Divine Tang Era

As the saying goes, "The phoenix never alights on a land devoid of treasure, and where there is a venomous snake, there is always an antidote."

Things in this world are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining, for example, a devoted heart can breed resentment in a woman, and XX can bring misfortune to a man.

The little green snake lurked in the grass, refusing to budge an inch; it must be protecting something. Combining this with what he was looking for, Xu Dan thought; could there really be some treasure? Otherwise, why would a spirit snake be guarding it?

Surprised, he reached out with his Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer to brush away the grass, only to find nothing there.

It's impossible that there isn't one. If there weren't, how could there be a spirit snake protecting the treasure?

Xu Dan stared intently, his black pupils and purple-gold pupils converging into a single line, focusing intently, revealing nothing around him. Strangely, however, there was nothing in the grass. Turning his head to look around, he saw a tiny cloud of fortune slowly moving not far from the grass.

This thing can actually run.

Now, Xu Dan is curious about what this thing is.

Following the guidance of the clouds of fortune, he arrived at the location, plunged his hands into the ground, and dug out a large pile of soil.

Removing the soil revealed the creature inside, but Xu Dan couldn't help but frown. He picked it up and examined it closely. The creature was plump and looked a bit like a silkworm, but it was hard as a rock, its body as smooth as ice and jade, and it even had a pair of small horns on its head.

These horns are not the mushroom-shaped horns of the dragon salamander, but rather forked horns like those of a dragon.

However, this thing doesn't have as many forked horns as a dragon; it only has two forked soft horns.

Xu Dan looked at it more and ...

If it's cordyceps, it shouldn't be called jade cordyceps. No, jade cordyceps sounds too awful; it should be called jade worm. Having "worm" in its name isn't good either, since it has horns; it should be called jade dragon.

The jade dragon appears to be alive yet not quite, like finely carved ice jade.

It is said to be alive, yet it remains motionless and hard, like crystal-clear ice jade.

You could say it's dead! Yet its bright, dark eyes are incredibly lively, and its plump, silkworm-like body with its fleshy little horns makes it look quite adorable. Moreover, with the aura of good fortune indicating that this thing couldn't possibly be inanimate, it's not.

Because dead things have no luck.

Besides, they were just running away, how could they possibly be dead?

I guess there's some reason why it turned out like this.

After looking at it for a long time, the jade dragon remained motionless, like an ice sculpture. Xu Dan immediately lost interest, put it away with the golden cordyceps, and planned to study it carefully when he got back that night.

Put away the jade dragon and continue forward.

It wasn't until around noon that we stopped to eat and head back.

He had to get back to the treehouse before dark, otherwise, surrounded by wild animals on the prairie, even the best skills would only amount to dinner. Besides, he had already explored this area; there was no one for dozens of kilometers, so there was no need to continue. He would check another place tomorrow.

On the way back, Xu Dan didn't dig for caterpillar fungus; he ran headlong, as fast as the wind.

When I got back to the treehouse, I realized I'd only taken less than a quarter of the morning's time. It seems I really am a fast runner. What a pity; if I were in another place, I'm sure I could make a living at that speed.

Because the treehouse is a wooden structure, you can't cook on the top; you can only cook things on the bottom.

He had boiled water down there before, but instead of building a stove, he simply moved a few stones around it.

He doesn't want to build a stove now, because he doesn't know when he'll leave, so what's the point of building one? It's too much trouble.

So he made use of the stones he had found earlier, and brought over a few more to make two simple stoves. Then, he placed the two stalactite pots he had brought out from the stalactite cave on them, added water, put in smoked venison, and then added cordyceps and a piece of golden cordyceps cut in half.

Light the fire and burn the firewood.

The rising flames heated the stone pot to boil water, and the venison and cordyceps inside were slowly cooked until tender, and the aroma began to waft out.

Xu Dan took a sniff and noticed that the soup with the Cordyceps was significantly more fragrant and richer. The Cordyceps, after being simmered in water, had become plump and doubled in size, floating on the boiling broth, rising and falling like a lone boat.

If you cook it for a while longer, the red lines inside the Cordyceps sinensis will gradually become more vibrant and eventually turn into blood, which will then blend into the soup, giving the thick, white soup a touch of blood.

Xu Dan didn't expect this kind of change.

After a while, the meat will be tender and the soup will be thick.

He removed the firewood, took out a long-handled wooden spoon, and scooped some soup from the pot containing ordinary cordyceps. He tasted it and found it delicious, full of primal flavor; it would have been even better with some seasoning.

I scooped out another bowl from the stalactite pot containing the golden cordyceps and tasted it.

As soon as he tasted the soup, he felt that the flavor of the Cordyceps soup was different from that of ordinary Cordyceps.

It's so delicious and rich in cordyceps essence that it's hard to mistake it for something else.

After finishing his soup, Xu Dan used a long spoon to scoop up the enlarged cordyceps and ate it. The moment it entered his mouth, it transformed into a warm current that flowed into his stomach, making his entire body feel warm and cozy. "What a wonderful thing!" Xu Dan ate a whole portion, feeling the warmth within him. He suddenly realized how good this stuff was. "If I ate one in winter, I could run around outside naked in the snow!"

After finishing your meal, clean up.

Xu Dan jumped back into the treehouse, took out the box that originally contained the Enlightenment Fruit, and put the golden cordyceps and jade dragon seeds he had dug up that day inside.

As night falls, a silver disc slowly rises from the distance, and the grassland is enveloped in a hazy moonlight, as if draped in a thin jade veil.

Xu Dan looked up and saw the cosmos and galaxies intertwined behind the moon, creating a series of beautiful starry sky paintings. This was indeed not his hometown, because the starry sky there was definitely not this beautiful.

It's so beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful.

If he could, he would like to lie on the soft alpine meadow every day and watch the stars.

But people are always so greedy, wanting to gain more, which leads to so many troubles.

Xu Dan is the same; he wants to smell the fragrance of grass every day, see the stars every day, and also experience the scenery of new worlds. There are so many good things in the world, how can he have them all? For every gain, there is a loss; there is no way to have it all.

"Oh!"

A wolf howl echoed from the depths of the grassland, signaling the start of the hunt by predators who had been lurking in various places during the day.

A shadow came running quickly from the back mountain; it was probably the wild animal that hadn't eaten anything yesterday.

Xu Dan chuckled, turned, and entered the treehouse, ignoring the surroundings. Under the cover of night, countless creatures lurked, and even he had to be careful. Sure enough, not long after, the shadow scrambled up the tree trunk. Looking around the treehouse and finding no food, it began scratching at the door.

After a moment, seeing no movement, it started howling and wailing again.

Xu Dan was annoyed by its daily howling outside the door, so he flew open the door and stabbed it with the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer.

The thing reacted incredibly fast; upon hearing the door open, it turned and jumped. Xu Dan jabbed at it with a mallet, and it landed right on the mallet, then pounced.

"You're asking for it." Xu Dan swung the mallet.

The thing leaped up, but couldn't dodge and was struck by the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, falling heavily to the floor and never getting up again. Xu Dan wanted to go check on it, but suddenly a gust of wind came from behind him. Without thinking, he raised the hammer and struck backward. With a "thud," he didn't know what he hit, but it seemed to crash into the house.

Turning around, I saw it was a wild animal.

Xu Dan took the wild animals out of the room and placed them with the ones outside. The bones of the two animals had been shattered by the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, but for some reason, their skins were still intact. He didn't know what kind of wild animals these two things were; they looked like cats, but they weren't.

After taking a look, Xu Dan suddenly frowned. Could these two be acting against him?

One was making a show of using his beauty to seduce him, while the other was lurking in the back, waiting for his chance to strike.

I never expected him to be so powerful; in the end, I lost both my wife and my army.