The demon rabbit, crouched on the small table gnawing on a spirit pill, suddenly realised that Ning Yuzhou and the little seedling had disappeared. Its entire body puffed up in alarm, and the spirit pill in its paws fell, rolling away with a clatter.
It hurriedly pounced over and picked the spirit pill up in its mouth, then turned around and around in the room, searching for its little seedling.
But after searching for a long time, not only was the little seedling gone, even the human who supplied it with spirit pills had disappeared!
The demon rabbit’s fur bristled even more, and a threatening sound came from its throat.
—
Wen Qiao only felt her vision blur, and the surrounding environment changed. From indoors, she was suddenly in an unknown space.
It was a space about half a mu in size. Around it was a grey, chaotic haze that separated the space from the outside world. In the centre was a spiritual herb field, while the other areas were barren.
She stared blankly at the lush, watery-green spiritual herbs before her. Her entire little plant self was stunned.
Ning Yuzhou carried the spirit jade pot forward and came to the spiritual field. He said gently, “Ah Rao, what do you think of this patch of spiritual herbs?”
The little seedling was dazed and completely unable to react. Not even her leaves moved.
Ning Yuzhou grew somewhat worried. Had she been frightened?
He reached out and gently pinched a small leaf, explaining, “This is my mustard-seed space. It appeared when my bloodline awakened. These spiritual herbs are ones I have collected and planted over the years. The quantity isn’t much. In the future, when we leave Dongling and travel around, we can collect more…”
After learning that Wen Qiao’s cultivation required absorbing the plant essence of spiritual plants, Ning Yuzhou had already planned their future path in his heart.
Dongling was far too remote, with too few resources. Sooner or later, they would have to leave and go to the broader, more splendid world outside. That was the place all cultivators yearned for.
Wen Qiao finally came back to herself. Hearing his words, she immediately felt a little speechless.
In this patch of spiritual herbs, according to her perception, fifth-rank, sixth-rank, and seventh-rank spiritual herbs were everywhere. There was even an eighth-rank Earth Dragon Twining Silk Orchid, giving off pure and delightful plant essence.
Probably all the spiritual herb gardens of every family in Dongling combined did not have as many varieties as this place.
Yet he actually thought the quantity was not enough.
Wen Qiao suddenly understood Emperor Chenghao’s thoughts. Ning Yuzhou really was someone with extremely high standards.
Not only were his standards high, even the miraculous bloodline he had inherited was so powerful. Not only did it come with a complete inheritance, it had even gifted him a mustard-seed space. Looking at herself again, her inheritance was fragmented and scattered—she was practically a waste.
Actually, the one who should be called a waste was her.
Wen Qiao felt a little dejected.
Ning Yuzhou did not know why the little seedling had suddenly drooped again. He said gently, “Cultivate here first. Don’t worry about anything. Try and see whether you can transform.”
Wen Qiao quickly pulled herself together.
Her husband had even told her about this kind of mustard-seed space that could contain living things. It showed how sincere he was toward her. She had to work hard at cultivating too. In the future, no matter what difficulties they faced, she would be able to confront them head-on and work hard to protect him, who carried such secrets.
Wen Qiao rubbed his hand with her leaves, signalling for him to put her down.
Ning Yuzhou placed the spirit jade pot beside the eighth-rank Earth Dragon Twining Silk Orchid—the highest-ranked spiritual herb in the space—then stepped back outside and looked at the only little seedling rooted in a spirit jade pot among the spiritual herb garden. Compared with the other spiritual herbs, she looked completely unremarkable. If one was not careful, one might even mistake her for a weed and overlook her. There was not a trace of anything miraculous about her.
Ning Yuzhou fell into thought.
Perhaps this was one of Ah Rao’s disguises. Before she was powerful enough to face all covetous gazes, many spiritual treasures with intelligence would choose to hide themselves, giving themselves room to grow.
Ning Yuzhou stayed in the space for most of the day. He watched the spiritual herbs in the herb field grow at a speed visible to the naked eye. Although it could not compare to ordinary spiritual plants, this growth speed was already quite pleasing. If other cultivators saw it, they would probably go mad over it.
An existence capable of accelerating spiritual herbs’ growth, making it unnecessary to deliberately wait a hundred or a thousand years before harvesting herbs of the required age—what kind of concept was that? There was probably not a single person who could face it calmly. Greed would surely arise.
He sighed softly in his heart.
This silly girl really was silly. If he had even the slightest evil thought and trapped her inside this space to make her grow spiritual herbs for him, what could she do?
Such a foolish girl—he had better keep a close watch on her. He could not let anyone bully her.
Seeing that Wen Qiao had already immersed herself in cultivation, Ning Yuzhou did not stay any longer and left the space.
As soon as he returned indoors, a gust of wind rushed at him. Ning Yuzhou was knocked back and fell sitting onto the couch, his chest faintly aching.
“Gugu!”
Ning Yuzhou lowered his head and saw the demon rabbit that had crashed into his arms. It was angrily stamping its feet, waving its paws at him in threat, anxiously asking where the little seedling had gone.
Ning Yuzhou had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. He was merely a low-level cultivator at the Entry Yuan Realm. Before a sixth-rank mutated demon rabbit, he was truly not enough to look at. If he had not been feeding the demon rabbit spirit pills frequently during this period, the rabbit would probably not have merely crashed into him just now, but directly attacked him.
Although he was calm and composed, able to remain expressionless even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, it could not be denied that Ning Yuzhou at this moment was indeed weak.
The weakling Ning Yuzhou’s lips curved slightly, revealing a smile so gentle it was terrifying. He grabbed the demon rabbit and lifted it, saying warmly, “You want to find Ah Rao?”
The demon rabbit instinctively sensed danger. It hung limply in his hand and whimpered a few times, like a weak, pitiful, helpless little bunny.
“She is cultivating somewhere. You won’t be able to find her for now,” Ning Yuzhou said, casually feeding it a spirit pill. “I hope you’ll be more careful next time. Otherwise, I’ll confiscate all your spirit pills.”
The demon rabbit looked at him innocently, pretending not to understand.
Ning Yuzhou smiled and pinched the cheek pouch where it hid spirit pills. “You hide all your spirit pills here, don’t you? Once they’re eaten, they’re gone, right?”
Forced by the threat, the demon rabbit ingratiatingly rubbed against his hand.
The little seedling was important, but the alchemist who could provide spirit pills also had to be pleased.
After Ning Yuzhou taught the demon rabbit a lesson, he tossed it aside, stuffed a pill bottle into its paws, and had someone call Qian Shou over.
When Qian Shou arrived, he saw Ning Yuzhou sitting on the couch by the window, examining a jade slip. The demon rabbit they had brought out of Lin Tai Hunting Valley was extravagantly hugging a pill bottle, happily gnawing on spirit pills.
A mutated demon beast that loved eating spirit pills this much—only Ning Yuzhou could afford to raise it. No wonder this demon rabbit refused to leave even if beaten to death.
“Your Highness.” Qian Shou saluted, then asked with concern, “Are you going into seclusion to cultivate?”
Ning Yuzhou said, “Not yet. I have matters to entrust to you.”
Qian Shou responded respectfully and listened to his instructions. After hearing his arrangements, he asked in surprise, “Your Highness, are you planning to…”
“Yes. We will leave sooner or later anyway, so it is better to make preparations in advance,” Ning Yuzhou did not deny.
Sooner or later—when exactly was that?
Although Qian Shou had doubts, he knew Ning Yuzhou’s decisions would not change, so he said nothing and quickly went to make arrangements.
After that, Ning Yuzhou entered the space again and planted the spiritual herbs he had brought out of Lin Tai Hunting Valley.
The spiritual herbs in the space were lush and verdant, even more vigorous than before. They had all grown by quite a bit, looking as if their age had increased by at least ten to twenty years. They almost covered the white jade pot in the spirit field.
Compared with the spiritual herbs that had been stimulated by Wen Qiao, the little seedling in the white jade pot was still short and weak, showing no obvious change.
After Ning Yuzhou planted all the spiritual herbs, he watched for a while before leaving the space.
Then, after arranging other miscellaneous matters, Ning Yuzhou also began secluded cultivation.
—
One month later, Emperor Chenghao came to the Seventh Prince’s residence.
“Little Seven still hasn’t come out of seclusion?” Emperor Chenghao asked in surprise.
The steward receiving him replied, “Yes. At first, His Highness still had people send him three meals a day, but later he stopped asking for them.”
Emperor Chenghao was surprised, but even more pleased. It seemed that after his son became able to cultivate, he had wholeheartedly buried himself in hard training. Sooner or later, he would make up for the nineteen years he had fallen behind, and his cultivation certainly would not be lower than others.
After learning that Ning Yuzhou was in seclusion, Emperor Chenghao did not disturb him. He told the steward to inform him once Ning Yuzhou came out.
The steward agreed.
Like this, another half month passed before Emperor Chenghao received news that Ning Yuzhou had come out of seclusion.
Emperor Chenghao rushed from the palace to the Seventh Prince’s residence.
The moment he saw Ning Yuzhou, Emperor Chenghao checked his cultivation. When he discovered that after one and a half months of seclusion, Ning Yuzhou was only at the late stage of the Entry Yuan Realm, he felt rather unwell.
“Little Seven, how…”
Ning Yuzhou had awakened a miraculous bloodline at birth. In fact, because his bloodline power was so domineering, he had had no choice but to seal himself in order to grow up safely. From this, one could see how extraordinary Ning Yuzhou’s aptitude was—rare in the world.
Yet after one and a half months of secluded cultivation, he had only gone from the early stage to the late stage of the Entry Yuan Realm. This speed was far too slow.
For an ordinary cultivator, this speed would naturally be fine, even considered fast. However, the Entry Yuan Realm was only the first realm a cultivator stepped into, not something worth mentioning. With Ning Yuzhou’s aptitude, he should have crossed it easily.
But now, he had not even cultivated to the Yuan Feather Realm.
Ning Yuzhou seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “Father, have you forgotten what kind of miraculous bloodline I awakened?”
Emperor Chenghao hesitated. “You said before that it was the Emperor Xi bloodline—born with knowledge, carrying a mustard seed, commanding all vessels, spreading blessings in all directions…”
Ning Yuzhou smiled faintly. “Exactly. The Emperor Xi bloodline spreads blessings in all directions and carries a mustard seed. Its cultivation speed is rather slow.”
The mustard-seed space was a derivative of his bloodline power. Right now, the mustard-seed space was only half a mu in size, its most basic form. When he cultivated, he needed to feed part of his cultivation to the mustard-seed space from time to time so that it could continue to grow.
In other words, his space was growth-type, and what it required was his cultivation.
Because of this, his cultivation speed would be slower, and cultivation would also be quite difficult.
After hearing this, Emperor Chenghao sighed softly. Then he thought again: this Emperor Xi bloodline was one of the legendary Five Emperor bloodlines. Across countless worlds, for even one person to awaken it was already an immense fortune. Compared with other cultivators, his son was already blessed by heaven. If his cultivation speed was slower, then so be it. At worst, he could send more people to protect him.
Emperor Chenghao quickly came to terms with it. Then he asked about his cultivation situation, ready at any time to answer any questions he encountered in cultivation and guide him forward.
Unexpectedly, Ning Yuzhou said, “There is no need. I already understand everything.”
Emperor Chenghao felt terribly disappointed.
His son had finally become able to cultivate, and as his father, he had wanted to experience the joy of guiding his son’s cultivation. Who knew his son was too intelligent, with comprehension too high, and did not need anyone’s guidance at all?
The disappointed Emperor Chenghao could only change the topic. “Now that you can cultivate, should we announce this widely and let the outside world know?”
Emperor Chenghao also had his little schemes. Over the years, his son had often been called a waste. People said that if not for Emperor Chenghao doting on him, how could his son arrogantly and wilfully move about the cultivation world? Whenever Emperor Chenghao heard such rumours, he showed nothing on his face, but once back in his room, he would be so angry he wanted to curse.
“No need,” Ning Yuzhou had his own considerations. “Keep it hidden for now. We can speak of it once my cultivation is higher in the future.”
Emperor Chenghao thought about it and agreed. Although Dongling was remote, who knew whether the mastermind who had harmed Wen Boqing and his wife back then was still paying attention to Dongling? If they discovered that Ning Yuzhou possessed a miraculous bloodline, it would easily bring fatal disaster.
It was better to stay low-key.
Emperor Chenghao still wanted to say something, but suddenly, Ning Yuzhou’s expression shifted slightly and he interrupted him. “Father, I still have matters to attend to. Please go and busy yourself first.”
Emperor Chenghao: “…”
He was not busy at all. He still wanted to talk to his son about sending people to search for his missing daughter-in-law.
In the end, Emperor Chenghao still left sadly. His son was too capable, giving him, as a father, no sense of achievement at all.
After Emperor Chenghao left, Ning Yuzhou entered the space.
As soon as he entered, a current of air swept over. Ning Yuzhou, temporarily still weak, was almost blown away. He retreated several steps and crashed into a cluster of hard, stone-gold vines behind him.
At some unknown point, the spiritual herbs in his space had grown extremely lush. The higher-ranked ones were still fine, but the lower-ranked spiritual herbs had already gone through who knew how many cycles of growth. Seeds were piled all over the ground, while the others continued to grow, filling the originally small space to the brim with almost nowhere to stand.
Ning Yuzhou tugged at the vines behind him and discovered they were fifth-rank Stone-Gold Python Vines. These were grown from the seeds of the Stone-Gold Python Vine he had found in the underground space of Lin Tai Hunting Valley. Because Wen Qiao liked them, Ning Yuzhou had casually planted them at the edge of the space. Who would have thought that after not entering for over a month, the Stone-Gold Python Vines had already grown into a large patch? The thick vine branches coiled like snakes and pythons, stone-gold in colour and incomparably hard—an excellent material for artefact refining.
Ning Yuzhou only glanced at them before turning his gaze toward the spiritual herb field ahead.
The spiritual herbs had grown too densely. Ning Yuzhou spent quite some effort before finally finding the spirit jade pot. However, the spirit jade pot had already shattered into pieces.
Ning Yuzhou was startled and quickly searched everywhere for the little seedling.
The currents in the space were still surging wildly. Ning Yuzhou soon discovered that the airflow was rotating in a regular pattern, gathering toward the spiritual herb field. The direction in which it gathered was…
Before Ning Yuzhou could take a closer look, a rustling sound rang out. All the grasses in the space swayed together, producing a joyful susurration, as if rejoicing over something.
A young girl with picturesque features and black hair trailing to the ground appeared in the spiritual herb garden.
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