“Get in!”
The cold-faced warrior tried to kick Ling Xiao into the stone chamber, but Ling Xiao easily dodged, causing the warrior to stumble into the chamber himself due to overexertion.
Fortunately, there were no traps or hidden weapons inside, and the cold-faced warrior escaped unscathed.
Ling Xiao smiled, “Thanks for scouting the way.”
He stepped inside.
“What a cunning guy, hard to deal with!” the Exquisite Fairy muttered, biting her lip, vowing that Ling Xiao must not leave alive, or killing him later would be difficult.
This kid was as slippery as an eel.
The stone chamber was spacious, easily accommodating dozens without feeling cramped.
Yet, its furnishings were simple: a bed carved from thousand-year-old ice, still exuding a chilly aura, a stone table, a few stone stools, and wall niches holding books, many of which had rotted.
On the ice bed sat an old man, his body unrotted, likely preserved by the bed, his face even retaining a hint of colour.
The three were startled at first, mistaking the corpse for a living person.
Given the cave’s sophisticated design, its owner was likely a Heaven-Human Realm expert; if alive, they’d all be dead.
Far from the bed, a medicinal garden had been carved out, with water dripping from stalactites to nourish it.
The light-absorbing formation provided enough sunlight for the herbs to survive.
Ling Xiao’s gaze was drawn entirely to the garden, while the Exquisite Fairy and cold-faced warrior fixated on several chests beside the bed.
Though locked, the chests’ locks were corroded by time and easily opened.
Ling Xiao had no interest in them, having seen through to their contents: mere gold and silver.
Such things held little value to him now.
The garden’s herbs, however, thrilled him.
“Ginseng Fruit, Thousand-Leaf Grass, Dragon-Tail Ginseng, Sumeru Fruit…”
Each was a priceless rare herb, some with tens of thousands of years of growth, even showing signs of sentience.
Others, a few hundred or thousand years old, were newer sprouts.
“Vitality Fruit!”
Ling Xiao suddenly spotted another key ingredient for the Nine-Dragon Quenching Pill: Vitality Fruit.
There wasn’t just one.
The small tree bore thirteen Vitality Fruits, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of years old.
They clearly hadn’t grown at the same time, but they were undoubtedly Vitality Fruits.
The tree looked ordinary, but the fruits radiated intense vitality, brimming with immense energy.
Each fruit was shrouded in a mysterious white glow, clearly extraordinary.
Neither Nine-Dragon Grass nor Vitality Fruit was easy to obtain; Ling Xiao had asked Elder Yang to search for them multiple times at the sect, to no avail.
Finding both during this expedition proved venturing out was the right choice, timely too, as staying in the sect would’ve yielded no such opportunity.
Unexpected gains always brought greater joy.
“Cold Face, kill him!” the Exquisite Fairy’s voice shattered Ling Xiao’s delight.
A chill struck from behind.
Without hesitation, Ling Xiao transplanted the entire garden into his Mountain River World, alongside his existing Golden Snow Lotus.
“Wait!” the Exquisite Fairy cried, seeing the garden vanish.
Though not an alchemist, her family’s herb trade gave her some knowledge, and she knew these herbs were worth far more than gold or silver.
The cold-faced warrior halted his attack, looking at her in confusion.
“Ling, hand over the garden, and I’ll spare your life!” she demanded, her words explaining her urgency.
The cold-faced warrior suddenly understood why Ling Xiao had rushed to the garden: he’d spotted the treasure.
“Heh, what if I say no?” Ling Xiao smiled, “Sorry, Fairy, I need these herbs for a pill. Take the gold and silver, I don’t want them.”
“Think carefully, if you don’t hand over the garden, you won’t leave here alive!” the Exquisite Fairy said, frowning.
Though confident she could kill Ling Xiao, something felt off, why was he so bold and relaxed?
Did he not fear her killing him?
“I’d like to see anyone try to stop me,” Ling Xiao said with a laugh, “Care to test it?”
“You really won’t cry till you see the coffin, Fairy, no more talk, let’s capture him alive, our methods will make him obey,” the cold-faced warrior said, lacking her patience.
He’d wanted to kill Ling Xiao since she showed him any praise, and his blinding by the Ghostfire Bug only intensified his intent.
“Oh, you sure you don’t want to check what’s in that senior’s storage ring?” Ling Xiao said suddenly, “Valuable treasures are usually kept in storage rings, if you don’t want it, how about giving it to me?”
His words jolted the Exquisite Fairy and cold-faced warrior, realising they’d nearly missed the key prize.
They turned to the corpse, and sure enough, a delicate storage ring adorned the old man’s hand.
They weren’t worried about Ling Xiao escaping, with two peak fourth-level warriors guarding the entrance.
“Come here!” the Exquisite Fairy called.
“What, afraid to touch the senior’s body and want me to do it?” Ling Xiao said disdainfully.
“I’ll let the garden go if you retrieve that storage ring for us, and we’ll let you live,” she said, gritting her teeth.
