Chapter 24: The Medicine Garden
Fortunately, the fox didn’t just eat for nothing—it had actually helped him escape.
When the black fox heard Qin Xuan’s words, it snorted disdainfully. “All I did was eat a small snack. Why are you so stingy? My bloodline is far nobler than that black-scaled dragon’s.”
“Besides, you had an equal contract with it, and you didn’t even notice that it was developing thoughts of betrayal. I did you a favor by eliminating the threat, and instead of thanking me, you’re complaining?”
At this, Qin Xuan’s expression darkened. He could believe the black-scaled dragon might have betrayed him, especially considering how its attitude toward him had drastically changed after he was imprisoned.
Still, he didn’t want to admit that in front of the black fox.
Yet, whether he admitted it or not, he had no choice but to obediently hunt demonic beasts for the black fox.
Without the beasts, the fox wouldn’t move, and he still needed the fox’s help to find opportunities and make the Ying family pay for what they had done to him.
In a forest…
Slash! Blood sprayed everywhere.
Under the fox’s guidance, Qin Xuan easily slew a demonic beast that was at a higher cultivation level than himself.
Throwing the beast’s corpse in front of the black fox, Qin Xuan turned his gaze toward a plant not far away.
The plant gleamed brightly, its leaves appearing like flames, burning with an intense heat that could be felt even from a distance.
The beast he had just killed had been the guardian of this spiritual herb.
“A thousand-year-old Fire Spirit Grass—just right for my constitution,” he said as he plucked the herb.
Meanwhile, the black fox had already devoured the demonic beast completely, licking its lips in satisfaction.
“The taste wasn’t bad, but the level was too low. That bit of meat didn’t even fill my teeth,” it remarked.
But it wasn’t the fox’s fault—Qin Xuan’s cultivation was still too low.
Although Qin Xuan’s cultivation was progressing rapidly under the guidance of the black fox, the time he spent in the dark prison had still taken a toll on him.
“Keep going, nine more to go,” the black fox said.
Hearing the fox’s dismissive tone, a flash of displeasure appeared in Qin Xuan’s eyes but quickly disappeared.
*
Meanwhile, in another area, Ying Tong, holding a map, avoided many detours.
Based on her years of experience exploring ancient ruins and secret realms, she was able to deduce where significant opportunities might lie just by analyzing the positions marked on the map.
For instance, she had now arrived at the edge of a cliff.
Looking down, all she could see was a thick layer of mist, obscuring whatever lay below.
Ying Tong glanced at the map in her hand, confirming that the marked location was directly below the cliff. Without hesitation, she leaped into the mist.
Upon landing safely, she found herself facing a large spirit-gathering formation.
After observing for a while, she concluded that it wasn’t just an ordinary spirit-gathering array—it was integrated with illusion and killing formations, forming a highly complex chain array.
If someone were to accidentally step into it, both the illusion and killing formations would be triggered simultaneously.
No wonder all she could see from above was a blanket of white mist.
She had specifically come to this place because it might hold something she needed, but the array was a major obstacle.
“I’ll have to give it a try,” she muttered.
Ying Tong wasn’t well-versed in formations and wasn’t confident she could fully dismantle this one.
An hour later, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The ancient formation had weakened over time, with parts of it already showing signs of wear.
As the mist began to dissipate, a massive stone came into view. Written on it in bold red characters were two words: “Medicine Garden.”
Beyond the large stone, a vast medicinal garden soon appeared before her eyes.
The garden was enormous, so much so that she couldn’t see its end, stretching across the entire bottom of the cliff.
It seemed rather disorganized, likely due to years of neglect.
However, that didn’t matter—Ying Tong’s gaze was immediately drawn to a Golden Spirit Fruit growing in the garden. It was even larger than the one she had seen in the Jinghong Secret Realm.
In addition to the golden fruit, the garden was filled with all kinds of rare herbs, many of which had disappeared from the outside world. Not only were they ancient, but they were also highly valuable.
Now that the formation was broken, the garden’s aura would soon attract others, so Ying Tong knew she couldn’t afford to waste time. She quickly pulled out a dozen green feathers and tossed them into the air.
In the next instant, the feathers transformed into small, emerald-green birds that flew toward the medicinal plants.
Wherever the birds flew, the herbs on the ground vanished, collected by the birds.
“These herbs will make Lu Yi very happy,” she thought with a smile.
Even with all the birds working simultaneously, it still took nearly an hour to harvest the entire garden.
Just then, one of the birds flew back to her and, in a human voice, said, “We’ve found something strange up ahead.”
Ying Tong followed and soon saw what the bird was referring to—two stone mortars, a millstone, and a collection of unidentifiable items, all made from stone and bearing signs of use.
“Well, I’ll just take it all back for Lu Yi to study.”
With a wave of her hand, she stored everything away.
After thoroughly inspecting the entire bottom of the cliff and preparing to leave, she suddenly noticed something odd—beneath a stone, there was an egg wedged in place, marked with red flame-like patterns.
For now, she couldn’t determine which race this egg belonged to, but she decided to take it anyway.
After retrieving the egg, she discovered that a thick book, about the size of her palm, was wedged underneath it.
She decided to take that as well.
Ying Tong sensed several auras approaching her location, and she wanted to avoid running into these people. She grabbed a Golden Spirit Fruit from one of the emerald-green birds and thought it best to find Ying Xuechen and the others first. She wanted to deal with the trouble that was Ying Xuan before anything else; otherwise, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
Not long after she left, the others who had come running in response to the commotion finally arrived.
Seeing the obvious signs of disturbance on the ground, the expressions of those present turned grim.
After all, it was frustrating to travel a long distance only to find that the treasures had already been snatched by someone else.
They hadn’t even left a trace behind.
…
On the other side, after comparing the egg with the Spirit Object Record, Ying Tong confirmed that it was an Evil-Repelling Beast egg.
Evil-Repelling Beasts were known for their preference for consuming malicious entities, and where they resided, spiritual plants often grew at a faster rate.
“This indicates that the owner of this ruin placed great importance on this medicinal garden,” she thought.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left an Evil-Repelling Beast egg here.
As for the book she had found beneath the egg, when Ying Tong opened it, the content inside left her utterly astonished.
