Meeting Again

Moving swiftly, he took out 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 herb before him, he bent down and carefully dug away the soil beside the green plant. At last, he gently placed it, soil and all, into a Jade Bottle.

Seeing that the green plant inside the Jade Bottle showed no obvious abnormalities, Xiao Ming heaved a relieved sigh, his face brightening with joy.

Many medicinal herbs required special transplanting methods. Without those methods, the herbs 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 even more.

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

Even if he did not grow them himself, the seeds of such Precious Medicinal Herbs still had a strong 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.

Thus, the fact that this herb could be transplanted by ordinary means was an unexpected delight.

Quickly placing the Jade Bottle containing the herb into his crimson 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 feverishly, digging up medicinal herb after medicinal herb, placing them in Jade Bottles, then storing them in his Na Ring.

Just as he successfully pocketed more than half the medicinal herbs in the flower bed—

A burst of noisy voices, extremely familiar to Xiao Ming, came from the dense forest outside the courtyard.

"Damn it, what kind of lousy place is this? We've walked for half the day and haven't seen anything except bones scattered everywhere and giant trees—not even a ghost!"

"Hmph. When we found that pavilion earlier, I said we should have joined the fight for the treasures. You idiots insisted on running. Heh."

"What an idiot. Couldn't you see that building was nearly being blown apart? With those energy fluctuations, at least several Dou Ling experts were fighting. Us trying to snatch treasures? We'd be lucky to get out alive."

"Old Ma is right. Too many people are already fighting over that place. Even if several Mysterious Rank Middle Grade Dou Skills have appeared, it isn't worth risking our lives."

"So what if they're Dou Lings? Wealth comes from danger. If you're all so afraid of dying, get the hell out of this Secret Realm. Stop dreaming about snatching treasures."

"Brat, are you looking to die?!"

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

"What, you want to trade a few moves with me?"

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

The voices that had seemed ready to erupt into a fight abruptly fell silent after those words.

Urgent footsteps replaced them.

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

There were seven people outside the fence in total: two men in black, a white-haired youth, two burly men, a child, and a Green-clothed Woman.

One of the men in black clicked his tongue as he looked at the courtyard before him. "Didn't expect there really would be a small courtyard here. I told you not to fight over those pavilions. See? I was right."

"Hahaha, Old Ma, you're right. There must be treasures here," the other man in black echoed.

"Big Brother, this place just looks like an ordinary Farmhouse Courtyard. It doesn't seem to have anything good," one of the two burly men, who looked like a subordinate, quietly said to the other after hearing their conversation.

Hearing his subordinate say this, the burly man who looked like the leader turned around and glared at him.

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

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

Thinking this, the burly man turned away, too lazy to bother with his subordinate.

Having been glared at by his big brother for no apparent reason, the subordinate was completely baffled.

He could only awkwardly rub the tip of his nose and look around.

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

"Big Brother, there's someone in the corner of the courtyard!"

What?!

The others turned their heads in shock and looked in the direction he pointed.

The fence could not block their view at all.

Sure enough, they spotted a black-robed figure shoveling grass in the flower bed.

The person was already small in stature, and he was bent over digging at the grass. Combined with the Secret Realm's perpetually dim sky, they had failed to notice him at first.

"No, that person is digging up medicinal herbs!" The Green-clothed Woman sharp-eyedly noticed that the black-robed figure was placing the flowers and plants he dug up into Jade Bottles, which then vanished.

Realizing what he was doing, she immediately cried out and vaulted over the fence, rushing toward the flower bed.

The others were shocked once more upon hearing this and hurriedly circulated the Dou Qi in their bodies to follow.

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

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

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

His body swayed slightly, and Xiao Ming retreated to the edge of the flower bed two zhang away. With his hands clasped behind his back, he silently and coldly watched the woman who had dared attack 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 again rashly.

Their confrontation had been completed in an instant. By then, the woman's companions had also reached her side.

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

Enemies stood before him, while the house was behind him. It looked as though Xiao Ming had nowhere to escape.

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

While Xiao Ming assessed them, they naturally assessed him as well.

The leader among the burly men stared at Xiao Ming, who looked somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, he recalled where he had seen him before.

Wasn't this the short black-robed man who had reached the Jade Stone Plaza second, right behind him?

That was right. This burly man was the leader of the group that had arrived at the Jade Stone Plaza before Xiao Ming—the leader of the skinny man Tie Wu had casually killed. The other burly man was one of his three Dou Shi subordinates.

Xiao Ming recognized them as well.

Before anyone else could speak, the burly man stepped forward.

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

Seeing the burly man act this way, his companions revealed strange smiles but said nothing. They merely followed his steps, slowly approaching Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming remained silent, somewhat puzzled.

What is this guy trying to do? Make friends? More like getting close enough to ambush me.

Watching Xu Jian put on his act, Xiao Ming flipped his hands behind his back slightly, and the highly spiritual Ling appeared in his grasp.

He pressed Ling against the ground, and it silently sank into the soil.

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

"Brother, you were digging up medicinal herbs just now, weren't you? Those who see treasures get a share. I see over thirty herb pits here. We only want thirty medicinal herbs, and you can keep the rest. How about it?"