The One Who Was Going to Break the Record

(There was a problem with the Wi-Fi, so web pages wouldn't load, hence the delay)

Yi Yun originally planned to collect only a small amount on the first day. If he had collected hundreds of medicinal herbs on the first day, it would have been too astonishing. In particular, if Yi Yun continued to collect so many herbs in the future, it would inevitably arouse people's suspicion and doubt.

Zhong Yi's record was based on the quality of the herbs he collected, not the quantity.

With keen perception and a bit of luck, it's not surprising to find top-grade spiritual herbs. Those high-level medicinal herbs, which are worth thousands of Dragon Scale Rune, can easily fetch tens of thousands of Dragon Scale Rune if you collect a few more.

Breaking the herb-gathering record in this way is entirely reasonable.

However, if it's not based on this, but rather on consistently collecting ten or twenty times more herbs than others to break records, then something is not right.

Therefore, Yi Yun planned to win by relying on the quality of the medicinal materials from the very beginning. If he wanted to break the record, there would always be a gradual process.

Therefore, after obtaining these medicinal herbs, Yi Yun began to wholeheartedly hone his Movement Technique.

This training took up most of the day. While practicing his movement Movement Technique, Yi Yun Yi Yun didn't gather any herbs, but he stumbled upon a few Stars. After hesitating for a moment, he still collected them.

One of them is a top-grade Yellow-rank Blood Crow Treasure Fruit, and the Divine City's miscellaneous servants' office offers fifty Blood Crow Treasure Fruit Dragon Scale Rune for its purchase.

This Blood Crow Treasure Fruit is considered one of the best among top-grade Yellow-rank medicinal herbs, and its price is even higher than some low-grade Profound-rank medicinal herbs.

Today's harvest, converted into over two hundred Dragon Scale Rune, is seven or eight times higher than that of ordinary trial participants!

Yi Yun touched his nose and smiled helplessly. He had accidentally collected more than two hundred Dragon Scale Rune. Usually, a newcomer could only collect about thirty Dragon Scale Rune on the first day, which was barely enough to pay the rent.

Only after accumulating experience can one collect medicinal herbs with forty or fifty Dragon Scale Rune.

I collected 200 on my first day, which seems a bit exaggerated.

However, upon closer reflection, compared to the more than 19,000 records left by Zhong Yi, it's still a bit short. On average, Zhong Yi harvested more than 300 Dragon Scale Rune every day, and that's every single day!

This data is quite astonishing!

The Zhong Yi was able to collect so many high-grade medicinal herbs is clearly not something that can be explained by luck alone.

Gathering herbs certainly depends on luck. If you're lucky, it's not surprising to find a Heaven Tier spiritual herb. But luck isn't unlimited. You might occasionally find a highly valuable herb by luck for a day or two, but you can't do that every other day.

"This Senior Zhong Yi must possess keen perception or some other advantage. He must have some extraordinary abilities to achieve such a record..."

In this world, a very small number of people are born with keen intuition. There are also some people who observe everything around them with great care and attention. They can remember the position of even a single blade of grass just by glancing at the surrounding scenery. Such people are like vigilant and alert wild beasts; even if they are walking in the jungle, it is very difficult to ambush them.

This kind of intuition may not directly boost combat power, but if you enter some high-risk secret realms in the future, having such intuition can often save your life.

Yi Yun felt that Zhong Yi was probably that kind of person.

With Zhong Yi's record, it shouldn't attract too much attention that I collected two hundred Dragon Scale Rune on the first day; others would just think I was lucky.

As evening approached, Yi Yun watched the blood-red setting sun gradually sink, exhaled a long breath, and stopped his meditation.

By the time the sun had completely set, Yi Yun had finished organizing the herbs and returned to Tai'a Divine City via the teleportation array.

Besides the harvest of medicinal herbs, Yi Yun could clearly feel that today's herb-gathering trip, with the two hundred cauldrons of the Flowing Silver Shirt, was like an iron hammer, forging his body once again, allowing his physical body to better and more perfectly absorb the energy of the Ancient Remnant Species. At the same time, under immense pressure, Yi Yun skillfully mastered the control of his power, and his understanding of the Great Perfection of the Subtle Movement Realm became more profound.

Upon returning to the servants' quarters, Yi Yun saw a group of girls carrying medicine baskets and handing in medicinal herbs from afar.

These herb-gathering girls, regardless of their background, all wore coarse cloth clothes and had no makeup on their faces in Tai'a Divine City. They looked like simple country girls, with a unique freshness.

"Sister Wang, you're being too harsh! People are barely able to afford food, and you're still putting them under immense pressure."

A little girl said in a coquettish tone, her voice incredibly sweet.

The Woman surnamed Wang was completely immune to this. She held a small scale about a foot long, with a weight the size of a pigeon egg and a gleaming gold pan, which she used specifically to weigh medicinal herbs.

The medicinal herbs handed in by the girls were placed into an array by the Woman surnamed Wang to remove moisture, and then weighed. The weight of the herbs was all controlled by the Woman surnamed Wang. It wouldn't matter if she exaggerated a little, but this woman was impartial and very mean, and no one could get the slightest advantage from her.

"Next."

The Woman surnamed Wang waved her hand impatiently, completely ignoring the spoiled Little Loli.

The Little Loli stuck out her tongue, made a face, and retreated. Behind her were several other girls, all of whom were acquaintances of Yi Yun.

The girl in the group was Zhao Qingcheng; they were all members of the Luo Huo Association.

Zhao Qingcheng saw Yi Yun from the start, but this time she didn't greet him.

"Ten taels and nine mace of low-grade Yellow Rank medicinal herbs, rounded down to ten taels, totaling one hundred Dragon Scale Rune!" The Woman surnamed Wang deftly put away the scales, speaking rapidly like a machine gun, making it impossible to understand what she was saying without careful listening.

In fact, with the cultivation level and keen perception of the Woman surnamed Wang, she could have easily weighed the pile of medicinal herbs with a single grab, with great precision. However, she preferred to use that small scale to weigh them. The small weight that slid back and forth and the sights on the scale beam captivated the hearts of countless trial participants.

"Ten taels... nine mace..."

Upon hearing this number, Zhao Qingcheng, whose oval face was usually always smiling, could no longer manage a smile.

Generally, only mid-grade and high-grade Yellow Rank medicinal herbs are priced individually. Most low-grade Yellow Rank medicinal herbs are mixed together, dried directly using an array, and weighed. Ten Dragon Scale Rune one tael, with the remainder discarded.

How could she not feel the pinch of giving away nine coins!

How wonderful it would be to collect another qian (a unit of weight)!

Low-grade Yellow Rank medicinal herbs don't fetch a high price, but for many young herb-gathering girls, they represent their main source of income. Some high-grade herbs are extremely difficult to find, like the Meteor Star Grass that Yi Yun picked. That little thing hides inside rocks, digging its way around; you have to cut the rock open to see it. Who could possibly find that?

Zhao Qingcheng's small team consists of four girls, plus some mid-grade and high-grade Yellow Rank medicinal herbs. Today's income totals 166 Dragon Scale Rune.

After deducting the rent of 100 Dragon Scale Rune for the four people, there are still 66 left, which is an average of 15 to 16 per person.

This income is truly dismal...

"Oh dear, why didn't I pick just one more herb? Even just a few more leaves would have been enough for a penny..."

Zhao Qingcheng, feeling frustrated, looked pleadingly at the Woman surnamed Wang and said unwillingly, "Sister Wang, we're just one qian short of eleven taels! Please, please put it in! Sister Wang, you don't know, a few days ago my sister and I came across a very high-quality pill. The price was reasonable, and it was just right for us. We gritted our teeth and borrowed two hundred Dragon Scale Rune from the Rune Money House in Divine City, and then scraped together some more money to buy the pill. The loan has an interest rate of 1.5% per month, compounding, and we have to pay it off within three months. If we can't pay it off, we'll be sleeping on the streets!"

"It's almost the end of the month again... My sister and I are just a few Dragon Scale Rune Runes away from saving up two hundred. If we do, we can pay it back this month. If we don't, we'll have to pay another month's interest next month! What do you think...?"

As Zhao Qingcheng spoke, she kept staring at the Woman surnamed Wang with her excessively large eyes, her eyelashes fluttering and her gaze bright and watery.

The Woman surnamed Wang had already put down the scales and was fiddling with her beloved little mirror. Listening to Zhao Qingcheng's Zhao Qingcheng explanation, she didn't even look up at her. Instead, she smoothed her hair and after a long while, coldly said, "What does all this nonsense have to do with me?"

Zhao Qingcheng's smile froze on her face, but she still forced a smile, "Sister Wang's mirror is so exquisite... Speaking of which, Sister Wang is really beautiful. If I were as beautiful as Sister Wang, I would definitely have a mirror with me every day."

"Thanks."

The Woman surnamed Wang accepted Zhao Qingcheng's praise without hesitation, and then... continued fiddling with the small mirror in her hand.

Absolutely unresponsive!

Zhao Qingcheng was at her wit's end; no matter how she calculated it, she wouldn't be able to repay the Dragon Scale Rune this month.

With that 5% interest, they'll have to scrimp and save for another month, and if they still can't pay it back, they'll really have to sleep on the streets.

Imagine the humiliation of a group of girls sleeping on the streets and being watched by a bunch of male beasts from Tai'a Divine City!

Yi Yun overheard Zhao Qingcheng's conversation with the Woman surnamed Wang.

This was the first time he had learned that Tai'a Divine City also had Rune Money House. It seemed that even those with negative Dragon Scale Rune runes could still maintain a decent life through borrowing.

However... with an interest rate of 1.5% per month, compounded interest, this Rune Money House is practically a loan shark!

Borrow one hundred Dragon Scale Rune, and after one month it will be one hundred and fifteen, and after the second month it will be one hundred and thirty-two!

Even many loan sharks aren't this ruthless!

No wonder Zhao Qingcheng was under so much pressure. If you can't pay back a loan with high interest rates in the short term, it will be very difficult to pay it back in the future. Who would want to spend six years of special training with a loan with high interest rates on their head? It would be impossible to keep paying back the interest!

Of course, this had nothing to do with Yi Yun. Just then, the Woman surnamed Wang put down the mirror and asked Yi Yun to come over and weigh the medicine.

"Hey, aren't you the one who's going to break the record? What are you standing there for, daydreaming about? Hurry up and hand over the medicine!"

The Woman surnamed Wang seemed very impatient; her expression seemed to say, "Hurry up and hand over the medicine, then go stand aside and don't take up my precious time."

...(To be continued~^~)