Chapter 75: The Basin with Abundant Primordial Qi

  P.S: First update seeking recommendations!

  "Miss, it's hopeless, let's move on!" The deputy leader of the medicinal herb collection team, who was over 50 years old, sighed and suggested.

  Ling Xiaoxue nodded, stood up and said: "Everyone, the Blood Forest is extremely dangerous, and it's inevitable that all sorts of accidents will happen. But don't worry, the dead won't die in vain. The Ling family will compensate your families with 100,000 taels of silver, and everyone else will get 10,000 taels. If I'm unlucky enough to encounter difficulties, this promise still stands."

  "Miss is really a good person! Now we can rest assured."

  "Well, as a martial artist, it's normal to have some unexpected events. What I'm afraid of is that the family will lose their reliance."

  Among the guards, only six were true martial artists in the Condensing Realm, while the rest were merely Qi Refining cultivators. With their abilities, even if they hunted and killed demonic beasts every day, it would take them several months to earn 100,000 taels of silver. However, this was impossible, as who could stay in a place infested with demonic beasts for long? Probably not more than three days before becoming prey themselves. Normally, an ordinary Qi Refining martial artist would need over five years to earn 100,000 taels, assuming they didn't die in the process. After all, when luck was poor, one might encounter a high-level demonic beast and be unable to escape.

  Ling Xiaoxue immediately compensated the families of the deceased with 100,000 taels of silver, which was equivalent to cutting off their worries about the future, so that they didn't have to worry about the livelihoods of their family members in the future. Those who survived also received 10,000 taels of silver, which further boosted their morale.

  "This woman has the temperament of a superior person." Ling Xiaoxue's actions made Ye Chen secretly nod in agreement.

  ——

  The dead are dead, and those who remain must continue on their journey.

  As they went deeper, it seemed as if everyone had entered another world, completely cut off from the bustling city.

  The Blood Forest lives up to its name, thirty miles of road, and the crowd encountered four waves of demonic beasts attacking.

  The first wave consisted of three subterranean demon mice, which were second-level demonic beasts.

  The second wave was a large group of Silver Ring Snakes, which were Second-Grade Demonic Beasts.

  The third wave consisted of five Scorpion-tailed Demon Wolves, which were top-tier level three demonic beasts.

  The fourth wave is a blind and powerful Rock Bear, a level four yao beast.

  In the third and fourth waves of monster attacks, no one died or was even injured. However, the first two waves of monster attacks resulted in four deaths among the guards and herb-picking teams. If Ye Chen and others hadn't reacted quickly and taken action in time, it's possible that more than half would have been casualties.

  The underground demon mouse is not very powerful, and normally, a martial artist in the Qi Refining stage 7 or 8 can defeat it without much effort. However, when it hides underground, it becomes a nightmare for even Qi Refining stage martial artists and early-stage Condensing Reality stage martial artists.

  In the guard team, a martial artist who had reached the 10th level of Qi Refining was dragged into a deep hole by the subterranean demonic mouse without any resistance. The miserable cries lasted for a long time before stopping. Meanwhile, the second and third subterranean demonic mice were unlucky and targeted Ye Chen and Yuan Xue Mei instead. Before they could even burrow out of the ground, they were killed by the duo's mobilization of true energy, scaring away another one.

  If the underground demon mouse had cast a shadow in people's hearts, then the second wave of monster attacks, a large group of silver ring snakes, made them feel fearful.

  The Silver Ring Snake is a second-level demon beast. Its head is oval-shaped, and its entire body has white and black rings arranged alternately on its back, with the white rings being narrower. The tail is long and thin, and the body can reach 3-4 meters in length. The arms are thick and thin, and the venom is slightly weaker than that of the Dark Green Poisonous Spider. However, if a cultivator at the Condensing Reality stage is bitten by it, they will experience respiratory failure and die within a short period of time, making treatment very troublesome.

  The silver ring snake's attack is very strange, from the treetops, in the grass, under the fallen leaves, it strikes from all sides, creating a momentum like a raging storm, extremely crazy.

  At the critical moment, Wang Feng, a disciple of Beixue Manor, used his Frosty Snow Knife Technique. Wherever the icy knife energy passed, the speed of the silver ring snakes immediately slowed down. Those that were close by were cut into pieces and flew in all directions, with one person's strength blocking more than half of the silver ring snakes.

  Ye Chen and Yuan Xue Mei were no pushovers either, successively displaying their useful martial arts skills, killing the silver ring snake from ten paces away.

  Unfortunately, the range that a few people can protect is limited after all. One member of the medicine-collecting team and two members of the escort team were bitten by dozens of silver ring snakes and died instantly, falling to the ground.

  Ling Xiaoxue's face was very pale, not just because of the proximity to the Blood Forest where the number of demonic beasts increased, but also partly because too many people had died and the amount of compensation required was too large. It wasn't that she was stingy, this time alone, hiring five sect disciples cost 100,000 taels of gold and 50 One Qi Therapy Injury Dan, with a total value of nearly 250,000 taels of gold, equivalent to 2,500,000 taels of silver. Now, the compensation for the five dead people was 500,000 taels, and each survivor got 10,000 taels, adding up to over 3,500,000 taels. If more people died next, this number would exceed 5,000,000 taels.

  For the Ling family, a small fortune of five million taels was enough to cripple them, and it would be easy for them to become insolvent, which usually leads to bankruptcy.

  Biting her lower lip tightly, Ling Xiaoxue hoped for a good harvest next time.

  After walking for another ten miles or so, Ye Chen suddenly felt that the heavenly energy around him was much thicker, and a faint mist was visible in the distance.

  Ling Xiaoxue obviously felt the change in Yuan Qi and excitedly said: "The herb gathering location is almost here, everyone make one last effort."

  "Oh!"

  The Ling family let out a collective sigh of relief, for they had been on edge the entire journey, not daring to relax in the slightest, fearing that if they did, they would become prey for the ferocious beasts and never be able to leave the Blood Forest and return to their warm homes.

  Fortunately, hard work pays off, and after harvesting the medicine, it should be much easier on the way back.

  A moment later.

  A multitude of people arrived at the edge of a vast basin, and as they gazed out, the entire basin was several miles in size. Inside, it was lush with all sorts of medicinal herbs, including Black Ring Grass, Silver Bellflower, Golden Pearl Iron Blood Grass, Heavenly Star Flower, Centipede Flower, Crimson Fruit, Black Snake Fruit, Seven-Star Linked Pearl Grass, Three-Colored Date Tree, Winterless Date Tree, and nearly a hundred other varieties. The dense spiritual energy converged in the air above, forming a faint mist that seemed to appear and disappear, like a paradise on earth, with a victorious landscape within the fog.

  "So many herbs." The eyes of the herb-picking team members lit up, their breathing quickened. These herbs may not be worth much individually, but in large quantities, they were terrifyingly valuable. If they could collect them all and sell them without refining, they could make one or two million silver coins. Refining them into medicinal pills would increase the price tenfold, making it easy to earn ten million silver coins. Some rare herbs were even more valuable than that. For example, the Golden Iron Blood Grass used to refine the Qi Healing Injury Pill was a rare herb, with a single plant selling for one thousand gold coins, more expensive than a good weapon.

  Ling Xiaoxue's face showed a hint of joy, but she didn't get carried away with excitement. She instructed, "Two members of the guard team will protect one member of the herb-picking team. Split up and don't take any action without permission. Report to me immediately if anything happens."

  "Yes!"

  Along the way, the guards made great contributions. If they hadn't protected the medicine collectors in the center, there would have been more casualties. But it was all worth it - apart from the silver they were supposed to get, each of them could also get an extra 10,000 taels of silver, equivalent to several months' worth of income.

  After arranging their own work, Ling Xiaoxue also joined the ranks of medicine collection, occasionally exclaiming in surprise, apparently some herbs were very valuable.

  Yuan Xue Mei smiled and said: "This basin is rich in heaven and earth yuanqi, there might be some demonic beasts existing here, let's five of us patrol around!"

  Ye Chen nodded, "That's right, everyone is responsible for their own direction."

  "Alright."

  Take people's money and wealth to help others eliminate disasters, five people each occupy a position, patrolling back and forth, occasionally they can also pick some needed herbs and put them into the storage spirit ring.