Chapter Sixty: The Purple Gold Ginseng

Before leaving, Old Peony brought Song Yue to one last place. The landscape here was ancient, unlike the lush greenery found elsewhere. The area stretched out in barren red earth, not a single hint of green to be seen. The land was cracked, as though it had not seen rain in millennia, parched to the extreme.

“What is this place?” Even the red bird perched on Song Yue’s shoulder was surprised, for it had never been here before.

Old Peony said nothing, leading Song Yue deeper into the cracked, dark red earth. They walked for over a hundred miles before finally stopping at a spot. Old Peony pointed to a location and told Song Yue to dig.

After digging down more than ten meters, Song Yue finally saw a trace of purple.

He stopped digging and took the purple object in his hand, speechless. “What is this? A sweet potato?”

It really did look much like a yam, with purple skin, palm-sized, neither fragrant nor emanating any energy.

Old Peony breathed a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, after all these years, there’s still some left. Don’t worry about what it is—eat it.”

Song Yue was dubious. Old Peony certainly did not seem malicious; his words and actions exuded righteousness. But Song Yue didn’t know what this thing was. Though it didn’t look poisonous, he thought it best to be cautious.

“This isn’t poisonous, is it?” he asked.

“There are few poisons in the world my petals cannot resolve. Besides, you little rascal are far too suspicious!” Old Peony replied helplessly. “This is the legendary Purple-Gold Ginseng of Penglai! In ancient times, immortals used it as daily food. But now, there’s almost none left in existence! In this secret realm, there are likely fewer than ten in total. I managed to find only this one. Eat it, and your strength will soar, your physique will be remade!”

Could it really be so miraculous?

Song Yue doubted it, thinking Old Peony exaggerated. Besides, didn’t immortals not need to eat?

“Just eat it like this?” He looked at the mud-stained ‘yam’ in his hand, hesitant.

“If you want, I could try it first, see if it’s poisonous?” The red bird, quick to sense nature’s gifts, knew this was a true treasure. Seeing Song Yue so wary and slow to eat, it grew impatient, eager for a share.

Old Peony warned, “Little bird, don’t cause trouble. The Purple-Gold Ginseng must be consumed whole!”

The red bird grumbled inwardly; surely there were bigger and smaller ones, how could it be eaten whole… Who were they fooling? But it understood this was a chance Old Peony was gifting Song Yue. It would soon follow this human for a while, so it didn’t want to offend him.

It advised, “This is truly a treasure, probably one of those legendary medicines that needs no refining—can be eaten directly!”

“Sharp eye, little bird,” Old Peony praised.

At last, Song Yue hesitated, took out a bottle of water, cleaned the Purple-Gold Ginseng, and tried a bite.

The taste was peculiar—indescribable—with a faint sweetness followed by a slight bitterness. Swallowing it produced no surge of energy around his body.

But it was remarkably filling.

Song Yue only took a few bites and already felt stuffed.

Old Peony reminded, “Start your cultivation technique, child, don’t just eat…”

He sighed. Were the young cultivators of today all so ignorant? Not only did Song Yue not know about Penglai’s Purple-Gold Ginseng, even the Jade Cauldron Sect disciples who took over this place thousands of years ago were equally clueless.

Otherwise, such a barren patch in the medicine garden would never go unnoticed.

If this legendary Purple-Gold Ginseng had fallen into the hands of ancient cultivators, they would have been moved to tears, bowing to heaven in gratitude for such fortune.

Purple-Gold Ginseng was domineering, unlike other great medicines.

Other medicines, though absorbing spiritual energy, usually didn’t exclude other herbs from growing nearby. Like Old Peony’s medicine garden—each plant occupied much space, but the garden still thrived with various species.

Purple-Gold Ginseng’s territory, however, was different. It naturally seized the fortune of other plants!

The finest Purple-Gold Ginseng grew in a thousand miles of barren red earth!

No other plant could coexist with it.

This fierce nature made it famous in the ancient cultivation world.

It even had a nickname: Life-Stealing Ginseng!

It stole the lives of other plants.

For other plants, Purple-Gold Ginseng was a deadly demon, but for cultivators, it was the ultimate tonic.

Truthfully, Old Peony had long grown weary of this place. This time, rather than being persuaded by Song Yue, it wanted to escape itself.

It had lived for countless years, raised in a flowerbed as a child, not yet sentient and needing no array for confinement.

Later, it gained intelligence and became a minor plant demon, but its original caretaker was a true powerhouse, unconcerned about its escape, and Old Peony never thought of fleeing.

That master left and never returned, and Old Peony began to frequently change owners.

As its spirituality grew, so did its usefulness, and later owners became increasingly strict.

They began to seal its territory with arrays, preventing escape.

So, though it had moved many times, Old Peony had never really chosen its own path or seen the outside world.

It was weary.

It was a true demon, with thoughts, emotions, and no desire to be manipulated anymore.

The young man was a little ignorant, but since he could break the array confining Old Peony, he clearly had ability.

And ignorance wasn’t his fault—the era was different; it was only natural he knew little of ancient matters.

Having decided to follow him to see the world, Old Peony gave him this fortune, so that if the Jade Cauldron Sect ever came for him, Song Yue would be able to protect himself.

Old Peony was a kind tree.

Song Yue suppressed his shock, sitting cross-legged in the pit he’d dug to cultivate.

He’d been doubtful, but as he activated the Taiyi Body-Refining Sutra, he realized how wondrous this thing was!

The energy was unlike any medicine or food, imperceptible without cultivation.

But as soon as he started his technique, the Purple-Gold Ginseng’s energy erupted.

Vast, heavy… endlessly flowing!

And he’d eaten only a few bites.

Song Yue guided this power through his acupoints, many of which, once seemingly unbreakable, now opened as easily as paper.

His internal organs began to resonate, and as he cultivated further, faint, incomplete runes appeared on some organs!

This transformation stunned Song Yue as he viewed his own body—he didn’t know what it meant.

Some runes also appeared on his skin, equally faint and incomplete; he wondered if they would gradually become whole and clear as his cultivation grew.

Song Yue felt this must be a good thing, for he could clearly sense himself becoming much stronger.

A palm-sized Purple-Gold Ginseng took Song Yue three days to eat, and half remained.

The red bird, impatient, wandered about, planning to gather seeds of great medicines. It was leaving soon and needed to learn to live; if it planted some seeds, they could become valuable assets.

Old Peony remained, telling Song Yue that once eaten, Purple-Gold Ginseng must be consumed quickly, or its efficacy would greatly diminish.

Song Yue followed the advice; he had no desire to leave yet, and let those pursuing him continue their search in vain.

He planned to use the Purple-Gold Ginseng to open as many acupoints in his body as possible.

…

Outside.

Catherine had searched for Song Yue for three days.

To avoid alerting those below, she landed in the forest, flying daily and searching every place where Song Yue might appear.

She passed other searchers several times, but no one noticed the white bird flying overhead.

Yet, like the others, Catherine found nothing.

Song Yue had vanished without a trace, as if evaporated from the earth.

Helpless, she phoned Confucius and explained the situation.

Confucius pondered and said he probably knew where Song Yue had gone, telling her to stop searching—Song Yue should be fine.

Catherine felt somewhat dejected; Confucius had never asked anything of her, and the one time he did, she couldn’t help.

After hanging up, she resolved to do something.

Though Confucius told her to rest, she still wanted to help him and the boy.

Initially, the underground organization leaders hired by Richard noticed nothing amiss. Only when many became unreachable did they panic.

By the time they sent experts to search, they found that more than a dozen of their operatives had disappeared entirely!

Just like Song Yue—not seen alive, not found dead!

This enraged and unsettled the organization's leaders, making them suspect powerful cultivators from China had intervened.

After all, they had recently encountered suspicious cultivators from China and had a fierce conflict.

He called Richard and demanded more money.

“My team has lost over a dozen already!”

“They were all top talents in our organization—now vanished like smoke!”

“Their wives are widows, their children fatherless, their mothers bereft of sons… For this mission, to support you, they paid with their lives!”

“This target is too dangerous. If you won’t pay more, we can’t do it.”

Richard was furious too; for three days, Song Yue had vanished, as if he had never been to this western town.

Yet three days ago, he was here!

Many witnesses saw him escape, and there was ample surveillance footage proving Song Yue fled the town.

That bastard even left money at his hotel for replacing the broken glass!

Showing how calm and unhurried his escape had been.

The organization’s leaders had promised confidently, thumping their chests, but now came to complain about deaths… Wasn’t this the sort of job where death was always a risk?

But he couldn’t lose his temper, as Song Yue hadn’t been caught.

Without Song Yue, he couldn’t get the great medicines—couldn’t seize that coveted, sleeplessly envied fortune.

And then, from Europhus’s side… more trouble.

They claimed… urgent business required a return to their family!

“Richard, my old friend, thank you so much for your hospitality, but now we have urgent matters and must return to the family.”

“When Song Yue is caught, let me know, and I’ll come immediately by starship!”

“And don’t try to keep any of those medicines for yourself, my dear friend!”

Richard felt utterly exasperated, but could say nothing.

He could only wish Europhus a safe journey.

Though joking, Europhus truly trusted him—not worried Richard might keep the medicines for himself after capturing Song Yue.

But the question remained… Where had Song Yue gone?

Had he dug a hole and buried himself?

Damn it, just don’t let me find you!

Richard called the organization leaders back. “I’ll pay more, but you must find him! If you can’t, you owe me an explanation!”

The leader promised again that they would find him.

…

At the massive western flight base, many large spacecraft were parked.

Europhus’s group had arrived, preparing to fly to the moon, then board a smaller starship to enter the depths of the solar system, and finally transfer to a true superluminal starship for departure.

Some members of the Euro family couldn’t understand why Europhus insisted on leaving before healing.

“We must go. Clearly, they have failed!” Europhus’s face was still pale, his tone bleak. “We underestimated that young man. He reminds me of the top prodigies of the cultivation world.”

“That’s too much—how could he compare to them?” someone protested. “Maybe he just got lucky, hiding in some obscure corner.”

Europhus shook his head. “You’re underestimating him. Enough, words are pointless; time will prove my choice right.”

“Uncle, when we return, will you really ask the family to give up targeting Song Yue?” A young Euro family member, peer to Euro Yong and Euro Ping, was unwilling.

If Europhus confessed to the family, those who followed him would not only lose all credit, but might be implicated.

They might never be trusted again.

After all, they belonged to Europhus’s faction.

Europhus nodded. “Don’t be resentful. I hate that young man too, would kill him if I could. But all signs show he’s far from simple. Our roots are on Tianyue Star, not Earth. We may look down on Earthlings, but remember—this is no longer our home.”

Europhus led his group away from the western camp.

That day, the underground organization searching for Song Yue lost another four foundation-stage magicians!

The leaders were finally pushed beyond their limits.