CH 115

Chapter 115: It's a Pill!

Xiao Qingyang, who entered the secret realm ahead of everyone else, widened his beautiful eyes as he looked at the surroundings within. His face was filled with unstoppable astonishment.

"Yangyang, what's wrong?" Long Jingze, who had been paying attention to Xiao Qingyang all along, noticed his unusual behavior at the first moment and hurriedly asked.

At this time, Xu Kaiyang and others also arrived in the secret realm one after another. As they saw the environment around them, each of them couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Oh my, is this the secret realm? It looks completely different than I expected. If it weren't for all of you being here, I would have thought I traveled to a different world," Xu Kaiyang exclaimed, without any exaggeration.

Others clearly shared the same thoughts, including Xiao Qingyang, who had just regained his senses and nodded along in agreement upon hearing Xu Kaiyang's remark.

Indeed, if it weren't for everyone being around, he would truly have believed that he had traveled once again and returned to his previous world.

Because the environment of this secret realm was really... too similar. It was so similar that he felt like the past few months of his time-traveling life were nothing but a dream.

"This place is truly beautiful," Gu Xiaotian couldn't help but sigh.

"But don't underestimate this place. The danger here is proportional to its beauty," Long Jingze, who rarely spoke to anyone other than Xiao Qingyang, reminded them.

Long Jingze had been to the secret realm several times before, so he wasn't as surprised as the others, but he could still understand everyone's reaction.

"Yangyang, are you tired? Should we take a rest?" Long Jingze, still concerned about Xiao Qingyang's odd behavior earlier, asked again.

Xiao Qingyang smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine. I was just surprised when I suddenly saw this place."

He really liked the environment here, as it gave him a sense of going back home. If possible, he even wanted to live here for a while.

Most importantly, the spiritual energy here was even more abundant than in the outside world, and its concentration was close to that of their own world. It was simply a paradise for cultivators.

Furthermore, he unexpectedly discovered a spiritual plant that only existed in their world.

Xiao Qingyang looked at a certain type of spiritual plant in front of him, which was incredibly familiar. His eyes instantly lit up, and he hurriedly ran over, carefully plucking the spiritual plant and putting it into the portable icebox he had brought along.

In the interstellar era, there were many high-tech items that were much more convenient than in their own era, such as the icebox he was holding, which was made of the most common materials.

In their world, the ice boxes used to store spiritual plants were made from extremely precious materials, in limited quantities, and were highly valuable. They were generally reserved for storing rarer and more precious spiritual plants, while ordinary ones didn't receive such treatment.

"Qingyang, what did you just pluck?" Xu Kaiyang curiously asked, as he had never seen that type of plant before.

"It's Autumn Heart Grass, which can be used to refine strength enhancement pills," Xiao Qingyang truthfully replied.

In the interstellar era, there were many spiritual plants that didn't exist in their previous world, and similarly, there were many spiritual plants in their world that the interstellar era didn't have.

Xiao Qingyang's expertise lay not in potion-making, but in refining pills. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of spiritual plants and spiritual energy, he couldn't freely refine pills as he wished.

Now that there was a constant supply of spiritual energy in the academy, and spiritual power was no longer an obstacle, as long as he obtained the corresponding spiritual plants, he could start pill refining.

Unfortunately, the spiritual plants he needed were scarce in the interstellar era.

However, he didn't expect to encounter them in this secret realm. Xiao Qingyang couldn't express how happy and excited he felt. With these spiritual plants, even if he didn't gain any improvement from this trip, it would still be worthwhile.

"Shall we continue forward?" Xiao Qingyang suggested, his mood filled with excitement. Perhaps there were many more spiritual plants ahead that he desired and needed.

"Okay." Long Jingze smiled indulgently and took the lead, walking forward with Xiao Qingyang. The others quickly followed.

As expected, just as Xiao Qingyang had anticipated, they indeed came across many other spiritual plants that didn't exist in their own world. He gathered them abundantly, his laughter uncontrollable.

Looking at the precious spiritual plants in his embrace, Xiao Qingyang felt both excited and couldn't help but think of his parents in the other world.

This secret realm looked more and more similar to their world. Not only was the environment similar, but even the spiritual plants inside were from their own world. Xiao Qingyang wondered if this small secret realm had any connection to their world.

Clearly, there was no spiritual energy on other planets of the empire, but there was on this particular planet.

Moreover, not only did this place have spiritual energy and teleportation arrays, but even small secret realms existed. The resemblance between the small secret realm and his previous world was uncanny. How did all of this come to be? Who left them behind?

If this small secret realm was truly connected to the world he was in before, could he... go back and see his parents?

The thought of his parents in the other world caused Xiao Qingyang's heightened emotions to turn somewhat melancholic.

Long Jingze dug out the spiritual plant that Xiao Qingyang had pointed out. Turning around, he noticed Xiao Qingyang's somewhat forlorn expression. He walked over to him, gently embracing him and softly said, "Yangyang, as long as I'm here, I will always be with you."

Long Jingze's gentle voice reached deep into Xiao Qingyang's heart, eradicating any trace of homesickness, leaving only a pounding heartbeat.

"Aze..." Xiao Qingyang looked up at Long Jingze, his gaze fixed firmly on his face. Gradually, his mood became more joyful.

He was so lucky to have met Aze when he first came to this world.

"Cough cough... We've finished gathering the spiritual plants here. Should we... continue forward?" Xu Kaiyang and the others were hit by the sudden display of affection, causing them to feel a sense of imbalance. They couldn't help but break the lovey-dovey atmosphere.

Even if they were single dogs, they still had their dog rights. They couldn't be overwhelmed by lovey-dovey moments!

The harmonious atmosphere was shattered by Xu Kaiyang's interruption. Long Jingze gave Xu Kaiyang a cold glance, instantly making him regret his behavior, and he quickly hid behind Lin Weiran seeking protection.

Fortunately, Xiao Qingyang quickly spoke up, avoiding Xu Kaiyang from being frozen by Long Jingze's gaze.

"Let's continue walking. There must be more treasures ahead," Xiao Qingyang said with a smile.

Xiao Qingyang was the happiest and the one who gained the most from this journey into the secret realm. It was all thanks to the presence of Long Jingze. In these seven days, they hardly encountered any insurmountable danger, and everyone reaped abundant rewards, with smiles on their faces.

"It's truly a blessing to have His Highness accompany us. Otherwise, if only the ten of us entered, it would be fortunate to have one-tenth of the current harvest," Xu Kaiyang sincerely expressed his gratitude and appreciation towards Xiao Qingyang.

He knew that the Crown Prince came because of Xiao Qingyang. Otherwise, how would the Crown Prince even know who they were?

"Yes, yes. We're really grateful to His Highness the Crown Prince. With these treasures, my abilities are bound to level up quickly," Gao Lingqi and the others were also extremely grateful to Long Jingze and held him in even higher esteem.

If we were to talk about the admiration they had for Long Jingze in the past, it was based on legends, discussions among others, and occasional glimpses in videos. But now, after these seven days, they had personally witnessed the power of Long Jingze. Their admiration for him was genuine, to the point where they wished they could become his disciples right away.

Unfortunately, Long Jingze had no intention of taking on disciples, not even junior ones, leaving everyone feeling a sense of disappointment.

In addition to the precious spiritual plants that were not found in the outside world, this secret realm also held many other treasures. For example, there were spiritual beasts that could benefit one's body when consumed, or precious and rare materials that could be used for mechas or weapons.

What surprised Xiao Qingyang the most was the existence of pills in this secret realm. These pills were highly sought after by individuals with extraordinary abilities and were among the most coveted treasures for many students entering the secret realm.

Xiao Qingyang wasn't surprised that there were pills here, considering that even the spiritual plants from their world existed in this realm. However, it was the reaction of Xu Kaiyang that caught him off guard.

"Wow, are those pills? Are they really pills? They must be pills!" Xu Kaiyang pointed at a few small bottles placed inside a cave, eagerly seeking confirmation from his companions.

At first glance, Xiao Qingyang recognized that they were indeed small pill bottles containing pills. He had many of these pill bottles in his Qiankun Bag, but he was surprised by Xu Kaiyang's reaction.

"How did you know those are pills?" Xiao Qingyang asked in astonishment.

He was certain that pills didn't exist in this world, so how did Xu Kaiyang know that the bottles contained pills?

"Those are pills, extremely rare and precious ones. They are much more effective than potions. I heard that pills can only be found in the secret realms of our academy, and they are a chance encounter. No one knows where they will appear. Before coming to the secret realm, I carefully memorized the characteristics of the pill bottles from online sources. Just in case, who would have thought that we would be this lucky?" Xu Kaiyang spoke excitedly and somewhat incoherently.

In fact, it was because a student had once encountered pills in the secret realm and brought them out to be studied by the researchers in the institute. Although they didn't know how the pills were refined, they discovered that the ingredients inside were highly beneficial for individuals with supernatural abilities, with effects even better than potions.

Afterward, many master pharmacists tried to research how to refine pills but couldn't succeed even after several decades. As a result, the secret realm became the only way for everyone to obtain pills.

One of the most desired treasures for everyone entering the secret realm was, without a doubt, pills.

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Translator’s note: Couldn’t post this yesterday.