Ball Ball Cultivation

The information he got from casual conversation was limited, so Qiuqiu had to go to the tiankeng to find a way back.

The weather was not good, and it started to drizzle the next day. Summer had just passed, and the autumn heat was extinguished by the autumn rain, making the weather instantly cool and pleasant.

Two days later, the mountain road was no longer slippery, and the mushrooms in the mountain stream were in full bloom. Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian carried the balls in a basket and went up the mountain.

We found a lot of wood ear mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and mountain tree mushrooms along the way, and we picked a lot. A kind of green-skinned mushroom, commonly known locally as ground corner skin, is especially common. Wash it and make a cold salad, or dry it and make soup in winter. After drying, it looks a bit like seaweed. Is there a mainland version of seaweed egg drop soup?

The grass was damp and wet after the rain, so we didn't encounter any rabbits foraging along the way. So both backpacks were filled with wild mushrooms. Perhaps because they were taking the usual route up the mountain with Qiuqiu, the rabbits stayed away. With this speed, they focused on their journey and picked mushrooms along the way, and they reached the tiankeng in less than two hours.

Although Qiuqiu's cultivation was useless and his spiritual sense was severely damaged and unable to explore, his eyesight was still fine! The so-called tiankeng felt familiar. There was no grass or green plants for more than ten miles around, and the middle was a wide-mouthed bowl-shaped, slowly sinking. The scene when he encountered his natal magic weapon was similar to this, but there was nothing in sight. Could he have guessed wrong?

After letting the Tians pick their own produce, Qiuqiu approached the pit on his own. After a night of autumn rain, the pit was completely dry, and there was no grass growing around it. Qiuqiu decided to take a closer look.

As I got closer to the bottom of the tiankeng, I heard a voice behind me: "Amitabha, benefactor, please watch your step. Anyone who came to take a closer look at the immortal branches at the bottom of the pit would have disappeared three months ago."

Qiuqiu stopped and turned around to greet the nun. Behind the nun, a beautiful woman in plain monk robes and with her long hair tied up exclaimed, "Ajin!"

Qiuqiu was wearing her own black robe, with her hair tied up high. At first glance, it was hard to tell whether she was male or female, but a closer look would reveal that she was a woman. The beautiful woman came to her senses and muttered, "Amitabha, I'm sorry, benefactor! I recognized the wrong person."

"You look familiar to me too. I suffered a head injury a few months ago and I don't remember a lot of things. Oh, I don't know how to find the way home!" After saying this, his face was full of loneliness, and he glanced at the beautiful woman's reaction.

Disappointingly, the beautiful lady was so lost in her own thoughts that nothing could be seen.

"Master, I'm honored. May I ask what this immortal branch is?"

"You're welcome. I don't know how long ago this sinkhole existed. Inside it was a branch that couldn't be taken away or moved. Despite countless changes, the branch remained unchanged, becoming an immortal branch."

"What's the point of such an immortal thing that has existed for so long? How did it disappear?"

"No one can get close to this immortal branch within a hundred meters. It suddenly disappeared, and I don't know what happened. There's no one guarding this place, and sometimes there's no one patrolling for a long time. It's possible that the branch was blown away by the wind."

"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Master."

"Amitabha."

Qiuqiu wanted to continue exploring, but after taking a few steps, he heard the voice of a beautiful woman with long hair practicing Buddhism behind him: "Your life experience may be related to someone in the imperial palace in the capital, so remember to be careful."

Qiuqiu: I accidentally came here. How come I look like someone named Ajin? It’s really magical.

If you want to find the way home, you can only look for clues at the bottom of the tiankeng.

The path sloped down, the road firm and not slippery like after the rain. Qiuqiu had just woken up from his coma and was about as strong as an average person. Leaning on a wooden stick, he walked for the better part of an hour, slowly reaching the bottom of the tiankeng. He repeatedly inspected the area but found nothing. He tried to scoop up some dirt with the stick to take back for further study, but nearly broke it! He managed to scrape some off with his fingertips, demonstrating the soil's hardness.

On the way back, Qiuqiu helped the Tian family shoot two pheasants with stones. Uncle Tian also found a fat rabbit from his usual traps. That night, the family enjoyed shredded chicken noodles. Afterward, they heard Uncle Tian sorting and sorting mountain produce, neatly arranging the best-looking items. He also cleaned the fat rabbit's wounds and planned to take it to town to sell tomorrow morning. Qiuqiu suggested tagging along, hoping to find out where this place was. How could they return to the world of cultivation? There was no spiritual energy here, no elixirs or spiritual stones to help him recover from his injuries, and with no outside help, it was unclear how long it would take to recover.

Shanmiao Town was a relatively prosperous town, close to the official road, so hotels and inns were everywhere. Upon arriving in town, Qiuqiu and Uncle Tian walked separately, agreeing to meet at the largest bookstore that afternoon.

First, we went to a small tavern along the street and listened to the casual chats of various businessmen. The most discussed topic was the unclear death of the old Duke Shen. Some said that the emperor summoned him back to the capital and he disobeyed the order and was killed on the spot. Some said that he was killed by spies from the enemy country. Some said that he died of an acute illness. Now that the young General Shen has been ordered to take charge of the situation, no one knows what will happen. There are many different opinions.

After lunch, she headed to the town's largest bookstore. As a cultivator, she possessed an exceptional memory, practically a photographic memory. Furthermore, she was well-dressed and possessed an ethereal aura. She primarily browsed through history books, travelogues, and some ancient legends and miscellaneous records. Even though she spent nearly two hours browsing without buying a single book, no one dared to find fault with her. She flipped through each book with incredible speed, yet with a serious devotion, as if searching for the book she needed.

"Shopkeeper, do you have a map?" Qiuqiu lowered his voice, making it difficult to tell whether he was a man or a woman.

Shopkeeper: You've been looking for a book for nearly two hours, flipping through every section. So you were looking for a map? Why didn't you tell me earlier?

"Sir, this map is regulated in our Great Qi State. If you need it, you must register your purpose with your ID card before you can buy it. Our shop does have the right to sell it." He couldn't hide the pride in his eyes as he spoke.

"I didn't take the identity card Wendie. Can you get it for me to take a look? I want to confirm the level of detail of the map!" Look at my sincere eyes!

The shopkeeper, displaying his superiority, walked to the wooden box behind the counter, opened it with his key, and carefully took out two scrolls. He first opened the smaller one on the counter and said, "This is our provincial capital. It has detailed roads and no deviations. I want seven taels of silver."

He opened it for less than five seconds and then closed it immediately, then slowly opened another slightly larger scroll, "This is the map of our Great Qi, ten taels of silver, no bargaining!" He pointed to the green and yellow things on it and explained.

"This is a color map published two years ago. We only have three copies in our shop, and now there is only this one left. If you didn't really want it, I wouldn't be willing to give it to you!" After showing off, he carefully rolled up the map.