Gu Zuo reckoned that a dozen or so minutes had passed. This flagstone road also finally reached the end. However, when he took another step forward, he felt his entire body lightening. He almost staggered and fell over.
Gongyi Tianheng had swift eyes and fast hands, and promptly caught him.
But it was also at this moment that the two of them abruptly vanished.
As for Qi Xuanao, he had likewise disappeared.
After Gu Zuo regained his footing, he unexpectedly discovered that Qi Xuanao was nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, because he had fallen just now, his big brother had caught him. This prevented them from separating.
Immediately following which, Gu Zuo looked around.
This place…seemed like a mythical Shangri-La.
Gu Zuo’s eyes immediately shone with excitement.
He smelled medicinal fragrances! It was the ever-present, rich, and spiritual scent of medicinal ingredients! Moreover, as these scents mingled together, it brought about an inexhaustible, alluring power!
If he didn’t guess incorrectly, there was certainly a medicine garden in the vicinity! The scents were so potent that there were definitely many spirit medicines in this medicine garden!
Tianheng saw the joy spreading across Gu Zuo’s face in the blink of an eye, and couldn’t help lightly patting his head: “Ah Zuo? Ah Zuo?”
Gu Zuo composed himself, and excitedly said: “Big brother, this place has a medicine garden! Ah, a medicine garden! I can harvest medicinal herbs, lots of them!”
At Gu Zuo’s happiness, Tianheng’s smiling expression softened somewhat. However, Tianheng gently squeezed Gu Zuo’s upper arm so that he didn’t get ahead of himself: “Ah Zuo, don’t be hasty.”
Once he heard Tianheng’s calm words, Gu Zuo blinked his eyes and his excitement cooled down a bit: “I won’t.”
Tianheng laughed in spite of himself: “This place is an unfamiliar land. Although it lingers with medicinal fragrances, it’s not necessarily safe. It would be for the best that we don’t run around without watching where we step.”
Gu Zuo took a deep breath: “I understand.”
Just now, he couldn’t restrain himself. It was because there were the scents of at least ten types of spirit medicines just from breathing in a single lungful of air. In addition, many of them were quite precious. How couldn’t he be emotionally affected?
Thankfully, his big brother reminded him. Otherwise, if they encountered any dangers, it would be over for them.
Gu Zuo settled down, feeling that he ought to cultivate a bit more tranquility in himself.
After that, he spoke with an unflustered appearance: “Big brother, what are we going to do now?”
Tianheng smiled and said: “First, let’s take a look around over there. Ah Zuo, release your psychic power so we can avoid running into any dangers that we can’t defend against in time.”
Gu Zuo complied. He rapidly weaved his psychic power into a net, and spread it out in all directions. Since he was already at the Core Psyche Realm, it was effortless for him to extend the net fifty meters out.
Then, it was like they had suddenly returned to the past. Gu Zuo was pulling Tianheng’s sleeve. As he took the lead, he remained vigilant of their surroundings. Although his mind was stretched taut, his mood was comfortable and cheery.
— Right now, anything he could do together with his big brother would make him happy.
Back to the matters at hand. It seemed that Gu Zuo and Tianheng were being overly cautious. During this stroll, they saw flourishing flowers and jade-green grass, but didn’t encounter any dangers.
In fact, not to mention that this place didn’t have any aggressive, ferocious beasts, there wasn’t even a single insect.
According to reason, this kind of environment should’ve been very dangerous, but from the bottom of Gu Zuo’s heart, he felt that this place was auspicious and peaceful. The lack of any animals didn’t mean that there were hidden undercurrents. Rather, it genuinely allowed people to feel tranquil and even-tempered, and expelled any of those kinds of animals.
Gu Zuo was a bit doubtful, and shared his own perceptions with Tianheng: “Big brother, do you think we’re inside an illusion or something?”
Tianheng closed his eyes and contemplated for a short while. He faintly shook his head: “This elder brother also only feels that this place is auspicious and peaceful. There’s nothing unusual going on. If this is really an illusion, it’s too realistic… However, we still have to proceed with caution.”
Gu Zuo solemnly nodded his head: “Big brother, rest assured. I understand.”
Hence, the two continued their journey.
Not long after, they came upon a wide clearing. A spirit field suddenly appeared in front of them!
Gu Zuo’s breathing became sluggish: “That, that, that—”
Tianheng stopped. He was somewhat astonished as well.
It wasn’t strange that the two were acting this way. It was only because that spirit field was over a hundred meters wide. It was likewise divided into over a hundred plots of medicine gardens. Inside each medicine garden, the medicinal fragrances revolved all around and the spiritual qi pressed out!
This was a medicine field!
Moreover, the majority of the plants were spirit medicines…
Gu Zuo rubbed his face.
He calmed down for a minute, but his heart was still beating quickly.
Tianheng saw Gu Zuo behaving like this, and smiled gently. After that, he sized up their surroundings, and observed whether there were any unknown dangers… However, he still concluded that there were none.
Could it be that such a large medicine field would allow anyone to pluck its medicinal herbs?
Although his heart still remained somewhat vigilant, he wouldn’t ignore the benefits in front of them due to these precautions. Tianheng pulled Gu Zuo’s forearm, and swiftly led him to the side of the medicine field.
Up ahead, growing on the first piece of the medicine field were three stalks of lotus flowers emitting a faintly cold qi. All of them were taking in and sending out snowy motes of light, displaying a wonderful and elegant beauty — These lotus flowers ought to have been growing inside a special body of water, but right now, they had taken root in the soil here. It was truly baffling.
At this time, Gu Zuo reacted and came over. After a bit of hesitation, he used his psychic power to investigate. From beginning to end, he never discovered any problems. He reached out a hand to pluck a lotus flower… Eh?
Tianheng paused.
Sure enough, it wouldn’t be this easy.
Just when Gu Zuo’s fingers were about to touch that lotus flower, they were suddenly blocked by an invisible barrier. This barrier didn’t hurt Gu Zuo or anything like that. It only obstructed him. However, he also couldn’t break through the barrier forcefully. Otherwise, a moment of carelessness would damage the lotus flowers. That would be a great travesty.
Gu Zuo was a little disappointed: “It’ll let me look, but not take…”
Tianheng’s heart faintly stirred. Suddenly, he asked in a soft voice: “Ah Zuo, I don’t recognize this thing. What kind of medicinal herb is it?”
Gu Zuo pulled himself together, and attentively answered his big brother’s question: “This isn’t an ordinary medicinal herb. It’s a spirit medicine. In general, after the lifespan of a medicinal herb with the corresponding product grade exceeds ten thousand years, it’ll likely develop spirituality and become a spirit medicine. Only, the higher the grade of the herb, the harder it’ll be to transform. Such as this Ice Lotus Flower. En, when it hasn’t become a spirit medicine, it’s called the Ice Lotus Flower. Once it becomes a spirit medicine, its name is replaced, and it’s called the Twelve Turns Ice Heart Lotus. Big brother, notice how it has thirty-six petals? An ordinary Twelve Turns Ice Heart Lotus has twenty-four petals, and will grow twelve more petals after a hundred thousand years have passed. Since this lotus has thirty-six petals, it’s at least 110,000 years old.”
Tianheng softly asked: “Then, what are the medicinal effects of this Twelve Turns Ice Heart Lotus?”
Gu Zuo thought about it: “It can be refined into many types of medicinal pills. It’s particularly suitable for refining golden-level and profound-level pills. Among them, there’s a type of Obstruction Breaking Pill. Generally, one uses an Ice Lotus Flower to refine it. If it’s switched to the Twelve Turns Ice Heart Lotus, it can increase the pill’s assistive capabilities of breaking through realms without causing a qi deviation. The effects are very good.”
While listening to Gu Zuo talk, Tianheng split half of his attention onto that medicine garden. Because his examination was extremely sensitive, he abruptly detected something. The more Gu Zuo lectured, the faster that area’s qi streams were circulating.
After that, Tianheng revealed a meaningful smile: “Ah Zuo, touch it again. Let’s give it another try.”
Gu Zuo stared blankly, but he always trusted his family’s big brother. Hence, he extended his hand once more, and slowly went to touch…
It worked?
This time around, he actually touched the lotus flower’s petals without a problem!
In a split second, he turned his head: “Big brother, what’s going on?”
Tianheng faintly smiled: “Since this place is without any danger, and the cave abode’s attitude towards pharmacists is rather good, it may be assumed that the cave abode’s owner wouldn’t take offense to sharing the stored treasures with pharmacists. However, if an ordinary pharmacist obtained a treasure, it would inevitably be wasted. Before allowing anyone to take a treasure, testing them will be essential.”
Gu Zuo understood in a flash.
So the reason why his big brother asked him what this spirit medicine was called and its effects was to let him take this test? And once he talked about these details, the cave abode realized that he knew how to utilize this spirit medicine. Thus, it was willing to give the spirit medicine to him?
If it was like this, then it would make sense!
Gu Zuo restrained the excitement in his heart, and carefully plucked and put away the three stalks of mature Twelve Turns Ice Heart Lotuses in this field. He left the remaining young stalks to continue growing. Immediately following that, he impatiently dashed to another medicine garden in the medicine field, and reached out a hand to experiment — Oh! Sure enough, he couldn’t pluck anything! However, after he speedily recited everything he knew about concerning this type of spirit medicine, the medicine garden really opened up once again!
Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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