According to the display on the electronic map, Dragon Whisker Grass and two other spiritual herbs should grow on the main peak of the Northern Desolation Mountains. As for their specific locations, Leo had to rely on his own exploration.
Leo’s plan was to start searching from the summit in a carpet-style approach. Soon, a withered tree caught Leo’s attention because it was adorned with Lingzhi mushrooms.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that these Lingzhi mushrooms were different, with unique colors.
“This is… Frost Crystal Snow Lingzhi…” Leo was pleasantly surprised. This was a valuable find. Leo had even specifically bought one for Jennifer at the auction in East Town.
Unexpectedly, three of them appeared here. Leo summoned his purple glow dagger, harvested all three Frost Crystal Snow Lingzhi, and stored them in his Void Storage Talisman.
Although Frost Crystal Snow Lingzhi was rare, it wasn’t Leo’s primary target. He was after Dragon Whisker Grass, Phoenix Gall, and Goblin Essence.
Leo, as if digging three feet into the ground, searched the surroundings for a long time but couldn’t find any trace of the targeted herbs.
Could it be that there were no Dragon Whisker Grass, Phoenix Gall, and Goblin Essence on the main peak at all?
Leo felt a bit disheartened, but he didn’t give up. He walked towards the south side of the mountain top, a large slope with fewer trees and more unidentified weeds and wildflowers.
Walking down the slope for about four to five meters, Leo suddenly sensed something and quickly infused spiritual energy into his eyes.
Under the influence of spiritual energy, his naked eyes could “see” more things.
Soon, Leo’s gaze locked onto a plant under a wild hawthorn tree not far ahead.
There, a plant with leaves resembling white radish tendrils…
Dragon Whisker Grass!
Leo felt delighted and hurried over. The reason why Dragon Whisker Grass was extremely hard to discover was because its leaves could refract light, in other words, it could make itself “invisible.”
It was fortunate that Leo had enhanced his eyes with spiritual energy; otherwise, even if Dragon Whisker Grass were right under his nose, he might not see it.
Under the hawthorn tree, Leo took out his purple glow dagger, carefully dug up the Dragon Whisker Grass, roots and all, and stored it in the Void Storage Talisman.
With one Dragon Whisker Grass obtained, Leo searched nearby but unfortunately found only this one, with no sign of Phoenix Gall or Goblin Essence.
Leo had no choice but to continue down the slope, hoping his luck would be good enough to find all three spiritual herbs at once.
At the end of the slope, a cliff appeared before Leo. This cliff appeared suddenly, as if it had emerged from the southern slope of the main peak. It was at least ten stories high, forming a natural barrier.
Moreover, this cliff was not smooth as glass, but it was bare, with no weeds or anything suitable for climbing. In other words, even the world’s top climbing experts would find it nearly impossible to ascend this cliff.
However, for Leo, this could be considered a piece of cake.
After casting the Void Levitation Technique, Leo floated slowly towards the top of the cliff. When he floated to the same level as the cliff’s top, he found that the top was surprisingly flat, as if a giant knife had cut through it.
The top of the cliff was covered with lush green grass, and a solitary tree stood alone. Seeing this tree, Leo’s eyes lit up.
The tree wasn’t tall, only about six or seven meters. What was most peculiar was its leaves – each golden leaf resembled a golden phoenix.
As the mountain wind blew, the leaves rustled, as if countless tiny phoenixes were dancing in the air.
This tree was called the Phoenix Tree. It blossomed once every hundred years and bore fruit once every hundred years. The fruit was called Phoenix Gall, precisely the spiritual herb Leo was seeking.
The Phoenix Tree and Goblin Essence had a symbiotic relationship. In other words, if you found a Phoenix Tree, you were likely to find Goblin Essence as well.
The saying “It’s easy to find when you least expect it” seemed fitting for Leo at this moment. However, Leo celebrated too early. The moment his feet touched the top of the cliff, the scene before him suddenly changed.
Leo’s heart pounded: this was an Illusionary Restriction!
What appeared before Leo’s eyes was a flat mountaintop without the lush green grass or the Phoenix Tree; it was barren.
No, there was someone ahead – a person wearing a black cloak, emitting a sinister aura.
That person seemed to appear suddenly, yet it also felt like he had been standing there all along, giving an extremely eerie feeling.
“Who are you?” Leo asked, looking at the person whose head was covered by a hood.
The person raised his head, and even though they weren’t far apart, Leo couldn’t see his face clearly.
Leo had to use spiritual energy to probe him, but there seemed to be an invisible barrier around the person’s body, preventing spiritual energy from penetrating.
“I’m the one who wants your life,” the man in black said. His voice was peculiar, a baritone that, if a bit sharper, might have sounded like a woman.
As soon as the man in black spoke, an extremely cold and piercing wind suddenly blew across the mountaintop.
Leo’s entire body surged with spiritual energy, pressing down on the black-clothed man like a tidal wave.
The man in black snorted, a wicked curve forming on his lips. He took his hands out of his pockets and began to perform a strange set of movements in front of his chest.
The movements seemed like sealing techniques at first glance but were chaotic upon closer inspection. They appeared to be random, yet there seemed to be a specific trajectory in the casting.
As the man in black’s hands moved, the entire mountaintop violently trembled. The previously cold and biting wind suddenly turned scorching hot, then cold again, alternating between extremes – a true icy and fiery paradox.
A cold smile appeared on Leo’s lips as he silently watched the man in black’s movements.
After the man in black completed the set of movements, a mysterious circular symbol lit up in mid-air in front of him. The symbol consisted of various complex patterns.
Once the symbol appeared, both the cold and hot winds ceased simultaneously, and the entire mountaintop fell silent.
A feeling of an overwhelming force pressing down, a hundred times stronger than before, enveloped Leo. It made it difficult for him to breathe normally.
Leo couldn’t move a single inch; he was completely frozen, and beneath his feet, flames erupted.
The flames incessantly scorched him within the ice block. Strangely, despite the relentless burning, there was no sign of melting in the ice that encased him.
Within the ice block, Leo felt as if he were inside a volcano. If not for his abundant spiritual energy forming a protective barrier, he would likely have been roasted alive.
The attack used by the man in black was a type of ancient witchcraft called Illusionary Substance Attack Art.
This was a particularly unique and powerful form of witchcraft.