Chapter 138: This—It Is

Lin Manzhi took a deep breath, carrying the Concentrated Spirit Dew toward the lower floor.

This five‑story little villa had become the exclusive residence of her and Mo Lie, and Hua Zheng had already moved into a house in the adjacent courtyard.

She entered the fourth‑floor room that had been converted into her potion‑refining lab and sealed the doors and windows tightly.

All around was dim; she reached out, felt a thick rope by the doorway wall, pulled it down, and lowered the room's chandelier to chest‑height.

The black‑iron chandelier was a beautiful lotus shape; each of its sixteen lamps held a pale‑yellow cylindrical candle. Lin Manzhi walked over, took the flint from the desk and lit them one by one, then returned to the wall and pulled the control rope upward.

Warm yellow flame hovered at the center of the ceiling, bathing the room in a warm hue; in the middle stood a broad, sturdy wooden table, clean and tidy, with a chair beside it, and behind it a wall of herb cabinets.

Lin Manzhi hurried to the herb cabinet, took a small porcelain bottle of potion, turned, walked a few steps, pulled out the chair by the desk and sat down.

This was the house arranged by Mo Lie according to the Shamaness's medicine‑training room; the herb cabinet at the back was a meticulously custom‑made piece that could hold a hundred kinds of herbs, but unfortunately most of its compartments were empty.

Lin Manzhi set the small porcelain bottle aside, spread a black cloth on the desk, and gently placed the Concentrated Spirit Dew onto the black cloth.

All right, don't be nervous.

She had practiced extracting the potion so many times that she was extremely familiar with it.

Even if this extraction failed, there were still seven more Concentrated Spirit Dew in the storage; at worst she could let Mo Lie gnaw them directly, and the quantity alone would achieve the potion's effect.

Lin Manzhi focused, slowly releasing a strand of pheromone like spider silk toward the Concentrated Spirit Dew.

After a dozen minutes, the translucent leaf of the Concentrated Spirit Dew withered before her eyes, like ancient silk buried for millennia meeting oxygen; Lin Manzhi's pheromone retracted and, under the candlelight, crumbled into a powder resembling blue smoke and dissipated.

Staring at a soybean‑sized transparent droplet floating in midair, Lin Manzhi dared not breathe, picked up the small porcelain bottle on the desk, and used the pheromone strand to gently guide the droplet into the bottle.

She sealed the lid in one smooth motion.

It succeeded!!

Lin Manzhi's face lit with joy as she held the small porcelain bottle, as if cradling a priceless treasure.

This—this is Concentrated Spirit Dew!

Lin Manzhi wanted to unscrew the cap and examine it closely, but an overcautious feeling held her back, fearing what would happen if the potion evaporated upon contact with air.

The potion was clearly wrapped in pheromone, so evaporation was impossible, yet the thought that the Concentrated Spirit Dew was meant to heal Mo Lie sparked an intense protective instinct within her.

A crisp 'ding‑ling' bell rang at the doorway; at that moment someone arrived in the villa's courtyard.

Lin Manzhi returned the small porcelain bottle in her hand to the storage space, her mind buzzing with excitement, and her smile never faded.

What a wonderful day…

Humming lightly, Lin Manzhi walked down to the first floor to open the door herself.

Hua Zheng, waiting at the door, looked up at the smiling Lin Manzhi, entered the hall, set the box he was cradling on the floor, and said, "Master! This is the profit from the lettuce that Shamaness Su gave you last time—14,220 gold coins. I've counted them; there's no discrepancy."

He glanced at Lin Manzhi with eyes flashing bright, and said, "This time I went to the Wushen Temple to deliver lettuce; the Great Witch Su told me to bring you great news—she has received a summons from the Great Witch and will set out for the Mountain Classic Beast Temple in a few days."

Although she had already known this day's news, Lin Manzhi reached for the box of gold coins on the floor, paused, then straightened up while still holding the box.

Shamaness Su finally entered the Mountain Classic Beast Temple as she wished; it won't be long before she meets the heroine, right?

Come to think of it, no one has mentioned a method like simmering Chinese medicine until now; could it be because she's been staying in Xicheng Qu, isolated from news?

It didn't concern her, but Lin Manzhi was simply curious.

She nodded calmly, placed the gold‑filled box on the high table by the wall that held a vase, counted out a hundred coins and handed them to Hua Zheng.

Hua Zheng now calmly accepted the hundred coins.

Lin Manzhi asked, "Has Su Li arranged personnel to receive the lettuce herbs?"

Hua Zheng slipped the coins into his waist pouch, looked at her and nodded, "Yes, yes."

He sneered, "Shamaness Su still wants us to take the lettuce to Leitingcheng, the city nearest the Mountain Classic Beast Temple, for trade. The lettuce herbs are hard to preserve, so I refused her then… I'm just a delivery person, I can't make decisions. Su didn't say much, and she assigned a shamaness named Wen Jing to take over the receipt of the lettuce herbs for her."

Lin Manzhi was very pleased, "Well done!"

She hadn't hidden the lettuce cultivation from Hua Zheng, which was convenient; now there's no need for him to run back and forth, and the lettuce matter can be handled smoothly.

"Master," Hua Zheng asked, "Should we deliver the lettuce to shamaness Wen Jing? Will Shamaness Su later use this as a pretext?"

Lin Manzhi replied, "Our contract is directly with Su Li herself; the lettuce quantity and the potion are accounted for, so it doesn't really matter who Su Li appoints as an agent…"

She thought for a moment, felt something was off, and lightly furrowed her brows: "But you're right to worry; we still need a supplemental agreement to change the agent. I'll draft a supplemental contract now and have both Su Li and Wen Jing seal it with their handprints."

Doing business can't be sloppy; there's no need to leave a loophole in the contract. Although cooperation with Su Li is going smoothly, business is business, and it's better to keep everything proper.

Hua Zheng stood at the doorway, listening attentively to Lin Manzhi.

When she finished, he nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll go back now to find Shamaness Su."

Lin Manzhi turned and went upstairs to write the new supplemental contract, while Hua Zheng waited downstairs.

As for whether Su Li, seeing Hua Zheng return so quickly with the contract, would overthink that the lettuce's owner is in Kuangsha City, that's no longer that important.

First, Mo Lie is in Kuangsha City; if he were to compare strength with the other four leaders, he would certainly be the strongest in Xicheng Qu, having already assembled an army of twenty‑thousand Beastfolk soldiers.

Second, Su Li is about to leave Kuangsha City; she relies on the lettuce herbs, which are the foundation of her foothold in the Mountain Classic Beast Temple.

Su Li would fear offending the owner of the lettuce herbs and breaching the contract; even if she guessed that the lettuce is cultivated in Kuangsha City, the clever Su would never reveal where the herbs are, keeping it tightly concealed for her.

Finally, she now has the potion made from Concentrated Spirit Dew… Mo Lie's shattered Spirit Core can't be fully healed yet, but his dire condition will improve somewhat.