Chapter 339: Blood Jade Insect Egg

Pan Yong walked out of the dilapidated and strange gate of the Lower Courtyard, holding the approval slip that Qin Laotou had given him.

On the approval slip was Qin Laotou's signature, the seal of the Lower Courtyard, and the date of his departure from the mountain was noted.

What he had told Qin Laotou was that he would leave the mountain early tomorrow morning, which was the nineteenth of May.

Pan Yong folded the approval slip and put it into the inner pocket of his robe. He stood on the platform of the Lower Courtyard, glanced at the sky above the dense forest in the distance, and then walked quickly toward the edge of the cliff.

Pan Yong walked along the cliff to a certain iron chain, slid onto the cableway, and arrived at the mountain peak where the Medicine Pavilion was located.

At the main gate of the Medicine Pavilion, Pan Yong presented his Sect Cloud Token.

The person guarding the gate was a thin, dark-skinned middle-aged man. He flipped open the Sect Cloud Token, looked at the portrait inside, glanced at Pan Yong again, and then, without a word, handed the Sect Cloud Token back to him.

Pan Yong took the Sect Cloud Token and stepped through the main gate.

Although he knew he had done nothing wrong, a trace of nervousness still rose in his heart when his Sect Cloud Token was being inspected.

Pan Yong crossed the large square in front of the gate, glanced at the figure on the Arrow Tower, then lowered his head and walked quickly past the Arrow Tower, heading straight toward the three-story pavilion with gray walls and black tiles.

Pan Yong walked to the curved counter, where Xia Honghua was sitting, applying red nail polish.

Pan Yong presented the Sect Cloud Token, collected the Yellow Skin Booklet, and was about to leave.

Xia Honghua put down the rat-hair brush stained with nail polish, looked at Pan Yong, and asked, "I'm asking you, where is that brat Duan Rong? He promised me some work; how many days has it been since he showed his face?"

Pan Yong only glanced at Xia Honghua, did not dare to say much, and immediately turned and left.

Seeing that she was asking a question and Pan Yong had left without even acknowledging her, Xia Honghua was suddenly somewhat furious.

"These brats, not one of them pleases me? Where do these enemies come from?"

Pan Yong walked quickly among the dazzling array of shelves while flipping through the Yellow Skin Booklet in his hand with a rustling sound.

He already had the Black Blood Fruit, the auxiliary medicine for the fifth level of the Womb Treasury Sutra. What he needed to exchange for now were the auxiliary medicines for the sixth through twelfth levels.

About half an hour later, he carried a bag in his hand and walked back to the curved counter with flickering eyes.

He had found the auxiliary medicines for the sixth through eleventh levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra, but he had searched the entire Yellow Skin Booklet and could not find the auxiliary medicine for the twelfth level, the Blood Red Insect Egg.

Could it be that even Shang Xiangyu did not have the authorization to exchange for the auxiliary medicine for the twelfth level of the Womb Treasury Sutra?

Shang Xiangyu was an Inner Sect Disciple and also a Pharmacist.

His eyes suddenly shifted as he thought of another possibility: perhaps it was not that Shang Xiangyu lacked authorization, but that this Blood Jade Insect Egg was too scarce and there was simply no stock at all.

He really wanted to ask Xia Honghua about this issue, but he suppressed the urge.

Asking about the Blood Jade Insect Egg—such a sensitive question—was he afraid of not exposing himself?

Pan Yong placed the bag in his hand on the counter.

Xia Honghua sat there, glanced at the bag, and then raised her hand to examine her newly applied nail polish in the light.

Seeing that Xia Honghua was ignoring him, Pan Yong pushed the bag a little closer to her and said, "I'll have to trouble you."

Only then did Xia Honghua glance at him and chide, "So you know how to trouble me? Why didn't you answer me when I asked you a question earlier? I asked you if that brat Duan Rong is still coming?"

"Go back and tell him, if he doesn't come tomorrow, he doesn't need to come ever again!"

"Did you hear me?" Seeing that Pan Yong was still standing there without speaking, she glared at him.

Pan Yong said, "Yes. I will definitely pass the message to Disciple Duan Rong."

Seeing that Pan Yong had finally spoken, Xia Honghua angrily picked up the bag at her side.

After Xia Honghua calculated the account, Pan Yong took out Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk.

Xia Honghua took it and deducted over five thousand points.

Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Yin Cong often came here to exchange things for Shang Xiangyu. Although the points deducted today were a bit high, Shang Xiangyu was a Pharmacist, and Xia Honghua did not know what medicines were needed for refining pills.

She did not care much about these things; after the deduction, she handed the bag and the Star Disk back to Pan Yong.

When Pan Yong took the bag, his hand trembled slightly, but he immediately suppressed it.

Inside this were the auxiliary medicines for the sixth through eleventh levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra!

He glanced at the surface of the disk and saw that there were only over five hundred Contribution Points left.

Pan Yong tucked the Star Disk into his sleeve, tied the bag to his waist, and walked out of the pavilion.

The moment he walked out of the pavilion, he let out a long breath at the entrance.

Dealing with Xia Honghua was much harder than dealing with Qin Laotou.

He had seen with his own eyes how Pan Yong got along with Qin Laotou, so he could improvise and was not too worried about making any mistakes.

But he had absolutely no idea how Pan Yong usually got along with Xia Honghua! He didn't even know how Pan Yong usually addressed Xia Honghua.

Therefore, he had omitted the form of address just now.

If you don't know how to address someone, say less to make fewer mistakes; this was the principle he had decided on before coming.

However, it was fortunate that he had passed safely; Xia Honghua did not seem to have discovered anything unusual.

Pan Yong walked past the Arrow Tower and arrived at the square, but he did not walk straight across the square to exit the Medicine Pavilion's gate.

Instead, he turned his steps and walked toward the row of low buildings in the corner.

He walked into the room for exchanging pills and used Pan Yong's Star Disk to exchange for six bottles of Zhengyang Pill.

When he walked out of the pill room, he glanced at the Star Disk and saw that there were only a mere eight Contribution Points left on the surface.

In fact, there were still over five hundred Contribution Points on Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk, but he did not dare to use Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to exchange here.

At Xia Honghua's place, it was because they often used Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to exchange for medicines, which had already become a routine.

However, if he took Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to the Registered Disciples' area to exchange for pills, that would be asking to be exposed.

However, while Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk could not be used, using Pan Yong's Star Disk to exchange for six bottles of Zhengyang Pill was a normal operation, and no one would be suspicious.

He put the six bottles of Zhengyang Pill into the bag at his waist and walked out of the Medicine Pavilion's gate.

After exiting the Medicine Pavilion's gate, he tried his best to keep his gait normal and walked slowly toward the cableway at the edge of the cliff.

He jumped onto the iron chain and returned to Shang Xiangyu's mountain peak once again.

After jumping off the iron chain, he looked up at the clouds in the sky and saw that the lead-colored clouds seemed even gloomier than when he had left.

The moment his feet landed on the mountaintop, he moved his body, instantly like a ghost, moving rapidly along the cliff.

He stepped on the mountain rocks and darted into the dense forest; at this time, the daylight in the dense forest had already grown somewhat dim.

He arrived at a hidden spot deep in the dense forest, then suddenly released his Divine Sense, and only after confirming there was no one in the surrounding area did he dig a pit in the ground and bury the pouch at his waist.

After filling the pit and covering it with nearby dry fallen leaves, he took one last look, confirmed that nothing looked strange, and only then did he leave.

He arrived at the water pool in the dense forest, flipped his hand, and held two Star Disks in his palm; one was Shang Xiangyu's, and one was Pan Yong's.

Without even blinking, he threw both Star Disks into the bottomless deep pool.

There were still over five hundred Contribution Points on Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk, which was a bit of a pity. But he had already redeemed the auxiliary medicines for the sixth to eleventh levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra; to go and redeem other things would needlessly increase the risk of exposure, which would be most unwise!

Seeing the two Star Disks fall into the deep pool with a splash, kicking up two sprays of water, they sank; he turned and left, found some dry firewood, and lit it on a large bluestone not far away.

As the flames danced in the twilight, he took Pan Yong's Sect Cloud Token from the inner pocket of his clothes, along with the note given by Qin Laotou of the Lower Courtyard, and threw them into the fire in front of him.

The tongues of fire swallowed them, and the Sect Cloud Token and that note quickly turned into fly ash.

It was also at this moment that he ripped off his own face with a tearing sound.

Under the reflection of the firelight, Duan Rong's face appeared as gloomy as frost.

That layer of skin had been stuck to his face using melted wild Peach Gum, so tearing it off suddenly like this made Duan Rong's entire face ache.

He threw the face skin in his hand into the fire in front of him.

Then he squatted down, took a piece of dry firewood, poked at the face skin, and watched the tongues of fire submerge it.

That face curled and twisted in the flames, the sallow skin began to turn black, oozing grease and emitting bursts of a burnt smell.

Duan Rong did not stand up until that face had turned into black ash.

The moment he stood up, the joints all over his body popped, his height suddenly shot up by half a head, and his shoulders also became much broader.

Pan Yong's clothes now appeared small on him, with his navel even exposed.

Duan Rong stripped off his clothes and threw them into the fire to burn as well.

By this time, twilight had already descended, the dense forest was pitch black, and Duan Rong walked into the nearby water pool naked.

The cold water in the pool made him shiver.

In the water pool, he washed his entire body thoroughly until it was clean, and only then, soaking wet and bare-bottomed, did he walk out of the water pool and return to his cave.

Inside the cave, Duan Rong wiped the water off his body with a towel, changed into his own clothes, and sat on the ground at the cave entrance, looking at the rolling black mist in the pitch-black sky with deep, flickering eyes.

He thought through everything that had happened during the day one more time, and after confirming there were no obvious oversights, he finally let out a long sigh of relief; at this moment, a wave of exhaustion surged up from within his body.

From the time he killed Pan Yong until just now when he dealt with those tails in the dense forest, he had been keeping a string taut throughout the entire process, his brain constantly operating at high speed.

Now that he had suddenly stopped, the sense of exhaustion surged up abruptly.

But Duan Rong still struggled and stood up.

Now was not the time to rest.

Although the traces of Pan Yong had already vanished from this world.

However, the Black Blood Fruit and the stolen goods—the auxiliary medicines for the sixth to eleventh levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra he had redeemed from the Medicine Pavilion—were still there.

He had to digest all these things before anyone came searching.

He had asked for ten days of leave for Pan Yong from Qin Laotou at the Lower Courtyard, saying he was going to Shenyun Prefecture.

Ten days later, according to the rules, Pan Yong was supposed to report back to Qin Laotou at the Lower Courtyard to end his leave.

Likely, at that time, Qin Laotou would discover the abnormality, though it should still be possible to drag it out for a period of time; if Pan Yong never appeared, Qin Laotou would report it to the Sect.

At that time, those in pursuit would begin their investigation.

And the safest course for Duan Rong was to digest all those stolen goods within ten days.

By then, even if the pursuers came, there would be no traces left.

To achieve the fifth to eleventh levels of the Womb Treasury Sutra within ten days was also no small task; how could he have any leisure time to rest?

Duan Rong walked along the cliff wall to Shang Xiangyu's cave, entered the stone chamber, took out a pitch-black key, and opened the cabinet door.

Duan Rong took out the Black Blood Fruit he had placed there, then locked the cabinet and walked out of the stone chamber.

Duan Rong arrived in the dense forest again; he suddenly came before a thick, large beech tree, placed his palm upon it, and secretly said, "Read Spirit Tool."

Immediately, a set of data appeared before Duan Rong in the gloomy forest.

Artifact: Old Beech Tree (Tree Spirit age: 213 years)

Spirit Artifact Tier: Fifth Tier

Devour Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 5 (Met)

Devour Effect: Unknown Years in the Mountains (Can increase host's Mental Power)

Duan Rong looked at the data panel flickering in the darkness before him and secretly said, "Devour."

Last time when he was practicing the fourth level of the Womb Treasury Sutra at Xiao Yu's place, the Tree Spirit within his Spirit Sea had been consumed almost entirely; he had to replenish it in the dense forest.

In the pitch-black dense forest, Duan Rong's figure flashed like a ghost as he slapped his palms onto one tall, thick tree after another.

After about an hour or so, the Tree Spirit Light Sea within his Spirit Sea was already full. There was no more space for devouring.

Duan Rong stopped devouring, a trace of exhaustion flashing in his eyes.

For Duan Rong now, filling the Tree Spirit Light Sea was already much faster than it had been at Wild Boar Mountain.

When he first entered Wild Boar Mountain, his Mental Power was only at level one, and the only Tree Spirits he could devour were First Tier Tree Spirits.

He had to read many ancient trees before he could barely find one he could devour.

However, now his Mental Power was already at level five; he could devour Tree Spirits from the first to the fifth tier, and his speed was countless times faster than in the past.

Just at this moment, there was a rustling sound in the bushes at Duan Rong's feet.

Duan Rong's eyes jumped, and his Divine Sense suddenly pierced through; the next moment, Duan Rong's figure flashed like a ghost, the bushes rustled, and Duan Rong stood there clutching a piece of game.

It was a pheasant whose neck he had already snapped.

He hadn't eaten for several days and decided to appease his stomach first, because he still had physical labor to do later, and he couldn't manage without some sustenance in his belly.

Duan Rong was by the side of the pool, plucking the feathers and gutting the mountain pheasant, and once he had cleaned it, he began to roast it on a large bluestone not far away.

Once the mountain pheasant was roasted, Duan Rong picked it up and left, eating the mountain pheasant clean as he walked.

When Duan Rong held up a torch and walked into the cave of the Black Blood Vine, he chewed up the last of the mountain pheasant's neck in his mouth, swallowing it down, bones and meat alike.

This was the place Duan Rong had chosen for himself to cultivate the Womb Treasury Sutra.

The cave where this Black Blood Vine was located was already deep within the belly of the mountain.

It could also be considered the most hidden location in this mountain.

Moreover, the caves inside were as dense as a spider web, so even if someone were to break in, without someone to lead the way, it would be very difficult to find the way to the Black Blood Vine.

(End of chapter)