Ancestral Grotto

"So, like I said, there is a better spot to collect the herbs we need." - Yu Lingxin prompted the team to change their route.

"Are you certain that information is reliable?" - Jin Ju asked with concern.

"Yes! I asked two of the senior disciples for guidance. They both told me to avoid the route we were given because everyone else is going there as well. The place they told me about is a bit farther, but our results will definitely be better if we don't have to compete with the other teams." - She explained.

Jin Ju thought back to the painful experience where Yu Lingxin led him to claim their allowance, and he got a beating as the result.

Before Jin Ju could voice his concerns, Ye Jianhong interjected.

"I think, we should go! Getting more herbs will give me a better evaluation. That's the right thing for us to do." - Stated Ye Jianhong as he glanced at Zhao Min next to him.

Zhao Min had the final say in the matter as the appointed team leader.

"The goal isn't to collect the most herbs, but to collect a given amount and quality. Doing anything other than that is not our mission. We are already short on time. Can we afford to take a longer route? If this idea is a bust, I will be the one to blame." - Said Zhao Min plainly.

"Why can't we collect the ten catties of herbs and keep the rest to ourselves? Who knows if we can get enough if we follow the beaten path. The good quality herbs are the first to be picked. Since we are already late, can we afford to do anything else?" - Countered Ye Jianhong.

"Yes, we can sell the rest for a profit. We can make this trip doubly worth it." - Hearing of the profits, Jin Ju supported the idea as well.

"Look here. This marks where the plants are. The difference in distance is not that much, but it's in the other direction." - Yu Lingxin produced a folded map and presented it to the group.

Zhao Min looked at the three of them who stood around him, then back at map.

"So be it! We will go to the suggested location." - He sighed with frustration.

"Brother Zhao is really wise! A good leader listens to his companions. Haha." - Ye Jianhong gloated.

"We've wasted enough time. Let's get going!" - Zhao Min ordered.

"We will go through the pass. It's faster. Then we can take the path to the left." - Yu Lingxin said as she pointed out their route on the map.

"You can lead the way, sister Yu. Show us the way." - Ye Jianhong said politely.

"No problem. Follow me." - Yu Lingxin responded.

Yu Lingxin took the lead, with Jin Ju and Zhao Min side by side behind her. Ye Jianhong brought up the rear.

The group crossed a valley and entered a dense forest. The air became more humid and the temperature rose.

"This place gives me the creeps." - Jin Ju said with a shudder.

"Be careful. There might be wild beasts around here." - Zhao Min cautioned.

"I don't see anything." - Jin Ju said as he looked around.

"You won't see anything until it's too late." - Zhao Min said with a serious expression.

"Be on your guard. We don't want to run into anything we can't handle." - Zhao Min said to the group.

They continued to move forward cautiously. The underbrush became thicker the further they went.

"I think we are getting close." - Yu Lingxin said as she stopped to consult the map.

"I hope so. I don't like this place." - Jin Ju said with a shudder.

"There it is!" - Yu Lingxin exclaimed as she pointed to a clearing ahead.

The group moved forward and entered the clearing. The area was filled with tall grass and weeds.

"This doesn't look like a good place to find herbs." - Ye Jianhong said with disappointment.

"There are plenty of herbs here. We just have to look for them." - Yu Lingxin said as she began to search the area.

The group spread out and began to search the area. They were looking for a herb called the Three-Leaf Grass.

"I found some!" - Yu Lingxin called out.

The group converged on her location. She was kneeling down and carefully digging up a plant with three leaves.

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"Good job, sister Yu." - Ye Jianhong said with a smile.

"We should keep looking. There are bound to be more around here." - Yu Lingxin said as she stood up.

The group spread out and continued to search the area. They found several more plants and began to fill their bags.

Suddenly, Ye Jianhong's scream interrupted their search.

Three heads emerged from the grass to look in Ye Jianhong's direction.

"What's wrong?" - Yu Lingxin asked with concern.

"I was bitten by a snake!" - Ye Jianhong said as he held his arm.

"Let me see." - Yu Lingxin said as she tried to examine his arm.

"I'm fine. I can keep searching." - Ye Jianhong gritted his teeth, as he tried to stand up, but lost his balance and fell on his face.

"We need to get out of here!" - Zhao Min said as he grabbed Ye Jianhong's arm and started to drag him.

"Leave me! I... can walk!" - Ye Jianhong said as he tried to pull away from Zhao Min, but his speech was getting noticeably slurred.

Zhao Min ignored him and continued to drag him towards the edge of the clearing.

"Sister Yu, help me!" - Zhao Min called out.

Yu Lingxin hesitated for a moment, then she ran over and grabbed his other arm.

Jin Ju appeared from the tall grasses as well.

"Guys, this is bad. I found the 'snake'. But it is actually a gu worm." - Jin Ju raised his hand that clutched the 'snake' at its neck.

"What gu?" - They turned to him.

"This is a rank one Leaf Warden Serpent gu. It is a venomous gu that is used to protect crops from vermin." - Jin Ju recalled from his memories when he was a traveling merchant.

"Is it deadly?" - Asked Yu Lingxin in fright. She checked around herself not to stumble into one herself.

"No, but a single bite can paralyze an adult." - Jin Ju said as he anxiously looked at Ye Jianhong who was now completely paralyzed.

"Can you do something about it? Do any of you have a healing gu worm?" - Zhao Min questioned.

They shook their heads.

"I- I can try to make an antidote. But I need to go look for two more ingredients." - Suggested Jin Ju.

He pulled out one of the stalks from his pocket.

"Here, make him chew this. It will slow the poison."

"I will be back shortly." - Jin Ju announced as he gathered his courage.

"Wait! Do you have a defensive gu? What do we do if something happens to you?"

Jin Ju slapped his forehead.

"I'm such an idiot! I almost forgot."

"Here, take my Leaf Skin gu with you." - Offered Yu Lingxin.

Zhao Min activated his gu worms and created a raised platform of crudely woven roots above the tall field of grass. Ye Jianhong was lying on it the others gathered around him.

"Alright. Jin Ju you go and gather those ingredients. Sister Yu, please look after brother Ye while I collect the remaining Three-Leaf Grass." - Zhao Min decided.

* * * * *

Xu Lian Blessed Land

Bao Zhi was cultivating peacefully. He has transformed into a living tree. His roots already reached a shocking length of one li when measured from his trunk.

Compared to that, his above-ground body was much less impressive, it only reached a height of ten meters at the top of his crown.

"Dao marks are the basis for all things. They are the carriers of the Great Dao. Dao marks are the mechanism for the world of myriad things to exist and function."

"My body has wood path Dao marks, on the level nearing what an immortal would have. But they are unordered and thus without a function."

"Now I refined a part of them and turned it into a killer move. This killer move imitates transformation path, but is wood path at the core. This way I don't have to worry about transformation path's drawback of the residual dao marks."

A pure transformation path killer move would use the transformation path Dao marks to turn into a different type of Dao mark temporarily. If a cultivator turned into a water type beast, their transformation path dao marks would be water path in that case. But these Dao marks would conflict with the user's existing cultivation of transformation path if left unchecked. In serious cases, the transformation could become permanent if the Dao marks were not turned back or removed in time.

But Bao Zhi already cultivated wood path. A wood path transformation was not a problem this way.

At this moment, Bao Xu Lian's will descended to manage his aperture.

Bao Zhi could feel some of the other plants being relocated or harvested through his root system.

Bao Xu Lian was busy developing this small world. He kept bringing in new types of plants to broaden the diversity in this small world.

Bao Zhi stopped his activity and waited patiently.

Bao Xu Lian's will hovered above the transformed tree that was Bao Zhi and observed its progress.

He nodded to himself in satisfaction and dispersed a bead of green grape immortal essence in the air.

The immortal essence was diluted into a vast amount of primeval essence. It would last for a good while, raising and sustaining the aperture's ambient primeval essence.

"Now that I successfully have hidden under your nose. It is time to deceive you further. Even if you find out eventually, I will be indispensable." - Bao Zhi thought to himself as he looked at the leaving figure of Xu Lian's will.

His plan has reached the next phase. He started to adopt the form of the Thousand Wish Tree. The basis for that was his refinement killer move, Thousand Wish Perpetual Refinement. But now he was at the core of the killer move.

The tree's barks slowly started to take on the color of white ash. His branches started to twist in many directions.

"It doesn't need to be perfect. I just want a hint of the original, since I'm not going to wait for a thousand years to bear fruit, I don't need to mimic the tree's appearance exactly either." - Bao Zhi thought to himself.

"This will increase my general gu refinement ability. It will help me refine the rank five Man Triumphing Heaven gu as well."

"Dao marks produce the effect. Essence activates the Dao marks. Will controls the essence that carries it."

"The gu worms are convenient because they are the containers of dao marks and the user's will at the same time. But a killer move is just the same, just without something to contain it externally." - Bao Zhi pondered.

His view on cultivation has changed since he acquired his new body. He found the mainstream way of thinking about the Dao narrow-minded and restricting.

"The only thing limiting me currently is how I use my Dao marks. The quantity of essence is not an issue." - He checked on his Primeval Rafflesia gu house in his fake aperture.

The primeval elder in the gu still had a bright smile, over nine hundred thousand primeval stones were in reserve.

A month has passed.

Bao Zhi was very patient. He didn't want to rush things.

The tree of Bao Zhi did not grow much, but the appearance was vastly different from before.

Bao Xu Lian noticed the change as well. Now he was observing intently as he floated around it.

The tree had half a dozen small fruits hanging on the branches. Some were round, some were covered with spikes, and some were of irregular form.

The largest one among them has ripened. With a soft popping sound, it dropped to the ground.

Bao Xu Lian caught the fruit in his hand and studied it. He opened up the fruit.

"There really is a gu worm inside. Just like in the records!" - He was overjoyed at his findings.

"This tree is a treasure trove! It can supply me with mortal gu and it hasn't even matured yet."

* * * * *