"Contract a Demon Beast?" Yuan Yu’er stared in disbelief. She had noticed that a small portion of the demon beasts had been acting strangely and had thought it was due to the nature of the Spiritual Realm, so she didn’t pay much attention.
Yuan Yixiu now understood that his ranking was not a mistake, but because of Song Yan Ning’s involvement. He felt very fortunate that he had chosen to team up with them. If he hadn’t, he would probably still be on the second level fighting against demon beasts.
"Alright, let’s set off now. The search period is seven days, everyone needs to hurry. If you haven’t gathered all the materials listed on the paper at the end of the time, you will be punished. Only the top hundred can enter the fourth level, so everyone, give it your all." The elder glanced at Song Yan Ning, planning to observe her performance further, as well as the quite capable Qin Yushen beside her; he hoped to recruit them both into his sect.
Upon hearing the elder’s words, everyone immediately dispersed. Although they had seven days, many of the Spirit Grasses and materials listed on the paper were unfamiliar to them, let alone ever seen. Thus, they needed to use their time wisely.
Yuan Yu’er coldly glared at Song Yan Ning’s trio and went off in a chosen direction with her newly-formed team. This time it was Yuan Yixiu’s luck, but luck wouldn’t always be on their side.
"We should go too," Qin Yushen said, taking Song Yan Ning’s hand and choosing a direction. He had just used his Divine Sense and found that the path in this direction was steep and difficult to navigate. However, this path was close to a stream; plants need water, meaning there might be more Spirit Grass here. Although he wasn’t an Alchemist, he still knew some about Spirit Grass.
The path under Song Yan Ning’s trio became narrower and more rugged as they walked.
"Look, that’s a Dark Flower." Yuan Yixiu exclaimed upon seeing a blackish-green Dark Flower by the stream ahead—one of the Spirit Grasses they were looking for.
He knelt beside the Dark Flower, carefully dug it out, and then handed it to Song Yan Ning, "You keep this." He greatly admired Song Yan Ning; without her, he wouldn’t have made it to the third level.
Song Yan Ning didn’t refuse and stored the Dark Flower in her Storage Ring.
The trio continued forward, discovering many Spirit Grasses along the way, although only a few were the ones listed on the paper.
"Let’s sit down and rest for a while," Qin Yushen suggested, pulling Song Yan Ning to sit by the stream. They had been walking for a full day and night, and although such physical activity wouldn’t typically affect them, he didn’t want Xiao Ning to get too tired.
Yuan Yixiu sat a bit further from Song Yan Ning and Qin Yushen, taking out the paper, "We have now found Dark Flower, One-leaf Heart Grass, Cloud Bead Mother, and Water Moon Flower, but there are still over twenty materials and Spirit Grasses that we haven’t found."
Song Yan Ning and Qin Yushen nodded.
"Do you think we can gather all these in five days?" Yuan Yixiu was feeling unsure; originally, he thought finding these items would be quite easy, after all, he was an Alchemist himself, and finding Spirit Grass should not have been difficult. Now, he realized it was much harder than he had imagined.
"Don’t worry, I already have a plan," Song Yan Ning said with a light smile, her eyes sparkling with confidence.
"What plan?" Yuan Yixiu asked curiously.
"You’ll find out soon," Song Yan Ning replied mysteriously with a grin, taking a bite of the Spirit Fruit Qin Yushen handed to her, a sweet freshness spreading in her mouth.