Harvest

The fire burned around the secret place; a normal wildfire would inevitably spread upwards, eventually burning the entire secret place to the ground.

However, the Four Gates Encircling Formation continuously pulled this secret place away from the internal formations, causing it to be pulled towards Zhongnan Mountain. Meanwhile, many burning materials were constantly falling downwards.

Instead of spreading upwards, the flames continued to shrink downwards.

"Will this secret realm dissolve and disappear? Will we still be able to close the four-gate protective array?"

The secret place was filled with thick smoke and dust, but also brimming with Spiritual Qi.

It was a contradictory feeling that was both stimulating and comfortable. The new emperor took a deep breath of the stale air, exhaling the air from his chest as if he were smoking, and then asked Zhang Xuezhou, whose knowledge was somewhat obscure.

"Should we buy some purple Ganoderma lucidum and Polygonatum sibiricum first?"

Zhang Xuezhou did not answer this speculative question himself, after all, he was unsure and did not want to make a choice.

He pointed to the purple Ganoderma lucidum and Solomon's seal that were sticking out from all around.

Hundreds or even thousands of large medicinal herbs soaked in water lay scattered around, waiting to be collected.

Some large medicinal herbs could still be held in place with difficulty, while others had already been unearthed and were rolling and falling in the forest, especially the purple Ganoderma, which is round and very easy to roll.

"Receive!"

The new emperor abandoned his desire to inquire.

Instead of seeking uncertain answers, it's better to take what you can get in the present moment.

"Hey, Commander Wei, I couldn't save you, but I took care of this child for you. He's your son's friend, so I guess I did you a favor. You have to arrange an identity for me to survive in Shanglin Garden!"

As Jin Wanliang's incessant chatter reached the emperor, the new emperor quickly waved his hand, signaling Jin Wanliang to promptly collect the exposed large medicinal herbs.

"Quickly pick these large medicinal herbs, and you'll have plenty to eat and drink in Shanglin Garden, and no one will bother you," the new emperor shouted.

"You're not the Grand Commander, your word doesn't count," Jin Wanliang said irritably. "My godfather said only the Grand Commander has authority over the Forest Garden!"

"Then you have a good godfather who can give you guidance!"

The new emperor glanced at Zhang Xuezhou, then muttered a couple more complaints. Wei Qing, standing beside him, loudly agreed, which finally allowed Jin Wanliang to put down Huo Qubing and hop off to fetch the medicine.

"It's good that it can help a little; many people aren't as useful as him!"

Zhang Xuezhou gave an awkward laugh.

He was helpless against Jin Wanliang, that troublemaker who would occasionally let slip a few words.

For human dynasties that were extremely wary of demons, having an affair with a demon and taking him under their wing was no different from corruption.

Zhang Xuezhou could only be thankful that the new emperor was relatively enlightened, and that Jin Wanliang's demands were not excessive, so the matter ended relatively peacefully.

"It's good that it works!"

The new emperor nodded, then took the Polygonatum from Zhang Xuezhou and, with a forced smile, kept stuffing the large medicine into his large Heaven and Earth Pouch.

"You should also use your magic to collect some," the new emperor advised.

"How could anyone tell how much I've hidden when it's stuffed into my Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag? It's better if I don't take any," Zhang Xuezhou laughed.

"What's this talk of hiding anything? What's stuffed in is yours!"

The new emperor looked at the mountains of the secret place and felt that even if he were to die from exhaustion, he couldn't possibly stuff so many large medicines into his body.

Moreover, the Great Heaven and Earth Pouch has a limited capacity. A single Solomon's Seal is as thick as a thigh, and a Purple Lingzhi is as big as a head. In addition, his Great Heaven and Earth Pouch already contains many utensils, so he not only cannot fill it with magic, but he also cannot put in so many large medicines.

After making a solemn promise, the new emperor saw Zhang Xuezhou set off to gather medicinal herbs.

"Lord Dongfang is truly dedicated to his duty; he hasn't touched any of these medicinal herbs that cover the entire mountainside even after being in the secret realm for so many days," Wei Qing said, unusually, after also using magic to collect the herbs. "These places have been thoroughly cleansed, and it's clear they haven't been disturbed at all!"

"That's precisely why he can be by my side like you," the new emperor nodded, then sighed, "It's a pity he's both capable and incompetent, alas!"

The new emperor sighed deeply, then took the purple lingzhi mushroom that Wei Qing had picked and began chanting incantations.

"Capable yet incapable?"

Wei Qing pondered the new emperor's description for a moment, but ultimately gave up on trying to understand it.

In his view, Zhang Xuezhou was clearly very capable.

Anyway, he woke up from the illusion, the water in the secret place was gone, he had entered the Sole Self Realm, and he could still gather so many great herbs. Wei Qing felt that there was nothing more capable than this.

It's not a big deal for Shanglin Garden to keep a demon, after all, Jin Wanliang is quite honest, and as long as he doesn't eat people, it's tolerable.

If Jin Wanliang didn't know how to use toad venom to make medicine, they could still take the medicinal parts from Jin Wanliang body, essentially keeping a living medicinal plant.

"This secret place is truly terrifyingly stable; even with such a massive landslide and earthquake, it hasn't affected those above!"

During a brief respite from gathering herbs, Wei Qing couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder upon witnessing the mysteries of the secret place.

Although this secret place shakes from time to time, it does not collapse like a mountain fracturing and landslide. Instead, the bottom is constantly melting, causing the secret place to slowly sink.

Boulders continued to fall from the bottom of the secret place, but in the context of this high mountain secret place as a whole, the falling was insignificant and the overall dissolution was extremely slow.

"The Four Gates Encircling Formation pulls from the four directions—east, west, south, and north—resulting in a relatively balanced overall force, preventing this secret realm from tilting or collapsing," the new emperor said. "However, stopping now to protect the secret realm is very difficult!"

"Can I do this?" Wei Qing asked.

"The core of the Four Gates Encirclement Formation is a bronze waterwheel ten feet tall, which spins at an incredible speed," the new emperor said. "When we left, we were pulled along by some force, so it should be spinning even faster now. It will be very difficult to approach or stop the formation!"

"This... this formation is really mind-bending!"

Wei Qing thought for a moment and realized that not only could he not understand the new emperor's words, but he also couldn't understand what the ten-foot-tall bronze waterwheel looked like when it turned, or why even the new emperor found it difficult to get close to it.

"Array formations are like dams blocking rivers; as long as they can change the course of a river, they can exert tremendous Tongtian," the new emperor said. "You don't need to overcomplicate array formations. The weakness of any array lies in its core; if you control the core, you can use the array in reverse!"

"Then why can't we utilize the key points of our waterwheel dam?"

"It's getting out of control!"

The new emperor had to explain again.

The secret place was turned upside down, and the new emperor knew very well how powerful the waterwheel was without even going to the water room.

Normally, the power of such formations is kept within a certain limit when released, thus coordinating internal and external forces.

However, due to their small numbers, they couldn't separate and couldn't attend to both ends, so they allowed the four-gate containment formation to operate outside until it was now highly likely to be completely out of control.

Zhang Xuezhou suggested trying to salvage the secret medicine for this very reason; getting some of it was better than losing everything and turning to ashes.

The new emperor took a deep breath of the Spiritual Qi, which smelled thick with smoke, and then had to continue doing the repetitive, arduous work.

If the new emperor encounters a rare and powerful medicinal herb, he will be delighted with this rare gain and will then quickly harvest it.

However, if the mountains and fields are full of medicinal herbs, harvesting them becomes a repetitive and arduous task, especially since he has to be in a hurry.

This time, he wasn't worried about getting trapped in a secret place and being unable to leave.

When the new emperor's gaze swept down the mountain, he discovered that the Geomagnetic Primal Light had been torn open, and was even slowly widening.

Even without using the Sky Shuttle, they could still travel on foot.