"This is the Qingyang Secret Realm?"
After a dizzying sensation, Lu Li suddenly arrived in an unfamiliar space. What entered his sight were patches of withered yellow weeds, each reaching three feet in height, stretching endlessly before him, extremely desolate. This was somewhat different from the secret realm he had imagined.
Beneath his feet, there seemed to be a bluestone path, only it was deeply buried by weeds that had fallen from both sides. The small path was covered in moss, filled with traces of time.
"Could it be that someone once lived here?"
Lu Li gazed ahead thoughtfully. He retrieved a piece of yellow paper from the brocade pouch he had just received from Xiao Jue. The paper bore the seal of the External Affairs Hall and had a line of hastily scribbled characters: Collect ten first-grade spiritual herbs.
"Spiritual herbs?"
Looking at the expanse of withered yellow before him, Lu Li was somewhat puzzled. Could such a desolate place have spiritual herbs?
Placing the yellow paper recording the task back into the brocade pouch, he took out a purple jade token and examined it carefully before cautiously storing it in his chest pocket. This jade token was a life-saving item and must not be lost.
Just as he was about to move forward, he suddenly heard several sounds around him. Turning his head, he saw that it was Chu Qingfeng and his group entering.
A graceful white figure walked toward him from the distance, brushing off dry grass that had stuck to her clothes. Liu Xinyu softly called out, "Big Brother Lu."
Lu Li nodded, curiously asking, "What's your task?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xinyu opened her brocade pouch and looked inside, then slightly furrowed her brows and said, "Kill one early-stage first-grade spirit beast and bring back its corpse."
Kill a spirit beast?
Lu Li found this both unbelievable and curious.
What was unbelievable was that this place was too desolate and didn't seem like it could have any living creatures at all.
What was curious was that in all his life, he had seen wild wolves and rabbits, but never a spirit beast.
"Junior Brother Lu."
Chu Qingfeng also walked over, greeting him.
Lu Li responded with a smile. After inquiring, he learned that Chu Qingfeng's task was also to kill spirit beasts, though he needed to kill two.
In the distance.
Luan Xin'an, Xu Yucheng, Xie Zishi, and Shi Yanzhe were also gathered together, discussing something in low voices.
The remaining four people didn't seem to want to get too close to Lu Li's trio, nor did they join Luan Xin'an's group. Instead, they formed their own small team.
Seeing this, Lu Li thought for a moment and said, "My task is different from yours. Why don't we go together? I'll help you kill demon beasts, and if you find spiritual herbs, give them to me. This way, completing the tasks will be easier."
"Actually, that's exactly what I meant." Chu Qingfeng immediately expressed his agreement.
Liu Xinyu also had no objections, nodding in agreement.
Thus, the three formed a team. After a brief exchange, Lu Li led the two along the bluestone path.
The weeds by the roadside were too dense; even if there were spiritual herbs, they couldn't be seen with the naked eye. At first, Lu Li released his Divine Sense to sense them, but after a while, he felt extremely fatigued and had no choice but to retract his Divine Sense.
They walked for an unknown length of time.
The weeds on both sides actually began to grow shorter, and even a hint of greenery appeared. Lu Li's face lit up with joy as he called out, "It seems the deeper we go, the stronger the vitality. Let's hurry."
With that, he began to run wildly.
Seeing this, the others thought Lu Li had discovered some treasure and quickly chased after him.
About a quarter of an hour later, Lu Li stopped at the edge of a lush green bamboo forest.
The withered grass in this area had completely disappeared. The bamboo forest before them was lush and verdant, a world apart from the previous desolate scene.
Luan Xin'an and the other three also caught up, panting heavily, only to realize that Lu Li hadn't actually found any spiritual herbs.
But seeing this place full of vitality, Luan Xin'an couldn't be bothered to waste words with Lu Li. After glancing at Liu Xinyu, he waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" Then he eagerly rushed into the bamboo forest.
Shi Yanzhe and the other two quickly followed upon hearing this.
"Junior Brother, shall we go too?" Chu Qingfeng, worried that they might be preempted by the others, said.
Lu Li nodded, slowly following behind, deliberately slowing his pace as he looked around. Since they liked to take the lead, let them go ahead.
This bamboo forest didn't look like a wild one either; there were many intricate bluestone paths in the middle. Lu Li increasingly felt that the Qingyang Secret Realm must have been inhabited by people.
"Junior Brother, aren't we going ahead?" Seeing that Luan Xin'an's group was getting farther and farther away from them, almost disappearing from sight, Chu Qingfeng couldn't help but grow anxious.
"It's fine. The tasks aren't that easy to complete. Until the very last moment, what you have in hand may not truly be yours."
"What do you mean, Junior Brother?"
"Nothing much. Let's just look for our own. This bamboo sea is vast; there's no need to follow them." After saying this, Lu Li truly stopped chasing Luan Xin'an's group and instead walked toward the small path branching off to the left.
Not long after, Lu Li suddenly looked to the right at a cluster of emerald bamboo growing together. In other places, the emerald bamboo grew individually, spaced several feet apart, but this cluster had dozens growing together.
This suddenly reminded him of the records in the Precious Mirror of Spiritual Herbs. There was a type of spiritual herb called Emerald Bamboo Grass that preferred to grow in such environments.
More importantly, Emerald Bamboo Grass was one of the four spiritual herbs needed to refine the Piercing Acupoint Pill. If he could obtain Emerald Bamboo Grass, he would undoubtedly be one step closer to refining the Piercing Acupoint Pill.
Filled with anticipation, Lu Li walked over.
Chu Qingfeng and Liu Xinyu exchanged glances, somewhat puzzled, because neither of them sensed even the slightest aura of spiritual herbs.
Yet Lu Li was already rummaging through the emerald bamboo cluster. This cluster was too dense; he couldn't see what was in the middle. Frowning, Lu Li summoned a pitch-black axe from his spatial pouch.
This axe was something he had taken from the Miscellaneous Pavilion, precisely for emergencies like this.
He swung the axe, felling one emerald bamboo in just a few strikes. After cutting down seven or eight more, Lu Li could finally see the scene in the middle: it was filled with piles of rotten bamboo leaves.
Lu Li paused briefly before starting to dig these rotten bamboo leaves outward. The damp bamboo leaves accompanied by a musty odor weren't very pleasant, but he paid no mind to it.
Only when the pile of rotten leaves outside had reached three feet high did Lu Li stop. Excitedly, he dove in, grabbing a small seedling half a foot tall.
The seedling was entirely emerald green, also having bamboo joints, with leaves identical to the surrounding emerald bamboo, but with more branches and faint mist swirling around it.
"This is? A spiritual herb!" Chu Qingfeng walked up, his face full of disbelief. "How did you discover it, Junior Brother?"
Lu Li smiled. "This is called Emerald Bamboo Grass. It likes to grow in the dark centers of such bamboo clusters. The Spiritual Qi is masked by the surrounding emerald bamboo, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect its presence. Actually, I didn't discover it either; I just tried my luck."
"So that's how it is." Chu Qingfeng suddenly understood. "Then let's quickly look for more such bamboo clusters?"
"Mmm." Lu Li nodded, storing the Emerald Bamboo Grass, then continued forward.
Successfully finding one Emerald Bamboo Grass put him in high spirits. This bamboo forest seemed boundless; there should be more. Since he was here, he couldn't miss this opportunity. Compared to other elusive things, refining the Piercing Acupoint Pill was undoubtedly much more important.
In the distance, another group of four examination disciples-three men and one woman-happened to witness this scene. Someone with flickering eyes said, "That kid is really lucky, finding a spiritual herb so quickly."
The woman chuckled lightly. "No need to rush. They're only three people after all. When the time comes, if necessary, we..."