Walking alone through the deep, deathly silent ancient forest, time seemed to become viscous and slow. Tang Xiao Qi dared not be the slightest bit careless; every step was taken with utmost caution. His divine sense, like tentacles, repeatedly scanned the area within a dozen zhang around his body, and the frying pan remained in a state ready to be swung at any moment.
However, the anticipated danger did not immediately appear. This forest seemed merely ancient and tranquil, with no other sounds except for the occasional indistinct chirping of insects or birds from very far away. But this excessive silence itself felt like an invisible pressure, weighing heavily on his heart.
After walking for about half an hour, the surrounding trees seemed to thin slightly, and low shrubs and ferns began to appear on the ground. It was at this moment that Xiao Qi's unique sensitivity to plants, cultivated from long-term 'tending' to spirit herbs with the rabbit spirit in the abandoned herb garden, began to come into play.
His gaze swept past a seemingly ordinary bush with serrated, dark green leaves and suddenly stopped. In a damp, shaded spot at the base of the bush, several plants about three inches tall, their entire bodies a vibrant emerald green, with millet-sized white fluffy flowers at their tips, were quietly growing, emitting an extremely faint, cool spiritual energy.
"Dew-condensing Grass!" Xiao Qi's heart leapt with joy. This was a low-grade spirit herb, an auxiliary material for refining various Qi Refining stage pills, particularly useful for stabilizing medicinal properties. Although not particularly rare, it could still be exchanged for a small number of spirit stones or contribution points in the outside market. More importantly, this grass usually grew in places with relatively pure spiritual energy and stable environments. Its appearance indicated that the nearby area might be relatively safe and could contain other spirit plants.
He did not immediately approach to collect it. Instead, he once again vigilantly observed his surroundings, confirming there were no lurking dangers, especially those poisonous insects or small demon beasts that liked to guard spirit herbs. After patiently waiting for a while, aside from the rustling of leaves in the breeze, nothing unusual occurred.
Only then did he slowly step forward, squat down, and take out a small jade shovel specifically designed for harvesting spirit herbs from his storage bag. He did not recklessly dig directly. Instead, he carefully examined the growth condition of these Dew-condensing Grass plants, selected the two with the longest age and the most abundant spiritual energy, carefully inserted the shovel around their roots to avoid damaging the root hairs, and completely excavated them along with some soil. Then he quickly placed them into a prepared jade box, affixing a spirit-sealing talisman to prevent spiritual energy loss.
Having accomplished all this, he felt slightly more at ease. Finally, he had his first harvest. Although not highly valuable, it was a good start and proved that his unique sensitivity to plants remained effective in this place.
He put away the jade box and continued forward, paying even more attention to the vegetation underfoot. Sure enough, before long, he discovered several clusters of dark red moss, shaped like flames, at the base of a huge ancient tree covered in vines.
"Flame Moss?" Xiao Qi carefully identified it and confirmed it was indeed that. This moss contained a trace of faint fire-attribute spiritual energy, usually growing in places with abundant yang energy or close to earth fire veins. It was a material for refining certain low-grade fire-attribute talismans and could also be used to feed specific fire-attribute spirit insects.
He similarly cautiously observed the surroundings, especially that vine-covered ancient tree. After confirming there were no hidden dangers, he approached and carefully scraped off a portion of the best-looking Flame Moss, storing it in a specially made fire-resistant stone box.
These successive discoveries greatly boosted Xiao Qi's spirits; the initial tension and loneliness upon entering the secret realm were somewhat alleviated. He realized that this seemingly dangerous primal forest was, for those with intent, also a treasure trove of resources. And he happened to possess some 'treasure-seeking' ability.
He no longer blindly explored merely to find a way out as he had initially. Instead, he began to consciously watch for places where spirit plants might grow: forest clearings, stream edges, rock crevices, etc. Relying on his unique sensitivity and familiarity with the characteristics of several common low-grade spirit herbs, he successively discovered and collected a few stalks of 'Calming Flower' (with a slight tranquilizing effect), a small patch of 'Iron Thread Vine' (its vines were tough, material for making low-grade rope artifacts), and several pieces of 'Sinking Iron Stone' ore embryo containing faint earth spiritual energy.
The harvest wasn't particularly abundant; most were low-grade materials commonly used by Qi Refining stage cultivators, but there was a variety. Combined, they were worth several tens of low-grade spirit stones. For resource-poor Xiao Qi, this was already a significant wealth. More importantly, this process greatly boosted his confidence.
He knew these were merely the most peripheral, most ordinary outputs of the secret realm. True opportunities were inevitably hidden deeper within, accompanied by greater risks. But for now, steadily accumulating, familiarizing himself with the environment, and improving his survival skills were the most important.
He sorted and stored all the collected items properly, then looked at the sky. Through gaps in the dense canopy, he could tell the sun had begun to tilt westward. Nights in the secret realm were probably far more dangerous than daytime.
He had to quickly find a relatively safe place to spend the night.
His gaze swept around, and he noticed not far ahead to the right, several huge rocks were piled together, forming a natural stone hollow, with dense vines hanging above—seemingly a good hiding spot.
He tightened his grip on the frying pan and, with even greater caution, crept toward that direction. The first day of survival in the secret realm quietly slipped away amidst cautious exploration and preliminary harvest.