The thick layer of fallen leaves stirred, and Gu Xichen let out a low chuckle. Carefully, flexing the joints and muscles of his body from fingertip to toe, he confirmed that aside from having depleted over ninety percent of his true qi, nothing else seemed amiss. Only then did Gu Xichen slowly climb out from under the leaves. He propped himself up inch by inch, meticulously inspecting the condition of every muscle and bone, finding that his body had indeed returned to its original state. With a sudden heave, Gu Xichen straightened up.

A flurry of fine shattering sounds accompanied large fragments of his damaged skin, along with masses of dried, congealed blood, peeling away to reveal newborn, fair, and tender skin on his body's surface.

Pressing hard against the muscles of his chest with his fingers, Gu Xichen wore a relieved smile, the look of one who had escaped disaster.

"Father, you are truly great. For this Dao Embryo, you actually went and killed a Vampire Prince! You are truly magnificent!"

Sensing the Dao Embryo continuously releasing streams of pure, vital energy to nourish his body, the severely damaged physique not only recovered but was even strengthened to a degree. Gu Xichen's admiration for his father deepened. To condense the Dao Embryo using a Blood Race Prince's core—how on earth did the old man even conceive of such a thing?

His Type-III Assassin combat suit was utterly ruined; only a belt was barely clinging to his waist. Gu Xichen simply yanked the belt off, letting his body be exposed to the air.

A breeze blew from beyond a row of Torreya grandis trees ahead—a cool wind carrying a rich fragrance that instantly invigorated the spirit. Gu Xichen surveyed the surroundings: behind him lay a winding, sheer-cliffed gorge, above him were dense clumps of vegetation clinging to the cliffs, and in front of him stood a line of Torreya grandis trees, through whose dense leaves slivers of daylight faintly filtered.

Uncertain if Siren was still searching for him outside, Gu Xichen pondered for a moment before striding into the valley. Just as he rounded the row of Torreya grandis trees, Gu Xichen froze abruptly.

Behind this line of trees lay a thicket of peach trees in full bloom. Crimson petals drifted down on the wind, carpeting the ground in vibrant green grass, the mix of red flowers and green earth strikingly conspicuous. A peach orchard wouldn't typically surprise Gu Xichen, but what if every single one of these thousand-plus trees boasted a trunk thickness of three meters?

Nearly a thousand peach trees were packed tightly at the valley's entrance, each trunk wider than three meters. Gu Xichen suspected these trees must have grown for at least several millennia to achieve such stature. The branches and leaves of the peach trees intertwined and scaled each other, forming a dense, impenetrable canopy overhead. Fist-sized crimson peach blossoms bloomed profusely, resembling a raging inferno touching the sky. A few plump, large-eared squirrels scampered playfully among the branches, a few petals clinging to their fur.

These ancient peach trees pulsed with frightening vitality; simply standing near them sent a wave of rich qi washing over him. Gu Xichen took several deep breaths, the fresh wind mingled with the heavy fragrance of peach blossoms swirling in his lungs, seeming to dispel the Fire Toxin that had invaded his body during Aredia’s attack the previous night.

"Tsk, tsk, what a place!" Gu Xichen's eyes gleamed. He ambled slowly through the peach grove, admiring this nearly maniacally flourishing grove as he made his way toward the valley's depths.

A sudden brightness ahead signaled the edge of the peach forest, revealing a breathtaking valley before Gu Xichen.

The valley stretched about seventeen or eighteen kilometers long and perhaps three kilometers wide. Several crystal-clear streams trickled out from the mountain walls on all sides, converging in the center of the valley to form a shallow lake, no more than three feet deep. Water constantly flowed into the lake, yet the water level remained fixed at that depth. To the left of the small lake was an expansive flower field where exotic and rare blossoms burst forth in color, attracting a flurry of bees and butterflies that danced ceaselessly around the vibrant spectacle. To the right was a small pine grove, with large quantities of spider plants hanging from the branches, and goblet-shaped orchids emitting an intoxicating, heady perfume.

He hopped over two streams and followed the lake's edge forward. Past the flower field and the pine grove, an area dedicated to medicinal herbs stretched out before him.

Gu Xichen’s face twitched. He never dreamed he would find an herb garden here. Among the herbs he could identify were ginseng, He Shou Wu (Fo-ti), and Lingzhi mushroom, but the portion of a ginseng root visible above the soil near his feet was as thick as Gu Xichen's wrist—how long must that ginseng have grown to become so robust? Underneath a stone slab ahead, a Jade-colored Lingzhi mushroom, spanning three feet across, was flourishing perfectly, its thick, luscious caps seemingly ready to drip jade-colored juice.

What baffled Gu Xichen was the soil in this herb garden: it was a mysterious, deep purple, and milky-white vapor continuously seeped out from the earth. It seemed that nourished by this milky-white flow, these ginseng and Lingzhi could grow so plentifully and thickly. Gu Xichen cautiously squatted down and used his finger to gently probe a wisp of the milky-white vapor that had just erupted from the ground. The vapor infiltrated Gu Xichen’s body, melting into his meridians and transforming into a stream of pure, innate Gang Qi.

Gu Xichen was startled, instinctively leaping seven or eight meters backward. He cautiously circulated his true qi for three complete orbits. The true qi derived from the milky-white vapor integrated perfectly with his existing true qi without any anomaly; during the circulation, he detected no irregularities whatsoever. Only then did Gu Xichen relax, staring blankly at the herb field stretching nearly a kilometer in length and width, his brow furrowed tightly.

"What is this place? A legendary Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land? This terrestrial qi can be absorbed directly and converted into true qi? I’ve never heard of a place like this on Earth."

His gaze flickered for a moment, and Gu Xichen murmured to himself, "Or perhaps such places do exist? The Asian Dao Alliance, and the other organizations on par with it. I've seen a zombie, at least!"

"Is anyone here?" Gu Xichen suddenly shouted out loudly, "Is there anyone here?"

His powerful voice rolled throughout the entire valley, but the valley remained silent. The mountain walls, covered in trailing vines and gnarled old trees, absorbed his voice perfectly, returning not even an echo.

Gu Xichen stared blankly at the herb garden before him. It was clear this field was man-made. The ginseng, He Shou Wu, and Lingzhi were all planted in environments most suitable for their growth, and all spiritual herbs of the same type occupied their own specific plots. Everything was neatly arranged: every cluster of Lingzhi was accompanied by a rock; every ginseng plant had a few trees beside it. Each type of herb was distributed according to the Five Elements orientation, with every five herbs forming a regular pentagon.

Targeting the ground in the center of five ginseng plants, Gu Xichen plunged his right hand fiercely into the purple soil. His right claw pierced nearly a foot underground, and his fingertips brushed against a hard object. Instinctively, his right hand seized and pulled, lifting a Zakla energy crystal, the size of a human head and dripping with a lush green hue reminiscent of a leaf after rain, into his palm.

Faint tendrils of green light swirled around the Zakla crystal. A thick, fresh aroma continuously seeped into his body through his fingers; tiny droplets of dense vitality cleansed Gu Xichen’s body, dispelling the last vestiges of the Fire Toxin remaining within him.

"Is anyone here? Hey, hey, this joke isn't funny!" Gu Xichen dug beneath the center of five He Shou Wu plants and unearthed another human-head-sized piece of green crystal. Both crystals were equally pure, their rich colors deeply appealing. Holding one crystal in each hand, the cultivation method of his Hanyuan True Canon began to operate spontaneously. Streams of cool energy circulated through his meridians, and in no time, the depleted Gang Qi was replenished.

Steel-hearted, Gu Xichen reburied the two crystals where they lay and strode purposefully toward the bamboo forest at the far end of the valley.

This was a strange bamboo grove of purple-silver, towering over ten meters high yet as thin as a finger. The sparse stalks swayed naturally in the gentle breeze, the leaves clicking together with a crisp 'ding-ding' sound. Wisps of faint white vapor circled near the bamboo roots, like smoke or mist, lending the purple-silver grove an almost celestial appearance.

Rushing swiftly through the bamboo grove, a sea of purple flowers suddenly burst into view. It was a vigorous, fire-like expanse of Wisteria vines, stretching a hundred zhang wide, drooping from cliffs a hundred zhang high, blooming exuberantly as if cheering. The dense, brilliant purple sea of flowers almost made Gu Xichen laugh the moment he saw them. This splendid, arrogantly unrestrained floral display instantly brightened his spirits.

One to the left, and two to the right—three thatched huts, each several zhang square, stood quietly nestled within the embrace of the Wisteria sea. Directly ahead, on the cliff face, was a square cave entrance, above which hung three ancient, solemn Tadpole Script characters—I Go Free. If Gu Xichen hadn't studied the Daozang since childhood, forcing him to learn these archaic characters, he wouldn't have recognized them.

I Go Free—three wonderfully carefree characters. The master had departed, leaving behind this valley of peach trees, a flower garden, a pine and orchid patch, an herb garden, a bamboo forest, this magnificent Wisteria sea, three thatched cottages, and one cave.

Of the three thatched huts, Gu Xichen chose the two on the right and stepped inside.

The cute little Gu is about to make it big, hehe... Where are the recommendation votes? Let the Pig's recommendation votes get big too! Recommend, recommend!