Golden Crow Grass

Ji Wenyue stared at the drawing for quite a while before saying, "I remember now. This is Golden Crow Grass. I saw it in an ancient prescription kept by the Ji Family.

Golden Crow Grass is a fire-yang herb. Its medicinal properties are extremely fierce and it cannot be consumed directly. It must be refined together with the heart of an Ice Rabbit to neutralize its potency before it can be taken. That medicinal broth is called Golden Crow Returning Origin Soup.

Even after its potency is neutralized, Golden Crow Returning Origin Soup can only be consumed by someone at least at the Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master level. Otherwise, its medicinal power will be too fierce. Not only will it fail to nourish the body, it will instead cause harm."

"Even after neutralizing its potency, one still needs to be at least a Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master to consume it. It seems this Golden Crow Returning Origin Soup truly is a powerful tonic and must be exceedingly precious," Xia Daoming said.

"Of course. According to that ancient prescription, if a Great Martial Master cultivated to the peak of the seventh rank and consumed this harmonized medicinal broth, there would be a considerable chance of breaking through the eighth meridian and becoming an Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master. For an Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master, consuming it would greatly replenish the body and raise cultivation," Ji Wenyue said.

Xia Daoming was both shocked and delighted. He hurriedly asked, "What is an Ice Rabbit, then? Where can one be found?"

Xia Daoming was only a Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master at present, so Ji Wenyue did not suspect anything. Without a second thought, she said, "Young Ice Rabbits are generally mid-tier first-level demon beasts, while adults can reach high-tier first-level. In Mang Prefecture, a large portion of demon beasts live in the Vast Mountain Range, and Ice Rabbits are no exception.

If this Golden Crow Grass is used to brew medicinal broth with young Ice Rabbits, at least ten are needed. With adults, three should be enough."

Xia Daoming secretly sucked in a sharp breath.

He was no longer a country lad fresh from the soil. Naturally, he knew how powerful demon beasts were and how perilous the Vast Mountain Range could be.

The Blood Feather Eagle he had encountered in Crimson Flame Valley last time had only been a low-tier first-level demon beast, with combat strength comparable to a third- or fourth-rank Martial Master.

When severely injured, it could even instinctively release feather arrows.

Mid-tier first-level demon beasts were comparable to Fifth- or Sixth-Rank Great Martial Masters, while high-tier first-level demon beasts were comparable to Seventh- or Eighth-Rank Great Martial Masters.

Second-level demon beasts were at the grandmaster level.

Even a young Ice Rabbit was as formidable as a Fifth- or Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master. He would have to venture deeper into the Vast Mountain Range to hunt them, and he needed at least ten. Just thinking about it made Xia Daoming's scalp tingle.

It seems the Golden Crow Grass can only be stored away for now. The urgent task is to find a way to buy some high-quality pills elsewhere, complete Ninth Level Meridian Strengthening, and break through to Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master as soon as possible, Xia Daoming thought.

After that, Xia Daoming deliberately asked Ji Wenyue about precious medicinal herbs, pills, and similar knowledge.

These were precisely Ji Wenyue's greatest specialty. Since Xia Daoming had asked, she naturally explained everything to him without holding anything back, even specially drawing several diagrams.

The herbs depicted in those diagrams were all precious medicinal materials with great replenishing effects even for Great Martial Masters and grandmasters.

These herbs were exceedingly rare. In Mang Prefecture, they generally grew deep within the Vast Mountain Range. Even though the Ji Family was a major medicinal-herb merchant, they had none in their collection.

Ji Wenyue had only seen them in some ancient prescriptions and medicinal tomes preserved by the Ji Family.

Xia Daoming carefully put away the diagrams one by one. Later, unable to withstand Ji Wenyue's soft pleading and coquettish pestering, he reluctantly accepted the bundle she had brought.

Night fell.

Study, rear courtyard of the Xia residence.

Xia Daoming opened the bundle Ji Wenyue had given him and found that besides five thousand taels in banknotes, it also contained pills worth at least eight thousand taels.

"Setting aside the cultivation manual's secret diagram and the Golden Crow Grass, and counting the pills as well, I now have the equivalent of roughly seventy thousand taels in cash.

Money can only serve its true purpose when it is spent. It seems I need to make a long journey soon." Looking at the money and pills before him, Xia Daoming decided to travel far in the near future.

But plans could never keep pace with change.

Originally, he had planned to follow Zhuo Xingji on several long escort runs. That way, he could broaden his horizons, buy pills, and earn money—killing three birds with one stone.

But at dawn that morning, he had raided Wu Yueli's treasure vault and made a fortune. Then, at dusk, Ji Wenyue had given him another large sum.

So Xia Daoming truly had little regard for the small money offered by Xingyou Escort Agency.

Moreover, escorting shipments with the agency meant matching their schedule and seeing whether the destination was suitable.

Xia Daoming was somewhat unable to wait any longer.

The next day.

Drunken Cloud Tower, Cloud Osmanthus Room, third floor.

Since Xia Daoming was about to embark on a long journey, he had specially hosted a banquet for his fellow disciples.

"Strange. Why hasn't Junior Sister Liu arrived yet at this hour?" Yuchi Xiao asked with a slight frown.

"I've already sent someone to urge her. She'll probably arrive soon," Jiao Yongbao said.

Before Jiao Yongbao's words had even faded, the private room's door was violently shoved open, and an attendant rushed inside.

"Boss, this is bad! Something happened at Jade Flower Pavilion!" the attendant said, panting heavily.

"What happened?" Everyone's expressions changed slightly as they blurted out the question.

"I heard Shi Yingdeng of the Shi Family demanded that Miss Wanqing sleep with him, and a conflict broke out afterward," the attendant replied.

The moment the attendant said this, fury appeared on everyone's faces. Even Xia Daoming was no exception.

Just three months ago, Shi Yingdeng had joined forces with Xu Shisen to severely injure Gu Ren, cutting off his path in martial arts. Liang Jingtang had taken the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School's strength and the bigger picture into consideration, ultimately swallowing his anger and forcibly suppressing the matter.

Yet who would have thought that only three months after the matter with Gu Ren, Shi Yingdeng would come looking for trouble again?

Bang! Yuchi Xiao slapped the table and rose, his beard and hair bristling. "That dog-born bastard, Shi Yingdeng, has gone too far in bullying others! Come on, to Jade Flower Pavilion!"

With that, Yuchi Xiao was already the first to charge out the door.

Zhuo Xingji, Jiao Yongbao, and Xia Daoming naturally hurried after him.

As they left, Jiao Yongbao deliberately gave the attendant an instruction.

After receiving the order, the attendant took off running toward the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School.

The four hurried all the way there and soon arrived at Jade Flower Pavilion.

Jade Flower Pavilion, usually filled with song and dance and bustling with activity, was exceptionally quiet today.

A group of lovely women had gathered in the front courtyard. Every one of them was pale-faced, anxiously and worriedly peering toward the rear courtyard, yet none dared to rush inside.

Four burly men stood before the moon-gate entrance to the rear courtyard.

"Instructor Yuchi, Escort Chief Zhuo, Boss Jiao, Instructor Xia, you're here! Hurry and save Sister Qiang and Miss Wanqing!" The moment Yuchi Xiao and the other three stepped into the front courtyard, the group of women swarmed over like they had seen their saviors, tears trembling in their eyes.

"Where are they?" Yuchi Xiao asked.

"In the rear courtyard," one woman replied.

With that, the women automatically made way.

Yuchi Xiao and the others headed straight for the rear courtyard.

"Stop! Young Master Xu is inside enjoying himself. No interruptions allowed!" A man in a fitted blue martial outfit, with an emblem of a winged black tiger embroidered on his cuff, stretched out a hand to block them.

"Young Master Xu? Which Young Master Xu?" Yuchi Xiao's expression abruptly changed amid his rage, and a trace of hesitation appeared in his eyes.

"Young Master Xu Shisen!" the Xu Family servant replied.

"Xu Shisen again!" Yuchi Xiao's face turned iron-blue. His iron fists clenched tight, and the veins on his forehead throbbed without end.

"Enough. All of you, step back and wait until my young master has finished playing..." Seeing Yuchi Xiao's face darkened with anger yet apparently not daring to act, the Xu Family servant's lips curled into a contemptuous sneer.

"Play with your damned head! Get lost!" Before the Xu Family servant could finish, Yuchi Xiao finally could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. With an angry roar, his hand formed a Dragon Claw and seized toward the man's chest.

"Impudent!"

The servant was a Fourth-Rank Martial Master. Seeing Yuchi Xiao attack, his expression changed slightly. He shouted angrily and raised a tiger palm to chop at Yuchi Xiao's Dragon Claw.

But Yuchi Xiao's wrist was as nimble as a snake. At the instant their attacks met, it twisted like a turning serpent, evading the tiger palm. His Dragon Claw snapped shut around the other man's arm with a smack, then yanked and flung him away. How could the servant remain standing? He was thrown out at once and crashed to the ground.

The instant Yuchi Xiao made his move, Zhuo Xingji, Jiao Yongbao, and Xia Daoming had already surged toward the other three servants like fierce flood dragons plunging into a river.

A dragon could be large or small, rise or hide. When large, it stirred clouds and breathed mist; when small, it hid its scales and concealed its form. When it rose, it soared between heaven and earth; when it hid, it lurked beneath the waves.

A hidden flood dragon was half serpent, half dragon, already possessing some of a dragon's attributes. Thus, it was also called a flood dragon.

When Xia Daoming had observed the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram of the Hidden Flood Dragon for the second time, he had already comprehended the seventh and eighth layers of the Serpent-Dragon Transformation cultivation method. Only his force had yet to reach that level.

The eighth-layer method contained the secret of a flood dragon hiding its scales and concealing its form.

Of course, hiding its scales and concealing its form here was not like the legendary true dragon, which could conceal itself and alter its true body. It referred to concealing and altering the aura of one's blood, qi, and force.

If Xia Daoming restrained most of his cultivation and used this secret, he could conceal and alter part of the aura of his blood, qi, and force, making his cultivation realm appear one or two ranks lower than it truly was. He feared only someone at the grandmaster realm could see through the truth.

The highest cultivation among these four gatekeeping dogs was only Fourth-Rank Martial Master, while the other three were merely third-rank. Xia Daoming had no need to use his full strength against them. He only needed to circulate a little force. Thus, even though Zhuo Xingji and Yuchi Xiao were Fifth-Rank Great Martial Masters, with Xia Daoming deliberately hiding his scales and concealing his form, they could not discover that he too was already a Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The moment Zhuo Xingji and the other two struck, they knocked down and sent the remaining three men flying.

"Don't! You beast, let go of me!"

"Ah! You actually dare bite me!"

Slap!

The moment the four rushed into the rear courtyard, they heard men and women cursing from the innermost room, along with the sounds of clothes being torn and slaps ringing out.

"Damn it!"

Yuchi Xiao's rage surged to the heavens as he charged straight toward that room.

Bang!

Yuchi Xiao kicked the door open.

Inside, a richly dressed man who was trying to tear off Liu Xiaoqiang's clothes released her and slowly turned around.

Liu Xiaoqiang seized the chance to pull her clothes together and cover the spring light spilling through. She quickly hid behind Yuchi Xiao, her peach-blossom eyes, once capable of ensnaring souls, fixed on the richly dressed man with humiliation and grief-filled fury.

"What, Yuchi Xiao? Are you planning to fight me?" the richly dressed man sneered. A contemptuous smile curled at his lips as he leisurely straightened his clothes and walked toward Yuchi Xiao.

Yuchi Xiao's iron fists clenched and loosened. Without realizing it, his feet retreated into the courtyard.

The richly dressed man, meanwhile, unhurriedly walked out of the room.

At that moment, the door to a neighboring room opened.

Miss Wanqing ran out in disheveled clothes, tears streaming down her face like pear blossoms drenched in rain.

Behind Miss Wanqing, a man with a large black mole on the right side of his chin followed her out. He stood with the richly dressed man beneath the corridor, gazing at Yuchi Xiao and the others with smug provocation.

"It's rare for Young Master Xu to be in the mood to come to Jade Flower Pavilion for some fun today. Liu Xiaoqiang, why did you have to spoil his mood? You even dragged Yuchi Xiao and the others into it. Could it be that you want them to end up like Gu Ren too?" the mole-faced man said mockingly.

Liu Xiaoqiang had been feeling safe while protected in the middle of Yuchi Xiao and the others. But upon hearing the mole-faced man's words, her face immediately turned pale.

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