From waterfowl, it began to transform into the Great Sun Golden Crow.

"Senior, may I ask you a question?"

"you say."

"What exactly is that purple miasma in the Red Forest?"

Xiang Zheng stood there stunned for a moment, unsure how to answer. After a long pause, he considered the language. Explaining it might be more complicated than he had imagined.

"How should I put it?" Xiang Zheng tugged at his beard, his expression somewhat serious. "This is the Eastern Region, the Five Regions Great Mountains. Calling it miasma is a stretch; it's more like the earth's spiritual poison. Simply put, this place is near a volcano."

volcano?

Was that the same volcano Gu Heting saw in the blessed land of Dongting? It shouldn't be. Then how do you explain this earth vein poison?

"Then this earth vein poison............."

After pondering for a while, Xiang Zheng stared intently at Gu Heting. He chuckled softly and continued, "It's the evil fire energy. Purple smoke and miasma, gushing from the earth's veins. But because of the overlapping mountains, it lingers for a long time, forming Wushan, a place that cultivators avoid at all costs."

This place was originally called Wushan.

That blessed land of Dongting is located within Wushan. But the old Taoist priest doesn't seem to have answered the question about the red forest.

"That Red Forest is specifically designed to thrive on miasma. Even cultivators who enter the Red Forest must hold their breath for a quarter of an hour, unless they reach the Core Formation stage. However, even Core Formation experts find it difficult to survive here."

No wonder this blessed land of Dongting has been so well protected.

It turned out that it was surrounded by miasma, which prevented any cultivators from entering for tens of thousands of years.

Moreover, this red forest is enormous. Xiang Zheng said that even a Core Formation expert would find it difficult to stay in the miasma for long. Perhaps this is why it has been tens of thousands of years since a cultivator has ventured into the Dongting Blessed Land.

That's not right.

He drifted on the water as soon as he woke up. He must have inhaled a lot of miasma.

Why is he still perfectly fine now?

Why didn't I die of exhaustion in the red forest?

Was I just lucky to survive?

Even Core Formation cultivators aren't guaranteed to stay long. So it's even less certain for me; I'm just a Qi Refining cultivator.

The little waterbird looked mostly confused. He carefully observed his surroundings and realized that the humidity was really high.

After all, this sect was built on a cliff.

And there's a waterfall right next to it.

He looked around and suddenly felt much clearer-headed.

So that's how it is; flowing water can neutralize poison. No wonder there are still sects surviving in this miasma-filled Wushan.

"Activated water detoxifies."

Gu Heting tentatively said.

Upon hearing those four words, both Xiang Wanqing and his daughter Xiang Zheng were stunned. This was too exaggerated; this little water bird actually possessed extraordinary insight.

It's ridiculous that someone could be so intelligent.

Not to mention, he was an intelligent beast that could speak human language. Xiang Zheng felt that this guy might live in an ancient secret realm.

Perhaps he is not a mythical beast, but a legendary spirit beast.

They possess the bloodline of some kind of mythical beast, or even have received some kind of inheritance.

Xiang Wanqing could no longer sit still. He stepped forward and frantically rubbed the little guy's face. Gu Heting's brown fur was ruffled by Xiang Wanqing's rubbing.

Feeling displeased, Gu Heting tried to peck at her hand with the little bird's beak.

Why is this little girl so cheeky?

"Father, he's so smart! Can I raise him in the sect?"

"What are you doing, you silly girl?" Xiang Zheng quickly slapped his daughter's hand away. "What are you touching? Please forgive me, my daughter is spoiled by me. She has no sense of propriety when doing things."

"Dad!" the little girl said, somewhat sullenly.

Gu Heting glanced at him, shook his head, and could only pretend not to care. He then turned his gaze to the black alchemy furnace.

He could tell at a glance.

This sect must be suffering from a shortage of resources. The alchemy furnace is covered in dust, indicating it's been used for at least a century. Frequent use of this furnace could potentially cause the pills to explode.

"Senior, I've heard of a kind of elixir called the Miasma-Avoiding Pill."

"This elixir can ward off the poisonous miasma. Senior, do you have any? I'm willing to exchange some cultivation techniques for it."

This little water bird also possesses human-level martial arts skills.

This surprised Xiang Zheng greatly. He looked at his daughter and knew he had made a huge mistake. It was probably something his daughter had promised someone.

At this moment, Xiang Zheng looked at Gu Heting with a troubled expression: "The Miasma-Avoiding Pill has actually been lost. I do have half of the Great Dao Pill Refining Manual. It is recorded in the book, but I don't know how to use it."

"ah"

Gu Heting tilted his head, suddenly feeling like he had been tricked.

He needs to go back to save Old Fish. Without the miasma-avoiding pill, how will he cross the Red Forest?

"As you can see, my medicine furnace is covered in dust. It's impossible to refine that miasma-avoiding pill."

Gu Heting sighed.

He shook the spirit ring in his hand. Soon, a cyan medicine furnace appeared in the sky. The cyan medicine furnace gleamed with the clear light of medicinal dust.

The natal medicine furnace of Danxiu Lü Pingyang.

The moment the medicine furnace was opened, a rich fragrance of herbs and flowers filled the entire room. The father and daughter stood there stunned for a long time, unsure of what to say.

Gu Heting remained silent.

He looked at Xiang Zheng and said to him, "Of the Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—I don't need a brush. Could you please bring the remaining three treasures, Senior Xiang Zheng?"

"Yes, yes..." Xiang Zheng nodded repeatedly. His ring was not as luxurious as the one on Gu Heting's ankle. Instead, it was a mottled brownish-blue ring.

The Four Treasures of the Study are all present.

Gu Heting, accompanied by a curtain of rain, used the water manipulation techniques taught to him by Jing Li, the water slowly controlling the inkstone. The goldsmith's inkstone was then ground into ink.

Ink merged.

It flowed slowly on the Xuan paper.

The paper contained flowing martial arts techniques, complete with accompanying text and illustrations.

Xiang Wanqing stepped forward, blinked, and examined it closely. There were several large characters written on it—【The Method of Cleansing Essence and Marrow, Breathing and Exhalation】.

The ink flowed rapidly.

The smaller print below slowly unfolds.

[When the body is upright and the energy flows smoothly, the mind returns to its proper place.]

Close your eyes, concentrate, and unite your spiritual energy. .......................

A complete set of techniques is being refined.

A moment later, all the Xuan paper was closed. The set of meridian cleansing and marrow-refining breathing techniques was presented before the father and daughter. Gu Heting breathed a sigh of relief; this was the first time he had ever controlled water power so precisely.

The spiritual energy they used seemed somewhat depleted.

Compared to Jingli, it is still too immature.

"I don't like owing people favors. I'll give this to you two, but I have one condition. Senior Zheng, could you exchange it for the Great Dao Pill Manual?"

Zheng was at a loss for words.

His expression was quite grim, not because he was reluctant to part with the Great Dao Pill Refining Manual. In fact, exchanging a pill refining book for a cultivation technique was a pretty good deal.

However, there was a problem with that cultivation manual.

"How is the senior?" Gu Heting asked in a slightly lower voice.

He didn't think the weight was heavy enough. Anyway, he could always have cultivation techniques. He did have quite a few.

Perhaps that book, "The Great Dao Elixir Manual," is better than his breathing technique.

Xiang Zheng took out a tattered martial arts manual from his sleeve.

The cultivation manual was quite worn, with several pages stained a waxy yellow. It looked quite old. He handed the manual to Gu Heting, his words somewhat ambiguous.

Gu Heting was overjoyed and just opened the cultivation manual.

However, his expression changed, and he seemed quite disappointed.

This manual is just a fragment.

Half of the ink inside had dried, and many pages were missing.

I just found that miasma-avoiding pill.

Gu Heting suddenly felt something was wrong. This pill was missing one-third of the ingredients' instructions; he had lost a fortune on this deal.

"Senior, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"