Even without seeing the stallholder’s face, one could easily imagine it turning red, then white.
The surrounding cultivators buzzed among themselves, pointing and arguing over who was right and who was wrong.
The stallholder swept a hand. “Stop making trouble for no reason! This isn’t my first day selling pills here. I’ve sold Dew-Condensing Pills and Fasting Pills before! If you don’t believe me, ask these Fellow Daoists. Am I telling the truth or not?!”
A few people really did nod. “That’s right. It happened.”
“I came over precisely because I heard someone was selling pills at the underground market.”
The cultivator in the gilt mask sneered. “I don’t care what you sold before. Whatever you’ve put out today isn’t a pill. Hurry up and smash that garbage!”
The stallholder said darkly, “Could you perhaps be from Wandan Hall, here to cut off everyone’s access to inexpensive pills?”
The cultivator tilted his head slightly. “I’m certainly not—”
“Wait, wait.” Another cultivator cut him off and stepped through the crowd. Black robe, bark mask… Everyone looked at this newcomer, then at the stallholder, and froze. Why were the two dressed so similarly?
The newcomer was naturally Xia Yunzhao. This stallholder was vicious. One sentence had turned the cultivator in the gilt mask into an enemy of everyone present. The man was obviously an outsider and did not understand Qingxi City’s situation. It would be bad if he got dragged into the trap.
Xia Yunzhao waved a hand and looked at the stallholder with a smile. “Since you sold Fasting Pills and Dew-Condensing Pills when you set up here before, why are you selling something different now?”
The stallholder’s eyes swept over Xia Yunzhao’s clothes. Hesitating, he said, “I sell whatever pills I happen to refine. What’s there to ask?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded slightly as though convinced. “Then what pill are you selling today?”
The stallholder replied, “A Suling Pill of my own creation.”
Before Xia Yunzhao could speak, the cultivator in the gilt mask sneered. “A pill recipe of your own creation? Many mighty Pill Venerables spend an entire lifetime creating only a few dozen original recipes. You’re in the Qi Refining stage and you’ve created one yourself? What, donkey droppings weren’t shiny enough after you powdered them, so now you’re powdering your own face instead?”
Xia Yunzhao pressed a hand over his mask. Laughing right now would make him look far too unserious.
The stallholder opposite him began breathing heavily with rage. Still, he really was something. He quickly composed himself and said, “Naturally I cannot compare with a mighty Pill Venerable, but I once encountered a fortunate opportunity and inherited the legacy of a pill cultivator. Only then did I learn alchemy and create this Suling Pill, which can restore damaged cultivation. If the two of you don’t believe me, I won’t force you, but you should not interfere with everyone else seeking pills.”
At that, the surrounding cultivators nodded repeatedly. It made sense. The vast cultivation world held countless fortunate encounters, some large and some small. There was no need to look far: everyone here had stepped onto the cultivation path because they had encountered opportunities of their own. Immediately, someone took out spirit pearls to buy a pill.
Xiao Xia said helplessly, “I don’t know whether you encountered some fortunate opportunity, but I do know you’re definitely not the person who sold pills here that day.”
The stallholder grew wary and slid one foot backward. “…Why do you say that, Fellow Daoist?”
Xiao Xia waved a hand. Several porcelain bottles appeared in front of him, and he smiled faintly. “Because the pill cultivator who sold those pills… was me.”
With another sweep of his hand, the bottles opened. The fragrance of still-warm pills drifted out, and the fresh scents of Dew-Condensing Pills and Fasting Pills spread through the crowd.
While everyone stood frozen, the stallholder reacted fastest. His front foot pulled back as he tried to bolt—but somehow two pieces of spirit ore had rolled behind him. He failed to notice them, tripped, and went sprawling face-first.
The ore seller from the neighboring stall hurried over apologetically. “Oh, sorry about that! These ores are always rolling around everywhere.” As if by accident, he stepped directly across the stallholder’s body, making the man howl. On the other side, the bookseller quietly stretched out a foot and pinned the stallholder’s robe to the ground. The man had only just struggled up to keep running when he pitched face-first again.
Xia Yunzhao chuckled. The last time he set up here, he had done business with both neighboring stallholders and chatted with them for a while. The two were thoughtful enough to help him even amid this chaos.
He cupped his hands toward them, then stepped forward and pinned down the stallholder. With Xia Yunzhao’s current strength, cultivators at the fifth layer of Qi Refining or below were no match for him. This man was only at the fourth layer, so no matter how he struggled, he could not break free.
Beside them, the cultivator in the gilt mask laughed loudly. “You’re an interesting kid. Let me see your pills.” He reached out and drew a porcelain bottle straight into his hand.
He poured out a Fasting Pill, examined it for a moment, then nodded. “Not bad, not bad. You haven’t been refining pills for long, yet you’ve already gotten Fasting Pills to this level. Selling pills like these as common goods is a waste. You could make much more money at a pill cultivator gathering.”
Xia Yunzhao’s interest stirred. “Senior, do you have time? I’ll treat you to tea. Could you tell me about pill cultivator gatherings?”
The cultivator was tempted, but then waved a hand. “Forget it. I still have business today. We can talk if we run into each other again. Besides, you’ve got a whole mess here to deal with. Handle that first!” With a sweep of his cloak, he strode away.
Xia Yunzhao had no time to follow. Ji family members had already arrived. He handed the swindler over to them and could not be bothered changing stalls, so he simply sat behind the same one. “Many thanks to all the Fellow Daoists who helped me catch this impersonator. Please accept my gratitude.”
That was a beautifully phrased line. Everyone present had actually been tricked into coming here, but the moment Xia Yunzhao said it, they had become people who had come to help catch a fraud. Naturally, that felt completely different.
Someone immediately said, “You’re too polite, Fellow Daoist. We all came for your pills.”
“Exactly, exactly. What kinds did you bring today? Do you have many?”
“Today I still have Dew-Condensing Pills and Fasting Pills. Forty-one Dew-Condensing Pills and thirty-two Fasting Pills in total.” As usual, Xia Yunzhao spread out a beast hide and placed all the porcelain bottles on top.
The moment the pills appeared, it was like scattering fish food into a school of fish. Cultivators surged forward in a swarm, one taking three, another taking five. Before long, every pill had sold out.
Xia Yunzhao made more than nine thousand spirit pearls in one go.
It looked like a lot, but in reality, that was barely the cost of one night of his cultivation… Tears.
He took out the other resources he had accumulated over the past two days and sold those too, bringing in another three thousand-plus spirit pearls altogether.
His goods always sold quickly. By the time he closed his stall, the two neighboring Fellow Daoists had not even sold half of theirs.
Smiling, Xia Yunzhao took out two porcelain bottles he had prepared in advance. Each held one Dew-Condensing Pill and one Fasting Pill.
He handed one bottle to each stallholder. “Thank you both for helping me catch that fraud. If he’d gotten away, it would’ve bothered me for days.”
The two stallholders exchanged looks. The ore seller laughed. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony! If I’d had enough spirit pearls on hand, I would’ve bought your pills long ago. Still, I won’t take advantage of you. Come over to my stall and pick any piece of ore you like. Consider it making a friend.”
The bookseller hurried to add, “Same here. Pick any book you like!”
Xia Yunzhao immediately stood, grinning. “That generous? Then I really won’t hold back! My eyes are excellent. I might just pick the most expensive thing on the whole stall.”
Both stallholders laughed and beckoned him over, eager to see whether he really could choose the most expensive item.
Xia Yunzhao squatted in front of the ore stall. The owner was probably at the third layer of Qi Refining, and the spirit ores he displayed were all low-tier. Xiao Xia swept his eyes across them and immediately recognized Black Iron Ore, White Copper Ore, and several others. There was even a small pile of ordinary iron ore.
One glance was enough to bore Xiao Xia, so he began studying the few things he did not recognize. One piece was black with faint silver glints. It looked a great deal like Black Iron Ore, but the spiritual power inside it was completely different. Xia Yunzhao could sense that it contained more spiritual energy than anything else on the stall.
Another ore was yellow and semitransparent, with fine golden threads inside… After comparing it with what he remembered, Xia Yunzhao recognized Goose-Gold Ore. It was one of the most valuable Level-One ores. Because the spiritual energy it contained was stable, it could be inlaid into virtually any magical treasure and was popular among cultivators. The compendium had mentioned that one piece could sell for around one thousand spirit pearls. The one on this stall was somewhat small, but eight hundred spirit pearls should still be easy.
If the golden threads inside crystallized into gold crystals, the ore became Level-Two Goose-Gold Crystal Ore, whose price would increase by more than tenfold.
Xiao Xia could not help sighing. There really were plenty of good people in the world. With something this valuable sitting on the stall, the owner was still letting him choose freely.
Seeing Xia Yunzhao stare at it for so long, the stallholder cheerfully asked, “Choosing that one?”
“Forget it, forget it. It’s too expensive, and I don’t have much use for it. Keep it and sell it for money.” Xiao Xia reached toward a different piece instead. “Can I take this one?”
This piece was very small and shaped like a craft knife, with an exceptionally sharp edge. Its color resembled rusted metal, and it looked thoroughly unimpressive. Xia Yunzhao did not recognize this one either.
The stallholder tilted his chin. “It’s yours.”
Xia Yunzhao ran a finger lightly along the sharp edge. “What kind of ore is this? Is it used for offensive magical artifacts?”
“Not exactly.” The stallholder said, “I’ve had this thing for a year and never managed to sell it. It’s useful if you need it and useless if you don’t. Strictly speaking, this isn’t ore at all. It’s a stone knife.”
Xia Yunzhao looked up at him.
The stallholder explained, “These stone knives form naturally and can cut open stone galls. This one is black, so it can open a Black-Skin Stone Gall. A silver one would open a Silver-Skin Stone Gall. Now you understand why I said it can be useless, right? If someone doesn’t have a stone gall, this thing does nothing but take up space.”
Xia Yunzhao understood. So that was why it was called a stone knife. But while it might be useless in someone else’s hands, that was not necessarily true for him. He happened to have a stone gall right now, courtesy of the triangular-eyed cultivator.
He had tried opening it before but failed. So a stone knife was what he needed.
Now he could finally give it a try.
After putting away the stone knife, Xia Yunzhao went to the stall selling miscellaneous books. This stallholder was not as lively as the ore seller and looked like a quiet person—if one ignored the books he sold.
Among titles containing words like “secret history” and “amorous history,” Xia Yunzhao picked an utterly ordinary travelogue.
After leaving the underground market, he went straight to Wanglai Pavilion. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw two people inside for the first time.
He instinctively glanced at the second person. “Huh? You?”
The man wore the familiar white cloak and held the gilt mask in one hand. He was the pill cultivator Xia Yunzhao had met in the underground market. Without the mask, he looked delicate and somewhat frail, exactly the impression people tended to have of pill cultivators: phoenix eyes with single eyelids and two thin lips. Nothing about him suggested that those lips could choke someone speechless.
Xia Yunzhao froze again, then realized something. “Ah! You’re Fellow Daoist Xu!”
The pill cultivator paused and recognized him as well, but asked, “How do you know my surname is Xu?”
From behind the counter, Du Yan introduced them. “This is the Fellow Daoist who found Du Qianshan—Xia Yunzhao. And this is Senior Xu Ziyu, a Level-Two pill cultivator.”
Xu Ziyu paused. “Oh. So it was you…”
Xia Yunzhao took out the Yellowheart Jade and held it before Xu Ziyu. “Senior Du Qianshan meant this Yellowheart Jade as a gift for you. He was still clutching it in his palm.”
Xu Ziyu stared at the Yellowheart Jade in silence.
Xia Yunzhao took out another small booklet. “These are Senior Du’s cultivation notes. There are some things about you recorded inside too.”
Xu Ziyu opened it, took one look, and frowned. “What kind of dog-scrawl is this? Dip a pill bug in ink and let it crawl across paper and it would write better!” Then, apparently deciding out of sight meant out of mind, he stuffed the booklet into his storage pouch.
Xia Yunzhao looked between the two men. “Um… why don’t I take both of you up the mountain now?”
Du Yan nodded and stood. “We’ll trouble you.”
“It’s fine. Senior Du Qianshan gave me a lot of things too.” Xia Yunzhao pushed the door open first, and the other two followed.
All three were cultivators, so they traveled quickly. Before long, they reached the valley.
There had been mist that morning, so the moment Xiao Xia entered the valley he spotted a cluster of Jadeite Mushrooms disguised as stones. Considering that the two people behind him were probably in a hurry, he merely memorized the location and planned to gather them on the way back.
Unexpectedly, Xu Ziyu glanced over, walked across, swept his hand, and harvested the whole patch clean. Then he gave half to Xiao Xia.
“Uh…” Xiao Xia accepted the Jadeite Mushrooms. “I thought you were in a hurry to see Senior Du.”
Xu Ziyu did not look good, but he did not take his mood out on Xia Yunzhao. Instead, he said, “Since you’re a pill cultivator, pay attention to gathering spirit-item resources and study their medicinal properties. Some spirit plants may be low in rank, but their medicinal properties are connected. The foundation of pill cultivation lies precisely in understanding the medicinal properties of spirit items.”
Xiao Xia nodded to show that he had memorized the lesson, then led them to the cave entrance. “Senior Du passed away inside. His remains are beneath that gravestone.”
Du Yan stopped for a moment.
Xu Ziyu said nothing. He walked forward and stared fixedly at the writing on the gravestone. Then he raised a hand and released a surge of spiritual power. The neatly buried grave exploded open.
Xia Yunzhao: …
He immediately tugged down his hood to shield himself from the grave dirt flying everywhere. He had no intention of involving himself in another family’s business.
The blasted-open mound exposed decayed bones. Xu Ziyu glared at the unfamiliar skeleton, abruptly threw something hard into the grave, and snarled, “Idiot!”
The yellow jade struck the bones, bounced away, and landed in the dirt. Xu Ziyu waved his hand again, and the wooden gravestone shattered into pieces. “Dog-scrawl!”
Xia Yunzhao: …
He tugged his black hood down again.
Xu Ziyu tapped his storage pouch, and an enormous piece of ore dropped out.
Golden-yellow, transparent, with the fine golden threads inside already transformed into golden crystal… It was unmistakably Goose-Gold Crystal Ore, the Level-Two ore worth ten thousand spirit pearls for a single piece!
A block this enormous had to be worth at least one hundred thousand spirit pearls, right?
Xu Ziyu pointed. Spiritual power sliced through the ore like a blade, removing the excess and cutting it into a neat rectangular gravestone. Then he joined two fingers and gestured. His strokes flowed like dragons and snakes as several characters were carved into the stone. With a cold expression, he flicked it forward, and the golden gravestone landed upright before the grave.
Behind it, the scattered grave dirt gradually gathered again into a mound.
Xu Ziyu took out another protective magical treasure and used it to cover the mound and gravestone.
Xia Yunzhao focused. Carved into the stone were the words: Tomb of My Dear Friend Du Qianshan.
He suddenly smiled. No matter how angry Xu Ziyu was, he still acknowledged that fool as a dear friend.
Once everything was done, Xu Ziyu looked around the cave and declared, “I will live in this cave for three years. If you have business, you may come find me here. If you don’t, don’t disturb me.”
Du Yan was silent for a moment. “No—”
He had barely spoken one word when Xu Ziyu seemed to ignite. His thin lips moved rapidly, words crackling out one after another. “What? You want to stop me? Even if Du Qianshan were still alive, I could live wherever he lived whenever I pleased! What right do you Du family people have to stop me? Believe me when I say I can make sure your Du family can’t buy a single pill for the next hundred years!”
Du Yan shrugged, took out his wine gourd, poured Du Qianshan a cup, then said, “I’d actually like to see what the Du family looks like when it can’t buy a single pill.”
Xu Ziyu snorted and called, “Brat surnamed Xia.”
Xia Yunzhao poked his head out from inside his cloak. “Huh?”
A booklet came whistling toward his face. He raised a hand and caught it as Xu Ziyu said, “Since you’re a pill cultivator, I assume you’re not short of money. Giving you spirit pearls would be an insult. These are the alchemy notes I recorded when I was a Level-One pill cultivator. They’re yours.”
Xia Yunzhao weighed money against experience for a moment, then gritted his teeth. “Yes. This junior is not short of money. Thank you for your instruction, Senior!”
Xu Ziyu swept his sleeve, and a gentle wind pushed Xia Yunzhao out of the cave. One final sentence followed him. “If there’s something you don’t understand, come find me on any date ending in five.”
Xia Yunzhao felt that Xu Ziyu treated him much better than Du Yan. Standing outside the cave, he cupped his hands. “Yes. This junior will remember.”
White light flashed inside the cave, and a barrier expanded from within, preventing outsiders from disturbing it.
Xia Yunzhao turned toward Du Yan. “It’s still early. I’m going to wander home while gathering spirit herbs along the way. What about you?”
Du Yan waved a hand. “I’m going back to drink. Oh, right.” For once, he looked somewhat proper. He straightened his clothes and cupped his hands. “Thank you.”
Xia Yunzhao grinned and waved. His feet turned, and his figure drifted away. “If you really want to thank me, buy me a good jar of wine next time!”
Du Yan laughed and shook his head. “This kid.” He glanced back at the now-hidden barrier and headed down the mountain too.
The moment Xia Yunzhao left the valley, he activated the Spirit-Seeking Compass. He targeted spirit items along the route home and no longer cared much about rank. Even lowest-grade spirit herbs would do. Xu Ziyu had reminded him that his current alchemy was still at the stage of following pill recipes mechanically. He knew what worked without truly understanding why. His experience was still far too shallow.
Lowest-grade spirit herbs were the most common after all, and by the time Xiao Xia had walked the whole way, his storage pouch had filled considerably again.
He muttered to Xiao Qing, “Lately I keep feeling like I never have enough storage space. I can’t use those few pouches at home in public either. If only I could draw an artifact blueprint for storage pouches. Right, Xiao Qing?”
Xiao Qing bounced wildly in his arms: If you don’t have enough storage space, give the stuff to me! I have plenty of room!
While they were joking, voices came from ahead.
There had been many more people in the outer reaches of Liancui Mountain lately, especially cultivators. In the past, Xiao Xia mostly encountered treasure hunters when he came up the mountain and might go several days without seeing a single cultivator. Over the past three days alone, he had already run into five or six groups. He had no idea why so many had suddenly appeared.
The benefit was that with more cultivators around, there were fewer Fang family people. Xia Yunzhao had not encountered those lunatics who burned spirit herbs for several days. He guessed they were afraid of running into other cultivators… Of course, it was also possible they had already finished whatever they had been trying to do.
Xia Yunzhao expertly concealed himself and prepared to detour around the group so they would not mistake him for someone trying to steal treasure.
Then he heard someone anxiously shout, “Bad news! Another Mighty Slaughter Bear is coming! We can’t handle two!”
“Where’s the defensive formation disk? Activate it!”
“This place is covered in Spirit-Devouring Vines! The formation disk won’t work…”
Elio’s Notes: The raw uses 噬灵藤 (“Spirit-Devouring Vine”) in this one line, then consistently identifies the plant as 蚀灵藤 (“Spirit-Eroding Vine”). We’ve preserved the source wording rather than silently normalizing it.
“Damn it! Why are there so many Spirit-Eroding Vines?! We’re finished. We can’t get out…”
Xiao Xia, who had been preparing to leave, immediately lit up. Spirit-Eroding Vines?!
Spirit-Eroding Vine was also a lowest-grade spirit plant, but its effect was particularly troublesome: its sap could corrode a cultivator’s spiritual power, and prolonged contact could even cause their cultivation to regress. Mortals were unharmed by it, though of course it did them no good either.
So despite being a spirit plant, it was one of the rare varieties nobody wanted. Cultivators avoided it from a distance whenever they encountered it.
But! Since it was a spirit plant, it definitely contained spiritual energy. And if it contained spiritual energy, couldn’t Xiao Qing eat it?
From what those people were saying, there was an enormous patch of Spirit-Eroding Vines here. It was practically a feast prepared specially for Xiao Qing!
＊
Wei Xuening stared at the approaching Mighty Slaughter Bears. There were only three of them. She had the highest cultivation at merely the third layer of Qi Refining, the weakest was at the first layer, and the third person was only at the second. They could still handle one Mighty Slaughter Bear, but against two, their only choice was to flee.
Unfortunately, they had been trapped in this corner and could not even run! The defensive formation disk they had finally managed to buy was unusable because Spirit-Eroding Vines covered the ground… Heaven really had cut off every path of survival!
Wei Xuening gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the crescent saber in her hand. “When they charge, I’ll hold them back. The moment you see an opening, run!”
Behind her, Ying Yanyu, at the second layer of Qi Refining, was startled. “What nonsense are you talking about?! How could we abandon you and run? You expect me to watch you get bitten to death and still sleep peacefully for the rest of my life?”
Wei Xuening snapped, “There’s no time to argue! If even one or two can live, then live! If all three stay, we’ll all d—”
The word die had barely left her mouth halfway when a figure flashed behind the two enormous bears. Someone landed lightly without making a sound, raised both palms at once, and let spiritual energy surge from them. His hands pierced effortlessly into the backs of both bears, and blood sprayed out.
Their hearts and meridians were severed at the same time. Neither bear even struggled. They collapsed softly like sacks, hitting the ground with two heavy thuds. Then the bodies vanished, collected by the cultivator who had suddenly appeared.
Wei Xuening heard her two fearless companions suck in a breath behind her and exclaim, “Holy crap! That was awesome!”
Wei Xuening was speechless. Her heart had only just started to settle when it rose again. She watched the young cultivator in front of them warily. “Senior, thank you for saving our lives. The three of us did not gather much in the mountains today. These are the spirit items we collected. Please…” As she spoke, she began taking things from her storage pouch.
But the young cultivator did not even glance at her. His bright eyes were staring at… the ground?
Wei Xuening instinctively looked down. Huh? There was nothing there except Spirit-Eroding Vines.
Carefully, Wei Xuening placed everything they had gathered that day on the ground and slowly backed away. “Please inspect them.”
The other party’s cultivation was far above theirs. Since he had not told them to leave, Wei Xuening did not dare go. She could only wait anxiously.
Then the cultivator suddenly whipped around, eyes shining. “You don’t want these Spirit-Eroding Vines, right?”
Wei Xuening stared blankly. “No, no, we don’t. Please help yourself.”
The cultivator chuckled and rubbed his hands. “Then I won’t be polite!” Only after saying that did he finally notice the “tribute” on the ground: one pitifully small bundle of spirit herbs and a few pieces of ore, worth perhaps a thousand spirit pearls altogether. He immediately waved. “I don’t want those. Keep them.”
Wei Xuening froze. Since when were cultivators on Liancui Mountain this kind? Usually, if someone saw a cultivator fighting a slaughter beast and merely refrained from swooping in afterward to reap the benefits, that already counted as decent. Yet here was someone who had saved their lives and did not even want payment?
Wei Xuening felt bad about it and took a gourd from her storage pouch. “If Senior doesn’t care for those things, please accept this magical treasure instead.”
Xia Yunzhao looked back and nearly sputtered. What was the female cultivator holding? A Water-Purifying Gourd!
No wonder her weapons had looked vaguely familiar. She was the woman who had bought the first Water-Purifying Gourd from him.
He waved cheerfully. “I care for that even less.” Then, ignoring the expressions on the trio’s faces, he plunged straight into the Spirit-Eroding Vines.
He whispered to Xiao Qing in his arms, “Can you eat these?”
Xiao Qing sulked, but in the end could not resist and gave its lid a little shake.
That meant yes!
Xia Yunzhao bent down, grabbed two Spirit-Eroding Vines, surged spiritual energy through his hands, and pulled—an entire woven net of vines came up from the ground. He rolled it into a bundle, stuffed it into his storage pouch, and left one patch of earth completely bare.
Then he moved to the next.
“Uh…” Behind him, Ying Yanyu exchanged a look with Wei Xuening. After a moment, she pointed at her own head. “Is this senior maybe…?”
Wei Xuening glared. “What nonsense are you saying? Do you want to die?” After a pause, she added, “Why aren’t you helping yet?”
Ying Yanyu and the third companion both answered and hurried after Xia Yunzhao.
Xia Yunzhao was happily harvesting Spirit-Eroding Vines when he felt someone tug on one of the vines. He turned and saw the three people running toward him. Startled, he thought, Seriously? You’re going to fight me over even this?
Ying Yanyu gave him an open smile. “Senior, our luck on the mountain hasn’t been very good today, so we’re not going to wander around anymore. We’ll help you gather all these Spirit-Eroding Vines and then head down.”
“Oh, I see.” Xia Yunzhao relaxed. “Then you take that side and I’ll take this one.”
“All right!”
The two immediately threw themselves into the work.
Wei Xuening: …
She rubbed her temple and joined the harvest too.
With four cultivators working together, the job naturally went fast. Before long, the entire patch of ground was bare. Wei Xuening and the other two had no idea what he wanted these things for, but they cleaned up with extraordinary care, not missing even the edges and corners. They dug out the roots too.
Satisfied, Xia Yunzhao stored all the Spirit-Eroding Vines, then went, “Huh?”
Wei Xuening’s heart leapt again… It really was not her fault. This young senior behaved too strangely, almost like the temperamental demonic cultivators of legend…
Then she saw Xia Yunzhao squat down and rub a pinch of soil between his fingers. This dirt… contains spiritual power too?
That came from the special nature of Spirit-Eroding Vine. The plant contained a substance that caused spiritual energy to disperse, which was precisely why it could corrode the spiritual energy of cultivators. The spiritual energy it released drifted into the earth and left the soil carrying a trace of spiritual energy as well. There was not much, and even if nobody touched it, it would dissipate within a few days.
Xia Yunzhao did not care. Spiritual energy was spiritual energy. So what if it was dirt? Xiao Qing was amazing—it could even eat soil!
Wei Xuening and the others watched the young senior hold a handful of earth, contemplate it for a moment… and begin digging.
The three fell silent. Both companions turned toward Wei Xuening at the same time.
Wei Xuening stammered, “H-help him…”