Calling out to Gu Sheng, Lan Yao excitedly asked, "Gu Sheng, is this Hundred Ghost Grass that you planted?"
Gu Sheng was stunned when he heard this.
"Hundred Ghost Grass? Whatâs that?"
After he spoke, Lan Yao was also stunned.
"Well, there are quite a few in your yard, arenât these planted by you?"
Leaning over to take a look, Gu Sheng shook his head, "I donât recognize it. Itâs not something I planted; it grew on its own. Only the patch of meticulously tended herbs was planted by me."
Turning to look, Lan Yao gently furrowed his brows.
"So youâre saying the ordinary herbs were planted by you, and these few valuable Hundred Ghost Grass grew naturally?"
"Valuable? Is this thing rare?"
"Of course! Our Elf Clan tried to plant them, but each time they failed when trying to split the petals, and ended up with a single stalk growth which was valueless. Look at yours, though itâs a small one, it has already split into three petals, and is quite valuable!"
"And those?"
"Those also, some have two petals, some have three, all are very valuable. Are you sure you never tended them, and they grew naturally?"
"Yes, Iâve never considered these things significant, so I let them grow. If they were useful, I would have eradicated them long ago."
Upon hearing this, Lan Yao excitedly stood up.
"That wonât do! The value of just one of these Hundred Ghost Grasses is higher than all the herbs in your yard, how could you eradicate it? Are you mad?"
After he spoke, Gu Sheng couldnât help but laugh and cry.
"If you hadnât mentioned it, I truly wouldnât know what it is and naturally would treat it as useless."
"Gu Sheng, youâre truly baffling. I diligently cultivate, and yet nothing grows; you inattentively plant willows and they flourish, and you donât even recognize it. Thankfully I came today, otherwise these Hundred Ghost Grass would have been wasted."
Touching the fragile little grass, Lan Yao gently asked, "Gu Sheng, now that you know what it is, could you let me study it a bit? Donât worry, I wonât take a single one away, I just want to research and see if the Elf Clan can cultivate them."
"Go ahead, you can research however you want, even if you dig them up and take them back to the Elf Clan, itâs fine."
"Really?"
"Of course, if it werenât for you, I wouldnât have gotten these herbs. Youâre their benefactor, so naturally you have the right to handle them."
"Then I wonât hold back."
"Do friends need to be so polite? Iâve never heard of it. If you need, I can even hand over everything to you, it doesnât matter."
Hearing Gu Shengâs words, Lan Yao was deeply grateful.
"Gu Sheng, thank you."
"I remember friends donât need to thank each other, isnât that right?"
Seeing his eyebrow-raising expression, Lan Yao couldnât help but laugh.
"Yes, yes, yes, youâre right. Iâm being too polite."
"I think so too, you and I neednât be so formal."
Lan Yao relaxed his brows and nodded with a smile.
Now, he increasingly thought sticking close to Gu Sheng back then was the right choice; such a good person, heâd regret it if they didnât become friends.
Luckily, they were already friends, no need for regret.
"Gu Sheng, I want to stay here for a while longer; make sure to bring out the good wine and food, donât hide them."
"Go ahead, stay as long as you wish, but about good wine and meat... let me think about that."
After they spoke, they both laughed heartily together.
That night, the Third Elder led everyone from Stone Village to prepare a grand welcome banquet for the Elf Clan and others.
Lan Yao did not expect to be so well-treated, and ended the night in a state of unconsciousness.
After he passed out drunk, several elders approached Gu Sheng.
"Gu Sheng, now that you have the Spiritual Pearl, isnât it time to refine it sooner rather than later?"
After considering for a moment, Gu Sheng nodded.
"Yes, it should be refined soon."
"Weâve prepared a place for you, when do you plan to start?"
"Perhaps when Lan Yao leaves."
Upon hearing this, the elders disagreed.
"Gu Sheng, Lan Yao is not petty, and while heâs here, we can help host him, but you cannot delay refining the Spiritual Pearl. The news of you obtaining it from South Mountain will soon spread. If someone comes to take it, all your previous efforts will be for nothing."
"Rest assured, the people from South Mountain donât know that I took the Spiritual Pearl."
"For now, they donât know, but if someone becomes suspicious and tracks to Stone Village, things could go badly."
"The Third Elder is right. Now is the best time to refine the Spiritual Pearl. Otherwise, once someone becomes suspicious and tracks to here, itâll be disastrous. Gu Sheng, obtaining the Spiritual Pearl was not easy; if you lose it, it might be lost forever."
The elders took turns advising, and Gu Sheng seriously started considering the matter.
After thinking this through, he still glanced at Lan Yao.
Noticing his glance, the elders understood his thoughts and quickly promised to help take care of Lan Yao, urging him to refine the Spiritual Pearl promptly.
After much deliberation, Gu Sheng finally nodded.
"Rest assured elders, I will start refining the Spiritual Pearl at dawn."
Finally receiving his response, the elders breathed a sigh of relief.
"You donât need to worry too much about the Elf Clan matters; we will entertain them."
"Okay, then Iâll leave it to you elders. But donât put too much effort on Lan Yao; heâs focused on the Hundred Poison Grass he found in my yard, his thoughts will be on that for the coming days, no need to plan any itinerary for him."