Yun Yun's Appearance!

During this time, Su Baichen had indeed handled quite a few matters, all sorts of miscellaneous things. Now that he was asked to recall them immediately, it was as though a thin mist lay over his memories, leaving them blurry and indistinct.

The Second Elder was momentarily stunned, but he quickly adjusted his expression and replied respectfully, "Uh, yes... it's about the ransom!"

"Ransom?" Su Baichen raised a brow slightly. The word seemed to stir something in the depths of his memory.

Seeing this, the Second Elder hurriedly explained in detail, "Yes, Mr. Su. Do you remember? Some time ago, while we were searching for the Heavenly Flames, the Jia Ma Empire, the Chu Yun Empire, and several nearby forces sent many people deep into the Tagor Desert with unclear intentions. Most of them were discovered and captured by us. There were even several Dou Wang-level experts among them."

He paused and secretly observed Su Baichen's expression. Only after seeing that Su Baichen seemed to remember something did he continue, "At the time, you instructed us to have the captives write letters home and demand that their respective factions pay enormous sums of gold to ransom them."

"Following your instructions, we have already had most of the captives finish their letters, and the various factions have gradually begun responding."

"This is the list of all prisoners currently in custody, along with the preliminary ransom amounts that have been agreed upon. Please review it."

As he spoke, the Second Elder took out a finely crafted beast-hide list from the Storage Ring on his finger. Holding it with both hands, he respectfully presented it to Su Baichen.

Looking at the list before him, Su Baichen finally remembered everything.

That was right, he had indeed ordered this. The reason was simple: the dazzling array of cultivation techniques, Dou Skills, medicinal pills, divine weapons, and all manner of strange treasures in his mysterious System Shop all required gold coins as currency.

His previous personal savings were nothing more than a drop in the bucket before the shop's jaw-dropping prices.

When he learned that the Snake-People Tribe had detained many spies from human empires and various factions, including Dou Wang experts who could dominate entire regions in some places, he immediately realized this was an excellent opportunity to make money.

Those factions surely would not be stingy with gold if it meant redeeming their experts and important members. Thus, he had proposed this plan of writing letters to demand ransom to the Second Elder, who was in charge of the matter.

Later, however, his attention had been completely drawn to Queen Medusa Cailin's evolution, and he had tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

If the Second Elder had not brought it up today, he probably would not have remembered until the gold was delivered right to his doorstep.

"Mm, you've worked hard, Second Elder. You handled this matter well." Su Baichen accepted the list, his tone calm. He had never been stingy with rewards for capable subordinates.

He casually took out two small jade bottles from his Storage Ring and handed them over without even looking at them. "Just a little something. Take them and use them."

The Second Elder accepted the jade bottles almost instinctively. He uncorked one and took a light sniff, and a rich medicinal fragrance instantly spread through the air, refreshing his spirits.

Though he was not an Alchemist, he was still knowledgeable enough to immediately judge that these were at least Tier 5 Medicinal Pills! And he had been given two at once!

As for whether they were Dou Ling Pills that enhanced Dou Qi, the healing holy medicine known as the Fu Zi Ling Pill, or some other precious pills, the overwhelming shock left him with no time to distinguish them carefully.

Tier 5 Medicinal Pills!

To the Snake-People Tribe, they were treasures that could only be encountered by chance!

The Snake-People Tribe possessed bodies inclined toward cold, and they were naturally not very compatible with flames. Yet pill refining was inseparable from control over fire.

As a result, no Alchemists could emerge within the Snake-People Tribe. In the past, every pill they needed had to be obtained at an enormous cost, trading mountains of rare medicinal herbs and minerals to human Alchemists. Even then, they often had to endure the other party's disdain and exploitation.

Countless medicinal ingredients in the tribe's storehouses had lost their potency because they could not be refined in time, eventually gathering dust or even being discarded.

Yet now, Mr. Su casually rewarded him with two Tier 5 Medicinal Pills. Such lavish generosity made the Second Elder's heart pound wildly with excitement.

He had originally been responsible for many of the tribe's miscellaneous affairs. For a trivial matter like delivering a list, he normally could have simply sent a capable subordinate.

But because this was something Mr. Su had personally instructed them to handle, he feared that a careless subordinate might make a mistake and displease this unfathomable benefactor. That was why he had decided to make the trip himself.

Who would have thought that such a trivial errand would bring such an astonishing reward?

The Second Elder tightly gripped the jade bottles as though he were holding the light of hope for the Snake-People Tribe's future. He bowed deeply, his voice filled with unprecedented gratitude and reverence. "Thank you for your generous reward, Mr. Su! Should Mr. Su have any command, this old man would not hesitate to die ten thousand times! If there are any changes regarding the people on the list, or if the ransom arrives, this old man will immediately report it to you. If there are no further instructions, then I shall take my leave."

Su Baichen casually waved a hand. "Mm, go."

"Yes, yes! I shall obey your instructions, sir!"

The Second Elder answered repeatedly, bowed again, and carefully backed out of the hall. Only upon reaching the entrance did he turn and leave, his steps noticeably lighter from excitement.

After the Second Elder departed, the temple returned to silence.

Only then did Su Baichen unhurriedly unfurl the beast-hide list. It had been made quite meticulously. Not only did it list the captives' names, affiliations, and places of capture, it also noted their cultivation levels and the preliminary ransom amounts.

His gaze slowly passed over one name after another, some unfamiliar and some vaguely known to him.

"Mu Chen... someone from the Mu Clan of the Jia Ma Empire? A Three-Star Dou Wang. The ransom is quite substantial."

"Feng Li... also from the Jia Ma Empire. He seems fairly well-known. He's worth the price."

The list was very long, involving dozens of people from the Jia Ma Empire, the Chu Yun Empire, several nearby small kingdoms, and sects.

As Su Baichen read, he silently assessed what good things this incoming gold could be exchanged for in the System Shop.

Perhaps he could get Cailin a cultivation technique better suited to her current Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python constitution? Or perhaps he could find some interesting little trinkets for himself?

Just as his thoughts began to wander, his eyes inadvertently swept over a name in the middle of the list.

At first, he paid it no attention. But the next second, that name exploded in his mind like thunder. His fingers abruptly stopped tapping the armrest, and he unconsciously sat up straighter.

Yun Yun?!

Su Baichen almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He steadied himself and looked carefully again—there was no mistake. In clear black ink, it read: Yun Yun, disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect, Five-Star Dou Wang, captured at the eastern edge of the Tagor Desert...

What the hell! Is this a joke? Why is Yun Yun, the future Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, here?! Su Baichen cried out inwardly, unable to suppress the shock on his face.

Su Baichen's impression of Yun Yun was rather complicated.

How should he put it? She was a character with a turbulent fate, one who left people sighing in regret. Born in the Misty Cloud Sect, she had been a proud daughter of heaven, yet she successively suffered betrayal by her master Yun Shan, the destruction of her sect, and a rocky path of love with Xiao Yan, the man she had fallen for. In the end, she could not have the love she desired and left for a distant land.

Although she later encountered Hua Yu, the Sect Leader of the Flower Sect, by chance in the Central Plains and inherited her lifelong Dou Qi as well as the position of Sect Leader, gaining a great opportunity, Yun Yun's life as a whole still carried a trace of tragedy.

"Judging by this timeline..." Su Baichen stroked his chin and fell into thought. "That brat Xiao Yan should have already transmigrated here by now. There should still be about... fifteen years before Yun Yun meets the young Xiao Yan in the Magical Beast Mountain Range?"

His gaze fell once more upon the words "Five-Star Dou Wang" on the list, and he could not help shaking his head lightly.

"Fifteen years to go from a Five-Star Dou Wang to a Three-Star Dou Emperor... around the Jia Ma Empire in this Northwest Continent, that cultivation speed might still count as genius-level, barely placing her above average."

"But in the Central Plains, where heroes rose together and monstrous talents emerged one after another, it really would not be enough. At best, she would be average, perhaps even below average."

At that thought, the image of his disciple, Cao Ying, surfaced in Su Baichen's mind.

She was famous for her terrifying talent in pill refining and her cultivation speed.

"That girl Cao Ying was probably already a Dou Zong in her early twenties, and capable of refining Eight-Grade Pills, right? Now that was a true proud daughter of heaven."

"Compared to her, Yun Yun truly wasn't on the same level, whether in talent or ultimate achievement."