The Legend of the Ginseng King

North of the Heaven Dou Empire's northern border lay a place known as the Extreme North.

It was an endless land of ice and snow. Even now, people had explored only the tip of the iceberg. It was a true forbidden land of life, a death zone.

At the outermost edge of the Extreme North stood dozens of coniferous forests blanketed in snow.

These coniferous forests were home to a large number of ice-attributed soul beasts, making them a gathering place for soul beasts as well.

Although the trees in these forests were evergreen conifers, the region was bitterly cold and filled with swirling snow. Every tree in the forest was covered in a thick layer of snow.

As far as the eye could see, everything was clad in silver and buried beneath white snow. There was not the slightest trace of the vibrant blue-green life one would expect from a forest.

Thus, people called these coniferous forests of varying sizes the Frozen Forests.

The Frozen Forests were sparsely inhabited and plagued by harsh weather.

Other than soul masters with ice-attributed martial souls who came here to obtain Soul Rings, few soul masters of other attributes ever ventured into this place.

"So this is the largest Frozen Forest in the empire's northern region?"

Amid the wind and snow, Lin Rong stood at the edge of a forest. A phantom azure dragon silhouette coiled around his body, shielding him from the bitter cold and blizzard outside.

Behind Lin Rong, the Old Butler unfolded a map to confirm their location before replying, "There are thirty-seven Frozen Forests of varying sizes in the empire's northern region. According to the records, the Frozen Forest before us is undoubtedly the largest."

"If the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King truly lies within one of the Frozen Forests in the Extreme North, then this Frozen Forest has the highest chance of being where it appears."

Lin Rong nodded and entered the forest with the Old Butler, intending to find a place to rest first.

A quarter of an hour later, inside a cave.

Twelve pots of Blazing Sun Flowers were arranged in a circle within the cave.

These twelve pots of Blazing Sun Flowers were among the many rare herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye. Not only could this herb be used in medicine, but it also continuously released heat, making it a natural treasure for warding off the cold.

Inside the cave, the twelve Blazing Sun Flowers in their pots resembled tiny suns, radiating blazing light that drove away the cold.

"Having plenty of treasures really is convenient."

Lin Rong sighed as he put away six pots of Blazing Sun Flowers.

After all, only a short while had passed, yet the cave's temperature had already changed from cold to somewhat hot.

Once half the Blazing Sun Flowers had been put away, the temperature in the cave finally settled within a comfortable range.

The phantom azure dragon silhouette around Lin Rong's body had also vanished.

Since there was no longer any need to ward off the cold, there was naturally no need for him to continue using Dragon Soul to protect himself. Maintaining this skill constantly consumed Soul Power.

Before they began luring out the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King, both he and the Old Butler needed to restore themselves to their best condition.

Deep underground somewhere in the Frozen Forest.

Within an underground cavern, atop a rock, lay a ginseng plant roughly one foot and eight inches long.

This ginseng looked remarkably similar to the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng. Its skin was equally crystal-clear and translucent; even someone unable to recognize precious goods could tell at a glance that it was extraordinary.

However, the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng was a translucent blood-red, while this ginseng was a translucent emerald green, like a flawless piece of jade.

Like the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, this ginseng's skin also bore a layer of distinct raised markings that formed a special pattern.

The pattern on the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng's skin was a five-clawed dragon, whereas the pattern on this ginseng's skin was a Five-Plume Azure Phoenix.

The azure phoenix pattern was lifelike, emitting a faint emerald glow. It looked like a real phoenix that might burst from the surface of the ginseng skin and take flight at any moment.

Without a doubt, this ginseng was the legendary Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King, an unparalleled immortal treasure created by the blessings of heaven and earth.

Among the many Immortal Grade Medicinal Herbs, only the king of immortal herbs, the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, and the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng after reaching an age of ten thousand years could rival it.

Boundless vitality radiated from the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King, permeating the soil above this cavern.

Above the cavern, the roots of a pine tree embedded in the soil absorbed that vitality, becoming far lusher and sturdier than the other pine trees in this forest.

The moment Lin Rong entered the Extreme North carrying the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, within the cavern, the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King swayed slightly. Having developed extremely high intelligence, it somehow faintly sensed an ominous premonition.

Yet that premonition was not particularly strong, and it seemed to be mixed with something it deeply desired.

Moreover, the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King had immense confidence in its earth-escape technique, so it did not choose to leave this hiding place.

Inside the cave.

A pot had been placed over the campfire.

The Old Butler sliced off a small piece of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King in his hand and placed it into the pot, then continued adding the other hotpot ingredients.

Lin Rong sat nearby, watching the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King in the Old Butler's hand, with a question that had long puzzled him.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye had existed for so long, and quite a few Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng Kings had grown within it.

Logically speaking, since the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye had ginseng kings, then after all these years, those ginseng kings should have had no trouble growing to the ninth rank.

Yet in truth, among the several Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng Kings in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, not a single one possessed a rank.

In other words, there was not even a single ginseng plant more than twenty thousand years old.

Given the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye's effect on the growth of rare plants, such a situation should have been impossible.

Yet this utterly inconceivable thing had truly happened within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

Could it be that ginseng possessed spiritual awareness?

So once a ginseng plant grew into a first-rank Ginseng King, it no longer liked the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye's growing environment and would run off on its own to find somewhere else to hide?

Or perhaps once one ginseng plant had grown into a first-rank Ginseng King, the other ginseng plants were restricted by the laws of heaven and earth, and would stop growing once they surpassed ten thousand years?

After thinking it over, only these two explanations could account for why there were no first-rank or higher Ginseng Kings within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye.

And of the two, the latter was clearly more reasonable.

After all, the former could not explain why a Ginseng King that had attained a rank would abandon the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye's exceptionally favorable environment and insist on seeking another place to grow.

The latter, on the other hand, could explain how the presence of a ranked Ginseng King suppressed all the other ginseng plants, preventing them from continuing to grow even after reaching ten thousand years.

It also conveniently explained the age of the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng.

The Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng was naturally eighth-rank and evolved after ten thousand years.

A ten-thousand-year Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng could rival a Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King.

But if a Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng were twenty thousand, thirty thousand, or even older, then which Immortal Grade Medicinal Herb in this world could compare to it?

However, if the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng was likewise suppressed by a ranked Ginseng King and could no longer continue growing once it reached ten thousand years—

Then the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King could stand on equal footing with the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng, whose maximum age was only ten thousand years, and the two would be qualified to be known as the emperor and empress among ginseng.

In the original work, the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King was described as a ginseng plant that had grown for nearly a hundred thousand years.

But when the original work first described Tang Hao's Ninth Soul Ring, it was black with a hint of red.

The Titan Giant Ape was also initially described as being over ten thousand years old, only for Dragon Duke Meng Shu to later call it over sixty thousand years old.

Yet in the end, both Tang Hao's Ninth Soul Ring and the Titan Giant Ape were one hundred thousand years old.

The data was a complete mess.

So I directly revised the setting for the Ten Thousand Year Nine-Rank Ginseng King here: it was a ginseng plant that had grown for one hundred thousand years.