Chen Guan listened to Zhu Hongzhi recount a story about an incident their Black Tiger Corps encountered at a place called Old Ginseng Mountain, a location that had only recently been explored.

Many ancient ginseng roots were discovered among the nearby mountain ranges, which are treasures no less significant than stone lingzhi mushrooms.

Because that Secret Realm was a public one, many factions rushed in upon hearing the news, all digging for ancient ginseng in those mountains.

As more people dug, it became difficult to find ginseng on the outskirts. Even if they did find some, they had to fight others for it. So, the Black Tiger Corps' temporary team ventured deep into the mountains, hoping to find more ginseng there.

At that time, Zhu Hongzhi was an ordinary member of the temporary team, having just enlisted, and he was about the same age as Chen Guan was now, not much older.

He followed the team into the mountains to dig for ancient ginseng, and they did indeed find some. However, the further they went, the fewer ginseng they found.

Just as they were about to return, an old team member shouted excitedly when he discovered a seven-leaf ginseng at the foot of a mountain.

The ancient ginseng in the Secret Realm isn't the same as the ordinary ginseng outside. These treasured ancient ginseng roots grow a set of leaves every hundred years, so they are judged by the number of leaves.

A ginseng with seven sets of leaves is a seven-leaf ginseng, which means it's at least seven hundred years old.

Although they had dug up a lot of ancient ginseng outside, they had never seen one so old before.

The team leader hurriedly took people to check, and indeed they saw the seven-leaf ginseng. Thrilled, they had it dug up immediately.

They thought they had already made a great discovery, but as they climbed the mountain, they were almost stunned.

The seven-leaf ginseng they had seen earlier was nothing compared to what they saw on the mountain. Just upon climbing, they found one after another of seven, eight, nine, and even ten-leaf ginseng roots.

They were truly shocked at that time and started digging desperately, treating the seven and eight-leaf ginseng like treasures, stuffing their bags full.

Soon, they discovered that on this mountain, seven, eight, and even nine-leaf ginseng was considered garbage, with scores of ginseng having ten or more leaves.

Realizing this, Zhu Hongzhi and others frantically dug and tossed, tossed and dug, like bears pulling out cornstalks.

The higher up the mountain they went, the higher the quality of the ginseng became. They even dug up ginseng as thick as carrots with more than twenty leaves.

Seeing that things couldn't go on like this, and fearing that if they returned to report to the main force, another faction might beat them to it, they decided to not dig any further and headed straight up the mountain.

They kept climbing, wanting to see what the best ginseng on the mountain was like, planning to first dig up the best ones to prevent others from getting them first.

Zhu Hongzhi followed the team up the mountain, and the mountain indeed left them in awe.

They initially thought ginseng with over twenty leaves, having grown for over two thousand years, was remarkable.

However, compared to the ginseng they saw afterward, those were still trash.

The later ginseng they encountered had leaves growing in clumps, resembling tree saplings, standing over a meter tall with hundreds of leaf clusters, which indicated they were ginseng over ten thousand years old.

Zhu Hongzhi was utterly amazed, feeling as if a mortal had stumbled into the Immortal Realm, and so excited he thought he was dreaming, nothing seemed real.

When they were near the summit, they saw what seemed to be a forest of ginseng rising like bamboo, each ginseng stem several meters or even over ten meters tall, with unknown numbers of leaf clusters.

Everyone was driven to madness by excitement; such treasures would be invaluable, and just a few would set them up for life.

Some even pinched their thighs to see if they were dreaming.

When the pain made them cry out, they realized it was all real.

At that point, all sense of discipline vanished as they frantically rushed up the mountain, determined to dig the best ginseng at the top.

Everyone tacitly agreed to keep this secret, digging as much as possible, as future riches all depended on this.

There was no way they would hand it over, even if it meant being expelled from the Celestial Court Army.

When they reached the summit, they were all stunned.

At the very top was a towering ancient tree, so large it would take twenty or more people holding hands to surround it, its height unknown as it reached into swirling clouds of mist.

Yet it wasn't a true tree; it was a massive, genuine ginseng.

They couldn't imagine how much such a ginseng would be worth if it were excavated and sold, potentially making them as wealthy as nations.

At that moment, Zhu Hongzhi thought that if he could eat just a bite of this ginseng, he might ascend to the sky in broad daylight.

Everyone had similar thoughts, racing to dig up this towering ginseng.

No, it shouldn't be called a ginseng; it should be called the Ginseng Ancestor.

Zhu Hongzhi wanted to dig it up too, but considering the ginseng was so big, he didn't know when they could finish excavation.

Since it was so large, it was impossible for one person to take it away, but everyone would have their share, so he thought he might as well let others excavate it while he dug up some large ginseng nearby to take home for his family, or sell them, which would also be valuable.

So, Zhu Hongzhi began digging beside it. The ginseng he unearthed was as big as a prize-winning pumpkin in a world competition. After digging just a part of it, he found it getting harder as he went, unsure when he could finish digging.

Additionally, it was so large that it would be inconvenient to carry, and other teammates probably wouldn't agree to let him keep it all to himself.

Gritting his teeth, Zhu Hongzhi gave up digging ginseng near the summit, deciding to dig some smaller ones further down.

When he reached halfway down the mountain, he finally dug up some ginseng about the size of radishes that fit into his backpack. After filling his backpack, he made his way back up to the summit.

But upon returning to the top, he discovered that his teammates were frozen like unwound puppets, maintaining various ginseng-digging postures, eerily still, almost scaring Zhu Hongzhi to death.

He swallowed hard, called out to them, but received no response. Gathering courage, he walked to the squad leader, keeping a digging posture, pushed him, and the leader crumbled to the ground, shattering into pieces as if his body had turned into porcelain.

Zhu Hongzhi couldn't describe the terror he felt at that moment, fleeing down the mountain in panic.

Utterly frightened, he didn't dare look back, though his ears seemed to catch a strange laugh, the source of which was the gigantic ginseng towering like a tree.

Once down the mountain, he ran wildly back to their main camp and explained what had happened, prompting the Black Tiger Corps' Corps Commander to personally lead a team back to Old Ginseng Mountain with Zhu Hongzhi.

But when they reached the site of the previous Old Ginseng Mountain, they couldn't find it at all.

Having memories so vivid, Zhu Hongzhi was certain he couldn't be wrong, and with the temporary camp they'd set up still nearby, it was even less likely to be a mistake.

Yet, the Old Ginseng Mountain was nowhere to be found, the entire mountain vanished. If not for the massive ginseng still in Zhu Hongzhi's backpack, everyone would have presumed he had harmed the rest of the team and spun a tale like this.

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