Medicine King’s Valley, Hidden Cloud Peak, halfway up the mountain, Yang Kai and Dong Qing Yan, both carrying a medicine basket, searched around the forest looking for herbs.
This task that Old Xiao had given them was not difficult to complete. The herbs they needed to find where nothing rare and could be found growing in the wild quite easily.
The only reason they did not immediately finish was that the required age of each herb was quite high.
For each one, they needed to be at least thirty years old.
The two of them scoured the mountain for most of the afternoon, yet they still couldn’t find a few of the herbs they were searching for.
“Aunty Xiang said that for the Iron Bone Grass, ten stalks would be enough.” Dong Qing Yan cracked her fingers, her brow wrinkling slightly, “Cousin, we’re still missing one.”
Yang Kai looked around him at the forest and also frowned, “I’m afraid Hidden Cloud Peak doesn’t have any more of these herbs, we should probably go to other places to search.”
Dong Qing Yan glanced towards him and giggled, “You mean… Pill Saint’s Peak perhaps?
Yang Kai glanced back at her.
And so, the two of them, reaching a tacit understanding, began walking towards Pill Saint’s Peak.
Pill Saint’s Peak was the ultimate forbidden zone in Medicine King’s Valley, Common Disciples could not even approach to within three thousand meters of its summit; however, the region below three thousand meters was still accessible.
With their objective set, the two of them proceeded towards Pill Saint’s Peak.
“We should split up to search.” Yang Kai said as he lightly coughed.
“En.” Dong Qing Yan nodded and laughed, she clearly knew what Yang Kai wanted and naturally wouldn’t bring it up, instead simply saying, “Be careful out there.”
“I know.”
Carrying his basket, Yang Kai strode slowly towards Pill Saint’s Peak while casually looking for Iron Bone Grass and secretly observed his surroundings for any signs of movement.
Half an hour later, as Yang Kai meandered back and forth, he ‘unintentionally’ found himself only a thousand meters away from Pill Saint’s Peak.
Quietly, he looked up, Yang Kai was surprised to find a great stone statue standing at the top of Pill Saint’s Peak. Obviously, this statue was of the Pill Saint himself.
This stone statue was at least a hundred meters tall, a magnificent work of art. Even separated by a thousand meters, Yang Kai could still clearly see its top half.
The stone was worn here and there, yet after all these many years, enduring wind and rain, it was still proudly standing.
Yang Kai wanted to release his Divine Sense in order to get a better look, but he hesitated.
Although he could not see anyone right now, there was no doubt a master guarding the peak.
“Old Demon, can you sneak in and check what the situation is like?” Yang Kai asked.
“If there is an Immortal Ascension master up there, Old Servant would have no hope of escaping.” Old Demon responded.
Right now, his strength was still not too high, so he simply couldn’t hide his own Devil Qi. On top of that, his appearance was too obvious. Appearing as his Soul Breaker Awl shrouded in black gas, there was no way he could hide from an Immortal Ascension Boundary master’s eyes and Divine Sense.
Was there really no way? He had stayed on Hidden Cloud Peak for more than a month, yet he was not even clear about what mystery he had been sent here to discover.
“You there!” Just as Yang Kai expression was turning bitter, a thundering voice angrily called out from above him.
In the next instant, a man flew down from the summit, landed directly in front of Yang Kai and glared at him coldly.
This person was definitely a master at the Immortal Ascension Boundary, and his strength was not low. Although most of the disciples in Medicine King’s Valley were Alchemists, there were also a number of masters who were responsible for fighting and defense.
“What peak are you a disciple of? Don’t you know that no one is allowed within three thousand meters of Pill Saint’s Peak?” The man roared, his expression filled with anger.
Yang Kai frowned as his thoughts swirled.
“Who is your master? Did he not tell you what the consequences of approaching Pill Saint’s Peak were?”
Yang Kai eventually had no choice but to reply, “Disciple greets Senior, this Junior belongs to Old Xiao’s Hidden Cloud Peak and was sent here today to pick herbs.”
“Grandmaster Xiao?” The man looked surprised for a moment before suddenly realizing, “You are the young boy who a month ago worshiped into Hidden Cloud Peak?”
“I am the one!”
The man examined Yang Kai up and down cautiously, using his Divine Sense to sweep over him once before retracting it.
Finishing this, the icy cold look in his eyes slowly faded.
Yang Kai quickly followed up, “This Junior was only looking for herbs and unintentionally wandered too close, I hope that Senior can please forgive me.”
The man nodded before saying, “If you were any other disciple, although you would not be killed on the spot, you definitely wouldn’t be able to avoid some punishment! But seeing as you have only recently joined Medicine King’s Valley I will forgive you just this once. Do not let it happen again!”
Helpless, Yang Kai could only retreat.
It wasn’t until confirming that Yang Kai left that the man soared back up to Pill Saint’s Peak’s top and resumed his watch.
Now far away, Yang Kai looked back once more.
Confirming there really was an Immortal Ascension Boundary master on guard, how could he be feeling good? If there was a way to get close to the Myriad Drug Pond, then maybe he could have glimpsed what mysteries it hid, but now that he couldn’t even approach the mountain’s summit, there was no way for him to learn anything.
With a depressed expression upon his face, Yang Kai walked back when from afar came the sound of Dong Qing Yan arguing with someone. He quickly increased his pace, and a moment later the voices became clear.
“I discovered this stalk of Iron Bone Grass first, how can you just lay claim to it like that?” Dong Qing Yan said in a wronged tone.
Another person’s voice shot back, “Junior Sister must be joking, this herb is the property of my Medicine King’s Valley. Naturally it is first come, first serve. Moreover, if we go by the logic of what Junior Sister has just said, then all the herbs here should be ours since we discovered them first, we have lived here since childhood after all.”
“Who is your Junior Sister?” Dong Qing Yan angrily said, “I am Grandmaster Xiao’s disciple; according to seniority, all of you have to call me senior!”
*Keke…* When Dong Qing Yan shouted these words, the three young Medicine King’s Valley disciples she was arguing with had their expressions turn bitter as they were unable to refute.
Xiao Fu Sheng was quite old, so even though Dong Qing Yan was very young, she technically belonged to a higher generation than most of the Medicine King’s Valley disciples her age, and instead was closer to being sister disciples with the likes of Qin Ze, so naturally these young people were a generation below her.
“What is it? Do you little nephews want to snatch the things your Aunty fancies? Hm?” Dong Qing Yan triumphantly snorted.