Chapter 36

They came quickly and left just as swiftly, without a sound.

Su Shier crouched on the tree, not daring to make the slightest noise from start to finish.

When he heard someone approaching, although he didn't sense anything, he didn't dare to act rashly. He only remained cautiously on guard in his heart.

"Leigu Peak? What kind of place is that?"

"However, this so-called trial, which is said to be open only to disciples at the sixth level of the Qi Condensation stage and below, is actually not the case."

"If the peak master of Tianyin Peak can find a way in, what about others? It seems I need to be even more careful in my actions."

Su Shier pondered in his heart. Soon, three figures swiftly passed by.

These three had low cultivation, all at the third level of the Qi Condensation stage, and were responsible for patrolling the surroundings on Tianhua Peak.

The three stood on the hillside, quickly scanned the surroundings, and left without any discovery.

After these three left, Su Shier finally floated down from the tree, secretly using the Wind Summoning Technique, and stepped lightly on the clear wind, approaching the Spirit Plant Garden.

As he neared the thick fog, there was no one else guarding nearby.

Staring at the thick fog in front of him for a few moments, Su Shier took a deep breath and cautiously stepped into it.

The moment he entered, the thick fog rolled and surged. An immense pressure surged from all directions, making it difficult for him to breathe. His entire body felt as if it were stuck in quicksand, unable to move an inch.

Su Shier hurriedly activated the Blood Light Shield, inwardly cursing. If the jade token was useless, he would be in serious trouble, if not dead.

"Is this the power of an array? No wonder the disciples of Tianhua Peak dare not approach!"

A thought flashed through his mind. In the critical moment, he quickly took out the jade token, while tightly gripping a teleportation talisman in the other hand.

Fortunately, as soon as the jade token appeared, it emitted a faint glow. The thick fog around him, as if sensing something, quickly dissipated.

"Thank goodness, it seems this jade token is indeed a pass!"

Su Shier felt the pressure lighten and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Holding the jade token tightly, he judged the direction and quickly ran towards the Spirit Plant Garden.

The thick fog extended for several miles on the periphery, becoming denser the closer he got. The light from the jade token also grew brighter.

Su Shier speculated that without a pass, the closer one got to the Spirit Plant Garden, the greater the pressure would be.

Reaching the wall of the Spirit Plant Garden, he leaped up, using the Shadowless Illusion Step, and easily climbed over.

As soon as he entered, he breathed in a refreshing air. The air was rich with the essence of heaven and earth, invigorating and refreshing, making him feel more spirited.

"Such a rich essence of heaven and earth. Even without the spirit plants, this place is absolutely suitable for cultivation."

Taking a deep breath, Su Shier finally turned his gaze to the garden.

"Wow, so many spirit plants?"

This sight made him gasp and widen his eyes in shock.

Looking around, the Spirit Plant Garden was divided into large and small plots, neatly arranged.

Several plots were covered by arrays, simulating various growing environments for the herbs—shady, sunny, rainy, and hot—truly remarkable.

On the plots, various herbs were planted. The lowest quality were second-grade lower-grade spirit plants, with many being first-grade spirit plants that had become second-grade due to their age.

Looking from a distance, the plots were neatly arranged, and a few third-grade spirit plants could be seen.

The total number of spirit plants in the entire garden was at least twenty to thirty thousand, if not more.

"Centennial ginseng, astragalus, lingzhi... Xuanfeng treasure leaves, Kelan flowers, dream dew fruits..."

Every time his gaze swept over a plot, Su Shier couldn't help but twitch his eyes, his heart rate quickening.

Most of the spirit plants he recognized, but there were also many that were not in the herbal compendium.

After a quick scan, his heart pounded forcefully, almost leaping out of his throat.

"Such a large number of herbs, their value might even surpass that of an entire peak."

"Having these, even without the mysterious alchemy furnace, I won't lack for elixirs and can quickly improve my cultivation."

"No, I need to quickly gather these herbs and leave. The peak master of Tianyin Peak is an array expert, and she might be able to enter in just a couple of days!"

His thoughts raced, and Su Shier quickly calmed his excitement, not daring to waste any time.

He ran to a plot with over a hundred five-hundred-year-old ginseng plants and immediately got to work.

Running quickly, he used his hands and feet to pick the spirit plants and store them in his storage bag.

This was a time of great harvest!

However, to prevent anyone from discovering the plants had been harvested, he deliberately spent a lot of true essence to dry the soil after harvesting each plot, making it look barren.

He also left some dead or half-dead spirit plants.

It took Su Shier two full days to gather about eighty to ninety percent of the spirit plants in the hundred-acre garden.

At this point, all his storage bags were filled with spirit plants, and his storage ring also contained a significant amount.

"Thank goodness for this storage ring. Otherwise, even if I came in, I wouldn't be able to carry so many spirit plants."

"The remaining spirit plants are of good quality. I need to gather them quickly and leave. Calculating the time, the peak master of Tianyin Peak is likely to enter soon."

In the early morning, after collecting another plot, Su Shier muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the remaining two plots.

He focused on the nearest one.

On this plot, there was only one towering tree, a hundred meters tall, enveloped in thick fog.

The tree was lush and had seven fist-sized, round, and glossy red fruits hanging from its branches.

Su Shier was surprised, his eyelids twitching, and the words Meng Tianyi had said that day immediately came to mind: In the Spirit Plant Garden, there is a tree that sprouts after two hundred years, flowers after another two hundred years, and bears fruit after another two hundred years—the Centennial Zhu Fruit Tree.

"Wait... This is... the Centennial Zhu Fruit?"

Staring at the towering tree, Su Shier's heart pounded again.

The Centennial Zhu Fruit is a true third-grade spirit plant. Although it is only a lower-grade, its ability to increase cultivation is enough to make all cultivators fight over it.

Suppressing his excitement, Su Shier hurriedly approached to pick the Centennial Zhu Fruit.

Being able to harvest these Centennial Zhu Fruits would make this trip worthwhile.

"That... is a high-level demon beast??"

Noticing some colorful marks on the Zhu Fruit Tree, Su Shier's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly stopped.

After a careful inspection, he noticed a thick, massive, and extremely large python coiled around the branches of the tree, covered in fiery red patterns.

Its massive size clearly indicated it was not an ordinary fierce beast but a very powerful snake demon beast.

The python had its eyes closed, seemingly asleep, but it was exhaling thick fog, enveloping its entire body.

If Su Shier hadn't been cautious and used the Heavenly Eye Technique to take a closer look, he would have almost missed the python's presence.

In his eyes, the python's aura was particularly weak, appearing not very strong.

However, the solid aura gave him the same feeling as when he first saw the mysterious and beautiful woman of Tianyin Peak before entering the trial.