Su Xi was unaware of Lin Qing's anxiety outside; her mind was filled with regret.
Had she known it would trigger a mechanism, she wouldn't have tried to refine the patriarch's statue, thinking its material was extraordinary, to craft a new weapon.
Now, although she had brought the statue to her laboratory, its material was so special that even the laboratory couldn't refine it. It could only serve as a mere ornament.
This was the first time Su Xi had encountered something she couldn't refine, her eyes brimming with confusion. She couldn't help but tap the statue with a hammer, trying to find anything unusual.
Alas, the statue only produced a crisp sound and showed no other abnormalities. Certain the statue was fine, she reluctantly left the laboratory again.
Standing outside, Su Xi gazed at the boundless grassland before her and sighed in resignation.
At that moment, she didn't care about refining the patriarch; she just wanted to leave this bizarre green grassland as soon as possible. She had been in this cursed place for a long time and still hadn't found an exit.
Before her, there was nothing but grass and strange, peculiar flowers growing amongst it. In the gently flowing clear water, fish occasionally leaped, splashing droplets.
The scenery was beautiful, but Su Xi had no heart to appreciate it, for she realized this strange place felt eerily familiar. It was as if she had seen it in an animated cartoon of a green grassland.
Su Xi subconsciously looked around left and right, expecting to see the legendary Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf appear next. But after searching everywhere, she saw not a single shadow.
Just as Su Xi was about to utter some colorful language, she turned around and suddenly saw someone appear before her.
Without a second thought, she raised her fist and struck instantly. Years of ingrained habit had trained her body to react reflexively. When faced with danger, she instinctively lashed out.
Though the situation was urgent, Su Xi's attack was swift and decisive.
"Ah."
After a scream, the figure flew backward, twirling several times in mid-air before his head plunged into the ground, followed by several somersaults.
"Who are you?" Su Xi asked cautiously, looking at the man rolling on the ground.
The man climbed up from the ground, rubbing his throbbing head and looking at Su Xi with a wronged expression, "You came to my place, and you're asking me who I am?"
Just as Su Xi was about to ask when she had come to his place, she suddenly noticed that the handsome man before her looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she recognized the beautiful man before her as her own patriarch—True Master Tiangang.
"Patriarch?" Su Xi dismissed any fleeting thoughts of admiration and called out cautiously.
She was somewhat worried, wondering if she would still have a chance to live after hitting her patriarch.
"Patriarch?" True Master Tiangang muttered, asking with confusion, "Why do you call me Patriarch? Do you know who I am?"
"Hmm?" Su Xi looked at True Master Tiangang before her, suspecting he was deliberately mocking her lack of respect for elders.
But seeing the innocent expression on True Master Tiangang's face, more childlike than a child's, she knew her patriarch wasn't lying but might have truly lost his memory.
"You really don't remember?" Su Xi asked cautiously again, feeling uneasy.
Facing a monster who had lived for an unknown number of years, Su Xi felt she needed to be careful.
True Master Tiangang nodded and said blankly, "I don't remember anything. I only remember that I've lived here for a very, very long time. You're the first person I've seen in such a long time, so I came over to say hello. Who knew you'd hit me."
Hearing True Master Tiangang's words, Su Xi felt utterly speechless.
(｡•v‸v•｡)
If she had only seen one person in such a long time, wouldn't that mean she would be stuck here forever?
Despite her inner frustration about her predicament, Su Xi patiently gave True Master Tiangang a brief introduction to his identity.
After listening to Su Xi's explanation, True Master Tiangang nodded thoughtfully, "So, you're a disciple of my sect?"
"Yes," Su Xi nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice, indicating that her patriarch was truly clever.
Hearing Su Xi's praise, True Master Tiangang showed a childlike, innocent smile and sheepishly rubbed his head, "It's not that I'm clever, it's that you explained it very well."
Su Xi found herself almost falling into a loop of mutual praise with True Master Tiangang. To avoid further awkwardness, she skillfully changed the subject, "Patriarch, do you know where the exit is?"
Although the environment here was pleasant and she had a handsome companion, she didn't wish to stay.
Upon hearing Su Xi's question, True Master Tiangang's expression became more bewildered, "I don't know."
He thought this place was quite good and couldn't understand why anyone would want to leave.
"Uh." A flicker of despair crossed Su Xi's face. To become a recluse so young.
It seemed she would have to stay here and grow old with her patriarch. Fortunately, her patriarch was quite good-looking.
True Master Tiangang rubbed his stomach and looked at Su Xi beside him, offering comfort, "You don't need to worry too much. It'll be mealtime soon, let's eat something first."
With that, True Master Tiangang enthusiastically took Su Xi's hand and turned back towards his thatched hut.
Su Xi's eyes widened at the enthusiastic True Master Tiangang.
It wasn't that she was upset about True Master Tiangang touching her, but rather she was astonished by his strength.
If she remembered correctly, there hadn't been a thatched hut nearby just moments ago. What had True Master Tiangang done to make them appear in the blink of an eye?
While Su Xi was pondering, she saw True Master Tiangang emerge with a large platter of food.
Looking at the unrecognizable contents before her, Su Xi suspected that her patriarch intended to poison her for hitting him earlier.
True Master Tiangang, seeing Su Xi's stillness, assumed she was too shy and enthusiastically called out, "Since you're my disciple, don't be polite, eat as much as you like."
Su Xi looked at True Master Tiangang, swallowed, and hesitantly asked, "Patriarch, do you really eat this stuff usually?"
True Master Tiangang didn't understand why Su Xi asked this but nodded in response, "That's right."
"Where is the kitchen?" Having confirmed that True Master Tiangang wasn't trying to kill her, Su Xi didn't want to settle for less and eat food that was no longer recognizable.
"In the back."
When Su Xi arrived at True Master Tiangang's kitchen, she was rendered speechless by the scene before her.
The spiritual energy in the kitchen was so dense, even more so than what she had felt in the Tianyue Pond.
What shocked Su Xi even more was that every single grain of rice in the kitchen carried a rich spiritual energy. This meant that all these ingredients were spirit herbs.
Spirit herbs were formed from spiritual energy. Although they looked like ordinary ingredients, they contained abundant spiritual energy. Eating them regularly could even aid in cultivation.
She turned to look at True Master Tiangang, who had followed her in, and asked in surprise, "How did you manage all this?"