Chapter 86
The wind died down, and he casually dispersed the wind barrier, turning to Li Qingran. “Qingran, that loud voice you just heard belonged to our Medicine Garden’s elder—Liu Yuanqing. Don’t let his fierce appearance fool you; he’s actually quite a decent person… Li Qingran?”
After a long pause without a response, Su Qinian turned around to find Li Qingran had been blown to the edge of a cliff by the gust, her hair a wild mess from the wind.
“Ah, well…” Su Qinian chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry, I must have set the barrier too small and didn’t cover you.”
At the entrance of the Medicine Garden stood an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face. His kind eyes and gentle demeanor were offset by an unusually sharp gaze, especially when it landed on Su Qinian, as if he were ready to breathe fire.
“Su Sect Master, I respect you as a sect master, but if you dare to come to the Medicine Garden to steal spirit herbs again, I will fight you three hundred rounds, to the death!”
Li Qingran looked at Su Qinian in surprise.
Ignoring her gaze, Su Qinian grinned. “Elder Liu, I’m not here to steal spirit herbs today. Today…”
“Steal,” Elder Liu narrowed his eyes.
“I’m the sect master, so taking a few spirit herbs…”
“Steal!” Elder Liu emphasized again.
“Alright, I’m not here to steal spirit herbs today,” Su Qinian said nonchalantly, his heart steady. “This disciple wants to refine a Baicao Detox Pill, but there are many spirit herbs in the recipe that I don’t recognize, so I came to ask you to identify them.”
“And then steal the spirit herbs from me, right?” Elder Liu remained unmoved, casting a sidelong glance at Su Qinian, sneering. “Let me warn you, the spirit herbs in this Medicine Garden are the lifeblood of all our Sword Sect disciples. They are the foundation of our sect. No matter what excuse you come up with, if you dare to steal, I will dare to fight!”
With a swift motion, he drew his sword, his true energy swirling around him, his robes billowing.
“Elder Liu, this disciple urgently needs to understand the recipe for the Baicao Detox Pill to help my master detoxify,” Li Qingran stepped forward, kneeling sincerely with a bow. “Please, Elder Liu, help me take a look at the recipe!”
If she let the sect master and Elder Liu bicker any longer, they would surely end up fighting.
She had figured it out.
The sect master had come here many times to steal spirit herbs.
The Medicine Garden and the sect were two separate entities, and this elder held a position equivalent to the sect master, with absolute authority over the garden.
Elder Liu scrutinized Li Qingran for a moment, noticing she was a charming and earnest young woman, and his anger diminished significantly.
“You’re quite filial. Who is your master?”
“Reporting to the elder, my master is the Supreme Elder of the Sword Sect.”
Elder Liu Yuanqing: “Ah?”
He had joined the Sword Sect halfway through and didn’t know much about its history. He only knew that the highest-ranking person in the sect was Su Qinian, and there were no ancestors or Supreme Elders. If such figures existed, the Sword Sect wouldn’t be in such dire straits.
So, he could only cast a questioning glance at Su Qinian.
Su Qinian nodded. “That Supreme Elder has been traveling for a long time and his identity has been confirmed in the ancestral hall. I assure you, I’m not here to steal spirit herbs.”
“You may not be stealing today, but you will tomorrow,” Elder Liu snorted, slowly walking up to Li Qingran, his face now wearing a smile. “Since your master needs it, recite the recipe for me.”
Li Qingran recited the recipe again, nervously watching Elder Liu’s expression.
What eased her anxiety a bit was that Elder Liu’s face remained calm, unlike Su Qinian’s bewildered look.
Indeed, aside from the sect master, the Sword Sect was reliable!
She suddenly concluded this in her heart.
Elder Liu Yuanqing pondered for a moment, then took out a scroll and flipped through it, nodding and shaking his head intermittently.
After a while, he closed the scroll and looked up. “I know all the spirit herbs needed for the Baicao Detox Pill, and the Medicine Garden can provide more than half of them. For those we don’t have, we can buy them from Lingxi Valley. We can gather everything, but…”
Li Qingran hadn’t had time to feel happy about Elder Liu’s words before her heart sank again at the word “but.”
“Elder Liu, stop keeping me in suspense!”
Su Qinian, picking his teeth with a flying sword, looked impatient.
“What’s the rush? Do you think before you speak?” Elder Liu rolled his eyes, frowning. “It’s just that two of the medicinal ingredients are extremely hard to find: Longshe Apricot and Xuelan Orange. Those are spirit plants from ancient times, and they’re probably extinct in this Cangyun Realm.”
“In that case, we’ll have to find them in the secret realm,” Su Qinian interjected, reassuring the pale-faced Li Qingran. “In less than a month, the Zhongzhou Secret Realm will open. It’s filled with relics from ancient times. By then, everyone in our Sword Sect will enter the secret realm to seek treasures, and we’ll definitely find those two ingredients. You don’t need to worry.”
“Exactly.” Elder Liu nodded, stroking his beard. “In ancient times, there were many alchemy sects, and resources were abundant. Any sect with a bit of foundation could establish itself. Among them, Yaowang Valley had the richest heritage. If you can find the ruins of Yaowang Valley during this opening of the Zhongzhou Secret Realm, it will surely contain those two ingredients known for housing all spirit herbs!”
Li Qingran took a step back and bowed deeply. “Sect Master, Elder Liu, though my strength is limited, I wish to enter the Zhongzhou Secret Realm.”
She knew her senior brothers and sisters entered the secret realm to seek their own fortunes and wouldn’t spend too much effort looking for medicinal ingredients.
Even if everyone was willing to help, she didn’t want to delay their opportunities because of her own needs.
So, she had to go to the Zhongzhou Secret Realm this time.
And she had to find those two ancient medicinal ingredients.
Su Qinian and Elder Liu exchanged glances.
He hadn’t wanted Li Qingran to go.
After all, her relationship with the Supreme Elder was a concern, and her safety had to be guaranteed.
But seeing the determination in Li Qingran’s eyes, he hesitated and nodded.
“Alright! As long as you reach the small success stage of the Foundation Establishment before the secret realm opens, I will let you go.”
Li Qingran looked up, her bright eyes meeting Su Qinian’s, her voice resolute:
“I, disciple Qingran, will not let you down!”
…
…
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Chapter 92: Who Wouldn’t Be Anxious?
“Have you been waiting here all this time?”
Chen Huai’an shook his head as he watched the unfolding drama.
The main quest was to increase Li Qingran’s survival rate in the Zhongzhou Secret Realm. He had been wondering if he could prevent her from going there. Now, it seemed the plot was leading her to the secret realm for the purpose of refining the Baicao Detox Pill.
How should he put it? While this plot was somewhat expected, it felt nice to be thought of.
Chen Huai’an recalled his ex-girlfriend, who seemed to have noticed him making money from his livestream and even appeared on a variety show, wanting to reconnect with him?
Forget it!
She hadn’t even visited him when he was hospitalized.
In reality, living people were less emotionally supportive than the value he got from his virtual girlfriend.
Chen Huai’an shook his head, suddenly catching a whiff of the blood on himself, remembering he hadn’t had time to change clothes after all the commotion.
“This hotel is no longer suitable. I need to take a shower and get out of here!”
He packed his things, casually grabbing a few pieces of clothing to take to the bathroom.
Baji, watching the already packed suitcase, though it didn’t understand many things, sensed that the boss was preparing to leave.
[Hope the boss ignores me when he leaves.]
Baji silently prayed in its heart.
Although the boss had spiritual energy to spare every day, living in constant fear was exhausting—it had lost weight!
Once it left the boss, it just needed to find a random place to hide. As the spiritual energy gradually revived, the spiritual energy in this world would only increase. By then, even without the boss’s spirit plants, it could achieve spiritual freedom.
Staying here any longer, it feared it might end up with what they called on TV?
Yes! Yuyuzheng!
Baji found a discreet corner to stay in.
With dreams of a better life, it tried to minimize its presence.
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