The path out of the valley was not the easiest to find or follow at night, but I wasn't waiting until daybreak. It wasn't that I was running, although I was worried about what the Roc would do when the light of day made it possible for it to track and find me possible, I just wanted to get a head start on the journey back to the Sect. This mission had been convoluted enough, and I was more afraid that something else would come up that I needed to deal with, than an attack by an angry Roc.

Once I finally found the path, I made quick work of navigating the switchbacks, leaving the valley far behind. I only slowed down enough to scan my surroundings when my perception pinged hazardous areas. I'd ignored any signs of spirit herbs on my way from the farmstead, more concerned with speed than profit or mission contribution points.

Once I had gained some distance, I slowed. The journey became not exactly leisurely, but less frantic. Still, I never veered far from the path that I had blazed between Sect and farmstead, not because I was worried about losing my way, rather because the information the Sect had supplied didn't come with a beast compendium for the area.

Not knowing what I could expect, or how powerful any beasts I might run into might be, it was best to use caution. I could use the trees to escape, but I reasoned there was a reason foot-travel had gouged a path where it had. Of course, some of it had to do with most people who used the path being non-cultivators, but that just added context. If the path was safe enough for them, there must be a reason, even if I had no way of knowing or discerning what that reason was.

The path had not been marked or protected with defensive arrays; it had formed naturally, years of travel that had proved safe and effective for those escorting beasts of burden. Caravan masters would be few, those that would bother to visit the farmstead would do so more as a launching point. The river access that was available there offering traders quick and safe transport downstream to Clive.

As I traveled, I extended my Qi perception as broadly as possible; it allowed me to find a few areas of concentrated Qi. Nothing like the mine, but a few spots that radiated a density that made it worth checking. These concentrated nodes of Qi usually contained spirit herbs, herbs I gathered making sure not to damage roots and leave a scattering of seeds so that the plants could re-propagate the area.

The most unusual item I found during one of these forays was a lost piece of spirit gear. A locket that was connected to a broken chain. It was emanating enough spirit energy that the person who dropped it should have had no problem finding and reclaiming it, that they didn't was worrisome. The item was no longer bonded to an owner, and I didn't have the ability to or skill to record the last bit of Qi signature that remained.

It was an intricate piece of metalwork, but my Body Refinement Realm wasn't powerful enough to activate whatever it was or to discover what the runic etchings I could see did. From the power radiating off of it, it was at least at the Nascent Soul Realm, maybe even Nihility, and if I had to guess I thought it likely it was a defensive token. I wasn't powerful enough to activate it, but I was powerful enough to claim it. Injecting enough of my Qi to form a link between my signature and the locket, I tucked the item in my spatial ring to investigate once I returned to the Sect.

Someone at the Sect would be able to help me discover what the spirit device was used for, and activate it for me if it was, as I thought a defensive device. Finding who the original owner was, the person that had bonded with it was not feasible. There was no technique or method even the most powerful Cultivator could use to restore the Qi signature that had faded.

I also found several wild fruits and a few patches of spirit grain that were worth harvesting. Most of these were comprised of smaller finds or a lone tree heavy with ripe fruit. There wasn't enough to make a dent in the daily requirements for the Sect, so I would drop off those items low enough in Qi that they were safe with my parents, the rest would be turned in and made available to Sect members for private use.

I would have liked to have kept all the grain and fruit, but the Qi density for most of the crops I was finding were too high. These patches of bounty hadn't been harvested in years and the Qi had built up and increased their efficacy to at least tier 2, I even found a berry patch that had stored enough Qi that the fruit had reached tier 4.

Even as I gathered fruit bursting with juice, and grain ripened into golden perfection, I lamented that they were too rich in Qi for me to sample. I could have left the food items stored in my spatial ring to use in the future when my Realm had advanced, but that would have just taken up room that could be better served with items I could use.

None of the crops I harvested were plentiful enough to feed the entire Sect, but they could be offered for sale to those members who would appreciate the unique taste and flavor of the higher leveled foodstuff. Once a cultivator reached the Immortal Realm, issues of food and water were secondary. Those cultivators could eat and drink, but there was no need to at that point.

But for those still at the Nihility Realm, working to breakthrough, the denser Qi that could be found in harvested crops, crops that had been allowed to build Qi reserves over the years gave them an additional method to absorb and cycle along with ambient Qi. Foods with rich Qi preserves were much cheaper than pills. Pills could be crafted that enhanced Qi gathering and efficiency but at a cost.

My spatial ring wasn't bottomless, and eventually, I had to resign myself to the fact that I would have to ignore most of the pings my Qi perception was picking up. I would still take the time to check out anything I stumbled across, but more to explore and add information to a map I had been updating. Markings and tracings that cataloged what I found and where. It would make it much easier to harvest resources if I ever used this path again.

And the updated map could be sold to the Sect. They would analyze the information I gathered and decide if it was worth creating missions and having members set up a harvesting rotation based on my information. Most of the resources I had found were not large enough to be worth the effort of offering contribution points and missions. But I did make a find about three-quarters of the way back to the Sect that would.

The pond I found was large, perhaps it could be classified as a small lake, I had no idea what criteria was used for. I'd only found it because I had been following a stream that had more water Qi available than its size suggested possible. I thought it might have caught or grown a treasure that was increasing Qi levels beyond what should be possible.

As large as the pond was, the spirit lotus, a field of flowers scattered across the entire width and breadth of water, was the real find. Something in the water was encouraging the plants to grow and flourish. It was impossible to see what might be powering this growing frenzy; the water obscured by a thick algae growth, but the water element was as concentrated here as could be found in some areas of the Sect.

I made a few notes and added those details to my map. Size of the pond where the plants that had the highest density gathered, and a rough estimate on crop size if the pond were to be harvested at set intervals. I would get additional contribution points each time a crop was harvested if the Sect decided the pond was worth protecting instead of gathering everything at once.

The Sect, Elves in general, were more about sustainability, an ingrained axiom that required they do no lasting harm to the environment, so I doubted this would be razed as the Sect cleared everything in one season. Plus, it was financially advantageous to farm this area, thinning plants so that they could grow healthier and more potent.

It was possible that someone would be sent to find the treasure that was the source of the unrestricted growth surge. If the treasure was worth more than years of harvest, then someone would bring it to the Sect. If that happened, the lotus plants would be mass harvested, no attempts at conservation would be made. It wouldn't destroy the Eco-system, the lotuses would re-grow, but at a diminished rate. More in keeping with what you would expect to find.

I hadn't wondered why the pond hadn't been discovered by the Sect; I was just happy that I had followed my intuition and lucked across the riches before me. Even though it was only two days out from the Sect at most, those two days, at my speed were a significant distance.

The planet's size meant that there was an unending supply of spirit plants, resources, and natural evolving treasures that were waiting to be discovered. The world was simply too large, even an exhaustive scouting and mapping mission would never be able to find the bounty this planet had to offer, at least not quickly. The years since the Elves founded their first community, barely one percent of the planet had been explored and documented.