Chapter 246: A Bit Guilty

After turning the medicinal materials into candy for Zi Yan, Xiao Yan curiously followed her to the entrance of a warehouse.

Through Zi Yan's introduction, Xiao Yan learned that this was the Inner Court's medicinal materials warehouse, overseen by Elder Hao. All the materials stored here were acquired by the academy.

Some students who foraged for medicinal materials in the wild could choose to sell them in the trading zone, directly exchanging them with the Inner Court for Fire Energy or even Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques.

Over time, this accumulated a large quantity of medicinal materials.

As the Inner Court's storage for precious medicinal materials, this warehouse had extremely strict defenses—not only was it guarded by Elder Hao, a Dou Wang, but also patrolled around the clock by a dozen or so Mentors; ordinary students were strictly forbidden from entering.

But this peculiar creature, Zi Yan, could manipulate Space and tore through the Barrier to sneak inside the warehouse!

Xiao Yan was one hundred percent certain that Zi Yan's Bloodline Power allowed her to traverse Space, and it bore similarities to the ability of Void Devouring Flame!

Following Zi Yan as she walked slowly inside, Xiao Yan glanced around, and his face gradually filled with awe—the entire room's walls were wrapped in a layer of milky-white jade, even the floor beneath his feet was seamlessly paved with perfectly aligned white jade blocks, and a faint luminescence emanated from these jade surfaces.

"Truly a grand gesture—no wonder this is the Inner Court's medicinal materials warehouse," Xiao Yan murmured in amazement; this white jade was extremely valuable, yet ideal for preserving medicinal materials—in such a sealed space, precious herbs lost virtually no potency, and their storage life was greatly extended; this setup far surpassed what Xiao Yan could achieve with his Storage Ring.

Only the Yun Lan Sect's medicinal materials warehouse had such a display—Mei Du Sha's impoverished treasury couldn't compare at all.

Within the spacious room wrapped in white jade, several corridors were set up, each lined with towering cabinets also entirely crafted from white jade; Xiao Yan casually entered one corridor and glanced into a cabinet—immediately, various strangely shaped medicinal materials, unmistakably rare, stood quietly inside, faintly emitting distinct herbal aromas.

"Yin Han Mo Yan Cao, Zi Ling Su Ti Hua… this one, isn't it called… Han Xue Guo?"

As his steps slowly passed along the cabinets, the bizarre medicinal materials on display made Xiao Yan's astonishment grow deeper—eventually, he couldn't even name some of them, yet from the herbal fragrances they emitted, he knew they were absolutely rare Spiritual Medicinal Materials.

But all these medicinal materials were enclosed within energy barriers.

"Do you want this?" Zi Yan's Jade Hand passed effortlessly through the energy barrier and pulled out a Dou Wang Herb!

Xiao Yan swallowed hard; had his reason not held firm, he might have been tempted to snatch every single herb into his Storage Ring—but the thought flashed through his mind and was immediately suppressed.

If he truly did this, he'd never be able to stay in the Inner Court, and his goal of obtaining the Falling Heart Flame would be ruined—no matter how precious these herbs were, they couldn't compare to the Falling Heart Flame.

Xiao Yan was one hundred percent certain that Zi Yan could take herbs from here not only because of her special ability, but also because the Inner Court was actively nurturing her.

Taking herbs from here would almost certainly be discovered.

Xiao Yan swallowed again and shook his head. "You should take fewer from now on—taking too much might…"

As Xiao Yan was earnestly lecturing Zi Yan, suddenly a palm-sized fruit caught his attention.

"Dragon Whisker Ice-Fire Fruit!!! The final main ingredient for the Earth Spirit Pill!" Xiao Yan was startled—he never expected to find it here!

Zi Yan raised an eyebrow, smiled knowingly, and her slender hand appeared as if out of thin air, passing through the Protective Barrier to pull out the Dragon Whisker Ice-Fire Fruit and wave it in front of Xiao Yan.

"Little Yanzi, do you want this fruit?" With her long pale purple hair hanging to her waist, Zi Yan's impossibly youthful face now bore a devilish grin—especially her tiny fangs, which looked exactly like those of a demon.

In Xiao Yan's eyes, this was a demon luring him into corruption!

Xiao Yan sighed. He definitely wanted it.

Xiao Yan pulled out a Brocade Box from his Storage Ring and handed it to Zi Yan, sighing helplessly. "Alright, I won't take it for free—this contains a low-grade Five-Grade Elixir, its value is exactly equal to the Dragon Whisker Ice-Fire Fruit."

"Put this inside for me—this counts as a proper exchange."

Xiao Yan still held to his principle of not stealing in front of Zi Yan; even if it was one-sided, it was still an exchange.

Watching Zi Yan pout, Xiao Yan gently stroked her small head—he knew perfectly well what she was thinking. Taking herbs directly from the warehouse was far easier and safer than fighting powerful Magic Beasts in the wild; she wanted his approval.

"If you need more medicinal materials later, I'll go find them with you."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. Here, this is your reward for leading me to the Dragon Whisker Ice-Fire Fruit."

Xiao Yan pulled out another Brocade Box and handed it to Zi Yan; she opened it eagerly, and instantly a green glow erupted, a scorching wave of Fire Energy pouring out from within.

Inside lay a Fire Lotus Seed, calm and serene, resembling a green gemstone.

The energy contained within this Fire Lotus Seed was no weaker than any Five-Grade Medicinal Material, and it was perfectly suited for Zi Yan.

"Who's in there!!" A roar suddenly came from the doorway—the energy of the Fire Lotus Seed had alerted Elder Hao!

"Run! If he catches us, we'll get scolded again!" Zi Yan and Xiao Yan instantly spread their wings and flew out through the hole Zi Yan had torn open.

By the time Elder Hao arrived, the two little thieves had long since vanished.

"Definitely that little brat Zi Yan—really, does she treat my place like a restaurant? She shows up every few days for a meal!"

"Hmm? What's this?" Elder Hao frowned in confusion—the Dragon Whisker Ice-Fire Fruit was gone, replaced by a Brocade Box.

Elder Hao pulled out his Jade Token, deactivated the Protective Barrier, retrieved the Brocade Box, and opened it—inside lay a round, plump Elixir.

"Five-Grade Elixir!"

Elder Hao was stunned—herbs turned into Elixir?!

Most interestingly, the Six-Rank Ice-Type Magic Core needed for the Earth Spirit Pill, Xiao Yan eventually obtained from Elder Hao himself, trading the Fire Lotus Seed for it.

Another month passed quickly; Xiao Yan trained again for twenty days in Training Room No. 1, but this time he did not break through from Sixth-Star Dou Spirit to Seventh-Star—even with his innate advantages and the powerful Burning Decree, advancing from Sixth-Star Dou Spirit to Seventh-Star couldn't be achieved in just twenty days.

Yet now Xiao Yan faced a greater trial than improving his strength: resisting temptation.

"Come in," Mei Du Sha's cold voice came from inside the room; Xiao Yan silently repeated Xun Er's name in his mind to dispel distractions.

But when Xiao Yan stepped into the room and saw Mei Du Sha immersed in the wooden tub, he wavered slightly.

Although Xiao Yan could only see above her shoulders, the beauty was within arm's reach—her powdered neck exposed, skin like congealed fat, red hair coiled up, droplets of water falling from her hair tips—this scene was beyond description, a perfect, flawless image; even Xiao Yan couldn't help but marvel—it was simply too beautiful.

Xiao Yan's mind began to imagine involuntarily—what kind of alluring curves and contours lay beneath the water, what kind of intoxicating sight awaited him.

A natural seductress, exquisitely alluring!

Mei Du Sha's eyes hardened. "Have you had enough?"

"No, no no, I've had enough!" Xiao Yan, sensing the bone-chilling killing intent, scrambled behind Mei Du Sha and trembled as his right hand lightly pressed against her smooth back.

The instant his hand touched her skin, his Spiritual Soul trembled.

"Poisoned! I'm poisoned!" Xiao Yan shouted inwardly—he was utterly devoted to Xun Er; this was just poisoning!

Mei Du Sha had three forms: the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent's serpent form, the human form with red hair—but Mei Du Sha's true form was the one with a human upper body and a serpent lower body—the same form that had attacked Xiao Yan a month ago.

Streams of Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame flowed into Mei Du Sha's body through her skin, refining the absorbed Flame Energy.

About half a day later, Xiao Yan retracted all the flames, exhaled deeply, and said: "Your body has fully recovered to Sixth Rank, but reaching Seventh Rank requires immense energy—relying solely on the Flame Energy in Training Room No. 1, it might take forever."

Sixth Rank is already the level of a Dou Huang—far exceeding the strength of Inner Court students, even surpassing Elders; significant effects only appear on the ninth or tenth floor.

The energy acceleration in Chamber No. 1 is no longer as noticeable.

A flash of seven-colored light appeared; Mei Du Sha swiftly dressed herself and reverted to human form, her jade foot lightly pressing against Space as she asked coldly, "Can't we go to the eighth level?"

Xiao Yan let out a bitter laugh and said to the beautiful yet icy Mei Du Sha, "You make it sound so easy. Not only is the eighth level restricted to Elders, I can't even afford this Fire Energy."

Xiao Yan cried. His Fire Energy card had barely over a hundred left! Forty days in Chamber No. 1 had consumed twelve hundred Fire Energy, and with this barrel of Medicinal Essence, Xiao Yan's entire savings were drained.

How miserable! They said I'd live off soft meals—so why am I the one spending money now?!

Seeing Xiao Yan's pitiful expression, Mei Du Sha's icy face softened slightly.

Suddenly, Xiao Yan leapt to his feet, his eyes filled with panic, saying, "Quick, go back first."

Mei Du Sha glanced at the door but said nothing, transforming into a streak of light that returned to the blue lotus and was absorbed into the Storage Ring.

With a slap of his palm, Void Swallowing Flame whooshed and burned the wooden barrel into nothingness; then Xiao Yan looked around nervously and pulled out the Alchemy Furnace, tossing in several Medicinal Materials to extract waves of Medicinal Aroma.

A knock came at the door: "Brother Xiao Yan, are you free now?"

Hearing Xun Er's voice, Xiao Yan hurriedly straightened his clothes and internally chuckled bitterly: "I didn't do anything at all—why am I feeling guilty?!"

The previous chapter was under review again—just read the next chapter for now.

(End of Chapter)