Jing Yi hurriedly went into the grove and looked at the plants around him. He didn't dare to take anything he didn't know. After all, who knew if they were poisonous or might have some side-effect? He couldn't risk that.
Thankfully, there were also a few herbs around that he had already seen at the Hei Dian Sect or at least spotted in one of the books from the alchemist's library. Qiu Ling had read some of their descriptions to him so he was quite sure that he shouldn't have to worry about them.
The only thing he feared was that this wouldn't be enough. Yu Jin was right that they didn't know what the situation inside the mountains was. So, he would have to find enough herbs to last for the time they would spend there.
Jing Yi looked up. He couldn't see much of the mountain range from inside the grove but it was obviously a big area. If they really had to search the whole mountain range they would probably need months or maybe even years. What was he supposed to do? Even if he took every single herb from this grove, it probably wouldn't do him much good. He could substitute a bit of food through cultivating but even then this amount would probably only last for a few weeks at most. That was definitely too short.
Jing Yi hurriedly plucked what he knew but his thoughts were already churning. Substituting food for spiritual energy was probably the only thing he could do. The effect would be better the higher his level was until he didn't need to eat anymore after he reached the third stage.
He knew that reaching the third stage might be impossible but if he ate the right spiritual herbs he might be able to use their inherent spiritual energy to help him advance. Even if he couldn't reach the next stage, every level was helpful in this situation.
Jing Yi looked at the herbs in his hands again. Most of them were stalks of Crystal Grass. One alone wouldn't provide much spiritual energy but they always grew in large clusters and the massive amount one could harvest at a time was enough for someone at the beginning of the first stage to advance one level. Unfortunately, he was already at the beginning of the second stage so they wouldn't help him much.
There were also a few Blue-Patterned Shadow Ferns that he had found at the roots of the trees. Their spiritual energy was solely stored in the blue pattern underside their leaves so it wasn't much either. Well, one fern compared to just one stalk of Crystal Grass was still much better. But even together this wouldn't be enough to advance a level even in the slightest.
Jing Yi sighed. "I'm probably expecting too much. If just eating some herbs could make once advance to the next level, then there wouldn't be so many cultivators who never manage to break through to the third stage and stay low-leveled cultivators all their life.
Well, it's still good. I never would have thought I could see all these herbs in reality so soon. If it's true what senior martial brother Yue said, then this will be more helpful for advancing as an alchemist than studying ever could."
Jing Yi bit his lower lip. He definitely didn't want to make Qiu Ling worried but … staying in this secret realm for a bit would be really beneficial to him. Ah, it would have been great if the one thrown into the secret realm with him was Qiu Ling instead. Not that he had anything against Yu Jin. It was just … Well, Qiu Ling was his fiance, the man he would marry. Being trapped with him would naturally be different from being trapped with somebody else.
Come to think of it did Qiu Ling know that he wasn't trapped alone? Jing Yi closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. If Qiu Ling knew that he was in the secret realm with another man, wouldn't he grow even more worried? After all, he easily got jealous.
Well, just like Yu Jin had said: There was nothing he could do about that. So, for now, he had to concentrate on the things that he was able to change.
Jing Yi continued forward with the herbs in his hands. He didn't have any place to put them. Normally, he would give everything to Qiu Ling who would then throw it into his spatial ring but now he could only carry them around in his hands. Maybe Yu Jin would have a magic bag or something similar? He probably wouldn't mind helping out.
Jing Yi stopped and crouched down next to an inconspicuous flower. It seemed yellow at first glance but when the sun touched the little petals they shimmered golden. He hadn't seen this plant in the Hei Dian Sect but it fit the description of a flower Qiu Ling had read to him and it resembled the picture very much.
"This should be the Golden Teardrop Flower."
Jing Yi looked at the small plant. If he remembered correctly, it didn't contain much spiritual energy but supposedly it was able to cure wounds. He wasn't really sure how though. Most of the herbs he had worked with until now had some so he had subconsciously always believed that the spiritual energy was what made the effects of the plant possible.
When Qiu Ling read the description of the Golden Teardrop Flower to him he hadn't really been able to believe that it wouldn't have spiritual energy. But looking at it now that was indeed the case. He couldn't feel even the slightest fluctuation from it.
Maybe … he had identified it wrong? Maybe this was really just a yellow flower? But it did look golden in the sunlight …
Jing Yi picked one just in case. His senior martial brother Yu had said that he didn't know much about herbs but he probably still knew a bit. So, maybe he had already heard of this flower and could tell him more. Even though they were trapped here and had to find a way out as soon as possible that didn't mean that he couldn't try to learn some more things.