Eeya!

Under Feng Bingwen's watchful gaze, the charming and adorable little flower fairy buried the peony seed she had brought into the soil. At the moment it was completely submerged in the soil, the essence of the plants contained in the peony seed suddenly burst forth.

Then, Feng Bingwen saw a strange sight. In just a few breaths, a peony with bright flowers and tender green leaves stood tall in the soil of the flower bed in his yard, which had hardly any ornamental flowers and plants to begin with, as if it had been growing for quite some time.

Looking at the little flower fairy again, she no longer had the same energetic and adorable appearance. The little girl was listless, just like a mortal who had stayed up for several nights in a row, yawning incessantly. Even the petal wings on her back had shriveled up and curled up into a ball.

"You little rascal!"

Seeing this, Feng Bingwen immediately understood that the little guy had clearly brought her true form, and her morning inquiry was a request for his opinion.

"That's incredibly stupid!"

Spirits born from the essence of plants and trees, even if they encounter accidents, have the chance to be reborn as long as the original plant exists. In other words, if something goes wrong with the original plant, the spirit, even if it doesn't die, will not fare well.

"Eeya!"

Hearing Feng Bingwen's reprimand, the yawning little sprite waved its hand dismissively, then laboriously climbed onto the blooming peony, lay down in the flower bud, and the white petals immediately closed up, enveloping it, and it fell asleep.

"Tsk!"

Feng Bingwen sighed, but a strange feeling lingered in his heart. He waved his hand, and spiritual water gathered in the air before sprinkling onto the peony that had bloomed in an instant.

"Luckily you ran into me. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have swallowed you whole. How could you be so careless? Really..."

The child shook his head, sighing repeatedly.

Whether this peony spirit is ignorant or naive, such behavior is a death sentence for the spirits of the mountains; even a near-death experience is an understatement.

Gambling with one's life on human nature rarely ends well.

Even he himself, the reason why he is not interested in the spirits in the mountains, and even has goodwill towards them, and gives them any benefits, is probably because they are useless to him.

If, before the miraculous power of the Heavenly Book was triggered, you were faced with a mountain spirit that could prolong life, replenish vital energy, and prevent all diseases if eaten, yet had no ability to resist, and would even fall ill if you encountered a wandering ghost, what would you do?

Feng Bingwen was unaware that this was a paradox for him. It was only after obtaining the Dragon Balls that he attracted these strange little spirits, and once he possessed the Dragon Balls, he began to look down on them.

"Little guy, you're really lucky!"

Feng Bingwen looked at the peony in the courtyard that was about to bloom, seemingly admiring it but actually boasting. After saying this, he put his hands behind his back and went into the room.

However, before entering the house, he seemed to sense something and glanced down at his feet. His brows furrowed slightly, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. He then smiled, but quickly returned to normal, went to bed, hugged the cat, and began studying the Daoist scriptures.

This was his daily routine: studying the Daoist canon for one or two hours before bed, which he considered his life complete. The Daoist canon was full of profound wisdom, containing the ultimate truths of the universe in just a few words.

This amount of time each day was Feng Bingwen's limit. Any more than that would make him dizzy and confused, and he would just skim through it without any real understanding. Just like how ordinary people study ancient classics, it's already quite an achievement if they can put their mind to it.

While Feng Bingwen was calmly and attentively reciting the Taoist scriptures, two or three miles directly below the Feng family mansion, in a newly opened small cave, stood a small old man, no more than three feet tall, hunched over, with a kind and benevolent face, leaning on a cane, his face full of fear.

At first glance, this little old man looks much like an ordinary human elder, except that he is too short, like a dwarf. But if you look closely, you can see that he is not human.

The dwarf-like old man's beard wasn't a normal white beard, but rather fine roots hanging down his chest. On his head, a small tree grew, with a few delicate green leaves, making him look quite unique.

"Oh no, oh no! How can this little white peony be so insensible? What should I do?"

The old man, who looked human but was not human in essence, paced anxiously underground, his face full of distress.

"That human child seems ordinary, but there's clearly something terrifying about him. Could it be that he noticed me with that one glance?"

"well!"

In his anxiety and unease, the old man sighed repeatedly.

"That human boy seems kind-hearted, but judging from his methods, he must have a big scheme. Little White Peony is still too young. I should have confined her when she came back from here. I shouldn't have let her run here again and again, leading the other children in the valley astray."

"Wait a little longer; that brat shouldn't harm Xiao Baishao for now. When the opportunity arises, we must not hesitate; even if it costs us our own life force, we must bring Xiao Baishao back."

"I'd better go back first. If I stay here too long, strange things will inevitably happen around me, and that brat will notice me too. This is terrible."

Having made up his mind, the old man sighed, turned into a white light, and disappeared directly from the ground, passing through the surrounding soil and rocks without any obstruction.

"They're finally gone!"

At the very moment the old man fled, Feng Bingwen, who had been sitting peacefully on the bed, cuddling his cat and reading the Daoist canon, opened his eyes almost simultaneously, shook his head helplessly, closed his eyes, and lay down to sleep.

He could sense the Qi that lingered beneath the mansion, similar to the plant spirits he had encountered, but even more ancient. Its unique aura naturally led him to speculate about the origin of that Qi.

Even if he guessed it, there was nothing he could do about it. It is difficult for plants and trees to attain enlightenment, and even more difficult to achieve it. But it is precisely because of this difficulty that any plant or tree spirit, as long as it has lived for a slightly longer period of time, can comprehend extraordinary earth-遁 (earth-escaping) techniques.

Although it was a spiritual root that might benefit him, it was a spiritual object that he couldn't obtain with his current means, so Feng Bingwen had no interest in it.

Originally, Feng Bingwen's plan was this: he thought that even if the unknown spiritual root was related to the little flower spirit, it could just wander around his house a few times, take a look, and then give up. He wasn't that petty; taking a look wouldn't hurt him.

But to his surprise, that guy seemed to think he really couldn't do anything to him, and actually went too far, wandering around his house every few days, seemingly observing his behavior. This feeling of being watched from time to time immediately annoyed Feng Bingwen.