In the Shrouding the Heavens World, at the village entrance.
The sniffling little boy, Wang Erniu, jumped when Zhang Ming suddenly stopped him.
After hearing Zhang Ming's words, he blinked his big, innocent eyes, raised the blue orchid in his hand, and asked guilelessly:
"Big brother, do you want this water orchid?"
"Water orchid?"
Zhang Ming froze. "To think a top-tier heavenly treasure like this would have such a... plain name?"
But he soon stopped dwelling on it. A name was only a label, after all. What concerned him more was whether he could get his hands on this water orchid!
Thus, Zhang Ming smiled at Wang Ergou, secretly ready to unleash a Soul Skill at any moment, and said, "That's right, little fellow."
"A treasure like this is beyond your ability to handle. Give it to your big brother."
"Treasure?"
Wang Erniu paused, sucked hard at the snot about to drip from his nose, and grinned, revealing a missing front tooth:
"Big brother, you sure like teasing me."
"Isn't this just a water orchid? They're everywhere in the big pond west of our village! How's that a treasure?"
"They're... everywhere in the pond?" Zhang Ming's pupils contracted.
But his first reaction was disbelief. How could a heavenly treasure like this grow everywhere like weeds?
On the Douluo Continent, Tang San also shook his head instinctively. "Impossible!"
"Even if they're all water orchids, the slightest difference in age and quality can mean a gulf of a thousand miles."
"Wild hundred-year-old ginseng and cultivated one-year-old ginseng are both ginseng, but how could their effects compare?"
"The ones this child says are 'everywhere' are probably just ordinary specimens. The one in his hand must be a mutated or exceptionally old specimen of the highest quality!"
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang, Dai Mubai, and the others nodded, firmly believing Tang San's analysis.
After all, how could heavenly treasures grow in whole patches?
However, seeing that Zhang Ming did not believe him, Wang Erniu said eagerly, "You don't believe me, big brother? I'll take you to see! It's not far ahead!"
With that, Wang Erniu led the way, running toward a pond a short distance from the western end of the village.
Still doubtful, Zhang Ming hurried after him.
Soon, after they passed through a small grove, a sizable, clear pond appeared before them.
When Zhang Ming saw the sight by the pond, he stood rooted to the spot as though struck by lightning, his mind completely blank.
In the middle of the pond grew a dense expanse of blue orchids, all of them the same "water orchids" as the one in Wang Erniu's hand!
There were so many that, at a glance, the entire pond looked like a shimmering sea of blue!
"This... this is impossible!"
Zhang Ming cried out involuntarily, his voice trembling.
He felt that his outlook on life, his values, and his understanding of "heavenly treasures" had all been utterly overturned at that moment.
On the Douluo Continent.
Everyone watching this through the heavenly screen collectively fell silent, overwhelmed by shock and disbelief.
At Shrek Academy.
Tang San's eyes widened even further. Driving his Purple Demon Eye to its limit, he stared fixedly at the sea of blue flowers, trying to find differences between these water orchids and the one in Wang Erniu's hand.
But soon...
His heart filled with despair, and his lips quivered. "How could... there really be so many..."
"And judging by their shape and luster, every single one seems... to contain considerable energy fluctuations... this... this..."
The confident smile on Yu Xiaogang's face froze completely, replaced by extreme confusion and embarrassment.
Was a world capable of nurturing so many "heavenly treasures" really a lower world?
Ma Hongjun even forgot to wipe away his drool. "Good heavens... if we picked all of these and brought them back... couldn't I just eat my way straight to Titled Douluo?"
Oscar murmured, "Fatty, stop dreaming... but this... isn't this too outrageous?"
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Fengzhi snapped his folding fan shut, his breathing quickening as an unprecedented gleam burst from his eyes:
"A whole... a whole medicinal field? No, they're wild... a whole wild colony of top-tier spirit herbs?"
As he spoke, he looked at the two elderly men beside him. "Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, do you see this?"
"If we could gather all of these... these 'water orchids'..."
Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo also wore grave expressions, their eyes full of shock.
They had lived for decades and seen plenty of rare treasures, but when had they ever seen spirit herbs growing together on such a scale, with effects that seemingly promoted the growth of Soul Power?
A long while passed.
Looking at the heavenly screen, Ning Fengzhi sighed repeatedly. "To think this primitive world called 'Shrouding the Heavens' really possesses so many spiritual treasures."
"What a pity that no one from our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was chosen!"
Sword Douluo drew a deep breath and finally recovered, nodding slightly. "A pity indeed!"
"After all, none of these water orchids are ordinary. If we could mass-produce them or find more, they would greatly benefit the sect's disciples."
Bone Douluo smiled. "Fengzhi, you needn't be too disappointed."
"The heavenly screen's rules said the first batch would consist of three people, but one has already fallen. Presumably, it won't really wait three months to fill the vacancy."
"Perhaps a new opportunity will come very soon!"
Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly. "Let's hope so."
Similar thoughts also arose in the minds of the leaders of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, the Sun Moon Empire, the Holy Spirit Cult, the Spirit Pagoda, and almost every major sect and faction.
Zhang Ming's "good fortune" made them covet this "Shrouding the Heavens World" even more.
Just then, within the heavenly screen.
"Erniu! Erniu! Come home for dinner!"
An adult's call suddenly came from the village.
Hearing it, Wang Erniu hurriedly answered, then casually stuffed the water orchid in his hand into the hands of Zhang Ming, who was still standing there in a stunned daze:
"Big brother, if you like it, you can have this one too. My ma's calling me to dinner!"
"You're giving it to me?" Zhang Ming paused.
"Yep! My ma told me not to keep bringing these weeds home. Otherwise, they'll take root and sprout in the yard and steal nutrients from the crops!"
With that, Wang Erniu skipped back to the village.
Only Zhang Ming remained, standing as though petrified, clutching the blue "water orchid" as Wang Erniu's words echoed over and over in his ears.
"Weeds?"
"Steal nutrients from the crops?"
Zhang Ming lowered his head to look at the "spirit herb" in his hand, something that would make Soul Elders and even Soul Ancestors fight over it on the Douluo Continent, then looked up at the magnificent sea of blue flowers by the pond...
For a moment, an utterly absurd, utterly unreal feeling surged into his heart.
And!
The entire Douluo Continent also fell into an eerie silence at that moment.
Countless Soul Masters, whether lofty Titled Douluos or lowly Soul Scholars.
All of them stared at that patch of "weeds" in the heavenly screen, then thought of how they or their factions normally had to spend vast sums or fight desperately over a single medicinal herb only a few decades old...
"FUCK!!!"
Their eyes reddened. Their defenses crumbled...
Just then, the third-person view belonging to Zhu Zhuqing on the heavenly screen brightened slightly, drawing some people's attention.