Bai Qi's willpower was definitively above any cultivator of his level, not to mention his current age. Thus, for him to wish for rest was a truthful picture of his actual state. And not only his but also one of many of the participants that didn't attempt to cut corners but actually fought tooth and nail for their herbs, be it on the [Floral Stages] or attempting to harvest the unusually, thanks to their sealed cultivation state, dangerous high-tier herbs.

Yet, there was one big, nearly unsurpassable chasm between the others and Bai Qi. After all, even if he was among the youngest, his mind and willpower were far older. Thus, if someone else could spend a long time attempting to regain their bearings, burdened by their wounds and tiredness, Bai Qi would remain on the ground for a few breaths. After which, he forced himself up, and while it was more on sheer willpower than his current resistance, he would continue to make himself press on, aiming for the win not only with his mind but with all of himself.

And while some could point out that his physique, even in a sealed state, was at least a few notches higher than others, it was still true that it was no lingering reinforcement or else but Bai Qi's willpower the one to make him stand up and move his battered, bleeding, and somewhat singed body forward, to the second lead of the ones he obtained before.

***

The other lead obtained from the [Petal Stage], reasons behind which Bai Qi still wondered about, was the location of an even rarer herb, a high rarity Earth-tier one called the [Sun of the Underground].

A strange mushroom-like spirit herb considered truly rare, a prize that was both hard and dangerous to obtain. Still, with the location revealed thanks to an unexpected boon and the method being something Bai Qi would never forget, as it had been one of the first herbs he harvested in his original life, Bai Qi forced his battered body forward, walking, running, and even stumbling toward the north.

Yet, be it luck or just some strange coincidence, Bai Qi's next pick wouldn't be the [Sun of the Underground] but an entire field of [Lion's Mane] flowers.

The [Lion's Mane] was usually considered a low-tier spirit herb, common in nearly every plane. Still, as Bai Qi entered the meadow full of them, he was close to shouting out in surprise.

After all, the usual - known to everyone - color of the flower was a shade of yellow bordering the goldish tone of the precious metal so related to the sun. The ones he saw were absolutely purple, making them not the so-common [Lion's Mane] flowers but a far rarer mutation, one known as the [Judgement Lion's Mane]. Still a spirit-herb, but of such rarity that sometimes, it could cost more than many known Earth-tier ones!

Originating from the far more common [Lion's Mane] flowers, it was a very rare transformation, which required a heavenly tribulation called by a nearby cultivator to have a chance to occur. And now, before his eyes, there was an entire meadow, counting at least some five dozen, even with Bai Qi's mortal senses!

Thus, how could Bai Qi miss them? Especially with the so-useful properties of the flowers, one of which was nothing but a direct improvement of one's lightning element if used along with a few other ingredients as a pill aptly named the [Lion's Heavenly Judgement]?!

Spending nearly no effort, at least in his opinion, Bai Qi would end up gathering seventy-one mutated [Lion's Mane] flowers, merely suffering a light, again, in his own opinion, shock. But even with such a welcome harvest, Bai Qi would actually leave the meadow in heavy doubt. After all, he couldn't even begin to think of a reason for the picked-up herbs to select not one or even separate between all his [Holding Pouches] but to separate exactly between three of them, with the chosen ones being the ones closest to being empty.

In any case, it wasn't as if Bai Qi worried about what pouch contained either herb of his haul. After all, the eight were bound to him, and no matter what happened, without getting him out of the event - they would count as his.

***

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

Using his hand as a conduit, Bai Qi summoned some of his sword intent, sending slash after slash against an unremarkable spot in a bare, plain-like area some half an hour from the forest he had been in just before.

*Flash*

Suddenly, from the ground, as if from the fissure opened in the soft soil by his intent's power - a sharp light emanated, bringing an unexpected warmness and light to the cold and dark surroundings.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

While someone could be caught unaware and stop, Bai Qi wasn't that someone and continued releasing slash after slash at the same spot.

At some point, it even looked, from the side, as if he was trying to cut sunlight. At least if one ignored that night had long settled on the event's grounds or that the so-called sunlight actually came from below.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* *Glow*

No matter how it looked or how it taxed his already overexerted body, Bai Qi continued releasing slash after slash, burning through his reserve of sword intent. And he would only stop when one of the pouches attached to his belt began glowing in a green hue, a sign of him having harvested a spirit herb.

And what a herb! One perfectly worth all of his expenditure. A perfect exemplar of the so-called [Sun of the Underground], a mushroom that would expose itself during the day, absorbing the sun rays, and then disappear belowground, illuminating underground passages and caverns, as if a fake, night-time sun it was.

Impossible to find without an exhaustive search, Bai Qi had indeed lucked out with its location of it. And while he had no idea of the reasons behind the hints appearing in his mind during his duels on the [Petal Stage], he nonetheless accepted them. Bai Qi lightly smiled at his thought, as the pouches of everyone but Lei Guiying contained nothing interesting. Indeed, just a few, less than fifty among the six pouches, exemplars of good-quality but still pretty-common spirit herbs. Could it even be called a worthy haul?

Lei Guiying's pouch had been the exception, as it contained twenty-nine herbs by itself, and except for a few commonly found [Seven Leaf] and [Fool's Blade] grass-like herbs, it had rare-to-find high-tier spirit tier ones. It even counted with three decently harvested Earth-tier herbs, namely the [Yu Yi's Sweat Drop], [Qing Long's Scale Grass], and [Xihe's Tear], the three of which Bai Qi had yet to encounter.

Though the middle one, the [Qing Long's Scale Grass], was a surprising one to see in this event, as it had nothing to do with the Yang element, at least not in any knowledge Bai Qi had accumulated during his long life as the [White Scroll Immortal].

Bai Qi was far from being sure that he already was among the winners, but his haul was indeed impressive, and nearly every second type of herb in his possession was one he would gladly keep for himself.

***

Exhausted as he may have been, Bai Qi still considered himself capable of continuing, even if on sheer willpower, and so he did. Thought before moving further, he chose to look around for a water source. After all, with his cultivation sealed, his physical needs as food and water, had returned. And while to former was something impossible to find, at least until now, he had definitively seen a few streams and small puddle-like pools before.

Searching for one of either turned out to be a slightly taxing endeavor, as most spirit herbs required no water, but Bai Qi managed to find a small stream after looking around. But before he even drank, Bai Qi found himself running past the water source.

Not that his disregard for his body's needs was hard to understand. After all, his eyes landed on a small illuminated patch just some quarter of a mile away from his location, and considering the time and darkness around? It was as if meant to be something important. And indeed, as he closed in, Bai Qi discovered his instinctive rush had been the correct course of action. After all, the [Sun Bear's Claw] now before his eyes was not only one of the rarest herbs present for the event but also was one with a peculiar quirk - to move from place to place every few breaths.

It was such an unexpected find that Bai Qi didn't even think much before pouncing on the dark-brown flower with bizarre, pointy petals, ignoring even the correct way to approach the flower that easily was half his body in size.

Not that he risked anything but a few scratches and cuts, with the [Sun Bear's Claw] defense being its constant mobility and not the considerable offensive qualities other Earth-tier herbs relied on.

***

Bai Qi's luck would continue after he drank his fill and even took the chance to wash off the sweat and blood covering him. Indeed, what else but luck could one call the fact that as soon as he decided to take a rest, midnight and further being a bad time to harvest Yang-element herbs anyway, he actually encountered another rare herb?

And what a kind of herb! The [Dragon King FakeScale] was not the rarest herb around, and usually, it couldn't be even counted among the sought-after Yang element Earth-tier herbs, its uses being fairly limited.

In fact, Bai Qi knew only one use for the bluish egg-shaped leaf sprouting from seemingly nowhere. And still, it was exactly that single-use he knew which would make the herb a high-score one for this exact [Martial Path of the Herbs] event. After all, the [Dragon's Will Gift] pill concocted from this leaf was known as a superior-level foil to any type of mind control, hypnosis, or charm technique and skill, types that the [Demon Worshipper] region's cultivators were very proficient with.

***

A rest long for a cultivator but short for a mortal, such was the definition Bai Qi himself gave to his half-sleep half-meditation from past midnight and up to the first ray of dawn.

While he still felt tired and the unusual feeling of hunger heavily pressed on him, Bai Qi felt better than before, and so, without paying attention to anything but his surroundings, he rushed out on what he called an early morning hunt.

Somewhat exhausted and attempting to dodge any other participant, Bai Qi would spend all the hours of the morning, from the first rays to the mid-heaven point of the sun, looking around and harvesting every possible herb. Even ones that he usually would ignore were now fair play for him. After all, he had some six hundred spots to fill, and he definitively had no time to be picky. A strange departure from his previous mindset if one thought about it, but still a logical one. After all, Bai Qi intended to win, and no matter if his new harvest was barely worth anything, it still added to his already impressive haul.

But still, anyone knowing Bai Qi would possibly ask themself, did something happen during his rest? For him to change his approach so much? And yet, they would have to accept to remain unanswered.

After all, only Bai Qi had heard the voice of someone yet unknown, revealing him nothing else but the number of points he had along with the ones required for the winning spot for sure.

Well, that and the fact that as an unannounced rule, each herb picked correctly and without any damage, no matter its grade, would earn its holder an extra point!