this heavenly star grass was its guardian spiritual object! No wonder it was so powerful!

Seeing the Spiritual Plant harvested, the Ice Crystal Scorpion flew into a frenzy, its attacks becoming even more ferocious! Fang Hao fought while retreating, gradually being forced to the edge of the platform.

Below was a bottomless abyss! There was no way to retreat!

At the critical moment, Fang Hao had a sudden epiphany and put the newly harvested heavenly star grass into his mouth! Instantly, a majestic Power of the Stars flooded into his body!

He used the power to achieve a Breakthrough, his seven-attribute Spiritual Roots circulating wildly, and temporarily created a sword move—"Starfall Seven Extremes"!

Seven types of Sword Qi with different attributes merged into one, turning into a brilliant river of stars that lunged straight at the Ice Crystal Scorpion!

The Ice Crystal Scorpion was swallowed by the river of stars, letting out a shrill scream! When the starlight dissipated, the Ice Crystal Scorpion was heavily injured on the ground, at its last gasp.

Fang Hao also knelt on the ground, exhausted; this sword strike had drained all his spiritual power. But looking at the heavenly star grass in his hand, he felt it was all worth it.

After adjusting his breathing for a moment, Fang Hao dragged his weary body back to the ice cave.

Seeing him return, Lin Wan was overjoyed: "You succeeded!"

Fang Hao smiled and nodded, taking out the heavenly star grass: "I got it by luck."

Lin Wan looked at the heavenly star grass, then at Fang Hao’s pale face, and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work."

The seven main medicinal ingredients were finally all gathered.

On the way back, Lin Wan said seriously, "Junior Brother Ning, I will keep this kindness in my heart. If there is a need in the future, I, Lin Wan, will certainly help."

Fang Hao shook his head: "Senior Sister is too polite; helping a fellow disciple is only right."

Looking toward the direction of the Sect in the distance, Fang Hao’s heart surged. The Materials for the foundation establishment pill were ready; the next step was to start the Alchemy furnace and charge toward Foundation Establishment.

The path of cultivation has taken another step forward.