Chapter 114: Anyone Can Do It

On the narrow path of the herb garden, several young men and women stood frozen in place, their faces etched with terror and astonishment.

"He... he went inside?"
"What about the... the barrier?"
"What happened to the barrier of that herb garden?"
"The barrier is still there! Why was he able to just walk in?"

Their minds were reeling, unable to believe what they were seeing. For many years, countless powerful cultivators had attempted to bypass the barriers within the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven. They had exhausted every conceivable method, only to fail time and time again.

It was only later that people began to discern a pattern: the barriers had certain weak points. By bombarding these areas for an extended period, a tiny gap could be forced open. However, this opening lasted for an incredibly short duration, and because the gap was so small, one had to be lightning-fast, using spiritual sense or incantations to quickly fish out whatever herbs they could reach. Naturally, distance also limited their efforts. Even with the fastest speed, they could only target the herbs around the perimeter of the garden. Over time, the outer herbs were picked clean, leaving everyone to stare longingly and drool at the vast expanse of herbs further inside.

Consequently, people in the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven nowadays mostly come for the weeds around the edges. Even if they were just weeds, as long as they had enough age, they were still precious treasures. Otherwise, one would have to find a less-weakened section of the barrier—one that hadn't been picked over yet—and bombard it, but that required multiple experts working in tandem, consuming significant time and energy, with no guarantee of success.

As time passed, the value of access to the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven diminished, and it became the rankings of the Divine Pill Convention that dictated the allocation of resources, which people prioritized instead. This mindset had become deeply ingrained.

But now, the perspectives of these young men and women were shattered. It was unimaginable: a Golden Core stage cultivator was digging in the dirt outside the barrier, and as he dug, he somehow, miraculously, slipped right into the herb garden. This was madness!

"Wait, he... he looks so familiar!" the young woman suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"It’s Prodigy Xu!" one of them blurted out.

The others clearly recognized Xu Zhe as well; they were so stunned they couldn't even speak. It was simply absurd. Everyone knew Prodigy Xu was strong, but even if he was powerful, surely he wasn't strong enough to bypass a barrier that even cultivators above the Integration stage couldn't break? And yet, this Prodigy Xu had just been digging in the dirt, and somehow, by just brushing against it, he had slipped inside?

"Everyone, what were you just saying?" Xu Zhe asked again.

He stood within the herb garden, facing them with a gentle smile. But the group didn't know how to respond, looking at each other in utter embarrassment. There was an old saying: don't slap a man in the face. We just didn't recognize you at first and were making a joke; why are you hitting us in the face over and over again?

"Ahem, Prodigy Xu, we didn't know it was you earlier. We spoke out of turn; please forgive us," the female cultivator said, bowing in slight distress.
"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. You go on with your business; I have things to do myself," Xu Zhe said with a wave of his hand. Although he hadn't clearly heard what they were saying earlier, it didn't matter, as long as they weren't here to cause trouble.

The group let out a long sigh of relief. After all, what they had said earlier was quite offensive, and they felt lucky that Xu Zhe wasn't holding a grudge. If it had been any other powerhouse, a casual flick of the wrist from a distance would have been enough to turn them into dust. What? You say Prodigy Xu is only in the Golden Core stage and couldn't kill Nascent Soul cultivators with a flick? Don't be ridiculous—who could forget the destruction of the Mo family?

"Thank you, Prodigy Xu!" they said, bowing before hurriedly turning to leave.

But they noticed that Xu Zhe had already turned his back on them, ignoring them entirely as he reached his "devilish hands" toward the heavy, bountiful fruits in the garden. His speed was astonishing—like a whirlwind sweeping away the clouds. With a single wave of his hand, a large patch of fruit was harvested. Everywhere he moved, only afterimages remained, leaving nothing behind but bare branches and leaves. In less than a moment, the thousands of golden fruits in the massive herb garden were picked clean, not a single one left behind.

*Gulp.*

The group swallowed in unison. They didn't know what those golden fruits were, as they had never been seen in the four great continents before. Because no one had ever broken the barrier, no one knew their medicinal properties. But even to the naked eye, any fool could see these fruits were extraordinary. Watching Xu Zhe harvest them so thoroughly, the group couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction—it was just satisfying to watch. Then, they were filled with overwhelming envy.

*Whoosh!*

Soon, a satisfied Xu Zhe walked out of the herb garden with a content smile.

"Prodigy Xu!" The female cultivator hesitated before quickly speaking up. "Pardon my boldness, but may I ask what method you used to break the barrier and enter the garden?"

She regretted the question as soon as it left her lips, feeling it was a bit foolish. Although she asked out of pure curiosity, neither she nor her friends expected an answer. How could a secret involving such great benefits be shared so easily?

"Oh, this? It’s very simple!"

Xu Zhe didn't seem offended at all. He answered as if it were the most mundane thing in the world: "You just have to find the weak points in the barrier and change the formation runes a little. It’s very easy to open a gap."

"..." The group’s minds went blank again.

Change the formation runes? It’s very easy to open a gap? Is this... human language? These barriers were terrifyingly complex. Even the greatest formation master would be helpless before them; otherwise, why would everyone have been resorting to such violent, brute-force methods for all these years? How did it become so easy in your hands?

"You should hurry up and try it. I thought it was hard at first, but once I tried it, I realized that as long as you have hands, you can do it," Xu Zhe said before walking away.

He was telling the truth. Although these barriers were powerful, they had been weakened to the extreme over the years, far less difficult than he had initially imagined. While it was time-consuming, the ratio of effort to reward was quite good.

On the narrow path, the young men and women stood in silence, staring blankly at Xu Zhe’s departing figure, their mouths twitching uncontrollably.

*As long as you have hands?* Sorry, our hands don't deserve to be called hands; they are just two useless appendages!