My mother is the white moonlight of the cultivation world.

The spiritual energy, like the finest probe, silently seeped into the seed's hard outer shell.

Hua Yue could sense the spiritual energy circulating inside the seed, but this exploration was extremely slow.

There are countless seeds in this forest, each one containing a faint yet unique life force. If you were to try them one by one, you might not find one even in seven days, let alone seventy years.

She frowned, pondering a solution, when Xi Ming beside her suddenly pointed to a seven-colored glass flower, about half a person's height, not far away.

"There is something watching us."

Hua Yue looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that the flower was in full bloom, with layers of petals, shimmering and colorful, and there was nothing unusual about it.

She released her divine sense to scan the area, but still found nothing.

Xi Ming, however, was quite certain. He strode over and said to the enormous flower, "Come out."

The petal trembled slightly, as if it were somewhat frightened.

Seeing this, Hua Yue softened her tone, put on a friendly smile, and tentatively asked, "Hello? We mean no harm, we just want to ask for directions."

After a moment, a crystal-clear petal carefully parted slightly, and a small creature, about the size of a palm, wearing a petal dress and with transparent wings on its back, poked its head out.

It had a pair of watery, obsidian-like eyes, which were timidly sizing up Hua Yue.

She is a flower fairy.

Creatures born from the essence of plants and trees in the secret realm.

Seeing Hua Yue's gentle expression, the little flower fairy became bolder and emerged completely from behind the petals, flapping its wings and curiously circling around Hua Yue.

Before Hua Yue could even ask, the little guy saw her face clearly and suddenly let out a surprised scream.

The next second, it suddenly pounced on her, using its tiny arms to hug Hua Yue's cheek, its soft body pressed tightly against hers.

"Shuangshuang! Is that you? You're back!"

The little one's voice was soft and sweet, filled with barely suppressed excitement and joy.

Shuangshuang?

Hua Yue was stunned.

She gently scooped the little creature that was pressed against her face into her palm, looked at its delicate little face that resembled a human baby, and softly explained, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Hua Zhishuang."

She paused, then added, "I am her daughter, my name is Hua Yue."

The little flower fairy tilted its head, its large, obsidian-like eyes filled with confusion. It looked at Hua Yue carefully, then tilted its head and thought for a while. The smile on its face did not disappear; instead, it became even brighter.

"A daughter? Shuangshuang's wish has come true!" It happily rolled around in Huayue's hand. "She always said she wanted a child as beautiful and cute as herself!"

Hua Yue's heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something, causing a soft ripple to spread across it.

The mother who was always a bit unreliable in her memory had actually been looking forward to her arrival.

"Can you tell me how to find a flower called 'Shaoguang Jisui Lan'?" Hua Yue composed herself and steered the conversation back on track.

"The 'Farewell to the Orchids' festival?" The little flower fairy patted her head. "I don't know that, but there's one person who definitely does!"

"Who?"

"Elder Tree Root!" The little flower fairy flew up from Hua Yue's hand and led the way in the air, "Follow me! The elder knows everything!"

As it flew, it emitted a clear, melodious call.

Soon, more little flower fairies emerged from the surrounding flower bushes and under the leaves. When they saw Hua Yue, they all let out the same joyful exclamation as the first little fairy.

"It's Shuangshuang!"

"Shuangshuang is back to play!"

"Everyone, come out quickly!"

In an instant, hundreds and thousands of flower fairies surged in from all directions, surrounding Hua Yue and forming a dazzling ribbon of colors, enthusiastically guiding her through a magnificent and dreamlike scene.

Surrounded by these enthusiastic little ones, Hua Yue passed through a strange mushroom forest and arrived at the foot of a huge ancient tree.

The roots of this tree are intertwined, and on one of the thickest roots, facial features have actually grown.

He was a short, stout old man with squinted eyes, a nose and mouth squeezed together, and most peculiar of all, his beard, which was made of fine tree roots that hung long down to the ground.

He seemed to have been waiting here for a while, squinting as he looked Hua Yue up and down before slowly saying, "Oh dear, it's been a long time since the little one has come to play with this old man."

The little flower fairies flew to his side and chattered away, explaining their purpose.

"The seeds of the Shaoguang Sacrifice Orchid?" Elder Tree Root stroked his root whiskers. "Want to know? Sure."

He chuckled, revealing a playful, childlike expression.

"Play a game with this old man. If you win, I'll tell you."

Hua Yue thought to herself, "The trials in this secret realm are truly one after another." She readily nodded, "Okay, what game?"

The Tree Root Elder smiled mysteriously and stretched out his withered palm, swiping it across the open ground in front of him.

A flash of light appeared, and a square table woven from leaves and three wooden stools materialized out of thin air on the ground.

Then, he pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket?

The cards were made of a special kind of spirit wood, decorated with various exotic flowers and plants, and emitted a faint spiritual light.

Elder Tree Root skillfully shuffled the cards, then nodded to Hua Yue and Xi Ming, who had been quietly following behind her: "Come, sit down. The rules are simple: three people play, one deck of cards, landlord and peasants..."

Hua Yue's mind went blank for a moment, and she almost thought she was hallucinating because her mind was confused.

Dou Dizhu?!

Playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) in this ancient secret realm of cultivation?!

She stared at Elder Tree Root in shock, a bizarre thought popping into her head: "Elder, who... invented this game?"

Could it be that she has a fellow traveler from the same hometown who is also a time traveler?

"Well..." Elder Tree Root stroked his beard, looking inscrutable. "I don't know either. Many, many years ago, a very interesting little girl taught me. She said it's called a balance between work and rest."

Hua Yue: "..."

She picked up the cards that were dealt to her and her mind started working rapidly.

She didn't recognize most of the flowers and plants on the cards, but the size of each card was marked with special symbols in the corners.

Hua Yue quickly did the conversion.

The smallest "3" is the Spirit Gathering Five-Colored Plum, a common spiritual plant that aids in cultivation.

"4" is Datura stramonium, which is poisonous.

"5" refers to the phantom moon mushroom, which can cause hallucinations.

……

Going upwards, J is the Vermilion Bird Feather Crown Flower, Q is the Rainbow Peony, and K is the Primordial Golden Ingot Tree.

The number "2" on the card depicts the legendary Pure Heart Three-Leaf Lotus, which is recorded in the Wuji Sect's Scripture Pavilion and is said to be able to bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded!

Using this legendary herb as a "2" is a bit too much.

Hua Yue was looking through the cards in her hand when she suddenly stopped.

She drew two special cards.

The card depicts a carefree clown with a heartless grin.

And Your Majesty...

On the King's card is a portrait of a woman. The woman has curved eyebrows and bright eyes, and is dressed in red, her beauty is flamboyant and unrestrained.

This face... it's clearly her mother, Hua Zhishuang!

Hua Yue held the "King" card, her feelings indescribably complex. She raised the card and asked Elder Tree Root, "What... what's going on here?"

Elder Tree Root glanced at it and explained with a chuckle, "Oh, that one. That little girl, Zhi Shuang, is the one in the painting. She insisted on betting with me that if she won, she would have to replace the highest card in the deck with one that looked like her."

Hua Yue's lips twitched.

That's absolutely right, that's exactly the kind of thing her unreliable mother would do.

Another question arose in her mind: "Since this was the reward my mother received when she won against you last time, how did she find the seeds of the Shaoguang Sacrifice Orchid?"

Unexpectedly, Elder Tree Root slowly uttered a sentence.

"She's lucky."

"As soon as I entered the secret realm, I was hit on the head by a seed that fell from the sky. That seed was the Radiant Feast Orchid."

Hua Yue: "..."

She silently put the cards away.

Okay, case solved.

My mother is incredibly lucky, a chosen one.

"Alright, alright, don't waste time," Elder Tree Root urged. "Time to call the landlord!"

In the first round, Elder Tree Root was the landlord, while Hua Yue and Xi Ming were the peasants.

Remembering the names of these flowers and plants was too troublesome, so Hua Yue automatically converted them into playing card codes that she was familiar with from her previous life.

She quickly glanced at her cards and had a good idea of ​​what to expect.

Xi Ming sat to her left, holding a hand of cards, his golden eyes filled with pure curiosity, clearly his first time encountering something like this.

"How do we play?" he asked Hua Yue in a low voice.

"Just follow my lead." Hua Yue lowered her voice and quickly explained the most basic rules, "If he plays a single card, you play a single card that's higher than his to beat it. If he plays a pair, you play a pair to beat it. If you don't have any, you pass."

Xi Ming nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Elder Tree Roots triumphantly threw out a "Bone-Eating Mandala" as a single card.

"Go for a single 4."

Hua Yue glanced at Xi Ming, who held a "Dragon Scale Flower of Earth Veins" in his hand, which was equivalent to an 8, but he didn't move it, seemingly waiting for Hua Yue's instructions.

Hua Yue thought for a moment and realized that she didn't have many single cards in her hand, so she couldn't waste her big cards.

She winked at Xi Ming, then took a card from her hand and gently placed it on the table.

"Pass."

Elder Tree Root was taken aback, and Xi Ming followed up with, "Pass."

"Hey! What's going on with you two?" Elder Tree Roots was displeased. "You're rejecting me in the first round? Are you looking down on this old man?"

Hua Yue smiled without saying a word.

Elder Tree Roots grumbled and produced another pair of "Thunder Pattern Rose".

"6 to go!"

Xi Ming looked at Hua Yue.

Hua Yue shook her head again.

"Pass."

"Pass."

Elder Tree Root played several cards in a row, but Hua Yue and Xi Ming didn't play a single card, just watching him play them.

The old man was so angry his mustache stood on end: "Are you guys going to play or not! If you don't pressure me, I'm leaving!"

He only had five cards left in his hand.

Hua Yue looked at him and finally spoke, her voice clear and crisp.

"Now, it's our turn."

She raised her hand and slapped a 2-yuan "Qingxin Sanye Lian" (a type of lotus) on the table.

"Suppress it."