Shang Ningye took the prescription from Xuan Kong’s hand, read it carefully, and then fell into thought.
“This is…?”
“It’s a formula I found in a cultivation technique manual for spiritual roots. I’m not sure if it can be used?”
Shang Ningye didn’t have much research into the art of cultivation, but she was skilled in medical principles and could see the brilliance of this prescription at a glance.
Seeing this, she nodded slightly, “It’s worth a try.”
Hearing this, a ray of hope flashed in Xuan Kong’s eyes.
“Then, in Ancestral Aunt-Master ‘s view, what’s the chance of success?”
Shang Ningye didn’t hesitate much this time.
She handed the prescription back and replied, “About seventy to eighty percent.”
Seeing Xuan Kong’s overjoyed expression, she intentionally poured some cold water on him.
“That Golden Lingjiao in the Demon Realm is said to have four or five hundred years of cultivation. It’s likely to transform into human form within the next few years, so it might not be easy to obtain.”
Xuan Kong nodded and said, “I came specifically for this matter.”
“I heard Ancestral Aunt-Master is an old acquaintance of that Demon King. I want to go to the Demon Realm to discuss this with her. May I ask Ancestral Aunt-Master to accompany me?”
A look of hesitation appeared on Shang Ningye’s face.
Seeing this, Xuan Kong tentatively said, “Ancestral Aunt-Master only needs to travel with me; you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Shang Ningye was silent for a long while before finally agreeing reluctantly.
“Indeed, I haven’t been to the Demon Realm for a long time. This trip can be considered a visit to an old friend. However, regarding the matter you entrust to me, it’s really not convenient for me to interfere.”
Xuan Kong nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After the two discussed, they decided to first go to the Fragrant Herb Garden tomorrow to gather the remaining spiritual herbs from the formula before setting off.
Meanwhile, Mu Qiuhan returned to her room and paced back and forth. She thought long and hard, secretly worrying in her heart.
It seemed someone was passing outside the courtyard. Some disciples were loudly discussing the demon invasion below Longxuan Mountain today. Mu Qiuhan vaguely heard someone mention Qin Ziyan.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck her.
The Taiching Immortal Sect had a wide range of sect missions. Qin Ziyan’s current departure was precisely because of a sect mission.
If she could accept a mission outside the sect like Qin Ziyan, wouldn’t she be able to leave openly?
Mu Qiuhan curved her lips, inwardly mocking herself for how she had been so oblivious – always thinking about how to escape the encirclement of immortals, yet forgetting that she was now a disciple of the Immortal Sect and could leave openly.
With this, a heavy stone in her heart finally settled.
The voices outside the courtyard faded away. Mu Qiuhan sat cross-legged on the bed, planning to circulate her spiritual energy and cultivate again.
Who knew this Core Formation realm body hadn’t slept for dozens of days?
After the previous fight, she had already exhausted her spiritual energy, only recovering a tiny bit thanks to that medicinal pill.
Afterwards, she had rushed back all the way from the library without stopping, already pushing her body to the limit.
Now that the heavy burden in her heart was lifted, her entire being relaxed from that state of tension.
So, as soon as her body touched the edge of the bed, she fell down in a daze and slept.
Mu Qiuhan was only awakened by the chirping of birds in the courtyard when the sky was fully bright.
She sat up, startled, and stared blankly in front of the bed for a while, feeling dissatisfied once again with this fragile and weak body.
Mu Qiuhan planned for a while in her room, then took out a set of new clothes from her storage ring and changed into them.
She cast a Cleansing Spell, then half-loosely half-tied her long hair into a bun at the back of her head, securing it with a black ribbon.
Her originally cold and indifferent eyebrows and eyes suddenly gained a hint of sharpness.
She didn’t linger in the room and went straight to the Cleansing Heart Hall.
According to her original plan, she intended to go to the Fragrant Herb Garden first, but Wu Ling could leave the area of Longxuan Mountain at any time, so the urgent matter was to descend the mountain first.
Mu Qiuhan had previously received a mission to gather Qing Ling grass in the Cleansing Heart Hall. Since there weren’t many new disciples, Elder Sun, who distributed missions, still had some impression of her.
After hearing her intentions, he shook his head.
“A notice was just issued last night. To ensure the safety of the disciples within the sect, those below the Nascent Soul realm are temporarily not allowed to leave.”
Mu Qiuhan furrowed her brows upon hearing this.
Just then, another group of disciples came to receive missions. One of them asked, “What about those above the Nascent Soul realm?”
“If your cultivation is above the Nascent Soul realm, you can voluntarily sign up to join the patrol team. The contribution points are generous. Do you want to sign up?”
That disciple shrank back, “Never mind, preserving my life is more important. I’ll take a mission within the sect.”
“What about you all?”
Seeing everyone shake their heads, Elder Sun sighed deeply.
With a rather unpleasant expression, he explained, “The patrol team will be accompanied by two Elders at the Integration realm. Safety won’t be an issue, and the contribution points are ten times the usual amount. Are you really not going to reconsider?”
Someone mumbled, “What if it’s ten times? You still need to be alive to spend it.”
“I heard that Demon Clan expert is ruthless, and their cultivation is almost comparable to a cultivator in the Mahayana realm. I’m afraid only the Sect Master and a few Elders who are in seclusion can fight them. As for us… let’s just forget it.”
Mu Qiuhan secretly observed near the Cleansing Heart Hall for about fifteen minutes, finding that at least a hundred disciples came to receive missions, but not a single one was willing to join the patrol team.
No wonder Elder Sun was sighing deeply. He probably couldn’t recruit anyone and couldn’t explain it to his superiors.
She subtly curved her lips. It seemed Wu Ling’s actions yesterday were ruthless enough; at least she successfully scared these Immortal Sect disciples out of their wits.
She seemed to have somewhat guessed Wu Ling’s purpose for this trip.
Just as she was about to leave and think of other ways to descend the mountain, she saw a familiar figure walking towards her.
Mu Qiuhan’s gaze darkened.
It was Wei Liangfeng.
Wei Liangfeng didn’t recognize her.
Because Mu Qiuhan had used a spell a few days ago to conceal her original appearance, Wei Liangfeng had never seen her current face.
Mu Qiuhan saw him sign up at Elder Sun’s place and receive a mission token for patrol disciples. She thought to herself, although this person acts arrogantly, he still has some guts. It seems not all Immortal Sect disciples are completely useless.
She looked thoughtfully at Wei Liangfeng’s back, and the thought of stealing the mission token from him surged in her heart.
But upon careful consideration, she gave up on the idea.
Not seeing Wu Ling was a minor issue, but if it caused the Immortal Sect to become suspicious because of it, the trouble would be immense.
Currently, she was unable to protect herself, and this identity as an Immortal Sect disciple was her best reliance.
As for the Demon Realm, the Demon Clan people have always revered strength. Even if she could escape back, in her current state, she probably wouldn’t be able to sit securely on the Demon Lord’s throne.
Thinking of this, Mu Qiuhan changed direction and headed towards the Fragrant Herb Garden.
The Fragrant Herb Garden was actually a giant medicinal field, located on Jade Dragon Ridge. A pavilion was set up only at the entrance for daily spiritual herb transactions.
This place was only a few steps away from where Mu Qiuhan and the other disciples resided, so it was hard not to run into acquaintances.
Bu Qinglan was helping in that pavilion. She was probably undertaking a daily mission on Jade Dragon Ridge.
Seeing that the person who arrived was Mu Qiuhan, Bu Qinglan greeted her.
“Senior Sister, where have you been these past few days? I looked for you in your room a few days ago but couldn’t find you.”
Mu Qiuhan originally didn’t want to exchange pleasantries with her, but remembering she still needed to trade for some spiritual herbs, she casually responded.
“I stayed in the library for a few days. Junior Sister, I want to trade for some spiritual herbs. Do you have any in the pavilion?”
She took out the excess spiritual herbs she had gotten from Wei Liangfeng that day, handed them to Bu Qinglan, and listed a few names.
She thought they weren’t rare varieties, but to her surprise, Bu Qinglan said, “What a coincidence! Elder Xuan Kong just took away all the remaining spiritual herbs of these few types here. Wait a moment, I’ll go get some fresh ones from the garden for you.”
Xuan Kong?
Mu Qiuhan furrowed her brows upon hearing this. Could it be that my actions in the library yesterday aroused his suspicion?
That shouldn’t be the case.
Seeing her suspicious expression, Bu Qinglan thought she believed she was lying, so she explained further.
“Really, Senior Sister. Elder Xuan Kong hasn’t left yet. It seems he went to the second floor to look for Forget-Worry Grass and Zi Flower.”
Mu Qiuhan’s suspicion grew stronger as she heard her list a few more spiritual herb names.
Half of the more than twenty spiritual herbs needed to refine the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Pill already overlapped with the spiritual herbs Xuan Kong was currently collecting.
Was this really just a coincidence?
Mu Qiuhan felt a faint unease in her heart.
To confirm her idea, she decided to verify it herself.
“Then I’ll trouble Junior Sister to make a trip. I’ll go upstairs first to see if I can trade for anything else.”
Bu Qinglan didn’t suspect anything and left in response.
The spiritual herbs on the second floor were more precious than those downstairs.
Mu Qiuhan knew that with her shallow financial background, she could probably only trade for two or three plants in total, so she didn’t have the capacity to create a cover story.
She didn’t find any trace of Xuan Kong here, so she walked directly to a disciple who was counting items.
“Excuse me, Senior Brother, please help me find a Qing Mu plant.”
While waiting patiently, Mu Qiuhan pretended to casually glance at the ledger in the person’s hand. As expected, she found that someone had traded for a few Qing Mu plants not long ago. She wondered if it was Xuan Kong.
Mu Qiuhan deliberately tried to probe, “I just heard Elder Xuan Kong downstairs say he wanted a few Qing Mu plants. Do you still have extra here, Senior Brother?”
The person didn’t seem to suspect anything, “Yes, we do. Elder Xuan Kong only took three plants. There’s still one remaining. Junior Sister, you only need one, right? For more, you’d have to get them from the garden.”
Mu Qiuhan nodded and then asked, “Did the Elder go upstairs again? I heard he was still looking for Dragon Kui?”
This was completely made up by Mu Qiuhan based on the spiritual herbs in the pill formula. She didn’t expect the person to nod again.
“Yes, the Elder asked me just now. I told him Dragon Kui was on the third floor.”
At this point, there was no need to ask further. Mu Qiuhan was almost certain that Xuan Kong was collecting the materials for the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Pill.
“Dragon Kui, ah…” She put on an expression of envy and sighed, “It can be worth decades of cultivation.”
The person smiled upon hearing this.
“If Junior Sister really wants it, you might as well gather a few more people and search in the depths of the back mountain. I remember this Dragon Kui plant was found near a cliff edge in the back mountain. Junior Sister might even find another plant.”
Mu Qiuhan glanced at him, “Senior Brother is joking.”
Spiritual herbs like Dragon Kui usually have spirit beasts guarding them nearby. With her current cultivation, it would probably be difficult to retreat safely.
However, if there was truly no other way, she would have to risk searching in the mountains.
Just as she was thinking this, she saw that Elder Xuan Kong coming down from the spiral staircase with an unhappy expression.
She heard him complain in a low voice, “The esteemed Taiching Immortal Sect, yet they can’t even produce a single Golden-Edged Chong Lou! It truly disgraces the reputation of this foremost Immortal Sect!”
A clear and pleasant voice from behind seemed to be advising, “We did have it originally, but the Sect Master and various Elders weren’t feeling well a few days ago, so I presume it was all used.”
“I remember there’s a secret realm not far from Longxuan Mountain. My Master once took me there. We might as well search there first.”
