Cultivating immortality relies on spatial abilities; defying fate to become the protagonist.

Chapter 62 The Bone-Rotting Flower

"Sister, Tianyuan Secret Realm! Someone over there mentioned the Bone-Rotting Flower. Do you know what the Bone-Rotting Flower is?" Yu Tong asked.

"I know a little bit, not much!" Gu Shihan replied.

“Sister, there is a record of the Bone-Rotting Flower in my inheritance. However, this Bone-Rotting Flower is a bit strange. It can only bloom after absorbing enough fresh flesh and blood and spiritual energy from cultivators. The flower has a very short blooming period, lasting only a quarter of an hour.”

When the flowers are in full bloom, they need to be picked immediately and stored in a cold jade box.

The entire plant, the Bone-Rotting Flower, is a treasure. Its inner tendons and flowers can revive those who have died within three days. Its leaves are excellent for healing injuries, and even a person with congenital disabilities can become vigorous again with its help.

"It is said that flower petals are an indispensable auxiliary ingredient in the refining of the Youth-Preserving Pill," Yu Tong transmitted telepathically.

"Rotten bones, rotten bones! So this precious life-saving treasure is obtained in such a bloody way. Are you saying that Tianyuan City is recruiting a large number of people into the secret realm just to pick rotten bone flowers? Is there something fishy going on in the city lord's mansion? Is it possible that it's to provide nutrients for the rotten bone flowers?!" Gu Shihan frowned.

"Sister, you know what, it's really possible. If Tianyuan City wants to prosper, the Corrupting Bone Flower can't be cut off, but the Corrupting Bone Flower needs the fresh blood and spiritual energy of cultivators to nourish it."

Given the characteristics of the Bone-Rotting Flower's growth and flowering process, sacrificing cultivators is inevitable.

From my observation, the cultivators who came here did not know that the growth of the Bone-Rotting Flower requires the fresh blood and spiritual power of the cultivators.

All people know is that it is nourished and grows by the corpses of cultivators.

The City Lord's Mansion of Tianyuan City certainly wouldn't want its own people to die, so aren't outsiders the best choice?

Gu Shihan squinted in thought. There were too many doubts she couldn't understand. The information she had received was somewhat alarming, and an ominous feeling arose spontaneously.

The two decided to continue their investigation in Tianyuan City and then headed to the vicinity of the City Lord's Mansion.

“Yu Tong, I have a feeling that this Tianyuan Secret Realm is unusual, it exudes an evil aura. And this City Lord’s Mansion, the yin energy is a bit too strong.”

While paying attention to what others were saying, Gu Shihan was talking to Yu Tong.

Suddenly, streaks of white light appeared on the horizon and then fell upon Tianyuan City.

"The Heavenly Origin Secret Realm is about to open! Isn't it in three days?" someone shouted.

Gu Shihan held Yu Tong's hand and watched the white light weave through the crowd.

Any cultivators enveloped in the white light vanished from their spot, being thrown into the secret realm like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Gu Shihan felt a little short of breath, and then everything went black before she lost consciousness...

"What's going on? How did I end up in an iron cage?"

"Ah! Where are we? The secret realm has clearly opened, so why am I locked in a cage? Who? Who locked me up?!"

"Who's there? Come out! Why are you arresting us? What are you doing?"

When Gu Shihan regained consciousness, she heard people shouting uncontrollably and sobbing.

Gu Shihan's eyes moved, and she struggled to sit up, only to find herself locked in a small iron cage, with Yu Tong in the cage next to her.

There were quite a few cultivators around him, some at the Foundation Establishment stage and some at the Golden Core stage, all locked in iron cages. He didn't see any Qi Refining stage cultivators, so it seemed that the people captured were indeed carefully selected.

"Sister! What's going on? Should I burn the cage down?"

"Yutong, don't rush. Let's investigate the situation first to make sure everything goes smoothly."

Before Gu Shihan could finish speaking, the long-unseen task panel was updated. The task was still to rescue people and also to grow three Bone-Rotting Flowers.

With the situation unclear, Gu Shihan dared not be careless. She listened carefully to the sounds around her and quickly got a general idea of ​​what was going on.

It turned out that after the secret realm opened, they were teleported into it, but while they were still being teleported, they were controlled by high-level cultivators from the city lord's mansion using the Spirit-Binding Rope and locked in an iron cage.

It was indeed a conspiracy by the City Lord's Mansion; their goal was to force the Corpse Flower to bloom.

This Tianyuan Secret Realm was actually refined long ago by Tianyuan City Ancestor Tianya Zi. It was a semi-controlled personal space of his, intended for cultivating the Bone-Corroding Flower.

It's said to be semi-controllable because Tianya Zi cannot fully control the Tianyuan Secret Realm. To put it bluntly, he only controls one area, and he cannot control the other areas.

His good fortune in controlling a portion of the secret realm was actually accidental. A thousand years ago, he accidentally entered the Tianyuan Secret Realm and was seriously injured. In order to survive, he made a contract with the flower spirit of the evil spirit, the Corrupt Demon Flower.

The Bone Rot Flower is actually a byproduct of the Rot Demon Flower. The Rot Demon Flower needs to grow, and the Bone Rot Flower is indispensable for it.

Most of the rotten bone flowers become nutrients for the rotten demon flowers, which is one of the reasons why the rotten bone flowers are abundant in the Tianyuan Secret Realm, but still scarce on the market.

Tianya Zi's cultivation level also increased rapidly thanks to the feedback from the Corruption Flower, and he is now a Nascent Soul cultivator.

To ensure the future nutrition of the Rotten Flower, it is imperative to cultivate a large number of Rotten Bone Flowers.

It is said that Tianyuan City was originally just a small town, but because of Tianya Zi's Tianyuan Secret Realm, it has developed into a large city in just a thousand years, and the city lords are all from the Yin family.

"Sister, we're probably all nutrients prepared by the City Lord's Mansion for the Bone-Rotting Flowers. There are no fewer than two hundred people here. How many Bone-Rotting Flowers will that cultivate?!"

"Yes, Yutong, let's try to escape. We also need to save as many people as we can. This Corpse Flower is good, but its growth process is too sinister. We can't stay here!"

Gu Shihan tried various methods to open the black iron cage, but neither fire nor ice could open it. It seemed that she could only use the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

"Sister, be careful. There are high-level cultivators outside this valley where you are being held. If you go out now, you might not be able to escape their divine sense detection," Yu Tong whispered.

"Yutong, I know. We need to save ourselves and others. Isn't our top priority to escape?"

Gu Shihan was a little anxious. Xingbai in the space spoke up: "Hanhan, the Corrupting Bone Flower has a weakness. It can only sense strong spiritual energy fluctuations. If there is no spiritual energy or the spiritual energy is weak, it cannot sense it. This is also the reason why there are no Qi Refining cultivators."

Xingbai's words reassured Gu Shihan somewhat. Without spiritual power, would the Corrupting Bone Flower be unable to sense them? That would give them time to figure out a way to open the iron cage and escape.

So this must be why the City Lord's Mansion only targets the Bone-Rotting Flower and only targets Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators, right?
It's not that they don't want to capture Nascent Soul cultivators; firstly, they can't, and secondly, they fear that a failed capture would expose their plans and make them enemies of all cultivators.

As for Qi Refining cultivators, they are only slightly better than mortals. Their spiritual power is weak, and the Corrupting Bone Flower probably can't sense them. Capturing them would be a waste of effort.

(End of this chapter)