Sun and Moon Within the Pot

After finishing off a few of the slower monkey minions, Chu He probed behind him with his Spiritual Force and quickly located Whiteman's hiding spot.

"Come here."

Adams Whiteman had watched as Chu He used his Flying Daggers to slaughter the Mountain Giant Ape. He stood frozen in place for a long while, not knowing why, and only snapped out of his daze when Chu He called out to him.

He scurried over, flattering him as he ran, "Mr. Chu, so you're actually a Spirit Reader! That is just too powerful!"

"Not only are you strong, but you're also full of compassion for us low-level martial artists..."

"Stop, stop, stop! Quit the flattery! It's so awkward, what's the point?" Chu He quickly raised a hand to stop him.

"This is coming straight from my heart..."

"Alright, alright. What was promised to be yours will be yours. I'm going into the cave to check on that Spirit of Vegetation; you go ahead and harvest the materials."

As he spoke, Chu He glanced at the spiritual herbs on the ground and added, "Also, don't touch these herbs on the ground. I'll be needing them later."

On the cliffside to the right, a cave entrance flickered in and out of view. Chu He launched himself into the air and flew toward the cave entrance.

Down on the ground, Whiteman hurriedly harvested the scales from the Mountain Giant Ape. Seeing Chu He fly straight up, a trace of envy flickered in his eyes.

But soon, it turned into a hint of irritation.

Being a Spirit Reader really is convenient!

At this rate, I'm afraid that thing inside the cave won't be able to do anything to him!

"Sure enough, there's a Chinese saying that goes: if you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet!"

"It looks like I've really fallen into a trap this time."

While dissecting the scales from the Mountain Giant Ape, various thoughts flashed rapidly through Whiteman's mind.

"Should I... just run?"

"No! That won't work!"

Whiteman recalled that the Mountain Giant Ape had occupied this valley for two years, and his own cultivation progress had been agonizingly slow.

"I can't lose this place again!"

"A Spirit Reader, a Spirit Reader, why did it have to be a Spirit Reader..."

"Wait... perhaps, I could try..."

On the other side, Chu He had already stepped into the cave.

The cave entrance was nearly five meters wide and tall. Following the tunnel downward, the interior was dim and lightless, growing darker the further he went.

At the entrance of the cave, Chu He took a fluorescent stick from his backpack and threw it hard into the cavern.

The height and width of the tunnel interior were much the same as the entrance, but the cave walls were jagged with strange, craggy rocks.

Walking step by step into the depths, Chu He reached out to sense the airflow within the cave.

It's flowing toward the inside of the mountain? It seems there must be an exit further in.

Along the way, Chu He remained vigilant.

Although the cavern was large, it was completely insignificant compared to the size of that Mountain Giant Ape.

Could it be that the Mountain Giant Ape grew so massive only after consuming the Spirit of Vegetation inside here?

Fortunately, this place truly seemed to be the territory of this Spirit of Vegetation, as there were no other monsters. Chu He proceeded smoothly, reaching the bottom of the cave, where he saw the Spirit of Vegetation.

Growing on a piece of decaying wood that almost completely blocked the entire cavern was a patch of mushrooms.

"This is... Lingzhi?" Chu He looked at the patch of reddish-brown and black Lingzhi before him, his heart instantly filled with immense surprise.

"I didn't expect there to be any Spirit of Vegetation left here, and what's more..."

Lingzhi could be considered the least aggressive, or perhaps the most subtly offensive, of all Spirits of Vegetation.

Unlike trees, which could lash out with branches or entangle with roots, and unlike vines, which were arguably the most aggressive, Lingzhi were different.

If they were poisonous mushrooms, they might have self-defense mechanisms like releasing mist or toxic gas.

But Lingzhi-type Spirits of Vegetation didn't even have toxic gas or mist; their aggression generally relied solely on spore parasitism.

However, in front of a Spirit Reader, there was no room for spore parasitism to take hold.

The largest Lingzhi, which had developed sentience, had a cap a full meter wide. Its surface faintly emitted a metallic luster, and its edges even featured ripples.

Invisible to the naked eye, spore powder drifted with the wind, wrapping around and attempting to infiltrate Chu He.

Unfortunately, with his Spiritual Force surrounding his body, the spores couldn't land on him at all. He calmly harvested the large patch of Lingzhi one by one.

The White Jade Wine Pot automatically analyzed the spiritual essence contained within these Lingzhi, only providing their medicinal value for strengthening the body and prolonging life, but failing to provide a wine recipe.

Chu He had no choice but to place them deep within the White Jade Wine Pot, alongside the Moon Nether Vine Heart, to serve as a treasure kept in reserve for the time being.

Holding the fluorescent stick to check for any oversights, and finding none, Chu He used his Spiritual Force to manipulate his Flying Daggers, severing the piece of rotten wood before continuing deeper into the cavern.

However, this time, the interior of the cave grew narrower and narrower, eventually leaving only a hole about a foot wide, from which the sound of water seemed to emanate.

By the end, having found no other valuable materials, Chu He was not disappointed.

With one Spirit of Vegetation-level Lingzhi and dozens of other Lingzhi containing spiritual essence, there was no reason to be dissatisfied.

He turned around and headed back immediately.

A moment later, Chu He returned to the valley. Seeing that Whiteman, who had finished harvesting the materials from the Mountain Giant Ape, had already left, he gave a slight nod.

It was better that he had left!

If that man were still here, it would have been inconvenient to collect the valley's herbs into the White Jade Wine Pot.

To Chu He's surprise, although many of the herbs in this patch looked familiar at a glance, there were also quite a few that had not yet been recorded by the White Jade Wine Pot.

Before long, after scouring the entire valley, Chu He suddenly felt a strange movement in his Sea of Consciousness.

He immediately closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.

BOOM!

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the White Jade Wine Pot shone brilliantly, radiating countless beams of light. The white mist formed by his Spiritual Force surged and churned.

[Ten thousand types of spiritual essence collected and analyzed; Pot Heaven unlocked.]

A message suddenly appeared in Chu He's mind.

In an instant, Chu He sensed the vast space that existed within the White Jade Wine Pot.

It was as if an invisible connection linked him to another expansive world.

The World in the Pot.

It was a continent shrouded in mist. The land was roughly one hundred kilometers in length and width, with a total area reaching ten thousand square kilometers.

Beyond one hundred kilometers above the continent, everything was filled with hazy white mist.

Strangely, a faint white light filtered in from beyond the mist.

On the land, there were plains, lakes, rivers, forests... every type of terrain suitable for cultivation.

Above the continent, beneath the mist, countless bubbles shimmering with brilliant light floated in mid-air.

Moreover, this was not some fragmented space; it was a complete world.

Just like the world rings in the universe of this world, or the internal worlds of Special Lifeforms, the interior of the World in the Pot could also be used to store world rings.

Most importantly, because the White Jade Wine Pot had already acknowledged him as its master, Chu He only needed to sweep his Spiritual Force across it to clearly sense everything within the World in the Pot.

Whoosh!

With a thought from Chu He, he could clearly sense those countless colorful bubbles.

Inside the bubbles were all the herbs containing spiritual essence that he had collected during his travels through China and Europe.

"Greatness in the sleeve, longevity in the pot."

Sensing everything within this Pot Heaven, Chu He's eyes widened in excitement.