707: The Path Is Determined

The Path Is Determined

There was one thing that came to mind the moment Wo Long explained the Penzai to her. 

"I should go back to the Dark Water Kingdom", she thought to herself. 

However, heading to the Golden Treasure Kingdom was equally as important. But both kingdoms were in opposite directions with the Endless Peak Kingdom in the middle of them. 

While the Dark Water Kingdom was in the far east as one of the outer kingdoms, Golden Treasure was in the Southwest. On top of that, it was one of the inner kingdoms, the same as Endless Peak, 

And so, she had to decide which place had the higher priority. 

"Mm, the chances of finding either one of them is slim but... I should go back to the Dark Water Kingdom first. At least, I have to see if my hunch was right."

Seeing her eyes become resolute, Yuan chuckled, picking up her teacup and taking a sip. 

"It seems that you know what to do now."

Ming Yue looked at the couple and nodded. 

"While I don't know what conclusions you've come to, I can tell that you have something in mind."

Wo Long spoke with some anticipation in his voice. His eyes seemed particularly bright, no doubt feeling excited for her. 

"Truly, I can't wait to see what sort of pill is created from such treasures!" he said. 

"Will you be staying for the night?" Yuan asked.

The young cultivator shook her head. 

"I'm sorry, I got what I came here for and I've already spent so much time here. I am in a bit of a hurry, to be honest", she answered. 

However, neither Yuan nor Wo Long was bothered or offended by this. 

"Ah, so be it", said the elderly woman, "But if you do come back, visit us. I'm happy to feed you and my husband would badger you with questions."

Her husband let out an embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of his head. The fact that he didn't deny it certainly meant something. 

Ming Yue smiled, glancing over at Xiao Yin and Hei Yue as both filled their stomachs with satisfaction. 

"Of course, I'll come back, I shouldn't take more than a year to do it", she told them. 

Considering the Crow Immortal's warning, she had less than a few months to complete the pill. If not, she'd have to fight the Ascetic without it and she wasn't confident about winning, much less surviving against a Heaven Realm Expert. 

  The thought of it left a lump in her throat. Even at her strongest, she saw the Ascetic as a wall that she could not overcome. 

At least not yet. 

After the meal, Ming Yue said her farewell and left the old couple home, journeying out of the mountains. She headed towards the Dark Water Kingdom, she spared no energy trying to go there as quickly as possible. 

After all, she had to confirm this suspicion that she had. 

It took her a few days to reach there but as soon as she arrived, the group came in with no issue. Instead of heading towards the Research District, she made her way to the Craftman's District where she first met the three seniors. 

However, she was here to meet with one particular person.

"Mm, here it is, Wildwood Pavilion."

She knocked on the doors but found no answer. And after knocking several more times, she opened the doors. 

"What?"

To her surprise, it was empty. There was no one inside, the worktables were empty and there was nothing on display.

Out of curiosity, she called out. 

"Senior?! Senior Cheng Wei?!"

Despite that, there was no response.

"Hmm, how strange? Where could he have gone?" she wondered 

Ming Yue turned around and left, seeing the other two seniors come out of their store. Most likely coming out to see who had entered their friend's former establishment.

"Eh, Ming Yue? What are you doing here?" 

Of the two, Zhang Guang asked this. The bald man with the monocle had a surprised expression on his face as did Mei Zhen, a large woman wearing a heavy apron over her work clothes. 

The young cultivator greeted them both, cupping her fists and lowering her head before looking over her shoulder at the empty Wildwood Pavilion. 

"Senior Zhang, Senior Mei, I came back because I wanted to speak with Senior Cheng. Do you know what happened?" she questioned them.

Mei Zhen had a thoughtful look on her face before answering. 

"He actually left a few months ago for the Beast Continent, told us that it was for research."

"Right, right, "Zhang Guang added, "He said that he might not return for a few years or even longer. It depends on how his research pans out. It's not rare for any of us to go on such long absences."

"The Beast Continent?! Really?"

Hearing this Ming Yue was both surprised and confused. 

"Why would he go to the Beast Continent?" she wondered. 

But Ming Yue still had one other question for the pair. 

"When he was still in his shop, was there anything strange about him? Or anything that didn't quite feel right?" 

Hearing this from her, they had confused looks themselves but after giving it some thought, something seemed to come to mind.

"Now that I think about it, he seemed to be cooped up in his shop a little too much. He barely even go out for his meals. It was like he returned to his old self, back to when he was younger", said Zhang Guang. 

Mei Zhen put a hand on her waist, looking at the bald man before furrowing her brows. 

"You know, there was a strange aura coming out of his pavilion. It kind of resembled... your ring."

She looked down at the Eternal Heart Ring on Ming Yue's finger. And the moment she did, Ming Yue confirmed her suspicions. 

"So he did do it.", she thought, "He grew the Evergreen Heart."

Her mind flashed back to that time when she handed him the branch of the Evergreen Heart. It was a creation that she had found years ago at the Ren Huan Battlefield. She remembered it vividly, escaping the Luminous Ink Crow only to be thrown into the Chuangxin Garden. 

But the Evergreen Heart, a large tree with a heart at its base and a beating pulse that came with it. The life work of a single man who merged hundreds of plants and treasures. And being near it gave him immortality, letting him live past his own kingdom and caring for it 

And that practically fit the description of a Penzai. Chances were, it was also over 10,000 years old.

But it was the will of its creator to destroy his own creation though he could not bear to do it. But Ming Yue did it, she cut it down and burnt all of it, all but one branch. 

That one branch was given to Elder Cheng Wei and with it, he created the Eternal Heart Ring. But for a single ring, that branch was more than enough. If anything, he kept what was left, he knew the value in that branch. 

"He must've been doing it in his personal workroom before. But why would he want to go to the Beast Continent?" she wondered.. 

Ming Yue then asked this of the two seniors who provided the answer.  2

"When he heard that the Beast Continent was open, he wanted to go there immediately. Unlike the Demon Continent, which had been ravaged and nearly destroyed, the Beast Continent was brimming with life. It was full of new and unusual plants so he wanted to see them for himself", they explained. 

When she heard, the young cultivator came to a realization. 

"Perhaps, he didn't just want to regrow it, he wanted to improve upon it!"

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