Chapter 71: Immortal Sprout

“All disciples of the Grand Void Gate, come to me!”

A rough, booming voice echoed from afar.

Everyone turned to see it was Grand Void Gate’s Xuan Yang Elder.

The crowd surged forward in one breath, gathering before the Elder.

“Line up! When I call your name, step forward!” said Xuan Yang Elder. “Disciples from Lotus Peak, step forward!”

Dozens of Lotus Peak disciples rushed forward in a rush.

“You lot!” Xuan Yang Elder pointed to a group. “Come over here!”

“Each of you gets a Hundred Treasures Bag!”

“Bring back every spirit herb you see—remember, even the lowest-grade first-rank spirit herb must be collected!”

Xuan Yang Elder handed each of them a new Hundred Treasures Bag.

He feared their bags wouldn’t be enough.

After distributing the bags, Xuan Yang Elder waved his hand; his magic power condensed into a speck of light that fell, instantly expanding into a barrier that enveloped the dozen or so before him.

“Go…”

Xuan Yang Elder roared, and the light membrane lifted the dozen or so people into the air, then shot them swiftly into the secret realm’s entrance.

At that moment, the secret realm’s entrance opened—a dark, swirling vortex.

Elders nearby kept tossing their disciples, one by one, into it.

This method of entering the secret realm opened He Pingsheng’s eyes.

Lotus Peak disciples were tossed in by groups.

Then came Sunset Peak, Dawn Peak…

Finally, it was Xiuzhu Peak’s turn.

“Xiuzhu Peak brats, come here!” Xuan Yang Elder’s face was pale.

After all, using magic power to transport disciples into the secret realm was physically taxing.

Having sent so many disciples already left him nearly drained.

Yet Xuan Yang Ancestor showed no sign of displeasure.

“Go…”

“Go…”

“Go…”

Disciples of Yuxuan Gate and Yude Gate were sent in, one squad after another.

Xuan Yang Ancestor wiped sweat from his brow, glanced at He Pingsheng, and said: “Phew… only one left. I’m exhausted… This is even more tiring than fighting for my life!”

“Come on, all four of you!” Xuan Yang Ancestor handed He Pingsheng and the others each a new Hundred Treasures Bag. “Stand firm—I’ll just toss you in. Where you land afterward? No one knows!”

“Hold hands tightly—don’t let the spatial force tear you apart!”

A light membrane enveloped the four of them.

“Go…”

Xuan Yang Ancestor lifted his foot and kicked the light membrane hard—the white membrane shot off at once, carrying He Pingsheng and the others into the secret realm’s entrance.

The surrounding light vanished instantly into darkness.

Pitch black as ink.

He Pingsheng felt as if he were traveling through a dark void, like riding a teleportation array.

He didn’t know how long it lasted—then suddenly, the darkness outside brightened.

And then!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The four of them landed on the ground like a human pyramid.

“Damn it!” Zhao Linger cursed. “Fatty, Xu Kunlun, get off me—you’re crushing me!”

Tian Xiaoqing’s face flushed red: “He Dijie, you’re lying on me!”

The two men scrambled awkwardly to their feet.

The four looked around.

Each wore a wary expression.

The sky was crystal clear, not a single cloud in sight.

A blazing sun blazed overhead, its light blinding.

Endless mountains stretched in every direction.

The spiritual energy here was thick beyond measure.

“What a place!” He Pingsheng said. “If I could cultivate here, I’d make double the progress!”

“Dream on!” Xu Kunlun cut in immediately. “You’ve got a Five Element Spirit Root—no matter how dense the spiritual energy, you can’t absorb it… You can’t even take it in, Old Nine…”

He Pingsheng smiled awkwardly.

True enough—that was the truth.

Zhao Linger gripped her treasure sword, scanning the surroundings warily. “With this much spiritual energy, there must be countless spirit herbs here. Let’s go find them…”

“Oh, by the way—whatever we find, we split it evenly, two to one, between the four of us!”

“Any objections?”

She looked at the other three.

The other three had lower cultivation bases than Zhao Linger, so they all nodded in agreement.

Tian Xiaoqing pulled a bottle from her Hundred Treasures Bag and poured out a heap of seeds.

She grabbed a handful and casually scattered them around.

“Senior Sister!” He Pingsheng said. “Those are Seven-Leaf Spirit Herb seeds, right?”

“Yes!” Tian Xiaoqing replied. “I’m planting them here first—this place’s spiritual energy is so rich, in thirty years, a whole grove of Seven-Leaf Spirit Herbs will grow, and future cultivators can harvest them!”

Xu Kunlun gave a thumbs-up. “Senior Sister Tian, you’re truly noble!”

Tian Xiaoqing rolled her eyes. “You think all these spirit plants in the secret realm just appeared out of nowhere?”

“Isn’t it always the case—earlier generations plant trees, later generations enjoy the shade?”

“If we only take and never plant, wouldn’t this secret realm have died out long ago?”

“Before we came, my Master summoned me alone and told me to scatter seeds along the way!”

“I’ve got plenty more seeds—let’s go!”

The four walked together through the secret realm, and Tian Xiaoqing kept scattering seeds as they went.

Since they were all Qi Refining cultivators and hadn’t yet learned to fly on swords, they could only walk.

The upside: they were cultivators—each step covered several zhang, so they moved quickly.

They leapt and twisted through the mountains as if walking on flat ground.

But after about half an hour, they hadn’t encountered a single spirit plant.

“Do we have a map? Let’s check where we are,” He Pingsheng suggested.

Zhao Linger said: “I already checked—it won’t help. We need to walk first, confirm the terrain’s characteristics before we decide.”

“If we still find nothing after another half hour, I’ll release a flying crane to scout.”

As they walked, Fatty Xu Kunlun suddenly raised his hand excitedly. “Look! Look! What’s that?”

He was so excited, spittle flew from his mouth.

He Pingsheng whirled his head toward where Xu Kunlun pointed.

In the distance lay a lush, emerald bamboo grove.

Xu Kunlun said: “Immortal Bamboo… It’s Immortal Bamboo!”

“What a vast patch of Immortal Bamboo!”

Only then did the others realize.

Immortal Bamboo.

Immortal Bamboo itself had no special value.

But when it first sprouts from the ground, it’s called [Immortal Sprout].

And this Immortal Sprout is one of the four ingredients needed to refine first-rank [Spirit Gathering Elixir].

“Let’s go take a look…”

The four sprinted toward the bamboo grove.

At the grove’s edge, they saw—

So many Immortal Sprouts.

Hundreds of them poked up densely from the ground beneath the bamboo.

These were first-rank spirit herbs!

“Don’t stand there—each of you take a side, collect them all!”

“Leave not a single one!”