Chapter 298: Sea of Flowers

"Such dense Yuan power! If one could cultivate here, it would surely yield twice the result with half the effort!"

As soon as Ye Yuan entered the secret realm, he heard waves of exclamations.

The concentration of Yuan power in this secret realm was extremely high, likely several times that of the outside world. Cultivating here would indeed achieve twice the result with half the effort.

The problem was, who dared to cultivate here?

However, with such a concentration of Yuan power, it was only reasonable that the secret realm would produce more heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

"Alright, everyone has entered the secret realm. Now set off on your own, and good luck to all!" Wu Zhao said loudly.

Though he said this, he showed no intention of moving.

Just then, someone suddenly cried out in surprise: "Look! Over there are patches upon patches of Lanxin Flowers, an extremely rare second-grade medicinal herb! And there are so many of them! Go and collect them, grab as many as you can!"

Following the direction he pointed, everyone indeed saw a vast sea of flowers.

"Haha, we've struck it rich! This secret realm is truly extraordinary, with such a large expanse of Lanxin Flowers even on the outskirts!"

"The Heavenly Qian Sect was not lying; this secret realm is indeed full of treasures everywhere!"

Having gained such a great benefit upon entering the secret realm, everyone's spirits were lifted, and many had already begun to feel grateful to the Heavenly Qian Sect.

Those quick to react had already sprinted toward the flower sea.

Although the Lanxin Flower was a second-grade medicinal herb, it was extremely rare in the outside world, a very precious herb, and a scarce resource for all major sects.

Seeing so many Lanxin Flowers, everyone could not resist the urge to collect as many as possible.

Seeing this, Mo Yuntian quickly said to Mei Zhen: "Uncle Master, let's hurry over too, or they'll take them all!"

The eight major sects combined had over a hundred people. Although the flower sea was vast, it couldn't withstand so many people collecting from it.

Mei Zhen nodded and was about to speak when Ye Yuan stopped him: "Brother, don't rush. Let's wait and see!"

Mo Yuntian was anxious and urged: "Junior Brother Ye! The Lanxin Flower is a scarce second-grade medicinal herb for our sect, very important to us! If we don't act now, there will be nothing left for us!"

But Ye Yuan smiled unhurriedly: "What's the hurry? Brother, look—the Heavenly Qian Sect hasn't moved either, have they?"

Mo Yuntian was startled and looked toward the Heavenly Qian Sect. Indeed, none of them had moved.

Mo Yuntian's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively felt that something bad was about to happen.

"Ah...!"

Just then, a scream rang out.

Then, several more screams followed!

Everyone was startled and turned their gaze toward the flower sea.

It turned out that several people had already run into the flower sea and begun collecting Lanxin Flowers.

But those who had entered first were now turning black all over, clearly showing signs of severe poisoning!

Those people collapsed directly into the flower sea, rolling around in great pain, seemingly on the verge of death.

The large crowd that had been rushing over now saw the horrifying state of those people and stopped in their tracks, terrified.

"This... what's going on?"

"What happened to them? Isn't this orchid heart flower? Why does it seem so poisonous?"

"Good thing I ran a bit slower. If I'd been faster, I'd be just like them."

Some were shocked, others felt a lingering fear. Everyone watched the few struggling in the sea of flowers, their hearts trembling with terror.

This poison was too terrifying. Those few were all Condensation Realm martial artists, yet they were poisoned before they could even react.

The struggles of those in the flower sea grew weaker and weaker, until finally they fell silent. The crowd's murmurs gradually died down as well.

Only then did they realize that this secret realm was not as simple as they had imagined!

Many suddenly woke up to the fact: why had the Heavenly Qian Sect asked them to explore the secret realm together?

If the secret realm were filled with treasures everywhere, would it still be their turn to explore?

Just now, upon seeing such a vast sea of flowers, everyone had immediately cast aside danger and nearly lost their lives.

Greed is human nature, and coupled with their insufficient understanding of the dangers of this secret realm, they had made such a low-level mistake!

Seeing this, the group from the Nether Cloud Sect was also filled with lingering fear.

If not for Ye Yuan just now, they might have rushed over in a fit of recklessness.

This poison was clearly extremely potent. Those few were all Condensation Realm martial artists, yet they died within a few breaths. Even if Mei Zhen had been contaminated, he might not have escaped unscathed.

"Ye Yuan, it's a good thing you stopped us just now, or we might have fallen into the trap too!" Mo Yuntian said, still shaken.

Ye Yuan smiled. "I noticed that no one from the Heavenly Qian Sect moved, so I figured something was off. I told you to wait and see, and sure enough, there was a problem."

Mo Yuntian felt ashamed. As their senior brother, he lacked even half of Ye Yuan's composure—it was truly embarrassing.

In fact, Mo Yuntian was overthinking. Faced with such a vast sea of orchid heart flowers, few could remain calm. Otherwise, they wouldn't have all rushed forward without noticing the Heavenly Qian Sect's inaction.

Moreover, the reason the Heavenly Qian Sect hadn't moved was clearly because they had suffered losses before.

Even though the Heavenly Qian Sect had many Condensation Realm and Sea Transformation Realm experts, they couldn't have been unmoved by such a rare medicinal herb as orchid heart flowers.

As for Ye Yuan, he had noticed the flower sea as soon as he entered. Even without observing the Heavenly Qian Sect's actions, he wouldn't have let his fellow disciples collect those flowers.

Ye Yuan didn't even need to go up close to observe. Just by smelling the scent in the air, he knew that this flower sea was not orchid heart flowers at all!

The flowers in the sea were Mandala flowers, which closely resembled orchid heart flowers.

Mandala flowers were almost identical to orchid heart flowers, and even the fragrance they emitted was nearly the same. But Ye Yuan could discern the subtle difference.

The fragrance of Mandala flowers carried an extremely faint fishy odor. However, the floral scent was so intoxicating that ordinary people could hardly detect such a minute difference.

In fact, Mandala flowers used this very method to attract humans to pick them, thereby poisoning them!

Once humans died from the poison, they became fertilizer for the Mandala flowers, nourishing them!

But here, probably no one recognized Mandala flowers. Those people died inexplicably, with no one understanding what had happened.

Ye Yuan naturally didn't want to draw too much attention, so he didn't explain further and simply used the Heavenly Qian Sect as a shield.

Mei Zhen gritted his teeth. "Those bastards definitely knew something was off, but they kept quiet, just waiting for someone to get poisoned! Just now, almost every major sect had people fall for it. They got what they wanted!"

Ye Yuan smiled. "Why else would the Heavenly Qian Sect bring the other seven major sects here, if not to find more cannon fodder?"

The elders of the other major sects finally caught on and rushed to Wu Zhao, demanding, "Elder Wu, why didn't a single person from the Heavenly Qian Sect move? Did you already know that this orchid heart flower sea was problematic?"