The New Master of Myriad Medicine Pavilion

Xiao Yi Xian emerged from the inner room.

She had been on edge all day. Only when the commotion broke out outside just now did she know Gu Feng had returned, and only then did she come out to take a look.

Xiao Yi Xian wore an elaborate black gown today. Her dark hair cascaded like a waterfall, her eyes were limpid and bright, and she carried an air of delicate vulnerability.

She saw the blood on Gu Fengchen's hands and asked anxiously, "What happened?"

"Nothing. I just killed a few thugs." Gu Fengchen curled his lip dismissively.

Indeed, setting aside their allegiance, they had bullied and insulted an old man. They deserved to die. Their deaths were no great loss.

But Xiao Yi Xian knew that the Leader of the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group outside was a genuine Dou Spirit Expert!

Xiao Yi Xian drew a deep breath. "That Leader of the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group..."

"He's a Dou Spirit Expert. I know." Gu Fengchen waved a hand indifferently.

In truth, the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group's base was not in Qingshan Town, but outside Qingshan City.

And besides the fact that the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group's Leader was a Dou Spirit Expert, they had the He Clan of Black Rock City behind them.

Though no one knew why they had come to Qingshan Town this time, they had likely heard that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had been destroyed and wanted to take in the remaining mercenaries here.

Then they discovered that the owner of Myriad Medicine Pavilion was also dead, so they planned to swallow up Myriad Medicine Pavilion as well.

The Leader of the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group had a close relationship with the He Clan.

He was the He Clan's son-in-law and was quite favored by the Clan Head.

Even in the Northeastern Region of the Empire, this clan could be considered a prominent family. Though its influence could not compare to the Three Great Clans of the Empire, it was not to be underestimated.

The greatest reason for this was that the current Clan Head of the He Clan was a Dou Wang!

Back when he had been in the Gu Clan, Gu Fengchen had not thought Dou Wang experts were anything remarkable. But after truly arriving in the Jia Ma Empire, he realized that a Dou Wang was already an immensely significant rank here, enough to inspire awe in countless people.

Looking across the Jia Ma Empire, there were probably fewer than a hundred people who had reached the Dou Wang level. That alone showed just how rare and powerful Dou Wang experts were.

A force backed by a Dou Wang expert possessed influence far beyond that of an ordinary mercenary group.

Of course Gu Fengchen knew the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group's background. But since he had chosen to take over, he also wanted certain people watching him from the shadows to understand that he was equally capable of flipping the table. They had better not provoke him carelessly.

Gu Fengchen had never believed violence could solve problems. At most, violence solved the people who raised the problems. So he did not want to rely on killing all the time either. But if he had to kill, then he would kill decisively—until no one else dared entertain any further thoughts.

"I know. That's why we need to work hard together and improve our strength as quickly as possible." Gu Fengchen rubbed Xiao Yi Xian's head and smiled.

Xiao Yi Xian stuck out her tongue but said nothing more.

Gu Feng had already done so much for her. She also hoped she could do something for Gu Feng.

Gu Fengchen took a deep breath, unwilling to keep worrying about the Serpent Nest Mercenary Group. Soldiers would come and generals would block them; water would come and earth would dam it. Changing the subject, he smiled at Xiao Yi Xian. "I'm the owner of Myriad Medicine Pavilion now. Boss's wife, aren't you going to take me to see what good things we have in our storeroom?"

The moment she heard the words "boss's wife," a flush rapidly spread across Xiao Yi Xian's face. She said coquettishly, "You're an eleven-year-old little brat. Why do you spout so much nonsense?"

Still, Xiao Yi Xian said nothing else and led Gu Fengchen to Myriad Medicine Pavilion's storeroom.

Xiao Yi Xian led Gu Fengchen there without the slightest wariness.

After facing life-and-death dangers together several times, Xiao Yi Xian completely trusted Gu Fengchen.

That was only natural. With Gu Fengchen's strength, killing Xiao Yi Xian would take no more than a moment.

Xiao Yi Xian brought Gu Fengchen to the storeroom and introduced its contents as though she knew every treasure by heart. "This is Night Spirit Leaf, this is a second-tier Wind Attribute Magic Core, this is a third-tier Fire Attribute Magic Core, this is a Tier 2 Medicinal Pill, this is a Tier 3 Medicinal Pill, and this is 500-Year Polygonum Multiflorum..."

Gu Fengchen's eyes practically lit up as he looked at all these medicinal herbs. He had struck it rich!

"Good heavens, there's even Aphrodisiac Grass. Sister Xiao Yi Xian, the stock here is quite plentiful."

Gu Fengchen held up a medicinal herb somewhat resembling chives and smiled brightly.

Xiao Yi Xian ignored him and focused on sorting the medicinal herbs.

Come to think of it, Gu Fengchen still had not figured out what exactly the Taotie Seal liked.

He had considered whether the Taotie Seal might be interested in some unusual things, such as a widow's comb, a dead person's pillow, the hair of someone who had drowned, and so on...

But after thinking it over, Gu Fengchen decided against it. It was a little too inauspicious.

"Alright, I'm going into seclusion for a while. Once things outside settle down, you can reopen the clinic. As for our team going into the mountains to gather herbs in the future, I'll escort you myself. There's no need to hire any mercenaries."

Gu Fengchen gave his instructions, already looking every bit like the master of Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

It was not that Gu Fengchen wanted to do everything himself. The main issue was that every time they hired mercenaries, they came as an entire squad. Only one or two of them could actually fight; the rest were just there to freeload.

Yet they still had to be paid. That was the most irritating part.

Gu Fengchen withdrew his thoughts. After Xiao Yi Xian left, he gently shut the door and devoted all his attention to that Flying Dou Skill scroll.

Flight was the best guarantee for escaping with one's life. Even if one was only a Dou Shi, possessing a Flying Dou Skill would make it difficult even for a Dou Spirit Expert to keep them.

After all, Dou Qi Wings were a power only experts above the Dou Wang level possessed. Ordinary people found it difficult to break free from such limitations.

Holding the Flying Dou Skill scroll in both hands, Gu Fengchen licked his lips eagerly. He untied the red cord binding the scroll and slowly spread it open before him.

What came into view was a pair of jet-black eagle wings that gave off a chilling feeling. The wings were dark, with faint purple cloud patterns running through them. Upon closer inspection, they looked like black steel, carrying a peculiar metallic texture.

Gu Fengchen reached out to touch them, and the feather-like sensation against his palm felt remarkably real.

It was indeed just as described in the Original Work.

This pair of eagle wings had been taken from a Tier 5 Flying Magical Beast, the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle.

A Tier 5 Magical Beast was equivalent to a human Dou Wang expert.

The Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle was no ordinary creature. It possessed a faint trace of the Ancient Phoenix bloodline, and its flying speed ranked among the very best of all Flying Magical Beasts.

More importantly, the Purple Cloud Wings still contained the Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle's Residual Soul.

However, although that soul remained, it was a soul without consciousness.

Old Ya had explained at the time that the soul within was a result of the secret technique once used to create Flying Dou Skills.

The crafting process for Flying Dou Skills was far more difficult than that of ordinary Dou Skills, and a Flying Dou Skill could only be used once. Once used, it was gone.

The Flying Dou Skill itself also contained a warning: during cultivation, the Purple Cloud Eagle soul within the wings would attack the cultivator.

Therefore, one had to withstand this Soul Impact before cultivation could continue.

Gu Fengchen had Heavenly Flames within his body, as well as the Taotie Seal. His Soul Power was certainly not weak, so resisting such an impact should not be much of a problem.

Gu Fengchen placed both palms over the scroll, lightly pressing against the soft wings. He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.