Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang handed over Senior Brother Wen’s waist token and explained briefly.

"I wish to consult the sect’s collection of alchemical texts or ancient books related to spiritual herbs. I would appreciate it if Senior Brother Zhang could grant me access."

"Of course, of course…"

Senior Brother Zhang readily agreed and personally led Qin Sang toward the rear hall. The hall was divided into several side chambers, each sealed with a barrier. The arches above the doors had inscriptions for different categories: tools, talismans, arrays, alchemy, and so on. Inside each side chamber were rows of wooden shelves, giving Qin Sang a feeling similar to entering a library from his previous life.

They continued walking until they reached the innermost chamber. Senior Brother Zhang lifted the barrier on the alchemy chamber and pointed at a few rows of wooden shelves inside. "Junior Brother Qin, these ancient texts mostly pertain to spiritual herbs and alchemy, though many are based on myths and legends. You are free to browse. As for the jade slips, some contain pill recipes, while others hold alchemical insights collected by the sect. However, you can only view a portion of them—if you wish to access everything, you’ll need to pay some spirit stones."

Qin Sang stepped forward and found that most of the ancient books were dilapidated, protected only by a faint glow of spiritual energy to prevent them from deteriorating with time. There weren’t many jade slips.

In today’s world of immortal cultivation, spiritual herbs were scarce, and alchemy was in decline. Except for the Taiyi Core Sect, which specialized in alchemy, most other sects, even if they wanted to emphasize alchemy, lacked the resources to do so.

After Qin Sang voluntarily paid the spirit stones, Senior Brother Zhang nodded in satisfaction and said, "Junior Brother Qin, feel free to examine everything thoroughly. If you need anything, just call me. I won’t disturb you further."

Once Senior Brother Zhang left, Qin Sang walked over to where the jade slips were placed and began examining them one by one.

The pill recipes in the jade slips only described the effects of the pills, the spiritual herbs required, and their characteristics, along with their medicinal properties. However, the details on refining techniques were restricted, accessible only after paying spirit stones. Since he wasn’t focused on alchemy, he didn’t need those parts anyway.

He came here with two purposes in mind.

One was to trace the origins of the mysterious orchid.

The other was to see if there were any pills or spiritual herbs that could repair his damaged foundation, so he wouldn’t miss out on potential opportunities during his future travels.

It didn’t take long for Qin Sang to finish going through the jade slips. He then carefully picked up the ancient books and began reading them.

Although most of the ancient texts were filled with fanciful myths and legends, there were many bizarre occurrences mentioned that opened Qin Sang’s eyes. It took him the better part of the day to finish reading all of them.

After placing the last ancient book back, Qin Sang furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

From all the ancient texts and jade slips, he had indeed discovered two types of spiritual herbs that could restore a damaged foundation to its original state. One was called Daojing Grass, and the other was called Purple Cloud Fruit. Both were mentioned only briefly in certain legendary tales.

There was no description of what these herbs looked like, where they grew, or any precautions to take when consuming them. Qin Sang was still left in the dark.

As for the mysterious orchid, none of the herbs described in the ancient texts matched its characteristics.

Qin Sang stood up, committing these two herbs and the associated stories to memory. He then walked out of the alchemy chamber, exchanged pleasantries with Senior Brother Zhang, and was about to leave Treasure Tower Peak when a thought suddenly struck him. He stopped and turned back, asking, "Senior Brother Zhang, are all the sect’s alchemical texts stored in the alchemy room?"

Senior Brother Zhang replied, "Most of them are kept here, but some rare pill recipes and important ancient books are stored in the inner hall. However, due to the secrets involved, disciples aren’t usually allowed to enter freely…"

Qin Sang thought to himself that the inner hall might contain exactly what he was looking for. Zhang’s evasive answer, along with his reluctance to speak openly, suggested he was expecting a bribe.

Unfortunately, Qin Sang didn’t have the patience to haggle here. His expression turned slightly stern, and he said in a low voice, "Senior Brother Zhang, what are the requirements to enter the inner hall? Must one obtain a decree from a Golden Core master to gain entry?"

Senior Brother Zhang’s expression changed, and he let out an awkward laugh, quickly saying, "Junior Brother Qin, you’ve misunderstood. How could we trouble Senior Aunt Mawu for such a trivial matter? It’s just that it costs a few more spirit stones than the outer chambers. If you're interested, I can help you open the inner hall right away."

The jade slips and ancient books in the inner hall were far fewer compared to those outside. It didn’t take long for Qin Sang to finish reading them all. As he left Treasure Tower Peak, his expression was somewhat complex—he had indeed found a record related to the mysterious orchid in one of the inner hall’s jade slips.

This particular jade slip was the legacy of a renowned alchemist, containing his personal insights and experiences, most of which were related to alchemy.

Among them was an entry about a certain orchid called the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid.

The Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid was described as having a wisp of smoke hovering above its pistil, from which it would manifest visions of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, exotic beasts, celestial herbs, carriages, and people, as if a miniature world existed within the flower. This matched the characteristics of the orchid Qin Sang possessed perfectly.

What was even more extraordinary was that, until the herb fully matured, the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid would undergo nine transformations, which the alchemist referred to as "metamorphoses."

Only after completing all nine metamorphoses would it become a true Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid, with each transformation taking five hundred years.

Before the first metamorphosis, it appeared to be just an ordinary spiritual herb.

After the first metamorphosis, a single flower bloomed, resembling the most common sword orchid of the mortal world. Though it seemed to be a cluster of flowers, all the petals were actually fused as one.

The second metamorphosis would produce the second petal.

By the ninth metamorphosis, the orchid would have nine petals, opening in a circular formation. Though its appearance remained ordinary, it was called a "Heavenly Orchid."

The one in Qin Sang’s possession had only seven petals, resembling the Snowy Ink Orchid, and even if it was on the verge of its eighth metamorphosis, it would still take five hundred years to fully mature.

Upon reading this, Qin Sang was almost immediately tempted to sell the orchid in exchange for something more practical.

He had just broken through to the Foundation Building Realm and had a little over two hundred years of lifespan left. Even if he was fortunate enough to form a Golden Core, without discovering some pill to extend his life, he would only live for five hundred years at most.

In other words, he might never live to see the orchid reach full maturity, and it would end up as nothing more than a family heirloom.

However, one sentence written by the alchemist at the end made Qin Sang’s eyes widen in shock.

"This type of rare heavenly treasure is incredibly scarce and serves as the main ingredient for the legendary Du’e Pill. For those on the verge of reaching the Spiritual Infant Realm, consuming the Du’e Pill can increase the success rate of achieving the Spiritual Infant Realm by twenty percent!"

Reading this, Qin Sang’s heart shook.

For immortal cultivators, each breakthrough was a fight for the slimmest chance at success.

He had already experienced the difficulty of reaching the Foundation Building Realm.

As one’s cultivation increased, the challenges to break through became exponentially harder. Even someone as gifted as Fairy Chenyan, with her Heavenly Spiritual Root, had failed to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm and had been forced to practice energy-extraction arts as an alternative.

A pill like the Du’e Pill, which could increase the chance of reaching the Spiritual Infant Realm by twenty percent—what did that mean?

For Golden Core cultivators, even a one or two percent chance of success when attempting to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm was enough to make them rejoice. Many Golden Core cultivators, unwilling to gamble on such slim odds, spent their lives searching the world for spiritual herbs, often dying without ever finding one.

In the vast Small Cold Domain, with its countless cultivators, only eight righteous sects had a Spiritual Infant grandmaster presiding over them. It was said that the Heavenly Demon Hill and the demonic sects had even fewer.