A moment later, Mu Wanqing was still immersed in the shock brought by the formulas for the Ninth and Tenth Grade pills... and at this time, Nie Kong and Tai Yan had followed her to the center of this nine-story medicinal garden.

It turned out to be a circular altar, spanning over ten meters in diameter, with a white jade stone, more than ten meters across, inlaid at its center, intricately etched with fine lines.

"This is an Illusion Array, and a Teleportation Illusion Array at that!"

After taking a closer look, Nie Kong was somewhat surprised. Having seen the Illusion Array in the Sea God Palace during his time with the Fish Spirit Clan, he quickly recognized the nature of this one. If his intuition was correct, this might even be a bidirectional teleportation array.

Seeing Nie Kong speak with such certainty, Mu Wanqing cast him a slightly astonished glance.

At this moment, Nie Kong submerged his consciousness into the array, his spiritual sense rapidly probing the dense array talismans. To Nie Kong's regret, only a handful of talismans in the entire array retained a faint trace of vitality, clearly indicating that the array had suffered immense damage.

With the Teleportation Illusion Array so severely compromised, it was impossible to activate it without repairs.

"A Teleportation Illusion Array; I wonder where it leads?" Mu Wanqing glanced suspiciously at the array, then her gaze shifted to Nie Kong.

"That remains unknown."

Nie Kong shook his head with a wry smile, feeling rather puzzled himself.

When Kou Xi came with the two E-Gods of the Spirit God Hall to the 'Forbidden Spirit Marsh,' they had mentioned that this Spirit Deer belonged to the 'Pill Immortal Sect' from ten thousand years ago. Why would the 'Pill Immortal Sect' build a Teleportation Illusion Array on the ninth floor of the Spirit Deer Medicine Tower? Perhaps as an escape route for themselves?

If that were the case, the 'Pill Immortal Sect' back then might not have been destroyed.

Ten thousand years ago, the Spirit God War in the 'Supreme Spirit Realm' split the Illusory Spirit Continent into three. Among them, the current 'Divine Sky Realm' suffered the least damage, while the Heavenly Spirit Continent was devastated. Not only were few living beings left, but those who survived lost all their memories due to the intense fallout.

As for all records concerning the era of the Illusory Spirit Continent, they were inexplicably wiped out. It was rumored that even the Spirit Gods were involved. In short, following the drastic changes of ten thousand years ago, the Heavenly Spirit Continent became a blank slate; everything had to start anew, with only the written language remaining.

As a major sect possessing Spirit Roots, the Pill Immortal Sect likely included Spirit Gods, and might have even foreseen the impending situation, managing to flee the Heavenly Spirit Continent.

Given the opportunity and the conditions, the only place the Pill Immortal Sect could have gone was...

The Divine Sky Realm!

Nie Kong rapidly searched the information recorded in the Divine Sky Chronicle in his mind. A few minutes later, a faint smile finally appeared on Nie Kong's brow. In the current 'Divine Sky Realm,' there was indeed a sect called the 'Pill Immortal Sect,' and their skill in refining pills was second to none in the Divine Sky Realm. This was actually an illusion array leading to the 'Divine Sky Realm.' If Hua Pianxian could be asked to repair the array, perhaps free passage between the two continents would be possible?

"Ayaya!"

Suddenly, the little creature's voice interrupted Nie Kong’s musings. Nie Kong quickly turned his head and saw, about ten meters away, Xiangxiang running while vigorously waving two leaves at him; the small flower bud also bobbed amusingly.

Could it have made a discovery too?

Nie Kong let out a soft chuckle and walked towards it with Tai Yan in tow. The little creature had slipped out of the Spirit God Acupoint when they entered this nine-story medicinal garden. Why had it suddenly returned? Seeing this, Mu Wanqing stopped dwelling on the array issue and followed with curiosity.

A few minutes later, led by the little creature, Nie Kong and the others passed through a patch of bone-chilling snow and an intensely scorching valley, arriving at the eastern part of the medicinal garden. This small space was covered in lush green grass, warm as spring, and at the center of the flat grassland, three immense auras of medicinal herbs coexisted. Nie Kong now understood that the herbs in this nine-story medicinal garden each possessed distinct characteristics, and due to vastly different growing environments, their auras repelled each other fiercely.

In the same small space, only one kind of Ninth Grade herb could survive, occasionally dotted with a few herbs of Eighth Grade or lower. However, the area discovered by the little creature actually hosted three Ninth Grade herbs simultaneously, and the types of these Ninth Grade herbs were all different.

"The herbal auras are very gentle, and they even show a tendency to merge into one?"

With this thought, Nie Kong couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Moments later, the three herbs, arranged in a triangular formation, came into Nie Kong's view. All three herbs were small in stature, yet vibrant with green vitality.

The herb directly opposite had a very simple structure: four long leaves slanted outwards near the ground, with a stem about two fingers thick in the center of the leaves, resembling an ear of corn, dotted with many glistening fine threads. The herb on the left was slightly smaller, only half a foot tall, its leaves spiraling around the stem. The herb on the right, however, twisted and turned through the grass like a vine, with numerous branches spreading out like a spiderweb.

Seeing the appearance of these three herbs, Nie Kong was somewhat astonished. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have believed such massive auras emanated from such small plants?

"Ayaya, ayaya..."

The little creature happily hopped between the three herbs, occasionally turning its flower bud toward Nie Kong, its cries ceaseless, much like a child begging parents for candy. Nie Kong instantly understood its intention: it wanted to eat all three herbs.

According to Xiangxiang, these three herbs could allow it to advance to the Ninth Order.

Over the past six months, the little creature had already completed the accumulation required for promotion, but the Eighth Grade herbs in the medicine tower were useless to it, and it hadn't found any precious herbs like the Dragon Taming Grass, so the matter had been delayed. If these three proved effective for Xiangxiang, Nie Kong wouldn't hesitate: contemplating this, Nie Kong reached into his robe and pulled out the stack of yellow papers, scanning them in a single glance. About a minute later, Nie Kong paused.

"Four-Leaf Jade Brow Fruit?"

Mu Wanqing also moved closer to Nie Kong, comparing the description on the yellow paper in Nie Kong's hand with the appearance of the three herbs. "Gyro Tower's 'Heavenly Star Wood Fragrance Vine'... No wonder these three herbs can grow together without repelling each other; they are all primary ingredients for a First-Class Ninth Grade pill."

Nie Kong nodded slightly, then suddenly called out loudly, "Qingyue."

"Heh, hehe..." Dozens of meters to the left, the tiny Qingyue was tiptoeing and sneaking away into the distance. Hearing Nie Kong's loud shout, she had no choice but to pat her two small arms and fly over with a forced, unnatural smile. "Nie Kong, what is it you need Grandma for?"

"Separate these three herbs." Nie Kong pointed to the ground.

"I knew you were up to something, and sure enough, you want Grandma to do the heavy lifting again. These are all Ninth Grade herbs! Do you think they are easy to separate?" Qingyue muttered dejectedly, drooping her head like a frost-bitten eggplant, which made Mu Wanqing and Tai Yan beside her unable to suppress their laughter.