The fair, plump young man pulled the tall young man back again.
"Junior brother, what's wrong?"
The tall young man looked at the fair, plump young man in confusion.
"Senior brother, we may have run into someone truly extraordinary."
The fair, plump young man spoke with a solemn expression.
The tall young man nodded in deep agreement.
The woman, however, looked skeptical.
"Really? How come I can't see it at all?"
The fair, plump young man clicked his tongue.
"Look at that rabbit demon. It doesn't dare move a muscle in his hands. Clearly, it's afraid of him."
"If he can frighten the rabbit demon this badly, do we even need to think about it? His cultivation must be unfathomably profound!"
The woman looked toward the rabbit demon.
Sure enough, just as the fair, plump young man had said, the rabbit demon was not only docile, but even trembling.
The woman might have been slow on the uptake, but she was no fool.
There was only one explanation for this situation: as the fair, plump young man had said, they had encountered a reclusive master.
The three exchanged glances, all wearing expressions that said it made perfect sense.
Ye Qingyun was rather baffled by the three of them.
Just then, all three walked over together.
They bowed and cupped their fists toward Ye Qingyun in unison.
"We are disciples of the Mystic Sword Sect, sent by our sect to capture the rabbit demon. We never intended to disturb your residence. Please forgive us."
The Mystic Sword Sect?
Ye Qingyun's heart trembled.
I've run into sect disciples.
Good thing I was fairly polite just now.
If I'd been rude, I'd probably already be dead.
It looks like cultivators in this world are all very friendly. As long as I'm polite, I won't get into any trouble.
Because of the three people's attitude, Ye Qingyun naively assumed that all cultivators in this world were friendly.
"It's fine, it's fine. I rarely get visitors here anyway."
Ye Qingyun smiled.
"May we ask your name?"
"Ye Qingyun."
"Our respects, Senior Ye!"
The three saluted him again.
Ye Qingyun was speechless.
An old senior?
Do I look that old?
Aren't they putting me down?
"I'm no old senior. I'm just an ordinary person."
Ye Qingyun hurried to explain.
Hearing this, the three grew even more certain.
He must be an expert who deliberately secluded himself here to experience mortal life.
Since he doesn't like presenting himself as a senior, we can't spoil his fun.
"We were discourteous. Sorry to make fools of ourselves, Brother Ye."
The tall young man spoke with a smile.
After a round of introductions, Ye Qingyun learned their names and backgrounds.
All three were disciples of the Mystic Sword Sect. The tall young man was the eldest disciple, Li Chenyuan, while the fair, plump young man was the second disciple, Zhao Wangchun.
The sweet-looking, baby-faced woman was their junior sister, Xu Jing'er.
As for the Mystic Sword Sect, it was one of the three great sects within the Heavenly Martial Dynasty. Its current sect master, Xu Changfeng, was also Xu Jing'er's father.
Once Ye Qingyun learned they belonged to a sect, he naturally wanted to curry favor with them.
In this unfamiliar world, he had no strength whatsoever. He was just a weak chicken.
Getting to know some sect members would at least give him a big tree to shelter under, a thigh to cling to.
He immediately welcomed the three into the courtyard with great enthusiasm.
Although they were wary of the rabbit in Ye Qingyun's arms, they still followed him inside.
"Have you eaten? Why not have something here?"
Ye Qingyun asked warmly.
Li Chenyuan waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, no need."
Ye Qingyun himself was still hungry.
"Then feel free to look around. I'll eat first."
Ye Qingyun sat down and continued eating his pot of hodgepodge stew.
Li Chenyuan and the other two felt too embarrassed to actually wander around as they pleased, so they stood in the courtyard, making a show of admiring the flowers and plants.
That little bit of admiring turned out to be quite something.
Before long, all three looked as though they had seen a ghost.
"Senior brother, look. Isn't that azure origin grass?"
Zhao Wangchun pointed at a lush green patch of grass in the courtyard and asked in a voice full of shock.
Li Chenyuan sucked in a breath of cold air.
"It really is azure origin grass!"
The three were stunned.
Azure origin grass was an exceedingly rare ingredient for pill refinement, found only in small quantities among ancient mountains and rivers.
Yet there was an entire patch of it here?
And it was flourishing, every stalk at least five hundred years old.
The three were immensely excited.
If they could bring some of this azure origin grass back to their sect, it would be a tremendous contribution.
Ye Qingyun looked at the three of them strangely.
Why are they so excited about that patch of grass?
Isn't it just ordinary grass?
I only tidied it up a little so it looks neater.
What are they playing at?
"Senior brother, is that the legendary seven-leaf vermilion fruit?"
Xu Jing'er pointed at a patch of bright red fruit not far away, exclaiming again and again.
Li Chenyuan and Zhao Wangchun hurried over.
"Seven-leaf vermilion fruit! It really is seven-leaf vermilion fruit!"
Li Chenyuan was dumbstruck, his face filled with disbelief.
Azure origin grass was already rare.
But seven-leaf vermilion fruit was rarer still.
A single seven-leaf vermilion fruit had once appeared at the Under-Heaven Chamber of Commerce, and countless factions had scrambled to snatch it up.
Yet here, there was an entire large cluster of seven-leaf vermilion fruit.
The sight left Li Chenyuan stupefied.
Ye Qingyun was rather speechless too.
Aren't those just tomatoes?
Why are they acting like they've never seen the world?
Could it be that people in this world aren't very good at farming, so they've never seen these things grown in the ground?
That's just too pitiful.
Li Chenyuan and the other two crouched before that large cluster of seven-leaf vermilion fruit, each trembling all over with excitement.
All three wanted to reach out and touch it, but feared displeasing Ye Qingyun, so they remained frozen there, terribly uncomfortable.
Just then, Zhao Wangchun spotted a fruit tree not far away.
"Senior brother, junior sister, look at that tree!"
Li Chenyuan and Xu Jing'er both looked toward the fruit tree.
At a glance, they were struck as if by lightning.
"Th-this... could this be the innate mystic fruit recorded in ancient texts?"
Innate mystic fruit was a long-extinct heavenly treasure, said to possess the wondrous power to revive the dead and regrow flesh on bare bones.
But ever since the ancient age had come to an end ten thousand years ago, there had been no news of innate mystic fruit appearing on the continent for many years.
Yet here stood a fruit tree laden with fruit that looked exactly like innate mystic fruit.
It was simply too shocking.
If word got out, it would likely draw countless people flocking here.
Ye Qingyun had grown numb to their reactions.
As he ate his hodgepodge stew, he muttered to himself.
"They've never even seen pears. How pitiful."
The three exchanged glances, their hearts beginning to pound.
This man is definitely an expert.
Of the things planted in the courtyard, everything they could recognize was already a heavenly treasure.
As for those they could not recognize, who knew what sort of spiritual wonders they were?
If we could bring some back...
The Mystic Sword Sect could immediately surpass the other two great sects and become the strongest sect in the Heavenly Martial Dynasty.
"Brother Ye, did you plant everything in this courtyard yourself?"
Li Chenyuan asked cautiously.
"Yes. I was bored, so I planted them for fun. I didn't expect them to grow so well."
Ye Qingyun spoke casually.
For fun?
The three nearly fainted.
He could grow this many heavenly treasures just for fun?
"If you like them, feel free to pick some to take back."
Ye Qingyun spoke generously.
Hearing this, the three were so delighted they nearly jumped for joy.