"Next, it's your turn."
After finishing his chat with the group owner, Su Mu turned his gaze toward the remaining two.
Both were a little excited, and they had Xiao Guan go first.
This time, however, something unexpected happened. Su Mu had already helped him enter a meditative state, but he seemed to be an insulator, shutting out all the surrounding spiritual power.
Noticing this, Su Mu frowned and observed him closely for quite a while. After confirming that he really could not absorb spiritual power, he sighed helplessly and woke Xiao Guan.
Xiao Guan's expression was a little off as well.
He had discovered that although he had entered a meditative state, he had not experienced what the group owner had described.
He felt that he must have run into a problem with his cultivation.
"You've probably noticed it too. You aren't suited to cultivation."
As Su Mu looked at Xiao Guan, he finally remembered something.
Everyone's aptitude was different. The group owner and Ming Lan could cultivate, but their aptitude was so poor that cultivation was quite difficult for them.
Xiao Guan's aptitude, on the other hand, made cultivation completely impossible.
At these words, Xiao Guan's face dimmed. Although he had already noticed this himself, having it confirmed still left him utterly disappointed.
"Next, let's have you try."
Su Mu looked at the last person, Wu You.
Wu You was quite nervous as well. After swallowing, he nodded at Su Mu with difficulty.
Soon, Wu You entered a meditative state, but his situation was the same as Xiao Guan's. He could not touch even the slightest trace of spiritual power.
When he opened his eyes, his face was likewise filled with dejection.
After looking forward to it all night, he had awakened only to discover that he could not cultivate. The blow was truly a little too heavy.
There was nothing Su Mu could do about it either. He could only offer a few words of comfort.
Ming Lan woke up at that moment too. Her face had initially been full of delighted surprise, but after learning that two of them could not cultivate, she reined in that excitement.
"Why didn't you two keep cultivating a little longer?"
Seeing the two wake up one after another, Su Mu found it rather strange.
"After absorbing a little spiritual power, I felt a bit swollen, so I woke up."
"Me too. Although it felt very comfortable, it was like being full after a meal. I couldn't take in another bite, so I could only wake up."
Their words left Su Mu somewhat puzzled.
Nothing like that had happened when he cultivated. What was going on?
Could it be because his aptitude was better than theirs?
Su Mu thought it over and over but could not arrive at an answer, so he could only set the matter aside for now.
With two of them finished cultivating and the other two unable to cultivate, Su Mu took the opportunity to sit cross-legged and begin cultivating himself.
Spiritual power began flowing into Su Mu's body little by little.
As he cultivated, Su Mu's expression suddenly shifted. He sensed what seemed to be a rather concentrated mass of spiritual power on a cliff five hundred meters away.
What was that?
Su Mu found it a little strange. The spiritual power he had sensed before had all been fairly evenly distributed, but this time he had sensed something different.
After cultivating for a little longer, Su Mu stopped when he felt the spiritual power growing somewhat thin.
If he absorbed all the spiritual power here, there was no telling how long it would take to recover.
If that happened, the group owner and the others would no longer be able to cultivate here. Su Mu did not want to take things that far.
Opening his eyes, Su Mu immediately saw their envious gazes.
As the group owner and the others saw it, those among them who could cultivate could only do so for a short while, probably because their strength was too low, limiting their cultivation time.
Su Mu was different. He was so powerful that he could cultivate for this long.
Su Mu had no idea what they were thinking. He simply assumed they were envious because he could cultivate.
"I think I sensed something up ahead. I'd like to go take a look."
Su Mu pondered for a moment before speaking.
The others froze briefly at his words. "Can we go take a look? Don't worry. If there really is something there, we definitely won't fight you for it."
"Right, right. We're just curious about what it is and want to take a look. Whatever it is, you found it, so of course it's yours. That's how we used to divide things up whenever we found fleeceflower root and the like."
They spoke up one after another.
Seeing their sincere expressions, Su Mu nodded and led the way forward.
The group owner and the others followed curiously. Su Mu had noticed something ahead while cultivating. What could it be?
Soon, Su Mu brought them to the destination, his eyes fixed on a small plant.
"Is this... wild mountain ginseng?"
The group owner beside him took a closer look as well and immediately recognized the medicinal herb.
"Look at these leaves. This wild mountain ginseng must be quite old!"
His face was now full of delighted surprise.
"You recognize this?"
Su Mu was somewhat surprised. He had never actually seen wild mountain ginseng before. Being able to recognize it from its leaves alone showed some knowledge.
"We've dug up some medicinal herbs here before."
The group owner immediately chuckled at his question. "Would you like me to help dig it up?"
Su Mu considered it. He did not know how to dig up wild mountain ginseng himself, and damaging it would be bad, so he nodded in agreement.
The group owner was also itching to try his hand at the sight of it. He knew this wild mountain ginseng was quite old and had never seen one like it before. With a trace of excitement, he lay on the ground and began carefully digging it out.
"This is in excellent condition. Judging by the stem scars, it's probably fifty or sixty years old!"
Looking at the wild mountain ginseng, Su Mu suddenly felt a little regretful. Given how spiritual power had been gathering around it just now, it probably would have had no trouble growing to over a hundred years old if they had not dug it up.
But now that it had been dug up, there was no reason to bury it again.
"How about helping me sell this wild mountain ginseng?"
After some thought, Su Mu spoke to the group owner. The man knew quite a bit about wild mountain ginseng, so having him help sell it should keep Su Mu from getting a bad price.
Besides, he would still need to seek Su Mu out for cultivation later, so he probably would not pocket the money or anything like that.
If Su Mu tried selling it himself, he would honestly be fumbling in the dark. He might as well find someone knowledgeable.
The group owner was taken aback by his words, then looked both pleasantly surprised and somewhat bewildered.
"Then, how about selling it to me?"
This wild mountain ginseng really was in excellent condition, better than any he had seen before. He had assumed Su Mu would keep it for himself, never expecting that Su Mu actually wanted to sell it.