Since Xu Yan was separated from Bai Bing and the others, he began to walk towards the northern hinterland of the stalagmite forest alone, and it has to be said that the range of Dengbei Mountain is quite wide, and these towering thousands of stalagmites are like a labyrinth of natural combinations, making people almost unable to distinguish the four directions between heaven and earth when they are deeply immersed in it.

Maybe when they were taken out to check individually, each one was different and different, but after three days of continuous inspection, it was almost visual fatigue, even Xu Yan began to feel that they might not look the slightest difference at all.

In the past three days, Xu Yan has been constantly looking for the golden hairpin Shilan, however, when he checked at least dozens of stalagmites and still didn't see even a trace of it, he couldn't help but have a thought in his heart, "Could it be that this task has been a huge lie agreed between the heads of the major sects since it was first formulated, purely just to let us come here to find that unwarranted hope?"

Pulling Fuyao out of the belly of a spirit beast that had just stepped into the second level, Xu Yan's deep eyes could no longer tell whether it was tired or deep, he looked at the corpse under his feet, and sighed softly, this was the twenty-third spirit beast that had died in his hands in the past three days, he had been silently counting the increasing death number in his heart, and at the same time, he also found that as he went deeper and deeper into the hinterland of Dengbei Mountain, the number of spirit beasts wandering in the mountains was also increasing.

For example, on the first day, he only encountered six spirit beasts, only one of which was a second-level spirit beast, and the rest were all first-level spirit beasts. But on the second day, this number directly doubled, becoming eleven, and there was not a single first-level spirit beast in it.

As for today, it was not around noon, but Xu Yan had already killed the sixth second-level spirit beast.

Xu Yan easily dissected its corpse, but still couldn't find Neidan from its body.

Now he can basically be sure that if he wants to obtain the inner pill from the body of the spirit beast, it is possible to encounter at least a spirit beast of the third level or above, of course, the spirit beast after reaching this level is more troublesome to deal with than the second level, because whether it is in terms of strength or ferocity, the third-level spirit beast is very strong.

Xu Yan didn't stay in place for too long, but continued to hold Fuyao in his hand and walked deeply, and at this position, he could no longer retract Fuyao into the scabbard behind his back. He couldn't predict if in the next second, behind or around the corner of a stalagmite, a fierce spirit beast that had been lurking for a long time would suddenly rush out towards him.

And so, four days passed again.

Seven days later.

Xu Yan finally came to the real hinterland in the north of Dengbei Mountain, the environment here is undoubtedly much worse than the periphery, in addition, from this place, the distance between stalagmites and stalagmites has also become a huge span, generally after Xu Yan encounters a stalagmite, he has to see another stalagmite more than ten kilometers away, but the distance is nothing, the most depressed thing is that since yesterday evening, in this area where he is, there has been a gray fog.

This fog does not come from rainy weather or mountain fog that only rises when the climate is humid, it is more like a miasma formed by the decay of dead animals or plants in the forest, and since it is a miasma, it must have a certain toxicity.

Xu Yan witnessed this miasma, but he didn't worry too much, in his long Bible, there are naturally many secret methods to dispel poison, they are enough to restrain most of the poison in the world, even if he is bitten by a poisonous snake or poisonous insect or other creature in the mountains and forests, he will never have any worries about his life.

A lone stalagmite appeared in Xu Yan's field of vision again, it was like a huge pillar, standing in the mist and dense forest, reaching straight into the sky.

Xu Yan opened his eyes and found that its volume was much higher than all the stalagmites he had seen when he first came to Dengbei Mountain, although he couldn't completely see how tall it was at this time, because at a height of about twenty zhang, it had already been obscured by a gray miasma, but he could feel its majesty and majesty.

Xu Yan opened his eyes and looked at the stalagmite that was close at hand, but he was a little hesitant in his heart, because he couldn't be sure whether he would climb up again to find some bullshit golden hairpin stone orchid, in the end, the lack of harvest in the past seven days had already made him feel a little physically and mentally exhausted, if it wasn't for the fact that before he set off, he had personally seen detailed information about the golden hairpin stone orchid on the "Herbal Medicine Sutra" in the Zongmen Zangjing Pavilion, he would even have to wonder if there was such a spiritual grass in this world.

But in the end, Xu Yan gave in to his sense of responsibility and curiosity, and paced towards the huge stalagmite in front of him.

Above the stalagmites are dense turquoise climbing vines, which look very thick and strong, almost every one of them is as thick as an adult man's arm.

Xu Yan temporarily retracted Fuyao into the scabbard, and then began to climb up the rattan.

A quarter of an hour later, he climbed to a position of nearly twenty zhang high for stalagmites, but it was clear that no matter how carefully he searched, this position could only climb countless vines, but there was no shadow of a golden hairpin stone at all.

He did not pause too much, and after resting for a while, he continued to climb upward, until after another quarter of an hour, he came to a distance of about forty feet.

A ray of light came down from the sky, Xu Yan blinked a little dazzlingly, and then he felt that at this height, the miasma floating around him was no longer as dense as below, and could block all the sunlight, and as he rose every zhang in the future, the miasma layer would thin out by a point, and by the time he climbed to a height of about sixty zhang of stalagmites, he was completely out of the range of the miasma layer.

At this moment, Xu Yan could clearly see that under his feet was a sea of fog full of gray and poison, and it was hard for him to imagine that such a dense miasma layer had formed here just overnight.

Xu Yan woke up suddenly, how could a sea of fog with such a wide range of influence be a miasma layer?

He looked around, and it was very regrettable that even though he was at a height of nearly sixty zhang of stalagmite, he still couldn't see the end at a glance, and at the same time, he couldn't see where this gray, poisonous fog came from.

Xu Yan smiled bitterly, and did not continue to study this issue, but looked up at the stalagmite, only to find that the height of the stalagmite was originally a hundred zhang away, so he was only about forty zhang away from the final summit.

Fortunately, the climbing vines that grew at his feet, although their numbers were decreasing as the height increased, there were still a few that spread all the way to the summit.

"Whew!"

Xu Yan grabbed the climbing vine, and after carefully climbing to the top of the stalagmite, he couldn't help but exhale a long breath heavily.

At the top of the stalagmite, the wind was howling non-stop, frantically blowing Xu Yan's long black hair, and at the same time, it also blew the robes on his body, and the hunting sound.

Xu Yan looked up at the sky, as if the blue sky was like a mirror, it was also within reach, but unfortunately, the scene in front of him could not be compared to the ravines he had witnessed with his own eyes.

No matter how beautiful the scenery is, he has seen it with his own eyes, and no matter how lofty the mountain, he has also set foot on it.

Xu Yan rested for a moment, then withdrew his gaze from the distance, and then he began to look for the target of his trip, the golden hairpin stone orchid, on the top of this vast mountain.

On the top of the stalagmite, the trees grew extremely sparsely, they were not dense, Xu Yan walked in this area similar to a small forest, and did not miss a corner. His eyes were sharp like eagle's eyes, sweeping between the grass and the bushes, until he was about to reach the center of the area when he saw what appeared to be a large hole in front of him. But before he could get closer to the cave to investigate, the first thing that caught his eye was the golden plant that grew at the edge of the cave.

It's budding, like an orchid, but it hasn't bloomed yet, and it looks like it will take at least a day.

Xu Yan looked at it with shocked eyes, and the mood of Gujing Wubo was also a slight at this moment.

"Golden Hairpin Shilan!"

There was a slight surprise in Xu Yan's voice, but it was more of a relief relief, and after he said these four words, his face, which was extremely sunny, but looked a little vicissitudes because of the ups and downs of this period of time, finally showed a smile.

Xu Yan paced in the direction of the golden hairpin orchid, this was the fruit of victory that he had only really encountered since the seventh day of his arrival at Dengbei Mountain, even if it was not ripe at the moment, but he could afford to wait, he could wait until it was really ripe, and then pick it.

Xu Yan got closer and closer to it, step by step, and at the same time, his gaze gradually saw the huge pit behind it clearly.

This giant pit as a whole is in the shape of a circle, its widest point is full of twenty zhang, but the depth is only more than two zhang, and it is filled with stagnant water, making it look like a natural lake, however, when Xu Yan really saw the situation inside, his face turned into a real horror in this instant.

A giant snake as thick as a bucket, like a dragon coiled its body, sleeping in this huge pit, its eyes closed, its breathing evenly, its huge head facing Xu Yan, or is it facing this golden hairpin orchid?

Xu Yan looked at the giant snake with astonishment, and there was only endless disbelief in his heart, and after a while, he suddenly remembered one of the many deeds that Chen Qinghe had told him about spirit grass and spirit beasts that night, Chen Qinghe said at that time: " It is said that in some untrappable places in the world, there are some spiritual treasures of heaven and earth with magical effects, but the reason why these spiritual treasures are difficult to be picked by practitioners is not only that the geographical environment in which they grow is too harsh, it is said that next to them, there are powerful spiritual beasts to protect them, and these spiritual beasts are called guardians. ”

Xu Yan looked at this giant snake and undoubtedly exclaimed in his heart, "Could it be the guardian of this golden hairpin orchid?" But although the number of golden hairpin orchids is scarce, it is far from being a heaven and earth spirit treasure, so how can it attract the protection of spirit beasts?"

"No! It is recorded in the "Book of Herbal Medicine" that the flowers of the golden hairpin stone orchid are golden, but the flower stalk is ordinary gray-brown, and this golden hairpin stone orchid is covered in red gold. It's even more difficult to grow to this extent, isn't it ......?"

Xu Yan turned around and carefully glanced at the flowers under his eyes, "Could it have survived for a hundred years?"

It is said in the medicine scripture that only the golden hairpin stone orchid that grows to more than 100 years can become the color of red gold after flowering once in ten years, bearing fruit once in ten years, and so repeatedly after five transformations, and once it reaches this level, it can not only bloom flowers can be used as medicinal materials, but also its flower stalks will also have the same effect, and most importantly, it will also produce a fruit at the same time when the sixth flower blooms, and this fruit will grow in the middle of the flowers, just like the spirit animal grows Neidan, and it will bear fruit after a hundred years'Flower-core', it is even a hundred times more precious than the Pei Yuan Dan refined by the dynasty. Because it is believed that the person who persuaded it could not only break the threshold of the Seven Realms one hundred percent, but at the same time, it could also improve his cultivation in at least one realm, whether that person was a sword cultivator or a martial cultivator.

Xu Yan thought of these written records, and when he looked at them again, his gaze was completely different from before.

What is he lacking the most at the moment? it is undoubtedly this kind of heaven and earth spirit treasure that can help him quickly improve his realm without leaving sequelae.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, originally according to the world he had seen, he would not have expressed excitement about these things again, but this life is different from the past.

He half-knelt in front of this golden hairpin orchid, stretched out his hand and gently stroked the bud that it was about to fully open, like stroking a newborn baby, the movements were gentle and careful, and even Xu Yan saw through the petals that it had already opened most of the petals, and saw the 'flower-core' in the center of the flower. ”

It turns out that the record in the medicine scripture is true, and it seems that the person who wrote the scripture has also had such an adventure. Xu Yan said to himself.

At this moment, in the midst of the huge pit, a wave of water suddenly rolled up.

"Whoa!"

It was like a huge wave crashing on the beach from the sea, and when Xu Yan heard this, his heart immediately tightened, he couldn't help but turn his head to look, and then secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out that it didn't really wake up, but just rolled over in its sleep like a human.

Xu Yan stroked his chest with palpitations, when this giant snake had not yet come to his senses, he couldn't judge what level of spirit beast it was, if it was below the fourth level, like the Blood Wolf King, he could fight with it with all his strength, and even kill the other party, but if this giant snake entered the range of the fourth level, he had never fought before, so he would not have the slightest confidence.

"But if you can't beat it, it's always easy to escape. ”

Xu Yan thought so in his heart, and then got up and walked around the edge of the giant pit, and continued to walk to the other side of the mountain, since the golden hairpin stone orchid is still a period of time away from the real flowering period, he naturally does not have to keep guarding the same place, besides, the mountain top area of this stalagmite, he is only half gone, maybe there is still a golden hairpin stone orchid growing on the other side.

"It seems that Senior Brother Bai may not have ten plants before, but it is still too much, this kind of spirit grass, it is great luck to see one. Xu Yan muttered to himself in his heart, at this time, he had already bypassed the entire range of the giant pit, and then not far in front of him, he saw a spirit grass with the same shape as the one before.

"There is even one!" Xu Yan looked at the golden hairpin orchid growing in the crack of the rock in front of him, and couldn't help the horror in his heart, and exclaimed.

However, although the one in front of me is also a golden hairpin orchid, it is obviously the first time it has bloomed, because on its branches, it has not even turned into the gray-brown color recorded in the medicine scriptures, but is very delicate blue-green.

Xu Yan looked at this golden hairpin stone orchid with a hint of gold in the petals, and was somewhat reluctant to pick it away in his heart, because its growth time was too short, and if he didn't choose to pick it this time, then most people who would find it in the future would be able to wait until the day when it really matured, after all, the stalagmite in front of him was basically close to the northernmost part of Dengbei Mountain, and further north, it was the legendary Sanjing Creek, and ordinary sect disciples would not dare to go deep into this range at all.

However, in the end, after Xu Yan thoroughly checked the scope of this mountaintop, but failed to find the third golden nodice stone orchid, he still picked this incomparably delicate golden nobis stone orchid, as for the reason, it was because Xu Yan had secretly decided that when the final task was handed in at the end of the spring hunt, he would only hand over this new stone orchid, and the golden nodice stone orchid with a hundred years of 'old age', he would definitely keep it for himself, such a spirit grass has already entered the ranks of heaven and earth spirit treasures, which can be described as precious and abnormal.

"It's a pity that I can't transplant you into the sect alive. Xu Yan sighed softly after digging out the stone orchid, and then put it into the storage bag.

Although it greatly reduces the trouble of carrying large bags and small bags when people travel, it has the disadvantage of not being able to store living things. In the storage bag, there is no air, and there is no heaven and earth aura, so any living thing will die after a long time when it is stored inside.

Xu Yan seemed to have something in his mind, and couldn't help but mutter, "If only you could find something like the 'Seven Treasure Hu' in the Five States Continent." But when he said that, he shook his head again, feeling that he was thinking too much.

After all, this kind of artifact is not something that can be refined by the cultivators of this five-state continent.

......

Time flies.

It was late at night.

On this night, Xu Yan did not choose to sleep, nor did he meditate, because in the huge pit, which was only a few feet away from him, a giant snake was sleeping.

He couldn't be sure when the monster would wake up, so he could only watch the night.

In the vast night sky, there are stars and moons shining together, emitting a bright and bright light, countless stars are dotted, like gems after luminescence, but even such a charming night sky scene still did not arouse Xu Yan's slightest attention and interest.

He is like a lonely pine and cypress, growing on the top of this stalagmite, allowing this beautiful light and shadow to pass by quietly.

The night sky is gone.

At the edge of heaven and earth, a deep blue color rose, and a huge fireball slowly rose from the east with a new look, until it was perpendicular to the top of the pine and cypress, shining on the golden flower in front of him.

A golden color shining brighter than the sun emanated from the center of the flower.

The golden hairpin orchid finally bloomed completely at this moment.

Xu Yan gently picked it from the rock, and then in the huge pit like a lake, on the huge snake head, there was a pair of colorful eyes, Huo Ran opened it.