“What?! All of my savings are gone?!”

Upon hearing this utterly devastating news, the Formation Spirit was immediately overcome with grief, nearly fainting on the spot.

“You little rascal, so young and already learning no good,” the Formation Spirit said, eyes bloodshot and teeth gritted. “Listen here, spit out everything you ate from me right now, or don’t blame this Old Man for being impolite!”

The little grass spirit timidly hung its head, mumbling, “It’s all in my belly now. I can’t spit it out. Should I… poop it out for you?”

“Trying to weasel your way out, huh?”

Hearing this, the Formation Spirit completely lost it, saying fiercely, “Do you believe this Old Man will set up a pot right now and stew you, you thieving weed, and then make you poop it out…”

As it spoke, veins throbbed violently on its forehead. It rolled up its sleeves and prepared to step forward.

“Senior, please calm down first!”

Seeing the situation was about to spiral out of control, Qi Yuan hurried forward to intervene. Then, with a grave and earnest tone, he said:

“You are a Formation Spirit, and this child is a Grass Spirit. Speaking of which, we’re all part of the spirit race. For fellow spirits to eat and… excrete each other is a bit too cruel. In my opinion, it’s better to discuss matters properly and not harm the harmony.”

“What in the world is the ‘spirit race’?” The Formation Spirit was clearly taken aback for a moment before glaring angrily at Qi Yuan. “You brat, whose side are you on anyway? Why are you always speaking up for this little thief?”

“I’m warning you! This thieving weed has repeatedly ransacked my cave dwelling. Today, it must give an account, or this matter is absolutely not over!”

“Ahem…”

Qi Yuan forced a dry laugh. “Senior, you misunderstand. Of course I’m on your side.”

“What’s done is done. Blaming it now won’t help matters. It’s better to think of a way to recover the losses.”

Hearing this, the Formation Spirit finally regained some composure. Taking a deep breath, it said solemnly, “Then tell me, how can we recover this Old Man’s losses?”

Qi Yuan turned his gaze to the little grass spirit. The latter didn’t seem particularly guilty; instead, it adopted an unyielding posture of “a dead pig fears no scalding water,” speaking in a self-righteous tone.

“Big Brother, you don’t need to plead for me. Grandpa Ginseng said that when you’re out in the world and your boat capsizes, you have to admit it; when you get beaten, you stand straight. In a few thousand years, I’ll be a fine spirit herb again!”

Who would have thought this little grass spirit would be so tough!

Qi Yuan was speechless for a moment upon hearing this. However, he still managed to soothe the Formation Spirit, which was on the verge of another outburst, and advised:

“Grasses and trees are inherently pure and innocent. The reason it’s so mischievous is simply because it was led astray by some irresponsible guardian. With proper discipline, there might still be hope.”

“Once the little grass spirit recognizes its mistake, it will surely take the initiative to reform itself. Then we can have it obediently go out to work and search for treasures to pay you back what it stole with interest…”

The Formation Spirit fell silent for a moment after listening, its expression revealing deep weariness. “Sigh… you’re right.”

“There’s no use fighting with this unruly child who knows nothing of the world. The fault lies with its guardian. If I ever meet that scoundrel who corrupted this child, this Old Man will surely act on behalf of Heaven and teach that disrespectful old fool a proper lesson.”

As it spoke, the Formation Spirit glanced at Qi Yuan and said slowly:

“Forget it. Just help it remove that Suppressing Spirit Talisman. You possess a mortal body; the talisman has no effect on you. Just go over and take it off directly.”

“However, afterward, I will take this unruly child back to my cave dwelling for proper upbringing and education to prevent it from continuing its reckless behavior and straying onto the wrong path in the future.”

“Alright.”

Qi Yuan nodded and stepped forward to pluck the silver talisman floating in mid-air.

Hum!

Ripples like water waves spread outward. The sealing power that had been suppressing the area visibly weakened until it completely vanished.

“Hahaha! Freedom! I’m finally free!”

After breaking free from its confinement, the Phantom Star Herb spirit immediately cheered with joy, dancing around happily. “Big Brother! You’re truly amazing!”

The next moment.

[Ding! Host has completed side quest: Rescue the Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb. You now have the following two choices:]

[One: Take advantage of its unpreparedness to reapply the Suppressing Spirit Talisman and control the Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb again. Crush it into medicinal ingredients to obtain one chance for Spiritual Energy Infusion into your body.]

[Two: Actively release it and allow the Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb to leave freely. Upon completion, you will receive its gratitude and recognition while also obtaining a wisp of Heavenly Dao Aura…]

Faced with the options given by the system, Qi Yuan didn’t hesitate for even a moment; he immediately wanted to choose the second option.

Just then, a cheerful dog bark suddenly sounded in his ear.

“Woof woof woof—”

He turned his head to look and was immediately shocked.

The Formation Spirit, which had been acting perfectly normal just moments before, now seemed like it had gone mad. It was barking like a dog while crawling on all fours like one, vigorously pawing at the ground with its limbs. It occasionally sniffed with its nose before starting to frantically eat dirt…

It ate large mouthfuls with incredible relish as if savoring some supreme delicacy.

???

Qi Yuan stared blankly at this scene. “Formation Spirit Senior… what’s wrong with you?”

However, the Formation Spirit seemed oblivious to his question and continued burying its head in eating dirt.

Over here, the little grass spirit proudly lifted its small head and said in a boastful tone:

“Grandpa Ginseng once said that a good spirit herb must be clear about gratitude and grudges; debts must be repaid!”

“This guy actually dared threaten to stew me earlier and even wanted to eat me? How outrageous! Hmph… As payback, I naturally had to make him eat his fill of… excrement.”

“He now thinks he’s a dog and sees this pile of dirt as… well… poop! He’s happily eating dirt!”

Qi Yuan: “…”

As if suddenly realizing something, his expression turned serious as he exclaimed in understanding:

“Even a Soul Formation realm Formation Spirit fell under your illusion… So you’ve already become a ten-thousand-year spirit herb!”

At this moment, he finally discovered the hidden information in the quest description.

Whether choosing “Turn Hostile” or “Actively Release”, the target was “Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb” and not “Soon-to-Mature Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb”.

This proved that the Phantom Star Herb had now completely transformed itself and reached the ten-thousand-year level!

And most likely matured just within recent days because when the system issued this side quest last time, the description for Phantom Star Herb was “Soon-to-Mature Ten-Thousand-Year Phantom Star Herb”…

“Big Brother, you guessed right.”

Just as his thoughts were racing, the little grass spirit chuckled. The immature spiritual fruit on its head suddenly blurred, transforming into a mature spiritual fruit enveloped in purple mist.

“Actually, I turned ten thousand years old four or five days ago. But that hateful, wicked woman was completely obsessed with waiting until I reached ten thousand years old so she could pluck me for alchemy.”

“Grandpa Ginseng said that when facing trouble, a clever spirit herb should learn to tuck its tail between its legs and play dumb.”

“In order not to get eaten immediately, I could only hide my achievement of becoming a ten-thousand-year spirit herb, pretending I hadn’t matured yet.”

Seemingly recalling Ji Chan’er’s terrifying nature, the little grass spirit couldn’t help but shudder before continuing resentfully:

“That evil woman is simply too despicable! If she hadn’t ambushed me while I was reading, how could she possibly have caught me…”

With your level of sophistication, you read books?

Qi Yuan looked utterly unconvinced but still asked curiously:

“What kind of books do you usually read?”

Upon being asked, the little grass spirit proudly pulled out from its pocket a large stack of thread-bound booklets showing significant wear.

“Grandpa Ginseng said that good spirit herbs should read more books like these. But before, it hid these books very deeply, never letting me see them.”

“However, after Grandpa Ginseng left, I specifically moved these books out. I don’t really understand much of their contents, but their illustrations are quite interesting! Hehe…”

Qi Yuan casually took several books from its hands. The next moment, he froze.

Flower Pavilion Travelogue, The Amorous Monk, The Secret Record of the Golden Lotus…

For heaven’s sake! Are these books appropriate for a ten-thousand-year-old child?!