Great Sage Hong Tian chuckled and invited Ye Chen to take a seat, directly pouring him a cup of wine. The sweet, fragrant aroma of the wine wafted over—it was top-tier liquor. "Young friend, please taste this. It's a new brew I've concocted, blended from various Heaven and Earth Treasures and some medicinal herbs. Try it and see what you think."
Ye Chen didn't drink immediately. He merely lifted the cup to his nose for a light sniff, then smiled. "Senior Hong Tian, if this junior is not mistaken, the medicinal wine you've brewed primarily uses Hundred Flower Fruit, Heavenly Beauty Grass, Nine-Mile Fragrance Flower, Wei Lan Chrysanthemum, and Snake Fruit as the main Heaven and Earth Treasures, with Ruo Lan Zhi, Nine-Section Orchid, and Summer Withered Grass as the main medicinal herbs, correct?"
Upon hearing this, a flicker of surprise crossed Great Sage Hong Tian's face. He exclaimed in admiration, "Young friend truly lives up to being Sir Qian's esteemed disciple. You are indeed extraordinary, able to guess the ingredients in the brew just from a sniff. This old man must say, I am impressed."
"You flatter me, Senior," Ye Chen shook his head with a smile. "My master is an alchemist. Under his guidance, I have gained some research into the path of alchemy and am familiar with many medicinal herbs, so recognizing them is nothing special."
He then took a small sip, revealing a look of admiration as he smiled. "The fine wine Senior Hong Tian has brewed is indeed sweet, fragrant, and delicious, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, truly memorable."
Great Sage Hong Tian was quite pleased to receive praise. After savoring the wine together for a moment, he looked at Ye Chen with a smile. "One does not visit the temple without a purpose. Has young friend come this time for the matter of the medicinal herbs?"
"Senior Hong Tian is indeed a Divine Spirit. In your presence, this junior truly cannot hide anything," Ye Chen admitted without concealment.
"The herbs are almost all prepared," Great Sage Hong Tian smiled slightly. With a wave of his sleeve, beams of light flew from various parts of the hall, suspending themselves between Ye Chen and him. Each herb shimmered with a hazy radiance.
"Six-thousand-year Netherworld Grass, five-thousand-five-hundred-year Earth Soul Fruit, eight-thousand-year Heavenly Blood Lotus, nine-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-nine-year Sky-Supporting Flower, three-thousand-year Heavenly Snow Chrysanthemum..."
Ye Chen's gaze lingered, recognizing these herbs. Not all were Heaven and Earth Treasures; only a very few were.
In fact, any Heaven and Earth Treasure over a thousand years old basically possessed some divine effect of prolonging life and were rare finds. These were merely herbs with long medicinal ages. To a certain extent, they could rival some precious Heaven and Earth Treasures, but the matter of prolonging life was a different story.
Suddenly, Ye Chen frowned. "Senior Hong Tian, are we missing one main herb?"
Great Sage Hong Tian nodded. With a beckoning gesture, another ball of light flew over. It was a plant with only a single leaf, flowing with a radiant, snow-like crimson glow, vivid and eye-catching.
"It's a thousand-year Nine Heavens Orchid Grass," Ye Chen recognized this herb. It was a Heaven and Earth Treasure, having reached a thousand years. This type of Heaven and Earth Treasure was unique, growing one leaf every thousand years, but each leaf was a different color.
It started red, then orange, followed by yellow, growing according to the nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white.
When its medicinal age reached nine thousand years and it grew nine leaves, it would flow with nine-colored radiance. It was said to be able to cure all poisons in the world and even resolve Dao injuries, making it a divine medicine for all living beings.
The Great Sage sighed lightly. "The other herbs were prepared long ago. It's just that the Nine Heavens Orchid Grass is truly rare in this world. I mobilized all my forces and only managed to find this one, with a medicinal age barely reaching a thousand years."
Ye Chen's gaze sharpened. This Nine Heavens Orchid Grass was extremely important—it was one of the main herbs for refining the "Myriad Purification Pill" to resolve the Dao injuries within Great Sage Hong Tian's body, indispensable.
If the medicinal age of this Nine Heavens Orchid Grass was slightly inferior, it would cause the efficacy of the entire "Myriad Purification Pill" to drop significantly, not even comparable.
The herbs prepared by Great Sage Hong Tian were all at least four thousand years old, ensuring high-quality efficacy and guaranteeing the success rate of the alchemy. If one herb was only a barely thousand-year-old Nine Heavens Orchid Grass, it would greatly reduce the quality of the final refined pill.
Moreover, and more importantly, it could potentially lead to the failure of the alchemy process.
Ye Chen said with a serious expression, "Senior Hong Tian, my teacher once said that when refining pills, the quality of the ingredients must not be uneven. It's better to lack than to accept inferior substitutes. Otherwise, melting this only thousand-year-old Nine Heavens Orchid Grass with the other herbs, lowering the quality is a minor issue. More importantly, that pill has very high requirements. This way, it could even easily lead to a failed refinement."
Great Sage Hong Tian also had some understanding of alchemy and knew the strictness of this ancient profession, which always adhered to the principle of 'better to lack than to accept inferior substitutes.' But he also frowned, unsure at the moment where to find a Nine Heavens Orchid Grass over four thousand years old.
Was he to wait for this Nine Heavens Orchid Grass to grow to four thousand years? Even if he sat in meditation until his body turned to dust, he wouldn't live to see it, let alone the fact that he only had four years left. Once the time came, his Dao injuries would flare up and he would die.
Great Sage Hong Tian frowned, then said, "Perhaps this old man should personally go to the central region and ask those slumbering old friends. Maybe they have one, but unless absolutely necessary, this old man really doesn't want to owe those people favors."
Favors between Divine Spirits were no ordinary matter.
Ye Chen smiled. "Senior Hong Tian, you are mistaken here. While favors are important, life is more important. And it might not necessarily be a favor; they would likely be willing to help. With the Slaying the Heavens great war imminent, every Divine Spirit is crucial and indispensable. For the Slaying the Heavens war, I think those people would also be willing to lend a hand. Moreover, Senior Hong Tian, you surely don't want to watch your homeland be destroyed by the alien race, do you?"
Great Sage Hong Tian sighed softly. "Young friend, you are right. If not for the sake of the Slaying the Heavens war, this old man truly wouldn't want to get involved in these worldly affairs. I'd rather live a reclusive life in the mountains and forests, enjoying a peaceful, natural existence free from strife."
His words carried a hint of world-weariness.
Ye Chen suddenly said, "Senior Hong Tian, have you ever thought about leaving the Tian Du Continent and traveling to the alien lands to experience a broader world?"
Great Sage Hong Tian was taken aback, then laughed. "Young friend, you jest. The alien lands are where those alien race beings live. Not to mention this old man cannot leave this heaven and earth, even if I could, what place in the alien lands could be a land for this old man to survive? I would inevitably be hunted down by the alien race."
"Wrong," Ye Chen shook his head in denial. "Senior Hong Tian, I'm afraid your understanding of the alien lands is mistaken."
"Why is it mistaken? This old man would like to hear your meaning, young friend," Great Sage Hong Tian suddenly showed a hint of interest.
"This junior once heard my teacher mention that the alien lands are known as the myriad realms, infinitely vast and boundless. A single realm is even larger and more expansive than the Tian Du Continent. Countless races and billions of living beings inhabit them, far surpassing the number of beings on the Tian Du Continent. In some world-heavens, there is even talk of heavenly realms," Ye Chen said.
"In truth, the alien race monitoring the Tian Du Continent is only a small part of the beings in the myriad realms. If one wishes to go, how could there be no place to settle? It just depends on whether Senior Hong Tian wants to or not."
After hearing this, Great Sage Hong Tian's eyes widened, shooting out strands of astonishing, dazzling light.
This was the first time he had learned that the alien lands were called the myriad realms, that a single realm was vaster than the Tian Du Continent, and that myriad realms combined to form a truly boundless, vast heaven and earth.
There, countless races and billions of living beings inhabited a single ancient land gathering innumerable species.
If anyone else had said this, it would be one thing, but when he thought of the mysterious Sir Qian, it was highly likely he came from that mysterious myriad realms.
Towards that vast myriad realms, Great Sage Hong Tian felt a stirring of curiosity.
Unable to help himself, Great Sage Hong Tian asked Ye Chen this question: "May I ask, young friend, is your teacher Sir Qian from that myriad realms?"
Ye Chen smiled slightly. "Senior Hong Tian, although this junior shouldn't answer this question behind my teacher's back, I can tell you that my teacher is indeed from the myriad realms."
Although he had already suspected as much, after Ye Chen confirmed it in person, Great Sage Hong Tian couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.
The myriad realms, the alien lands—these were places the beings of the Tian Du Continent pursued their entire lives, wishing to transcend this narrow heaven and earth and venture into a broader world.
After his shock subsided, Great Sage Hong Tian calmed down. This was only natural. This mysterious Sir Qian had never been seen on the Tian Du Continent before. The birth of every Divine Spirit shook the continent, accompanied by great fluctuations and tribulations. No one could ascend to the Divine Spirit realm silently.
No wonder they had never been able to investigate any news about Sir Qian. Coming from the alien lands, how could they possibly find any news about him on the Tian Du Continent?
Ye Chen added, "But Senior Hong Tian, please do not doubt my teacher. He has no intention of monitoring or blockading the Tian Du Continent like those others. He does not wish to destroy or interfere. He merely travels through various heavens and earths and happened to mistakenly enter a spatial wormhole, arriving at the Tian Du Continent. I hope you will not blame my teacher for this."
"Young friend, don't worry. Sir Qian has issued a Heavenly Dao oath on this matter. This old man believes Sir Qian harbors no ill intentions towards the Tian Du Continent," Great Sage Hong Tian said.
"It's best that Senior understands," Ye Chen said.
After staying for half an hour, Ye Chen collected all the medicinal herbs, stood up, and cupped his hands towards Great Sage Hong Tian. "Senior, this junior has matters to attend to and must take his leave."
"Take care, young friend. Monkey, see the young friend out properly," Great Sage Hong Tian instructed the Silver Ape King to escort Ye Chen out. He gazed thoughtfully at Ye Chen's departing figure.
A moment later, he suddenly tore through the void, his entire person charging into it and traversing through the planar void.
Not long after, he tore through the barrier, actually appearing in the central region hundreds of thousands of miles away. He released his divine sense, summoning the other Divine Spirit ancient ancestors, and said, "Everyone, Sir Qian is from the alien lands..."