Chapter 185
"My soul sensing ability has greatly enhanced."
Inside the Yuhua Cave chamber, obscured by an array, Lu Qing did not feel much difference.
But once he stepped outside, he immediately noticed that under the blessing of the Soul Rune, his soul sensing ability had increased dramatically.
From the original range of a hundred meters, it expanded to a full two miles, a tenfold increase, and the precision of his sensing also greatly improved.
Within this range, most living beings could not escape his detection.
"After refining the Soul Rune, my soul sensing has somewhat acquired Xiao Li's peculiar sensing ability."
Lu Qing understood this in his heart.
Xiao Li's peculiar sensing ability was extremely mystical.
Until now, he hadn't found anything that could evade its detection.
Even a master like his, who had comprehended a trace of domain intent in the Precelestial realm, would still be detected by Xiao Li if they got too close while concealing their aura.The only time it failed was when the plain-clothed youth from Tianji Tower visited.
But that was because the youth had a special treasure that completely concealed his aura, thus evading Xiao Li's detection.
"The fluctuation of the world's elemental energy is becoming increasingly intense."
With his greatly enhanced soul power, Lu Qing could sense the world's elemental energy more clearly.
In fact, over the past two years, he had already noticed that the fluctuations of elemental energy in the world were becoming more lively.
It was as if something extremely important was about to be nurtured from a deeper layer of space.
Yet, due to the timing being not quite right, it had not yet succeeded.
However, Lu Qing had a premonition that once that thing was truly nurtured, the entire world would undergo a tremendous change.
"Is it spiritual energy?"
Lu Qing carefully sensed the changes in the surrounding elemental energy, pondering in his heart.
"Hmm, what is this?"
Suddenly, his expression changed as if he had discovered something. The next moment, his figure had already disappeared from where he stood.
With a few swift leaps, he arrived at a small slope above the valley.
When he landed, a certain plant on the ground seemed to sense something and its branches and leaves shrank, attempting to burrow into the ground.
However, it was too late. Before it could completely burrow underground, Lu Qing had already grasped its branches with a skillful force, pulling it out from the ground.
"Indeed, it is ginseng."
Looking at the thing in his hand, Lu Qing's face showed delight.
At this moment, he was holding a large ginseng in his hand.
Its roots were intact, and its five limbs were fully developed, already having taken on a humanoid shape.
He immediately activated his special ability to examine it.
A dense red glow, mixed with a trace of golden light, emerged from the ginseng.
[Ginseng: A precious herb, non-toxic, edible.]
[This ginseng has grown for over 1,800 years, developing a trace of instinctive intelligence.]
[It is said that ginseng that has developed intelligence will awaken a trace of innate magical power, allowing it to burrow underground quickly when in danger to save itself.]
"Thousand-year ginseng!"
Seeing these words, Lu Qing was even more delighted.
This was a ginseng that had already developed a trace of intelligence and had been growing for over 1,800 years.
It was known that once ginseng surpassed a thousand years and developed intelligence, its medicinal properties would undergo a qualitative change, truly stepping into the realm of spiritual medicine.
It was truly a rare treasure.
"As expected, this mountain forest, nourished by the earth's energy gathered by the Yuhua Cave chamber for so many years, indeed has thousand-year-old ginseng."
However, such ginseng, having developed a trace of intelligence and possessing a trace of magical power, could autonomously burrow and escape, which is why it had remained undiscovered.
"Buzz!"
An invisible wave emanated from the ginseng in his hand, its roots trembling, seemingly very afraid.
Lu Qing remained unmoved.
Although this thousand-year ginseng had developed a trace of intelligence, it was very naive and could only act on instinct.
Its true intelligence was likely inferior to that of ordinary chickens and ducks.
So he directly ignored the ginseng's trembling, taking out red strings and other items from his Spatial Qi Bag, binding them around the ginseng.
Immediately, the ginseng stopped struggling.
However, because this ginseng had already developed a trace of intelligence, stepping into the level of a living being, Lu Qing could not store it in the Spatial Qi Bag and had to temporarily wrap it in wet moss, placing it in a medicine box in his bosom.
After securing the medicine box, Lu Qing searched the surrounding area but did not find any other thousand-year ginseng.
It was unclear whether there was only this one thousand-year ginseng here or whether the others had sensed danger and burrowed underground.
His soul sensing range could reach two miles on the surface, but it was much weaker underground.
He could only sense movements within twenty or thirty meters underground, and that too was quite vague. Beyond that, it was just a blur.
If the remaining thousand-year ginseng had burrowed underground, it would be almost impossible for him to find it.
The earth was thick and heavy, and protected by the earth's energy, making it very difficult for soul power to penetrate.
However, although he did not find any other thousand-year ginseng, Lu Qing found several hundred-year-old ginseng.
He dug out the one that had grown the longest, about four hundred years old, and left the others untouched.
At his current level of power, hundred-year ginseng had little use for him.
He dug one out to bring back to his master to replenish the medicine stock for future needs.
After finishing everything, Lu Qing headed out of the mountain with Xiao Li.
With Lu Qing's current power, entering and exiting the forest was very easy.
In no time, Jiuli Village came into view.
Just entering the village, hearing the sound of reading from a distance, Lu Qing couldn't help but smile.
Over the past two years, Jiuli Village had undergone significant changes.
Not only were the roads repaired smoothly, but the villagers' houses were also renovated, and there was even a new school.
These changes were brought about by the Wei family.
Two years ago, Mago left the county town to escape his family's nagging and returned to the Grand Bazaar to live a leisurely life.
At that time, Lu Qing was curious about what would happen to Wei Zian, but the next day, Wei Zian also came to Jiuli Village, accompanied by Wei Dazongguan and many Wei family servants.
Later, the Wei family bought a piece of land next to Jiuli Village at a high price, built a villa as Wei Zian's residence.
Sometimes, Mrs. Wei and Wei Xinghe would come and stay for a while.
Even the old ancestor of the Wei family occasionally appeared to have tea with his master.
Because there were many people in the Wei family's villa, the daily consumption of vegetables, meat, and eggs was substantial.
These items were directly purchased from the villagers, giving the villagers an additional source of income.
Gradually, the Wei family helped repair the village roads and even built a school on the pretext that the young master needed to study, hiring two teachers to teach.
They openly stated that if the villagers had school-age children, they could send them to the school without paying tuition, only needing to provide their own meals.
At first, the villagers were skeptical.
After receiving repeated assurances from the Wei family and asking Lu Qing, they were overjoyed.
They sent their children to school one after another.
Even the families in difficult situations gritted their teeth to do so.
They preferred to work harder themselves than let their children fall behind.
Lu Qing and the old doctor did not oppose the Wei family's actions, but rather tacitly approved.
After all, what the Wei family did was beneficial to Jiuli Village.
Naturally, they also hoped that the village would become better and better.
Lu Qing even quietly subsidized some of the poorer families.
Thus, after two years, Jiuli Village had undergone these changes.
With Xiao Li, Lu Qing headed towards the Halfway House.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw the old ancestor of the Wei family sitting under the plum tree with his master, leisurely drinking tea.
Xiao Yan was quietly writing beside them.
"Brother, Xiao Li, you're back!"
Facing the courtyard gate, Xiao Yan was the first to notice Lu Qing's return. She immediately put down her pen with joy and ran over.
On the contrary, the old doctor and Wei Shanhai were a bit surprised as they turned their heads.
Because they hadn't sensed Lu Qing's return earlier.
"Yes, just returned."
Lu Qing rubbed his sister's head. Over the past two years, the little girl had grown a bit, but she was still a little kid.
Xiao Li jumped onto Xiao Yan's shoulder, tugged her hair with its claws, and then pointed towards the house.
"Alright, I'll go get the chess now!"
Xiao Yan, who had been with Xiao Li day and night, immediately understood its meaning and ran excitedly into the house.
Lu Qing shook his head, letting the two little ones play.
Then he came under the plum tree and first greeted, "Greetings, Elder Wei."
Then he said to the old doctor, "Master, I am back."
At this moment, the old doctor's expression had already returned to calmness. "Has the closed-door training ended?"
"Just ended this morning. Xiao Li missed Xiao Yan, so we came back."
"I think it is addicted to chess and wanted to come back quickly to play with Xiao Yan." The old doctor laughed.
He knew that recently Lu Qing had come
up with a new type of beast chess, making the two little ones quite addicted.
"It seems that Lu Xiaolangjun has gained a lot from this closed-door training!"
Wei Shanhai, who was beside them, sighed.
He was still very surprised.
When Lu Qing returned just now, as a Precelestial realm expert, he hadn't sensed anything.
Even now, standing in front of him, he still couldn't see through Lu Qing.
If he closed his eyes, in his soul perception, there was only a void, no one existed.
Such a strange scene, how could Wei Shanhai not be surprised.
Did Lu Qing break through to the Precelestial realm?
But after careful sensing, he didn't find the unique aura of the Precelestial realm on Lu Qing.
"Just a small breakthrough, not worth Elder Wei's praise."
Facing Wei Shanhai's admiration, Lu Qing remained humble.
Hearing this, Wei Shanhai knew that Lu Qing didn't want to reveal his breakthrough, so he awkwardly took a sip of tea.
"Xiao Li, hurry up!"
Fortunately, at this time, Xiao Yan ran out of the house with the chessboard, resolving the awkward atmosphere.
"Ow~"
Xiao Li swiftly jumped onto the stone table, waiting.
Xiao Yan quickly packed up her writing materials and began to set up the chessboard.
Soon, the two little ones started their game.
This scene left Wei Shanhai stunned.
He knew that Xiao Li was very intelligent, comparable to a child.
But seeing it playing chess so seriously, he still found it incredible.
Out of curiosity, he stepped forward to watch the game between the two little ones.
After watching for a few moments, he was once again amazed.
"What kind of chess is this? I don't seem to have seen it before."
"Grandpa Wei, brother said this is called Beast Chess, it's very fun." Xiao Yan answered obediently.
"Beast Chess?" Wei Shanhai looked at Lu Qing.
Lu Qing smiled, "It's just a little game I came up with when I was bored, not worth mentioning."
"Oh, it was invented by Lu Xiaolangjun himself. How do you play it?"
Unexpectedly, Wei Shanhai became more interested.
"Grandpa Wei, let me teach you. Beast Chess is very simple. First, these beasts are ranked by level. The ancient elephant is the largest and strongest, and the little mouse is the smallest, but the little mouse can crawl into the elephant's nose and defeat it..."
Xiao Yan immediately began explaining the rules of Beast Chess to Wei Shanhai.
The Beast Chess Lu Qing created was slightly different from the one in his past life. He replaced some of the beasts from the past with ones more familiar to the people of this world.
However, the core rules remained unchanged, following the principle that the big beats the small, and the smallest can counter the biggest.
After listening, Wei Shanhai was even more surprised.
The rules of Beast Chess, though simple, were logically sound, with no loopholes, and quite playable. It was very suitable for enlightening children.
Moreover, it subtly contained the principle of mutual restraint.
Lu Qing's ability to come up with such a game showed his high intelligence.
Truly a peerless prodigy with great fortune.
If Lu Qing knew what Wei Shanhai was thinking at this moment, he would be speechless.
It was just a simple Beast Chess, yet so many connections were being made.
Seeing Wei Shanhai engrossed in watching the game, Lu Qing suddenly remembered the medicine box in his bosom.
He took it out and said, "Master, I discovered a thousand-year ginseng in the mountains this time. It seems to have developed some intelligence. I'm not sure how to handle it. Please decide."
"A thousand-year ginseng that has developed intelligence?!"
This time, not only the old doctor was surprised, but even Wei Shanhai turned his head in shock.
"Yes, this ginseng can burrow and escape. If I hadn't reacted quickly, it would have escaped."
Lu Qing opened the medicine box, revealing the ginseng bound by red strings inside.
"It has distinct facial features and limbs. It is indeed over a thousand years old!"
The old doctor, well-versed in various medical classics, could immediately tell that the ginseng in the medicine box was at least a thousand years old.
"Master, this ginseng contains intelligence and has some characteristics of a living being."
Lu Qing untied the red string and gently held the main body of the ginseng.
Once freed, the ginseng's roots started moving again, trembling.
"It truly has developed intelligence." The old doctor was delighted. "Ah Qing, this ginseng needs to be well cared for. It will be of great use in the future!"
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