Upon seeing Lingyue Fairy again, Xu Taiping could distinctly feel that the human aura about her had grown much denser, no longer possessing the ghostly chill of their first encounter.

“Lingyue Sister, your spirit seems to have healed quite a bit.”

Xu Taiping was genuinely happy for Lingyue Fairy.

“Although the spiritual energy of this land is still insufficient, thanks to the inherent power of the Earth-Hiding Fruit, my spirit has indeed recovered a lot. At least now it can be considered half a remnant soul.”

Lingyue Fairy smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with her progress.

“By the way, Little Taiping, this gourd not only serves as my dwelling but also contains a universe within. You can store your magical tools and other belongings inside it.”

She then pointed to the green gourd in Xu Taiping’s hand.

“How much can it hold?”

Xu Taiping asked with pleasant surprise.

“Hold the gourd and channel a breath of True Qi into it to try.”

Instead of answering directly, Lingyue Fairy encouraged him to try it himself.

“Alright.”

Xu Taiping nodded, channeled a breath of True Qi into the gourd, and immediately, a space filled with misty clouds appeared in his mind, about one zhang square in size, roughly as big as his kitchen.

“This big?”

Xu Taiping withdrew his focus, looking at Lingyue Fairy in front of him with some astonishment.

Clearly, this area was the space containing a universe that Lingyue Fairy had mentioned.

“That’s not considered large.”

Lingyue Fairy chuckled and shook her head.

“This gourd is the first magical treasure nurtured by the Earth-Hiding Fruit. Unlike ordinary treasures, its power will grow with the strength of its owner. So as long as my power continues to recover, the space inside this gourd will expand, eventually becoming vast enough to form its own world.”

She then introduced this to Xu Taiping with great enthusiasm.

“A world of its own.”

Xu Taiping was somewhat moved.

Even the small space he had just witnessed was beyond his imagination.

“Lingyue Sister, can I put things like the yellow sheep I hunted in the mountains, or that Fire-Patterned Python from before, inside this gourd?”

He sought confirmation from Lingyue Fairy.

“That’s right,” Lingyue Fairy nodded, “from small Talisman Scrolls to the bodies of large demonic beasts, as long as the gourd can accommodate them, you can put them inside.”

Hearing this, Xu Taiping was overjoyed. The body of the Fire-Patterned Python last time had been too large to carry, and he had regretfully only been able to skin it, leaving behind many valuable parts.

“Not just living creatures, once my power recovers further, even spiritual beasts and demonic beasts can be collected inside. This green gourd inherently possesses the same abilities as a demon-refining pot.”

Lingyue Fairy added.

Upon hearing this, Xu Taiping was surprised and couldn’t help but look forward to Lingyue Fairy regaining more of her strength.

“Clatter!~”

Just then, the second gourd fell from the vine.

This time it was a red-skinned gourd, and its surface was adorned with flame-like patterns that were quite attractive.

After falling from the vine, the gourd floated towards Xu Taiping’s embrace as if it had just woken up, then became motionless, seemingly falling asleep again.

“This Fire Gourd was formed by absorbing the nutrients of the Fire Spirit Ganoderma as a catalyst, then seizing treasures similar to the Fire Spirit Ganoderma from these mountains and rivers.”

Lingyue Fairy explained to Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping wasn’t too surprised, as Lingyue Fairy had already explained to him that the Earth-Hiding Fruit could seize treasures buried within the land.

“Come, take a look and see what kind of treasure has been nurtured inside this gourd.”

Lingyue Fairy prompted Xu Taiping with some anticipation.

“Bang!”

With a gentle tap at the mouth of the gourd, the top of the Fire-Patterned Gourd automatically split open, and a mass of scorching and dense spiritual energy, accompanied by a low roar resembling a “dragon’s chant,” burst forth from the gourd.

“There was a dragon in these mountains?”

Lingyue Fairy exclaimed in shock.

Although she had not yet seen the treasure inside the gourd, the mere dragon’s chant was enough for Lingyue Fairy to ascertain that the treasure within was definitely related to dragons.

The only possibility for nurturing a treasure related to dragons was that the mountains and rivers beneath their feet had once been home to a dragon, possibly thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago—a true dragon, not a Flood Dragon like the Black Dragon Elder.

“Dragons? So there really are dragons in this world.”

Xu Taiping had come across such beings more than once in the texts he had read.

However, most of the texts he had perused stated that since the initial calamity ten thousand years ago, there were no more true dragons in the world, only false dragons like serpents and Flood Dragons.

“Of course, there are dragons in this world, there were in the past, and there are now, but they have all gone to the higher realms. As early as ten thousand years ago, the spiritual energy of the lower realm had been depleted, making it difficult for true dragons to exist. Even the few remaining in our realm have not been seen for nearly a thousand years; whether they are dead or alive, no one knows.”

Lingyue Fairy replied somewhat wistfully, then eagerly pointed to Xu Taiping’s gourd, “Quick, pour it out and take a look.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Xu Taiping remember that there was still a treasure inside the gourd.He flipped the gourd over, and then all he saw was a pearl the size of a chicken egg, accompanied by rolling heat waves, pouring out from the gourd. In an instant, the entire spiritual medicine garden became scorchingly hot.

“Is this… Could this be the Dragon Gallstone refined from the gall of a true dragon?!”

Fairy Lingyue exclaimed once again in surprise.

“What is a Dragon Gallstone?”

Although just by seeing the fervent look in Fairy Lingyue’s eyes, Xu Taiping had already guessed that this pearl was certainly extraordinary, he still couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“Put it away first.”

Fairy Lingyue signaled Xu Taiping with a cautious face to secure the Dragon Gallstone.

Only after Xu Taiping had put the Dragon Gallstone back into the gourd and covered it with the lid did she finally breathe a sigh of relief and said:

“Although the Dragon Gallstone refined from the gall of a true dragon doesn’t possess any particularly miraculous powers, if used to brew wine, just one sip can double the speed of a cultivator’s practice. Besides, Dragon Gall Wine can also nourish the spirit. It is a treasure that high-level cultivators dream of obtaining. However, because true dragons are hard to find in this world, and their galls are extremely difficult to refine, the Dragon Gallstone has become exceedingly rare.”

Saying this, Fairy Lingyue’s eyes revealed a helpless expression, and she continued with a bitter smile:

“I had searched through ten provinces in my younger years and never found a single one. I never expected that today, in this land bereft of spiritual energy, I would actually find one.”