Meeting in the Woods

"A secret place, it must be a secret place!"

The scene of the secret place that Zhang Xuezhou saw was different from that outside; it seemed as if the world was divided into two parts.

He had never seen a scene where the inside and outside of the secret place were consistent, which led him to exclude the secret place factor from his previous judgment.

Moreover, Zhang Xuezhou failed to detect the Spiritual Qi of the secret place at the time, which was also the reason for his incorrect judgment.

It wasn't until everything around him changed, and he realized he was indeed carrying three large medicinal herbs, that Zhang Xuezhou came to his senses.

"This secret area is most likely concealed by an array, and the area I stepped on is probably just one corner of it!"

This experience was incredible; Zhang Xuezhou even felt that there was a high probability that he had accidentally entered a formation used for concealment.

"After I landed, I kept walking around those ancient trees and didn't leave the area enclosed by the formation. No one else could enter. The flaw in this formation is in the air. This kind of formation is so natural, it's as if it were made by nature itself. I didn't even notice it at the time!"

Zhang Xuezhou's body rose abruptly from the ground in the woods.

When he looked down again, the outlines of the twisted and deformed trees were nowhere to be seen.

The pale light on the horizon provided a wide enough field of vision, and all Zhang Xuezhou could see were layers upon layers of densely growing trees.

"His Majesty said this secret realm hasn't been opened for a hundred years, and its Spiritual Qi is unbelievably abundant. If this Spiritual Qi were to nurture great medicines, what Spiritual Qi would be left in the secret realm!"

If there is no other secret location in the Shanglin Garden area, Zhang Xuezhou believes this is where the secret location is.

I didn't see the long star, but I stumbled upon the secret place by chance.

Zhang Xuezhou was at a loss for words; he still didn't understand the situation here.

"It's very likely that a straight line of white light from the sky is needed to enter the edge of the secret realm from above. Only by breaking through the formation can we possibly glimpse the entire secret realm!"

The distribution of the secret medicines was too orderly and planned, which was completely different from the situation where no one had entered or left for a hundred years after the new emperor entrusted them to him.

Zhang Xuezhou carried the three large medicinal herbs and searched around, but he ultimately failed to find the entrance to the formation or discern any clues.

Once outside the formation, even the Acupoint-Fixing Technique that counter the formation become difficult to use to seal the acupoints.

Zhang Xuezhou leaped to his feet, quickly surveyed his surroundings to get a clear location, and then had no choice but to temporarily leave this secluded mountain retreat.

Time was running out; his return to the real world was imminent.

Consuming the remaining power of the Black and White Twin Horses is not troublesome, but Zhang Xuezhou still needs to deal with the Purple Lingzhi and the Polygonatum.

As people age, their bodies become thinner, and as medicinal herbs grow to a certain size, they shrink in size with age, causing the herbs to become increasingly compact.

Zhang Xuezhou could easily stuff the two large medicinal herbs he retrieved from the snake pit into his pocket, but they couldn't compete with some of the oddly shaped ones.

For example, the Cynomorium songaricum, which grows to several meters tall, is such a large medicinal herb that even if Zhang Xuezhou ate it to death, he still couldn't finish it.

The purple Ganoderma and Polygonatum he encountered this time were quite peculiar in appearance. These three large medicinal plants were clearly beyond the size of normal high-age medicinal plants, like fat people who had eaten too much.

Being larger in size is one thing, but the real problem is that these three large medicinal herbs began to emit a strong odor after being removed from the secret environment.

The aroma of purple Ganoderma lucidum is so thick it's like a lot of cheap artificial flavoring, while the smell of Polygonatum sibiricum is so pungent it's like eating a cooling candy; just taking a breath of it makes your scalp feel incredibly cool.

Even Zhang Xuezhou felt uncomfortable with this smell, Zhang Xuezhou thought that most people might find it unbearable.

"A storage bag is indeed an essential item for cultivators!"

Zhang Xuezhou had adapted to life without the Heavenly Robe garment, but he really couldn't adapt to life without the sewing bag.

But just thinking that the new emperor would likely give him a storage bag the moment he opened his eyes again made Zhang Xuezhou feel content again.

He carried two purple Ganoderma lucidum weighing over twenty pounds on his back, and then picked up a Solomon's seal weighing over a hundred pounds. After reciting a spell, the black horse immediately appeared beside him, frolicking.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't rely on his Law Power to forcefully travel through the whirlwind while carrying the large medicine. Instead, he rode on a black horse while it was still dark in the mountains.

"Aww~"

When the sound of wolves reached his ears, Zhang Xuezhou quickly turned around to avoid being harassed by the wolves in the jungle.

"Oh no! There's a three-headed monster riding a horse in this forest!"

The black horse had night vision and trod through the forest as if it were flat ground. Zhang Xuezhou was moving through the jungle with great confidence when he heard a sound, and then a golden light flashed across his body, as if he had been hit on the head with a hammer.

He reached behind him and grabbed an arrow whose tip had been bent by the impact.

"Oh!"

This caused Zhang Xuezhou to quickly crawl down and shout.

As he scanned the area, he saw two figures leaping and bounding through the dark forest behind him, running up the mountain path and charging toward the black horse he was riding.

"Those two Imperial Guards? I swear to God, you almost killed someone!"

Once he could make out the person through the blur, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

"Dong... Dongfang Shuo?"

The sound of panting and gasping came through, and as the breath dissipated, a familiar voice followed.

Who are you?

Zhang Xuezhou only intended to scare these Xuanjia junior officers into not doing anything reckless. After all, his speed on horseback in the jungle wasn't fast, and being mistaken for a monster and shot at wouldn't be a good thing. However, when he was recognized as well, he became somewhat flustered.

"I... I'm Chen Zhang, please help us! We're being chased by wolves, there are probably hundreds of them chasing us!"

Panting heavily, Chen Zhang chose to ask for help directly.

"It's too dark to see clearly at night, and there's no way to kill them all..."

"Then climb a tree and hide!"

Before Chen Zhang could finish pleading for help, Zhang Xuezhou pointed to an oak tree more than ten meters tall, indicating that the two could escape up the tree.

"Wolves don't climb trees," Zhang Xuezhou shouted, turning around.

"Those wolves must have been trained or enlightened by demons. They can jump up and down the trees, making it useless for us to climb; it would only easily injure our genitals!"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou still riding his horse through the woods, Chen Zhang pulled his companion along at breakneck speed.

"You help me get the people away, I'll hold off the wolves chasing us!"

Before Zhang Xuezhou could even retract his black horse, he had already clearly seen Chen Zhang's face, which was not covered by a mask, in the afterglow of the morning light, and also clearly seen the face of another person.

"His Majesty has come hunting too?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed in surprise, feeling that this was utterly absurd; he had come to such a place and yet he still bumped into the emperor of the imperial court.

"Do you no longer need to use your title of Marquis when you travel?"

"Um!"

A martial artist has abundant Qi and Blood, and when unleashing their power, they need to conserve their energy. Speaking can easily deplete their energy, and few people can shout while fighting.

The new emperor clenched his teeth and didn't speak, only responding to Zhang Xuezhou with a nasal "uh-huh," before running away as fast as he could after Chen Zhang's power was broken.

Cough cough cough!

When Chen Zhang pushed him onto the back of the black horse, the new emperor gritted his teeth, but couldn't withstand the pungent smell of the Huang Jing (Polygonatum sibiricum).

After coughing repeatedly, his eyes turned red from the choking, and the last bit of energy he had been holding onto completely dissipated, the strength that had been gripping his body almost instantly vanishing.

"Ahem... what are you holding?"

The new emperor felt his head throbbing with blood, and a wave of exhaustion instantly washed over him.

While they could still run and fight without getting close to Zhang Xuezhou, once they approached Zhang Xuezhou, they saw the Ganoderma lucidum on Zhang Xuezhou's back in the dim light. Chen Zhang mistook it for a head and was so frightened that he lost his composure first. Then, the new emperor, who had been holding his breath, couldn't hold it in anymore.

The new emperor thought he had found a savior, but he never expected that his entire army would be wiped out so quickly.