Time soon reached noon the following day. Wu Bai chatted with the two "old fellows" while silently following Fan Ling's party, patiently waiting for the final harvest.
Glancing at the boy behind them, Wu Bai and his companions paid him little mind. If he failed to know his place, they would simply kill him too.
Xiao Yan trailed at the very back, watching the figure flying through the air, his heart filled with hesitation.
"Teacher, could that man be a Dou Zong expert?"
"No. He's merely using a movement Dou Technique to remain airborne briefly. Still, a movement Dou Technique capable of that would be at least Earth Tier. I'm afraid this man is no ordinary person either..."
Yao Chen hesitated briefly, but still had Xiao Yan follow.
That Fragment Map was too important. They had to get their hands on it!
At worst, he would use his soul power again to unleash strength on par with a Dou Zong expert. Once they had the Fragment Map, they would flee far away immediately, without getting tangled up in anything else.
Unless their luck was truly terrible, and a Soul Hall Protector happened to be nearby...
As master and disciple continued following Wu Bai and witnessed two fierce battles, their resolve only hardened.
The Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill, the Low Earth Tier movement Dou Technique, Three Thousand Lightning Movement, and that Fragment Map for the purifying lotus demon flame.
Treasures like these, rarely seen even once in a hundred years, were more than enough to justify their gamble!
Up ahead, Fan Ling was holding the Three Thousand Lightning Movement scroll and laughing triumphantly.
But master and disciple saw a pair of blue-white Dou Qi Wings spread behind that black figure, and the masked man in black even glanced back at them.
This was definitely no coincidence. That man had discovered them long ago!
While they hesitated, another battle erupted ahead.
"Teacher..."
"I'll take control of your body next. Forget that Fire Lotus Dou Technique of yours. He's very fast."
Yao Chen looked ahead at the ghostlike figure, who effortlessly reaped the lives of one Blood Sect member after another.
That Dou Wang possessed an incredibly fearsome movement Dou Technique that granted him unimaginable speed. Fan Ling and the others were merely a group of Dou Ling. They had no power to resist whatsoever.
Even if Fan Ling's father, that Dou Huang expert, came himself, he would not be able to stop this man from leaving.
After taking Fan Ling's head and collecting the Storage Ring from his hand, Wu Bai was in an excellent mood.
But a remark from his teacher swiftly turned his expression ice-cold.
"A fool who doesn't know when to quit."
He stopped picking through the contents and simply slipped Fan Ling's Storage Ring onto his own hand.
Then Wu Bai lightly pressed his palms together.
"Hmm? They've turned around and left."
Wu Bai was somewhat surprised. He had not expected this.
His figure gradually blurred and vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, several hundred meters away, Xiao Yan was deeply puzzled. Why had his teacher suddenly turned around and left?
"Something felt wrong. Perhaps it was some instinct stirring in the unseen."
"Huh?"
"Don't you think that man was far too composed? He clearly noticed you, yet he couldn't care less."
"Uh... a Dou Wang probably wouldn't care about a Da Dou Shi like me, right?"
"That still doesn't explain it. In any case, it's a feeling I can't put into words. If we lose that Fragment Map, so be it. We can keep searching in the future."
"...All right."
Xiao Yan nodded, looking somewhat dejected, but he could not ignore his teacher's words.
Late that night, Wu Bai returned to the Inner Academy without a sound.
He had long since tossed Fan Ling's Storage Ring away along the road, transferring everything valuable inside it to his own Storage Ring.
His only real regret was that, for some reason, Xiao Yan and his teacher had chosen to turn around and leave at the last moment.
Otherwise, with the three of them working together, they could have picked up a complete Flame Mantra along the way.
Still, it did not matter. Let them escape. At worst, he would pay Han Feng a visit.
Xiao Yan had Gu Xun'er protecting him, so it was best to leave him alone.
Putting his feelings in order, Wu Bai began taking stock of his spoils with eager anticipation.
"The Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill. I probably won't need this. I can give it to Yue'er or save it for something else."
Wu Bai considered it. With two mighty experts, the Yellow Springs Demon Saint and the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint, accompanying him, anyone below Dou Zun was hardly worth a glance, even if the two were only souls.
Before long, his soul would advance to the Spirit Realm, and then these two would be able to return to the Heaven Realm as well.
When that time came...
"The Low Earth Tier movement Dou Technique, Three Thousand Lightning Movement. The Wind Lightning Pavilion's crowning treasure, and a very powerful movement Dou Technique. But compared to the High Earth Tier Glimmering Shadow, it still falls a little short."
Under the Yellow Springs Demon Saint's tutelage, Wu Bai's standards had grown exacting.
Even Low Earth Tier movement Dou Techniques no longer seemed particularly rare.
"I can't give this one to Yue'er. Setting aside how difficult it is to cultivate, the biggest problem is that the Han Family's Tianbei City lies in the Wind Lightning Pavilion's territory."
After some thought, Wu Bai decided to save this Dou Technique for another use as well.
"A Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill. Xiao Yan probably refined this, right?"
Wu Bai examined it with his soul power and found that the quality of this Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill was indeed beyond reproach. It was somewhat better than the ones he had previously refined himself.
Hearing Wu Bai's assessment, the Yellow Springs Demon Saint and the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint both chuckled.
They had not expected Wu Bai to offer such an objective appraisal.
He had not even said anything like, "If I had heavenly flames, I could refine a pill this good too."
The next moment, a smile appeared on Wu Bai's face as he took out more than a dozen gold coin cards in assorted colors.
"Gold coin cards worth 9,780,000 in total. Wonderful!"
The amounts had all been written on the gold coin cards, with additional labels, allowing Wu Bai to calculate the total so precisely.
Presumably, these were the funds Fan Ling had intended to use to bid for Three Thousand Lightning Movement, though they were still a little short of its final price of over ten million gold coins.
Now, they all belonged to Wu Bai.
With that thought, Wu Bai placed his own gold coin card alongside them.
"Now I've got 10,785,000 gold coins."
Once he finished counting, Wu Bai lay on his bed with a brilliant smile.
He took out the scroll for the Thunder Bat Sky Wings Flying Dou Technique as well and placed it beside him, planning to give it to Yue'er first thing tomorrow morning.
That destination was already settled, and Wu Bai was not worried about any danger.
If even a Nine-Star Dou Ling could not use a Flying Dou Technique, then it would be far too much like a chicken rib-too meager to savor, yet a pity to discard.
"And this, earth core fire ganoderma. Medicinal herbs of this caliber are worth buying no matter how many gold coins they cost. They have a price, but no market. Even with money, there's nowhere to buy them. Getting this for just two million gold coins was a huge bargain!"
Wu Bai licked his lips and placed the palm-sized earth core fire ganoderma into a tightly sealed Cold Jade Box, storing it alongside the medicinal herbs he had collected earlier.
Taking a closer look, Wu Bai suddenly realized that the space inside his hundred-cubic-meter Storage Ring seemed a little cramped.
"When I have time, I should get a larger Storage Ring. I wonder if I could trade a tier 7 pill for a high-grade Storage Ring?"
He quietly considered it. Barring any surprises, becoming a Tier 7 Alchemist before graduation would be as easy as reaching out and taking it.
Wu Bai put everything away and resumed cultivating.
Before you continue