26: Luo Ling'er

The old man merely gave a faint grunt of acknowledgment upon hearing this and waved his hand. "I am aware of this matter. You have done acceptably well. You may leave."

Lin Feng felt a sense of awe in his heart and bowed. "This Disciple takes his leave."

Exiting the Elder Hall, the light outside felt somewhat blinding.

'A Foundation Establishment Cultivator... in his eyes, is nothing more than grass and mustard.' He looked back at the imposing gate of the hall.

The procedure for submitting the yin ning grass task was different from what he had expected.

After the deacon of the Shang Gong Hall inspected it, he did not directly record the contribution points, but instead handed back a wooden tablet engraved with a grass leaf pattern. "Hundred Flowers Peak. Senior Sister Luo specifically requested to see the person who submitted this task. You should deliver it yourself."

'Senior Sister Luo?' Lin Feng's heart stirred slightly as he took the wooden tablet.

Hundred Flowers Peak had an atmosphere vastly different from the other peaks; it possessed the sweetness of flowers and fruits, the bitterness of Spiritual Plants, and even many indescribable, strange scents.

Following the guidance of the wooden tablet, he arrived in front of an Immortal Cave.

He knocked twice, and the Restriction of the Immortal Cave opened on its own, a wave of fragrance rushing towards his face.

The scene inside the Immortal Cave made Lin Feng's eyes light up.

This place did not look at all like a place for a Cultivator to practice in seclusion, but rather like a bizarre botanical garden that had been expanded wildly.

The ceiling of the cave was inlaid with strange stones that emitted light simulating the sun and moon. There was almost no place to step on the ground, which was densely planted with spirit plants of various shapes.

Some shone with golden light like ears of wheat, some had leaves twisted like ghost claws, some vines wound around stalagmites, and there was even a small swamp bubbling away, with brightly colored, bewitching lotuses growing inside.

Beside many flower pots and vessels lay scattered notes and charcoal pencils, and the stone walls were carved with many scribbled observation records and plant diagrams.

A woman wearing a light green robe covered in mud spots and water stains was standing with her back to the door, watering a plant covered in thorns while muttering to herself: "...If I add three more drops of rootless water... will it bloom better..."

"Ahem." Lin Feng gave a light cough.

The woman, who was Luo Linger, turned her head in response, a smudge of mud still on her face.

She did not look very old, and her eyes were extremely large and startlingly bright. Seeing the wooden tablet and jade box in Lin Feng's hands, she immediately put down the watering can and walked over quickly, her gaze completely drawn to the jade box.

"yin ning grass. Great. The quality is not bad." She snatched the jade box, opened it to inspect it carefully, then looked up at Lin Feng. "Oh, you were the one who gathered it? You have good luck. That ghost place, Ghost Soul Valley, is somewhere not many people are willing to go."

Lin Feng smiled. "Just luck. Does Senior Sister need this grass for Alchemy?"

"Alchemy? No, no, no." Luo Linger shook her head repeatedly, her eyes shining. "It is to be used as a host for grafting. I discovered that the root system of the yin ning grass has a strong neutralizing effect on the venom of the bone-eroding flower. If the grafting is successful, I might be able to cultivate a variant of the bone-eroding flower that can grow in ordinary spirit fields. This is an experiment not even recorded in ancient books."

'She really is a spirit plant fanatic... and her knowledge far exceeds that of an ordinary Disciple...' Lin Feng thought to himself.

His mind raced. "Senior Sister Luo is so proficient in spirit plants; it is truly admirable. As it happens, I accidentally obtained some strange and peculiar plants a few days ago and have not known their names or uses. I wonder if Senior Sister could help me identify them?"

Luo Linger was indeed very interested and immediately urged him. "Oh? Take them out and let me see. I dare not say I know all the spirit plants in this vicinity, but I know eight or nine out of ten."

Lin Feng first took out the pale blue flower obtained from the Black Abyss Forest from his Storage Pouch.

Luo Linger only took one look before blurting out: "It's a tongmai flower. It's not too rare, and the age is a bit low. If this flower is ground into powder and supplemented with three-leaf green ganoderma and century-old stone milk, it can be used to refine 'tongmai powder'. It has a miraculous effect on Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators opening their Meridians, and it can greatly reduce the pain when spiritual power impacts the Meridians, lowering the risk of Qi Deviation. It is considered one of the main ingredients for basic Medicinal Pill that consolidate the foundation and strengthen the Meridians."

After she finished speaking, she added, "Your technique when picking this was a bit rough; the roots were damaged, so the medicinal efficacy is slightly discounted."

Lin Feng was secretly shocked, but on the surface, he praised her. "Senior Sister is indeed learned."

Immediately after, he took out the piece of purple wood he had obtained from Chen Qing and a few unknown Spiritual Plants. "These... this Junior Brother does not recognize at all."

Luo Linger's gaze was instantly drawn, especially to that piece of purple wood.

She took it carefully, felt it thoroughly, and even leaned in to sniff it, her eyes glowing with great intensity: "This is... Thunder-Struck Wood. And it is a treasure that has been struck by heavenly lightning, containing a trace of pure Yang lightning evil energy. This thing is rare. It is a top-tier Materials for refining thunder-attribute Magical Artifacts and drawing high-level lightning talismans."

She then picked up the few Spiritual Plants and quickly identified them one by one: "This is 'jade marrow ganoderma'; looking at these patterns, it is at least fifty years old. It is one of the auxiliary medicines for refining the 'foundation establishment pill', which can balance the medicinal properties and increase the success rate of pill formation."

"This is 'purple monkey flower'; the age is worse, but it is also a main ingredient for refining various detoxification pills."

"This plant... a seedling of 'heavenly spirit fruit'? Why did you even pick the seedling? What a pity. When it bears fruit, a single one can be worth several years of bitter cultivation."

Lin Feng looked at her focused and excited profile, feeling both surprised and happy. 'This woman's knowledge in the Dao of spirit plants is simply a moving treasure vault.'

Lin Feng watched Luo Linger, who had once again immersed herself in the world of spirit plants. He pondered for a moment and then spoke: "Senior Sister has a wide variety of spirit plants here, which can be called a treasure vault, making one reluctant to leave. If I have leisure time in the future, I wonder if I could come often to seek your guidance?"

Luo Linger was holding a small pair of tweezers, carefully scraping a bit of powder sample from the Thunder-Struck Wood. Hearing this, she shook her head like a rattle: "Come often? You'd better not."

She raised her head, a lingering fear on her face, as if she had recalled some terrible experience: "Last time, Senior Brother Wu from Yunxia Peak also said he wanted to come often to seek guidance, but after coming a few times, he stepped on my pot of phantom heart orchids, which had finally sprouted with such difficulty, thinking they were weeds. And Junior Brother Sun from Piaomiao Peak insisted on helping me fertilize the red flame peppers, but he used fire-attribute intense sun fertilizer, which almost set my entire Immortal Cave on fire."

She counted on her fingers, looking puffed up with anger: "They said they came to seek guidance, but they only helped in the wrong way. Being clumsy and awkward, it's better for me to be quiet by myself."

Lin Feng immediately understood. Those Senior Brothers were probably not interested in the wine, but unfortunately, this Senior Sister Luo only had wine—oh no, only spirit plants—in her eyes, and she couldn't taste anything else at all.

He followed the flow: "So that's how it is. That is truly a pity. It seems that if there is no necessity, it is indeed inconvenient to disturb Senior Sister's peace."

Luo Linger nodded vigorously, agreeing deeply. But then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, her eyes lit up again, and she looked at Lin Feng: "However... if you come next time and can bring me some strange and peculiar spirit plants or seeds that I don't have here... hmm... like this Thunder-Struck Wood... then you may come."

'This works too?'