After dealing with a few of the slower monkeys, Chu He reached out behind him with his Spiritual Force and quickly found Whiteman's hiding place.
"Come over here."
Adams Whiteman had watched Chu He kill the Mountain Giant Ape with his Flying Daggers. For some reason, he stood rooted to the spot for a long while before finally snapping out of it at Chu He's call.
He hurried over, laying on the flattery as he ran. "So you're a Spirit Reader too, Mr. Chu! You're incredible!"
"Not only are you powerful, you're also so compassionate toward low-level Warriors like us..."
"Stop, stop, stop. Quit flattering me! What's the point when you're making it so awkward?" Chu He hurriedly raised a hand to stop him.
"I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart..."
"Enough, enough. I said it was yours, so it's yours. I'm going to check out that Spirit of Vegetation in the cave. You can collect the materials."
As he spoke, Chu He glanced at the spirit herbs on the ground and added, "Also, don't touch any of those herbs. I'll need them later."
A cave entrance was barely visible in the cliff face to the right. Chu He sprang into the air and flew toward it.
On the ground, Whiteman hurriedly collected the scales from the Mountain Giant Ape. Watching Chu He fly straight up, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of envy.
But soon, envy gave way to irritation.
Being a Spirit Reader really was convenient!
At this rate, that thing in the cave probably wouldn't be able to do anything to him!
"Just as they say in China, there's no walking by a river without getting your shoes wet!"
"Looks like I'm really done for this time."
As he skinned the Mountain Giant Ape for its scales, all sorts of thoughts raced through Whiteman's mind.
"Maybe... I should just run?"
"No! I can't!"
Whiteman remembered that the Mountain Giant Ape had occupied this valley for two years. His own cultivation progress had been frustratingly slow.
"I can't afford to lose this place!"
"Spirit Reader, Spirit Reader... Why did it have to be a Spirit Reader?"
"Wait... Maybe I could try..."
Meanwhile, Chu He had already entered the cave.
The cave entrance was nearly five meters high and wide. The tunnel sloped downward, dimly lit at first and growing darker the farther he went.
At the entrance, Chu He took a Fluorescent Stick from his backpack and threw it hard into the cave.
The tunnel was about as tall and wide as the entrance, but its walls were covered in strangely rugged rocks.
As he walked deeper inside, Chu He reached out to sense the direction of the airflow.
"The air's flowing deeper into the cave? There must be another exit inside."
Chu He stayed alert as he went.
The cave was huge, but compared with the Mountain Giant Ape, it was far too small.
"Could that Mountain Giant Ape have grown so big after eating the Spirit of Vegetation in here?"
Fortunately, this did seem to be the Spirit of Vegetation's territory. There were no other monsters. Chu He made his way safely to the bottom of the cave, where he found the plant.
A cluster of mushrooms grew on a section of rotten wood that nearly blocked the entire cavern.
"Is that... Lingzhi?" Chu He stared at the reddish-brown and black Lingzhi mushrooms before him, his heart suddenly filling with delight.
"I can't believe there's still a Spirit of Vegetation here, and..."
Among Spirits of Vegetation, Lingzhi was arguably the least aggressive—or at least the most covert in its attacks.
Unlike trees, which could strike with their branches or ensnare prey with their roots, or vines, whose attacks were among the most dangerous.
If they were poisonous mushrooms, they might have defenses such as releasing mist or toxic gas.
But Lingzhi Spirits of Vegetation didn't even release poison or mist. They generally relied on spores to parasitize their targets.
But there was no room for spores to parasitize a Spirit Reader.
The largest Lingzhi, which had developed intelligence, had a cap a full meter wide. Its surface glimmered faintly like metal, and its edges had even begun to ripple.
Invisible spore dust drifted through the air, swirling toward Chu He and trying to envelop and penetrate him.
Unfortunately for the mushrooms, Chu He's Spiritual Force surrounded his body, and not a single spore could land on him. He calmly picked the entire cluster of Lingzhi mushrooms one by one.
The White Jade Wine Pot analyzed the Spirit Machine contained in the Lingzhi, but could only provide its medicinal benefits: strengthening the body and prolonging life. It couldn't produce a Wine Recipe.
Chu He had no choice but to place it deep inside the White Jade Wine Pot, alongside the Moon Nether Vine Heart, for the time being, like a treasure kept in reserve.
After checking carefully with the Fluorescent Stick and finding nothing else, Chu He used his Spiritual Force to control his Flying Daggers and cut through the rotten wood in front of him, then continued deeper into the cave.
This time, however, the cave grew narrower and narrower until only a hole about a foot wide remained. He could hear what sounded like water inside.
In the end, Chu He found no other valuable materials, but he wasn't disappointed.
He had a Spirit of Vegetation–level Lingzhi, plus dozens of Lingzhi mushrooms containing Spirit Machine. What more could he ask for?
He immediately turned back.
A short while later, Chu He returned to the valley. Whiteman had already left after collecting the materials from the Mountain Giant Ape. Chu He nodded slightly.
It was just as well he'd left!
If Whiteman were still here, Chu He wouldn't have been able to store all the herbs in the valley inside the White Jade Wine Pot.
What Chu He hadn't expected was that although many of the herbs looked familiar, plenty of them hadn't yet been recorded by the White Jade Wine Pot.
Before long, after gathering everything in the valley, Chu He suddenly sensed a stir in his Sea of Consciousness.
He immediately sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.
Boom!
Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the White Jade Wine Pot blazed with light, sending countless rays in every direction. White mist formed from Spiritual Force surged and churned.
[Ten thousand kinds of Spirit Machine collected and analyzed. Pot Heaven unlocked.]
A message suddenly appeared in Chu He's mind.
In an instant, Chu He sensed the vast space within the White Jade Wine Pot.
It was as if an invisible link connected it to another vast world.
The World in the Pot.
It was a continent shrouded in mist. The land was about a hundred kilometers long and wide, with a total area of ten thousand square kilometers.
A hundred kilometers above the continent, everything was filled with hazy white mist.
Strangely, a faint white light shone through the mist from beyond.
The continent had plains, lakes, rivers, forests... every kind of terrain suitable for cultivation.
Countless bubbles shimmering with radiant light floated in the air above the continent, just beneath the mist.
Moreover, this wasn't some fragment of space. It was a complete world.
Like the World Rings or Internal Worlds of Special Lifeforms found in this universe, the World in the Pot could also store World Rings.
Most importantly, because the White Jade Wine Pot had already recognized Chu He as its master, he only needed to sweep it with his Spiritual Force to sense everything inside the World in the Pot.
Whoosh!
With a thought, Chu He could clearly sense the countless colorful bubbles.
Inside the bubbles were all the spirit herbs containing Spirit Machine that he had collected during his travels through China and Europe.
"Great is the universe in a sleeve; long are the days and months in the pot."
Sensing everything within Pot Heaven, Chu He stared wide-eyed with excitement.
Before you continue