For the basic functions of the Purple Mansion (the floating island), Baili defined it as "farming." Baili also established a relatively comprehensive set of rules for the entire Purple Mansion system.

However, one person's thoughts are ultimately fewer than a group's. Brothers and sisters who have ideas or suggestions for the functions of the Purple Mansion should feel free to post them and contribute to its refinement. If an idea is good enough, it might even be incorporated into the story. I believe that the more suggestions, the better. －－－－－－－－ After much consideration, Ye Qin decided to dedicate more time to gathering herbs and cultivating his power, allowing time to naturally soften the bonds between himself and his fellow disciples. Once enough time passed, any lingering resentment or hatred would eventually fade away without a trace.

Ye Qin approached Apothecary Wang with a request: he wished to venture into the mountains for three to five months, or perhaps even longer, before returning to the Herb Gathering Hall. This way, he could collect a larger quantity of medicinal herbs, avoiding the excessive time wasted on travel back and forth.

Furthermore, he vaguely indicated his disinterest in any rivalry involving Yang Yicheng or Feng Xiaozheng.

Apothecary Wang was somewhat surprised by this.

The Herb Gathering Hall had many veteran gatherers who only returned to Zhuqi County town once every six months or even a year. The vast majority of young apprentice gatherers could not endure such solitude and would frequent the county town monthly to dispel the loneliness of the mountains in the local taverns. Even the younger, established gatherers were reluctant to stay deep in the mountains for extended periods, returning at least once every couple of months.

Since Ye Qin was intent on settling down to gather herbs, Apothecary Wang naturally granted his request.

Ye Qin hoisted the large herb basket onto his back, packed provisions—salt and oil—sufficient for half a year, and departed Zhuqi County town, heading for a location over a thousand li away. The territory under Zhuqi County spanned thousands of li in every direction, filled with ancient, deep mountain gullies, perilous peaks, rugged ridges, and countless rivers and streams.

The most frequented areas for the Herb Gathering Hall members lay within a radius of two to five hundred li, locations reachable within a month or two of travel. Many of the remote, ancient gullies had never even been visited by personnel from the Hall.

He would venture further out. In fact, gathering herbs might be more convenient that way. Perhaps he could even find some prime, decades-old medicinal herbs.

Several days later, Ye Qin, slightly breathless, scaled a treacherous peak with his pickaxe and shovel. He had visited this mountain a year ago, gathering a rare Dew Grass stalk from a protruding rock on the rear slope, and had even retrieved and consumed a gray egg from an eagle's nest, narrowly escaping death under the fierce talons of a flock of gray eagles.

All his current changes stemmed from that single adventure.

He had scoured the vast collection of medicinal identification books in the Herb Gathering Hall's library but had found no record of that small green grass. He had even specifically consulted an extremely experienced old gatherer, who claimed to have never heard of such a small grass, refusing to believe that any plant could bear dew drops in the bright midday sun.

Because he had avoided further perilous gathering expeditions afterward, he had gradually forgotten about this place.

A year later, the memory suddenly resurfaced, and Ye Qin decided to revisit the location. If one such specimen had grown here before, there was a high probability of finding a second, or even more. For a gatherer, discovering a rare botanical specimen but being unable to identify it was a deeply frustrating experience.

Ye Qin reached the mountain summit and, after a good half-day's climb, arrived beneath a massive boulder near the peak.

This place was virtually unchanged from when he last left it; even the bones of the grass snake he had cooked and eaten were still present, though the ashes from his previous cooking fire had been scattered by wind and rain, leaving only faint traces.

Ye Qin set his large herb basket on a patch of grass, hunted some game on the peak, cooked, and ate. Looking at the sun already descending toward the west, he realized it was late afternoon. Climbing cliffs to gather herbs now would be unwise as visibility would drop sharply once darkness fell. It was better to rest early and start again at first light tomorrow.

He sat down cross-legged beside the massive peak-side boulder and began meditating to circulate his inner power.

As usual, he first ran the Great Heavenly Cycle continuously, converting his internal essence and energy into the white radiance—what the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture referred to as Primordial Qi.

Then, he sank his consciousness into the floating island within the Endless Void, transforming into a sphere of white light.

On the island, he chased and absorbed the white radiance, enhancing the energy of his light sphere.

Ye Qin was extremely practiced in this process; every absorption, though providing only a minute increase in energy, brought him a surge of exhilarating pleasure. He drifted freely across the island, pursuing those faint wisps of white radiance.

As he became more familiar with the island, Ye Qin gradually learned that the purple lightning of the Endless Void would not easily approach this floating island. Even if he encountered it by chance, as long as he retreated inside the protective aura shield of his Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet, the purple lightning could not penetrate the barrier to pursue him.

He was perfectly safe on this island.

After 'consuming' six wisps of white radiance, Ye Qin was diligently searching for the last wisp of the day. Since he ran the Great Heavenly Cycle seven times daily, he always obtained exactly seven wisps of white radiance.

Curiously, that final wisp had vanished somewhere. He couldn't locate it in the air around him.

A sliver of essence is still essence, and during his vagrant days, Ye Qin had developed the habit of never letting even the smallest bit of sustenance go to waste. He had no intention of abandoning this one.

Ye Qin floated several zhang high in the air, scrutinizing the barren, undulating rock formations covering nearly a li radius around the island, attempting to pinpoint the wisp's location. While the floating island was predominantly flat, it did possess some rocky elevations.

Could the wisp have hidden itself within a rock crevice?

If it were in a fissure, it would be difficult to find. There were numerous nooks and crannies among the island's uneven rocks; it could take half a day just to search them all.

Ye Qin didn't rush the search immediately but instead hovered in the air above the island, waiting.

Normally, even if a wisp of radiance drilled into a rock fissure, it would emerge again soon enough for him to spot it.

However, Ye Qin waited a long, long time, and the wisp never reappeared, causing him to grow subtly anxious. He paused, then immediately descended, drifting towards the gaps among the rock formations to see what was happening.

The fissures were numerous and hard to navigate.

Ye Qin squeezed and darted through countless narrow gaps between the rocks, poking his head in to curiously examine the spaces. Some of these cracks were only half an inch wide; others were merely pinpricks. If he weren't currently a small sphere of light, he wouldn't have been able to enter. He rarely ventured into these barren gray rock fissures because they usually held nothing of interest; he wouldn't be here now if it weren't for the missing wisp of radiance.

As he drifted, he suddenly stopped, alert.

He inhaled deeply.

An extremely faint fragrance reached him—a scent somewhat like medicinal herbs, yet also reminiscent of the damp dewiness of grass in the early morning. What was it? This aroma was precisely like the scent he often encountered while gathering herbs in the forest that morning.

Ye Qin froze, quickly scanning his surroundings, but saw nothing remarkable.

He followed the direction of the scent as it drifted.

From several zhang away, the fragrance faded; he needed to be very close to detect it clearly.

He circled through several rock gaps, and the aroma grew steadily stronger.

Passing through one final fissure, Ye Qin's vision suddenly opened up.

There stood five tender young Dew Grass stalks, each bearing a single leaf, the tip of every leaf adorned with a bead of dew so heavy it looked ready to weep. They grew vibrantly on a small patch of gray rock, even still clinging to tiny bits of mud around their roots.