A Different Path

On the stone table in the courtyard, the small Scarlet Blood Vine lay quietly atop a piece of coarse cloth.

The Scarlet Blood Vine was a dark, blood-red color throughout. Its medicinal potency was passable, but it lacked the Meridian-Coagulating Flower.

Wang Dong looked frustrated, his chubby palms rubbing fiercely over his cheeks. "Xiao Wuji went too far. He directly bought up every last one on the market. Inner Sect disciples have enormous resources in their hands. We can't compete with him in wealth. Are we just supposed to watch this obstacle block us to death?"

Shen Yuan stood beside the stone table, his gaze resting on the Scarlet Blood Vine as his mind rapidly searched for a solution.

The Meridian-Coagulating Flower's primary purpose was to soften medicinal power, nourish the minute cracks in one's bones and tendons, and reduce the risk of tearing caused by the shockwaves of a breakthrough.

"The Meridian-Coagulating Flower isn't irreplaceable," Shen Yuan said slowly. "When the Heavenly Stele performed its deduction, it mentioned several obscure herbs with medicinal properties similar to the Meridian-Coagulating Flower. Their effects are somewhat weaker, so multiple portions need to be combined to replace it. It's just that these herbs are obscure, and few cultivators use them when attempting to break through to the Meridian Opening Realm."

Wang Dong's eyes lit up. "There are substitutes? What herbs are they? Would the market have them?"

"Shattered Jade Grass and Softroot Lingzhi." Shen Yuan recalled the alternative list provided by the Heavenly Stele. "These two herbs aren't considered high-grade materials. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't bother with them during a breakthrough. Xiao Wuji is plotting against me, so he'll only keep an eye on the famous Meridian-Coagulating Flower. He may not think to block these two obscure herbs."

Wang Dong slapped his thigh. "Right! Xiao Wuji would only guard against you obtaining the Meridian-Coagulating Flower. Who would pay attention to inconspicuous little things like Shattered Jade Grass and Softroot Lingzhi?"

But then he frowned again. "The major shops in the market are all watched by Xiao Wuji's people. If we go there to buy supplies, it'll be easy to expose our intentions and alert his subordinates. If he casually buys up the substitutes too, we'll truly be out of options."

Shen Yuan nodded. That concern was very real. Xiao Wuji's influence was deeply entrenched throughout both the Inner and Outer Sects, and his informants were everywhere in the market.

"We don't need to go down the mountain to the large market." Shen Yuan looked toward the Servant Compound. "Inside the sect, there's the Servant Bazaar."

"The Servant Bazaar?" Wang Dong froze.

Azure Cloud Sect's Servant Bazaar was a small exchange market spontaneously formed by the sect's lowest-ranking servants and herb-gathering disciples. When herb-gathering disciples entered the mountains and found worthless odds and ends, they could not be bothered to turn them over to the sect storehouse, so they traded them for other goods at the Servant Bazaar. There were no large shops, no fixed prices, and all sorts of people mixed together amid poor access to information. Xiao Wuji's subordinates held themselves too high to even bother setting foot in such a lowly market.

"Shattered Jade Grass and Softroot Lingzhi are both low-grade herbs that can be found everywhere in the back mountains. Servants who gather herbs often pick them, and most simply toss them into the Servant Bazaar to trade for miscellaneous supplies," Shen Yuan said. "We'll try our luck there. To avoid attracting attention, we'll change into gray servant clothes and conceal our identities."

They acted at once.

The two changed into faded gray servant uniforms, suppressed their auras, carefully put away the Scarlet Blood Vine, and quietly headed toward the Servant Bazaar disguised as ordinary servant disciples.

The Servant Bazaar was located on an open stretch of ground south of the Servant Compound.

There were no orderly storefronts. Worn burlap cloths were spread across the ground, upon which the servants displayed herbs, animal hides, and crudely made weapons for trade. Voices rose in a noisy clamor, and the air was thick with the smells of earth, herbs, fur, and hide. Those coming and going were all low-level disciples on duty; Outer Sect and Inner Sect disciples rarely came here.

"See those herb stalls over there?" Wang Dong lowered his voice and nudged Shen Yuan with his elbow.

The two slowly wandered among the stalls. Many displayed various wild herbs gathered from the back mountains. Most had weak medicinal effects and could only be used to treat minor cuts and bruises.

They continued onward.

At seven or eight consecutive herb stalls, they spotted a few small bundles of Shattered Jade Grass, but Softroot Lingzhi was exceedingly scarce.

"I'll take some Shattered Jade Grass, but I need Softroot Lingzhi. I'll buy however much you have," Wang Dong asked in a lowered voice as he crouched before one stall after another.

Many herb-gathering servants shook their heads, indicating that they had none.

Half an hour passed. They had barely gathered enough Shattered Jade Grass, while Softroot Lingzhi remained scarce.

Just as the two were about to lose hope, Shen Yuan caught sight of a small cluster of grayish-brown plants with soft roots amid a messy pile of herbs at the stall of an old servant with graying hair in the corner.

Softroot Lingzhi! Shen Yuan's heart stirred.

The old man was a veteran servant who had spent years gathering herbs in the mountains. He had mixed the Softroot Lingzhi in with a pile of useless weeds. From the looks of it, he did not even know the herb's value and had merely gathered it as ordinary mountain grass.

"Sir, what would you trade this pile of grass for?" Shen Yuan crouched down and pointed at the pile containing the Softroot Lingzhi.

The old man raised his cloudy eyes and looked over the servant clothing worn by Shen Yuan and Wang Dong. He grinned, revealing several missing teeth. "It isn't worth much. Give me two coarse grain cakes, or a small low-grade spirit stone, and you can take the whole pile."

Wang Dong was delighted and quietly took out a low-grade spirit stone, handing it over.

The old servant accepted the spirit stone and happily bundled up the entire pile of herbs before passing it to Shen Yuan.

Having obtained the herbs, the two did not linger. They quickly left the noisy Servant Bazaar and took side paths back to Shen Yuan's small courtyard.

After closing the courtyard gate, they spread out and counted all the herbs they had purchased.

They had enough Shattered Jade Grass, while they had obtained seven small clusters of Softroot Lingzhi. According to the conversion ratio deduced by the Heavenly Stele, seven clusters of Softroot Lingzhi combined with Shattered Jade Grass would provide roughly sixty percent of the Meridian-Coagulating Flower's effect.

"Only sixty percent medicinal potency." Shen Yuan's brows drew together slightly.

The reduced medicinal effect meant that the risk of breakthrough would rise from thirty percent to nearly fifty percent. Half a chance at success, half a chance at failure. If he failed, the old injuries in his bones and tendons would erupt again, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Wang Dong's face also showed concern. "With only sixty percent of the effect, it's basically gambling your life on a fifty-fifty chance. Shouldn't we think of another way? If your bones and tendons collapse during the breakthrough, all your effort these past months will be wasted."

Shen Yuan walked to the stone window and looked in the direction of the Inner Sect.

There were only thirteen days left until the Inner Sect Test.

Outside, Xiao Wuji had blocked resources at every turn, and no better substitutes could be found on the market. Continuing to search everywhere for spirit herbs would only waste valuable time meant for secluded cultivation.

"A fifty percent chance doesn't mean there's no chance at all." Shen Yuan's gaze was calm. "The complete route deduced by the Heavenly Stele has already eliminated every avoidable risk. If I use the spirit herbs to nourish my bones and tendons over a long period before the breakthrough, reinforcing the cracks as much as possible, perhaps I can lower the risk further."

He lowered his head to look at the herbs and Scarlet Blood Vine on the table.

"Now that we have gathered the materials, I'll enter seclusion today and attempt to break through to the Meridian Opening Realm. Over the next ten days or so, no one is to disturb this courtyard. Wang Dong, I'll leave the outside watch to you. If outsiders approach the courtyard, especially anyone from the Inner Sect, notify me immediately."

Wang Dong's expression turned solemn, and he nodded heavily. "Don't worry. I'll guard outside the courtyard. Whoever dares to barge in, I'll stop them even if it costs me my life. If Xiao Wuji tries any underhanded tricks, I'll warn you at once."

Crisis surrounded them, resources were insufficient, and enemies outside watched them like tigers. Yet the conditions to attempt the Meridian Opening Realm had finally been assembled.

Shen Yuan put away all the spirit herbs, stepped into the meditation chamber, tightly shut its wooden door, and set up a simple warning formation.

His seclusion had officially begun.