What kinds of books do you usually read?

"What?! All of my old savings are gone?!"

Upon hearing this extremely tragic news, the Formation Spirit was instantly overcome with grief, nearly fainting away.

"You brat, so young and yet so poorly behaved." The Formation Spirit's eyes were bloodshot as it gritted its teeth and said, "I'm telling you, spit out everything you ate of mine right now, or don't blame me for being ruthless!"

The Little Grass Spirit lowered its head timidly and muttered, "It's all in my stomach now; I can't spit it out. Do you want me to poop it out for you?"

"Playing rogue, are we?"

Hearing this, the Formation Spirit completely lost it and said fiercely, "Do you believe I'll set up a pot right now to stew you, you Little Thief grass, and then poop you out..."

As it spoke, the veins on its forehead throbbed violently, and it rolled up its sleeves to step forward.

"Senior, please calm down first!"

Seeing the situation about to spiral out of control, Qi Yuan quickly stepped in to stop it, then said with a heartfelt expression:

"You are a Formation Spirit, and this child is a grass spirit. Technically, you both belong to the Spirit Race. For members of the same race to talk about eating and pooping each other is a bit too cruel. In my opinion, we should discuss this calmly and not ruin the harmony."

"What on earth is a 'Spirit Race'?" The Formation Spirit was clearly taken aback for a moment, then glared at Qi Yuan. "Stinky brat, whose side are you on anyway? Why are you always speaking up for this Little Thief?"

"I'm warning you, this Little Thief grass has ransacked my Immortal Cave multiple times. I must have an explanation today, or else this absolutely won't end!"

"Ahem..."

Qi Yuan gave a couple of forced laughs. "Senior, you've misunderstood. Of course, I'm on your side."

"Since things have come to this, blaming it further won't help. It's better to think of a way to recover your losses."

Hearing him say this, the Formation Spirit finally regained some rationality. It took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Then tell me, how can I recover my old losses?"

Qi Yuan turned his gaze to the Little Grass Spirit, who didn't seem to feel much guilt. Instead, it struck a defiant pose, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, and spoke with righteous indignation.

"Big Brother, you don't need to plead for me. Grandpa Shen said that when you're out in the world, if your ship capsizes, you have to accept it. If you're being beaten, stand up straight. In a few thousand years, I'll be a fine Spiritual Plant again!"

Who would have thought this Little Grass Spirit would be so tough!

Qi Yuan was momentarily speechless, but he still calmed down the Formation Spirit, who was about to lose it again, and advised:

"Spiritual Plants and trees are pure by nature. The reason it's so naughty is probably just that it was led astray by some unscrupulous guardian. With proper discipline, there might still be hope."

"Once the Little Grass Spirit realizes its mistakes, it will surely turn over a new leaf. Then, you can just have it go out and work to find treasures, paying you back what it stole with interest..."

The Formation Spirit fell silent for a moment, its expression filled with deep exhaustion. "Sigh, you're right."

"There's no use arguing with this naive brat. The one at fault is its guardian. If I ever meet that bastard who corrupted the child, I will surely act on behalf of the Heavenly Dao and teach that disrespectful old fellow a lesson."

As it spoke, the Formation Spirit glanced at Qi Yuan and said slowly:

"Fine, help it remove that Spirit Suppressing Talisman. You have a mortal body, so the Spirit Suppressing Talisman has no effect on you. Just go over and take it off."

"However, afterward, I'm taking this brat back to my Immortal Cave to give it a proper upbringing, so it doesn't continue its reckless behavior and go astray in the future."

"Alright."

Qi Yuan nodded, stepped forward, and took down the silver talisman floating in mid-air.

Buzz!

Ripples like water spread out, and the sealing power scattered around faded at a visible rate until it completely disappeared.

"Hahaha, freedom! This young master is finally free!"

After being freed, the Illusion Star Grass Spirit immediately cheered and danced with joy. "Big Brother, you are truly amazing!"

The next moment.

"Ding! Host has completed the side quest [Rescue the Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass]. You now have the following two choices:"

"One: Take it by surprise and use the Spirit Suppressing Talisman again to control the Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass. Grind it into medicine to obtain a chance for a Spiritual Insight Infusion."

"Two: Voluntarily release it and let the Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass leave. Upon completion, you will receive its gratitude and recognition, as well as a wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi..."

Facing the options given by the System, Qi Yuan didn't hesitate at all and immediately wanted to choose the second one.

Just then, a cheerful dog bark suddenly reached his ears.

"Woof woof woof—"

He turned his head and was instantly shocked.

The Formation Spirit, which had been acting normally, now seemed to have gone mad. It was barking like a dog while crawling on all fours, vigorously pawing at the ground, sniffing with its nose from time to time, and then began frantically eating dirt... gulping it down as if it were an incomparable delicacy.

???

Qi Yuan watched the scene in total confusion. "Senior Formation Spirit, what's wrong with you?"

However, the Formation Spirit seemed oblivious to his question and continued to bury its head in the dirt.

On the side, the Little Grass Spirit raised its head proudly and said in a boasting tone:

"Grandpa Shen once said that a good Spiritual Plant must clearly distinguish between kindness and grudges, and always seek revenge!"

"This fellow dared to threaten to stew me and even wanted to eat me just now. Simply outrageous! Humph... as revenge, this young master will naturally let it eat its fill of poop."

"It currently thinks it's a dog and sees this pile of dirt as poop. It's eating the dirt with great joy!"

Qi Yuan: "..."

Not knowing what he had thought of, his expression suddenly turned solemn, and he said in realization:

"Even a Formation Spirit at the Spirit Transformation Realm fell for your illusion. It turns out you are already a ten-thousand-year Spirit Medicine!"

At this moment, he finally discovered the hidden information in the quest description.

Whether choosing [Ruthless Betrayal] or [Voluntary Release], the target was the [Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass], not the [Soon-to-be-mature Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass].

This proved that the phantom star grass had completely transformed and reached the ten-thousand-year level!

And it was very likely it had only matured in the last few days, because when the System last issued this side quest, the description of the phantom star grass was [Soon-to-be-mature Ten Thousand Year Phantom Star Grass]... "Big Brother, you guessed right."

Just as his thoughts were racing, the Little Grass Spirit chuckled, and the immature spiritual fruit on its head suddenly blurred and transformed into a mature spiritual fruit shrouded in purple mist.

"Actually, I turned ten thousand years old four or five days ago, but that hateful, wicked woman was obsessed with waiting until I reached ten thousand years to harvest me for Alchemy."

"Grandpa Shen said that when encountering trouble, a clever Spiritual Plant must learn to tuck its tail and play the fool."

"To avoid being eaten immediately, I had to hide the fact that I'd become a ten-thousand-year Spiritual Plant and pretend to be immature."

Seemingly remembering Ji Chan'er's terror, the Little Grass Spirit couldn't help but shiver, then said resentfully:

"That wicked woman is simply too despicable. If she hadn't launched a sneak attack while I was reading, how could I have been caught by her..."

With your character, you read books?

Qi Yuan looked skeptical, but he still asked curiously:

"What books do you usually read?"

Seeing him ask, the Little Grass Spirit pulled out a large stack of heavily worn, thread-bound books from its pocket like showing off treasures.

"Grandpa Shen said that a good Spiritual Plant should read more of these kinds of books, but he used to hide them very deep and never let me read them."

"But after Grandpa Shen left, I specifically brought these books out. Although I can't quite understand the contents, the illustrations inside are quite interesting, hehe..."

Qi Yuan casually took a few books and was stunned the next moment.

"Travels of the Brothel," "The Romantic Monk," "Secret Records of the Golden Vase"... Damn it, are these the kind of books a ten-thousand-year-old child should be reading?!