Hermit in the Mountains

After Gu Changsheng discovered that the "Power of Withering" could purify the impurities in the spiritual liquid, he tried many times to integrate the "Power of Withering" into the "Taiyin Gathering Spirit Seal," but all his attempts ended in failure. He could only complete the "gathering of spirit" and "purification" in two separate steps.

He spends a little time each day condensing spiritual liquid to feed a dog, a cow, and a chicken, observing the changes in their bodies, and compiling these into cultivation experiences for his reference.

There are likely other cultivators in the world besides him.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the world is thin, yet it is sufficient for cultivation, providing a foundation for practice.

Based on the information he currently has, initial signs of change are appearing in the animals.

With his help, three different species of animals, namely, Big Yellow, Green Ox, and Big Red, are evolving into mythical beasts.

No plants around the cabin have been found that can absorb spiritual energy, so he plans to go into the mountains to take a look and find some precious herbs to transplant and sell.

He still has 13 yuan in online loans on him, which he needs to pay off as soon as possible and save up some money. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if he couldn't afford the treasures that would be beneficial to his cultivation in the future.

If something can be solved with money, don't resort to physical force, to avoid escalating the situation and causing unnecessary trouble.

He preferred to cultivate quietly in the mountains, meditating, raising spirit beasts, planting spiritual herbs, deducing magic, comprehending the changes of life and death, and experiencing the beauty of cultivation every day.

They sit and watch the clouds drift by, the sun rise and set, living a carefree and leisurely life.

The morning after the 'withering and flourishing seedling' in his sea of ​​consciousness grew into a mature tree, Gu Changsheng got up early and ate breakfast.

One drop of spiritual liquid was given to each of the rhubarb and the red ox, while the large green ox was given three drops of earth spiritual liquid.

After instructing his three pets to guard the house, Gu Changsheng carried a bamboo basket and tools and headed into the mountains.

Big Yellow trotted along, escorting Gu Changsheng a hundred meters away before stopping, whimpering softly as it watched its master depart.

"Woof woof woof..."

"Dahuang, go back now and guard the house until I return." Gu Changsheng gestured for Dahuang to go back, then turned and stepped into the deep mountains.

After returning to the cabin, Dahuang went to talk to its second brother, Qingniu, and its third brother, Dahong, for a while, and they quickly divided up the tasks.

Big Red led three old hens to patrol around the wooden house and eat insects;

The blue ox lay at the door of the wooden house, guarding it and basking in the sun.

Sometimes Dahuang would stand on the back of the green ox and gaze in the direction where Gu Changsheng had left, and sometimes it would run around to patrol its territory.

On the other side, Gu Changsheng walked barefoot through the damp, vine-covered, densely wooded, and pathless mountains.

He held a gleaming woodcutter's knife in his right hand and carved a path through the vine-covered mountains.

This time, unlike his previous breakthrough in the mountains, where he only operated on the outer cross-section of the Qinling Mountains, this time he ventured vertically into the depths of the Qinling Mountains.

He kept his rooting technique active, sensing the roots and stems of the surrounding underground plants, searching for root and stem shapes that matched those of traditional Chinese medicine.

Gu Changsheng walked for several hours without finding any precious medicinal herbs. He did collect a lot of common Chinese herbs such as astragalus, asarum, schisandra, scutellaria, and bupleurum.

However, these common Chinese herbs were not very useful to him, and the selling price was not high. Since he was already there, he figured he might as well pick them and take them back to plant.

These Chinese herbal medicines can be used for experiments to see if they can be cultivated into miraculous medicines.

Gu Changsheng sat by the stream in the valley for a few minutes before heading towards the mountain peak covered with deciduous broad-leaved forests.

His goal was clear: to find wild ginseng in the environment where it prefers to grow.

Gu Changsheng stood at the foot of a mountain peak, looking at the more than 300-meter-high peak in front of him. The mountain was covered with deciduous broad-leaved forests. He was located on the north side of the peak, where the temperature was below 30°C all year round.

As he stepped onto the mountain peak, he activated his Rooting Technique to the fullest extent, sensing the shapes of plant roots within a forty-meter radius and matching them with the description of 'wild ginseng' roots recorded in his mind. He searched precisely without having to look through the grass with his naked eye.

The root of the wild ginseng is so unique that it can quickly eliminate the roots of other plants, only requiring a rough match to their outline.

When Gu Changsheng reached the mountainside, he paused for a moment. There was a shape that resembled a human, with roots that were naturally divided like legs, and some bumps on the roots that looked like a string of pearls.

He quickly walked to the right front, where a plant with a kidney-shaped cluster of red sap-like fruit on top came into view.

Upon closer inspection, he found that the leaves were palmate compound leaves with five leaflets, matching the description of ginseng's appearance.

Without saying a word, Gu Changsheng placed the basket at his feet and prepared to dig. He watched a lot of ginseng harvesting videos, cut two tree branches and a stick, and placed them next to the ginseng tree.

With practiced ease, they took out a red thread from the basket, tied the ginseng to a wooden stick with the red thread, and hung it up. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, it was for good luck, and the main point was to show respect even if they didn't understand it.

He squatted down next to the ginseng to once again sense the entire distribution area of ​​the ginseng roots, no longer needing to be careful for fear of breaking the roots and damaging the ginseng.

He took out a small hoe and drew a circle around the ginseng, marking the furthest point of the rootstock. He then quickly dug a trench along the circle.

His idea was crude; he knew the roots and their depth, so he simply cut the entire ginseng root into a clod of earth.

Then slowly break it up and clean off the dirt, and you can take out the whole ginseng.

Before long, Gu Changsheng dug out a cylindrical block of earth. It was time to show his strength. He grabbed the bottom of the block with both hands and carried it out of the pit.

He whittled a sharp wooden stick and began to pry the soil along the main root. A dozen minutes later, the complete ginseng plant was hanging on the wooden root.

The ginseng root head is twisted, resembling a "goose neck," with clear bowl marks on the upper part and a smooth, round root on the lower part.

He counted 60 bowl marks, 60 iron wire patterns on the shoulder of the main root, and dense pearl-like dots on the roots.

He determined, using the method for identifying the age of ginseng, that this was a 60-year-old "wild ginseng".

He scanned the red fruit pulp with his divine sense and found that each of the 42 fruits contained two seeds, totaling 84 seeds.

With these seeds, he could plant them himself, cultivate them into spiritual ginseng, and reuse them after they flowered and bore fruit, without having to go into the mountains to find them.

Having completed his mission in the mountains, Gu Changsheng shoveled the loose soil back into the pit, broke up the clods with a small hoe, and dug a small hole.

He picked a red fruit, placed it in a small pit, covered it with soft soil, and then covered it with withered leaves.

He took another red fruit, walked ten meters away, dug a small hole, planted another seed, covered it with soft soil, and laid down withered leaves.

He did not guide the wood spirit energy to nourish it, nor did he use the "power of glory" to nourish it. Whether he can grow a new ginseng plant depends on his fate.

Returning the ginseng to its original state is the consequence of his actions in returning this mountain and digging up the mother ginseng plant; it is also a legacy for future generations, and he will not interfere in any way.

After replanting, Gu Changsheng wrapped the ginseng plants with soft soil and large tree leaves, and secured them with red thread. The wooden sticks that were originally used to tie the ginseng plants were then fixed to both sides of the basket with red thread to prevent the ginseng plants from bumping into each other.

He glanced back at the two places where he had returned to his home, then turned and headed down the mountain towards the wooden house to go home.