I switched to standing on my sword and turned to Little Spring. “Hop on!”

He jumped behind me and I flew us above the forest then towards the vines.

I zoomed over bamboo and a few rare spiritual trees. Small green bird-type spirit beasts appeared to race us but we quickly passed them. Which was good because those things could be annoying little shits.

Soon, I stopped the sword's momentum and hovered near a clearing. It had a rocky cliff on one side where a small waterfall flowed into a clear pond. On the side of this cliff, a mass of vines had wormed their way up, clinging to blueish-grey stone.

From this distance, even in the daylight, the thick vines resembled a glittering field of stars against a dark night sky. If I were closer, I’d be able to see small shining flowers, slowly open and close, giving off an illusion of heavenly bodies dying then being reborn. These were the vines we were looking for, and it was easy to see how they received the name Vines of Stellar Rebirth.

A roar rocked the surrounding area. If it had just been a loud sound then, we would have been fine, but unfortunately, this rage-filled yell contained the vicious bloodlust of a spiritual beast.

The massive pressure from it hit my weak body like a hammer and a sour feeling bubbled at the back of my throat. I coughed up a half-mouthful of blood.

I checked on Little Spring since he had a lower level. His skin had turned pale. The poor kid must have also coughed up blood.

After taking out a handkerchief and wiping my mouth, I quickly handed him a clean towel and one of the few crappy healing pills we had left. He tried to give the pill back but I moved us farther away from the impending fight and stared him down until he ate it.

The beast, who was in the middle of Stage 2, had the appearance of a bear made from rock and fur. Its two black eyes glared ominously at the group of cultivators that posed a threat.

The team all wore different style robes, some were nice and others, shabby. The most expensive-looking clothes were worn by the female Gold Core Cultivator. Though I couldn’t see much of her face through the trees, my divine sense picked up that her pastel purple robes were made from Shark Spun Silk, an expensive and rare material even back during this time. This very rich woman also wore a fluffy pill testing beast like a scarf for whatever reason.

The two male Foundation Establishment cultivators brought out very nice swords for their realm and started to attack the spirit beast while the others watched on, bored.

Now was our chance. I slowly lowered us down behind some mundane bushes, pulled out my sword, and crept toward the vines.

The wealthy woman suddenly appeared in front of us. Her familiar, friendly-seeming face, grinned down at us as if we were adorable little rascals.

Holy shit snakes! During this time period, this greedy little ass-possum worked as a stripper(the plant type)?!

“Violet Pill Fairy?” One of her minions called.

“Oh, nothing. I just found some cute little kids getting in over their heads. It seems like they’re after my vines.”

Your vines... Bitch. They aren’t your vines until you have them in your hand. Those are the basic rules of treasure hunting.

The male Gold Core left the Foundation Establishment folks to their fight and swiftly tore out the vines with his bare hands. He likely threw them into a rare storage ring that had a stop-time property.

Fuck. I needed those.

She smiled down at us. “Now that these vines are in my possession, I don’t mind selling you a few of their flowers. How about it?”

I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath. Do not fall for it. You know her. You know what she’s like.

“We need ten flowers,” Little Spring said before I could stop him. I shot him a warning look.

Her smile widened. “I’m currently selling each flower for a mere thousand spirit stones.”

I actually did cough up another mouthful of blood.

“Elder sister!” He wrapped his arm around me and helped me stay standing.

Fuck! How can she be worse now than in the future? A thousand spirit stones a flower? Was she shitting me? Usually, even during this time period, they’d only go for one flower for one. Maybe three if it’s a scarce year.