Infiltrating the Spiritual Plant Garden

They came and went quickly, silently, without a trace.

Su Shi'er lay on the tree, not daring to make a single sound from start to finish.

And when he heard someone approaching, though he sensed nothing, he still didn't act rashly, only keeping a cautious guard in his heart.

"Thunder Drum Peak? What kind of place is that?"

"But this so-called trial—they say only disciples at Qi Refining Stage Six and below can enter, but that's clearly not the truth."

"This Tianyin Peak Master managed to find a way in. What about others? Looks like I'll have to be even more careful."

Su Shi'er pondered silently. Before long, three figures swept past swiftly.

These three had low cultivation, all at Qi Refining Stage Three, disciples from Tianhua Peak tasked with patrolling the area.

They stood on the slope, quickly scanned their surroundings, found nothing, and left soon after.

Once they were gone, Su Shi'er drifted down from the tree, quietly activated the Wind Calling Technique, and stepped on a breeze toward the Spiritual Plant Garden.

As he neared the thick fog, there were no other guards around.

Staring at the dense mist before him for a few moments, Su Shi'er took a deep breath and cautiously stepped inside.

The moment he entered, the fog churned violently. An immense pressure surged at him from all directions. Instantly, his breathing became labored. His entire body felt as if trapped in quicksand, unable to move an inch.

Su Shi'er hurriedly activated the Blood Light Shield, inwardly cursing—if this Jade Token turned out useless, he'd be crippled at best, dead at worst.

"Is this the power of a formation?! No wonder those Tianhua Peak disciples didn't dare come close!"

A thought flashed through his mind. At the critical moment, he quickly pulled out the Jade Token, his other hand gripping an Escape Talisman tightly.

Fortunately, as soon as the Jade Token appeared, it emitted a faint, soft glow. The violently churning fog seemed to sense something and rapidly receded.

"Good, it looks like this Jade Token really is a Passage Token!"

The pressure on Su Shi'er instantly lightened, and he couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Clutching the Jade Token in his hand, he judged the direction and quickly ran toward the Spiritual Plant Garden.

The fog stretched for several li at the periphery. The closer he got, the denser it became, and the brighter the light on the Jade Token grew.

Su Shi'er guessed that without the Passage Token, the pressure would only increase the nearer one got to the garden.

Reaching the wall of the Spiritual Plant Garden, he leaped up, stepped lightly with Shadowless Illusionary Steps, and easily vaulted over.

The moment he entered, he breathed in a cool, refreshing air. It was rich with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, invigorating his spirit and clearing his mind.

"Such dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi—even without spirit herbs, this place would be perfect for cultivation."

Taking a deep breath, Su Shi'er finally turned his gaze to the garden.

"Damn, that many spirit herbs and medicinal plants?"

One look, and he gasped sharply, his eyes widening until they nearly popped out.

Scanning the area, the garden spanned over a hundred mu, divided into neat plots of various sizes.

Several plots were covered by formations. Those formations were seamlessly natural, simulating the growth environments of different herbs—shade, sun, rain, heat... truly wondrous.

The plots were planted with all kinds of medicinal herbs. The lowest were Level 2 lower-grade spirit plants, and many were Level 1, but their age pushed them up to Level 2.

Looking from afar, the plots were arranged in orderly rows. He could also spot a few Level 3 spirit herbs.

All the spirit herbs in the garden combined—if not a hundred thousand, then at least twenty or thirty thousand.

"Hundred-Year Ginseng, Astragalus, Lingzhi... Mystic Phoenix Treasure Leaf, Kelan Flower, Dream Dew Fruit..."

Every time his eyes swept over a plot, Su Shi'er's eyelid twitched, and his heartbeat quickened.

He recognized most of the herbs, but there were plenty not even recorded in the complete herbal compendium.

After a quick scan, his heart pounded heavily, nearly leaping out of his throat.

"With this many herbs, it's probably worth more than an entire peak's assets."

"With these, even without the mysterious Pill Furnace, I won't lack for pills. I can rapidly boost my cultivation."

"No, I need to collect these herbs fast and then get out. That Tianyin Peak Master is a formation expert—she'll probably find a way in within two days!"

His thoughts raced. Su Shi'er quickly calmed his excitement, wasting no time.

He dashed to the nearest plot, filled with over a hundred five-hundred-year ginseng plants, and got to work immediately.

Moving swiftly, he used both hands and feet to pluck each spirit herb and store it in his Storage Pouch.

This was the harvest of a lifetime!

But to prevent anyone from discovering the herbs had been picked, after finishing each plot, he deliberately spent a great deal of true essence to dry out the soil, disguising it as barren land.

For good measure, he even left behind some withered or half-dead plants.

Over a hundred mu of Spiritual Plant Garden—Su Shi'er spent two full days stripping it of nearly ninety percent of its herbs.

By then, all his Storage Pouches were stuffed full, and his Storage Ring held a considerable amount as well.

"It's a good thing I got this storage ring. Otherwise, even if I managed to get in, I wouldn't have been able to carry so many spirit herbs."

"The remaining herbs are all decent quality. I need to finish collecting them and get out quickly. If I've timed it right, that Tianyin Peak Master should be coming in soon."

Early morning, Su Shi'er, who had just finished collecting another area, muttered quietly to himself. His gaze swept across and saw only two sections left, so he looked toward the nearest one.

On this plot of land stood only a single giant tree, a hundred meters tall, shrouded in thick mist.

The tree was lush with branches and leaves, hanging with seven round, glossy red fruits the size of fists.

Su Shi'er was just feeling puzzled when his eyelids twitched, and Meng Tianyi's words from that day surfaced in his mind: In the Spiritual Plant Garden grew a Hundred-Year Vermillion Fruit Tree that took two hundred years to sprout, two hundred years to bloom, and two hundred years to bear fruit.

"Wait... is this... a Hundred-Year Vermillion Fruit?"

Staring at the giant tree before him, Su Shi'er's heart began to thump wildly once again.

The Hundred-Year Vermillion Fruit was a true Level 3 Spirit Herb. Though only low-grade, its property of enhancing cultivation was enough to spark a scramble among all cultivators.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Su Shi'er hurried forward, ready to pick the Hundred-Year Vermillion Fruit.

If he could harvest these fruits, this trip wouldn't be a waste.

"Is that... a High-Tier Demon Beast?"

Noticing several mottled marks on the vermillion fruit tree, Su Shi'er's eyelids twitched, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

After a careful look, he noticed that coiled around the tree's branches was an extremely thick and massive python, its body covered in fiery red patterns.

Its enormous size made it clear at a glance that this was no ordinary beast, but a very powerful serpent-type demon beast.

The python had its eyes closed, as if asleep. Yet with each breath, it exhaled clouds and mist, thick fog enveloping its entire body.

If not for Su Shi'er's caution, having deliberately taken a few extra looks with the Heavenly Eye Technique, he would almost certainly have missed the python's presence.

And in his eyes, the python's aura was exceptionally faint, not seeming strong at all.

But the solidity of that aura gave him a feeling no different from the first time he'd laid eyes on that mysterious, peerlessly beautiful woman from Tianyin Peak before entering the trial.