Chapter 112
Lu Dieqing stared intently at Zheng Xuening, observing her as she cultivated.
Perhaps because she had already guided spiritual energy into her body, her senses were much sharper than before.
Although she couldn’t see the spiritual energy that filled the air with her naked eye, her body could perceive small, gentle, bright dots that seemed to be rushing towards Ningning’s body at a very fast speed.
Such a fast speed!
Even the consciousness of the forbidden land couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
“So easy!”
Lu Dieqing’s body was already relatively light and nimble, and her speed of guiding spiritual energy into her body was already considered that of a little genius.
But when it was Zheng Xuening’s turn, the spiritual energy almost turned into a small hurricane.
The consciousness of the forbidden land could see the spiritual energy gathering from all over this small world and frantically pouring into Zheng Xuening.
Strange.
In this place of its, for the past few hundred years, there had never been a qualified successor. Either their character was not up to par, or their body had no potential for cultivation, and they were destined to be a mortal.
Today, two people had suddenly come, and both of them had cultivated so smoothly.
If these two had been born in a cultivation world with rich spiritual energy, wouldn’t their cultivation efficiency be even more astonishing?
Usually, even the fastest person to guide spiritual energy into their body would take at least half an hour.
But looking at these two, neither of them had exceeded this time.
No matter how astonished the consciousness of the forbidden land was, Zheng Xuening had completed the process of guiding spiritual energy into her body.
“Senior, how much time do we have left?”
Zheng Xuening asked concisely.
The forbidden land squeezed out a nasal sound. “Hmph, a quarter of an hour.”
This quarter of an hour was a gift because it had taken a liking to these two little girls.
“Thank you for informing me, senior.”
Zheng Xuening also seemed to have guessed that the time here was a little longer than what they had agreed on before.
She pulled Lu Dieqing and immediately rushed outside the valley.
“Qingqing, do you know herbs?”
She looked at the girl and asked.
Lu Dieqing shook her head, a little guilty.
She didn’t know anything. Bringing her out was really a burden to Ningning.
Zheng Xuening seemed to have seen what she was thinking at a glance. She pressed her index finger against her lips, not letting her speak.
“Don’t overthink. I was just asking casually. Since neither of us knows anything about pharmacology and doesn’t recognize herbs, let’s just pick them at random.”
Lu Dieqing nodded obediently.
And so, the two of them found the flower garden and squatted down to start picking herbs.
Lu Dieqing really didn’t recognize herbs, but she found that when she closed her eyes, she could feel the richness of the spiritual energy attracted by the spiritual herbs by her feet.
She opened and closed her eyes several times, feeling and comparing, and finally confirmed one thing.
As long as she closed her eyes and felt the herb with the richest spiritual energy, it was the one with the most years.
“The more years, the higher the value, right?”
The girl blinked, and quickly made a decision. She would pick the ones with the most years!
After figuring this out, Lu Dieqing shared her method, and then she buried her head in the flower garden and picked the spiritual herbs.
Three-thousand-year-old balsam!
Two-thousand-year-old Xuan Ying grass!
Two-thousand-year-old Bei Bei leaves!
…
The consciousness of the forbidden land had just been watching the fun at first, but when it found that Lu Dieqing had mastered the method and was picking the spiritual herbs with the most years, it almost jumped up in anger.
Cunning! Humans are cunning!
Aiyo! Seeing that almost a third of the spiritual herbs with the most years in the valley had been picked, it was so heartbroken that it was about to lose its shape.
But Lu Dieqing only picked a third and then shyly stopped.
Although the consciousness of the forbidden land had said that the rest of the time was for them to pick herbs, to have picked so many was already a great advantage.
One cannot exhaust everything.
No one had taught the girl this truth, but she was born knowing that this was in accordance with the benevolence of heaven.
And on Zheng Xuening’s side, her method of picking spiritual herbs was completely different from Lu Dieqing’s.
It seemed to be on a whim. Whichever piece of land she passed by, she would casually pick a pleasing-looking one.
However, the consciousness of the forbidden land widened its eyes and saw clearly.
The herbs Zheng Xuening casually picked were all of the more valuable and uncommon kind.
Once or twice could be a coincidence, but seeing that almost every stalk Zheng Xuening picked was like this, it was definitely not a coincidence!
Awooo! The consciousness of the forbidden land wished it could bark like a little dog.
Stop picking! Stop picking!
These are all its heart’s blood!
Awooo! Heartache!
The herbs picked by Lu Dieqing and the other were all placed in the storage ring she was wearing. It seemed that the storage ring could hold all the things they had taken a fancy to and still have plenty of room.
The valley was originally a scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers. The faint mist, along with the fresh air and bright sunlight, made everything look like a fairyland, very comfortable, making one want to stay forever.
But when the consciousness of the forbidden land was in heartache, the ground began to tremble and shake, as if an earthquake had appeared out of thin air.
Zheng Xuening almost immediately flashed in front of Lu Dieqing, held her, and stood firm on the ground.
“Senior, what is happening?”
The consciousness of the forbidden land let out a cold snort.
“Time’s up. You two should go.”
It was not easy for it to cultivate the spiritual herbs here. It had almost watched over them day and night as they grew up. Now that the spiritual herbs were grown, someone had come to pick the ready-made peaches, and a third of them were gone in an instant.
It was heartbroken, but it had nowhere to say it. It had to maintain its demeanor as a senior and could not appear petty.
Zheng Xuening protected Lu Dieqing and felt herself being enveloped by a beam of light.
A violent flash of light and darkness passed before their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, they found that they had fallen into darkness…
They had returned to the forest before they had entered the forbidden land. It was still night.
Lu Er was still standing there.
“Alright, little girls, you should go.” The forbidden land sent them out and then eagerly disappeared, returning to that small world.
At this time, in the valley of the small world, a little fellow like a New Year’s doll had appeared out of thin air. He had a small topknot on his head and looked to be only about three years old. He was round and chubby, his arm joints full of flesh.
“Sob, sob, sob, my spiritual herbs!” The little fellow pounced into the flower garden, looked left and right, and howled for a few sentences. He wiped the non-existent tears from his face and comforted himself with a pout.
“It’s okay. I’ll just keep planting. In another thousand years, this will be a paradise again!”
As long as it planted spiritual herbs fast enough, the speed at which those two little girls picked them would never catch up.
Hehe, how can humans live as long as it?
It could outlive those two little girls until they were reincarnated.
…
“Lu Er, Lu Er?” Lu Dieqing stood by Zheng Xuening’s side and called out to Lu Er a few times.
When Lu Er came back to his senses from the illusion, it was as if he had had a serious illness. His complexion was much paler, completely devoid of the spirited air he had had before.
“Those just now… were just illusions?”
He looked around and muttered to himself.
Not even a night had passed. It was still the night they had just arrived at the forbidden land.
But he had clearly spent a lifetime in the illusion, had seen all the prosperity, and had also experienced the power and fame, and in the end, had grown tired of everything.
Was it really just an illusion?
Why was it so profound?
Lu Er walked in a daze, following Lu Dieqing and the other out of the forbidden land and back to the small forest where they had eaten roasted chicken and rested before.
This night was an extremely profound memory for all three of them.
The storage ring on Lu Dieqing’s finger was filled with spiritual herbs.
The storage ring was quite large, but perhaps because Lu Dieqing’s spiritual power had not yet reached a certain level, she could only see a corner of the space inside, not the whole thing.
The storage ring the doll Bingqing had given her seemed to be filled with all sorts of things. There were special boxes and cases, sorted into categories, and there were even labels on them, clearly stating what they were.
It was clear that the original owner of the storage ring, Bingqing, cherished everything in it.
While Lu Dieqing was in a daze, exploring the contents of the storage ring, Zheng Xuening had re-lit the fire and was poking the branches.
It was not yet dawn, and it was not convenient to travel at night.
Since this trip had ended smoothly, they might as well rest for a while and leave when it was light.
She moved the fire closer to Lu Dieqing so that the girl could feel a little more warmth.
Lu Dieqing noticed this concern and immediately raised her little face to smile at her.
Zheng Xuening curved her lips slightly.
When Lu Er came back to his senses, he saw his cousin and the Crown Princess of the Chaoying Kingdom were so silent that they were not speaking.
He couldn’t help but say, “What did the two of you experience in the illusion?”
Before coming, he had thought that entering the forbidden land might involve letting blood, and he had been worried that he would lose half his life.
But thinking that he had finally found a trace of the immortals, and that it was necessary to pay a price, he had steeled himself and come.
But now it seemed that he had been trapped in the illusion for almost a lifetime, and when he woke up, it was truly a fleeting dream.
He really… had not come back to his senses yet.
How could his cousin and the Crown Princess of the Chaoying Kingdom be so calm?
The two of them looked so harmonious. Compared to before they had entered the forbidden land, they seemed to be even closer.
A strange thought popped into his mind.
Lu Er looked at Lu Dieqing and the other and said in a lost voice, “You two didn’t get married in the illusion, did you?”
