Emotion rose in his throat and made his skin tingle, but he quickly pulled himself together because something else caught his attention.
Now that the item was in his hand, everything around him seemed to darken, but smells that the item had been hiding also reached him from the other side of the door.
'What are they? They smell like herbs or flowers,' he thought, puzzled.
He put the item away, approached the door, and opened it wide.
This door, somehow, still worked, although it was quite old, as evidenced by the sound of the hinges.
He froze as he looked the other way.
There was a beautiful but strange garden. An energy moved around, covering each of the flowers and herbs present. But that energy emerged from the flowers and herbs themselves.
At first, he didn't understand what they were. But after a moment's reflection, little Xiaotian's memories came back to him, and he understood.
'It's a Spiritual Garden!'
They were medicinal and spiritual flowers and herbs that could be used to make healing potions or pills, as well as for cultivation.
He couldn't recognize them, but according to his memories, these things were extremely valuable and expensive for someone who was not talented, as they saved a lot of work. They were among the most valuable treasures for cultivators in this world.
They were extremely expensive! He had found a fortune!
He quickly approached them and reached out to grab one, but something stood between him and the herb.
[Flaming Violet Orchid]
| Age: 1,000 years.
| A beautiful and healing orchid used in the preparation of healing potions, capable of regenerating bones and even restoring a destroyed Root of Life.
| It is mixed with Sun Petunia, Midnight Sunflower, and a piece of 100-year-old ginger root to create the Midnight Sun Orchid Pill.
| It has over a thousand uses.
[It has healing properties]
His eyes lit up when the system provided him with that information. A thousand-year-old flower was incredibly expensive, especially if it had healing properties, and such impressive ones at that!
Although he was not an alchemist and had little knowledge of it, he recognized its value. It was priceless in many cases.
He had practically become rich, because it was not the only one...
With the system giving him this information, he wasted no time. He immediately began looking at each, then, after giving them a quick glance, grabbed them.
He didn't know who had planted them or why they were growing here, but they were all a thousand years old. Some were very useful for cultivation and, according to the system, would be of great help to him in the future.
Moreover, thanks to little Xiaotian having worked caring for and picking certain medicinal herbs in the Sect, he was able to do so without damaging them. Surely, little Xiaotian would not have imagined that this would be useful one day.
Between his enthusiasm and wet dreams of what was to come, it took him barely 15 minutes to grab them all.
'Perfect.'
He left with a smile, not forgetting that he was here to clean up the ruin and didn't have much time. Ruins tend to alert those nearby to their discovery, so it wouldn't be long before they found it.
He needed to clean it up as soon as possible!
After checking that there was nothing else in the other rooms, he approached the window on the other side, where he could see outside.
'It's not there...'
He had spent too long inside, and the Specter had moved; it was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the city ended around here, so that guy couldn't be too far away.
After confirming that it was indeed out of sight, he carefully jumped out the window and landed nimbly on the other side.
Holding his sword firmly, he moved to search for his target.
Suddenly, his hair stood on end, and he raised his sword, turning 180 degrees.
CLANK-
His body was thrown backwards, hitting the walls of the house's courtyard and knocking them down.
"Agh." He felt his shoulder dislocate from the force of the impact, but he didn't have time to think about the pain. He immediately looked up to find a specter staring at him with a clear hint of pride in its gaze.
'It spotted me!'
He moved to the side, jumping to avoid an attack.
BOOM!
The powerful attack destroyed the wall behind him and left no room for rest. Its other front leg moved nimbly, always aiming for Xiaotian's chest.
He couldn't run away anymore. He had been found by a powerful specter, but he still had the advantage of knowing its attack pattern.
'I can do this!'
His hands gripped the sword tightly, bringing it up to his chest, with a slight deviation to one side.
CLANK! SWIN!
The force of the impact knocked him back a few inches, but much of the damage was absorbed by the sword's deviation. Thanks to that, Xiaotian had time to reposition himself and launch an attack.
CLANK!
The sound of metal clashing with the spider's reinforced legs echoed three times, until Xiaotian had to defend himself again.
'Attack three. Defend three.'
His sword moved nimbly to the right.
CLANK!
Then, taking advantage of the force of the impact, he quickly crossed it to the left.
CLANK!
The sound of the impact excited him, and he smiled. Immediately, he retracted his sword to chest height and held it with both hands.
The specter's powerful attack fell right on the sword's position, with an almost perfect angle of precision. For the specter, this was confusing.
How did he manage to predict all his movements?
And it was this moment of confusion that Xiaotian took advantage of to unleash four consecutive attacks on the nerve centers to inflict pain.
His sword moved quickly to strike twice below the legs, forcing the specter to rise up in pain and expose the areas of its head and neck.
He seized the moment to strike twice more on the right and left sides of its head, momentarily stunning it and cutting off its senses of hearing, so that it finally lowered almost all its defenses at its core in the neck.
Now's the time!
He held the sword firmly and quickly launched three successive attacks at the core.
CLANK*
CLANK*
The attacks landed with terrifying precision, causing his ethereal prey to roar in pain...
"GRAWWRR!"
The strange cry shocked Xiaotian as his sword was about to deliver the final blow.
'Is he calling his allies now?!' He realized he had to kill it as soon as possible. If he was surrounded... he would be finished.
So he put more force into his attack, dramatically increasing his speed.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder, and he felt his body flying backward at ridiculous speed.
His sword failed to hit its target... instead, he had been struck by one of the spider's hind legs in a powerful, deadly attack aimed at his heart.
His body flew across the road until it hit a ruined house on the other side...