Searching for it a thousand times amidst the crowd, suddenly looking back... Was the Heavenly Herb about to be within their grasp?

It was impossible for the three of them not to feel nervous; a secret path lay right before their eyes, and no matter how bold they were, they couldn't ignore it. Old Chen poured cold water on their hopes. "It was originally going to leave the mortal realm and enter the depths of the clouds. Isn't this situation just a brief return of light?"

Wang Xuan replied, "Old Qing, move the spaceship further away. Let's show that we're not desperate, that we're going with the flow." They adjusted their positions, whether moving away or closer, but the Heavenly Herb and the golden soil remained unchanged.

"That soil looks like a medicinal field," Wang Xuan furrowed his brow. There were too many mysteries in nature; how could there be a medicinal field amidst the clouds and lightning?

Old Chen carefully sensed, "At this rate, the injuries on my forehead, arms, and scalp could heal overnight." Wang Xuan's injuries were slightly worse, but now his fingers felt tingly; he estimated that by the end of the day, his nails could completely grow back.

"Fairy, are you here? There's a Heavenly Herb; is it useful for you?" Wang Xuan made one last desperate attempt, hoping the female sword immortal would appear. Unfortunately, he was disappointed—the bone showed no signs of movement.

From the last time in the Inner Landscape, he had learned that the female sword immortal would be in a three-year slumber. Now, it seemed it had already begun. He should take her back to that collapsed Taoist temple.

Suddenly, Old Chen yawned repeatedly and showed signs of drowsiness. Soon, Wang Xuan and Qingmu also felt their eyelids grow heavy. In their hazy state, they saw the ghost monk; they hadn't summoned the female sword immortal, but the old monk ran out himself. He looked at the golden Heavenly Herb with an intense longing and charged out of the spaceship to try to harvest it.

Boom!

A unique lightning bolt struck down, connecting many spherical lightning forms, crimson as blood, engulfing the area. The void exploded, and the light from the spherical lightning was earth-shattering. In the ghost monk's eyes, the black clouds transformed into blood-red, submerged by the lightning!

The people of An City were oblivious; even if someone looked up, the sky remained dark, with only occasional arcs of electricity crossing.

The ghost monk turned pale and vanished from his spot, sprinting back. He looked at the Heavenly Herb with deep regret and a sense of horror. Vaguely, he saw layers of curtains behind the Heavenly Herb, with a faint red figure standing in the world beyond.

The ghost monk glanced at his hands; a light curtain isolated him from the outside world. With a sigh, he disappeared.

Wang Xuan and Qingmu lifted their eyelids, the drowsiness vanishing, and they both felt something was off, quickly realizing what had happened.

Old Chen awakened: "The ghost monk appeared in my dream, trying to harvest the Heavenly Herb, but was struck back by lightning."

Wang Xuan nodded seriously. "I saw the crimson light driving him away." How could they harvest the Heavenly Herb? They were all pondering this. If they missed this opportunity, they would regret it for a lifetime.

Suddenly, Wang Xuan had an idea. "What if the Heavenly Herb is intangible like in the Inner Landscape, not present in this reality?"

"What are you thinking?" Qingmu asked.

"What if I open the Inner Landscape here and then leap towards the Heavenly Herb? Do you think I could capture it directly and plant it in my Inner Landscape?"

Old Chen was moved; it was a wild idea, but there was some merit to it! Qingmu was taken aback. "The key is you can't open the Inner Landscape on command. If you could easily enter, we wouldn't have to take this risk."

Wang Xuan was serious. "I've never forced myself to trigger the super-sensory state; it has always appeared under external pressure. Today, I'm going to try. I'll hypnotize myself and leap out of the spaceship, hoping to trigger it when I'm on the verge of death. Oh, and Old Qing, you need to be reliable; set up the energy shield to protect me. Don't really let me get struck by lightning. If I can harvest the Heavenly Herb, I'll be happy for life. Just think about it—if even the ghost monk is coveting it and took the risk to try to harvest it, it must exceed our imagination!"

Qingmu nodded, thumping his chest in assurance that safety was guaranteed; the energy shield could withstand the dense lightning.

Old Chen hesitated. "I thought I saw special spherical lightning, crimson like blood, resembling a string of Buddhist heads connected together—it looked terrifying."

"Old Chen, are you trying to scare me with ghost stories?" Wang Xuan shot him a glare.

"I saw it in my dream; I don't know if it's true or not," Old Chen admitted, uncertain himself.

"Alright, stop scaring yourself. I'll give it a shot." Wang Xuan's first hurdle was self-hypnosis, convincing himself he was in a life-and-death crisis to trigger the super-sensory state.

Old Chen shook his head. "You probably can't trigger the super-sensory state like that; after all, you can't fool your own subconscious."

Wang Xuan ignored him; he was a man of action, starting the self-hypnosis. It worked quite well; before long, he... fell asleep!

Qingmu was dumbfounded. Did he overdo it? He needed to deceive himself, but he shouldn't actually fall asleep! Old Chen was also in a daze; he was waiting to see Wang Xuan leap from the spaceship, but instead, he just fell asleep?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Wang Xuan was indeed asleep, entering his burgeoning mental domain, and soon he saw the ghost monk.

"Divine monk, why have you come here again? Are you looking to cooperate with me to harvest the Heavenly Herb? Speak up—how shall we divide the spoils?" Wang Xuan was quite hopeful.

Without a word, the old monk charged at him and… began to beat him up!

Wang Xuan was bewildered. What was happening? This was his first time being beaten; he was cornered by the old monk and suffered… excruciating pain!

...

Moments later, Wang Xuan awoke, feeling pain all over, gritting his teeth in anger. How could he have been inexplicably beaten up? He swore that once he arrived at the new star, he would definitely seek an explanation from the old monk at the millennia-old temple!

Qingmu looked at him in confusion. Old Chen wore an odd expression. "You got beaten up?"

Wang Xuan was astonished. "You noticed that?" But he quickly realized Old Chen had it worse; he had been beaten up all night by the old monk in the spiritual domain and had gained some experience from it!

"Old Chen, make sure to send that ghost monk away; I really can't stand him!" Wang Xuan fumed. However, after careful thought, it seemed the old monk was issuing a warning. At the last moment, the ghost monk had transformed his hands, revealing boundless crimson clouds and blood light, amidst which stood a vague and graceful figure.

When Wang Xuan spoke these words, Old Chen was alarmed. "I knew it! The Heavenly Herb cannot be sought after; how could it just appear out of nowhere? We're in trouble!"

"Then let's retreat!" Wang Xuan felt a surge of anxiety.

Without hesitation, Qingmu piloted the spaceship to flee.

Suddenly, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted through the air, far stronger than before. The Heavenly Herb underwent an astonishing transformation. The golden soil, once a square yard in size, lost its luster, transforming into lightning-like rays that were absorbed by the tree.

Then, the fist-sized golden flower withered rapidly and soon bore a fruit. It grew from the size of a fingernail to that of a chicken egg, glowing a brilliant green and shimmering with colors.

More importantly, a special fruity aroma filled the air, fragrant and penetrating to the soul, affecting their spirits.

Old Chen ripped off the bandage from his forehead, and to the naked eye, his wounds healed and scabbed over at a visible rate, finally shedding the blood scabs.

Wang Xuan unwrapped the medical bandages from his hands and saw that his ten injured fingers were healing quickly, and the nails were gradually regrowing.

In mere moments, all their injuries vanished, leaving no scars behind. As for Qingmu, his pores opened wide; he felt like he could ascend, with his bodily functions dramatically enhanced, gaining immense benefits.

"Are we staying or going?" Qingmu's voice trembled; he felt that if they stayed a little longer, his strength would surely increase.

"We're not leaving; let's get closer to that Heavenly Herb!" Wang Xuan gritted his teeth.

"Are you crazy?" Old Chen remained calm.

Wang Xuan insisted, "I'm not crazy. If it's truly the Red-clothed Demoness at work, her methods must be reaching their limit, and she couldn't possibly interfere with reality. If she could act on me, she would have done it already. Although she seems to be fishing, she might end up losing her bait without catching anything."

"Are you saying she can hear this?"

"If she could perceive it, she wouldn't need to bait me. I estimate she can only see if we're approaching that special place," Wang Xuan replied resolutely. "Old Qing, let's get a little closer, but be ready to run."

"Alright, let's go for it!" Qingmu knew it was risky, but he acknowledged some of Wang Xuan's words; if the enemy could intervene in reality, they wouldn't go through such trouble.

The spaceship moved closer to the Heavenly Herb, its golden brilliance dazzling. The soil beneath the tree had been drained, and a green fruit hung from its branches, continually flowing with rays of light, which poured into the spaceship. It was this special glow that caused the three to undergo intense metabolic changes, enhancing their bodies.

Once they reached this point, they said nothing and began cultivating immediately.

Wang Xuan didn't hesitate; this was a rare opportunity, and he started practicing the Golden Body Technique with the mysterious glow from the Heavenly Herb cascading around him.

As time passed, his skin began to shed. Unbeknownst to him, his Golden Body Technique had progressed from the early stage of the sixth layer to the mid-stage of the sixth layer!

Advancing through the Golden Body Technique was increasingly challenging; reaching the full sixth layer typically required over thirty years of effort.

But how long had it been?

The dramatic improvement in his Golden Body Technique shocked Wang Xuan; the Heavenly Herb was indeed worthy of its reputation. Without even tasting the fruit, such drastic changes occurred.

At the same time, he sensed that he was about to trigger the super-sensory state. He had a gut feeling that he would soon be able to open the Inner Landscape.

However, he wasn't excited; instead, he felt a chill. Was this pushing him to open the Inner Landscape? Did the enemy want to take advantage of this to return?

"Old Qing, be ready to flee!" Wang Xuan shouted. He would never attempt to activate the methods of the Pre-Qin alchemists here; he absolutely refused to open the Inner Landscape.

During this process, he continued practicing the Golden Body Technique, and eventually, his body glowed and shed skin again, pushing his Golden Body Technique to the late stage of the sixth layer!

Wang Xuan was certain that ordinary bullets wouldn't be able to harm him anymore!

The Heavenly Herb was incredibly mysterious; without even eating a single bite, his Golden Body Technique was pushed to new heights in such a short time, nearing the seventh layer.

"Run!" Wang Xuan suddenly shouted.

He had triggered the super-sensory state. Although he hadn't used the Pre-Qin alchemists' techniques, just practicing the Golden Body Technique, he had vaguely sensed the Inner Landscape.

This was terrifying. Was the extraordinary Red-clothed Demoness intervening in reality? It was both astounding and frightening; Wang Xuan's hair stood on end, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

Qingmu, though reluctant, decisively fled, demonstrating strong execution.

"Quick!" Old Chen also shouted, feeling the impending danger, his scalp prickling.

Boom!

Lightning crackled densely, one strike after another, surrounding the Heavenly Herb. Vaguely, behind the golden medicinal tree, layers of curtains appeared, with a vague red figure standing behind.

Endless lightning imbued with blood light struck toward the spaceship, sending chills down Qingmu's spine; the bolts were too massive, reaching to the heavens and covering their area.

Qingmu felt his heart sink and closed his eyes.

Wang Xuan yelled, "It's fine; she can't interfere with reality; the blood-colored lightning approaching the spaceship is dissipating!"

The spaceship broke through the clouds and sped away. Behind them, amidst the lightning clouds, the hazy form of the Heavenly Herb gradually faded away and disappeared.

Although it was a close call, Wang Xuan genuinely felt it was a brush with death. The super-sensory state vanished, but he felt no regret. He was certain that if he had been forced to open the Inner Landscape at that moment, a great calamity would have befallen him.

He had taken the bait but had not been hooked, filling him with joy and a sense of gain. Unable to help himself, he shouted into the swirling clouds of lightning, "Red-clothed Demoness, next time don't just focus on cold calculations. When you send medicine next time, hold a paper umbrella and dance a demoness dance for me."

In the clouds, amidst the flashes of lightning, at the point where the Heavenly Herb had collapsed, a faint red shadow appeared, graceful and enchanting, holding a paper umbrella, looking down at him.

Wang Xuan: "!!"

He immediately shut his mouth, saying nothing more, a chill running up his spine.

The Red-clothed Demoness was truly extraordinary; could she really interfere with reality? She even heard his words! The exquisite figure slowly vanished from the point where the Heavenly Herb had collapsed, completely disappearing.