An IOU

With the crisis resolved and the enemies completely annihilated, everyone clearly breathed a sigh of relief. As their mental states relaxed, revealing their battered and miserable appearances, everyone except Ye Tong looked disheveled and pathetic.

"Young Master, I need some healing pills. I've sustained some internal injuries."

The Medicine Slave sat cross-legged beneath a towering ancient tree, his face somewhat pale as he spoke. Killing that expert at the fourth level of the Innate Realm had not left him unscathed.

Ye Tong forced a smile. "Where am I supposed to get healing pills? I didn't bring the cauldron, and I don't have the medicinal ingredients to refine pills yet. Even if I gathered herbs on the spot, without a cauldron, I can't refine anything!"

The Medicine Slave hesitated for a moment, then took out a foot-tall, crystal-clear jade cauldron from his backpack. This cauldron was intricately carved with a strangely shaped beast, its fangs bared and claws extended, lifelike and vivid.

"Is this the Jade Medicine Cauldron?"

The moment Ye Tong saw the jade cauldron, he exclaimed in surprise. He immediately snatched it over and played with it for a while before murmuring, "Didn't the old man take the Jade Medicine Cauldron with him when he left?"

The Medicine Slave shook his head. "No."

Ye Tong snorted. "Since he didn't take it, then keep it for me! It was the old man's anyway, so I won't feel bad even if I destroy it in the future."

"..."

The Medicine Slave offered a wry smile and fell silent.

Mu Xiaochen and the other two had heard everything Ye Tong and the Medicine Slave had said. They hadn't expected Ye Tong to be able to refine healing pills. Their own injuries were several times more severe than the Medicine Slave's, and if they had to rely on slow healing, it would take ages to recover.

But!

If there were healing pills, things would be different.

If they were good quality healing pills, perhaps their injuries could be completely healed in just a day or two.

Mu Xiaochen sidled up to Ye Tong, his face beaming with familiarity. "Brother Ye Tong, I'm truly surprised that you can refine pills. You know, we're friends now, right? How about this, we help you find the medicinal ingredients for refining pills, and you give each of us one of the healing pills you refine?"

Ye Tong's expression was blank. "No freebies."

"I'll buy them!"

Mu Xiaochen was annoyed, his eyes fixed intently on Ye Tong.

Indeed.

He noticed a glint of a smile in Ye Tong's eyes after he uttered those words, clearly moved by his statement.

Ye Tong chuckled. "Since we're friends, I'll give you a discount! As for the efficacy... my alchemy skills are just average. If the pills I refine don't satisfy you, don't blame me for being incompetent."

"No, no!"

Mu Xiaochen said repeatedly.

The woman wearing a cyan dress, relatively tall, was Yu Wanmei, the eldest daughter of the Yu family from Zifu County. Her brow was furrowed, and she wore a look of doubt. "How can a cultivator who hasn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage refine healing pills? As far as I know, true healing pills have formations inscribed within them. Even powerful cultivators at the Innate Realm would find it difficult to set up formations, let alone engrave them inside pills."

Ye Tong retorted, "Who made that rule?"

Yu Wanmei replied, "No one made it, but it's common knowledge!"

Ye Tong curled his lips dismissively. "That just means you're too narrow-minded. This world is vast, and there are countless wonders. Can they all be understood and viewed through common sense?"

"This..."

Yu Wanmei was rendered speechless. She realized that this young man was not only skilled in poison but also sharp-tongued, capable of silencing anyone with a single word.

Ye Tong took out paper and a brush from his backpack and wrote down a list of medicinal ingredients. Then, his brush moved, and drawings of various herbs took shape on the paper. He marked the shape and characteristics of each herb.

"To refine healing pills, you'll need these ingredients. Go find them! We'll set a time limit of half a day. No matter how much you find, you must return here within half a day," Ye Tong stated calmly.

Mu Xiaochen and Yu Wanmei stared at the dozen or so herb drawings on the paper, dumbfounded and disbelieving. They had witnessed Ye Tong drawing these.

But!

The drawings were incredibly lifelike!

Each flower, each blade of grass—the brushstrokes, the forms—were indescribable. They even had the illusion that real medicinal plants had grown on the paper.

Yu Wanmei's eyes lit up, and she looked at Ye Tong. "Brother Ye Tong, your painting skills are truly superb. I once had the honor of attending a court banquet in the Sky Net Empire and saw the skills of the court painters. While their paintings were good, they still fell far short compared to yours. I daresay, with just these painting skills, if you went to the Sky Net Empire's imperial palace, you would be appreciated by His Majesty and hailed as a master of calligraphy and painting."

Ye Tong chuckled wryly. "Don't flatter me, I don't have that kind of leisure. I'm thankful enough just to be alive."

Yu Wanmei smiled. "You're young, so you'll naturally live a long time."

A long time?

Ye Tong thought of his physical condition a few days prior, how he had almost failed to suppress the toxins within his body, how he had nearly died. He wasn't even sure if he would have survived if he had succumbed to the toxins at that time, even with two souls merged.

The Medicine Slave stood quietly to the side, his gaze becoming extremely peculiar. The Ye Tong he knew, while he had enjoyed writing and drawing before, his skills were worlds apart from the calligraphy and paintings on the paper.

What happened?

What's going on?

That fire didn't burn the Young Master! How did he become like a completely different person, as if reborn? It wasn't just the writing and paintings, but also his personality, his wisdom, his combat prowess...

Could it be...

The Medicine Slave suddenly thought of something terrifying, his gaze instantly sharpening as he fixed on Ye Tong. He asked word by word, "Young Master, do you still remember the first thing you said to this old servant after Master brought you back to the Precious Medicine Workshop?"

Ye Tong felt his body stiffen, instantly realizing that his calligraphy and painting skills had made the Medicine Slave suspicious. However, he had inherited Ye Tong's memories and naturally knew everything about him. He slowly replied, "Old man, do you have any food?"

The Medicine Slave's breathing eased.

Back then.

The first thing Ye Tong said to him upon meeting him was, "Old man, do you have anything to eat?"

The Medicine Slave was silent for a moment before asking again, "Master, are there any hidden dangers within you?"

This matter.

Only the Medicine Slave and Ye Tong knew about it, as it was Poison Demon Huo Lanqiu's greatest secret.

Ye Tong said, "The poison body."

The aura the Medicine Slave released was instantly retracted. He knew Ye Tong was still the same Ye Tong, but something had happened to him that caused a complete transformation. Perhaps he had encountered some miraculous opportunity during this past year.

Ye Tong looked at the Medicine Slave calmly and said, "Don't just stand there. If you want to take the healing pills, go find the medicinal ingredients needed for refining."

"Yes!"

The Medicine Slave said respectfully.

Time passed.

Ye Tong sat cross-legged under the ancient, towering tree like an old monk in meditation, tightly gripping Silver Crystals in his hand, continuously absorbing the spiritual energy contained within them into his body. Although he had used the Book of Life and Death to help the Medicine Slave kill Um Bato, the Vital Energy within him had also been completely depleted. After half a day of cultivation, the depleted Vital Energy had finally recovered more than half.

"Young Master!"

The Medicine Slave, carrying a basket, returned to Ye Tong's front and laid out the medicinal ingredients one by one. Before long, Mu Xiaochen and the other two also returned. The medicinal ingredients they found were far inferior to those the Medicine Slave had gathered, but they did find a few that the Medicine Slave had missed.

Ye Tong sighed, "This Golden Phoenix Mountain Range truly holds heavenly treasures, it's a blessed land. However, the medicinal ingredients you've found are still missing one main ingredient."

"White Chrysanthemum?"

Mu Xiaochen's expression shifted as he asked.

Ye Tong nodded, "That's right, White Chrysanthemum. This flower is a precious medicinal ingredient. It usually grows on sheer cliffs, and on the shady side that faces away from the sun."

"We'll go look again."

Mu Xiaochen said urgently.

Ye Tong shook his head, "Forget it! Since we can't find White Chrysanthemum for now, let's substitute it with other medicinal ingredients. Among the ingredients the Medicine Slave found, there are two whose medicinal properties, while not as potent as White Chrysanthemum, have the same attributes. Using these two ingredients as substitutes will still allow us to refine healing pills."

A full two hours passed.

Ye Tong once again depleted the Vital Energy within him before successfully refining six healing pills. However, the healing pills he refined couldn't compare to those previously refined by Huo Lanqiu, and even the healing pills refined by ordinary Pill Masters were slightly superior to his.

"Nine thousand taels of Blue Silver."

Ye Tong wiped the sweat from his face and said to Mu Xiaochen with a smile.

Mu Xiaochen rolled his eyes. He was truly convinced by Ye Tong's money-grubbing personality and directly threw out the one-thousand tael Blue Silver note, saying, "Now you have change for me, right?"

"Here!"

Ye Tong returned the one-thousand tael note to him, then happily and carefully tucked the ten-thousand tael note into his embrace. After all, one such note was equivalent to one Silver Crystal. After the fusion of the two souls, Ye Tong found himself much more interested in wealth.

Suddenly, Ye Tong seemed to remember something. He took out paper and pen again, quickly wrote an IOU, and then handed it to Mu Xiaochen, saying, "Sign it."

"Thirty-six?"

Mu Xiaochen looked at the content, his gaze finally settling on the number "thirty-six." As the son of a County King, if he wanted Silver Crystals, countless people throughout Zifu County, and even the entire Sky Net Empire, would eagerly present them to him. Who would dare make him sign an IOU?

If there was anyone!

It would probably only be this peculiar person in front of him.

Mu Xiaochen, with a heart full of frustration, took the paper and pen and quickly signed the first IOU of his life.

Ye Tong took it back with satisfaction, gently blew on the paper, and then contentedly tucked it close to his body.

Turning to look at the Medicine Slave, Ye Tong then said to Mu Xiaochen and the other two, "Everyone, our meeting is fate, but fate has its beginnings and endings. It's time for us to part ways. Mu Xiaochen, if you return to Cold Mountain City, remember to come to Precious Medicine Workshop to repay me."