Chapter 84: An Impossible Task

Xue Duoduo was so provoked by Hai Yan's words that she nearly smashed up the shop on the spot, but the two shop assistants' subsequent conversation almost made her burst out laughing.

Since Wei Yuning was willing to honor their verbal agreement, she dropped the idea of making trouble. As for the price, she did not care—she was not short of money anyway.

"Good, now that's what a proper businessperson looks like. Remember to guarantee the quality!" Xue Duoduo said, lifting her chin smugly.

"Secret Medicine Pavilion's products are honest and trustworthy to young and old alike!" Wei Yuning said.

"Oh, that's a good line," Xue Duoduo's eyes lit up. She looked Wei Yuning up and down with an expression of pleasant surprise, then suddenly broke into a radiant smile. "Young Master Yuning, I never expected you to be a business genius. If you're interested, I can act as your guarantor and invite you to join the Hundred Alliance Merchant Guild!"

Before Wei Yuning could react, Xue Ying beside them said excitedly, "That's great! Boss, hurry up and agree to her! Hurry up and agree to him!"

Wei Yuning looked at Xue Ying in confusion. Xue Ying's face was flushed red with excitement, nodding at him repeatedly.

Wei Yuning had an easygoing personality to begin with—agreeing or not was all the same to him. Seeing Xue Ying so excited, he could not bear to reject his friend's goodwill, so he nodded and said, "All right, I'm interested. But there's no rush on this matter. I need to go back first and… prepare some Moon Zhu sauce!"

He hurried away.

One hundred bottles of top-grade sauce meant fifty Moon Zhu insects. The normal time for catching the insects had already passed, so he would have to use special methods.

Time was very tight!

Seeing Wei Yuning leave, Xue Duoduo nodded and smiled at Xue Ying, then walked out of the small shop with the burly middle-aged man, chin held high.

As for the money for the three bottles of Ten-Li Fragrance, no one asked her for it. Neither Hai Yan nor Xue Ying thought Xue Duoduo would skip out on the bill and run away.

After Xue Duoduo and the burly middle-aged man left the shop and walked some distance away, the man laughed and said to Xue Duoduo, "Eldest Miss, your methods are brilliant. Not only have you secured a stable supply of Ten-Li Fragrance, you've also gained a free helper. Haha!"

"Heh, he's still a bit too green to take advantage of this young lady! But... this disciple of the Cloud Concealment Sect does have a real talent for business. He might make a decent partner in the future. From now on... don't brush him off!" Xue Duoduo instructed, looking very casual.

The burly middle-aged man's expression turned stern, and he said solemnly, "Yes, Eldest Miss!"

Pill Peak, Herb Garden.

A group of short-sleeved servants holding sharp spades stood at the foot of a low slope, listening to Wei Yuning speak from the top. Beside Wei Yuning stood a familiar face—Chang Fei of the Hegemon Blade Hall. He had now reached Foundation Establishment, and his Dao name was "Yifei."

Ever since they met at the marriage alliance assembly, Chang Fei and Wei Yuning had maintained a good relationship. The only thing that slightly displeased Chang Fei was that Wei Yuning had become his actual martial uncle. Fortunately, Wei Yuning never put on the airs of a senior with him, and in private they addressed each other as brothers. However, the sect's rules were there—even if neither of them wanted to, they still had to address each other as martial uncle and martial nephew in public.

Although the total number of Moon Zhu insects on Pill Peak was unknown, for the sake of long-term sustainable cycling, Wei Yuning generally only caught ten insects per day or fewer. Adding the insects caught by fellow disciples in other herb gardens, the daily total came to no more than twelve or thirteen.

In the past, the Moon Zhu insects caught by the Herb Garden disciples were all handed over to the sect to fulfill missions. Ever since Wei Yuning began producing standardized sauce products, the disciples had one after another started turning their harvests over to Wei Yuning instead.

The reason was simple: the Secret Medicine Pavilion's purchase price was very high. Based on the size of the insect, the lowest price was still ten times the original rate.

Although this greatly fired up the Herb Garden disciples' enthusiasm for catching insects, they did not have Wei Yuning's ability, so their daily harvest remained meager.

Opening the Herb Garden to let outer hall disciples enter and catch insects was even more intolerable to them—this income had already become an exclusive perk for the Herb Garden disciples.

Consuming fifty insects in a single day like today, Wei Yuning of course knew was inappropriate, but desperate times called for desperate measures. At worst, he could simply supply a little less over the next few days.

After all, a sucker like Xue Duoduo was not someone you could run into very often.

With sufficient spirit grass petal nectar, the future yield of Moon Zhu insects could be expected to rise, and the price could not stay high forever.

This was a group of servant disciples borrowed from the Hegemon Blade Hall, subordinates of his good friend Chang Fei. Having a good background had its perks—as soon as one became a formal disciple, one would be given priority for certain positions.

These disciples all had metal-element spiritual roots and could imbue tools with sharp metal Qi. Once enchanted, the tools could not only dig through soil but even slice through rock as easily as cutting tofu, for a short period of time.

The Hegemon Blade Hall disciples were skilled in combat and in teamwork. Their job was simple: under Wei Yuning's direction, quickly dig out the Moon Zhu insects hiding in the rock or soil.

Time was tight. Wei Yuning briefly introduced the method, then began the insect-catching work.

"Directly below the white stone, fifteen degrees to the left, three and a half feet deep—dig fast!" Soon, Wei Yuning's Heavenly Nose detected the location of the first insect.

"How much is fifteen degrees?" a servant muttered before long.

"Idiot, didn't Martial Uncle Yuning just explain? A full circle is three hundred sixty degrees, an outstretched arm is one hundred eighty degrees. How much is fifteen degrees... figure it out yourself!" Chang Fei barked angrily from the side.

"I... I can't figure it out!"

"Forget it, three and a half feet deep—just dig first!" A clever servant immediately got to work.

The iron spades imbued with sharp metal Qi were exceptionally sharp. Five or six servants working together dug in unison, and in two minutes' time, they had carved out a circular stone about one foot in diameter.

"Martial Uncle, are you sure the insect is in there?" Chang Fei asked with a puzzled expression.

"Of course!" Wei Yuning said, his face flushed red as he muttered.

He quickly covered the stone with a golden silkworm thread net pouch, then finally let out a long breath. The redness on his face rapidly faded.

In truth, he had underestimated the difficulty of catching Moon Zhu insects outside their normal time.

After sunrise, Moon Zhu insects would burrow underground. Most would dig deep, while only a few would remain within one to three meters of the surface.

If it was loose soil, his Heavenly Nose's sensing range was about three meters. If it was rock, the range did not exceed one and a half meters.

His Heavenly Nose could certainly find the insects in the shallow surface layer, but how to keep them from escaping was a major problem.

Left with no choice, he could only use his innate Entanglement Art to seal off a certain area underground.

Moon Zhu insects' burrowing ability was extremely formidable—rock was as fragile as tofu to them. Wei Yuning used every ounce of his strength to barely keep them under control.

In less than five minutes total, the first Moon Zhu insect was placed into a slender long-necked jade bottle inscribed with a minor sealing array.

Chang Fei and the group of servants looked at Wei Yuning with reverent eyes.

Wei Yuning knew his own situation—his head was still in a daze, and how to control the insects going forward was still a problem.

If he followed this method, fifty Moon Zhu insects would be an impossible task.

With no other option, he tried communicating with the golden ancient pine. The ancient pine emitted a burst of divine sense of unclear meaning, then gave no further response.

Wei Yuning filled in the blanks and translated it himself: "Stop bothering me, I'm busy!"

In his internal vision, the ancient pine's appearance had changed slightly. Its branches and leaves had begun to grow a little. Though still small, it at last somewhat resembled a tree, no longer a bare thick pole.

He also tried communicating with the Monarch Butterfly girl. As expected, it was still an automatic reply. Ever since leaving the Colorful Butterfly Garden, the Monarch Butterfly had been slumbering inside the beast ring.

He hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind. Through divine sense, he sent a greeting to his new visualization, the "Pseudo-Realm Butterfly."

"Master, what have you been busy with lately?"