"A thousand-year-old Lingzhi? Is it true?"
"Why would I lie to you? Many people are heading to Tiger Dragon Mountain now, hoping for a stroke of luck. Not only that, but some martial arts powerhouses have also gone there."
As Zhou Hong walked by the river, he overheard two people discussing a thousand-year-old Lingzhi.
Zhou Hong frowned slightly. If a thousand-year-old Lingzhi truly existed, it would be invaluable for alchemy. A spiritual herb that had survived for a millennium must have absorbed a considerable amount of spiritual energy.
Zhou Hong approached the two men, smiling, and asked, "My two brothers, where is this thousand-year-old Lingzhi you were talking about? Is it just a rumor? How could such a thing exist on Earth?"
"What business is it of yours? Are you looking for a beating?" one of the men shouted at Zhou Hong.
Zhou Hong then noticed the tattoos on their arms, recalling that men with arm tattoos were often trouble.
"Heh," Zhou Hong chuckled. He slapped them both down to the ground simultaneously.
"I intended to speak with you civilly, but you responded with shouts. Now I command you to tell me where this thousand-year-old Lingzhi is and whether it's real or not. Otherwise, I will kill you today."
Seeing Zhou Hong's power, the two men reluctantly confessed.
"In Yongquan City, next to our Jinshi City, there's a mountain called Tiger Dragon Mountain. Rumor has it that a thousand-year-old Lingzhi has appeared on the mountain. This Lingzhi can burrow into the ground and move, so many people have gone there without finding it. We don't know if it's true or not, but many people are going, including some martial arts powerhouses."
"How far is Yongquan City from Jinshi City?"
"About two hours by car."
"That close?" Zhou Hong let the two men go.
Whether it was true or not, Zhou Hong decided to check out Tiger Dragon Mountain. If it was real, that would be for the best. If not, he had free time on the weekend anyway.
Zhou Hong immediately got into his Porsche, set the navigation, and headed for Yongquan City.
About an hour later, Zhou Hong arrived in Yongquan City.
"Hello, could you tell me how to get to Tiger Dragon Mountain?" Zhou Hong stopped to ask a passerby.
"About 60 kilometers ahead, there's a very tall and large mountain. That's Tiger Dragon Mountain Scenic Area."
"Scenic Area?"
"Of course, aren't you going to visit the Tiger Dragon Mountain Scenic Area? It's a AAAA-rated tourist attraction."
"Oh, thank you." Zhou Hong said no more and drove on.
Soon, Zhou Hong arrived at Tiger Dragon Mountain Scenic Area.
Indeed, many people were queuing at the entrance to buy tickets, hoping to find the thousand-year-old Lingzhi.
Zhou Hong couldn't help but suspect it might be a ploy by the scenic area management to attract tourists.
"Hello, is there really a thousand-year-old Lingzhi here?" Zhou Hong asked a woman who was queuing to buy tickets.
"Who knows? Everyone says there is, so we're here to check it out," the woman replied.
"If I can really find a thousand-year-old Lingzhi, I'll give it to my husband. I heard that men who take a thousand-year-old Lingzhi become as strong as Lu Bu..." the woman said, chuckling with a hopeful look.
Zhou Hong was speechless, wondering how much the woman desired it.
Since that was the case, Zhou Hong joined the queue to buy a ticket.
Soon, Zhou Hong entered the scenic area.
Upon entering, Zhou Hong immediately began searching everywhere for signs of the thousand-year-old Lingzhi. He believed that a little searching would reveal clues.
A thousand-year-old Lingzhi was no longer an ordinary plant. It could control its body and burrow into the soil, which is why people said it could escape.
Zhou Hong observed the terrain of Tiger Dragon Mountain and considered the preferred habitat of a thousand-year-old Lingzhi. He spotted a mountain hollow that would maximize the absorption of essence from the sun and moon, and where the trees were denser.
If a thousand-year-old Lingzhi existed, it would likely grow there.
However, no one was searching in that area. Instead, many tourists were trying their luck elsewhere on the mountain.
Zhou Hong smiled faintly, his conviction growing. It seemed this thousand-year-old Lingzhi had already developed some intelligence, possibly even thousands of years old. It was intentionally misleading people to its true hiding place.
Zhou Hong immediately went to the mountain hollow.
He placed his ear to the ground, listening carefully for any movement in the soil.
Unfortunately, there was no sound, as the mountain was too crowded.
In that case, Zhou Hong could only wait. When the moon rose that night, the Lingzhi would surely emerge from the soil to absorb the essence of heaven and earth.
He waited and waited. Soon, it grew dark, and the many tourists who had been searching for the thousand-year-old Lingzhi grumbled and went home. Most likely, many didn't believe it, as their limited knowledge couldn't comprehend a thousand-year-old Lingzhi burrowing and moving underground.
Soon, it was midnight. The moon shone down from the sky.
As Zhou Hong had predicted, in the mountain hollow where he was, the moonlight, influenced by the surrounding terrain, formed a beam of light, the place where the essence of day and night was most concentrated on the entire mountain.
At that moment, Zhou Hong saw a small umbrella-shaped object quietly emerge from the soil. It was dark and nondescript.
Zhou Hong chuckled inwardly, but he didn't rush to act. A thousand-year-old Lingzhi that had achieved sentience was extremely cunning. If Zhou Hong hadn't been a powerhouse who knew how to control his breathing and completely conceal himself, the Lingzhi might not have appeared.
About ten minutes later, the thousand-year-old Lingzhi that had emerged from the ground suddenly opened like an umbrella. To an uninformed observer, it would appear as if an umbrella stood on the ground.
Zhou Hong rejoiced secretly. This opened umbrella shape was likely two meters in diameter.
Such a large thousand-year-old Lingzhi, Zhou Hong judged, must be at least 3000 years old, no wonder it had gained sentience.
Having absorbed the essence of the sun and moon for 3000 years, its internal spiritual energy was likely quite potent, several times stronger than the giant spiders Zhou Hong had killed in Kunlun Mountain.
At that moment, Zhou Hong struck like lightning, rushing forward and grabbing the stem of the thousand-year-old Lingzhi, then pulling it out.
Once uprooted, the thousand-year-old Lingzhi thrashed violently in Zhou Hong's hand as if alive. Although it had no mouth or head, due to its spiritual energy, every cell within it was not an ordinary plant cell.
"Stop struggling. You're mine now." Zhou Hong said, channeling a powerful force from his arm into the thousand-year-old Lingzhi.
Then, the thousand-year-old Lingzhi became still, as if dead.
Zhou Hong smiled and put the thousand-year-old Lingzhi away, preparing to return home.
However, just then, a voice from behind him called out, "Friend, what is seen by one should be shared. It's not good to hog it all for yourself."
Zhou Hong immediately turned to see a man in black standing there.
"Who are you?" Zhou Hong asked with a cold snort.
"I am also here to seek the thousand-year-old Lingzhi, just like you," the man in black said with a laugh, blocking Zhou Hong's path. It seemed he wouldn't let Zhou Hong leave alive without sharing. In fact, he had no intention of sharing; he wanted it all.
"This thousand-year-old Lingzhi is mine," Zhou Hong stated unequivocally.
"Friend, I also saw this thousand-year-old Lingzhi. You just happened to pull it out before me," the man in black emphasized with another laugh.
"Nonsense," Zhou Hong snorted coldly. Zhou Hong was certain that only he had seen the Lingzhi; this man had merely witnessed him pulling it out.
"Friend, why don't we foster goodwill? If you give me the thousand-year-old Lingzhi, I will owe you a favor. Perhaps, it would be more beneficial for you. You are still young, and a thousand-year-old Lingzhi might not be as important to you as my favor." The man in black gave up on claiming he had also seen it and directly demanded Zhou Hong hand it over.
"Your favor?" Zhou Hong sneered.
"Yes. To be honest, I am the strongest person in Yongquan City." The man in black raised his head proudly, as if expecting Zhou Hong to worship him. In Yongquan City, no one dared to defy him. After all, the strongest person in Yongquan City was no minor figure, and no one in the entire city dared to disrespect him.
"I'm sorry, I'm not from Yongquan City. I'm from Jinshi City."
"It doesn't matter. Even in Jinshi City, I have many strong friends. If you give me the Lingzhi, I will owe you a favor. For you, this is a better deal than a thousand-year-old Lingzhi."
"Get lost," Zhou Hong said coldly.
"Friend, it seems you'd rather die." The man in black stopped talking. He had wanted to owe Zhou Hong a favor rather than kill him outright because he saw Zhou Hong's capabilities in finding the thousand-year-old Lingzhi, perhaps believing he could be useful in the future. He hadn't expected Zhou Hong to be so arrogant, so he wouldn't be blamed for killing him and taking his belongings.
The next moment, the man in black appeared before Zhou Hong and reached out to grab his neck.
However, Zhou Hong didn't take it seriously and allowed him to grasp his neck.
"Kid, your life is in my hands now. I can let you live or die. I'll give you one more chance. Hand over the Lingzhi, and I might spare your life."
"Hahaha, may I ask your cultivation level? How dare you threaten me?"
"I am at the seventy-ninth stage of a martial artist."
Zhou Hong asked, "Do you know my cultivation level?"
The man in black frowned slightly.
"I have killed martial artists at the seventy-fifth stage before."
"I'm too lazy to listen to your nonsense," the man in black said, preparing to kill Zhou Hong. However, in the next second, without Zhou Hong making a visible move, a powerful force surged through his neck.
"Ah!" The man in black screamed. The hand he used to grip Zhou Hong's neck was suddenly shattered.
"Senior, spare me! Senior, spare me!" The man in black no longer cared about his lost arm and hastily knelt down to beg for mercy. Zhou Hong's mere internal energy had shattered his arm, proving he wasn't lying about having killed a seventy-fifth stage martial artist.
"Alas, there's no opportunity anymore." Zhou Hong kicked out, directly blasting the man in black's head off.
Then, Zhou Hong floated away.
Perhaps, by morning, Yongquan City would be in an uproar. Their strongest person in Yongquan City had been killed. But what did that have to do with Zhou Hong? He was already on the highway in his car.
At three in the morning, Zhou Hong returned to Tianhe Residential Area.
Zhou Hong went to his room and saw Qiao Xiaoyu sitting on the bed practicing body refinement. Zhou Hong thought to himself, "She's so diligent, I should reward her."
Zhou Hong had intended to go to the kitchen and use the gas stove to refine pills. But seeing Qiao Xiaoyu's hard work, he immediately walked over, embraced her from behind, pushed her onto the bed, and kissed her.
"Ah!" However, the person Zhou Hong kissed suddenly screamed.
"Not good," Zhou Hong recognized by the voice that it wasn't Qiao Xiaoyu but Qin Mengxue.
Zhou Hong froze, quickly letting go of her.
At that moment, the room light also turned on.
"Zhou Hong, what are you doing?" Qiao Xiaoyu's voice came from the doorway.
Zhou Hong looked extremely embarrassed.
However, Qiao Xiaoyu likely hadn't seen Zhou Hong kiss Qin Mengxue. After all, no matter how fast she was, she couldn't have entered so quickly.
"I just returned from outside. I thought it was you, and seeing how diligent you were, I came in to hug you. I didn't expect it to be someone else. You can't blame me, as Qin Mengxue was wearing your pajamas," Zhou Hong hastily explained.
Qin Mengxue stood aside, looking awkward. She couldn't help but wipe her mouth. She had clearly felt Zhou Hong's lips firmly on hers. However, since Zhou Hong hadn't mentioned it, she naturally wouldn't either. She also knew that Xiaoyu probably hadn't seen the kiss, only heard the scream and rushed in.
Qiao Xiaoyu said helplessly, "Mengxue didn't want to go home, so I invited her to stay with us. Since she didn't bring any spare clothes, she borrowed my pajamas."
"So that's what happened. A beautiful misunderstanding," Zhou Hong chuckled.
Qiao Xiaoyu glared at Zhou Hong and said, "You didn't do anything to Mengxue, did you?"
"Of course not. I didn't even take off my clothes. How could I? I just hugged her from behind, and before I could even fully embrace her, she screamed," Zhou Hong said with a smile.
Qiao Xiaoyu looked unconvinced but had no way to verify it, so she had to accept Zhou Hong's explanation.
At this point, Qin Mengxue quickly said, "I'm sorry, Xiaoyu. Perhaps I should go home. It's not good for me to stay here and disrupt your life." Qin Mengxue looked as if she was about to leave.
"Mengxue, don't go. If you're going to blame Zhou Hong, then I'll apologize on his behalf. He didn't do it on purpose," Qiao Xiaoyu quickly stopped Qin Mengxue, thinking she was angry.
Unfortunately, Qin Mengxue wasn't angry at all. Even if Zhou Hong had done more than just kiss her, she wouldn't have been angry.