Information Gap (Seeking Follow-up Reading, Monthly Tickets, and Favorites)

With a crisp whir of the pill furnace spinning.

A streak of spirit light fell from Ye Jingcheng's hand, and the Crimson Flame Fox immediately lay prone on the ground.

The lid of the chipped furnace opened, revealing nine plump Detoxification Pills within!

"Finally finished!" Ye Jingcheng was quite delighted!

Tomorrow was the day to settle the pill accounts, and he now had a full hundred and ten Detoxification Pills in hand!

Slightly fewer than when he had refined Spirit Replenishing Pills.

But Detoxification Pills were much harder to refine in the first place. The only reason he had managed so many was because he had refined a full nine pills in the final batch.

Ye Jingcheng stroked the Crimson Flame Fox's fur and sent some more Treasure Light into its body! The Crimson Flame Fox chirped, habitually shrinking back its head and exposing the Spirit Pattern to Ye Jingcheng's hand.

Before long, the Crimson Flame Fox gave off a faint red glow. Ye Jingcheng left behind a few Spirit Feeding Pills and a bowl of the Mountain Spring water that was nearly gone.

He then took out the Jade Ring Rat and fed it in the same manner.

The Jade Ring Rat had also grown a size, and its ring-shaped ears had become enormous, like great fans, making it look rather comical!

Still, it was much smaller than the Crimson Flame Fox.

Moreover, whenever the Crimson Flame Fox did not have its eyes narrowed, the Jade Ring Rat did not even dare squeak.

Ye Jingcheng likewise took out a Spirit Feeding Pill and a bowl of Mountain Spring water.

Though the Jade Ring Rat was inferior to the Crimson Flame Fox, it was more vigilant.

Its advance warnings of danger were precisely what Ye Jingcheng needed.

The Jade Ring Rat let out two slightly happy squeaks and began eating. Upon hearing those squeaks, the Crimson Flame Fox seemed somewhat displeased and propped itself up on its forelegs.

The Jade Ring Rat immediately recoiled and no longer dared make a sound, instead quietly and slowly gnawing on the Spirit Feeding Pill! "Little Flame!" Seeing this, Ye Jingcheng glanced at the Crimson Flame Fox, which lay back down again!

Seeing this, Ye Jingcheng said nothing more. He left the room and went into the front courtyard.

Outside, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. Pure moonlight spilled across the courtyard, shining upon the Spirit Beasts confined in cages!

Ye Jingcheng sighed. Three more injured Spirit Beasts had appeared in the courtyard.

This was not the first time. Ever since Ye Xinghong had brought it up that day.

This was already the third batch.

Yet he still took out three Spirit Feeding Pills and walked toward the injured Spirit Beasts! He had hesitated for a long time between treating them and not treating them! After all, the Cultivation World was just that cruel—fathers and sons turning against each other, friends becoming enemies; such things were everywhere!

But he was only someone with Four Spiritual Roots.

Without the Ye Family's resources, the path available to him would actually be very narrow!

He could raise the Crimson Flame Fox's strength, but what then if it reached the first rank, or even the second? Could a Foundation Establishment Monster Beast help him achieve Foundation Establishment? Could it help him break through the one-hundred-and-twenty-year limit of his lifespan?

The answer was no.

But the family was different. So long as he integrated himself into the family, his Ancient Book and Spirit Beasts could shine brilliantly! Besides, if the family truly harbored ill intentions toward him, then when Ye Jingyu returned that time, he should have been taken away for questioning.

Not only had they not questioned him, the family had instead allocated more resources to him!

Every family elder had acted this way.

That already showed the family's attitude.

Looking at the two injured Azure Scale Pythons, Ye Jingcheng slowly sent in some spirit light! Not much—each time, he kept it only enough for the Spirit Beasts to gradually recover.

After all three Spirit Beasts had absorbed some Treasure Light, he took out another three Qi Blood Pills! He fed them to the three Spirit Beasts one by one.

Under the moonlight, the three Spirit Beasts gave soft cries. Some flicked out their tongues, while others clawed at the ground with their two forepaws, expressing goodwill.

Ye Jingcheng clapped his hands, then looked over all the Spirit Beasts. When he found none that corresponded to the Ancient Book, he returned to his room beneath the moonlight! Early the next morning, as the marketplace bell rang out, the sky was already bright. Ye Jingcheng stepped out of his room, as did the relieved Ye Jingyun, Ye Jingli, and the others! The one-month term had now ended, and they no longer needed to keep refining pills and Dharma Artifacts!

They also had more time to cultivate!

"Jingcheng, do you think the other three great families will show up?" Ye Jingli asked curiously! "Sixth Brother, I can't guess that!" Ye Jingcheng shook his head.

But whether they came or not, Ye Jingcheng felt quite at ease. The Jade Ring Rat's big ears were not without their advantages. For instance, he knew that there was one more person in Ye Xinghe's room! And since that person had not shown himself, his identity was self-evident.

It could be Ye Xingliu, or it could be Ye Haicheng.

After gathering in the main hall, Ye Jingcheng and the others handed all the spirit pills and Dharma Artifacts over to Ye Xinghe.

"You've all worked hard. Starting today, you can rest for ten days. I won't assign you any tasks!" Ye Xinghe said with a smile.

He then arranged for Ye Xinghong and Ye Jinghao to set up the reception room next door.

"Jingcheng, follow us later!" Ye Xinghe suddenly said to Ye Jingcheng.

Ye Jingcheng nodded. Though he did not quite understand why, he did not refuse the chance to see some cultivators from the other families.

After spirit tea had been set out in the Conference Hall, the marketplace's crowds had yet to pick up even after the time it took to burn an incense stick, leaving the streets rather empty.

Two cultivators in white Daoist robes, embroidered with several feathers, walked over from the end of the street.

There were no members of the other three great families behind them, nor were any other cultivators following.

"Daoist Bai, Daoist Xu!" Ye Xinghe stepped forward and welcomed the two into the reception room.

"Daoist Ye, this matter is rather urgent, so we will not rest. Let us directly bring out the pills and Dharma Artifacts, according to our previous terms!"

"If you do not have them, then I will go directly to the Li Family. The compensation need only be one times the order value!"

"Bai has already concluded three batches of transactions with them. In five days, Bai and the others will also hold an auction ahead of schedule to sell a Blood Heart Pill. If Daoist Ye is interested, you may come bid for it then!"

The moment Daoist Bai of the Huayu Sect said this, Ye Xinghe's expression abruptly changed! He realized that the Li Family had not played any schemes this time!

They were exploiting an information gap. They had purchased all the Qi Return Pills and Qi Blood Pills and driven up their prices, all so they could conclude more transactions with the Huayu Sect! And while they were securing more orders with the Huayu Sect, they were also preparing to buy that Blood Heart Pill.

Even if the Ye Family spent money buying spirit pills and completed the pill orders, the profits would no longer be proportional, and they would have lost a month to gather Spirit Stones!

And one had to know that what the Ye Family's Foundation Establishment guardian Spirit Beast lacked was precisely a Blood Heart Pill!

The Huayu Sect did not know this, but the three great families, including the Buqing Li Family, knew it perfectly well!

The Mo Family and Xu Family, the two Purple Mansion Families, had made so many excuses this time not because they wanted to suppress the Ye Family, but because they did not wish to see the Ye Family's guardian Spirit Beast recover once more! The entire chain had come full circle because the Ye Family had learned of it too late.

"Daoist Bai, why didn't you tell this foolish elder brother about this sooner?" Ye Xinghe asked anxiously.

"This was decided by the Sect Master during the first half of the month. The Xu Family was told to notify your Four Great Families. You did not receive the news?"