Green Mountain Town, a small town bordering the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
At the town gates, dust billowed and voices clamored.
Mercenary groups of all shapes and sizes gathered there, their noisy chatter rising and falling.
Not far away, several vendors pushed carts piled high with supplies, loudly hawking their wares. "First-rate healing medicine, fresh rations! Come and buy!"
The town gates were a scene of chaos and vitality.
Yao Chen flew to the town gates. When he saw the three characters "Green Mountain Town" written there, he knew he had come to the right place.
Yao Chen entered the town and walked slowly along the bluestone-paved road.
After walking for a while, he spotted a spacious herbal shop and stopped. He paused briefly, then stepped inside the store called Ten Thousand Herb Pavilion.
"This is the herbal shop where Xiao Yi Xian works. I should ask someone." Yao Chen glanced around at the counters lined with low-grade medicinal herbs and thought to himself.
"Shopkeeper, are you here?" Seeing that no one paid him any attention, Yao Chen called out loudly.
The shop assistants continued with their work, and no one answered Yao Chen.
The scene left Yao Chen speechless, so he let out the aura of a Dou Wang.
The shop assistants were instantly frightened by his aura. A middle-aged man hiding behind the counter hurried over to Yao Chen and asked obsequiously, "Esteemed Dou Wang, please forgive us for failing to receive you properly."
"It's fine," Yao Chen said dismissively.
"Dou Wang, are you looking for any medicinal herbs? Whatever you need, our shop will give you a twenty-percent discount."
The middle-aged man bowed as he asked.
Yao Chen said expressionlessly, "What's your name? Are you in charge of this shop?"
Hearing Yao Chen's question, the middle-aged man immediately knelt before him and replied, "This humble one's surname is Yao, and my name is Yao Jinbao. People are kind enough to call me Mr. Yao. You can just call me Little Yao. This Ten Thousand Herb Pavilion belongs to me. If you take a liking to it, you can have the whole shop."
"This old man has no interest in your shop. Is there a physician here named Xiao Yi Xian?"
Yao Jinbao let out a long breath, the heavy stone in his heart finally lifting.
"Yes, Dou Wang. There is indeed a physician here named Xiao Yi Xian."
Hearing Yao Jinbao's answer, Yao Chen hurriedly pressed him. "Where is Xiao Yi Xian now?"
"Dou Wang, I'm very sorry. Xiao Yi Xian went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range with the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group yesterday to gather herbs. She probably won't be back for a few days."
After Yao Jinbao answered, Yao Chen said helplessly, "That's all right, then. When Xiao Yi Xian returns, you'd better treat her well. If I find out you mean her any harm, I'll make sure your shop is reduced to ashes."
With that, Yao Chen casually waved his hand. A bone-chilling cold filled the shop, then gave way to scorching heat. In an instant, the stone statue of the God of Wealth at the entrance vanished without a trace.
Seeing this, Yao Jinbao immediately kowtowed to Yao Chen and cried out aggrievedly, "Dou Wang, I took Xiao Yi Xian in when she was little and raised her. Even if you gave me a hundred times the courage of a dog, I wouldn't dare harbor the slightest ill intent toward her."
"Good." As soon as Yao Chen finished speaking, a pair of snow-white Dou Qi wings sprouted from his back. He flew straight out of Ten Thousand Herb Pavilion and headed for the Magical Beast Mountain Range to find Xiao Yi Xian.
Only after Yao Chen had been gone for a while did the pavilion owner, Yao Jinbao, get up from the ground. He muttered to himself, aggrieved,
"Where did this ancestor come from?"
Deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Yi Xian wore a pale white dress as she moved lightly through the dense forest.
Her lively eyes kept watch over the surrounding vegetation as she searched for precious herbs.
The members of the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group guarded her warily, weapons gripped tightly in their hands.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows.
Xiao Yi Xian carefully crouched to examine a herb that gave off a strange fragrance. A delighted smile spread across her face.
But just as she was about to pick it, the ground suddenly trembled faintly.
"Watch out, something's coming!" the mercenary group's leader, Li Feng, growled. Everyone instantly assumed battle positions.
A third-tier Amethyst Pangolin magical beast charged toward them.
The Amethyst Pangolin was enormous. Its hard scales reflected a strange light in the shadowy forest, like armor forged from amethyst.
Its eyes glinted with a fierce red light, and its roar sent leaves rustling down from the trees.
Li Feng swung his heavy battle-axe and struck at the beast's head, but his blow left only a faint white mark on its tough scales.
The beast suddenly whipped its head to the side. Its tremendous force sent Li Feng flying. He crashed heavily to the ground and spat blood.
The other mercenaries rushed forward with their swords and blades, but their attacks were like eggs against a rock. The beast swept its tail across them, flinging several mercenaries away at once. Their bodies snapped the branches around them as they crashed into the trees.
Xiao Yi Xian stood to one side and quickly scattered a handful of poison powder, but it had no effect at all on the thick-skinned Amethyst Pangolin.
The Amethyst Pangolin charged at Xiao Yi Xian. She hurriedly dodged, narrowly evading its attack.
As time passed, the mercenaries fell wounded one after another, and their once orderly formation became scattered and broken.
Some lay on the ground, groaning in pain; others had lost consciousness.
Xiao Yi Xian's clothes were torn by branches, and her face was smeared with dust. Fear and despair showed in her eyes.
She looked at the nearly unbeatable magical beast before her, helplessness filling her heart.
The members of the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group had lost the courage to fight and began fleeing in every direction.
But the beast had no intention of letting them go. It pursued them relentlessly, and screams rang out through the forest.
"They're all protecting me. I can't let them die here. I'll lure the beast away by myself and buy everyone some time." Watching the members of the Snow Wolf Mercenary Group protect her, Xiao Yi Xian steeled herself.
Xiao Yi Xian ran in the opposite direction from the mercenaries, using medicinal powder to draw the Amethyst Pangolin toward her. The beast came closer and closer.
Just as she began to despair, a white radiance instantly enveloped the Amethyst Pangolin. A searing heat radiated from it, so intense that anyone nearby could feel it.
White crystals appeared all over the Amethyst Pangolin's body. It stood motionless, as if frozen.
A breeze swept through the forest, and the Amethyst Pangolin vanished into the air with it, leaving behind a third-tier Magic Core.
An old man dressed in white stood nearby. His hair was as white as snow, and his features carried an otherworldly air.
Yao Chen casually stored the Magic Core in his Storage Ring. Xiao Yi Xian, who had been watching from the side, hurriedly clasped her hands and thanked him.
"Thank you, senior, for saving my life!"
"Girl, are you Xiao Yi Xian?" Hearing her voice, Yao Chen looked at her and asked.
Xiao Yi Xian replied, "Yes, senior. Ten Thousand Herb Pavilion took me in when I was little, and I didn't have a name. Since I know a little medicine and usually treat mercenaries injured in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, everyone calls me Xiao Yi Xian."
"Then I haven't got the wrong person!"
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