The Farce

Any medicinal herb that could be prefixed with the word "Spiritual",

had certainly undergone a transformation after receiving sufficient Spiritual Qi nourishment while growing, becoming a wondrous plant distinct from ordinary medicinal herbs!

Such precious treasures had remained extraordinarily valuable even after the Spiritual Qi Resurgence in his Previous Life!

In his Previous Life, although his path ahead had been severed, it was not as if he had been without opportunities after the Spiritual Qi Resurgence.

Back then, when he visited a Grandmaster,

that Grandmaster had advised him that if he could obtain a large amount of Spiritual Herbs for medicinal baths and use the spiritual essence within them to cleanse his body, he might be able to wash away his old ailments and be reborn!

At that time, after shedding his old body and continuing along his former path, he might even have had a chance to glimpse the road beyond the Innate Realm!

Unfortunately,

Spiritual Herbs were precious treasures even to Grandmasters and Grandmasters of the highest level.

Refining Spiritual Herbs into corresponding pills with the Alchemy of the Xuantian Realm would even help experts of that level advance their cultivation!

For martial artists of the Innate Realm, the effects would be even greater!

Once one appeared,

it would almost certainly trigger fierce competition!

Yet at that time, Yang Qingyun had merely been at the Viscera Refining stage,

his strength negligible in the new era of the Spiritual Qi Resurgence.

Perhaps he had occasionally encountered opportunities, obtaining one or two Spiritual Herbs like the three-hundred-year-old Spiritual Ginseng before him during his wilderness expeditions in his Previous Life.

But for him, whose body had already been shattered beyond repair, those had been no more than a cup of water to a cartload of firewood,

utterly incapable of curing the problems with his body.

The preciousness of Spiritual Herbs was self-evident!

And now,

twenty years before the Spiritual Qi Resurgence, a Spiritual Herb had already appeared!

"Gu Hanlin, the Southwest Governor who entered the Innate Realm overnight, and the early appearance of this wondrous treasure of heaven and earth... It seems the Spiritual Qi Resurgence in my Previous Life was hardly without warning."

"It's just that back then, I had been sold to the White Feather Sect's mines and was enduring those three dark years. Although I escaped afterward and began practicing martial arts, I spent a long time struggling at the bottom and scraping by. I simply never encountered many of the opportunities from the early Spiritual Qi Resurgence, so I failed to notice them!"

Yang Qingyun sighed inwardly.

Having been given another chance, he would not make the same mistakes again.

"A place capable of producing Spiritual Herbs must be rich in Spiritual Qi! There are surely other treasures as well!"

"I need to investigate the reason Spiritual Qi has gathered there."

"But according to that mountain dweller, the so-called mountain god is probably just a wild beast in the mountains that was affected by Spiritual Qi and advanced into a demon beast!"

"If I want to seize this opportunity, I must have enough strength to deal with that demon beast!"

"Before Wang Zhu returns after determining the location, I need to improve my strength as much as possible during this period!"

Having made up his mind,

Yang Qingyun contacted Zhou Weilong,

using his martial arts school's channels to purchase a large quantity of medicinal herbs.

He planned to use the century-old Blood Lingzhi and Fo-ti obtained from Black Wind Stronghold as the main ingredients to refine Blood Strengthening Pills and raise his cultivation to the mid-Entry Realm!

As for this Spiritual Ginseng, using it at the early Entry Realm would be too wasteful.

Once he reached the mid-Entry Realm,

with the Qi and Blood in his body growing more abundant, he could use it as the main ingredient to refine a higher-level pill and aid his cultivation in reaching an even higher realm.

Just as Yang Qingyun was working hard to improve his cultivation,

at the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters,

the towering guest hall stood amid layers of buildings, overlooking the surrounding rows of towers and structures.

Yet inside, the light was utterly dim, giving the place a gloomy air.

At that moment,

Qingwen Long was bowing his head and reporting everything that had happened that day to the figure seated on the elevated main seat and shrouded in shadow.

"Gang Lord, that Zhou Weilong has gone too far!"

"Because of that damned Weilong Martial Arts School of theirs, those dirt-legged peasants are relying on the martial arts school as their backing and have even dared to fight our people. Our men have collected far less protection money recently because of this!"

"I heard they returned in triumph from Black Wind Mountain this time. Now the Weilong Martial Arts School's reputation in town has risen another level. I'm afraid it will attract even more dirt-legged peasants to join, allowing their influence to expand further!"

"If we sit back and do nothing, our Black Tiger Gang will be in trouble!"

After reporting everything that had happened, Qingwen Long could not resist adding fuel to the fire.

He wished the Gang Lord would immediately issue an order, summon all three thousand members of the Black Tiger Gang, and smash that damned Weilong Martial Arts School to pieces!

To his disappointment,

his words caused hardly any reaction from the person on the main seat.

"That's enough. Withdraw for now. This Gang Lord has his own plans regarding the matter."

A calm voice drifted down from the shadows above, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Under the dim light,

Qingwen Long felt an enormous pressure surge through his heart!

"Yes, Gang Lord."

Qingwen Long did not dare linger. He clasped his hands and withdrew, an involuntary bead of sweat seeping from his forehead.

After Qingwen Long left,

in the now-empty main hall, the faint sound of fingers unconsciously tapping against wood rang out—tok, tok, tok.

"Old Zuo, what do you think of this matter?"

The imposing voice from the main seat asked.

As his words fell,

at that moment,

a pale, gaunt man in a long gown, holding a feather fan, stepped out from the shadows behind his seat.

This man was named Zuo Xiangsheng. He was the Black Tiger Gang's White Paper Fan, much like the shadow of the Black Tiger Gang's Gang Lord, Shi Meng, always scheming for him behind the scenes.

Zuo Xiangsheng pondered for a moment before speaking:

"Some time ago, our outside contacts confirmed that Zhou Weilong is a member of Bao'an County's Sifang Society. His opening a martial arts school here is likely part of some ulterior scheme!"

"There may also be something strange about what happened on Black Wind Mountain that everyone has been talking about!"

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Rumors are spreading outside that the Black Wind Stronghold's chief, Golden-Eyed Leopard, broke through to the Body Tempering Realm, yet was killed by that brat named Yang Qingyun."

"They say that brat named Yang Qingyun is extraordinarily talented, a once-in-a-generation genius who killed the Viscera Refining Realm's Golden-Eyed Leopard by overcoming his level despite being only in the mid-Entry Realm."

Upon hearing this,

Shi Meng recalled the rumors circulating outside that day, and his brows furrowed slightly.

With the return of Zhou Weilong and the others, news of what had happened in that battle had begun spreading through the city. Many participants described the scenes on the mountain in vivid detail.

Yet the rumors being spread made everyone who heard them knit their brows tightly.

There was no other reason—

the rumors were simply too outrageous!

This was especially true for Viscera Refining Realm martial artists like Shi Meng, who stood at the pinnacle of Huangshi Town's martial world. They understood even more clearly the enormous gap between the Entry Realm and the Viscera Refining Realm,

which made them even more suspicious of the battle's authenticity.

"The gap between the Entry Realm and the Viscera Refining Realm isn't something that can be crossed so easily. That brat named Yang Qingyun is probably a 'genius' pushed forward by the Sifang Society behind that Zhou fellow to build momentum. But why would the Sifang Society spend such a huge price to fabricate such an outrageous reputation?"

"Could it be that they don't understand the gap between the Entry Realm and the Viscera Refining Realm?"

Shi Meng did not believe the rumors circulating outside in the slightest.

In his eyes,

the series of events—Zhou Weilong taking people up the mountain, suffering setbacks in battle, and a young prodigy stepping forward to turn the tide—was most likely nothing more than a farcical publicity stunt!