Thousand Herb Workshop

Xiao Jie walked out of the Black-Seal City auction house, bringing Hai Bodong and Qing Lin to an inn to settle in.

"Brother Hai, let us stay here for now and wait for the people from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion to arrive."

"Hehe, Brother Xiao may decide as he pleases; I have no objections."

"Qing Lin, you shall stay in the middle room. If you need anything, just speak up."

"Mm-hmm, I understand, Young Master."

After hearing Hai Bodong's words, Xiao Jie turned back to arrange things for Qing Lin before walking into the room on the left to rest.

The next day, the speed at which Xiao Jie absorbed the energy around him suddenly increased significantly, and faint ripples of energy began to undulate around his body.

It was not until an hour later that Xiao Jie ceased his cultivation. As the energy ripples gradually dissipated, he opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and spoke.

"Finally, I have broken through to the five-star Dou Emperor level. It took over four months to go from the peak of four stars to the five-star level. At this rate, the next breakthrough will likely take a year or two. It is still too slow."

If anyone else were to hear these words, they would likely be furious to the point of death; a sixteen or seventeen-year-old five-star Dou Emperor actually claiming his cultivation speed was too slow?

After saying this, he summoned the Simulator. After more than a month of traveling, the Simulator now had six opportunities available again.

'Simulator, begin life simulation.'

'Ding, the current number of available simulations is six. Would you like to proceed with a life simulation?'

'Yes.'

'Ding, life simulation begins.'

'Day 1: You spend the entire day cultivating in your room.'

'Day 3: You head to the Black-Seal City auction house to attend the auction.'

'Day 79: Lv Man of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion arrives with a Dou Ancestor to find you. That Dou Ancestor remains by your side, while Lv Man takes Qing Lin away.'

'Day 520: You break through to a six-star Dou Emperor. You consume an Emperor-Extreme Pill to advance to seven stars.'

'Day 774: You bring out five tier-six medicinal pills for auction, causing a bloody storm in the Black-Corner Region.'

'Day 920: Han Feng announces that he has broken through to a tier-seven alchemist and puts a Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill and an Emperor-Extreme Pill up for auction.'

'Day 1132: You successfully refine a tier-seven intermediate Yin-Yang Life Soul Pill; the Dou Ancestor by your side blocks the pill lightning for you.'

'Day 1413: Han Feng gathers three Dou Ancestors, four Dou Emperors, and eight Dou Kings to surround and annihilate you.'

'Day 1430: During Han Feng's siege, you kill him and the Gold and Silver Elders. The two Dou Ancestors see this and retreat. You obtain the Sea Heart Flame, the Myriad Beast Cauldron, and the Nether Sea Ring.'

'Day 1482: You successfully refine the Sea Heart Flame, using it to break through to a one-star Dou Ancestor. Your cultivation technique, the Burning Mantra, evolves to Earth-tier intermediate.'

'Day 1985: You go to search for the Mystic Yellow Flame and encounter a Soul Hall Protector. Because you killed Han Feng, he has been tracking you for a long time. You activate the triple Heavenly Fire Three-Mysterious Transformation to reach a seven-star Dou Ancestor; he cannot do anything to you and retreats.'

'Day 2175: You successfully refine a second Mystic Yellow Flame. Your cultivation reaches a four-star Dou Ancestor, and the Burning Mantra evolves to an Earth-tier advanced technique.'

'Day 2863: You refine an Ancestor Origin Pill to reach a seven-star Dou Ancestor. You intend to consolidate the Black-Corner Region.'

'Day 3130: You bring the entire Black-Corner Region's forces under your command and establish the Burning Heaven Alliance.'

'Day 3214: You invite three Dou Ancestors, and together with the Burning Heaven Alliance you lead, you coerce Jia Nan Academy into handing over the Fallen Heart Flame.'

'Day 3282: The battle at Jia Nan Academy ends with your victory and the acquisition of the Fallen Heart Flame. You refine the Fallen Heart Flame to reach the peak of the Dou Ancestor realm; the Burning Mantra evolves to quasi-Heaven-tier.'

'Day 3630: You head to the Central Plains Continent to participate in the Alchemist Grand Meeting held in the Pill Region. You obtain second place.'

'Day 3998: You fail to subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame due to its violent outburst and are burned to death by it. You have died.'

'Ding, this simulation has ended.'

'Current available items: Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill, one million gold coins, Yin-Yang Life Soul Herb.'

'Please choose.'

'Select Yin-Yang Life Soul Herb.'

'Ding, selection successful. Please collect.'

He casually stored the Yin-Yang Life Soul Herb into his storage ring, then frowned as he pondered the cause of his death.

He had not expected to die in an outburst while trying to subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame. Did he need to find Zi Yan to obtain the Dragon Seal? In previous attempts, he had never failed to subdue the Three Thousand Burning Flame.

Was this failure due to certain variables? Or was it the will of the world intentionally acting against him?

Regardless, since the will of the world was so hostile, he would simply have to make his plans flawless and reduce the danger to a controllable range.

But if he were to act as he did in the simulation and forcibly seize the Fallen Heart Flame, given Zi Yan's relationship with Jia Nan Academy, she would never give him the Dragon Seal. It was truly a headache.

Never mind, there were still several years left. He would first improve his strength; he still had time to slowly formulate a foolproof plan.

He would start by collecting some medicinal herbs; it should be easier to find tier-six and tier-seven materials here.

Bringing Qing Lin out onto the main street, he heard an endless stream of hawking, discussions, and cursing.

On both sides of the street were all kinds of shops selling goods, and the trade within these establishments was constant.

Tomorrow's auction was a grand event held in Black-Seal City once every three months. Numerous experts had flocked here over the past few days, bringing massive foot traffic and currency flow to the city, causing the turnover of all shops to double and generating enormous profits for Black-Seal City.

Xiao Jie held Qing Lin's small hand, walking gently along the street with his gaze constantly scanning, hoping to find the items he needed.

Although he had come across many herb shops along the way, their scale was still too small, as most of them only dealt in herbs below tier four.

What Xiao Jie needed were the primary and secondary ingredients for Tier 6 or even Tier 7 medicinal pills, which those small apothecary shops naturally did not possess.

However, Xiao Jie would still enter each one to ask, just to try his luck, and he did manage to find three or four secondary ingredients.

Xiao Jie did not feel particularly disappointed, as he had no intention of refining Tier 7 pills right now; he was merely collecting them in advance. If he obtained them, that was for the best, and if he couldn't find them, it was no great loss.

After all, he was not looking for ordinary items. While secondary ingredients might be relatively easy to come by, there were likely only a few, if any, primary ingredients to be found in the entire Black-Seal City, making it extremely difficult to collect them all.

He was in no rush, however. Once the Dou Ancestor from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion arrived, he could sell several high-tier medicinal pills to establish his reputation.

By then, there would surely be no shortage of people seeking medicine, and as long as there were many people seeking medicine, he would not lack medicinal materials. Furthermore, with these favors owed to him, whether he needed to hire someone to act or someone wanted to move against him, they would have to weigh the consequences carefully.

After wandering through several streets of apothecary shops, the footsteps of Xiao Jie and Qing Lin finally stopped in front of a pavilion that occupied a vast area of land.

On the plaque above the entrance of the pavilion were inscribed three large characters: "Thousand Herb Workshop."