As Hard As Steel

Lu Xiaoyuan's group rode the horses and traveled for 20 miles.

Along the way, they looked at the scenery and had a lot of fun. Without realizing, it started to get late.

However, there was still some time before dusk. Based on Zhou Ye's estimation, it should be around 5 pm now.

On the big road.

"If we continue like this, we will only reach the Imperial City after a few months." Yaoyao was bored. She was a little dejected.

"I believe that this journey will be interesting." Lu Xiaoyuan smiled.

Compared to how dejected Yaoyao was, Lu Xiaoyuan was different. She was interested in everything.

As for Gold Xiao'er, he didn't mind.

While they were traveling, he was cultivating silently too. He was absorbing the Qi around him anytime and anywhere.

Just by his diligent attitude, it was understandable why his cultivation state was so high.

They rode for another two miles and Lu Xiaoyuan picked up her small bag. She took Zhou Ye out.

"What do you want?"

Zhou Ye, who was busy cultivating, got woken up. He was in a daze.

However, he didn't think much of it. His only thought now was to cultivate and change his form.

"Sniff." Lu Xiaoyuan leaned her nose close to Zhou Ye and took a deep breath.

"Ah… I feel energetic now." Lu Xiaoyuan was satisfied.

Zhou Ye pouted. However, he was used to this kind of treatment. He didn't find Lu Xiaoyuan's stupid actions weird anymore.

"Sister Deer, what are you doing?" Yaoyao didn't understand what Lu Xiaoyuan was doing.

Why did she look so excited after sniffing their plant friend?

"Haha, the fragrance on the little plant spirit is very comforting." Lu Xiaoyuan pointed at the tip of Zhou Ye's leaf as she waved him around.

"Oh, right, do you want to try?" She asked.

Yaoyao was a little curious. "Will the plant spirit mind?"

"Maybe not." Lu Xiaoyuan shook her head.

Lu Xiaoyuan threw Zhou Ye out immediately.

Yaoyao reacted quickly and caught Zhou Ye in her hands.

Zhou Ye, who was caught, wanted to cry.

Can you give some respect to a plant spirit that had intellect?

It's alright if you sniff me or wave me around. I can bear with it.

But, isn't it too much to throw me around so roughly?

Life is tough.

Yaoyao held Zhou Ye and tried to smell the refreshing fragrance on his body.

She took a sniff and her eyes lit up immediately. Then, she took another deep breath.

When she took a deep breath, the effects were apparent.

Yaoyao was invigorated and her fatigue went away.

"Woah, our plant spirit friend has this effect?" Yaoyao was shocked.

"Don't lose it," Lu Xiaoyuan reminded her.

Yaoyao carefully tied Zhou Ye at her waist. When she affirmed that he wouldn't drop, she turned and said to Lu Xiaoyuan, "Sister Deer, don't worry, I will look after our plant spirit friend."

Lu Xiaoyuan nodded. She didn't say anything more.

Gold Xiao'er stared at Zhou Ye from behind.

Zhou Ye was tied to Yaoyao's belt. Coincidentally, he was facing Gold Xiao'er's direction.

He noticed Gold Xiao'er's gaze. There was anticipation in his gaze.

It was obvious that this fellow wanted to sniff him too.

Zhou Ye sighed in his heart. This world was too frightening.

It was so hard to be a plant spirit. There was the danger of someone sniffing him anytime.

He remained silent for some time.

Then, he started cultivating.

He wanted to change his form as soon as possible.

After he changed his form, he would be able to cover the refreshing fragrance on his body. At that time, he wouldn't have to worry about other people sniffing him suddenly.

Sadly, his all-purpose points were growing but at an extremely slow speed.

Zhou Ye complained but he still obediently cultivated.

Some all-purpose points were better than having none.

…

Dusk.

"The dusk in the human world is not as beautiful as the one in our wood world," Lu Xiaoyuan said as she looked at the sun setting at the horizon.

"Actually, they are all the same. If you look at something for a long time, you will lose your interest in it, even more so when what we have been seeing is more beautiful," Yaoyao said as she laughed softly.

In the past, before she changed her form, she loved to squat in the middle of a mountain and look at the sunset. After looking at it for a long time, she didn't find it interesting anymore.

The sun set and night dawned.

Gold Xiao'er surveyed their surroundings. Then, he opened his mouth and said, "Master Deer, where shall we rest for today?"

Lu Xiaoyuan looked at the area beside the road.

It was filled with flourishing wild grass. It wasn't a suitable place to rest.

Lu Xiaoyuan was too lazy to think about these matters. She turned and said to Gold Xiao'er. "Little rabbit and I will be in charge of having fun during this journey. You will be in charge of these cumbersome problems."

"Okay." Gold Xiao'er nodded.

Actually, even if Lu Xiaoyuan didn't say this, he also knew that he would need to solve all the problems by himself.

Gold Xiao'er raised his hand and waved it across the wild grasses that were swaying slowly in the breeze.

"Swoosh."

The wild grasses collapsed into patches before turning into ashes.

When the wind blew, these ashes disappeared without a trace.

This huge piece of land was cleared by Gold Xiao'er.

He flattened the grass and dried the wet muddy ground to make it suitable for resting.

When Zhou Ye saw this, his little heart shuddered.

After all, not long ago, he was a wild plant too.

However, his worry was redundant. Gold Xiao'er would never touch him.

"Master Deer, let's rest here." Gold Xiao'er pointed to the empty ground and looked at Lu Xiaoyuan.

"Sure." Lu Xiaoyuan nodded.

She patted the horse's back and the horse walked towards the empty land.

Then, Lu Xiaoyuan jumped down and sat on the ground instantly.

Normal people might worry if their clothes would get stained with mud or soil but Lu Xiaoyuan didn't have such worries.

Her clothes were actually a Xuan weapon. Under normal circumstances, the soil wouldn't get stained on it.

Yaoyao jumped down and sat beside Lu Xiaoyuan.

Gold Xiao'er pulled the three horses to one side and started to prepare dinner.

He had many foods stored in him. He waved his hand and a black buffalo that was already dead appeared in mid-air. Its demon pearl had already been dug out.

It died a long time ago but it was kept well.

It looked like it just died. Even the fresh blood on its body hadn't solidified.

Gold Xiao'er started his work.

On the other side, Lu Xiaoyuan and Yaoyao were chatting.

Yaoyao had many questions to ask Lu Xiaoyuan about cultivation.

Lu Xiaoyuan didn't hide her knowledge either. She told Yaoyao everything she understood and Yaoyao listened attentively. Her understanding of her sutra got deeper too.

No one knew when Zhou Ye dropped from Yaoyao's belt.

He didn't move. He just laid on the soil and continued cultivating.

Almost three hours passed as he cultivated.

When he woke up again, Lu Xiaoyuan and Yaoyao were already leaning against each other as they slept. As for Gold Xiao'er, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground cultivating.

"There's no wood but it can continue burning. Impressive."

Zhou Ye sighed when he saw the golden fire in the middle of the empty ground.

He knew that this ball of flame was supported by energy. If not, it would have extinguished itself a long time ago.

Zhou Ye stood up and waved his leaves. He shook his roots and stretched his body.

The long hours of cultivating made him numb all over. His body felt stiff.

He thought for a moment and started walking around the empty land.

However, he wasn't looking where he was going so he bumped into a hard object.

He raised his head. It was a hoof.

The horse felt something touching it so it lowered its head instinctively.

Their gazes met.

The horse's big eyes turned even bigger when it noticed that Zhou Ye could walk and he was glowing.

Zhou Ye looked at the horse and ignored it. Then, he continued walking forward.

The horse suddenly lowered its head and sniffed Zhou Ye's body.

Oh my god, what kind of plant is this? Why is it so fragrant!

It looked delicious.

The horse felt that since it had never eaten a plant that could walk and glow in its entire life, it should give it a try today.

It gained intellect but it wasn't very intelligent. In addition, the fragrant on Zhou Ye's body was too alluring so it instinctively bit Zhou Ye.

"Crack!"

The horse picked Zhou Ye up with its mouth.

Zhou Ye was stunned when it felt something sticky around him.

"What's happening?"

The horse didn't think too much. It directly started chewing.

"Chew, chew, chew…"

Oh my god, this plant is a little hard.

The horse widened its eyes in disbelief. This was an entirely new experience.

It hadn't eaten a plant that was as hard as steel.