Duanmu Yu at once began exploring their surroundings, carrying Wei Zhao along in a half-floating state. At the Foundation Establishment level, though nearly everyone in the Primordial Little Jianghu had begun the systematic cultivation of divine consciousness, that level was simply too low, and the range of perception it afforded was in truth quite limited. Even an outstanding talent like Duanmu Yu fell short of Wei Zhao by more than a hundredfold; one could well imagine how difficult it would be to truly probe a space with any care.

Still, this was a last resort. Waiting patiently for Wei Zhao to recover would not have been impossible, but it was far too risky. Having suddenly fallen into such a strange space, they of course had to make sense of their situation at the first opportunity—what if something extremely dangerous were lurking close at hand?

Before long Duanmu Yu suddenly stopped. Her divine consciousness had clearly sensed a massive, thick object blocking the way ahead, and it gave off an aura she found strangely familiar.

"This aura..." Wei Zhao caught on first, slowly releasing a wisp of divine consciousness to probe for a moment. His expression turned odd. "Why does it feel exactly like the Divine Consciousness Herb?"

"The root of the Divine Consciousness Herb! This is the root of the Divine Consciousness Herb! So the legend really is true!" Duanmu Yu was suddenly excited.

"The Divine Consciousness Herb is only a thin little stalk—how could its root be so thick and enormous? Are you sure you remember rightly?" Wei Zhao was startled at her words. Though he found it hard to believe, he was already eight parts convinced in his heart; after all, an identical aura could not be faked.

"I'm sure! Absolutely sure!" Duanmu Yu was utterly certain. "The legend says the Divine Consciousness Herb people can normally harvest is only the small uppermost part. Rare heavenly treasure it may be, but if one simply consumes the leaves, the effect is actually limited—not nearly as exaggerated as the world imagines. The true essence of the Divine Consciousness Herb lies in its root. But through all of history, those who could even find the herb have been pitifully few, and even when they found it they would at most hastily hack off the leaves above and carry those away, unable to take the root with them."

"True enough. A root this enormous—an ordinary person couldn't carry it off even if they cut it free," Wei Zhao nodded.

"Exactly. And the root grows in a place as unfathomable as this—there's no way to cut it from above either, unless you're swept in like us." At that, Duanmu Yu could not help but look downcast again. Finding the root of the Divine Consciousness Herb was an unexpected joy, but it did nothing to solve their present predicament. If they searched high and low and still could not find a way out, what use would it be to find any amount of the herb?

"Heaven never seals off every road. If we could be swept in, then surely we can find a way out—of that I have no doubt at all," Wei Zhao said gravely. It was the same as when they had broken through the Mirror Flower, Water Moon before; without that conviction, he and Duanmu Yu might still be wandering lost in the world within the mirror to this very moment.

Duanmu Yu fell silent for a moment, gazing deeply at Wei Zhao in the darkness. Then she gave a free and easy laugh. "You're right. I lost sight of the truth. A cultivator must hold fast to their original heart and press ever onward, no matter the time or circumstance. That was the first lesson I learned before I ever entered the sect, and here I've thrown it to the back of my mind at the first hint of trouble. Truly shameful."

"Losing one's bearings in a situation like this is only human nature—nothing to be ashamed of," Wei Zhao said with an unconcerned smile.

"Is that so? Then how come you haven't?" Duanmu Yu asked.

"Me... heh. When you've been through enough, you stop being surprised." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. It was the plain truth—and of course it also had to do with his sufficiently high level. For an existence at his tier, were a few minor tribulations really worth calling trouble?

"You say that as if you really were some ancient Primordial Spirit who's weathered all the vicissitudes of the world!" Duanmu Yu could not help but smile. Having learned so much about Wei Zhao, she was of course long since certain that he was no Primordial Spirit at all. But then again, Wei Zhao was truly unfathomable; the more she came into contact with him, the more mysterious he seemed.

"Then change the prefix—Mortal World Spirit, or Cloud-Tier Island Spirit. I can carry off either," Wei Zhao said offhandedly.

"Enough of your nonsense—tell me, what do we do next?" Duanmu Yu shot him a glare. Yet after Wei Zhao's little diversion she had relaxed a great deal; her mood was no longer as taut as before, and she had finally returned to her normal state.

"What do you mean, what do we do? Since such a fine thing has fallen into our laps, of course we pack it up and take it with us. You won't find the root of the Divine Consciousness Herb anywhere out in the world—this is a heaven-sent opportunity, not to be missed!" Wei Zhao reached out and touched the root of the Divine Consciousness Herb that blocked their way like a wall. He could faintly sense the vast divine consciousness energy contained within it; and unlike the Star-Ink Charcoal, this did not seem to be pure divine consciousness energy either. What exactly it was, though, they would only know once they truly tried it.

"I know it's a rare opportunity, but we still don't even know how to get out, and besides—it's so huge, how could we possibly carry it away?" Duanmu Yu was caught between laughter and tears.

"That's not necessarily so." A playful curve lifted the corner of Wei Zhao's mouth. At a mere thought, the enormous root of the Divine Consciousness Herb before them vanished into thin air without the slightest warning.

"Uh..." Duanmu Yu was struck dumb, and only then did it come back to her: when Wei Zhao had dealt with that guardian of the sleeping lotus, he had seemed to say that any plant could be taken into that space of his. This root of the Divine Consciousness Herb before them might be enormous, but it still counted as a plant. To others the problem would be daunting; to Wei Zhao it was a matter of a single thought. A freak was a freak.

"We'll split it once we're up top. Any objections?" Wei Zhao asked.

"None." Duanmu Yu agreed without hesitation. Never mind that without Wei Zhao the thing could not be taken out at all—this was hardly the moment to be discussing such a thing anyway. Now that the root of the Divine Consciousness Herb had been collected, the proper course was to hurry up and find a way out; otherwise, to have the means to take a treasure but no life left to use it would be to die with regret.

The two of them were just about to resume feeling their way through this strange space when, before either could make a move, a rumbling boom suddenly came from the extreme distance, racing swiftly toward where the two of them stood. In the blur, there seemed to come the ancient aura of some primordial colossal beast.

Wei Zhao and Duanmu Yu were startled at the same time, but they did not flee in panic. They had not yet probed clearly just what sort of place this was, and a reckless flight would only bring a faster death. Better to simply get a good look at whatever was coming.