Chapter 300: Gathering Flowers

"Ye Yuan, is there anything else? The other sects have already gone far!" Mei Zhen reminded.

The hundred or so people from the eight major sects were neither too many nor too few in this secret realm; if they delayed, the good things would be taken by others.

Mei Zhen couldn't directly order Ye Yuan, so he had to advise tactfully.

Ye Yuan said, "Elder Mei, rest assured. Although this secret realm has many treasures, they may not be so easy to obtain. Arriving first doesn't guarantee getting them first; otherwise, the Heavenly Qian Sect wouldn't have gone to such trouble to invite us here. For now, since the other sects have left, we can safely gather the flowers."

When Ye Yuan said this, everyone was startled.

The toxicity of this sea of flowers was evident to all just now, and now Ye Yuan wanted to gather them?

"Ye Yuan, don't joke! This sea of flowers probably has thousands of Orchid Heart Flowers, and their toxicity is so strong that even a Crystal Formation cultivator can't withstand it. You saw what happened to those people just now, and you still want to gather them? That's like an old man eating arsenic—courting death!" Mei Zhen said.

That scene just now was too shocking, leaving the members of the Nether Cloud Sect still shaken.

Everyone's attitude toward this sea of flowers was unanimously to keep their distance.

So when they heard Ye Yuan wanted to gather flowers from the sea, Mei Zhen nearly jumped up.

"These flowers are not Orchid Heart Flowers but Mandala Flowers. The Mandala Flower's grade and appearance are very similar to the Orchid Heart Flower, but it is extremely toxic. Moreover, when Mandala Flowers are planted together in clusters, the toxicity accumulates, reaching nearly fourth-grade levels. That's why those people died on contact," Ye Yuan explained.

"Mandala Flowers? I've never heard of them! But since they're so toxic, you definitely shouldn't go over there!" Mo Yuntian said.

Ye Yuan laughed heartily and said, "How can one return empty-handed from a mountain of treasures?"

"A mountain of treasures? How can a bunch of poisonous things be a mountain of treasures?" Mo Yuntian asked in confusion.

Ye Yuan shook his head and said, "Brother Mo, you say that because you don't know the origin of the Mandala Flower. The Mandala Flower is inherently toxic and looks very different from the Orchid Heart Flower. The reason the Mandala Flowers we see now look exactly like Orchid Heart Flowers is that they are grafted."

"Grafted?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right. After the Mandala Flower matures, all parts above the root are cut off, and then an Orchid Heart Flower is grafted onto it, resulting in the current Mandala Flower. In fact, it should be called the Mandala Orchid Heart Flower," Ye Yuan explained.

"No way? The Orchid Heart Flower is such a precious second-grade medicinal herb, and it's used for grafting into a Mandala Flower? What a waste! What a pity!" Tian Yu couldn't help but lament.

Having grown up beside Tian Feng, he was much more familiar with various medicinal herbs than others. The preciousness of the Orchid Heart Flower was not taken lightly even by the Heavenly Qian Sect, let alone the resource-scarce Nether Cloud Sect.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Nothing to regret. There must be a greater reason for doing this."

"What reason? If we could take all these Orchid Heart Flowers back, they would elevate the overall strength of the Nether Cloud Sect's Liquid Realm martial artists by a level. But now... we can see them but can't eat them. How frustrating!" Tian Yu sighed.

"The grade of a medicinal herb is fixed, but under certain special conditions, it can advance. No matter how precious the Orchid Heart Flower is, it's only a second-grade herb. It's of great significance to Liquid Realm martial artists, but for Crystal Formation cultivators, it's somewhat useless."

"Ye Yuan, do you mean... the reason for grafting this Mandala Flower is to allow the Orchid Heart Flower to advance?" Mo Yuntian's eyes widened in disbelief.

Ye Yuan nodded and smiled, "Exactly! The Orchid Heart Flower is a very pure and nourishing medicinal herb. Even if a Liquid Realm martial artist swallows one raw, it greatly benefits cultivation. But to cultivate a third-grade Orchid Heart Flower, a highly toxic environment is needed! After the Mandala Flower is grafted with the Orchid Heart Flower, it turns the Orchid Heart Flower into something even more toxic, but this toxicity can actually promote the advancement of the true Orchid Heart Flower!"

Tian Yu exclaimed in surprise, "There is such a miraculous method in the world?"

This grafting technique was nothing miraculous in the Divine Domain; every major power had its own unique cultivation methods.

But in the Boundless Realm, it was an extremely miraculous skill.

In Tianyu's view, the grade of medicinal herbs was fixed; he had never heard that they could be upgraded.

Ye Yuan said, "It's nothing miraculous, just a matter of knowing or not knowing."

"Does that mean there are third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers in this sea of flowers?" Mei Zhen said.

Ye Yuan nodded and said, "That's why I said, once they leave, we can safely harvest the flowers."

"But this sea of flowers is so vast, and all are highly toxic—touch them and you die. How do we harvest them?" Mei Zhen frowned.

Even knowing there were treasures in this sea of flowers, it was useless if they couldn't enter!

They had already witnessed the potency of the Mandala Flower's poison and had no desire to risk their lives.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Simple, just burn them all!"

"Burn... burn them? The third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers are inside too—what if they all burn up? And... how to burn them? Second-grade herbs can't be destroyed by ordinary fire." Mei Zhen said.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Everyone, follow me!"

With that, Ye Yuan walked straight toward the sea of flowers. The others were puzzled but followed.

Ye Yuan reached the edge of the sea of flowers, raised his palm, and a pale yellow flame emerged.

"Hiss... Primordial Fire! That... that's the Pure Sandal Sacred Flame? How... how is that possible? You're only at the Spirit Liquid Realm, how can you have a fourth-grade Primordial Fire?" Mei Zhen exclaimed in surprise.

Ye Yuan briefly explained, leaving the disciples of Nethercloud Sect filled with envy.

Tianyu, watching the Pure Sandal Sacred Flame dancing in Ye Yuan's palm, finally realized that Ye Yuan hadn't used his full strength during the competition!

With the Pure Sandal Sacred Flame, even without unleashing its full power, he would have been doomed.

Ye Yuan gently pushed his palm forward, and the Pure Sandal Sacred Flame vanished with a "whoosh."

Immediately, patches of the sea of flowers began to ignite!

"Ye Yuan, this... this is a fourth-grade Primordial Fire! If you burn like this, won't the third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers be destroyed?" Mei Zhen frowned.

"Elder Mei, rest assured, just watch. This sea of flowers has about three thousand Mandala Flowers, and it takes about a hundred Mandala Flowers to cultivate one third-grade Orchid Heart Flower. That means there are about thirty-plus third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers here. We'll take every single one!" Ye Yuan said confidently.

Mei Zhen was somewhat skeptical, but he patiently waited.

The Pure Sandal Sacred Flame was extremely powerful, quickly burning the entire sea of flowers to nothing, leaving not even residue.

Everyone looked closely and indeed saw some plants scattered sparsely in the flower field!

Ye Yuan walked over, directly collected five third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers, turned to Mei Zhen, and said, "These third-grade Orchid Heart Flowers are useful to me. I'll take five, and the rest, please bring back to the sect, Elder Mei."