If it wasn't hidden in the underground cave, could it have been scattered on the ground?
With the intention of probing, Shao Xuan walked around the cave and found a few plants that looked like grains. However, they didn't look like something the Ji family would leave behind because most of them belonged to the land here. Shao Xuan had seen similar plants in various places before. He heard that in the early years, there were tribes that planted them. However, as time went by, people gradually forgot about them due to the discovery of a higher yield type of grain.
The reason he could see these grains that were popular thousands of years ago was because a small tribe used to live here. Moreover, the underground cave was left behind by that unknown tribe. The underground cave was used as a granary to store grains, so there would be some scattered on the ground.
However, these weren't something the Ji family would care about. Even thousands of years ago, they wouldn't have brought these grains with them. If the Ji family carried them around, they must have thought that they were more precious.
After looking around again, Shao Xuan still couldn't find anything.
Could it be that the three Ji family members really didn't bring any seeds? Or perhaps, the seeds they brought had all rotted into dust?
Or could it be that someone had already come here and dug everything away?
No, that shouldn't be the case. Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve had only been here for two to three years. If someone came here earlier, they would have found the underground cave and the longevity leaf wouldn't have been taken away by Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve.
Was he wrong?
Shao Xuan stood at the entrance of the cave and looked around.
There were a lot of weeds and all sorts of unknown plants. There weren't many trees, only a few saplings that weren't growing well and a few scattered shrubs. Hence, the place seemed more spacious.
There were indeed fewer trees in this place. The weeds looked lush but that was only because there were many of them. When they were gathered together, they looked especially lush. However, when they were separated, each one of them didn't look as good.
He thought about the environment where the Thousand Grain Gold grew. When they grew, they would steal all the nutrients from the surrounding soil. It was extremely overbearing. Although it wasn't as obvious here, there was a similar trend.
There was! There must be something here!
Shao Xuan scanned his surroundings again, but this time, he didn't look for grain-like plants. Instead, he looked at all the plants that grew on the ground. Then, his gaze stopped on a plant that didn't even reach his knees.
Earlier, Shao Xuan had been looking for grains and hadn't noticed these plants. Now that he looked at them again, he felt that they were familiar.
Shao Xuan often ran around in the forest, so he would find the plants in the forest familiar. However, this time, it was not the plants he had seen in the forest. After thinking about it carefully, Shao Xuan felt that this was very similar to a plant he had seen in Ji Ju's field.
At that time, Shao Xuan had gone to look for Ji Ju. Ji Ju had brought him around the Golden Grain fields and he had seen many of the plants that were commonly grown there. There were crops for daily consumption and some more special plants.
Among them, there was a plant that Ji Ju called "Veins of the Sky". In the Golden Grain fields, there was a large plot of land specially set aside to grow it. Usually, there were people guarding it. The slaves were not allowed to go there at all and the stewards had to take care of it personally. However, Ji Ju didn't say much at that time and left with Shao Xuan.
The Golden Grain fields were famous for their grains. Ji Ju had mainly introduced Shao Xuan to grains so they had only walked past the place where Veins of the Sky were planted. Shao Xuan didn't have a deep impression of it. If he hadn't seen this plant here, he wouldn't have remembered what Veins of the Sky looked like.
The plant not far away looked very similar to the "Veins of the Sky" planted in Ji Ju's field. However, in comparison, the ones planted in Ji Ju's field had more leaves and grew better. The ones here were very shriveled. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't be able to associate it with the dense foliage of the plants. This was one of the reasons why Shao Xuan didn't notice it at first.
As for the "Veins of the Sky", Shao Xuan had only seen its surface part and had never seen its underground part. The only thing he knew was that the most precious part of the "Veins of the Sky" was all underground. Moreover, the "Veins of the Sky" looked very similar to the distribution of the meridians in the human body. They were born this way so they were named "Veins of the Sky".
Was it really "Veins of the Sky"?
Were these brought here by the three Ji family members?
After discovering one, Shao Xuan looked around. He saw a few more but they weren't big and didn't grow as well as the ones in the Golden Grain Fields.
Shao Xuan stabbed his sword into the ground and took out a dagger. He planned to dig one up first. After taking two steps, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. Shao Xuan tilted his head and looked at a "bush" about ten meters away from him. He had always thought that it was just an ordinary bush growing here, but now he felt that something was wrong.
He turned around and walked towards the shrub. When he got closer, he realized that it wasn't a shrub, but a plant with many branches. The leaves on the branches weren't very big, but when compared to the 'Vein of the Heavens', he realized that the leaves on the branches were exactly the same!
The only difference was that the stem of the "Veins of the Sky" wasn't made of wood. The one Shao Xuan saw in the Golden Grain Fields wasn't made of wood either but this one was!
This "Veins of the Sky" could be said to be the best growing plant in this area. Although it was only half the height of a person, it was the largest of all the other Veins of the Heavens in the area!
If the Veins of the Sky weren't herbs that only grew for a few years but could turn into wood and grow endlessly, then could this biggest "Veins of the Sky" have been left behind by the Ji family?
But after a thousand years, this was the only change the "Veins of the Sky" had?
No matter what, this was still a huge discovery!
Shao Xuan was excited. Although he was anxious to see how the biggest "Veins of the Sky" grew, he didn't touch it directly. He didn't know what the underground part of the Veins of the Sky was like. If he wasn't careful, he might accidentally destroy a treasure.
So, Shao Xuan walked back, took the dagger, and carefully dug out the small one he had found earlier.
Bit by bit, the soil was removed. This plant that didn't even reach Shao Xuan's knee revealed its roots.
There were many roots. If not for the different stems and leaves, Shao Xuan would have thought he was digging up ginseng. However, this root was even finer and more numerous than ginseng.
Shao Xuan was even more careful, trying his best to dig out this "Veins of the Sky".
The more he dug, the more shocked he became. When he saw the complete Veins of the Sky, Shao Xuan felt a chill run down his spine.
It was too similar!
It was too similar!
When Shao Xuan first heard about the Veins of the Sky from Ji Ju, he only knew that the most useful underground part of the Veins of the Sky looked very similar to a human's meridians. Now that he saw it for himself, he knew how similar it was.
The roots he dug out were no more than the length of a palm. Each of the thin roots seemed to correspond to a meridian in the human body. Which part was thick, which part was thin, which part was long, which part was short, which part was forked … More than ninety percent of them corresponded!
The Veins of the Sky lived up to its name!
Shao Xuan didn't know what the Veins of the Sky were used for. Ji Ju didn't mention it at the time, only telling Shao Xuan that it was a plant used for medicinal purposes. However, looking at it, it should be related to meridians, right?
After digging out one, Shao Xuan looked around again. Now that he was looking for the Veins of the Sky instead of staring at the grains, he realized that there were quite a few Veins of the Sky growing in this area. Shao Xuan just looked around fifty meters and saw more than twenty! However, those were not big and didn't grow very well. Perhaps the biggest one had stolen all the nutrients.
Shao Xuan planned to dig these up and bring them back to take a look. It would be even better if they could be transplanted. Since Ji Ju was willing to open up such a large piece of land in the field just to plant the Veins of the Sky, and even guarded it with so many soldiers, it must be something extraordinary.
After chasing Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve for so long and spending so much time running here, Shao Xuan didn't plan to return to the tribe tonight. He decided to stay here and guard it first.
He went to the forest to hunt a wild boar and found some fruits for dinner. During the hunt, Shao Xuan saw a flying squirrel being hunted. This kind of thing happened all the time in the forest and could be seen everywhere. If it was in the past, Shao Xuan wouldn't even look at it. However, today, Shao Xuan stepped in and saved the injured flying squirrel that was about to be swallowed.
It wasn't that Shao Xuan suddenly decided to be kind. He thought of the Veins of the Sky and wanted to use this flying squirrel to test its use.
The flying squirrel that was tied up by Shao Xuan screamed in fear and struggled with all its might. However, it couldn't break free from the rope no matter how hard it tried.
He waited for Shao Xuan to finish off the wild boar and fill his stomach before bringing the flying squirrel over. He didn't bring it too close. This little thing's claws were sharp and it could bite. Shao Xuan held the flying squirrel in one hand and the Veins of the Sky that he dug up today with the other hand. He moved the roots towards the flying squirrel.
When the roots of Veins of the Sky reached the flying squirrel, the flying squirrel tried to avoid them. Shao Xuan continued moving the roots of Veins of the Sky closer to the flying squirrel's mouth. The flying squirrel was forced into a corner and bit down. Then, it froze.
However, it only froze for a second. Soon, the flying squirrel crazily gnawed at the roots of Veins of the Sky. It was as fast as a chef cutting vegetables. Only a series of crunching sounds could be heard. The roots of Veins of the Sky that were close to the flying squirrel's mouth quickly disappeared.
When Shao Xuan pulled back the Veins of the Sky, the flying squirrel was still struggling. It looked reluctant and stretched its neck out, wanting to continue gnawing.
Shao Xuan didn't give it any more Veins of the Sky. He quietly observed the flying squirrel's changes.
Many animals had a natural instinct and intuition to find herbs. They knew what was good for them and when to eat it. Since it was so eager, Veins of the Sky must be very useful.
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