After purchasing spirit herbs from the old man, the few Pill Peak disciples turned their attention to the other herb farmers. After all, the burden of collecting herbs placed on them was heavy—what they obtained from that old herb farmer was far from enough.
What they didn’t realize was that, after witnessing how those disciples treated the old man, all the other herb farmers had developed the same instinctive thought: avoid them.
These disciples were far too overbearing. They didn’t behave like disciples from a prestigious sect like the Heavenly Dao Sect at all. With their arrogance and the way they pressured others with their cultivation level and the sect’s name, they looked more like bandits than cultivators.
Facing such domineering individuals with powerful backing, the humble herb farmers dared not provoke them—but they could at least stay away.
The Pill Peak disciples assumed that merely revealing their identity would make herb farmers line up to curry favor and even offer the best herbs for free. What they didn’t expect was that, after putting their banner on display, the farmers only distanced themselves even more.
Thus began a bitter and frustrating journey for the disciples in collecting herbs.
After an entire day, the spirit herbs they had gathered amounted to less than one-twentieth of Pill Peak’s total requirements. This left all the disciples deeply worried. At this pace, who knew when they would be able to fulfill their quota?
And worse, the quality of the herbs they did manage to obtain was far inferior to those collected when Ling Yun was still in charge. If they brought these herbs back to Pill Peak, they would surely be scolded.
“Senior Brother, this isn’t working. I remember there’s a branch of the Spirit Herb Pavilion in Xiangdao City. Before Xu Aozi was granted procurement rights, we used to purchase most of our spirit herbs from them. Why don’t we try there?” one of the Pill Peak disciples suggested.
“The Spirit Herb Pavilion…” The lead disciple looked conflicted.
As a senior member of Pill Peak, he knew full well why the purchasing rights had been transferred to Ling Yun in the first place—it was because the Pavilion’s herbs were considered too expensive and not cost-effective. Going back to them would mean paying “premium” prices again.
But they had no other choice. They couldn’t afford to spend all their time trying to purchase herbs. For them, alchemy and cultivation were far more important.
“Looks like without you, these so-called Pill Peak disciples aren’t handling herb procurement very well,” Yun Xi remarked, having watched their movements throughout the day. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
“That’s their problem, not mine anymore,” Ling Yun replied indifferently. “Though this little thing… is rather interesting.”
He was holding a plain-looking black stone in his hand, smiling slightly. He had bought it earlier that day from a street vendor in Xiangdao City for a single low-grade spirit stone.
Though it appeared ordinary, the stone contained a hidden world. Ling Yun remembered that in one of his past reincarnations, he had also bought this black stone from the same vendor. Sensing it held great fortune, he gave it to Huangfu Ying. But in the end, the stone ended up in Lin Chuan’s hands and became one of Lin Chuan’s trump cards in a showdown with the Flying Immortal Physique during the exchange event with the Flying Immortal Sect.
“Immortal Dao Rhythms… so this stone was concealing such a thing. No wonder in that life, Lin Chuan was able to go head-to-head with the Flying Immortal Physique and not be outmatched.”
Now, with just one glance, Ling Yun had fully understood the stone’s hidden secret. In past lives, he might’ve been thrilled. But now, this Immortal Dao Rhythm was of little use to him.
“I recall Lin Chuan did end up mastering a portion of the Immortal Dao Rhythm. Looks like even if I hadn’t bought and gifted the stone to Huangfu Ying, it would’ve eventually fallen into his hands through some other means.”
“But now, he’s destined not to get it,” Ling Yun said as he casually stored the black stone into his system space.
At that same moment, back in the Heavenly Dao Sect, Lin Chuan suddenly felt a wave of irritation, as if something that belonged to him had vanished without warning. The strange premonition was so strong that he stopped cultivating and stared off in the direction of Xiangdao City, lost in thought.
“Could there be a fortuitous encounter in Xiangdao City meant for me? Damn it! Ever since Xu Aozi went down the mountain, everything’s been going wrong. And now he’s dead? How dare he die! How could he die before I finished using him up!”
Lin Chuan’s voice grew more agitated, as though suffering from some kind of withdrawal.
When he first heard from the shadow guard that Ling Yun had died at the hands of a demonic cultivator, his immediate reaction was fury. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
In his eyes, Ling Yun had been the perfect stepping stone. Much of his current cultivation resources came from the two women of Snow Moon Peak, and most of their resources were thanks to Ling Yun. Now that Xu Aozi was gone, whether those two could still access such resources was a big question—and whether any would still be used to support him, even more so.
Having a perfect stepping stone vanish so suddenly left Lin Chuan feeling like the ground had dropped from under his feet.
“Damn it. If I find out who in the sect colluded with demonic cultivators, I won’t let them off!”
“Someone!” he shouted sharply, and the shadow guard appeared instantly.
“Has the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall found anything?”
“So far, the only lead is that the traitor might be from Pill Peak.”
“Pill Peak? Good. Assist that old man from the Law Enforcement Hall with everything we’ve got. I want to know who dares act so recklessly!” Lin Chuan said coldly.
“Yes, Young Master.” The shadow guard responded and disappeared back into the darkness.
In past reincarnations, the Fang Family had prospered by clinging to Lin Chuan, the Child of Destiny. But now, it seemed they were destined to become his first sacrificial offering.
What remained to be seen was—just how much would this sacrifice help elevate the Child of Destiny’s fortune?