190: Million evacuations

Mu Wanqing led Spring Breeze and Senior Sister Hua Yu through the southern part of the valley. Her Wood-Yang Spirit Body was operating at full capacity, her perception like invisible tentacles reaching deep into the layer of decaying leaves beneath her feet. Suddenly, a cold, stinging sensation pricked her fingertips, and she jerked her hand back. "Wait! Something's wrong underground. Yin-corrupting Qi is entwining with pure wood spirit like vines... two forces are clashing!" As she spoke, she carefully brushed aside a pile of rotting leaves the size of a washbasin, revealing several grayish-black mushrooms with caps like decaying wood, their edges faintly shimmering with eerie green spots.

"It's Yin Wood Ganoderma!" Mu Wanqing whispered, while reaching out to gently stop Senior Sister Hua Yu from stepping forward. "Be careful, Senior Sister. This thing grows in the cracks between Yin and Yang; it's a 'magnet' for attracting Yin-filth Qi. If it touches human Qi or an ordinary container, it will be ruined. Only a Yin-attribute jade box can be used." She looked at Spring Breeze. "Senior Sister Spring Breeze, please use your earth-system spiritual power to isolate its aura." Spring Breeze nodded slightly, and a thick, earthy-yellow light shield rose from her palm, steadily covering the strange mushrooms, lifting them up, and quickly sealing them into a jade box as black as ink.

Mu Wanqing continued to sense her surroundings. As they reached the stream, the refreshing blend of water and wood Qi invigorated her. "There are good things in the rock crevices here," she said, pointing to several pebbles rounded by the stream's current. "The water vapor carries pure vitality; it should be Azure Wave Grass." Hearing this, Senior Sister Hua Yu immediately stepped forward and flipped over the stones as instructed, revealing several clusters of delicate water grass that were azure-blue and had nearly transparent leaves.

"That's right, that's it," Mu Wanqing said, her fingertips lightly touching the cool leaves of the water grass. She explained, "This grass is an excellent medicinal 'neutralizer'; it can calm medicinal property conflicts when refining high-grade Medicinal Pills. But it's very delicate. Once its roots leave living water, its Spiritual Qi dissipates rapidly." She looked at the special water-jade box Senior Sister Hua Yu had brought. "Senior Sister Hua Yu, please dig it out by the roots along with some silt and water from the stream bed, and put it in this water-jade box to simulate its growth environment as much as possible." Senior Sister Hua Yu did as instructed with nimble movements.

Suddenly, a faint, heart-refreshing fragrance wafted in with the wind. Mu Wanqing stopped under a vigorous ancient tree, took a deep breath, and a look of joy flashed in her eyes. "This scent... it can soothe mental agitation!"

She looked up, her sharp gaze searching through the dense foliage, and quickly locked onto her target—several emerald-green fruits resembling dates hanging from the branches.

"It's Heart-Calming Fruit! The fragrance is at its peak; it's the perfect time to harvest!" Her speech quickened with a hint of urgency. "They must be cut off along with the stem using jade shears. Once separated or if the fragrance dissipates, the efficacy will be greatly reduced!"

Before her voice had even faded, Mu Wanqing tapped her toes on the ground and leaped up. With a flick of her wrist, the jade shears flashed with a cold light. After a few soft "snips," several Heart-Calming Fruits with inch-long stems fell precisely into the jade box she had already prepared.

The two teams were searching with extreme efficiency.

Dew-Condensing Grass, Earth-Yang Polygonatum, aged Purple-Veined Fleeceflower Root, pure Spiritual Qi Azure Jade Vine Flowers... the valuable spirit plants in the valley had already been mostly collected by them.

The instructions issued by Lu Yang and Mu Wanqing clearly became more sparse:

"Purple Cloud Grass! The ones with purple-edged leaves. Pick the leaves, don't touch the main stem!"

"Earth-Surging Green Lotus! Pick the unopened buds! Take the soil clod underneath with them!"

"Fire-Scale Fruit! Use the ice-jade pincers! They'll melt if they touch iron!"

As the continuous search yielded fewer rewards, the team members cooperated tacitly, skillfully completing the process. Not many new spirit plants were added to their Storage Pouches; the "comb" of Youhuang Valley was almost at its end.

Just then!

From deep within the distant dense forest, the extremely faint sound of breaking dry branches drifted over, followed by several hushed, indistinct voices. Lu Yang's brow furrowed slightly as he looked toward the valley entrance where the sound originated. His Divine Sense quietly spread out; although he didn't directly capture any figures, the air was already permeated with a faint, chaotic fluctuation of spiritual power.

The atmosphere instantly became somber. Xia Yuxuan and Ning Hong also noticed Lu Yang's abnormality; they immediately stopped their movements, held their breath, and looked toward the valley entrance with vigilance.

"It's nothing, continue." Lu Yang's voice was kept extremely low, carrying an unquestionable steadiness as he signaled Ning Hong to handle the Thorn-Pepper Fruits they had just collected. He himself quickly and carefully closed the warm-jade box to seal off the Yin Qi.

Ning Hong did not hesitate for a moment, deftly picking up the pepper fruits with jade tweezers and stuffing them into a thick-walled small Jade Bottle, her movements fast as lightning.

The three continued moving deeper into the northern part of the valley, but their speed and movements were now marked by a heightened state of alert. As they proceeded, a part of Lu Yang's Divine Sense remained highly vigilant, focused on the direction of the valley entrance.

Before long, Xia Yuxuan made a discovery under a large patch of hanging vines. "Senior Brother Lu, look at this!" She lowered her voice, her tone carrying a hint of suppressed excitement as she pointed to a cluster of purplish-black fruits deep within the vines that looked like grapes but were as hard as stone. "Does it look like Black Jade Bodhi Seeds?"

Lu Yang approached and quickly confirmed, "That's right! It's good stuff, containing the calming power of the Buddhist sect; it's of great use for soothing the mind and settling the heart." His speaking rate was a bit faster than usual. "Taking it requires a clever touch; you can't use brute force." He signaled Xia Yuxuan to step aside and flicked his finger toward the cluster of fruit from a distance. A gentle and precise force brushed past, and the purplish-black Bodhi seeds fell naturally like ripe fruit, landing silently into the soft jade tray prepared below.

The moment the slight clatter of the Bodhi seeds hitting the jade tray subsided—

Lu Yang, Xia Yuxuan, and Ning Hong all felt their scalps tingle!

Several spiritual power fluctuations of varying strengths, completely unhidden, rippled out like boulders thrown into a calm lake, clearly and arrogantly spreading from the direction of the valley entrance! At least four or five of them carried a blatant intent of investigation, like invisible cold tentacles, unscrupulously sweeping across the area where they were located! The distance was already very close!

"We're exposed! Move!" Lu Yang's voice was like cracking ice—concise, chilling, and allowing for not a moment's hesitation! He snatched up the jade tray holding the Bodhi seeds in a flash and swept it into his storage ring in one smooth motion.

At the same time, an extremely subtle yet urgent light from a sound transmission talisman flickered briefly at Lu Yang's waist—clearly, he had also immediately sent a warning and evacuation order to Mu Wanqing's side.

No extra words were needed!

Xia Yuxuan instantly stowed away the collection tools she had just picked up.

Ning Hong had already hidden the Jade Bottle and crouched slightly like a cheetah ready to strike, prepared for a sprint.

Lu Yang's sharp gaze swept over the ground. With a wave of his hand, he brought forth a gentle breeze that instantly smoothed over the obvious footprints. Meanwhile, his other hand quickly brushed over the slope where they had just collected Gold-Thread Grass; the overturned soil surface was instantly leveled, making it difficult to detect anything unusual, at least at first glance.

"Toward Emerald-Drip Pond! Full speed! Stealth!" Lu Yang barked in a low voice. His figure shot out like an arrow from a bow, leading the way toward the predetermined rendezvous point—the hidden Emerald-Drip Pond exit on the eastern side of the valley. The route he chose was extremely tricky, making full use of the shadows of the tall ancient trees and the cover of hanging vines.

Xia Yuxuan and Ning Hong followed closely behind, their movement techniques pushed to the limit. Like two streaks of light smoke merging into the shadows, they tightly followed Lu Yang's back, darting through the forest without making a single extra sound. The three vanished from the spot instantly, leaving behind spiritual power ripples in the air that had not yet fully settled and those few approaching unfamiliar Divine Senses, filled with greed and searching intent, which swept fruitlessly over the woodland that had just returned to silence.