The Starfall Ascension Record

Chapter 8: Blood Dragon Vine

Ye Man's corpse lay before Ye Tong and Ye Yunshan, already cold.

The wind and snow outside the Courtyard seemed much fiercer now, and the penetrating chill made their faces extremely grim, their eyes blazing with furious anger.

"How dare you, Shen Yuan. Not only did you kill someone, but you also spoke so arrogantly. I will absolutely not spare you."

Ye Yunshan erupted in a thunderous roar, flung his hand, grabbed a cold, gleaming longsword, and prepared to seek revenge on Shen Yuan.

In just three days, the Ye Family had one person crippled and one person dead.

He could not tolerate this insult.

"Get back here."

Before Ye Yunshan could step out of the door, Ye Tong suddenly shouted and said coldly, "The person is already dead. If you strike now, will you not fall right into Shen Yuan's trap?"

"Although that is true, still..." Ye Yunshan remained indignant.

Ye Tong exhaled slowly, his entire face grim as water. "Ye Man was already at the Peak of the Fourth Layer of Meridian Condensation. The fact that Shen Yuan could kill him means his cultivation must have reached at least the Fifth Layer of Meridian Condensation, or possibly even higher."

"This child has deep cunning. He fooled all of us, and we absolutely cannot treat him lightly."

"Even if he is deeply cunning, so what? With my early Origin Qi Realm cultivation, I can crush him with a flick of my hand." Ye Yunshan was quite arrogant. After three days of closed-door bitter Cultivation, he had finally stepped into the Origin Qi Realm.

Practitioners in the early Origin Qi Realm condense an Origin Pool in their Dantian, which greatly increases both the volume of Origin Qi and overall strength.

Ye Yunshan was full of confidence that he would definitely kill Shen Yuan if he took action.

"Killing Shen Yuan would only satisfy you temporarily, but inheriting the Sword Pavilion later would be fraught with difficulty. Moreover, I always feel that Shen Yuan is not simple..."

Ye Tong's expression shifted, seemingly lost in thought.

A moment later, he suddenly stood up and said to Ye Yunshan, "Yunshan, Cultivate diligently these few days. Before the Fighting Arena battle begins, you must not step half a pace outside this side Courtyard."

Having said that, Ye Tong did not wait for Ye Yunshan's reply, immediately donned a black robe, and quietly left the side Courtyard.

Compared to the chaos in the Ye Family, Shen Yuan's side Courtyard seemed peaceful.

Shen Xiyao woke up from her coma. Seeing herself lying on the bed, her face immediately showed intense confusion. Was she not in the Cultivation secret chamber? How did she end up here?

"You are awake?"

The door opened, and Shen Yuan slowly walked in.

He lovingly ruffled Shen Xiyao's dark, beautiful hair, and his voice was gentle. "Does your face still hurt?"

Shen Xiyao met Shen Yuan's dark eyes, immediately feeling her cheeks flush, but she suddenly remembered something and urgently said, "Brother Shen Yuan, Ye Man..."

"I know all about it. Do not worry, Ye Man will not bully you anymore." Shen Yuan helped Shen Xiyao sit up, his voice calm as water.

"Really?" Shen Xiyao asked, still feeling lingering fear.

"When have I ever lied to you?" Shen Yuan pretended to be angry.

Shen Xiyao stuck out her tongue, then lowered her head, speaking self-reproachfully. "If only I could Cultivate, how great that would be. I could not only help Godfather, but also protect Brother Shen Yuan. I would not have been so miserable today."

As she spoke, Shen Xiyao clenched her small fists, tears welling up in her eyes.

Shen Xiyao was not Shen Changyuan's biological daughter, but an adopted daughter.

It was said that one cold winter, Shen Changyuan returned from hunting and saw an abandoned infant under a tree. He took her back to the Sword Pavilion and adopted her, naming her Shen Xiyao.

Shen Xiyao was delicate and lively since childhood, and as she grew up, she possessed a beauty capable of overthrowing kingdoms. However, she was born with damaged Meridians, making her unable to absorb Origin Qi or Cultivate.

Perhaps it was for this reason that she was abandoned and nearly froze to death in the wilderness.

This incident had always been Shen Xiyao's deepest worry, and even after more than ten years, she found it hard to let go.

"Just damaged Meridians, it is nothing major."

Suddenly, Shen Yuan grasped Shen Xiyao's fair hand, a cheerful smile on his face, and said, "As soon as I recover my cultivation slightly, I will immediately help you repair your Meridians. By then, you will not only be able to Cultivate, but you might even become a Cultivation Genius."

"Brother Shen Yuan, are you not lying to me?" Shen Xiyao widened her eyes.

"When have I..." Shen Yuan stopped halfway through his sentence. Immediately after, he and Shen Xiyao burst into laughter, and a warm atmosphere filled the room.

What Shen Yuan said just now was certainly not a lie to Shen Xiyao.

With the medical Dao he mastered, repairing Meridians was not a difficult task, just slightly troublesome.

He estimated that as long as his cultivation recovered to the Qi Blood Realm, he could start the repair, completely resolving this issue for Shen Xiyao.

"Xiyao, rest here for now. I need to go out for a trip." Shen Yuan still had matters to attend to. After settling Shen Xiyao, he strode out of the side Courtyard.

Leaving the Sword Pavilion, Shen Yuan walked towards the market district.

After three days of bitter Cultivation, Shen Yuan's cultivation had reached the Third Layer of Awakening, which was sufficient to help Shen Changyuan expel the poison.

But before that, he needed to purchase a few auxiliary spiritual materials.

In addition, Shen Yuan needed to buy some items so he could undo the Seal on the Demon Sword.

The Primal Formation sealing the Demon Sword was of high grade, reaching the Fourth-level. Let alone searching all of Qingyang City, perhaps only a few people in the entire Great Qin Imperial Dynasty could undo it.

But their inability did not mean Shen Yuan could not.

As a Legendary Formation Master from the Celestial Expanse, he had long grasped the true meaning of the Formation Dao. Even without any cultivation, the difficulty of undoing a Fourth-level sealing Primal Formation was not great.

It was noon, and the market was bustling with people, appearing very lively.

There were many stalls in the market, mostly selling ordinary spiritual materials. Of course, there was no lack of opportunistic people trying to pass off poor quality goods as excellent, hoping to make a quick fortune.

No one tried to stop this kind of behavior.

When it came to buying and selling, one side was willing to sell, and the other willing to buy. Even if one bought a defective item, they could only blame their own poor judgment.

As a Celestial Venerable powerhouse, Shen Yuan's judgment was naturally sharp. Before long, he purchased the items he wanted at a very cheap price.

Just as Shen Yuan was preparing to return to the Sword Pavilion, his gaze suddenly fell upon a stall.

The stall was unremarkable and covered with various items. In the corner, a blood-red vine lay quietly, plain and odorless, easily overlooked.

"It really is the Blood Dragon Vine." Shen Yuan instantly determined the origin of the item, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

When Shen Yuan was young, Shen Changyuan was attacked by a Primal Beast. Not only was his right arm severed, but his Dantian was also pierced, making him unable to Cultivate for the rest of his life.

Reconstructing a severed arm was not difficult, but the entire process required enduring immense pain. If the patient had no cultivation and a weak body, they could easily die on the spot from the unbearable agony.

Therefore, before reconstructing the severed arm, Shen Yuan must first repair Shen Changyuan's Dantian.

Repairing the Dantian is a complex process requiring many spiritual materials, among which the Blood Dragon Vine and Lanyou Grass are particularly rare.

Qingyang City was a small border town with meager resources, so Shen Yuan had not held much hope. He never expected to find the Blood Dragon Vine here.

"How much for this item?" Shen Yuan directly asked the stall owner. He was determined to acquire the Blood Dragon Vine.

The stall owner was a gray-haired old man. Seeing that Shen Yuan looked distinguished, he chuckled cunningly, "Young Master, this item grows on steep cliffs and is extremely rare. If Young Master likes it, just give me one hundred taels of silver, and I will sell it to you."

After speaking, the stall owner narrowed his eyes, sizing up Shen Yuan.

"Alright." Shen Yuan smiled faintly and handed over one hundred taels of silver.

The Blood Dragon Vine is ranked as a Third-level spiritual material, growing in extremely yin places, not on steep cliffs. In terms of price, it should be worth at least one hundred Origin Stones, which is one million taels of silver.

Clearly, the stall owner did not know its origin and just wanted to fool Shen Yuan.

However, buying a Third-level spiritual material for one hundred taels of silver was a huge profit for Shen Yuan, so he could not be bothered to argue with the stall owner.

Seeing Shen Yuan's quick agreement, the stall owner immediately felt a bit regretful. However, he did not say anything more. After accepting the silver, he respectfully handed the Blood Dragon Vine to Shen Yuan.

"Thank you." Shen Yuan put away the Blood Dragon Vine and turned to leave the market.

"Shen Yuan."

Just as Shen Yuan turned around, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

The voice was very moving, clear like a yellow oriole emerging from a valley, and must have belonged to a woman.

Shen Yuan stopped and looked back, only to see a flourishing young woman standing not far behind him. Dressed in shimmering robes and wearing a jade hairpin, her charming face held a gentle, mild smile.

"Su Muyan?" Shen Yuan quickly recognized the girl's identity.

The woman before him, named Su Muyan, was the daughter of the Su Family, the number one Family in Qingyang City.

"I wondered why that back view looked so familiar. It really is you." Su Muyan spoke again, her smile still bright and her voice still clear and moving, but Shen Yuan sensed something odd.

Su Muyan's eyes seemed very smug, adopting a condescending posture, looking down at Shen Yuan with extreme mockery.