“What’s a Vegetation Spirit?” Shen Ying questioned. No matter which angle she looked from, the thing still looked like a radish to her.

　　“A Vegetation Spirit is a spirit formed from Vegetation Spirit Qi,” Lonemoon explained. “While spirit herbs contain Spirit Qi, they have no way of gaining sentience. But if they grow in a place with an exceptional population of spirit herbs, the thick Wood Spirit Qi can cause the spirit herbs to turn into a Vegetation Spirit. The chances of that happening are negligible, though. This is the first time I’m coming across one myself.”

　　“Oh, then what use are they?” It’s a radish after all.

　　“Of course they’re useful!” Lonemoon exclaimed agitatedly. Fixing his eyes on the Vegetation Spirit in her hands, he continued, “It’s formed from the Spirit Qi of many spirit herbs. Naturally, it’ll be able to sense other spirit herbs. In other words, as long as we keep it with us, we’ll be able to locate all the spirit herbs in the mystic realm.”

　　“Well…” It seemed that what Shen Ying was holding was a special GPS for vegetables.

　　“It’s said that we can use its flower to refine and upgrade our pills,” Yi Qing chimed in as he, too, studied the Vegetation Spirit.

　　“It flowers?” Shen Ying’s eyes widened. It’s a potted plant?

　　“But this Vegetation Spirit doesn’t look like it’s about to bloom anytime soon.”

　　“Ji ji ji…” But just as Yi Qing finished speaking, the radish began to twist and turn in Shen Ying’s hands. She had no choice but to release it and the Vegetation Spirit fell to the ground. Immediately, it began to contract its entire body. Even its leaves began to roll up and it looked like it was using every ounce of energy it had. It began to cry out in spurts, “Ji… ji…”

　　Er… Is it constipated?

　　“Ji!” After all this while, the radish suddenly stood upright. Its leaves unfolded as out of its head sprung something white as snow…

　　“A dandelion!” How did this dandelion come out of the radish? Is it mutating?

　　“It’s… it’s flowering!” Yi Qing exclaimed.

　　“Ji.” The radish rolled its leaves back in and plucked the dandelion off of its head. It then handed the dandelion to Shen Ying as if begging for her approval. “Ji ji.”

　　“I don’t want it.” A dandelion would get all over her clothes.

　　“This is… a Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit!” Yi Qing was now even more excited than before. Regular Vegetation Spirits could upgrade pills, but the flower of a Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit was synonymous with a supreme-grade pill. Any pill that was refined with this flower would automatically be upgraded to a supreme-grade one.

　　“No wonder even a Traveling Immortal from the Upper Azure World was sent to this mystic realm.” Lonemoon finally understood what the three people who entered the mystic realm just before them had been looking for.

　　“They are here to find this Vegetation Spirit?” Yi Qing asked.

　　“I think so.” Lonemoon nodded. “I’ve heard that among the top four aristocratic families in the Upper Azure World, there is one that specialises in refining pills. The cultivators from that family are mostly core cultivators who specialise in refining pills. The family owns the only Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit in the world and it’s their treasure.”

　　“The Vegetation Spirit cannot grow amongst human cultivators. It needs thick Wood Spirit Qi to survive,” Yi Qing explained. “That’s why that family thinks that they can find more in this mystic realm.”

　　“That’s right,” Lonemoon affirmed. He held a puzzled expression as he studied the Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit which was still holding its flower up to Shen Ying, hoping she would accept it. Those three would be so pissed if they found out that the thing they had been trying so hard to look for had fallen into Shen Ying’s hands the moment she entered the mystic realm.

　　This is great. I can’t wait to see their reaction. At that moment, Lonemoon felt completely at ease. Even the foodie became more pleasing to the eye.

　　“Shen Ying, how did you make it acknowledge you as its master?” He couldn’t hold his curiosity in. The Vegetation Spirit was formed from the world’s spiritual energies. These type of spirits were the proudest among their kind—it was difficult to so much as make them accept you.

　　“Acknowledge me as its master? No!”

　　“No?” Lonemoon was incredulous. “Why is it following you then?” It even tried so hard to flower just to please you.

　　“How would I know? It chose to follow me.” Shen Ying looked down at the raised dandelion. The Vegetation Spirit had already forced out another flower by now in the hopes that Shen Ying would be more pleased with it. She took a step back, her expression one of disgust. “If you like it so much, you can have it!”

　　“Me?” Lonemoon was shocked. Why was she so easily giving away something that was so highly sought after, even in the Upper Azure World? Did she not understand what this Vegetation Spirit could do? It was the equivalent of countless spirit herbs and pills. Did she even want to continue cultivating?

　　Eh? Wait. She really doesn’t need it!

　　Damn!

　　The Vegetation Spirit seemed to have understood their conversation. It nervously began to wave its leaves around. “Ji ji ji…” It was so unwilling.

　　The corner of Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. “Forget it, I’m not a core cultivator anyway. It’s got its mind set on you. It wouldn’t work even if I wanted to take it in.”

　　“Oh…” Shen Ying still looked unbothered. “Let’s throw it away then.”

　　“Throw my ass!” Had he offered so much explanation in vain?

　　“What should we do then?” Frankly, she did not want the Vegetation Spirit hanging onto her leg anymore.

　　“Let’s bring it back with us before we decide!” Lonemoon turned to survey their surroundings. “It’s getting dark. I’m sure there are other valuable things in this mystic realm. Let’s head east to keep looking.”

　　Shen Ying kept quiet as Yi Qing immediately drew his spirit sword. Out of habit, he helped Shen Ying onto the sword and they both began to fly.

　　Lonemoon was just about to sword-ride when he felt a weight on his leg. Looking down, he saw something hanging onto his leg.

　　“Ji ji?” The radish appeared shocked. It turned to look at the two people in the air and turned back to look at the leg it was hanging on to. Realising that it was hanging onto the wrong person, it swept its leaves against Lonemoon’s leg and threw the dandelions toward the ground.

　　Pui!

　　Lonemoon stood there in shock. Was this radish looking down on him? He was sure it was!

　　Is it my fault that you got the wrong leg?

　　Stay here if you have the guts!

　　(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻

　　——————

　　With the Vegetation Spirit navigating the way, Lonemoon suddenly felt like a parvenu. He felt as if he was plucking all these top-grade spirit herbs from his backyard, and each of them was over ten thousand years old at that. He did not even have to lift a finger. The Vegetation Spirit only had to wave its leaves slightly and the spiritual herbs would fly straight into his bag.

　　Just thinking about the reaction that other group of three would have made him glad that he came on this trip. They spent over a month collecting spiritual herbs and only stopped when their storage bag was filled to the brim. Then, they headed toward the center of the mystic realm.

　　The three of them had flown for four to five days before they finally made it out of the dark forest. A huge wasteland lay in front of them. It was the direct opposite of the forest that they had just come out from; there were cliffs and strange rocks at every turn and there was not one bit of green.

　　Everything around them was quiet. They couldn’t even hear a bird.

　　“The Spirit Qi here seems a little strange.” Yi Qing frowned.

　　“What are you sensing?” Lonemoon also felt that this wasteland seemed different somehow. He was on his guard.

　　“I’m not sure yet.” Yi Qing shook his head. The Spirit Qi here was extremely dense—even denser than it was in the forest. Yi Qing simply couldn’t figure out why the Spirit Qi here felt abnormal. “There’s something hidden here. Be careful.”

　　Lonemoon nodded slightly, slowing down his sword.

　　They continued to sword-ride for a couple more hours. All around them, there was nothing but rocks. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual either.

　　“Don’t you guys feel a little…” Shen Ying suddenly broke the silence, “… hot?”