Yellow Lotus Essence

As soon as those words fell, Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan walked over to where the yellow lotus essence was displayed and focused their gazes ahead.

Several yellow lotus seedpods sat on the counter before them, continuously releasing a rich medicinal potency.

At the sight of those yellow seedpods, Yao Lao gave a derisive chuckle. "This shopkeeper doesn't know what he's selling. How could this yellow lotus essence be only ten to thirty years old? These specimens have been growing for at least a hundred years!"

"Little Yanzi, buy them all. We'll use them to refine Yellow Lotus Pills!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yan immediately walked up to the shop assistant and said, "We'll take them all."

The assistant almost thought he had misheard and widened his eyes.

"We have about a hundred portions of yellow lotus essence in the shop. You want all of them?!"

"Esteemed customers, please wait a moment. I'll pack up the yellow lotus essence on the counter for you right away!"

Once he realized they were big spenders, even his tone changed, and he hurriedly invited Xiao Mo to sit down.

He went to the storeroom himself to fetch all the yellow lotus essence.

Before long, a hundred portions of yellow lotus essence lay before Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan, each packed in a wooden box.

After counting them, Xiao Mo generously handed the assistant a gold card to swipe.

Once the assistant had finished swiping the card, he returned to Xiao Yan and Xiao Mo and respectfully presented them with a purple card as well.

It was the shop's VIP membership card. Whenever Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan returned, this card would give them twenty percent off every purchase.

Xiao Mo stored all hundred portions of yellow lotus essence in his Storage Ring and put away the membership card. Only when the two left the shop did they discover that it was already late.

The sky had darkened, and moonlight spilled down, cool and chilly as the wind.

With no other choice, Xiao Mo found a nearby inn with Xiao Yan, where they would stay for the time being.

The next morning, sunlight shone in through the window.

Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan rose early. Today, they would head into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to find some medicinal herbs.

They would use them to refine Yellow Lotus Pills.

After leaving the inn, the two reached the outskirts of Qingshan Town and swept their gazes ahead.

Countless mercenary groups were recruiting there, preparing to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range together to hunt magical beasts and search for medicinal herbs.

With the enormous Black Ruler slung across his back, Xiao Yan glanced at the crowd and felt there was really no need to join a mercenary group.

He was used to coming and going alone. Besides, they were only entering the mountains to gather a few herbs, so they probably wouldn't encounter any danger.

Xiao Mo, however, thought differently. He focused his gaze ahead and soon noticed a young woman with long purple hair.

She had a slender figure and a pretty face, with not a trace of Dou Qi about her. He was almost certain she was Xiao Yi Xian from Qingshan Town's Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

She really is just as the book described-fresh and lovely, untouched by worldly vulgarity!

As that thought crossed his mind, he also noticed that Xiao Yi Xian stood amid a mercenary group, surrounded by people, countless men eagerly fawning over her.

Knowing that she possessed a treasure map and that the treasure concealed part of a fragmentary map to the purifying lotus demon flame, Xiao Mo immediately pulled Xiao Yan over to that mercenary group to sign up.

Xiao Yan had no intention of joining a mercenary group at all. He wanted to enter the mountains alone to search for herbs.

Yet when the members of Xiao Yi Xian's mercenary group saw how young Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan were, without the slightest trace of Dou Qi about them, they reacted.

Some even sneered, "Brat, what stage is your Dou Qi at? You actually want to join our team and enter the perilous Magical Beast Mountain Range!"

"Looks to me like neither of you has even grown all your teeth yet. We don't want to drag two deadweights along the whole way. Get lost!"

Seeing himself being belittled, Xiao Mo shot back, "You don't even know how strong we are. What makes you think we can't join?!"

A burly man in the mercenary group heard this and approached the two with a broadsword in hand, his face full of disdain. "What a little brat. Your teeth haven't even finished growing, but you sure know how to talk big!"

"Since you're so eager to join, I won't bully you. Come at me together. If you can withstand one move from me, I'll approve your joining on the captain's behalf!"

Xiao Mo assessed the burly man's strength. He had no Dou Qi, and at most, he was at the eighth stage of Dou Power.

He couldn't be bothered to act himself, so he had Xiao Yan, who stood beside him, fight in his place.

"Why would it take both of us to deal with you? My junior brother alone is more than enough!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yan stepped in front of the man with the enormous Black Ruler on his back.

He took his stance and gestured for the man to strike first.

Realizing that he was being looked down on, the man flew into a rage, his eyes instantly reddening.

"What an ignorant little brat! Watch how I knock you flat and make you kneel and call me Grandpa!"

As his words fell, he lunged up to Xiao Yan without even using the broadsword in his hand.

He raised his fist and drove it straight toward Xiao Yan's chest.

Xiao Yan had already anticipated this, his face full of disdain.

He held his stance without moving his body an inch.

Raising his right hand, he mobilized the fire attribute Dou Qi within him, and roaring flames spread over his palm.

"Fire-Blowing Palm!"

Xiao Yan's flame-covered palm struck the burly man square in the chest, instantly scorching the clothing on his upper body.

The man screamed and flew backward, tumbling across the ground like a rolling gourd, his face deathly pale.

None of the mercenaries had expected this outcome. They knew perfectly well how strong that burly man was.

At the eighth stage of Dou Power, he was far from weak among them.

Yet even so, he had still lost to that young man.

Xiao Yi Xian, standing in the crowd, also wore a look of disbelief.

Just then, the system's voice rang out in Xiao Mo's mind.

"Congratulations, host, on completing the random mission: raise Xiao Yan's strength once. You have received one supreme-grade Qi-Gathering Pill!"

When he heard that the reward was actually a supreme-grade Qi-Gathering Pill, Xiao Mo nearly laughed aloud with excitement.

A short while later, the mercenary captain arrived, looked at the two, and announced before everyone, "They may join us!"

Since the captain had spoken, everyone exchanged glances and said nothing more.

By now, the mercenary captain had roughly guessed that Xiao Mo and Xiao Yan were nowhere near as simple as they appeared.

Although they had concealed their auras, their true strength most likely placed them among the Dou Zhe.

Xiao Yan still didn't understand why Xiao Mo insisted on joining the mercenary group. With their strength, they only needed to avoid the fiercer magical beasts in the mountain range.

Their entire journey would then be safe, with no need to join any mercenary group at all.

In response, Xiao Mo merely smiled lightly and said, "With them protecting us, entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range will save us a lot of trouble!"

After hearing his explanation, Xiao Yan said no more.

A little later, the two followed the mercenary group toward the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

They soon reached the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. A dense forest lay ahead, with lush green trees casting shade all around.

Everyone walked over the green grass, quietly advancing into the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Strangely, however, they hadn't heard a sound along the way.