Chapter 185

Chapter 185: Millennium Ginseng, Two Years of Change

. “My spiritual sensing abilities have greatly increased.”

Within the Jade Cavern, shielded by a magic array, Lu Qing hadn’t noticed much.

Upon emerging, he clearly felt that, under the influence of the Spiritual Talisman, his spiritual sensing abilities had been greatly enhanced.

From its original range of a hundred meters, it had expanded to a full two miles, a tenfold increase. The accuracy of his sensing had also been greatly enhanced.

As long as it was within range, most creatures could not escape his sensing.

“After refining the Spiritual Talisman, my spiritual sensing abilities have begun to resemble Xiao Li’s extraordinary abilities,”

Lu Qing realized.

Xiao Li’s extraordinary sensing abilities were truly miraculous.

So far, he hadn’t discovered anything that could escape his detection.

Even a Xiantian realm expert like his master, who had grasped a glimmer of the realm, could still be detected by Xiao Li if he concealed his aura and got too close to him.

The only time this had occurred was when the commoner from the Tianji Tower visited him.

But that was because the other party possessed a rare treasure, completely concealing his aura and thus concealing it from Xiao Li’s perception.

“The unusual movement of the heaven and earth’s vital energy is growing stronger and stronger.”

With his spiritual power greatly enhanced, Lu Qing’s perception of the heaven and earth’s vital energy became even clearer.

In fact, over the past two years, he had long sensed that the fluctuations of the vital energy between heaven and earth were becoming increasingly active.

It was as if something extremely important was about to emerge from the deeper realms.

Because the time was not right, he had not yet succeeded.

But Lu Qing had a premonition that once that thing truly emerged, the entire world would be transformed.

“Is it spiritual energy?”

Lu Qing pondered, carefully sensing the changes in the surrounding vital energy.

“Hmm, what is this?”

Suddenly, his expression shifted, as if he had discovered something, and the next moment, his figure had disappeared.

With a few leaps, he had reached a small slope above the valley.

As he landed, a plant on the ground seemed to sense something, its branches and leaves retracted, and it attempted to escape underground.

But it was too late. Before it could completely disappear, Lu Qing grabbed the branch and, with a deft, effortless movement, pulled it from the ground.

“It’s ginseng indeed.”

Surprise crossed Lu Qing’s face as he gazed at the object in his hand.

He was now clutching a massive ginseng plant.

Its roots and limbs were intact, and it had fully taken on a humanoid form.

He immediately activated his supernatural powers and gazed upon it.

A rich red light, tinged with a hint of golden light, emanated from the ginseng.

[Ginseng: A precious, non-toxic, edible herb.]

[This ginseng plant is extremely old, over 1,800 years old, and has developed a hint of instinctive intelligence.]

[Rumor has it that ginseng that develops intelligence awakens a trace of its innate magical power, allowing it to swiftly retreat underground to preserve itself when in danger.]

“Thousand-year-old ginseng!”

Lu Qing’s surprise deepened after reading the notes.

This was a ginseng plant over 1,800 years old, already displaying a hint of intelligence.

You know, once ginseng exceeds a thousand years old and develops intelligence, its medicinal properties undergo a qualitative change, truly reaching the level of a spiritual medicine.

It’s truly a rare treasure.

“Sure enough, this forest, nourished for so many years by the earth’s energy gathered from the Jade Cavern, has produced ginseng over a thousand years old.”

However, thousand-year-old ginseng has already developed a hint of intelligence and possesses a hint of magical power, allowing it to escape on its own, which is why it has remained undetected.

“Buzz!”

An invisible wave emanated from the ginseng in his hand, and its roots trembled as if in extreme fear.

Lu Qing remained unmoved.

While this thousand-year-old ginseng had developed a hint of intelligence, it was extremely naive, acting entirely on instinct.

Its true intelligence was probably even inferior to that of an ordinary chicken or duck.

So, he simply ignored the ginseng’s trembling, removed a red rope and other items from his Qiankun Yiqi bag, and wrapped them around the ginseng.

Immediately, the ginseng ceased its struggles.

However, because this ginseng had already developed a hint of intelligence, reaching the level of a living being, Lu Qing couldn’t store it in his Qiankun Yiqi bag. He could only temporarily wrap it in wet moss, place it in a medicine box, and tuck it into his arms.

After storing the medicine box, Lu Qing searched the area again, but found no other thousand-year-old ginseng.

He didn’t know if this was the only one, or if the others, sensing danger, had retreated underground.

His spiritual sense had a range of two miles above ground, but it was much weaker underground.

At best, it could only sense movement twenty or thirty meters below, and that was quite vague. Further down, it was completely hazy.

If the remaining thousand-year-old ginseng were all hiding underground, his discovery would be nearly impossible.

The thick earth, protected by its aura, made it extremely difficult for his spiritual power to penetrate.

However, despite not finding the thousand-year-old ginseng, Lu Qing did find several hundred-year-old ginseng.

He dug up the oldest, a full four hundred years old, and left the others untouched.

At his current strength, the hundred-year-old ginseng was no longer of much use to him.

The reason he dug up a plant was that he wanted to bring it back to his master to replenish his medicine storehouse in case of emergency.

After finishing all this, Lu Qing took Xiao Li and headed out of the mountains.

With Lu Qing’s current strength, entering and exiting the forest was effortless.

It didn’t take long before Jiuli Village was in sight.

Upon entering the village, Lu Qing couldn’t help but smile as he heard the sound of reading nearby.

Jiuli Village had changed dramatically over the past two years.

Not only were the roads smooth, but the villagers’ houses had been renovated, and there was even a new school.

These changes were brought about by the Wei family.

Two years ago, to escape the nagging of his family, Ma Gu left the county seat and returned to Daji to live a leisurely life.

At the time, Lu Qing curiously asked him what would happen to Wei Zi’an. Unexpectedly, the next day, Wei Zi’an arrived in Jiuli Village, accompanied by Chief Steward Wei and many of the family’s servants.

Later, the Wei family purchased a plot of land near Jiuli Village at a high price and built a villa, which became Wei Zi’an’s residence.

Mrs. Wei and Wei Xinghe would occasionally stay for a while.

Even the ancestor of the Wei family occasionally showed up to have tea with the master.

Because the Wei family’s branch housed a large number of people, they needed a lot of vegetables, meat, eggs, and the like on a daily basis.

These items were purchased directly from the villagers of Jiuli Village, providing them with an additional income.

Gradually, the Wei family helped repair the village roads and even built a school, under the pretext that the young master needed to study, inviting two teachers to teach.

They also stated that if villagers had children of school age, they could send them to the school without paying tuition, as long as they provided their own food.

Upon hearing this, the villagers were initially skeptical. However

, after receiving repeated assurances from the Wei family and consulting Lu Qing, they were pleasantly surprised.

They all sent their children to the school.

Even those from less fortunate families gritted their teeth and did so.

They would rather work harder than let their children fall behind.

Neither Lu Qing nor the old doctor objected to the Wei family’s actions, but rather acquiesced.

After all, what the Wei family did was beneficial to Jiuli Village.

They naturally hoped that the village would get better and better.

Lu Qing even secretly subsidized some of the more needy families in the village.

Thus, two years later, Jiuli Village had undergone the transformation it has today.

Lu Qing took Xiao Li with him to the small courtyard halfway up the mountain.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw the ancestor of the Wei family sitting under a plum tree with his master, leisurely drinking tea.

Xiao Yan was quietly writing beside them.

“Brother, Xiao Li, you’re back!”

Facing the courtyard gate, Xiao Yan was the first to notice Lu Qing’s return. She put down her pen in surprise and went to greet him.

The old doctor and Wei Shanhai, on the other hand, turned their heads in surprise.

They hadn’t noticed Lu Qing’s return until just now.

“Yeah, just got back.”

Lu Qing rubbed his sister’s head. The little one had grown a bit in the past two years, but she was still a little brat.

Xiao Li jumped onto Xiao Yan’s shoulder, stretched out his claws to tug at her hair, and then pointed towards the house.

“Okay, I’ll go get the chess pieces now!”

Xiao Yan, who had been with them day and night, immediately understood what he meant and ran excitedly inside.

Lu Qing shook his head, letting the two little ones play.

Then he came to the plum tree and bowed, “Greetings, Senior Wei.”

Then he said to the old doctor, “Master, I’m back.”

The old doctor’s expression had regained its composure. “Is your retreat over?”

“Just ended this morning. Xiao Li missed Xiao Yan, so he rushed back.”

“I think he’s addicted to chess and wants to come back to play with Xiao Yan,” the old doctor said with a smile.

He also knew that Lu Qing had recently developed a new type of animal chess that had the two little ones quite obsessed.

“It seems that Young Master Lu has gained a lot from this retreat!”

Wei Shanhai sighed beside him.

He was still deeply shocked.

Just now, when Lu Qing returned, he, at the Xiantian realm, hadn’t noticed anything.

Even now, with Lu Qing standing before him, he couldn’t tell if

he was real or not. If he closed his eyes, his mind sensed nothing but emptiness, no one at all.

Such a bizarre sight, how could Wei Shanhai not be astonished?

Could it be that Lu Qing had broken through to the Xiantian realm?

But upon closer inspection, he couldn’t detect any of

Lu Qing’s distinctive aura. “It’s just a small breakthrough. Senior

Wei, I don’t deserve your praise,” Lu Qing said modestly, without complacency.

Wei Shanhai, realizing Lu Qing didn’t want to reveal his breakthrough, awkwardly took a sip from his teacup.

“Xiao Li, hurry up!”

Fortunately, Xiao Yan rushed out of the room, clutching a chessboard, defusing the awkwardness.

“Ah!”

Xiao Li whizzed over to the stone table and waited.

Xiao Yan gathered her calligraphy supplies and began setting up the chessboard.

Soon, the two little guys started playing chess.

This scene made Wei Shanhai stunned.

He knew that Xiaoli was very spiritual, comparable to a child.

But seeing it playing chess there in a serious manner, he still felt a little incredible.

Out of curiosity, he couldn’t help but step forward and want to see how the two little guys played chess.

As a result, after taking a few glances, he was surprised again.

“What kind of chess is this? I don’t think I have ever seen it before.”

“Grandpa Wei, my brother said that this is called beast fighting chess, which is very fun.” Xiaoyan answered obediently.

“Beast fighting chess?” Wei Shanhai looked at Lu Qing.

Lu Qing smiled and said, “I’m sorry to make you laugh, old senior. This chess was just something I figured out when I was bored.

It is not worthy of being played in a formal setting.” “Oh, it was actually figured out by the young man himself. I wonder how to play it?”

Unexpectedly, Wei Shanhai became more interested after hearing it.

“Grandpa Wei, let me teach you. Beast Fighting Chess is very simple. First, these beasts are divided into levels. The ancient elephant is the largest and most powerful, while the mouse is the smallest. But the mouse can sneak into the elephant’s trunk and defeat it…”

Xiaoyan immediately began explaining the rules of Beast Fighting Chess to Wei Shanhai.

Lu Qing’s Beast Fighting Chess set differed slightly from his previous life’s. Some of the beasts had been removed and replaced with more familiar beasts from this world.

However, the core rules remained the same: the big preyed on the small, and the smallest could restrain the largest.

Wei Shanhai was even more astonished after hearing this.

While the rules of Beast Fighting Chess were simple, they were logical and flawless, making them quite playable and perfect for children’s introduction to the game.

Furthermore, they subtly revealed the principles of mutual generation and mutual restraint.

Lu Qing’s ability to devise such a game demonstrated his profound wisdom. He

was truly a peerless genius with great fortune.

If Lu Qing knew what Wei Shanhai was thinking, he would be speechless.

It’s just a simple game of chess, but it can be associated with so many things.

Seeing Wei Shanhai watching Xiaoyan and the others play chess with rapt interest, Lu Qing suddenly remembered the medicine box in his arms.

He pulled it out and said, “Master, this time in the mountains, I discovered a thousand-year-old ginseng. It seems to have developed a spirituality. I’m unsure what to do with it. Please, Master, decide.”

“A thousand-year-old ginseng that has developed a spirituality?!”

This surprised not only the old doctor, but even Wei Shanhai turned around in shock.

“Indeed, this ginseng can escape on its own. If it weren’t for my quick reaction, it would have nearly gotten away.”

Lu Qing opened the medicine box, peeling away the damp moss, revealing the ginseng bound in red string.

“The ginseng has clear eyes and healthy limbs. It’s truly over a thousand years old!”

The old doctor was well-versed in medical classics. Even though he had never seen it in person, he could tell at a glance that the ginseng in the medicine box was at least a thousand years old.

“Master, look, this ginseng has spirituality and possesses some of the characteristics of a living being.”

Lu Qing untied the red string and gently grasped the ginseng’s stem.

Once the restraints were removed, the ginseng roots began to move again, trembling.

“It truly has awakened its spiritual intelligence,” the old doctor rejoiced. “Ah Qing, this ginseng needs to be taken good care of; it will be of great use in the future!”

(End of this chapter)