The three arrived at the forest. The moment they landed, Radish’s entire body began to emit red light and elongate. The Vegetation Spirit Qi around it began to surge. Lonemoon quickly set up a defensive array formation and a Spirit Qi condensing array formation. Radish’s entire body had become red and the Vegetation Spirit Qi around it was becoming thicker. The rich Spirit Qi had already caused the plants within a radius of several meters to mature at rapid speed, growing into a dome surrounding the radish.

　　The three of them were forced to retreat about ten meters. From where they stood, they could no longer see the radish’s body. They could only see the plants around it forming a dome that they could not look into. The sky began to darken, lightning flashing across it.

　　“It’s about to transform,” Lonemoon reminded the other two. He turned around and set up another array formation around the group.

　　In the next moment, there was a loud crack of thunder and a streak of lightning lit up the sky, striking the plants beneath it. Half of the forest seemed to have been burnt by that lightning strike. Yet bolts of lightning still continued to fall, streak after streak, each one more powerful than the last. Only several seconds had passed before they realized that the dome of plants had mostly been struck down. A cloud of dust continued to hide the radish’s body from sight and the air was filled with a burnt smell.

　　9,981 streaks of lightning struck the ground before the clouds began to clear up. The forest now began to lighten up once more. The ground where the radish had been standing was now black and there was a big pit in its place.

　　“It was burnt?” Shen Ying couldn’t stop herself from asking. There were no signs of any life.

　　“Master, it’s alright,” Yi Qing answered. “Before the Vegetation Spirit takes form, it is unaffected by anything that happens in the natural world. The Lightning Tribulation does the least harm to these spirits.”

　　Indeed, the next moment, the once black land where Radish stood turned back to green just like in springtime. A moment later, flowers began to bloom from the grass which had sprouted, the ground becoming covered in red and purple.

　　A figure emerged from the pit, using its hands and legs to crawl out. It looked like a fifteen to sixteen-year-old teenage girl who wore a green robe, her long hair reaching the ground. She had a gentle face and was strikingly beautiful, looking like she was a perfect creation of heaven. The flowers around her suddenly seemed pale in comparison. Even Qi Chengyu couldn’t compare to her beauty.

　　The sun and moon seemed insignificant compared to this girl—she was now all that mattered.

　　The group of three was stunned, their heavy breathing in sync. All of them were amazed at the human form that the Spirit Qi of heaven and earth took. Her smile was sweeter than a thousand flowers and her giggle sounded extremely pleasing to the ears.

　　“Little Missy, I’ve taken form… Aiya!” But before she could finish, she tripped. Her perfect form fell to the ground and she began to roll toward the group of three, stopping right before their feet.

　　The three of them frowned: “…”

　　Faintly, they heard sounds of that perfect image cracking.

　　Ah! It’s indeed the radish.

　　-_-|||

　　“Little Missy…” It raised its head pitifully and hugged her thigh out of habit.

　　Shen Ying frowned in disgust and took a huge step back. “Get lost! You’re so gay!”

　　“…”

　　“Hey.” Shen Ying smacked Lonemoon’s arm. “Is it a guy or a girl?”

　　“How would I know?” Lonemoon scanned the radish and continued, “Spirit herbs mostly don’t have genders. Naturally, once it takes form, it could take on either gender.”

　　“A human demon?” Shen Ying hesitated. She took another step back in disgust.

　　The radish was stunned. Its entire body went limp like a shriveled eggplant and its eyes began to well up. It no longer had the glamor and beauty it had before.

　　The corner of Lonemoon’s mouth twitched as he looked at the human-radish in front of them whose tears were now flowing. He began to explain, “It just took form and it’s not used to walking, so that’s why it’s behaving this way. It’ll be alright in a few days.” He couldn’t help but step forward. He offered a hand to the radish and said, “Stand up.”

　　The radish’s expression became cold. It smacked Lonemoon’s hand away and shouted, “Get lost, Ugly!”

　　“…”

　　It turned back to Shen Ying and continued to cry, “Wa… wa… Radish needs Little Missy to carry it up before it can stand.”

　　Shen Ying: “…”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　Lonemoon’s mouth twitched once again. Two seconds later…

　　“Damn it, I will slaughter you!” He drew his sword and charged toward the radish.

　　“Supremacy Niu, calm down!” Yi Qing quickly stepped forward and stopped Lonemoon. “It just took form and is still a child. It doesn’t know how to interact with other humans and that’s perfectly normal. Don’t take it to heart.”

　　Nonsense, the radish is doing this on purpose! And what the heck is Supremacy Niu supposed to mean?

　　Yi Qing turned to look at the radish and said, “Radish, you…”

　　“Pfft!” The radish snorted arrogantly and said, “Another shameless follower!”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　Shing! Another sword was drawn.

　　The next moment…

　　“What… what are you trying to do?”

　　“I’m Little Missy’s radish!”

　　“Stop, help! Little Missy…”

　　Shen Ying: “…” Damn it!

　　——————

　　The one-sided battle between Lonemoon and Yi Qing versus the radish lasted a full 15 minutes. They didn’t stop until the radish’s once perfect face was covered in bruises.

　　The radish’s face swelled up and in the next second, it turned back into its true form. The once white, fat radish was now purple.

　　“Little Missy…” The radish refused to give up. Using its leaves, it reached out for Shen Ying.

　　Yi Qing raised up his sword and turned to ask Shen Ying, “Master, what do you think about having radish for dinner tonight?”

　　“It’ll be great if you made radish soup.” Lonemoon beat his fist into his palm. “Or slice it and fry it in oil. You could even steam it.”

　　“Wa wa wa…” You are all just jealous of my beauty!

　　“Hey, that’s enough from you two.” Shen Ying rolled her eyes. What’s the point of bullying a vegetable? “Weren’t we going to the… whatever town?”

　　“Upper Azure Town,” Lonemoon corrected. He stepped forward and continued, “Normally, people from the Lower Realm visiting the Upper Azure World would stop by at that town first. The aristocratic families will go there to invite disciples to join their family. We’ve just arrived and we don’t know much about the Upper Azure World. It’ll be best if we head to Upper Azure Town to check things out first.”

　　Lonemoon gestured to the right and said, “I went to ask around during lunch earlier. Upper Azure Town isn’t far from here. We just have to go through this forest and we’ll be there.”

　　“Oh, let’s go then!” Shen Ying waved, signalling Yi Qing to draw his spirit sword.

　　Their small group was just about to ride their swords when suddenly, an angry sound came from behind them.

　　“Stop right there!”

　　Shen Ying paused. More than ten cultivators suddenly flew out of the forest and surrounded the three of them.

　　Among the strangers were two middle-aged men. One was in a blue robe while the other was in a green one. Both of their robes had a symbol of three coins. Their expressions were filled with rage as they stared at Lonemoon, Yi Qing and Shen Ying. The one in green pulled out an abacus. He looked familiar.

　　“Hmph, you really made me work hard to find you!” the green-robed middle-aged man said as he stepped toward them. He waved the abacus, turned to the man beside him and said, “Boss, these are the people who ate at our Fragrant Restaurant and didn’t pay up!”

　　“…”