Black bears weren’t social animals, and these three each had their own territory. This time, it was only because Da Hei wanted revenge on A Jin that he had called Er Hei and San Hei over for a gang fight.

Da Hei, Er Hei, and San Hei were the names Su Qing had given the three black bears. Their territories weren’t far from A Jin’s mountain. Su Qing had followed the three bears on a tour of their lands and found many precious herbs. Since black bears loved honey, Su Qing helped them get a large amount, and while she was at it, she stored quite a few honeycombs in her own space.

Unfortunately, she still hadn’t found the century-old Chicken Blood Vine. It was only then that Su Qing realized a century-old Chicken Blood Vine was much harder to find than a century-old ginseng.

But Su Qing wasn’t discouraged. ’There’s still plenty of time, anyway. It’s more than a month until the New Year.’ She planned to spend the time until then grinding it out here in the mountains of Yunnan. If she couldn’t find a century-old Chicken Blood Vine on Da Hu Mountain, she would just go look in other mountains. ’I refuse to believe I can’t find a single Chicken Blood Vine in all the vast mountains of Yunnan.’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

After parting ways with the three black bears, Su Qing trekked deeper into Da Hu Mountain for about another week. She skirted a marsh and finally arrived in a forest with even deeper woods and denser grass.

This forest had clearly existed for a much longer time. The trees were lush with branches and leaves, blotting out the sky. The thick roots of these ancient trees buckled up from the ground. The root systems of different trees were even tangled together, a gnarled mess, making it impossible to tell one from another.

Thick, ancient vines coiled around the tree trunks, their branches and leaves hanging down from mid-air. Some were withered, others were a vibrant green, creating a unique landscape.

Su Qing gazed at the view before her with curiosity and joy. This was a sight she had never seen before, not in her past life nor since arriving in this world. The Spiritual Energy here was even denser. Even without her consciously trying to absorb it, the pure energy continuously seeped into her body. ’This feeling is absolutely amazing!’

Su Qing raised her right hand and saw that the Bagua Pool’s capacity had expanded again. The green mist and gray mist were denser, and the Vine Seed seemed a bit larger. Su Qing took the seed out, placed it in her palm, and activated it. The Vine Seed twitched, and the resulting vine and leaves were clearly thicker than when she had first obtained it; even the leaves were much larger. This brought a wave of joy to Su Qing’s heart.

After returning the Vine Seed to the Bagua Pool, Su Qing began to search meticulously through the Ancient Forest. At the same time, she controlled the surrounding vines to help her conduct a carpet search.

Su Qing had a gut feeling that in an Ancient Forest like this, she might truly be able to find a century-old Chicken Blood Vine.

And sure enough, her intuition was correct.

「Two days later.」 Su Qing finally found the century-old Chicken Blood Vine. Gazing at the deep red, butterfly-shaped flowers on its branches, her eyes curved into crescents. ’It wasn’t a waste to search for so long on Da Hu Mountain. I finally found the century-old Chicken Blood Vine!’

By her estimation, this particular Chicken Blood Vine was about 120 years old—a truly genuine century-old Chicken Blood Vine.

Su Qing immediately chopped down the century-old Chicken Blood Vine and stored it in her space. She left the few surrounding vines that were less than a hundred years old untouched, planning to let them continue to grow.

The mountains were deep and the forests dense here; it was practically impossible for anyone to enter. In fact, this was the uninhabited zone Qiao Wensong had told her about. ’Other than me, no human has probably ever set foot here.’

If it weren’t for her Wood Ability and her power to control plants, even she wouldn’t have been able to make it this far. The place was simply too deep in the mountains. It was a complete paradise for plants and animals—and a forbidden land for humans.

Ferocious beasts, poisonous miasmas, all sorts of strange and deadly venomous snakes and insects, and hidden bogs formed the area’s natural barrier. Rushing in blindly was no different from suicide.

Having collected the century-old Chicken Blood Vine, Su Qing didn’t rush to leave the mountain. Instead, she stayed in the Ancient Forest for a few more days. The Spiritual Energy was so rich that she was reluctant to leave right away. After she had stayed for another ten-odd days, her Wood Ability advanced another level, reaching the Fourth Rank, and the Bagua Pool’s capacity had increased significantly as well. She took stock of the time and only then began her journey back out of the mountains.

This trip to Da Hu Mountain had been, to put it mildly, a massive haul for Su Qing. Besides finding the century-old Chicken Blood Vine, she had also acquired many valuable, well-aged medicinal herbs. On top of that, she had caught a lot of game. Even after sharing a good portion with A Jin and the three black bears, her spoils still took up about two-thirds of her entire space. By the time Su Qing leisurely made her way to the edge of Da Hu Mountain’s inner region, her space was almost completely full. Aside from the spot she reserved for her luggage and souvenirs, every other nook and cranny was stuffed with her harvest from the mountain.

"Hello? Hello! Excuse me, can you help us?" As she neared the outer perimeter of Da Hu Mountain, Su Qing suddenly heard a young woman’s voice. Following the sound, she saw a woman with ear-length short hair, dressed in what looked like a Lenin-style tunic. She was on a hillside, hugging the trunk of a tree and waving frantically at Su Qing.

The hillside was quite steep, and it was clear the young woman was terrified. She clung tightly to the tree trunk with one arm, not daring to let go. When she saw Su Qing looking her way, she grew excited and waved even faster.

Meng Yanjing was frantic with a mix of excitement and desperation. She, her professor, and two classmates had come to Da Hu Mountain for fieldwork. Everything had been going smoothly, and they were supposed to leave the mountain today. But this morning, her professor and the two students had been bitten by something and had come down with raging fevers. Medicine didn’t help at all. There was no way she could get three people out of the mountains by herself. She didn’t dare wander far, terrified that they would be attacked while completely defenseless.

As their temperatures climbed higher and higher, Meng Yanjing paced around in a panic, completely at a loss for what to do. In her desperation, she had run out to try her luck, hoping to run into someone—anyone—who could even just help her carry them out of the mountains.

When she first spotted Su Qing, Meng Yanjing had been on a hillside some distance away. Worried Su Qing wouldn’t hear her shouts, she had gritted her teeth and slid partway down the steep slope to get closer, praying Su Qing would hear her cries for help.

Luckily, Su Qing had heard her. Meng Yanjing was thrilled to see Su Qing heading her way, but when she looked at the even steeper slope below, she froze, completely daring not to move. ’If I move, I’ll definitely roll down the hill,’ she thought. ’If I get hurt and pass out, then my professor and classmates will die because of the delay.’

"Can you—can you please help us? My professor and two of my classmates have been bitten, and they’re unconscious!" Meng Yanjing said hurriedly as Su Qing drew closer.