Volume 1, Chapter 51: The Purple Cloud Secret Realm (Part 3)

After bringing Little White out of the spatial dimension, Gu Mingxi had no intention of putting it back in, choosing instead to hold it in her arms the entire time.

Once outside, Gu Mingxi consulted her map and randomly selected the nearest location of fortune.

To her surprise, however, after taking just a few steps forward, she felt as though she had stepped into some unknown region, and the world began to spin uncontrollably.

Had she fallen into another teleporation array?!

Gu Mingxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and could only silently pray that this teleportation array would send her to a somewhat decent place.

The moment she was teleported out, Gu Mingxi surveyed her surroundings and found that the spiritual energy concentration here was exceptionally high. Although it didn't quite match the place where the Millennium Stalactite Milk was located, it was nonetheless remarkably potent.

Both Gu Mingxi and Little White's eyes lit up simultaneously. They had stumbled upon good treasures once again.

Gu Mingxi was completely unaware of how perfectly synchronized her expression was with Little White's. Truly, it was a case of like master, like spirit pet.

Clutching Little White, Gu Mingxi walked forward for a short distance before encountering a stone tablet.

Inscribed upon the tablet were three prominent characters: Herb Garden.

As far as the human and the tiger could see, there were nothing but high-grade spiritual herbs.

"Wow, Sister, there are so many treasures here!" Little White tugged excitedly at Gu Mingxi's sleeve.

"Mm-hmm, start digging, quickly dig!" Gazing at the spiritual herbs before her, Gu Mingxi crouched down, pulled out her herbal hoe, and began to dig.

To her astonishment, her hoe struck empty air.

"Huh? Nothing? It's empty. This is actually an illusion? Could I have entered an illusion array?"

Gu Mingxi stood up, glanced around, and could not help feeling surprised.

"This turns out to be a naturally formed illusion array. No wonder I fell into it completely unprepared. Wonderful, truly wonderful, I've gained a new insight today."

"Since I've encountered this naturally formed illusion array, let's break it!"

Gu Mingxi walked around, observing the illusion array closely. She realized that this illusion array was remarkably ingenious, perfectly utilizing the natural terrain to make everything fall into place just right.

Moreover, the core of this illusion array was located right here. If she were to break the array entirely, everything in this place would be destroyed. Therefore, she could not destroy the array outright; she could only unravel a tiny gap to slip through.

"Nature is truly wondrous!" Gu Mingxi could not help exclaiming in admiration.

Since the illusion array could not be forcefully broken, Gu Mingxi stopped dwelling on it and began calculating the position of the Gate of Life. Once she had figured it out, she applied her movement technique and dashed swiftly toward the Gate of Life.

Emerging from the array, Gu Mingxi looked ahead. Wherever her gaze fell, there were stalks upon stalks of millennium-old and ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.

Gu Mingxi reached out and touched one, confirming that they were indeed physical objects. She caught her breath involuntarily, then beamed with joy as she retrieved her herbal hoe to begin harvesting.

Ten-thousand-year-old Soul-Returning Grass, Vitality Flowers, Longevity Flowers, Spirit-Washing Grass, Vein-Purifying Grass, Perennial Root Flowers, Jade Lingzhi, Nine-Jade Spirit Ginseng... and so on.

All the spiritual herbs Gu Mingxi dug up were placed into her spatial dimension, where Little Flower helped her plant them in the dimensional herb garden.

Not only was Gu Mingxi working hard to harvest the herbs, but Little White was also using its paws to enthusiastically dig them up.

As a divine beast white tiger, its growth relied not only on absorbing spiritual energy but also on consuming heavenly treasures. These spiritual herbs were all heavenly treasures that could aid its development.

And so, the human and the tiger, moving at lightning speed, quickly harvested well over half of the spiritual herbs in the Herb Garden.

As she dug, Gu Mingxi noticed a small tree appearing further ahead.

Any small tree appearing in such a place was bound to be extraordinary.

Gu Mingxi carefully examined the tree before her and suddenly cried out in astonishment: "It's actually an Enlightenment Tree! Wow, I never expected to encounter an Enlightenment Tree here. Rumor has it that the Enlightenment Tree has long been extinct in the Azure Cloud Continent. To think there is still one surviving in this Purple Cloud Secret Realm—what an unexpected pleasant surprise!"

The Enlightenment Tree possessed the ability to aid individuals in achieving enlightenment and purifying their minds.

Gu Mingxi carefully dug out the Enlightenment Tree and, with a wave of her hand, placed it directly before Little Flower.

Upon seeing the Enlightenment Tree, Little Flower was equally astonished. Without waiting for Gu Mingxi to speak, it consciously found the spot with the densest spiritual energy in the space and planted the tree there.

After storing the Enlightenment Tree away, Gu Mingxi resumed gathering the spiritual herbs that were over a thousand years old. Before long, she and the white tiger had finished collecting all the herbs older than a millennium.

One should not be excessively selfish; she had to leave behind the younger seedlings, or else any later visitors coming here would harvest nothing at all.

This was a universally understood principle in the cultivation world: leave a glimmer of hope for others today, and they might leave a glimmer of hope for you tomorrow. This was how heritage was passed down.

After scanning the surroundings to confirm that no spiritual herbs over a thousand years old remained, Gu Mingxi had Little Flower clip a branch from the Enlightenment Tree and plant it in an inconspicuous spot.

Since the Enlightenment Tree was rumored to be extinct in the Azure Cloud Continent, and since the Purple Cloud Secret Realm managed to preserve one to continue its lineage, she could not let that heritage be cut off.

After planting the Enlightenment Tree properly, Gu Mingxi set up layers of protective arrays around it to ensure no one would discover it before it matured.

"I hope you grow up well!"

Gu Mingxi even poured some Millennium Stalactite Milk onto the roots of the Enlightenment Tree to help it grow rapidly.

"Since I've taken your main trunk away, I have an obligation to help your seedling thrive. I hope you won't be discovered until you have fully matured!"

Patting the young Enlightenment Tree sapling, Gu Mingxi scooped up Little White and left the Herb Garden.

Upon exiting the Herb Garden, Gu Mingxi reinforced the exterior natural illusion array by adding a confinement array on top of it, serving as a form of protection for the young seedlings inside.

Having reinforced the array, Gu Mingxi took Little White, stepped into a teleportation array, and departed from the place.