Qingshan Town

Night fell over Wutan City once more. Lin Hai's figure, as ghostly as a shadow, slipped silently back into Xiao Yan's courtyard.

The scene in the room had changed again since yesterday.

The rich medicinal fragrance had nearly become tangible, lingering over the floor like mist.

Yao Chen's spirit had become several times more solid than before, almost indistinguishable from a living person. His face glowed with healthy color, and the powerful fluctuations of his soul rose and fell around him like the tide. Clearly, he had absorbed most of the medicinal power from the three soul-nourishing herbs, and he was not far from fully recovering his peak strength.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged nearby, spiritual energy surging around him. His face was flushed, and white mist curled above his head. Under Yao Chen's guidance, he was evidently using the pure energy released by those high-grade medicinal ingredients to cultivate with all his might. His progress was rapid.

Seeing Lin Hai return, Yao Chen immediately ended his meditation and floated forward, delight written across his face and confidence brimming in his voice. "Sir, you're back! Thanks to you, my soul has recovered by ninety percent. At most, I'll be able to fire up the pill furnace and start refining tomorrow!"

Xiao Yan opened his eyes as well and called out respectfully, "Uncle."

Lin Hai gave a slight nod, reasonably satisfied with how quickly Yao Chen had recovered.

His gaze swept over the dazzling pile of colorful herbs and Magic Cores still in the corner. Then he brushed a finger over his Storage Ring again.

Buzz—

A pressure far heavier and more terrifying than anything before instantly filled the entire room, making everyone's heart tremble!

Twenty Magic Cores, each the size of an egg and unlike the others in shape, yet all radiating the kind of energy that could bring heaven and earth to ruin, floated in midair like twenty miniature stars!

Ice blue, crimson, golden yellow, emerald green, earthy brown... energies of every element intertwined, bathing the room in a kaleidoscope of light. Even space let out a faint groan, as if it could barely bear the strain!

The vast energy left even Yao Chen, who had just recovered ninety percent of his strength, feeling as if his soul were suffocating. Xiao Yan, only a Spiritual Disciple, turned deathly pale and stumbled backward until he landed hard on the edge of the bed, his eyes wide with horror!

"E-Eighth-tier Magic Cores?! And so many?!" Yao Chen's voice cracked into a shrill squeak. His illusory body trembled violently, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets! He had probably never seen this many eighth-tier Magic Cores in his entire life. These were the core crystals of Spirit Venerable-level magical beasts! Every single one could serve as the grand finale of a top-tier auction in the Central Plains. And there were a full twenty of them here?!

Had this Sir... spent the day ransacking the treasury of some ancient magical beast clan?! That was a terrifying amount of loot!

"Mm." Lin Hai remained as calm as ever, as if he had merely taken out twenty ordinary stones. "These should be enough for you to refine eighth-tier pills later on, and even try your hand at ninth-grade pills."

With a wave of his hand, he placed the twenty terrifying Magic Cores, each one enough to spark a war across the Central Plains, together with the pile of "low-grade" cores from before.

In an instant, the energy in that corner grew so dense it seemed ready to liquefy!

Staring at the pile of Magic Cores, Yao Chen's aged face flushed with excitement. He rubbed his hands together and spoke incoherently, breathing hard—though, as a spirit, he had no need to breathe. "Enough! More than enough! It's plenty! Hahaha! With these treasures, I even have the confidence to try and summon the legendary Nine-Colored Pill Lightning!"

His confidence had soared. He felt as though his life had reached an unprecedented peak.

Lin Hai nodded, seemingly satisfied with the outcome of his trip.

He glanced at the excited Yao Chen and the still-stunned Xiao Yan, then suddenly said, "You two carry on. I'm going out for a while."

Going out?

Yao Chen and Xiao Yan both froze.

The medicinal ingredients, the Magic Cores... weren't all the top-tier resources already here?

What else did this all-powerful uncle of Xiao Yan's—or this Sir—need to go out for? Was there anything rarer than an eighth-tier Magic Core?

Yao Chen asked without thinking, "Sir, where are you going...?"

Lin Hai didn't answer. Only the faintest, almost imperceptible curve touched the corner of his mouth. A look flashed through his eyes, utterly unlike his usual cold, decisive manner. It seemed to hold a trace of... anticipation?

He offered no explanation. His figure swayed slightly, just as it had when he arrived, rippling like water before disappearing completely from the room. All that remained was the glow of treasures filling the room and an old man and a young man staring at each other in confusion.

"Teacher... what did Uncle go off to do now?" Xiao Yan swallowed as he looked at the pile of eighth-tier Magic Cores, feeling as though he were dreaming.

Yao Chen was just as baffled. Stroking his beard, he ventured a guess. "Perhaps... he's visiting an old friend? Or searching for some rare medicinal ingredient that exists only in legend?" He thought it over, but still couldn't figure out what could be important enough to make this man go out of his way.

They could never have guessed that the Peak Spirit Saint uncle, who had slaughtered magical beasts with a wave of his hand, subdued the Lion King, cleared out the underground depths, and casually produced twenty eighth-tier Magic Cores, was headed somewhere that was neither a perilous lair nor an ancient ruin.

His figure cut through space, and after only a few breaths, he had left Wutan City and arrived near a stretch of beautiful mountains at the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range—Qingshan Town.

Moonlight flowed over a quiet courtyard filled with medicinal herbs.

A simple but tidy wooden hut stood inside. Various herbs hung drying outside, and the air was filled with a faint, comforting medicinal fragrance.

A young woman in a pale white dress was crouched beside the herb garden, carefully checking the growth of a Moonlight Grass.

Her presence was fresh and ethereal, untouched by dust, like a pure white lotus. Her slender fingers brushed over the leaves, and her eyes were focused and gentle.

It was Xiao Yixian.

Lin Hai appeared soundlessly at the mouth of the valley. He didn't enter at once, instead leaning against a tree and gazing from afar at the busy figure.

The cold indifference on his face melted away like snow beneath a spring breeze. Deep in his eyes flowed a rare trace of warmth and affection.

He had crossed mountains and rivers, crushed all who stood in his way, and gathered endless resources to pave a path to the heavens for his nephew.

But at that moment, he wanted only to set aside his heaven-reaching cultivation and mountain of responsibilities for a while, and find this young woman, whose fate had been full of hardship but whose heart remained pure and kind, so he could talk with her in peace.

He straightened his robe, though it had no wrinkles, and drew in every trace of his aura, the kind that could make heaven and earth change color. Wearing the gentle smile of an ordinary traveler, he slowly walked toward the young woman and the little wooden hut beneath the moonlight.

Tonight, there would be no talk of cultivation, no discussion of slaughter—only tenderness.