Perhaps the knowledge Gu Lan had explained was just too vast.
The rewards from the Scholar System were also a jumble, with all sorts of things.
The Spirit Spring, needless to say, could nourish the rear courtyard flower field; if the Great Life Technique were used again in the future, the quality of the harvest would surely surpass ordinary things.
As for the blessing of fortune, it was the first time it had appeared since the last fusion with the Qiyang Immortal Physique.
Gu Lan was still not familiar with its vague uses.
However.
That Immortal-grade pill formula, however, lit up Gu Lan’s eyes!
『Nine Revolutions Fire Spirit Pill』
『attributes: extremely yang and intensely blazing』
The Ancient Immortal Physique I fused with was Qiyang, so it fit perfectly… Gu Lan’s heart warmed, and he kept reading its description.
『Effect: An Immortal-grade spirit pill that can be used to improve the comprehension and cultivation realm of experts above the Immortal-level, and can also accelerate the hatching of high-grade spirit beasts』
『Hint: This pill’s fire element is pure to the extreme; if your attributes do not match, do not use it』
After reading the introduction, Gu Lan suddenly remembered the phoenix egg in his System space!
Because it was a divine beast, after getting it from the Huajian Sect, Gu Lan had not demanded that it hatch any faster.
After all, the protagonist in the original novel had waited for many years too…
But now that he had this pill formula, everything was different!
The sooner the divine beast hatched, the more Gu Lan’s fortune and strength would surge again!
He was one step closer to his dream of riding a phoenix.
『Pill Formula』
『Pure Yang Dragon Saliva Herb x1』
『High-grade fire-attribute spirit beast x1』
『Demon Saint relic x1』
Fortunately, he had not been greedy last time and directly absorbed the dragon saliva herb… Gu Lan secretly rejoiced that he had the patience to wait for the right moment to refine pills, which was why he just happened to lack none of the formula’s main ingredients at this moment.
This could count as a kind of fortune too…
Using a high-grade fire-attribute spirit beast to refine pills would upset harmony, after all, since it was a spirit beast and not a demon beast.
However, the top-grade divine beast treasure he had just obtained, the Vermilion Bird Fire Feather, could also be used as a substitute, so Gu Lan was not worried about this ingredient either.
Only that Demon Saint relic…
Gu Lan pondered for a moment, a flash of sharp light flickering in his ink-black eyes.
He remembered!
That fire fox demon king had once sold out his teammates when he was dying, saying that his master also had one of these!
Holy Demon Palace, the demon king’s master…
“Looks like I need to find out who this guy’s master is. In the future, I’ll have to take a trip to the Demon Realm when I get the chance.”
…
The spring rain drizzled on like silk, and only at the start of May did it finally leave Langzhou territory.
These past few months.
Gu Lan had devoted himself to reading in peace and had not rushed to the Demon Realm to look for the Demon Saint relic.
After all, even if the pill formula was complete, there was still no alchemist lined up…
Gu Lan learned that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion seemed to have alchemists in the branch offices of every dynasty, but they were generally haughty and would not refine pills for a mortal.
He had subtly sounded out Old Yang and gone once, but he had not even seen a person.
Gu Lan did not want trouble, so he no longer pinned his hopes on these half-baked alchemists in the branch offices.
However, business at the Gu Residence had been booming these days.
Thanks to County Magistrate Dou Fu’s strong support, the grain store recouped its costs in just a few days, and countless grain seeds were shipped to the border granaries in Yunzhou and Xiangzhou; the response along the border was excellent!
That day.
The last batch… and also the largest batch… of grain seeds from the Gu grain store had been loaded onto the carts and was about to depart from Langzhou for Xiangzhou.
Old Yang was there watching the loading, while Gu Lan also came here in person to collect the accounts and prepare to take them back to the residence.
An inn not far from the grain store, second floor.
Seven or eight burly men with black headscarves were staring at the grain carts in front of the Gu grain store over there, their gazes unfriendly.
They had been in Langzhou only overnight, and from their accents it was clear they were not locals.
When the waiter brought them wine, he did so very cautiously.
At that moment, when the leader among the burly men saw that the carts had been packed up properly, he set down his wine cup, tilted his head with a grin at the other companions, and the whole group went down with their blades.
The inn waiter did not dare go up to ask for money at all; he only caught bits and pieces of their conversation.
“Big brother, the pretty boy who just went into the grain store is the owner. I heard his name is Gu Lan; he only opened the business a few months ago…”
“Heh, a little brat actually dares to snatch business from our master. He’s asking for death!”
“Big brothers, don’t be too impulsive. I feel like this pretty boy may have some backing if he could build things up so quickly…”
“What backing could he have? I’ve already checked his background… Besides, even if he does have one, can it be bigger than our master’s backing?”
“…”
After the group went downstairs.
The waiter hurried out through the back door and took a shortcut ahead of them into the Gu grain store.
Because once people planted them, they found Gu grain seeds to be cheap and hugely popular, the neighbors and nearby residents all felt quite grateful and respectful toward the Gu family.
This waiter was no exception. When he noticed those outsiders were up to no good, he ran to report it to Gu Lan.
A moment later.
The waiter quickly explained the whole story and urged, “Young Master Gu, please leave quickly and go home to lay low for a while. A wise man doesn’t suffer needless loss!”
But as soon as he finished speaking.
The snide hollering from outside the door came through!
“Which one of you is in charge? Come out and talk. We from the Liu family of Linjiang City are here to buy grain!”
Upon hearing that.
Gu Lan remained utterly calm, but the waiter beside him suddenly looked nervous!
“T-this… they’re actually the Liu family from Linjiang City!”
“You know them?” Gu Lan raised an eyebrow and asked.
He spread out his sea of consciousness and naturally saw the seven or eight burly men outside at a glance.
The one in the middle had the highest cultivation and had already entered the Postnatal realm; most of the others were martial apprentices and martial warriors, and there were even two mortals among them.
“The Liu family is a local powerbroker in the Linjiang City area, and like you they are grain merchants. Their master, Liu Wentian, is a powerful cultivator, and it’s said he even has some ties to the imperial family.”
The waiter told him everything he knew.
However, so-called powerful cultivators who had reached the Innate realm could already fly with sword flight, and in a mortal’s eyes, that already counted as an impressive “great expert”!
The Liu family was also a grain merchant; this was probably the clueless rival Dou Fu had mentioned a while back… Gu Lan recalled that reminder and smiled faintly.
He hadn’t expected it to be such a coincidence. He had come to collect the accounts, and just happened to run into the Liu family causing trouble…
“Young Master Gu, why are you still smiling? Run!”
The waiter said anxiously.
The burly men outside had already started arguing with Old Yang and the others.
If this went on, when they encountered Gu Lan… a fair-faced scholar… they would almost certainly give him a thorough beating!
“Don’t panic. You leave first, little brother. I’ll go out through the back door shortly.”
Gu Lan said softly.
“All right, Young Master Gu. Take care of yourself.” The waiter did not dare stay any longer. After speaking, he slipped back to the inn and secretly watched the situation at the grain store from the second-floor window.
He did not know.
After he left, Gu Lan did not move at all. He simply had a servant brew a cup of tea and sat calmly in the grain store, his deep gaze piercing through the wall as he quietly watched outside.
At this moment!
Several burly men walked to the loaded grain carts, reached out and pressed the grain seeds inside, then bared their teeth and shouted at Old Yang, “Old man, call out the pretty boy who’s in charge of your place. Our Master Liu has business with him.”
Old Yang saw at a glance that these men were smiling deceptively and even had weapons hanging from their waists. He knew that if Young Master were called out, it would surely spell trouble.
He forced a smile, bent his waist, and dealt with them. “Honored guests, my Young Master is not here. If you want to buy grain, you can just come to me.”