Daily Herb Gathering, Mission Complete

A mere wild wolf was nothing Yang Heng concerned himself with.

As the wild wolf leaped into mid-air, Yang Heng's right hand shot out like lightning. With his fingers spread, he unleashed the Azure Dragon's Grasp, snatching the wolf by its neck. Veins bulged on his right arm as he violently swung it, sending the wolf flying like a tattered sack.

Bang!

With a deafening sound, the wolf, headfirst, slammed heavily into the ground five meters from the cave entrance. Dirt and stones flew, and fallen leaves swirled.

At this moment, the wolf looked utterly miserable. Its nose was broken, blood gushed out, three or four bloody fangs fell to the ground, and one of its hind legs was crippled.

The wolf let out a painful howl, roaring at the sky.

If the wolf had human thoughts, it would surely be thinking: I was sleeping soundly at home, and suddenly this disaster struck. Where can I even complain?

Is there no law?

The wolf saw stars from the impact. After recovering its senses, it dragged itself and limped towards the forest.

Wolves, as wild beasts, possess a certain instinct. They knew Yang Heng was not someone to be trifled with.

The moment Yang Heng made his move, the wolf felt as if its blood had frozen. It was like facing a higher-tier beast; its ingrained, genetic instincts activated. The weak submit to the strong – the laws of nature.

It could not resist, nor did it dare to.

Seeing the wolf drag its broken body towards the forest, Yang Heng did not stop it. He had no intention of finishing it off; he was only here to gather herbs.

Since it was sensible enough, why should he play the villain and put it to death?

Yang Heng rummaged through the wolf's den. In a corner, he discovered a valuable medicinal herb: Wolf Blood Grass.

Wolf Blood Grass looked like a small green plant, but a red thread, like a blood vessel, extended through its stems and leaves, running throughout the entire plant.

This herb was very precious and often circulated within the Martial Artist community. It had the effects of unblocking meridians, invigorating blood, and improving cultivation.

Legend had it that the Blood Augmentation Pill, refined using Wolf Blood Grass as the main ingredient, could allow a Martial Artist in the early stage of Blood Strengthening to break through to the middle stage after consuming five pills.

Although Yang Heng did not recognize this herb, he was amazed by its appearance and felt it was extraordinary, undoubtedly a rare and precious medicine. Keeping it with him might prove useful in the future.

Yang Heng crouched down and took out a wooden shovel. He carefully dug around the soil beneath the Wolf Blood Grass, not daring to use any force, for fear of damaging its roots and affecting its medicinal properties.

Soon, the Wolf Blood Grass was completely dug up by Yang Heng.

Yang Heng wiped away beads of sweat that weren't there and let out a long sigh. Harvesting this herb had consumed more mental energy than fighting a battle.

After a short rest, Yang Heng placed the Wolf Blood Grass into a specially made wooden box to preserve its medicinal properties.

These special wooden boxes were distributed two per person by the apothecary shop for storing rare medicinal herbs. They were airtight and made of a special material that could extend the herbs' efficacy.

It was perfect for this situation.

Yang Heng had a total of four wooden boxes. Two of them he had "borrowed" from Zhao Er's corpse.

After Zhao Er died, no one dared to step forward and collect his belongings. After all, his body was too close to the Intermittent Flower. If they had tried to collect his belongings, it might have caused the Silver Ring Snake to misunderstand, making them think they were after the Intermittent Flower, which would have been dangerous.

To risk their lives for someone like Zhao Er, who was neither relative nor friend, was not worth the potential loss.

When Yang Heng killed the Silver Ring Snake and was leaving, he saw these two wooden boxes fall to the ground and, without hesitation, pocketed them.

One wooden box was used to store the Intermittent Flower, while the other was being used here.

After storing the Wolf Blood Grass, Yang Heng thoroughly searched the wolf's den for any unexpected finds.

In the end, he only found a few common medicinal herbs, worth a hundred copper coins.

Seeing that the cave had been thoroughly searched, Yang Heng stepped out of the entrance and continued his journey to find more beast lairs.

Time slowly passed, and in the blink of an eye, night fell.

Yang Heng returned to the camp.

The value of the herbs he submitted this time had doubled compared to yesterday, worth seven hundred copper coins.

Adding yesterday's earnings, he had now accumulated one tael of silver, with nine taels remaining to reach his goal.

If he were willing to hand over either the Intermittent Flower or the Wolf Blood Grass, the mission would have been completed long ago, and he would have received considerable rewards.

But Yang Heng would not do that.

Giving such precious herbs to the apothecary shop would only benefit them.

Yang Heng had a bountiful harvest today. Besides the Wolf Blood Grass, he had collected herbs worth a total of four taels of silver today.

One tael of Dendrobium was worth one tael of silver. The Yin Wind Vine and Coptis Seed combined were worth eight hundred copper coins. There was also Wood Root, and the herbs he found after leaving the wolf's den, totaling four taels of silver.

Yang Heng certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to submit all the herbs he collected.

For a new apprentice to collect herbs worth four taels of silver in a single day would surely raise suspicion.

Let alone a new apprentice, even an experienced apothecary shop master might not be able to collect herbs worth four taels of silver.

Moreover, among the herbs Yang Heng collected, there were no precious ones like ginseng or lingzhi. They were all herbs that grew in dangerous and remote places, making them exceptionally difficult to gather.

A new apprentice wouldn't have the skill; there must be something fishy going on.

The apothecary shop questioned him, but Yang Heng couldn't explain it away.

If Master Lei Xiong were to question him personally, he would be in danger, and hiding his cultivation would be difficult.

Therefore, Yang Heng decided to proceed cautiously, submitting a little each day. Today, he had made progress compared to yesterday, obtaining more herbs with increasing value.

As his herb-gathering experience grew and he became more familiar with the mountain environment, Yang Heng gathered more and more medicinal herbs, with increasing value. This was only natural.

Yang Heng didn't bother to find out how the other apprentices were doing.

Yang Heng stuck to his plan.

Over the next few days, he traveled back and forth between the mountain forest and the camp. Each day he returned to camp, he handed in more medicinal herbs, and the silver he received for them rose accordingly.

The tenth day of gathering herbs on the mountain, evening.

On this day, Yang Heng handed in medicinal herbs worth one and a half taels of silver, drawing a wave of envy from the other apprentices. The apothecary shop master also praised Yang Heng highly.

He recognized Yang Heng as a promising talent for herb gathering, possessing an unimaginable gift in this area.

In reality, that wasn't the case at all.

Yang Heng knew that his ability to gather so many herbs was entirely due to his keen eyesight and his own martial prowess. He could enter the lairs of fierce beasts as if walking through an empty space, and traverse cliffs as if walking on level ground.

Naturally, this allowed him to return fully laden with treasures.

As of today, the medicinal herbs Yang Heng had handed in had been converted into eight taels of silver. Once he handed in another two taels worth of herbs, his mission would be complete.

In truth, the total value of the medicinal herbs Yang Heng had gathered had long since surpassed the ten-tael mark, estimated to be worth over twenty taels of silver.

However, he hadn't revealed them, keeping them hidden along with those two precious herbs.

For the past two days, Yang Heng hadn't been gathering herbs on the mountain. Instead, he had found a secluded spot to practice martial arts.

In the preceding days, he had already gathered more than enough herbs to fulfill his quota. Each day, he only took a portion of them down the mountain to hand in to the apothecary shop master for registration.

In fact, now that his mission was complete, Yang Heng was dedicating himself entirely to cultivating the martial path, especially practicing the newly acquired Levitation Technique.