Meeting Again

With nimble movements, he took many exquisite jade bottles from the Na Ring hanging around his neck, then pulled out a small jade shovel.

Circulating his Dou Qi, Xiao Ming stood on the one-meter-wide patch of open ground in the next instant.

Looking at the medicinal herbs before him, he bent down and carefully dug away the soil beside the Green Plant. Finally, together with the soil, he gently placed it into a jade bottle.

Seeing that the green plant inside the jade bottle showed no obvious abnormalities, Xiao Ming sighed in relief, delight appearing on his face.

Many medicinal herbs required special transplanting methods. Without those methods, they would very likely die the moment they were transplanted.

Although proper preservation after death would not greatly affect their medicinal properties, Xiao Ming wanted a living medicinal herb more.

If it survived, he could try to obtain the seeds of this Precious Medicinal Herb and see whether he could cultivate medicinal herb seedlings.

Even if he did not cultivate them himself, the seeds of such Precious Medicinal Herbs still had a considerable market on the Dou Qi Continent.

Moreover, a living medicinal herb would continue growing older. By the time he needed to use it, its medicinal properties would definitely be several times stronger than they were now.

Therefore, being able to transplant this medicinal herb using ordinary methods was an unexpected delight.

Quickly placing the jade bottle containing the medicinal herb into his fiery-red Intermediate Storage Ring, Xiao Ming turned his gaze toward the other medicinal herbs.

Ice Spirit Flame Grass...

Ice Spirit Leaf...

Snake Soul Sacred Fruit...

Xiao Ming busied himself enthusiastically. One medicinal herb after another was dug up, placed into jade bottles, and stored in his Na Ring.

Just as he successfully claimed more than half the medicinal herbs in the flowerbed.

A familiar burst of noisy voices came from the forest outside the courtyard.

"Damn it, what kind of lousy place is this? We've been walking for half the day, and aside from white bones everywhere and Giant Trees, we haven't even seen a ghost!"

"Hmph, when we found that pavilion earlier, I said we should join the fight for the treasure. You idiots insisted on running away. Hehe."

"What an idiot. Can't you see that building was nearly smashed apart? That Energy Fluctuation meant at least several Dou Ling-level experts were fighting. With just us trying to snatch treasure, we'd be lucky to get out alive."

"Old Ma is right. There were already many people fighting over it. Even though several Mysterious Rank Middle Grade Dou Skills had Appeared, it still wasn't worth risking our lives."

"So what if they're Dou Lings? Wealth comes from danger. If you're so afraid of dying, get out of this Secret Realm already. Stop dreaming about stealing treasure."

"Brat, are you looking to die?!"

"Young People really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."

"What, you want to trade a move or two with me?"

"Eldest Brother, there seems to be a small courtyard ahead."

The voices that had seemed on the verge of fighting suddenly Disappeared after those words.

They were replaced by hurried footsteps.

Several figures leaped out of the woods and stopped outside the fence where Xiao Ming had once stood.

There were seven people outside the fence in total: two Black-clothed Men, a White-haired Youth, two Strong Men, a child, and a Green-clothed Woman.

One of the Black-clothed Men looked at the small courtyard before him, clicked his tongue, and said, "Didn't expect there really to be a small courtyard here. I told you not to fight over those pavilions. Wasn't I right?"

"Hahaha, Old Ma, you were right. There must be some treasure here," the other Black-clothed Man agreed.

"Eldest Brother, this place looks like an ordinary Farmhouse Courtyard. It doesn't seem to have anything good," one of the two Strong Men, who looked like a Little Brother, quietly said to the other after hearing their conversation.

Hearing his Little Brother say that, the Strong Man who looked like the Eldest Brother Turned Around and glared at him.

Was this kid really stupid, or was he pretending to be stupid? Why would an ordinary farmer's home be built in a Secret Realm like this?

Did the faction that possessed such a Secret Realm make a living by farming?

Thinking this, the Strong Man Turned Around and could not be bothered to deal with his Little Brother.

After being inexplicably glared at by his Eldest Brother, the Little Brother was left completely confused.

He could only awkwardly Pat his nose and look around.

Suddenly, as though he had discovered something, he shouted.

"Eldest Brother, there's someone in the corner of the Courtyard!"

What?!

The others Turned Around in shock and looked in the direction he pointed.

The fence could not block their line of sight at all.

Sure enough, they spotted a Black-robed Person shoveling grass in the flowerbed.

Because the person was already small in stature and was bent over digging grass, while the Secret Realm's sky had remained extremely dark, they had failed to notice him at first.

"No, That Person is digging up medicinal herbs!" The Green-clothed Woman keenly noticed that the Black-robed Person placed the dug-up Flowers And Grass into jade bottles, after which those jade bottles would Disappear.

Realizing What He Does, she immediately cried out in alarm, vaulted over the fence, and rushed toward the flowerbed.

The others were also startled upon Hearing This and hurriedly circulated the Dou Qi Inside the Body as they followed.

By the time they approached, Xiao Ming had just placed the last medicinal herb into his Na Ring.

Seeing his actions, the Green-clothed Woman roared, "Stop!"

A Green Whip Shadow lashed toward Xiao Ming's face.

With a slight sway of his body, Xiao Ming narrowly dodged the attack. He retreated to the edge of the flowerbed two zhang away, clasped his hands Behind Him, and coldly stared without a word at the woman who had dared launch a Sneak Attack against him.

Seeing Xiao Ming's Weird Movement Technique, the woman's pupils contracted, and A Trace Of wariness appeared on her face.

She did not attack rashly again.

Their confrontation had been completed in an instant. At this moment, the woman's Accomplices had Also Already arrived beside her.

The group spread out in an arc, forming an encirclement around Xiao Ming.

Enemies stood before him, while the house was Behind Him. It appeared that Xiao Ming had nowhere to escape, and the situation looked extremely dangerous.

Yet he was not flustered in the slightest. Instead, he calmly assessed the strength of those opposite him.

Two One Star Great Dou Shis, three Nine Star Dou Shis, one Eight-Star Dou Shi, and one Five-Star Dou Shi.

This lineup was nothing special.

While Xiao Ming sized them up, they were naturally sizing him up as well.

The Eldest Brother among the Strong Men carefully considered Xiao Ming's somewhat familiar appearance and recalled where he had seen him before.

Wasn't this the small Black-robed Person who had reached the Jade Stone Plaza second after them?

That was right. This Strong Man was the Boss of the group that had arrived at the Jade Stone Plaza even earlier than Xiao Ming. He was also the Boss of the Thin Man whom Tie Wu had casually killed, while the other Strong Man was one of his three Dou Shi Little Brothers.

Xiao Ming recognized them as well.

Before anyone else could say anything, the Strong Man stepped forward.

Smiling at Xiao Ming, he said, "Hehe, brother, what a coincidence. We meet again. I am Xu Jian. I think we could become friends."

Seeing the Strong Man act this way, his companions revealed strange smiles. They Didn't Say Much, merely following his steps as they slowly approached Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming remained silent, somewhat puzzled.

What is this guy trying to do? Become friends? More like getting close enough to sneak attack me.

Watching Xu Jian put on his performance before him, Xiao Ming lightly flipped his hands Behind Him, and the highly spiritual Ling Appeared in his hands.

Pressing Ling against the ground, it silently sank into the soil.

Xiao Ming's movements were extremely discreet, and no one noticed them.

"Brother was digging up medicinal herbs Just Now, right? Treasure should be shared among those who find it. I see around one hundred and thirty or forty herb pits here. We only want one hundred and thirty medicinal herbs. How about leaving the rest to you?"

I suddenly discovered that one simulation lasted more than seven years, so I'll change the maximum simulation time to ten years. Actually, it would not take long to Become Emperor. Whether it is seven years, ten years, or even whether there is a limit at all, would not make much difference. (∞)

Thanks to Little Book Thief for the Monthly Pass, and thank you all for your Recommendation Tickets.