Chapter 78: Secret Medicine Pavilion

Everything seemed to have returned to calm.

Man Niu, as he wished, joined the sect's mountain‑patrolling team.

However, unlike the other patrol members, he didn't rush back to the sect to rest as soon as the mission time ended. During the intervals, he spent most of his time in mortal villages continuing to exterminate ferocious beasts.

Wei Yuning's Hundred Flowers Garden also got on the right track.

The Moon Beetles haven't yielded yet, but their numbers have increased noticeably.

Moon Beetles don't demand much spirit‑herb nectar, so most of the Hundred Flowers Garden has now become a new planting base for spirit herbs.

With the help of beast dung, the spirit herbs in the Hundred Flowers Garden are of excellent quality, and Hong Le has already begun covertly moving part of the precious spirit‑herb cultivation there.

The female cultivators of the Qingluan Sect working in the Hundred Flowers Garden have also begun to integrate into the life of the Cloud Hidden Sect.

Revenue from selling spirit herbs now covers the Hundred Flowers Garden's daily expenses, and the female cultivators' salaries have risen to the level of Cloud Hidden Sect disciples.

Now, several outward‑facing outlets of the Hundred Flowers Garden have also been fixed.

The Spirit Beast Hall corresponds to Grand Peak, mainly handling the allocation and sale of some Moon Beetles, most of which are consumed internally.

The Pill Room, overseen by Hong Le, mainly deals with cooperative spirit‑herb planting and internal sales.

The outward sales are handled by the Immortal Sect Secret Medicine Pavilion; despite its grand‑sounding name, the modest shop tucked in a remote corner of Guest‑Coming Peak's Tingfeng Pavilion is actually run by the herb garden steward Hong Le, the alchemy room's Qing Fei, the artifact room's Qing Chou, and Wei Yuning himself.

Compared with a few other native cultivators of the Spirit Beast World who are also "shareholders," Wei Yuning's mind is, of course, far more agile.

Since the Cloud Hidden Sect ceased being closed off and gradually began interacting with local cultivators over the past few decades, the number of outsiders at Guest‑Coming Peak has been increasing daily.

At first, only cultivators of decent strength came. In recent years, ordinary mortals have gradually become more numerous.

Throughout the Spirit Beast World, although humans and beasts are evenly matched among top‑tier masters, in most regions wild beasts still hold a considerable advantage, including many intelligent beasts that possess social structures similar to human societies.

Operating in areas beyond human influence is extremely risky. Of course, this does not include the great merchants and nobles who can afford to hire cultivator bodyguards.

The Immortal Sect Secret Medicine Pavilion has existed for only half a month, yet it is already somewhat renowned on Guest‑Coming Peak.

Its biggest selling point is naturally the Moon Beetle seasoning; prices vary according to the proportion of Moon Beetle in the blend, so whether a sect elder or an ordinary disciple, everyone has the means to indulge.

Besides this flagship product, at Wei Yuning's suggestion the shop also sells pills, spiritual artifacts, and spirit‑herb goods provided by steward Hong Le, such as flower tea, leaf tea, flower‑essence shower gel, and so on.

The pills are not picky about quality; they only offer low‑level pills with extremely high refinement success rates, and even waste pills with some effect are sold as usual. The alchemy room has a huge stock of such discarded pills, and even a tiny spirit stone can be taken for free—these are all thanks to Qing Fei.

The spiritual artifacts come partly from Qing Chou's own forging, and most of the rest are various implements he cheaply acquired from the artifact room's disciples.

Relatively speaking, Hong Le's goods may look like fraudulent "health supplements," but their cost‑performance is actually the best, after all, where else would one find such cultivation and experience?

These "non‑mainstream" products in the cultivation world mainly cater to ordinary mortals, though some wandering cultivators or cost‑conscious sect members occasionally come to bargain.

Do not underestimate the mortals of the Spirit Beast World; the good items they possess are no worse than spirit stones. Whether various metal ores, jade, gems, or exotic treasures like wood essence, beast essence, rare birds and strange beasts, they are all valuable to cultivators.

The Cloud Hidden Sect is a major sect with an excellent reputation, and it imposes many restrictions on Guest‑Coming Peak's shops. Whether buying or trading, even with mortal partners, prices remain fair; therefore, the number of mortal merchants on Guest‑Coming Peak is not small, and doing business with them is not necessarily worse than dealing with cultivators.

After a period of cultivation, Wei Yuning handed the daily management of the Hundred Flowers Garden to Feng Ming, while Hai Yan and another Qingluan Sect female cultivator named Xue Ying took charge of the Immortal Sect Secret Medicine Pavilion.

Just as Wei Yuning was about to forget the whole Divine Martial Gate affair, that night Xu Ye arrived at his residence.

"Senior Xu Ye, you... what's wrong with you?"

Seeing the Grand Preceptor Uncle again, his previously radiant, smiling demeanor was gone; his hair had turned grizzled, his face bore many wrinkles, and he seemed suddenly much older.

Even while seated, his body was slightly hunched, as if it could barely bear its own weight.

"Alas, some techniques can't be used recklessly; my lifespan dropped fifty years in an instant. Still, it's not a big deal—after a few days when I advance to the Golden Core stage, my appearance should recover, haha!" Xu Ye still smiled, though his expression was noticeably gaunter.

"Golden Core stage? Senior, how do you know you'll enter the Golden Core stage?" This time he was truly curious.

Every hurdle in cultivation is unknown; lower realms can be accumulated, but higher realms rely entirely on insight—this is a hallmark of Divine Consciousness Sect cultivators. Before advancing, no one dares to guarantee they will succeed.

"Hehe, I sensed the realm early, so I knew! Never mind that—how have you been lately?" Xu Ye shifted the topic.

"Well, it's fine! Senior, coming this late—do you have something to discuss?" Wei Yuning asked.

"Nothing, I just came from Lotus Peak, thought about it and had nowhere to go, so I just sat here with you!" Xu Ye shrugged.

"Oh, I see!" Wei Yuning replied.

Among the senior members of the sect, Xu Ye has helped him a lot, but Xu Ye has always appeared as an elder; such a friend‑like conversation is rare, leaving him a bit uneasy and at a loss for words.

The two sat face‑to‑face for a while; when Xu Ye saw Wei Yuning remain silent, he couldn't help asking, "Kid, don't you have anything to ask?"

"Ask... ask what?" Wei Yuning said anxiously.

"Of course I'm asking about the mission to capture the Immortal Envoy!" Xu Ye snapped.

"I... Grand Preceptor Uncle, I'm not interested in that now!" Wei Yuning answered frankly.

At first, Wei Yuning was indeed extremely interested in the details of this operation, but after Qiu Hu and Ye Ying left, his heart gradually cooled.

In the cultivation world, strength truly reigns; a powerful sect can be wiped out in an instant. Capturing an Immortal Envoy is an unimaginable task, yet the Cloud Hidden Sect simply decided to do it.

Although the incident originated with him, its later development far exceeded his expectations.

Regarding the sect, Wei Yuning feels sincere gratitude; if the sect didn't intervene this time, his chance of dying and his Dao vanishing would be virtually certain.

Precisely because of that, he feels even more depressed.

Because his fate is completely beyond his control.

And Qiu Hu's departure dealt a fatal blow to him.

Thus, he now feels somewhat indifferent to everything. If something is beyond his control, it's best not to meddle; doing what he can is the correct path.

For example, cultivation requires earning money, and helping nearby friends within his ability.

Xu Ye's eyes scanned Wei Yuning from top to bottom, gradually showing shock.

"I feel you resemble that old monster Yong Nian!" Xu Ye said, noting that Wei Yuning's figure seemed both real and illusory; the harder he tried to pinpoint his position, the more vague it became.

"Senior, why do you say that?" Wei Yuning asked curiously. He was deeply impressed by that great master who called everyone brother.

He knew his own affairs; that day in Wind Lotus Garden he suddenly entered a state of sudden enlightenment, seeming to gain a new understanding of space. Though his mortal body couldn't achieve the long‑distance teleportation of a divine consciousness, he could still shift within a small area. Moreover, his body showed signs of merging with the surrounding space, a feeling of unity with heaven and earth.

"I can't say why, but you kid are also a monster, quite bizarre!" Xu Ye shook his head, neither probing further nor fully praising, offering a half‑praise, half‑rebuke.

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment, senior!" Wei Yuning said.

"Kid, your condition's off; you weren't like this before! Never mind, no more small talk—this time I came because someone asked me to," Xu Ye straightened his expression and said.

Wei Yuning sat up straight, making an effort to listen attentively.

He had guessed early that Xu Ye had business; otherwise, a master of that caliber could not possibly have the spare time to chat with him.