After I had collected the necessary amount of herbs growing in this area and stowed them in my ring, I began searching for rarer varieties. According to the reference guide, they needed to have grown for decades. I carefully scoured the surroundings, venturing farther and farther away, but so far, I’d come up empty.
Finally, I managed to locate, using psionics, the “century-old root of the scaly tree-flower” I needed. But once I reached it and examined my find more closely, I discovered an interesting fact: this “century-old root” was only one year old.
Essentially, it was no different from the most ordinary plants of its kind that grew nearby. The difference lay in the fact that a stream of natural Qi with very interesting properties ran through the spot where it grew. To me, it was impossible not to notice that the Qi quality of this plant had adopted the qualities of that Qi stream, and its slight external differences resulted from a denser “Qi infusion.” I’d learned from experience in my own garden that saturating plants with Qi turns them into “mutants.”
Having dug up the plant’s root, I went back to searching. But now, my primary focus was on Qi streams and those places where they intersected with vegetation. Since scanning the Qi streams was easier than scanning all plants one by one, the speed at which I surveyed the area increased by at least an order of magnitude, if not two.
I started hopping from one Qi stream to another, checking out what was growing there. Moreover, I scanned the area as far as my range allowed and headed in the direction where the variety and number of streams was greater. Sometimes I came across extremely rare plants described as hundred-year or even thousand-year specimens, but…I left them untouched, merely examining them closely and memorizing their traits. After all, the jade slip’s description was fairly superficial and didn’t convey the full nuances of Qi’s qualities.
My escort flew after me, eyes practically popping out of his head.
“Aren’t you want to pick up this incredibly rare five thousand years old Ruby Rose Bush?” - I asked him.
“No. I’m forbidden from picking any plants in this forest” - he grimaced, wincing from a headache the slave seal inflicted on him merely for thinking about “breaking the rules.”
I see. They’re like dogs guarding a carrot patch. Only the masters have the right to harvest; the slaves merely carry out their tasks, no matter how pointless they may be.
Around midday, I reached a range of hills where the Qi streams literally seethed, causing all kinds of mutant plants to grow in abundance.
“Lord, it might be dangerous here” - the guard nervously addressed me, looking around.
“Okay, then you can go back to base” - I waved him off.
“But, my lord!” - He turned pale. - “I was ordered to protect you, even at the cost of my own life.”
“Then keep on protecting” - I replied, examining a rather intriguing plant specimen and pondering what I might concoct from it.
“But it’s dangerous here!” - he moaned.
“Not my problem” - I retorted, studying the leaves of another unique plant.
The guard nearly choked on his own blood at my words. He once again started looking around anxiously, finally spotting what worried him so much. A wild beast whose energy corresponded to the first level of Core Crystallization (21) emerged from behind the bushes.
“My lord, run! I’ll distract it!” - the guard shouted…while dashing off. The predator’s pursuit instinct kicked in immediately, and it lunged after its swift prey, who appeared to have far more Qi than I did, at least at first glance.
I kept track out of the corner of my eye as the mutant ran along, breathing with indescribable rage and foaming at the mouth. In my opinion, those were unmistakable signs of rabies. The beast itself looked like a dwarf moose that decided to update its wardrobe with three rows of fashionable fangs and steel blades at the tips of its antlers.
“Lord, save yourself!!!” - my “bodyguard” ran past me.
I didn’t even turn in his direction, too busy judging the color of the root I had just dug up.
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“I beg you, my lord, I can’t hold out much longer. If it kills me, it’ll come after you next” - the slave practically sobbed as he made another lap.
The rabid moose was literally snapping its teeth just a couple of centimeters from his rear, forcing its prey to run twice as fast. Yet the slave never pulled more than a certain distance away, because the slave seal clearly didn’t let him just flee on his own initiative. Considering both of them were moving at more than 500 km/hour on a very limited patch of ground the whole spectacle looked like a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon.
When my escort passed me yet again, seemingly trying to lure the “cat” into my path, I abruptly whipped out my club from behind my back and brought it down with all my might on the unsuspecting moose, instantly crushing its skull. Once again, I felt the “inner energy” of the Skull Crusher rise by another “level” with that kill.
“Why are you running around in circles like a sheep? You’ve trampled all the herbs!” - I began to scold the lazy slave. - “You didn’t even hit the thing once. You just ran back and forth like a chicken with its head cut off.”
But all my carefully prepared remarks were wasted, because the guard just stood there, staring at the beast’s corpse and quietly whispering:
“How? How? How? How? How? How? How? How? How?”
Wow, he was really stunned!
Five minutes later, the guard came back to his senses and began watching me without blinking, as though determined to uncover some great secret that I was bound to reveal if I made a single mistake. That’s how we spent the rest of the day until evening when I returned to camp, having fully completed my gathering plan.
At the campsite, a whole tent city had been set up, with O Hu Yan strutting around importantly, looking down his nose at everyone. As soon as he spotted me, he started rounding up all the alchemists for what he called a daily report.
“All right, we’ll begin by checking how much each of you has collected of the assigned herbs. Let’s start with our grandmaster, Tan Ji Tao. How much of your quota did you complete?”
O Hu Yan gave me such a sly smile that it was clear this was some sort of setup. A crowd had gathered not just alchemists and apprentices, but also guards and the chief “customs officer.”
“One hundred percent” - I said with a brazen smirk. - “I’ve already collected all required herbs for entire expedition as listed in this jade slip.” - With these words, I took out the very same jade slip, displaying it for everyone.
“I see that Grandmaster O Hu Yan has delegated the authority of leading this expedition to Tan Ji Tao” - the customs officer unexpectedly interrupted.
“What? No, I … ”
“That is undoubtedly the jade slip containing a request for herbs, personally signed by Chuk Cha Pyo” - the “former boss” was cut off again. - “My observer confirms that the herb gathering is indeed complete. We only need to check the contents of Tan Ji Tao’s ring to verify.”
“Hand over the ring!” - O Hu Yan instantly demanded, reaching out with his grabby hands.
“According to the rules, a ring is issued personally to each individual, and it can only be given to the Herb Keeper” - the customs officer once again thwarted the grandmaster. - “Please extend your hand.”
I kept an outstretched hand in front of me, and the customs officer brought some artifact close to the ring. After that, I felt that this artifact now contained, just like in a jade slip, a “snapshot” of my ring’s contents, as well as a list of all the rare herbs I had approached.
“What? Where did all these herbs come from?” - O Hu Yan howled upon realizing the scope of my efforts to gather a harvest.
In response, I just gave him a brazen grin.
“Aha! I knew it! Some rare herbs are missing!!!” - my rival cried out triumphantly, jabbing his finger at the artifact.
“What do you mean ‘missing herbs’?” - I asked coolly, polishing the golden ring containing the herbs and admiring how it glittered in the rays of the setting sun.
“Look, it says you found a thousand-year herb of the Hill Buttercup! Where is it?” - O Hu Yan yelled, now pointing his limb at me.
“It’s right where it was” - I replied. - “I studied that plant carefully and concluded that it’s not a thousand years old, but only 999 years old. As you know, a thousand-year herb is far more valuable than a 999-year herb, so I left it there to keep growing. If we’re lucky, in another thousand years someone might find that herb, and by then the sect will have a two-thousand-year-old Hill Buttercup.”
At my remark, O Hu Yan started coughing up blood, smearing it across his face.
“What?!! That’s outrageous!” - he roared, staring at me with wild eyes.
“I’m very frugal with the sect’s resources” - I said, - “so I can’t allow a 999-year-old herb to be picked before it reaches a full thousand years.”
“Guh!” - The grandmaster coughed up blood again.
The ordinary alchemists and apprentices nodded in agreement. But O Hu Yan and the customs officer knew perfectly well these were not really thousand-year herbs. The problem was, they couldn’t admit it outright. Because if the ‘common folk’ found out that this “thousand-year herb” had only been growing for a couple of months, their trust in alchemy would plummet right away.
“What about the Five-Hundred-Year Fire Lily? I only see the central stem from it.”
“Yes. I only needed the stem, so that’s all I took. I figure in about fifty years, this lily will grow a new stem, and then we’ll have a fully healthy plant that can be harvested again.”
At this, O Hu Yan started coughing blood yet again and lost all strength to keep accusing me. He just waved his hand in defeat and headed for his tent. But after a few steps, the customs officer’s voice stopped him.
“Since the request for herbs has been fully met and even overfulfilled I see no reason for you to remain here. I think all of you can return to the sect and hand over the herbs to the Keeper today.”
After this, O Hu Yan coughed up blood once more and collapsed helplessly to the ground. The master alchemists rushed to help him, and I merely exchanged a mocking glance with the customs officer.