Chapter 199

Chapter 199: An Exclusive Opportunity

Zong Hao dragged his feet as he reached the herb fields in the northwest corner. He picked and chose for a while, gathering a batch of spirit herbs used to refine Beast Spirit Pills. He even wasted another half incense stick’s time before returning along the same route.

At the spot where he had dropped Dian Dian, he deliberately lingered a little longer. He even coughed twice. Only after Dian Dian came up from the ground and climbed back into his sleeve along his boot did Zong Hao finally leave the herb fields.

Zong Hao paid a sum of spirit stones, brought the herbs back to his own alchemy room, and then pulled Dian Dian out of his sleeve. “Dian Dian, did you find what you wanted?”

Dian Dian squeaked twice. Then it remembered Zong Hao couldn’t understand and nodded its little head instead.

Zong Hao didn’t ask what Dian Dian had been searching for. He only said sternly, “Dian Dian, you can’t act recklessly. There are warning formations in the herb fields. If you pick spirit herbs without permission, the spirit beast guarding the fields will definitely notice. You’ll be the first one caught.”

Dian Dian nodded again. It only wanted to know what spirit plant Wei Yun Qing was cultivating. It didn’t dare act without its master’s permission. Besides, with its tiny arms and legs, it wasn’t enough anyway.

Only then did Zong Hao relax. He had Dian Dian wait nearby while he began refining Beast Spirit Pills.

These pills were specially for spirit beasts. They not only increased cultivation, they also strengthened a spirit beast’s loyalty. The cost wasn’t high either, and they were quite popular in the Cultivation World.

Only Yun Xi, who wasn’t a native cultivator, had never bought Beast Spirit Pills. The cultivation resources she gave Dian Dian were spirit stones instead, which made Dian Dian even closer to her. It was a perfect misunderstanding.

After Zong Hao refined ten batches of Beast Spirit Pills, he extinguished the pill fire, packed the pills into porcelain bottles, and deliberately left one high-grade Beast Spirit Pill for Dian Dian to test.

Dian Dian sniffed. The Beast Spirit Pill smelled irresistibly tempting, so it swallowed that high-grade pill in one bite. Once it slid into its little belly, Dian Dian squeaked in satisfaction, showing it was very happy with this batch.

Only then did Zong Hao smile, put away the porcelain bottles, and bring Dian Dian to find Yun Xi.

Yun Xi’s exchange with Master Dan Yang had gone very smoothly. Once she took the Beast Spirit Pills and accepted Dian Dian back, she knew things had been handled well, so she immediately took her leave of Master Dan Yang.

After Yun Xi left, Master Dan Yang smiled and said, “Zong Hao, you have a good clan sister. For the sake of your apprenticeship, she even took out her maternal family’s alchemy method to share with me, afraid I’d be angry and make things hard for you.”

After hearing that, warmth rose in Zong Hao’s chest, and he said firmly, “Clan sister Yun Xi has always believed in me. In the future, I will definitely refine the pills she needs most and repay her help.”

After Yun Xi returned to her residence at Soaring Snow Peak, she asked Dian Dian, “Did you find the new spirit plant Wei Yun Qing is cultivating?”

“I found it.”

“What is it?”

“Dian Dian hasn’t seen it before and didn’t dare get too close. She added layer after layer of protection on top of the herb field’s original formation. She values that spirit plant a lot.”

“Then show me what you saw.”

“Okay.”

Through the contract mark, Dian Dian shared what it had seen with its master.

After looking at it, Yun Xi propped her chin and thought for a long time. She also flipped through her memory of Introduction to Heavenly Treasures before she finally said, “So it’s a Dao-Enlightenment Fruit. She really went all out. This is actually possible?”

“Master, are you sure it’s a Dao-Enlightenment Fruit?”

“Yes. It shouldn’t be wrong.”

Dian Dian spun two circles on the ground and said, “Master, in Dian Dian’s inherited memories, Dao-Enlightenment Fruit grows on a Dao-Enlightenment Tree. It’s a treasure born naturally from heaven and earth. How could she possibly cultivate it?”

Yun Xi looked up at the sky and replied helplessly, “Right. I’m thinking about that too. How did she manage to grow it? It’s so short too, like a mini version of a Dao-Enlightenment Tree.”

“Master, are we going to steal it?” Dian Dian wasn’t afraid at all.

“Can you tell when the fruit will ripen?” Yun Xi asked.

“Based on what Dian Dian smelled, it’ll need at least half a year before it ripens.”

Yun Xi counted it out. Wasn’t that exactly when the secret realm in the Bao Hua Mountain Range would open? The timing was too perfect. Even using her toes to think, she knew this was a tailored advancement opportunity prepared for Wei Yun Qing, probably meant to help her advance to Golden Core so she could enter the secret realm.

Yun Xi’s eyes shifted. She still remembered what Ethereal Aura had said. She couldn’t steal it herself, but she could try letting someone else test it, at least to find the bottom line.

Dao-Enlightenment Fruit was a good thing. Even Soul Transformation Venerables found it tempting. Once the news spread, Yun Xi wanted to see whether Wei Yun Qing could hold onto her opportunity.

With a plan in mind, Yun Xi set the matter aside for the time being. She would deal with it when the Dao-Enlightenment Fruit ripened.

After Wei Zong Hao became a disciple of Fire-Commanding True Lord, Yun Xi went into seclusion.

Wei Yun Qing, however, did not get the chance to go from named disciple to formal disciple. She was so furious she almost suffered a cultivation backlash again. Because of that, she had to pause her attempt to break through to late Foundation Establishment. She even began to resent Wei Zong Hao as well.

None of that was within Yun Xi’s concern. After she ended her month-long seclusion, she heard that True Lord Yu Lian had refined a low-grade mystic treasure, and it had even attracted an artifact tribulation. The cauldron that was refined was struck by nine bolts of lightning before it fully took shape, drawing many people to watch.

The moment Yun Xi heard it was a cauldron, the first thing she thought of was her Purple Jade Coiling Dragon Cauldron that she had sent for an upgrade. She hadn’t expected True Lord Yu Lian to actually upgrade it into a mystic treasure. It was an unexpected delight.

Yun Xi happily headed to Artifact-Refining Peak and successfully met True Lord Yu Lian.

When True Lord Yu Lian saw Yun Xi, he laughed loudly. “Little Martial Nephew, you finally came. If you didn’t, your cauldron would’ve been snatched away by someone.”

Yun Xi immediately smiled with crescent eyes. “Martial Nephew only just came out of seclusion. After learning that Martial Uncle refined a mystic treasure, I came to congratulate you, and to pick up my cauldron as well.”

“Tsk, tsk. That little mouth of yours is much better with words than your master,” True Lord Yu Lian said.

With a wave of his sleeve, he sent the Purple Jade Coiling Dragon Cauldron floating to Yun Xi.

Yun Xi sensed the powerful aura coming off the Purple Jade Coiling Dragon Cauldron, and the two coiling dragons that now looked even more alive. She knew her cauldron had been upgraded successfully. She swept it into her storage bracelet and then offered her upgrade payment.

After learning that True Lord Yu Lian had refined a mystic treasure, Yun Xi dropped the idea of paying with spirit stones. She gave True Lord Yu Lian the smallest piece of purple-gold meteoric iron she had left.

True Lord Yu Lian hadn’t expected Yun Xi to use a refining material as payment. He was clearly getting the better deal, but he truly couldn’t refuse this kind of payment. In the end, he gave Yun Xi a white jade belt as well, counting it as even.

Yun Xi also stopped by to retrieve her repaired Five-Color Python Robe from Xi Mu Ran, and then hurried back to Soaring Snow Peak.

The first thing Yun Xi did after taking the cauldron back was summon Zi Yan and begin refining pills. The upgraded Purple Jade Coiling Dragon Cauldron no longer had its own built-in pill fire. Instead, Zi Yan took its place.

Following Yun Xi’s instructions, Zi Yan first preheated the cauldron, then controlled the size of the flame to assist in refining pills. However, the first two batches of pills both had problems at the final step of forming the pills.

Yun Xi couldn’t figure it out no matter how she thought about it. When she refined the second batch, she spread her divine sense fully, only to discover that the failure at the pill-forming step was caused by Zi Yan.