Chapter 3 Encounter

  "It's been so long? Why hasn't it come out yet?" In chamber thirty-eight, Nie Qingyan poked his head out again, gritting his teeth and muttering to himself.

  "It's almost noon!! Could he have died in there?!" Several hours later, Nie Qing An shouted with a gloomy face, he had already lost count of how many times he had opened the door to take a look, for the entire morning, he kept repeating the action of opening and closing the door.

  "Could it be... that guy had secretly slipped away while I wasn't paying attention, and then deliberately hung up the red sign to confuse me?" Nie Qing'an couldn't bear it anymore, jumped out of the room, and slid to the outside of stone chamber 88. With a forceful push, the door didn't budge, clearly locked from the inside.

  "Damn it... Hey, that's my room, you bastard..." Nie Qing'an cursed and turned around, only to see a young man entering the No. 38 stone chamber. He was suddenly enraged, his anger shooting up like a rocket, and he rushed out of the chamber like lightning. By the time he reached the door, it had slammed shut, almost crushing his nose.

  "How dare you!"

  Nie Qing'an's face turned black, but he couldn't do anything about it. Even if this matter was taken to the Ninth Elder, he wouldn't be able to win an argument. That guy would just say "Who told you to come out?" and Nie Qing'an would be left speechless. Because that's the rule of the Ice Flame Cave - as long as the stone room is empty, anyone can enter!

  The stone rooms in the first section of Bingyandong had all been occupied, Nie Qing'an cursed back and forth outside two stone rooms until his throat was a bit hoarse before leaving with a sullen expression, the thick resentment on his face making him look like a young girl who had been ravished countless times...

  ……

  His mind was focused on cultivation, and Nie Kong hadn't noticed the passage of time at all. The continuous growth of his spiritual power had immersed him in a very mystical feeling, as if he had spent dozens of hours, yet it seemed like just an instant, and before he knew it, Nie Kong was startled awake by the little guy's cries.

  After investigating the situation of Ling Shen San Jiao, Nie Kong's face showed a satisfied smile. Compared to Wu Xing Nu Yi Jue, Mu Yang Zhen Ling Jue was indeed much more powerful. Whether it was absorption, refinement or the speed of running spiritual energy, it was all one level higher than that universal spiritual technique.

  "I'm hungry so soon."

  Seeing the little guy's wilted appearance, Nie Kong couldn't help but smile wryly. With a thought, the medicinal herb he had brought from the second layer of the Illusory Realm flashed out of his pet backpack. Nie Kong quickly pressed the root of the herb into his palm and circulated his spiritual energy. After a while, not even a hint of medicinal fragrance wafted out.

  Nie Kong was getting a headache. Back in the Illusory Realm of the Nine Heavens, he and the little guy had absorbed a large amount of medicinal fragrance; in the Hall of Life and Death, to restore the little guy's vitality, they had taken in even more; yesterday, they had let the little guy feast again, now it seemed that the medicinal fragrance had been completely absorbed.

  This medicine has a strong medicinal power, and the medicinal power inside the herbs is probably even stronger. However, before figuring out its origin and properties, Nie Kong did not dare to take it rashly.

  Although the little guy understood "smelling fragrance and recognizing medicine", what if it contains extreme toxicity, before the little guy takes effect, Nie Kong might be poisoned to death. Nie Kong's concern was not entirely unfounded, judging from the situation in the second layer of the Illusory Realm, that giant snake had been guarding the medicinal herb all along, its blood mist could instantly melt his body, who can guarantee that the medicinal herb did not contain the toxicity of that blood mist?

  Better be cautious!

  He picked up the herbs, Nie Kong stood up straight and left the stone room...

  ……

  As the sun sets in the late afternoon, the red sun sinks. Against the backdrop of the sky's slanting afterglow, Nie Kong's figure hastily appears at the entrance of the Spiritual Medicine Hall.

  The guards at the entrance of Lingyao Hall were no longer Nie Qingfeng and Nie Qinghong, but two middle-aged men who had been replaced. Relying on his incredible cultivation speed, especially the reputation he gained from his experiences in the Illusory Realm, after checking the clan token, Nie Kong didn't need to have his cultivation detected at all, and entered Lingyao Hall under the curious gazes of the four.

  He took two taels and eight mace of fragrant silk root, three taels and five mace of dragon's whisker seaweed, two taels and one mace of spirit dream grass, and one tael and four mace of white star powder, then went straight up to the second floor.

  When cultivation reaches Tongling, you can go up to the second floor. The rules are the same as the first floor. Each time, you can receive five or fewer types of medicine, with a total amount not exceeding one catty (a unit of weight). This can be done twice a month.

  The layout of the second floor is not much different from that of the first floor, but there are many fewer herbs. As he looked around, Nie Kong found that except for the ice plate water, there was actually no other medicine that he recognized.

  He sighed at his own lack of knowledge about medicine, Nie Kong finally took half a catty of ice plate water and randomly wrapped up half a catty of non-toxic herbs to use as a temporary solution for the little guy.

  Now, Xiang Xiang has been promoted to the second stage, and its demand for medicine is also rising linearly. The effect of medicinal herbs like Longya Mao on it has become negligible. In order not to starve this little guy to death, Nie Kong had to think of ways to get some higher-grade medicinal herbs.

  If it were still the Xiangxiang First Stage, the 16,000 gold coins on Nie Kong's Spirit Card would have been enough. However, if he wanted to buy good medicinal herbs now, more than 10,000 gold coins wouldn't even be enough to buy a few leaves. For now, the only option was to refine more "Rebirth Dew".

  This time, Nie Kong prepared to take the refined "Hui Chun Lu" directly to Lian Tian Xin's alchemy room, and should be able to exchange it for one or two decent herbs. If the medicinal properties are strong enough, they should be able to last for a few days. After the quota of herbs from the Lingyao Pavilion is used up, the gold coins in the spiritual card can be used to purchase materials to refine "Hui Chun Lu" outside, and this cycle will continue until the little guy stops at the second stage without worrying.

  As for the third stage...

  Nie Kong's heart trembled at the thought, if Xiang Xiang quickly advanced to the third rank, the amount of "Rejuvenating Dew" required for exchanging herbs would likely reach a terrifying level. At that time, with only two hours available each day for alchemy, it would be absolutely insufficient.

  Nie Kong whispered: "Little guy, you'd better be careful, at least wait until I can refine a few second-grade spiritual medicines before advancing to the third stage."

  "What's wrong?"

  I don't understand! The little guy cried out in confusion.

  "Little guy, long time no see." A voice suddenly drilled into Nie Kong's ear.

  "Ah, it's you, sir."

  Nie Kong turned his head to look, and saw a figure walking down from the third floor. It was that bald old man he had seen twice on the first floor, with a smile on his face.

  For this old man, Nie Kong was still very grateful. If it weren't for the ice plate water he had sent over, he might have had to wait until now to truly start refining his medicine.

  "Being able to ascend to the second floor, it seems your cultivation has reached the level of Tongling. Not bad, not bad." The bald old man nodded in approval and looked at Nie Kong's small gourd, "Ice Plate Water? You were planning to refine 'Return Spring Dew' last time, what was the result?"

  "It's okay." Nie Kong smiled and said.

  "Oh?"

  The old man was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up with intense interest. "Just in time, I'm free now. Come on, little guy, follow me to the third floor and demonstrate your process of refining the Rejuvenating Dew." The old man didn't give Nie Kong any choice, pulling him along as he headed to the third floor.

  Under the old man's palm, Nie Kong had no room to resist and could only follow him as he moved his feet upwards. Behind them, the spiritual medicine master who was sitting on the second floor widened his eyes in astonishment...

  ……