The piercing wind still howled outside the Green Spirit Pharmacy, bringing with it a sense of terror. The thousands of cold, haughty Wind Guardians filled the city with a very somber and frigid aura.

“The little thief is probably on his knees begging the patriarch for mercy right now!”

“Hmph! Pleading for forgiveness might work if we lived in a world of peace.”

“Considering he stole our holy relic, the patriarch will do as usual and skin him alive. Maybe turn him into a decorative lantern. The fat from his corpse can be the oil, and his soul can burn forever within it.”

The Wind Guardians were all sneering grimly, especially the ones Xu Qing had clashed with before. All of them felt full of excitement and anticipation.

“However arrogant the little thief was that day, that’s how miserable he’ll be today!”

“He stole our holy relic and then evaded our pursuit. He’s got some skill, I’ll give him that. But it won’t do him any good right now. When faced with overwhelming power, he’s doomed to suffer.”

“If the patriarch turns him into a lamp, I’ll definitely borrow that lamp and have lots of fun with it in my mansion grotto.”

“And then there’s that detestable parrot and the evil spirit!”

The Wind Guardians who had clashed with Xu Qing were gathered in the same area, and were chuckling with each other as they kept eyes on the medicine shop.

Patriarch Wind Guardian had been inside for a while, but none of them were worried, not even the four Spirit Trove Wind Guardians.

As they watched the door of the Green Spirit Pharmacy, they didn’t detect the tiniest fluctuation from inside. But that wasn’t unusual. Given Patriarch Wind Guardian’s cultivation base, no one outside should have been able to detect him taking any action.

“Sadly for the culprit, our patriarch will be able to crush him with a single glance.”

“According to what I heard, years ago when the patriarch was out adventuring, he liked to turn his enemies into little toys and gadgets. I imagine he’s just coming up with something new to turn this guy into.”

“Well, isn’t this interesting.”

As the four Spirit Trove Wind Guardians joked and chatted, the people observing from outside the city were sighing as they looked on. All of them knew that the Wind Guardians were doing more than just destroying a little medicine shop.

“This mudbrick city is going to turn into a hell on earth.”

“Given this species’ tendencies, I bet they’re going to turn this city into a never-ending windstorm, just to show everyone else how strong and terrifying they are.”

“That said, have any of you noticed that… it’s been quite a while since Patriarch Wind Guardian went inside?”

As the cultivators on the outside and the Wind Guardians inside the city discussed the matter, time passed. Eventually two full hours had gone by.

Around then, people started to realize that something strange was going on. Cultivators inside and outside the city were now paying even closer attention to the Green Spirit Pharmacy.

Eventually, the four Spirit Trove Wind Guardians started to realize that the time really was stretching out too long. After exchanging glances, they prepared to approach the medicine shop. However, that was when the door of the shop slowly creaked open. Countless gazes locked onto the door, most of them filled with anticipation, excitement, and concentration. But then, only a moment later, countless eyes widened.

Patriarch Wind Guardian was visible inside the door. His face a mask of politeness, he slowly backed out, bowing and scraping as he said, “Sorry to disturb all of you. I didn’t understand the situation. Please forgive me for any trouble.”

Even after he was outside, he kept bowing deeply in the direction of the Green Spirit Pharmacy.

“I’ll send our other holy relics over immediately. They function as a set, so it’s best not to keep them apart for long, and besides, I can’t do as good a job of keeping them as safe as you. Going forward, if you need assistance in anything, just press that jade pendant. It doesn’t matter what it is, I’ll rush over immediately. And now, I’m really going to say farewell. I truly apologize!”

The trembling patriarch bowed yet again. Then the door slammed shut. The cold wind blew through the streets of the city. No one made a sound…. The Wind Guardians were dumbfounded. The cultivators outside the city were stupefied. Because the wind carried the patriarch’s polite words through the city, everyone heard them. It almost didn’t seem real. None of them could have predicted that Patriarch Wind Guardian would do or say anything like this. It seemed completely and utterly impossible. Yet, it was clearly happening.

Patriarch Wind Guardian stood outside of the Green Spirit Pharmacy in the cold wind, and he could feel himself trembling. As the chill spread through his body, it combined with the pounding of his heart to create an intense level of terror. Because his cultivation base was so high, it had been a long time since he felt the type of coldness that mortals would feel. But right now, he felt it. Deeply. He didn’t want to think any more about what happened inside. Nor did he want to stick around this place. Shivering, he slowly turned around.

The four Spirit Trove Wind Guardians looked at him hesitantly.

“Patriarch…?”

“Patriarch, what happened?”

The patriarch shook his head. Eyes shimmering with terror, he lowered his voice and said, “Don’t ask. Don’t ever bring it up. We’re leaving. Now!”

Deeply shaken, the four Spirit Trove cultivators clustered around the patriarch and flew off. The leader of the Wind Guardians who had clashed with Xu Qing before was flabbergasted, and couldn’t help but give voice to his concerns.

“Patriarch, that little thief—”

Before he could finish speaking, Patriarch Wind Guardian turned and waved his hand. Blood sprayed out of the young Wind Guardian’s mouth as he was knocked off into the distance, where he flopped to the ground unconscious.

“He’s a grandmaster!” the patriarch said furiously. “I dare anyone to talk about him casually!”

As the surrounding Wind Guardians trembled in confusion, their patriarch flew off into the distance. Before long, thousands of figures were seen leaving the mudbrick city and disappearing into the wind.

The observers from the various factions who had been watching from outside the city couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment. And then they looked at the Green Spirit Pharmacy with new eyes.

“What’s going on??”

“Am I seeing things? Is this a figment of my imagination? Why did it seem like the patriarch of the Wind Guardians was shaking…?”

“What happened to him? How could Patriarch Wind Guardian go into the place looking so arrogant, then come out looking like that?”

“There’s something very unusual about the Green Spirit Pharmacy!!”

As the gasps rang out, countless eyes filled with dread, and soon people started looking away from the Green Spirit Pharmacy. They didn’t dare to keep their eyes on it for too long. The events which had played out were simply unbelievable.

The mysterious sensation that their incredulity brought led, not only to intense terror, but also incredible curiosity about the little medicine shop.

“Just what exactly happened inside that place?”

Trembling with fear, the gathered crowds quickly left the area.

Inside the Green Spirit Pharmacy, everything was the same as usual.

However, there were more bags of holding, about a dozen or so, which Ling’er was excitedly going through. Others in the shop had gathered around curiously to see what the bags contained.

Nethersprite just sneered and tended to the boiling water.

Ning Yan sighed and went back to re-scrub the parts of the floor that had been walked over. Because of all the cleaning he had been doing lately, he’d become somewhat obsessed with cleanliness. Whenever he spotted any part of the shop that was dirty, he would rush over to clean it. Only when everything was spotless would he feel at ease.

The Heir Apparent, meanwhile, chuckled as he rolled two pearls in his palm. Just like before, one of them contained Guru Blackeyes. But there was now a second pearl, and the face within it was none other than Patriarch Wind Guardian. Of course, it wasn’t the patriarch as a whole, but rather, a strand of his soul.

Xu Qing hadn’t made an appearance the entire time. He stayed in the back focusing on recovering from his injuries.

Chen Fanzhuo was acting extremely respectfully. After paying his respects and wishing everyone good health, he said farewell. Just before he left, Ling’er took some treasure out of one of the bags of holding and gave it to him. Looking excited, he offered thanks over and over again.

Patriarch Wind Guardian, in order to apologize for his intrusion, had given a lot of good things in those bags of holding. There were spirit stones, medicinal pills, and magical devices, all of them extraordinary.

As everyone split the loot, the Heir Apparent went into the back room where Xu Qing was meditating.

Xu Qing quickly got to his feet, clasped hands, and bowed.

The Heir Apparent waved his hand and produced a pill bottle, which he tossed to Xu Qing.

“Those are some divine soul pills provided by our respectful little friend who just came to visit. There are ten in total. Take one of them, and you should recover much more quickly. Keep the remaining nine for the upcoming healing you’ll need to do.”

Xu Qing took the bottle and opened it. Considering his skill in the dao of alchemy, he could immediately tell that the pills were amazing. The medicinal effect was specifically focused on healing injuries to the soul. This category of medicinal pill was both rare and expensive.

Without the slightest hesitation, he consumed one of the pills. As it melted, an eruption of warmth filled him before rushing toward his sea of consciousness. Rumbling sounds filled his sea of consciousness, like an erupting volcano. It reached his soul, then sent waves of heat through him. Before, his soul had been dim, but now it was rapidly becoming clear. Only a moment later, he had not only fully recovered from his injuries, but also, his soul had improved compared to before. Moved, he opened his eyes and looked at the Heir Apparent.

“Since you’ve recovered,” the Heir Apparent said calmly, “we might as well continue your tempering now. Xu Qing, you have a lot of random skills and abilities. Unfortunately, you haven’t come to a deep understanding of any of them. If you do that, then your battle prowess will advance by leaps and bounds!

“If you continue to make progress in the same way as before, you won’t get stronger fast enough. You need to force yourself to reach the highest level. And the only way to unlock your true potential is to walk the fine line between life and death.

“This time, I’m not taking you to the Red Moon Cathedral. Instead, I want you to send your golden crow nascent soul into this pearl and fight the little fellow inside.”

As he spoke, the Heir Apparent handed Guru Blackeyes’ pearl to Xu Qing.

“Only use the golden crow nascent soul, and as you walk that line between life and death, see what transformations you can dig up from deep within it! You’ll have nine chances. You can use those pills to recover after each time, but you only have nine of them.

“I promised the fellow inside the pearl that after the tenth battle begins, he can directly devour your golden crow nascent soul. If he succeeds, I’ll let him go free. Therefore, you must either gain enlightenment of the deeper transformations of the golden crow nascent soul, and use it to create a personal trump card, or… you’ll lose your golden crow nascent soul forever. It all comes down to your personal good fortune.”

Eyes glittering, the Heir Apparent turned and left.

Xu Qing sat there quietly for a moment looking at the pearl. Then, eyes shining, he said, “Golden Crow.”

Instantly, black light glittered above his head as the golden crow shot out, streaming flames behind it and pulsing with a holy aura. As Xu Qing directed it mentally, its eyes gleamed and it shot into the pearl.

Updatd frm frewebnov(e)l.com