After the two of them exited the Wild Ghost Cave, Jiang Qiemo bid farewell and left, without asking Chen Guan for another battle.

"As expected, it was right not to reveal what happened later on." Chen Guan watched Jiang Qiemo's departing figure and silently praised himself for his cleverness.

Chen Guan had no intention of returning; he still needed to go to Peony Mountain to dig up the Celestial Immortal Peony.

Unlike Wing Zhilan, he wasn't so leisurely inclined to wait two or three years just for a battle with Jiang Qiemo.

Chen Guan only wanted to awaken a second time as quickly as possible, the faster the better.

After applying medicine to his wounds, the healing was quite good. In fact, they had already scabbed over even before the medicine was applied.

Chen Guan realized that his body's recovery ability was much stronger than before, although he wasn't sure if it was due to the Secret Technique of One or some other reason.

Besides being secluded with difficult paths, Peony Mountain wasn't very dangerous. The Secret Spirits encountered along the way were all below level 10.

Even the Secret Spirits on Peony Mountain itself weren't too high in level; one or two-level Flower Demons were the main Secret Spirits there.

The Flower Demon essentially had no attack power. Wherever the Celestial Immortal Peony grew, there the Flower Demon would be, subsisting entirely on the nectar and pollen of the Celestial Immortal Peony.

Chen Guan had only seen images of the Flower Demon in the database before, and upon arriving at Peony Mountain, it was his first time seeing her true appearance.

The Flower Demon was only palm-sized, looking much like a Flower Fairy, dressed in flower-like clothing with a few petals attached to her back. Those petals served as her wings, enabling her to fly in the air.

In theory, even if such a Secret Spirit were of lower level, lesser quality, and weaker ability, some people would still find her cute enough to keep as a pet.

Unfortunately, the Flower Demon had a serious issue. Her body, including her face and hands, was covered in many repulsive-looking sores that emitted a foul odor, making her difficult to approach.

No ability, no appearance, no value—nobody cared about such a Secret Spirit, not even bothering to kill her.

Fortunately, Flower Demons didn't actively attack humans. As Chen Guan rode his White Horse up the mountain, he saw many Flower Demons flitting about the peony bushes, collecting pollen and nectar.

However, the smell was quite unpleasant. It was puzzling why the Celestial Immortal Peony, such a rare and exquisite treasure, would be accompanied by such detestable Flower Demons.

The further Chen Guan went, the more puzzled he became. Along the way, aside from the harmless Flower Demons, he hadn't encountered any threatening Secret Spirits. He was almost at North Peak, and he couldn't help but think, "Is what the Holy Horned White Deer wants really this simple?"

Though he sensed something was wrong, there seemed to be no issues so far.

Once Chen Guan reached North Peak, he quickly found the Celestial Immortal Peony that the Holy Horned White Deer had mentioned.

The Celestial Immortal Peony looked beautiful, but what made Chen Guan immediately recognize it was the stone beside it.

As the Holy Horned White Deer had said, this Celestial Immortal Peony grew next to a cliff, closely adjacent to a human-sized stone. It was easy to spot at a glance.

From a distance, the stone resembled a person standing by the cliff, gazing at the vast universe beyond.

The stone's body was long and slender, proportionate on top yet extremely thin at the bottom, resembling a pencil with only its tip connecting to the cliff.

While it seemed that a gust of wind could topple it off the cliff, the stone stood firm, absolutely motionless.

"Such a peculiar stone, it's unmistakably the one at first glance. No wonder the Holy Horned White Deer was so sure I wouldn't miss it. Finding another stone like this would indeed be difficult." Chen Guan saw that beside the stone, there was only that one peony. Its branches were full of vibrant red peonies blooming brilliantly, and he thought it must be the one.

Not daring to approach immediately, he observed from a distance for a while but didn't see any special features that distinguished this Celestial Immortal Peony, other than its exceptionally luxurious blooms and velvety petals. There were no peculiar traits of heavenly and earthly treasures, and even its fragrance wasn't particularly strong; from that distance, it was entirely undetectable.

He quietly observed a while longer without discovering any issues or hidden Secret Spirits nearby.

Chen Guan was still uneasy, so he summoned Ming Fei to see if there were any problems with that Celestial Immortal Peony.

Ming Fei scrutinized it for a long time before asking Chen Guan suspiciously, "Why do you think there's a problem? Where do you see a problem?"

"Because the one who sent me to dig it up is problematic, so I don't believe there's no issue with it," Chen Guan explained the sequence of events to Ming Fei.

Ming Fei listened, then studied it with a frown for a long time before saying oddly, "You're right, there's definitely something off with that Holy Horned White Deer, but as for this Celestial Immortal Peony, I truly can't see any problems."

"Why don't you go dig it up and have a look?" Chen Guan suggested.

Ming Fei rolled her eyes immediately, "I just saved your life, don't you have any conscience? You want to use me as cannon fodder again? I'm not going. Why do you have to involve me in such trivial matters when you have so many pets?"

"Well, I'm treating you like a human, unlike the other beasts, who couldn't possibly complete such a complex task, like digging out the entire peony with all its roots," Chen Guan said with a smile.

"Not going," Ming Fei said flatly as she sat down without giving Chen Guan any face.

Chen Guan didn't get angry, nor did he force Ming Fei. Instead, he summoned a Red Night Demon pet and had it carry a small fork. First, it circled around the Celestial Immortal Peony and the large stone several times to ensure there was nothing unusual before allowing the Red Night Demon to start digging near the Celestial Immortal Peony.

Surprisingly, everything went smoothly. The Red Night Demon quickly dug out the soil near the Celestial Immortal Peony. Chen Guan didn't let it dig too close to the roots, which were still wrapped in soil.

Seeing no issues, Chen Guan instructed the Red Night Demon to lift the Celestial Immortal Peony along with its roots and soil.

As the Celestial Immortal Peony was uprooted, Chen Guan felt as though Peony Mountain shook briefly, like an earthquake.

However, the sensation was faint and happened only once. If not careful, one might have thought it was a mere illusion.

But Chen Guan furrowed his brows, first summoning a paperman, gripping the hilt of the Purple Feather Blade, and swiftly scanning the surroundings with his eyes.

At that moment, he had few usable pets. The Warring States offered no significant assistance in real combat, and Chen Guan didn't want to use them as cannon fodder.

The ordinary pets had significantly lower combat power compared to Chen Guan and offered little assistance. Ming Fei was the last trump card—a final option if things went south.

With Ruan Zhi and the Ghost Eye unavailable, it was better to let the paperman gather experience, leveling up as soon as possible.

Yet, Chen Guan couldn't detect any problems. The Red Night Demon had already brought the Celestial Immortal Peony over, and nothing seemed to happen near it.

Chen Guan controlled the Red Night Demon to carry the Celestial Immortal Peony following behind him, descending the mountain path without encountering any Secret Spirits, unexpectedly smoothly.

Even after leaving Peony Mountain, everything remained the same as usual.

Yet Chen Guan felt something was amiss. After pondering for a moment, he finally realized why he had felt uneasy all along.

Ever since he dug up this Celestial Immortal Peony, he hadn't seen a single Flower Demon along the way.

Originally, Flower Demons were everywhere on Peony Mountain, but not a one had been seen since the journey down.

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