Chapter 108: Special Three Flowers

This mine shaft had only been entered for a little over one li; after spending a short while, the four of them smoothly withdrew and left that canyon.

Actually, exploring this canyon should have yielded some gains, at least allowing the collection of some ores and the like, but feeling somewhat unwilling to spend all their time on mining, Lin Zhangqing still chose to leave.

The three Junior Sisters had no specific goals either, so Lin Zhangqing continued to lead them as they wandered and explored the Central Region.

Now, Lin Zhangqing was heading toward the location of the second batch of Purple Crystal Scorpions; there was still some distance between the two places, and he did not know if they could arrive there before the sky completely darkened.

There was also good news: after leaving the valley containing the Ziyang Pool, his connection with Chu Yi had strengthened significantly; it seemed there was an array inside that valley causing interference, making the link with Chu Yi very faint while within it.

Since leaving the valley, Chu Yi had already confirmed Lin Zhangqing's location and was currently rushing over; they should be able to reunite before long.

After traveling for nearly Two Hours more, they finally approached the location of the second batch of Purple Crystal Scorpions; the environment where the four of them now stood was within a stretch of dense forest, suggesting that other Cultivators also preferred seeking such secluded places to rest and regroup.

Since the sky was already beginning to darken, Lin Zhangqing did not rush to go over immediately; instead, after discussing with the three Junior Sisters, they jointly sought out a suitable spot to make Camp.

Then, he had Chen Zi Ya set up defensive and offensive arrays, placed some of the Purple Crystal Scorpions around the perimeter to protect the Junior Sisters, and instructed them to organize the Camp while he told them he would patrol the surroundings and return soon.

He left the Camp alone and, following his connection with the Purple Crystal Scorpions, crept toward their location.

Very quickly, beneath a large tree, he discovered the Corpse of Xu Danyang from the Danding Sect and his Junior Brother.

Only after carefully confirming they were completely dead did he approach to collect all the spoils of war, then used several Fireball Techniques to clean up the scene.

He had not expected that recovering spoils from both sides would go so smoothly; Lin Zhangqing's mood instantly improved greatly.

Because the environment within the dense forest was quite complex, Lin Zhangqing used his Divine Sense to carefully inspect the area twice; only after confirming there were no omissions or traceable clues did he recall the Purple Crystal Scorpions and depart.

Coincidentally, Chu Yi had also successfully returned before nightfall and was now circling in the sky above Lin Zhangqing's head; he beckoned it down.

After feeding it one Spirit Nurturing Pill and some Demon Beast Meat, and then smoothing its Feather for a while, he finally stored it back in the Spirit Beast Bag, letting it rest well.

He circled the Camp to patrol once more; only after confirming there were no potential dangers did he return, finding that the Junior Sisters had already finished organizing the Camp.

Lin Zhangqing took out all the spoils of war and asked the Junior Sisters to help; the several of them together slightly Refined these Storage Bags and Spirit Plant Bags, then poured out all the contents.

They sorted various items and placed them together; there were over ten thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones, though they did not count them in detail, and there were eighteen Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

There were even more Middle and Upper Grade Dharma Artifacts; combining offensive and Defensive Magical Artifacts, there were actually forty to fifty pieces in total; he handed all of these over to Hu Yunna, asking her to help process them and exchange them for Spirit Stones!

There was also a huge pile of Pills; Lin Zhangqing recognized common ones like Qi Recovery Pills, Spring Return Pills, and Jade Healing Pills, but inside there were many Pills opened from the Storage Bags of Danding Sect Cultivators that he had never seen before.

Fortunately, Zhao Mingxia helped identify a portion of them; they labeled these identified Pills, but there were some too obscure for even her to recognize, so they could only be stored away for now to be dealt with later!

There were also some miscellaneous oddities, such as clothing or Cultivation Notes; if useful, they would keep them, but if useless, they would first collect them all into one Storage Bag to be destroyed together later.

What remained now was a pile of Jade Boxes; the four of them worked together, taking out anything contained within and placing it aside; upon final tally, there were actually a total of 112 Spirit Medicines.

Among them, there were 27 strains of Main Medicine for Foundation Establishment Pills and Purple Mansion Tongxuan Pills, which meant another income of nine Foundation Establishment Pills.

The remaining 85 strains were mature, common Spirit Medicines; some Lin Zhangqing recognized, while others he did not; these would be slowly researched and identified using references once they returned to Nine Peaks Mountain.

At this moment, Lin Zhangqing noticed Zhao Mingxia looking at a certain Spirit Medicine with an expression of hesitation, which aroused his curiosity; Chen Zi Ya and Hu Yunna also noticed her abnormality, so Lin Zhangqing quickly asked, "Junior Sister Zhao, what Spirit Medicine is in your hand? Does it have any special effects? If you need it, I will give it to you."

Zhao Mingxia said somewhat embarrassedly, "This Spirit Medicine is the Face-Keeping Flower, one of the Main Medicines for the Three-Flower Face-Keeping Pill; together with the Jade Skin Flower and the Spirit-Calming Flower, they can be used to refine the Three-Flower Face-Keeping Pill."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhangqing's heart moved; he possessed all these Spirit Medicines mentioned by Zhao Mingxia within his Space.

It was just that due to the Beast Tide, and furthermore because the Spirit Medicines and Spirit Plants inside the Space had been handed over to Lu Youqiang's family to care for, he had not gone in to inspect them carefully during this period.

He did not know if they had matured yet; if they had, he could precisely entrust the task to Junior Sister Zhao.

The Sixth Elder of the clan was currently only a Second Stage Middle Grade Alchemist; the success rate of the Pills he might refine would probably not be very high, and the quality could not be guaranteed; furthermore, it was not even known whether the clan possessed the Pill Formula for the Three-Flower Face-Keeping Pill!

Lin Zhangqing continued to ask, "Has Junior Sister Zhao already become capable of refining Second Stage Three-Flower Face-Keeping Pills?"

Zhao Mingxia shook her head and said embarrassedly, "Only my Master or Senior Sister can do that; Young Lady is still only a Grade One Upper Rank Alchemist, still far from being able to refine Second Tier Upper Grade Face-Keeping Pills! But I can ask my Senior Sister or Master to help refine them!"

Lin Zhangqing nodded, placed that Face-Keeping Flower into a Jade Box, then put it into Zhao Mingxia's hand, and said, "This Spirit Medicine is given to you, Junior Sister; if you can successfully refine it and there are extras, please give one each to Junior Sister Chen and Junior Sister Hu!"

Zhao Mingxia's face turned crimson, and she shook her head to refuse, saying, "No, no; I have already taken advantage of Senior Brother too much; Young Lady will not accept it."

Lin Zhangqing smiled lightly and said, "Why not? Otherwise, consider it as Senior Brother commissioning you to refine Pills; if you can refine them, the three of you each keep one, and give the extras to me; will that work?"

Only then did Zhao Mingxia, with a red face, reluctantly agree; Chen Zi Ya and Hu Yunna also expressed their thanks to Lin Zhangqing one after another, stating they would help search for the Jade Skin Flower and the Spirit-Calming Flower.

Zhao Mingxia quickly detailed the appearance characteristics and survival habits of the other two flowers to the two of them, fearing they might encounter them without recognizing them and miss the opportunity! She stored all the Main Medicines in an unmarked Storage Bag; there were now over sixty strains of Main Medicine inside, enough to exchange for more than twenty Foundation Establishment Pills; this absolutely had to be preserved well.

After sorting and storing various items properly, they were to leave the Secret Realm tomorrow; currently, they still carried a large number of Storage Bags, Spirit Beast Bags, and Spirit Plant Bags bearing the emblems of various sects.

After discussing with the three Junior Sisters, Lin Zhangqing planned to find a spot in the dense forest to bury these items; Chen Zi Ya also took out several Storage Bags and Spirit Beast Bags bearing other sects' emblems and handed them to Lin Zhangqing for him to dispose of together.

Lin Zhangqing left the Camp, and after walking for some distance, he was just about to dig a Deep Pit to bury all these things.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: why not directly throw them into that Deep Pit within the Space to see if Lin Zhangliu could absorb them? This would count as making use of waste.

Thinking of it, he immediately acted; he swept his Divine Sense across the surroundings, and after confirming there were no people or Demon Beasts, still feeling uneasy, he released the Purple Crystal Scorpions to set up some arrangements before finally entering the Space with peace of mind.

As soon as he entered, Lu Youqiang rushed over, followed by Lu Xiaoya and Lu Xiaoling, all surrounding Lin Zhangqing and crying out "Yo-yo" incessantly.

Lin Zhangqing smoothed the fur of each one by one, then fed each a Spirit Nurturing Pill; currently, this type of Pill was the one he had the largest stock of, enough to let them eat well for a long time! After feeding them, he let them go play on their own.

Not forgetting the purpose of this entry, he came to the edge of the Deep Pit and directly threw everything in his hand into it; since no changes could be seen in a short while anyway, he might as well go check whether the three Main Medicines for the Face-Keeping Pill had matured.

Arriving at the place where Lin Zhangqing had specially planted the six Main Medicines for the Face-Keeping Pill, he discovered that Lu Youqiang's family had already accelerated the maturation of all of them.

This made things easy; he took out two Jade Boxes, harvested one strain of Jade Skin Flower and one strain of Spirit-Calming Flower respectively, leaving the rest untouched; if needed, he could come back to harvest later, as taking out too many Spirit Medicines at once was not good.

After storing the two Jade Boxes safely, he exited the Space; only after using his Divine Sense to confirm once more that there were no problems in the surroundings did he recall the Purple Crystal Scorpions and rush back to the Camp.

(End of Chapter)