The Treasure at the Bottom of the Lake

Zhou Ning located the Su Household's stronghold here, a three-acre villa.

A loquat tree stands gracefully in the courtyard, its canopy spreading wide. Beside it stands a small tombstone inscribed with the words "[In memory of my wife Yingying]".

Zhou Ning: "What the hell? Erecting a monument in my yard?"

He probed downwards with his Divine Sense, and thankfully there was no coffin; otherwise, it would have been too unlucky.

He initially intended to kick the loquat tree away, but after thinking about it, he ultimately decided against it.

If it's an important person, it might cause unnecessary trouble.

Zhou Ning walked around the tree where his deceased wife had died, across the stone arch bridge, over the stream, and past the artificial hill, until he arrived at the inner courtyard at the back.

"Such a large courtyard, and not a single servant is provided?"

At Steward Su's residence on Bamboo Creek Island, a bunch of ordinary people were helping out, while in the entire Little Willow Marsh, there were only two cultivators from the Chen Household.

"That's strange!"

However, cultivators are generally able to endure loneliness, so it wasn't a problem for Zhou Ning.

He occupied the largest main house and threw out the array plate given to him by Old Jia. As soon as it landed, it drew upon the first-order Spirit Vein on the island, causing white mist to spread out from the courtyard and quickly conceal the entire courtyard.

Looking at the light shield formed by the mist, Zhou Ning estimated that it should be able to withstand a few blows from Late Qi Refining cultivator.

That's pretty good; I guess Old Jia really went all out.

Zhou Ning was still not at ease, so he threw out the Illusory Light Formation Disk from Land of Wei and set up another layer of concealment array.

He pondered: If I go to Land of Wei in the future, it would be best to get my hands on a high-level array plate that combines defense and concealment.

Outside the villa.

Looking at the thick fog, Chen Long said, "Look, that person is acting all mysterious."

Wang Guanhe: "Heh, acting so suspiciously, he might be secretly investigating our secrets. Keep a close eye on him lately, and make sure he doesn't reveal a single thing!"

Leave it to me.

Two months later, the two of them thoroughly investigated Zhou Ning's past.

"Zhou Ning, a failed candidate from the Azure Mystic Sect, is a first-tier Alchemist who once escaped from the clutches of Daoist Mu-- "

Wang Guanhe's expression gradually became serious.

Chen Long, with thick dark circles under his eyes, asked incredulously, "The Daoist Mu? He managed to escape from the Daoist Mu?"

Although Daoist Mu was only at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, he was incredibly powerful and renowned.

He is now wanted by several major False Core Lineage, yet he remains at large.

These ordinary Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivators wouldn't even last a few moves against Daoist Mu.

Many people have already called it the first Qi Refining cultivator below the Foundation Establishment!

"Old Wang, I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to kill them!" Chen Long said, looking troubled.

Moreover, the intelligence report stated that Zhou Ning was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer at that time, and that he was able to escape from the Daoist Mu at the sixth level.

Now that it's seven stories high, wouldn't it be even faster to run?

Wang Guanhe's tone was harsh. "Longlong, I'm asking you, if he discovers our secret, will you kill him?"

Chen Long's face hardened. "I will kill him!"

Beneath the spiritual mud at the bottom of the lake, there was actually Ceramic Crystal Sand, a top-grade material that could be used to refine Law Treasure embryos, high-level array plates, and draw high-level talismans.

It can be said that all the spiritual products of Little Willow Marsh are merely scraps born from Ceramic Crystal Sand.

The two of them found this item in the ancient books of the Chen Household; ordinary cultivators would only find it rare and would find it difficult to recognize.

Unfortunately, Ceramic Crystal Sand is extremely sparsely distributed, and they have to painstakingly search for a long time to obtain only a tiny handful.

Wang Guanhe said, "That solves it. Don't just think about how difficult the problem is; think more about how to solve it."

He glanced at Chen Long sideways, inwardly cursing him as an idiot.

If Chen Long hadn't acted impulsively and killed the previous guest of the Su Household, Zhou Ning wouldn't have come at all! Things are even more troublesome now!

"The best way to solve a problem is not to solve it, but to prevent it," Wang Guanhe said.

Chen Long said helplessly, "I took precautions, but the key is that he didn't go out. He stayed inside the formation every day. I kept an eye on him for two whole months. Do you know how I spent those two months?"

Wang Guanhe: "Hmph, they'll show their true colors sooner or later!"

Just then, a commotion came from outside.

"Oh no, Zhou Ning is here! Has he discovered the secret at the bottom of the lake?" Chen Long exclaimed in alarm. "Should we kill him?"

Wang Guanhe frowned, his hand reaching for his Storage Bag: "Be prepared to act at any moment!"

Zhou Ning State of Mind much more at ease after leaving the oppressive Su Household, which was also beneficial to his cultivation.

His cultivation progressed quite rapidly, but simply sitting around and consuming his savings was not a sustainable solution.

His current cultivation speed is entirely supported by the Greater Ginseng-Nurturing Pill, which he takes one a month, each worth five Spirit Stone.

This is an extremely terrifying expenditure.

He must buy spiritual materials to refine pills. Firstly, he can earn Spirit Stone, and secondly, he must prevent his pill-refining skills from regressing, since he will be able to refine Foundation Establishment Pill Qi Refining the future when he reaches the Qi Refining stage.

While we're at it, let's expand our search further and try to collect Jade Marrow Ganoderma.

As for how to expand, Zhou Ning plans to start with the two from Little Willow Marsh.

Zhou Ning knew that the two men harbored ill intentions towards him. Although he could easily kill them, it would inevitably alarm the Chen Household and Su Household, making it easy for things to get out of control.

That's fine. I'm best at dealing with people who are clearly at odds with others, especially since these two are just stray dogs.

"Does Alchemist Zhou want us two to help procure medicinal herbs?" Wang Guanhe put down his teacup, slightly taken aback.

Chen Long asked, "Why don't you go by yourself?"

Nonsense, of course it was for safety reasons. The first time he went out to buy medicinal herbs, he was chased and killed by the Daoist Mu.

This led Zhou Ning to prefer having others scout out the area first, find out the details, and then make the purchase himself – wouldn't that be safer?

Zhou Ning said, "I spend all my time at home studying alchemy, and I really can't find the time!"

"Are you two too busy?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, since Alchemist Zhou trusts us, we are naturally willing to serve you," Wang Guanhe agreed.

Zhou Ning: "Thank you very much."

"By the way, you two, why aren't there any servants on the island? Such a vast body of water, so many spiritual materials—"

Wang Guanhe laughed and said, "The Alchemist doesn't understand. The clan pays its stipends according to the area. As long as the harvest of spiritual materials reaches a certain level, the clan is satisfied. And the more people there are, the more people share the money."

"So we dismissed the servant Lingnong, and we ourselves went into battle, enjoying the salary all to ourselves. Why not?"

Zhou Ning thought to himself: You're just making this up, there's definitely a secret!

However, he was too lazy to investigate. For him, the most important thing at the moment was to cultivate to the Qi Refinement Perfection and seek the Jade Marrow Ganoderma.

Zhou Ning expressed his empathy, sighing, "Back then, I was also a fisherman on the lake. Alas, I wished I could split a single grain of rice in two."

Then, he took out two Spirit Stone, placed them lightly on the table, and left.

Wang Guanhe had just released the concealment array.

Chen Long immediately stood up, his words firm. "When he gave me the Spirit Stone just now, he glanced at me. He must have noticed that I've been monitoring him!"

Wang Guanhe frowned and scolded, "Don't panic. You've hidden yourself very well; you should be fine."

He changed the subject abruptly. "However, buying the medicine must be his scheme, a deliberate attempt to send us away so he could uncover Little Willow Marsh's secrets."

Chen Long: "What should we do next? We've already agreed to his request."

Wang Guanhe said, "Let's play along. You take the Spirit Stone and help him buy spirit materials, while I, with my higher cultivation level, will stay behind and keep an eye on him."

"Alright!" Chen Long picked up the Spirit Stone and weighed it in his hand.

He said sourly, "This person is truly wealthy, giving away two Spirit Stone so readily. Alchemist really something else."

Wang Guanhe didn't take it to heart and laughed, "Once we've dug up all the Ceramic Crystal Sand from the bottom of the lake, won't our value far surpass his?"

Chen Long wholeheartedly agreed, "The best is yet to come!"

--

"I'll go buy the medicine now. Old Wang, please keep an eye on things."

Five days later.

Zhou Ning received a pile of medicinal herbs, and he was slightly taken aback.

"Brother Long is quite an honest man. He actually bought so many medicinal herbs with just two Spirit Stone?"

Was it because the medicinal herbs were cheap nearby, or Old Jia me off too much?

Zhou Ning was puzzled.

As for whether there were concerns that the two might have poisoned the herbs?

He was Alchemist, and every step of the process was handled by him. He could even see the age and freshness of the medicinal herbs.

Poison doesn't exist.

Unless they're both incredibly stupid, they wouldn't do something like this.

Zhou Ning began refining elixirs.

--

"You mean, during the days I was away, Alchemist Zhou often strolled along the stone steps on the island's shore?"

Chen Long was incredulous.

Wang Guanhe nodded, certain of his statement. "He must be pretending to be strolling around, but actually keeping watch and spying on our secrets."

Chen Long gritted his teeth. "From this day forward, I will be fully focused and keep a close watch on them!"