Female Lead, Something's Not Right (GL) - Chapter 26

“Yes, three hundred low-grade spirit stones per pill.”

“How much??” The body cultivator’s eyes widened!

Gu Shiyan hesitated, wondering if the price was too high. The price she set was actually not inflated. The small vendor just said that a mid-grade Spirit-Recovery Pill with impurities at Ruyi Pavilion cost five hundred. And with the quality of the elixirs she refined, whether the Alchemy Division or a shop bought them back, the price range would be between three hundred and fifty to four hundred.

“Three hundred, no lower.” If she weren’t worried about attracting attention in the Alchemy Division, she wouldn’t choose to sell them personally. If they didn’t sell, she could keep them for backup; she wasn’t going to undersell.

The body cultivator, seeing Gu Shiyan making a move to put the bottle away, anxiously snatched it. “I want it! I want the entire bottle!”

Gu Shiyan was stunned. The body cultivator, as if afraid she would go back on her word, frantically took out the spirit stones from his storage bag.

“Ten pills per bottle, a total of three thousand low-grade spirit stones. I’ll convert that directly into three mid-grade spirit stones for you!”

When the heavy spirit stones were in her hand, Gu Shiyan finally realized that she had genuinely earned three mid-grade spirit stones. Excluding the negligible cost of production, it was almost a massive profit. Not yet accustomed to being a ruthless merchant, Gu Shiyan immediately gifted two of the most common Qi-Inducing Pills.

The burly man was again surprised by Gu Shiyan’s generosity. “My name is Zhou Manzi, from the Huixiao Sect in Jianghan Prefecture of the Mountain Ridge, Qianmeng Continent. May I ask the Junior Sister’s name?”

“Gu Shiyan.”

Zhou Manzi scratched his head again and asked somewhat uncertainly, “Could I get the Junior Sister’s Communication Stone? I will need elixirs in the future, and I’ll come to you to buy them!”

Gu Shiyan smiled. “Of course, you can. If you need other elixirs, provided you have the prescription and the herbs, I can try refining them too. Oh, right.”

“I actually need one elixir! But I’m missing a few herbs. The Kunlun Valley Mountain Range is opening in seven days. My Senior Brothers and I are going to collect herbs. I’ll notify you then.”

“The Kunlun Valley Mountain Range?” Gu Shiyan murmured to herself. “How come I haven’t heard of it?”

“I heard about it from other fellow Daoists. Kunlun Valley is the Divine Medicine Valley, rich in spiritual herbs. Perhaps because of the competition, Kunlun Valley specifically opened the mountain range for everyone to collect. However, it will only be open for half a month.”

“Does entering the valley require paying spirit stones?” Gu Shiyan became interested. For an alchemist, spiritual herbs are fundamental. Without herbs, where would the elixirs come from? If she could stock up on more spiritual herbs in her storage bag, it would save her a lot of trouble. Moreover, this was a rare opportunity; Kunlun Valley had many herbs not commonly seen by outsiders, which she could also sell for a good price.

“Entry is not required, but upon leaving, you need to pay a corresponding proportion of spirit stones based on the age of the herbs you collected. A ten-year-old herb costs ten low-grade spirit stones. If you’re lucky, you might collect herbs over five hundred years old or even thousand-year-old ones.” Zhou Manzi asked kindly, “Junior Sister, would you like to go together? It’s a rare opportunity. We can form a team and look out for each other.”

Gu Shiyan thought for a moment and agreed. “Okay! Then I’ll come find you in seven days.”

Zhou Manzi immediately agreed. After all, having a Qi Refining Grand Perfection alchemist as a travel companion couldn’t be better! After the two parted, Gu Shiyan went to find some herbs, planning to go back and refine a few batches of elixirs. She decided to save up her spirit stones to buy the defensive artifact later.

••••

Kunlun Valley, Suyan Pavilion

Bai Su looked at the woman lying on the bed with her eyes tightly shut. Shen Shu’s usually indifferent face held a touch of gentleness due to her unconscious state. Bai Su didn’t dare to be careless. She inserted the silver needles one by one, injecting gentle spiritual energy into each one. After a long time, fine sweat broke out on Bai Su’s forehead. She sighed and got up.

“Shen Shu’s body has been invaded by turbid energy. Does the Valley Mistress have a method to suppress it?” Lu Ran was deeply worried. Regardless, the news of Shen Shu’s injury must not be leaked.

Bai Su lightly furrowed her brows and raised her head. “I have suppressed the turbid energy with a secret method. This turbid energy is too ferocious; it’s a mutated substance from the ancient great war. To eradicate it, one must rely on the spiritual power of the Divine Realm.”

“Tell me what you need, and I will go find it!”

“Senior Brother Lu, there’s no need to worry. Kunlun Valley has a Phoenix Nirvana site, which contains the Heavenly Profound Fire. This might be able to cure it,” Bai Su’s tone changed. “However, that Profound Fire is difficult for ordinary people to withstand, let alone True Monarch Hehua in her injured state. She must wait a few days of rest after waking up before she can go.”

“Good! Then I’ll have to trouble the Valley Mistress.” Lu Ran finally relaxed. “I need to rush back to the sect now to discuss matters. I’ll leave Shen Shu in your care.”

Bai Su ordered someone to see the guest out. After Lu Ran left, the quiet room was filled with dappled light and dancing shadows.

“True Monarch…” Bai Su sat by the bed, gently leaning on Shen Shu, murmuring. She slid her hand into Shen Shu’s and intertwined their fingers. After an unknown period, Shen Shu groaned, and her hand tightened with force.

Bai Su felt Shen Shu’s body temperature rising abnormally and was startled, mistakenly thinking it was a reaction caused by the turbid energy.

Shen Shu’s eyes were tightly shut, her neck flushed crimson. She reached up and tugged at her collar. “Hot!”

In an instant, black scales appeared on Shen Shu’s neck. Bai Su’s pupils contracted, and she stumbled back onto the bed. “This… How is this possible!”

She moved her gaze to Shen Shu’s face in disbelief. “Could she be… a person from the Divine Realm!”

Bai Su hurriedly got up and went to the library, flipping through the ancient texts. Sure enough, she found records concerning the descendants of the Divine Realm. The quiet pavilion was left with only the faint sound of pages turning, but the contents stirred up a thousand waves in Bai Su’s heart.

On the other side, Lu Ran and Zhao Feixue arrived at the inner courtyard of Elder Mu Xia on Star Leader Peak and reported what had happened at the Suzaku Tower.

“This turbid energy, which can possess and corrupt the mind, is so potent that even the Divine Beast guarding the Suzaku Tower couldn’t resist it! It’s utterly formidable!” Zhao Feixue recalled the scene, still feeling a wave of lingering fear.

“Can it be eradicated? Are there any other discoveries?” Mu Xia frowned tightly.

Lu Ran waved his sleeve, and an image of a village appeared in mid-air. “On the way down from Kunlun Valley, passing the Suzaku Tower, I discovered that several mortal villages near the tower have become corrupt and desolate. This is all due to the turbid energy possessing and mutating the surrounding demon beasts, resulting in countless mortal deaths and rampant plagues and diseases.”

“I was informed of this matter this morning. The Xiao family, the royal family of the mortal world, sent people to request aid from cultivators. Feixue, organize the guards into two groups. One group will be stationed at the villages to assist the royal family, and the other will be dispersed to notify the surrounding minor sects to constantly monitor the movements of the turbid energy.”

“Yes!” Zhao Feixue accepted the mission and left.

“How is Shu’er? With the turbid energy entering her body, can Bai Su truly cure her? If she can heal Shu’er, then we are not completely helpless against this turbid energy,” Mu Xia asked with concern.

“The symptoms are better than at first. Whether it can be completely eradicated is unknown, but I have discussed this with the Kunlun Valley Mistress. They are fully cooperating with us to find a way to eliminate the turbid energy. Even if it cannot be completely eradicated, being able to suppress it is a significant matter for us!”

“That’s good, that’s good… All our hope is now placed on Kunlun Valley. I will report this to the sect. We must control the situation before the Inner Sect Competition!”

••••

At the entrance of the Kunlun Mountain Range, white clouds stretched for thousands of miles, and the green hills were lush and verdant. A refreshing medicinal scent lingered around the valley floor. Batch after batch of cultivators surged in with anticipation. Gu Shiyan stood at the entrance with a restless heart. For some reason, ever since she lost contact with Shen Shu, she felt a perpetual sense of emptiness.