"Senior Sister Qing Zhu, where do you think the ruins on Spirit-Denuded Island might be?" In the forest outside Spirit Moon Peak, several people sat on tree branches, discussing the matter quietly.
None of them could hide the anger in their voices.
"Ruins appeared, just like that, so how could there be no news at all? How did anyone keep them so well hidden?"
Above them all, Qing Zhu held a green oil-paper umbrella in her arms and gazed toward Spirit Moon Peak.
Her crimson lips parted slightly. "Although Spirit-Denuded Island is very close to the Southern Spirit Sect, spiritual energy is scarce there, so hardly anyone visits."
"When disciples go out to train, they usually head to nearby Green Silk Mountain or Cloudmist Mountain, rather than somewhere with no spiritual energy at all."
"If ruins appeared there, it naturally wouldn't be too difficult for a few Spirit Transformation experts to conceal them."
Qing Zhu's analysis gave the others food for thought.
If a Spirit Transformation traitor really had emerged within the Southern Spirit Sect, it would be a devastating blow to them.
Never mind their sect-how many Spirit Transformation experts could there be in the entire Southern Region?
"I heard that back then, Spirit Transformation experts were everywhere in the Central Region. I wonder what a glorious sight that must have been," another disciple said wistfully.
"If our Southern Spirit Sect can find these ruins in time, perhaps we could nurture another batch of talented cultivators."
Seated above them, Qing Zhu nodded as well, swinging her legs as she watched her junior sister fleeing in the distance with a smile.
Meanwhile, Lan Yue noticed something too.
"Was someone up in that tree just now?" Lan Yue was already seated on Silver Snow and had flown beyond Spirit Moon Peak.
She suddenly caught a glimpse of what looked like several people in a nearby tree, but when she looked again, they were gone.
"Could I have fled so fast that even my eyes stopped working?" Lan Yue muttered to herself.
Beside her, Yun Xi nodded against her conscience. "I didn't see anyone nearby either. Maybe Silver Snow really was flying too fast."
"The Second Elder stopped chasing us. Looks like he's cooled down. Come on, let's go to Master's little vegetable garden!" Lan Yue still had her mind on that rootless powder.
"Vegetable garden?" Yun Xi stared blankly.
"Ahem, it's actually an herb garden, but lots of the medicinal herbs he grows there look like vegetables. Of course we can call it a vegetable garden!" Lan Yue declared, utterly unabashed.
"I know a little path. Let's take that so we don't run straight into the Second Elder." Lan Yue was terribly uneasy.
She had Silver Snow turn again and headed into the distant mountain forest.
"Huh? How come there's another person here?" Seeing Yuan Shuo beside her, Lan Yue failed to register who he was for a moment.
After all, she had fled in such a hurry that she had almost forgotten she had also "abducted" someone.
"Even though the Second Elder sent you here, you've already formed an alliance with us. You absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this path!" Lan Yue shot the boy a warning look.
The boy still nodded obediently and simply sat there in silence.
Thoroughly satisfied with his good sense, Lan Yue had Silver Snow speed up again.
Before long, they arrived at Spirit Moon Peak's herb garden.
Guangji wasn't actually very good at tending medicinal herbs. He casually planted whatever herbs he brought back in the garden and left them to grow on their own.
The fact that he managed to keep most of them alive was largely thanks to the spirit vein beneath Spirit Moon Peak and the spiritual treasures he had obtained from the ruins that nourished medicinal plants.
Guangji had gone into seclusion some time ago, and Lan Yue had been tending the garden ever since. She knew the place inside out and soon reached her destination.
"You two water the plants nearby. I'll go find the herbs." After jumping down, Lan Yue led the two behind her to the Cold Pool.
The Cold Pool was a special pool brimming with spiritual energy, and she always used its water for the medicinal herbs.
Before, she had always huffed and puffed through the watering by herself. Now she had finally found some helpers!
"Actually, although we're watering plants, what we're really training is our ability to control spiritual energy," Lan Yue said solemnly.
"Look at some of these herbs. Spiritual energy spills out all around them, so they must have been very well cared for. But some herbs are different. If something goes wrong with them, the spiritual energy around them becomes rather chaotic."
"So, let's train our ability to sense spiritual energy!" Lan Yue handed them a bucket each and grinned.
Yuan Shuo had clearly fallen for her spiel. He solemnly accepted the bucket and went to draw water from the pool.
Yun Xi smiled helplessly. After going through this twice already that morning, she naturally understood her junior sister's temperament, but her hands moved nimbly, and she promptly hauled up a bucket of water.
While the two youngsters diligently watered the plants, Lan Yue had already run over to the rootless fruit tree.
But when she saw what was actually there, she was completely dumbfounded.
Where the rootless fruit tree had originally been planted, only a hole in the ground remained.
"Where's my master's rootless fruit tree? That great big tree? How come there's nothing left but a hole?" Lan Yue's fingers trembled.
"Don't tell me it grew legs and ran away?" The moment the words left her mouth, a white blur darted away beside her.
Lan Yue: "..."
She had let her guard down and forgotten that medicinal herbs in the Cultivation World really could grow legs!
She hurried after it.
But how could a spiritual fruit tree that had grown legs and possessed such intelligence be caught straightaway? Lan Yue stumbled into holes several times and nearly slammed her head into the ground.
[Lan Yue: I'm furious! I'm going to see if this fruit tree has any gossip! Then I'll infuriate it right back!]
[Lan Yue: Oho, it really does. As expected of the Three Realms Gossip System-even a medicinal herb can be gossip fodder!]
Lan Yue failed to notice that once her inner voice began, the spiritual fruit tree ahead of her had noticeably slowed its escape.
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