An Encounter with the Spirit Plant Garden

Jiang Lu continued forward when she suddenly saw a beam of light ahead.

The light streamed in from the top of the cave, illuminating this area.

She raised her hand slightly, sending a streak of red spiritual power toward the cave exit.

The spiritual power collided with the stones around the exit, producing a loud crash.

Bang—

The stones above shattered at the sound, fragments exploding outward overhead. She immediately ran aside to take cover.

Jiang Lu looked at the opening above, large enough for her to pass through. With a light tap of her toes, she flew upward, and the blinding light left her dazed for a moment.

Once she had steadied herself, she finally took in her surroundings. The view here was wide open. A small waterfall halfway up the mountain cascaded down the rock face, its waters flowing into the stream below.

The area was mostly dense shrubs and thick woodland, with no large demonic beasts in sight.

As she pondered, the fragrance of spirit plants drifted over. She followed the scent, and before long, she saw a patch of spirit herbs. Unable to help herself, she pinched her own hand.

This wasn't a dream!

In her excitement, she strode over.

What a huge Spirit Plant Garden! She turned to survey the surroundings again, yet there was not a trace of demonic beasts. Delighted, she figured she must have entered a place no one had ever set foot in.

Though the spirit plants here were not high-grade, they were still rare treasures outside, and every one of them was fully mature.

With a thought, she stored the spirit plants, together with the soil beneath them, into her space piece by piece. How could harvested and preserved spirit plants compare to ones picked fresh and used immediately?

It was just a pity that her strength was insufficient. Otherwise, with a single thought, she could have swept all of them into her space. Why would she need to go through so much trouble?

Once she got out, she needed to hurry and buy a storage pouch as a cover. Otherwise, how was she supposed to explain the origins of these things?

"Who! Who is it?!"

Jiang Lu's hands kept moving busily when she suddenly heard a childish voice, its tone brimming with displeasure and anger.

She looked around. There was no one there!

Was she hearing things?

She continued storing the spirit plants at her feet into her space. Time waited for no one. Who knew whether other cultivators might stumble into this place? She was no match for them.

After collecting the spirit plants from the final corner, she looked at the bare little pits and nodded in satisfaction. Quite a few seeds were scattered in those pits; plenty of spirit plants could still grow there in the future.

She really was too kind-hearted!

"You!"

"You're the bad person!"

Jiang Lu heard that angry voice again. This time, she was certain it was no illusion.

Yet no matter how she looked around, she could not see a single figure. Had she run into a ghost?

Suddenly, she felt something bumping against her calf. She lowered her head for a look.

Oh ho~

What a huge white radish!

White and tender, with a tiny leaf on its head and a red dot between its brows, it already had the rudiments of a little child.

She crouched down, reached out, and could not resist pinching its cheeks.

So soft~

So cute~

"Y-you... you... you..."

The little thing that had been full of fury moments ago immediately flushed bright red, stammering out one "you" after another.

Where had that imposing momentum from before gone?

"What are you? Why do you say I'm a bad person?"

Jiang Lu looked at its adorable expression with amusement and asked gently.

"Hmph! You're a bad person! You destroyed my home!"

"Your home? Where is it?"

Jiang Lu was somewhat baffled. Where was there any home here?

"It's right here!"

Seeing Jiang Lu refuse to admit it, the little thing stomped its tiny foot and pointed at the mess all around them. Its eyes accused her, and the more it spoke, the more aggrieved it became.

Jiang Lu froze. A bold guess surfaced in her mind.

"You mean this herb garden is your home?"

Mm-hmm!

It nodded, its eyes full of grievance.

It had merely taken a nap in the soil. When it woke up, its home was gone.

Jiang Lu scratched her head awkwardly. Why did she feel like she had bullied a child?

But asking her to return the spirit plants was absolutely impossible. They might fall into someone else's hands someday anyway, so why couldn't they fall into hers?

Ownerless things belonged to whoever got their hands on them!

"Then come with me. That way, your home will still be there."

Her eyes suddenly shifted. She gathered it into her arms, her tone carrying a trace of coaxing temptation.

The little thing immediately looked at her warily. Could this bad person want to eat it too, just like those people?

Yet when it smelled her aura, it began to hesitate. What pure wood-element spiritual energy. Being held in her arms felt very comfortable. Perhaps she was a good person?

Besides, there was none of that intense covetousness in her eyes. She looked pure and clear. Perhaps it had overthought things.

"But without those spirit plants, I won't live much longer." The outside world was dangerous. It might be caught and eaten at any time.

Its voice was full of grievance. It was a dignified thousand-year ginseng spirit, yet it had ended up in such a miserable state. For spirit beasts and spirit plants, taking human form was already an arduous undertaking. For their thousand-year ginseng clan, it was harder still.

Living for a thousand years was difficult enough, let alone cultivating until it could take human form.

Its opportunity had all come from this Spirit Plant Garden. The dense spiritual energy and medicinal properties of the spirit plants had nourished it, allowing it to take form so quickly. And it was precisely because those spirit plants were there that its aura had been concealed, keeping people from discovering it.

Now that the Spirit Plant Garden was gone, it would definitely be discovered and eaten. It had heard the elders say that their medicinal properties were potent; eating them could increase one's strength.

Seeing its aggrieved expression, Jiang Lu felt somewhat guilty. "If your home were still there, would you be willing to come with me?"

Linglong had just said that this little thing could be brought into the space. It was a small spirit plant that had successfully taken form and possessed no offensive power. With it around, perhaps she would have a never-ending supply of spirit plants in the future.

Linglong would never admit that it had found lying on the vines extremely comfortable and wanted to slack off. With this little thing around, it could slack off without worry.

"You mean it? My home is still there?"

It raised its head excitedly to look at Jiang Lu, its eyes filled with disbelief.

Jiang Lu nodded. Then, with a thought, she brought it into her space.

Upon seeing that familiar place, it was startled and immediately hid. Then it promptly dug downward and burrowed into the earth, leaving only its two eyes exposed as it grinned foolishly.

Hehe~ Its home was still there.

It did not care where this place was. As long as its home was here, that was all that mattered. Just as it was rejoicing, it sensed a mass of energy.

"Little thing, this whole area will be yours from now on! Your task is to take good care of any spirit plants brought in here, understand?"

It stared blankly up at the ball of light above its head, looking somewhat bewildered.

"You mean this entire place is mine? I can walk around wherever I want and plant spirit plants however I want?"

Its tone was full of disbelief!