Page 17

Zhao Changming and his two companions had been classmates and had often hunted together while they were still at the academy. They were very familiar with the surrounding area.

Shan Heyuan followed in the middle of the group, excited and nervous all over. One look was enough to tell he was a novice.

After they entered Camphor Gap Mountain, the main road gradually disappeared. Low-grade spirit herbs and small spirit beasts could be seen all around them.

Zhao Changming had explained that, as a rule, they would not take spirit herbs or spirit beasts below the Qi Refining Third Stage.

Gathering and hunting took time and spiritual power. If they collected too many low-grade goods, they would not have enough strength left to obtain higher-grade ones.

The exceptions were spirit herbs right at their feet or spirit beasts that came charging into them of their own accord. Those took little time or effort, so they might as well take them.

As they walked, Shan Heyuan recognized a spirit herb by the roadside. It was probably a Qi Refining Second Stage Jade Void Herb.

It was the sort of spirit herb they might as well dig up.

He called the group to a halt, took a digging rake from his storage ring, and dug and pried the spirit herb straight out of the ground.

Digging up a spirit herb this way broke off more of its roots, so it needed to be taken back and carefully tended for some time before it regained its vitality.

But this method was extremely fast, allowing them to dig one out in seconds, making it well worth the effort. They used it for all spirit herbs below the Qi Refining Third Stage.

A Qi Refining Second Stage Jade Void Herb was not worth much and did not merit being placed in a jade box.

To keep it alive, Shan Heyuan took the trouble to dig up a clump of soil and press it around its roots before putting it in his storage ring.

That way, it should have no trouble surviving for two or three days.

None of Zhao Changming and his two companions were growers, so they could not help and kept watch nearby.

Li Jiamu said, "The novice has good luck. Fellow Daoist Shan, you've dug up seventeen spirit herbs at or above the Qi Refining Second Stage along the way, haven't you?"

Zhong Shuran shook his head. "That's not luck. A grower has the skill to do it."

Li Jiamu smiled. "It's not as if I haven't met other growers before, but none of them dug up as many spirit herbs as Fellow Daoist Shan."

Zhong Shuran said proudly, "How could someone I recommended be a person of mediocre talent?"

Li Jiamu agreed with that. "Fellow Daoist Shan really is very talented, and he works briskly too."

Shan Heyuan had already put the Jade Void Herb into his storage ring. He stood in the middle of the group, listening to them with a very agreeable attitude.

Zhao Changming was also very fond of this new teammate. Resting a hand on the sword at his waist, he said, "Now that the spirit herb's dug up, let's keep moving."

Seeing Zhao Changming about to walk off, Shan Heyuan hurriedly called him back. "Fellow Daoist Zhao, wait. There should be two fairly high-grade Indeterminate Grass plants to the northwest. I can sense their spiritual power."

Zhao Changming gave him a surprised look and led the way northwest. "Let's go take a look."

Following Shan Heyuan's directions, they walked a little over ten meters northwest and, sure enough, found two Indeterminate Grass plants. One was at the Qi Refining Seventh Stage, and the other was at the Qi Refining Ninth Stage.

Spirit herbs of this grade were already quite valuable. They could not simply pry them out with a digging rake, as such rough treatment would affect the selling price.

Zhao Changming and Li Jiamu had plenty of physical strength, so each took a hoe and carefully dug.

Zhong Shuran and Shan Heyuan kept watch and rested for a while.

Even as he dug up a spirit herb, Li Jiamu had enough strength left to chat. "I told you Fellow Daoist Shan was lucky, but you wouldn't believe me."

Zhong Shuran said, "Believe my ass. It's clearly skill! If it were any other novice grower, they might not even notice the spirit herbs if you shoved them right under their feet."

Zhao Changming spoke up. "Fellow Daoist Shan, are you more sensitive to the spiritual power of spirit herbs than most people?"

Shan Heyuan smiled and admitted it. "It's a grower's professional skill. Every trade has its specialty."

Shan Heyuan did not know about other growers, but he was indeed extremely sensitive to the spiritual power of Spirit Plants. This was especially true of those he had placed in his Dantian before: even from far away, he could pick out that slight difference amid the tangled spiritual power.

But that was his secret, so he could not very well tell anyone other than Shen Duheng.

Before long, they dug up the two Indeterminate Grass plants and set off again.

Hunting was grueling work. They had set out just as the sun was rising, and at noon they barely rested. They only drank some water, ate a few Grain Avoidance Pills, and sat in the shade for a short while before continuing deeper into the mountains.

Every hunting trip consumed a set amount of supplies, such as pills against venomous insects and snakes, talismans for keeping watch, and spirit wine to restore their strength. They could not stop and start as they pleased as if they were on an outing.

They had to reach their predetermined destination within the planned time, or they would run short of supplies and the journey would be unsafe.

When Zhao Changming made the plan, he had not expected a Qi Refining Third Stage grower like Shan Heyuan to find so many things, so he had allowed too little time for the journey.

Later, they had to pick up the pace to reach a suitable campsite.

As a result, the latter part of the journey was especially exhausting.

Even Zhong Shuran, who had been hunting for years, was worn out, let alone Shan Heyuan, a grower fresh out of the gate.

That evening, they finally reached their destination with great difficulty. Shan Heyuan and Zhong Shuran were both on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

As soon as Zhao Changming said to make camp, the two could not be bothered with anything else. They flopped straight down on a somewhat thick patch of grass and rolled into a heap.

Zhao Changming and Li Jiamu paid them no mind. They simply took their swords to cut trees and grass and set up camp.

Zhong Shuran took two Lesser Recovery Pills for restoring physical strength from his storage bracelet and gave one to Shan Heyuan. "Tired?"

Shan Heyuan nodded weakly. Too tired even to fetch water, he swallowed the Lesser Recovery Pill dry and continued lying there.

Zhong Shuran reached back and patted his hair. "I've never been this tired either. You growers are amazing. We're bound to make a big profit this time."

Shan Heyuan said, "Definitely. I counted. Today, we dug up thirty-seven spirit herbs at the fifth stage or above alone."

Zhong Shuran said, "Not bad. Let's keep it up tomorrow."

Whether it was the prospect of earnings that motivated him or not, Zhong Shuran lay there only a short while before struggling to his feet. He took out talisman slips and set up a protective formation around the temporary camp.

After setting up the formation, he counted the remaining talisman slips.

They had used quite a few talismans during the day. Watching Zhong Shuran lay the talismans out in a row on the grass, Shan Heyuan felt that what they had brought might not last three days.

In another corner of the camp, Zhao Changming and Li Jiamu were processing the spirit beasts they had caught that day.

Spirit beasts in the Qi Refining Realm rarely had spirit cores in their bodies. If they did, the cores had to be removed promptly and sealed in jade cases using a special method to ensure their spiritual power did not dissipate.

In addition, the spirit beasts' hides and fur had to be tanned promptly, while the meat rich in spiritual power also needed to be cut off and properly stored.

As for meat with relatively little spiritual power or that was not as good, they would choose the portions that tasted good to eat. Anything they truly could not finish would be taken farther away and thrown out, so it would not take up space in their storage Law Artifacts.

Seeing everyone else working, Shan Heyuan was embarrassed to keep lying down. He got up too and cleaned the spirit herbs they had dug up during the day.

All the spirit herbs at the Qi Refining Fifth Stage and above had been carefully placed in jade cases.

The jade cases were engraved with runes and inlaid with Spirit Stone fragments. Their interiors were cool, dry, and rich in spiritual power, keeping the spirit herbs in the best possible condition.

Even so, the interiors could not connect with the outside world and were not complete small worlds, so the spirit herbs inevitably wilted.

Shan Heyuan used Gentle Breeze on every one of the spirit herbs, returning them to their best condition before putting them back into storage.

The spirit herbs in the jade cases had all begun to wilt, while those wrapped in soil and placed in the storage ring had wilted even more.

Shan Heyuan guessed that the storage ring was like the Dantian: the extradimensional spaces inside them were both unsuitable for spirit herbs to survive in, so the herbs could remain alive for only a short time.

In the Dantian, however, spirit herbs released spiritual power and consumed it at an accelerated rate, greatly shortening the time they could survive.

The spirit herbs in the storage ring were merely being stored, so they could last a few more days.

What likewise could not be avoided was that spirit herbs placed in storage Law Artifacts would all lose some of their vitality and would need to be carefully tended for a while afterward before they could recover.