"Wait, young master."
Yao Qingyin glanced at Ye Jing's retreating figure. A hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes, but in the end, she called out to him.
"Miss, is there something else?"
Yao Qingyin took an Ancient Jade from her clothes and placed it in Ye Jing's hand. "Young master, I don't know whether I'll live or die on this journey. The Demon Sect certainly won't let me go."
"This Ancient Jade is tied to a great opportunity. My ancestor once entered this Secret Realm and, in the end, mastered an Art of Pill Dao powerful enough to shake the heavens and move the earth."
"Please keep this Ancient Jade safe for me, young master. I'll be forever grateful."
Ye Jing looked at Yao Qingyin in surprise. After a long pause, he tentatively asked, "Miss, could your surname be Yao? Is your ancestor the legendary Pill Dao master Yao Xingchen, the greatest in Dali in a thousand years?"
Yao Xingchen's deeds had long spread throughout Dali. Even three-year-old children knew his legendary story, so Yao Qingyin wasn't surprised that Ye Jing had guessed her identity.
"You're perceptive, young master. Yao Xingchen was indeed my ancestor."
Hearing Yao Qingyin confirm her identity, Ye Jing felt tempted.
When he'd comprehended the Pill King's Precious Mirror earlier that day, he'd witnessed everything in this Secret Realm with his own eyes. He knew it inside and out.
Millennium Ancient Herbs were everywhere in this Secret Realm, and Ten-Thousand-Year Medicine Kings weren't even rare. There were even several Immortal Herbs, spoken of only in legend.
Now that he'd mastered the Art of Pill Dao, if he could obtain the ancient herbs in this Secret Realm and refine them into powerful pills, his strength would make a tremendous leap.
"Medicine Girl, you're willing to trust me with such an opportunity just like that? Aren't you afraid I'll take it all for myself?"
Ye Jing glanced at Yao Qingyin in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be so bold.
Yao Qingyin smiled and nodded. "You're joking, young master. You're a kind-hearted person. With your cultivation, you could easily have left me behind and gone on alone."
"Besides, even if you had the Ancient Jade, what good would a key to the Secret Realm do if you didn't know where the realm was?"
Who would've thought? She looked so pure and charming, like a sweet, naive girl, yet she'd kept something up her sleeve.
Ye Jing considered it for a moment, but in the end, he couldn't resist the temptation.
She didn't know who he really was, or where he lived. The original owner had barely made a name for himself in the Imperial Capital.
She'd seen his face, but according to the original owner's memories, only gods of Heaven and Earth could perform something as miraculous as probing someone's Divine Soul and memories.
With such an opportunity right in front of him, the tiny, negligible risk was well worth the gamble.
"Don't worry, miss. If the Heaven and Earth Cataclysm comes, we'll meet here again, in this dilapidated Mountain God Temple."
With that, Ye Jing turned and left.
"Young master, why are you back so late today?"
In a three-courtyard residence, Qiuyue had long since prepared dinner. She stood with her head drooping, her eyes fixed on the entrance.
Only when she saw Ye Jing did a hint of delight appear in her eyes.
"Nothing much. I got held up by a few things on the way."
Ye Jing didn't explain further. He handed the herbs in his hand to Qiuyue and quickly changed the subject.
"Qiuyue, have you heated the bathwater? Go heat some up. I want to wash."
Taking the herbs, Qiuyue eyed Ye Jing suspiciously. "Young master, you smell so strange! Why do you have a fragrance about you?"
"It's just your imagination. I'm covered in sweat. How could I possibly smell nice?"
"Qiuyue, I know you think I'm perfect, but you don't have to flatter me so much! I do have a few tiny flaws. Even what comes out when I use the privy stinks."
"Nonsense. To Qiuyue, you're just a stinky young master."
Qiuyue had been picked up by the original owner's mother and had grown up with him. Though they were master and servant, that was only how they described themselves to outsiders.
They had no particular formalities between them, so Qiuyue wasn't afraid of Ye Jing.
After some joking around, Qiuyue's suspicions faded. She took the herbs and went off to heat the bathwater for Ye Jing.
After dinner, Ye Jing returned to his room.
The room was sparsely furnished: a bed, a wooden tub, a table, a few chairs, and a bookshelf. That was all.
Qiuyue had already poured the heated bathwater into the wooden tub.
Ye Jing picked up the herbs on the table and summoned Innate Fire, refining the whole herbs one by one into liquid.
Having fully grasped every secret of the Pill King's Precious Mirror, Ye Jing's mastery of the Art of Pill Dao was unrivaled throughout Dali.
Foundation Building Liquid was merely a second-grade pill. To Ye Jing, now a master of pill-making, it was child's play.
After the time it took to burn three incense sticks, a bottle of Top-grade Foundation Building Liquid was ready.
He poured the Top-grade Foundation Building Liquid into the wooden tub. The clear bathwater immediately turned emerald green. Ye Jing stripped off his clothes and stepped into the tub.
"Hiss!!!"
A piercing pain shot from Ye Jing's chest and raced into his limbs.
His eyes grew bloodshot, the veins in his neck bulged, and it felt as if countless ants were gnawing away at his body.
Enduring the agony, Ye Jing knew the Top-grade Foundation Building Liquid was reshaping his body.
He immediately circulated the true qi in his body, absorbing the liquid's medicinal power as quickly as he could.
As Ye Jing sank into cultivation, the pain gradually weakened. But he could clearly feel his body growing stronger.
Just as Ye Jing lost himself in cultivation, the outside world was undergoing a sea change.
Medicine Manor, Vermillion Bird Street.
"Yao Xingchen really was the equal of Long Zhan and the Devil Master a thousand years ago. This formation is a thousand years old, yet it still has such power."
A hint of lingering fear flashed in Yue Ji's eyes. She was already on the verge of reaching the Peak of Humanity, yet she'd nearly died several times inside the formation.
Without her formidable cultivation, she might not have made it out safely.
"Enough, Yue Ji. Hurry and take the Pine Crane Pill, then take the Ancient Jade and scroll from that young woman. We need to report back to the Protector."
Black Robe, the equally shaken flag bearer, urged Yue Ji along. Even a great human demon like him, guilty of countless atrocities, didn't want to linger here.
Yue Ji and the others had already learned where the Pine Crane Pill was stored before setting out.
They found the Pine Crane Pill without a hitch.
Yue Ji tucked it into her clothes. Just as she and the others were about to leave, a Demon Sect disciple hurried in from outside to deliver a report.
"Bad news, flag bearer! That young woman from the Gu residence escaped... she got away!"
"What did you say? That young woman escaped?"
At the news that Yao Qingyin had gotten away, Yue Ji's expression changed dramatically. Panic showed in her eyes, and she froze, at a loss for what to do.
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