"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?"
Only when the person repeated the question did Ling Xiao look up blankly. He saw a shy, blonde girl looking at him expectantly as she pointed to the spot next to him.
Because the library housed many rare and precious books, it had a strict rule: all books were forbidden from being taken out and could only be read within the library. Additionally, any book taken from a shelf had to be returned to its exact original spot. Consequently, most people preferred to pull a book from the shelf and immediately sit on one of the wooden benches below to read. And the book this girl was holding... it seemed to be the same as Ling Xiao's, an illustrated guide to the continent's herbs.
"No," Ling Xiao said flatly, returning his attention to his book. He flipped through the pages rapidly, like a mischievous child who had just learned to look at pictures, giving the impression that he wasn't reading at all, but merely looking at the illustrations.
In truth, Ling Xiao was indeed just looking at the pictures. Although the books were categorized, each category contained thousands upon thousands of species. To look through them all would probably take several days.
After flipping a few more pages, Ling Xiao noticed the shy girl was still standing there, motionless. He couldn't help but look up curiously and ask, "What are you looking at?"
"Ah... I-I wasn't looking at anything." The girl stammered as if she'd been caught red-handed, lightly biting her pearly white teeth with a helpless expression.
Ling Xiao found this somewhat amusing. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked.
"N-no. It's just... it's just that I want to read the book you're holding. That's the only one I haven't finished, really! I... I even left my bookmark in it." Fearing Ling Xiao wouldn't believe her, the girl explained hurriedly, her delicate pink face blushing like the morning clouds from embarrassment.
Ling Xiao bent the book in his hand and then let go, letting the pages flick past rapidly. Sure enough, a red bookmark with a cute, pink cartoon cat on it appeared in the latter half. 'Well, I was just taking a shot in the dark anyway,' he thought, casually handing the book to her. "Here. Give me the one you have."
"Oh," the girl said, blankly handing her book to Ling Xiao before realizing she hadn't thanked him. The blush that had just receded from her face quickly spread to her ears. She whispered, "Thank you. My name is Isabella... You can call me Yisha." She spoke her name so softly that if Ling Xiao's hearing hadn't been so sharp, he probably wouldn't have heard it at all. 'This girl is a little too shy, isn't she?'
"Heh. Ling Xiao." With that, he focused his full attention on flipping through the new book.
Isabella sat down beside Ling Xiao, and the faint, sweet scent of a young woman wafted into his nostrils. Even in his focused search, Ling Xiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. 'Smells nice.'
While reading the part she hadn't finished, Isabella watched Ling Xiao out of the corner of her eye. She noticed how fast and focused he was and couldn't help but feel a little curious. 'Ling Xiao? Is this the boy from all those wild rumors, the one who supposedly assaulted his fiancée? No matter how I look at him, he doesn't seem like that kind of person. Xie Xiaoyan, was it?' Isabella wrinkled her cute little nose. 'I don't really like that attention-seeking girl. She seems too opportunistic, and a bit... a bit too full of herself. In any case, my impression of Xie Xiaoyan isn't good at all.'
"Can I ask you a question?" Ling Xiao was finally growing frustrated with his search. 'Since this girl also likes looking at illustrated guides of the continent's plants, I might as well ask if she knows anything.'
"Ah... wh-what question?" Isabella, lost in her thoughts, was startled by Ling Xiao. Her face slightly flushed, she looked at him and said timidly, "Go ahead and ask."
"It's about some medicinal herbs." Ling Xiao thought the girl was far too easily embarrassed, so he softened his tone and asked gently, "Have you ever heard of three herbs called Purple Blue Fruit, Heart of the Earth Dragon, and Stone Bamboo Grass?"
Hearing that it was a question about medicinal herbs, a confident smile appeared in the girl's eyes. 'This guy certainly picked the right person to ask. I doubt there are many people in the entire Lanyue Empire who would dare claim to know more about this than I do.'
But she didn't expect that when Ling Xiao listed the three items, she hadn't heard of a single one. A strong sense of defeat immediately washed over her. She repeated the names, "Purple Blue Fruit... Heart of the Earth Dragon... Stone Bamboo Grass... What strange names. I've never heard of them. I'm so sorry!"
Isabella said this with a pitiful look, as if she had made some terrible mistake. Despite his own steady state of mind, Ling Xiao couldn't help but be amused. Although a bit dejected, he understood he was being too hasty. "It's fine. It's normal that you haven't heard of them."
Unexpectedly, his words sparked Isabella's competitive spirit. Looking at Ling Xiao defiantly, she said, "Can you describe what these three herbs look like?"
Ling Xiao suddenly slapped his forehead. He finally remembered. 'No wonder she's never heard of them. That's what these three herbs are called in the Cultivation Realm, but how could they have the same names on the Canglan Continent?' He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly twice before saying, "The Purple Blue Fruit grows on snowy mountains and loves the cold. The plant is about half a meter tall, its leaves are fan-shaped and layered, and its stem is purple. Each Purple Blue Fruit plant has only a single stem, and the fruit is sky-blue..."
Before Ling Xiao could finish, Yisha's jaw dropped in astonishment. She gasped, "The Vantia Holy Fruit! Heavens... y-you, how do you know about that?"
A jolt of joy shot through Ling Xiao's heart, and an excited expression appeared on his face. 'Looks like I'm onto something!' he thought. At the very least, he hadn't even finished his description, including the Purple Blue Fruit's growth habits and maturation period, yet Yisha was able to identify it as the Vantia Holy Fruit in one go. That meant the thing really existed!
"What you're describing is an extremely precious medicinal herb, but it's not called the Purple Blue Fruit!" The moment the topic turned to herbs, Yisha seemed to transform into a different person. Her earlier shyness vanished completely, replaced by a serious and earnest expression. "The Vantia Holy Fruit is very peculiar. It only matures about once every six years. And even when fully ripe, it won't fall from the stem and can stay fresh for a very long time!"
"Six years?" Ling Xiao frowned. A thought suddenly struck him. 'This world is abundant with Spiritual Qi! Yes, that's the reason. The Purple Blue Fruit, which originally took eighteen years to mature, can ripen in just six years here.'
"That's great! Do you know where to find it?" Ling Xiao was getting excited. He had cultivated to the peak of the Sword Master rank. He didn't even need to train diligently like others; he only needed to practice his Intent.
This so-called Intent was, in simple terms, Sword Intent. In this world, perhaps only those at the level of Sword Saint or above could grasp a tiny bit of Intent. But as a disciple of Shushan, Ling Xiao had begun cultivating it right after entering Foundation Establishment. However, the meridians in his body were blocked, a fact that left even him feeling helpless. Therefore, achieving Foundation Establishment was the most urgent task before him.
Yisha looked up at the boy who was so infamous in the rumors, and a storm raged in her heart. 'The Vantia Holy Fruit... If he hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have known either. There are no records of it even in the continental flora guides. Of course, some super-powerful families and clans, especially those involved with medicinal herbs, as well as the Royal Family, know of this miraculous plant, but the information is kept as a top secret.'
Just a single Vantia Holy Fruit could raise the level of any Martial Artist below the rank of Demon Swordsmen by an entire rank!
Just think, if a Sixth Rank Mad Sword Master obtained a Vantia Holy Fruit, they could be directly promoted to the rank of Demon Swordsman! And the value of a Demon Swordsman... one only needed to think of General Ling Tianxiao to understand.