Chapter Eighty-Eight: The False Little Bean

After returning to his room, Lin Yi took out all of his gains from this journey.

One treasure after another, whether precious herbs or rare minerals, floated around him like a sky full of stars.

"The greatest harvest this time is the top-grade spirit stone."

With a slight movement of thought, the top-grade spirit stone flew automatically before his eyes.

With this stone, he could condense another golden core, bringing him one step closer to breaking through into the Nascent Soul stage.

Aside from the top-grade spirit stone, his second greatest gain was the Spirit-Nourishing Herb, which could prolong life, strengthen spiritual sense, and stabilize the soul.

Of course, he did not lack longevity; what mattered were the latter two effects.

At present, when he fully spread out his spiritual sense, it could cover the entirety of Lan City. If he took the Spirit-Nourishing Herb, however, his spiritual sense could increase by a tenth, perhaps even more.

Lastly, there were various other precious herbs, such as the Vermilion Fruit. It could temper both pill fire and artifact fire, and if used as a means of attacking an enemy, its power would increase greatly.

After sorting through his gains, Lin Yi did not rush to use the Spirit-Nourishing Herb.

"Finding this herb this time was pure luck. I don't know if I'll ever see it again."

His gaze grew deep. He planned to cultivate the Spirit-Nourishing Herb.

The herb could be used to refine a pill only once at most; if he could cultivate it, then he would have an endless supply to use.

However, cultivating spirit herbs required spirit soil, and Lin Yi did not have any on hand, so he could only make it himself.

He took out a large pile of herbs, including two Vermilion Fruits, and used pill fire to melt them all into medicinal liquid.

Then, with a flick of his finger, he fused in a series of minerals as well.

The medicinal liquid blended with the minerals, and soon formed a multicolored mass of soil about the size of a soccer ball.

But that was still not enough.

Lin Yi brought out the spirit stones he had bought from the Martial Dao Association. Since he intended to make spirit soil, he naturally meant to make the best possible.

This multicolored soil could at most be considered mid-grade spirit soil.

It would be perfectly sufficient for planting Vermilion Fruit, Purple Ginseng, or Fire Lingzhi.

But for a heavenly treasure like the Spirit-Nourishing Herb, better spirit soil was needed so that such a divine herb could grow more vigorously.

Lin Yi fused all the low- and mid-grade spirit stones on him into the multicolored spirit soil. Grinding his teeth, he then extracted five grams of top-grade spirit stone.

Once the top-grade spirit stone was added, the originally multicolored soil rapidly turned purple.

"So it really is Purple Breath Soil."

Lin Yi was pleasantly surprised.

Purple Breath Soil was top-tier spirit soil; no matter what kind of spirit herb was planted in it, it would grow at extraordinary speed.

A Vermilion Fruit, for example, normally required a hundred years to mature, but if planted in Purple Breath Soil, it would ripen in just one year.

In the past, only major sects had possessed Purple Breath Soil. He had not expected to accidentally cultivate this kind of spirit soil with a top-grade spirit stone.

"What a pity. Top-grade spirit stones are far too scarce; each one is something one can only hope to encounter."

Lin Yi felt some regret. If he had a large quantity of top-grade spirit stones, he could plant spirit herbs on a vast scale.

With the bit of Purple Breath Soil he had, at most he could plant three spirit herbs at once; any more, and there would be nowhere to put them.

Lin Yi planted the Spirit-Nourishing Herb, then took out a Vermilion Fruit and began refining it.

Though the effect of a single Vermilion Fruit was not very obvious, a dozen of them together still strengthened both his pill fire and his artifact fire somewhat.

...

The Mo family.

After two days of recuperation, the wound on Mo Cangqin's shoulder had already healed.

But the humiliation Lin Yi had brought him was something Mo Cangqin could never forget.

He came to the council hall, where several elderly men were gathered.

These old men were all elders of the Mo family. Though each was advanced in years, all were Grandmaster-level experts.

They managed the family's affairs large and small, and even the family head could be impeached directly by them.

Especially the old man seated in the seat of honor: small in stature, with long hair, eyes lowered, and no trace of vitality in his entire body, he looked as though he had long since died.

But in truth, he was the Mo family's Grand Elder. His strength had long since reached the half-step Spirit Venerable realm, and he had lived for one hundred and eighty years; he was the family's foremost expert.

No matter how arrogant Mo Cangqin might be, in front of these elders he still said respectfully, "Greetings, elders. When do we move against Lin Yi? He injured so many of our men. The dignity of the Mo family cannot be trampled on."

An elder with a hoarse voice said, "The Immortal Herb Valley recently sent over a Foundation-Nourishing Pill and came forward to mediate on Lin Yi's behalf. Since none of you are hurt, let this matter rest."

The elder's words left Mo Cangqin somewhat unwilling. How could this matter simply be dropped?

Leaving aside the humiliation Lin Yi had caused him, just the pills on his person were enough to drive anyone mad.

It was only that Lin Yi was too strong; he could not defeat him alone.

He had originally planned to rely on the Mo family to act, then seize the pills and the Spirit-Nourishing Herb for himself. Who could have known that the Immortal Herb Valley would interfere and be willing to stand up for Lin Yi?

This directly ruined Mo Cangqin's plan.

Moreover, Lin Yi had said he would come looking for them. Whether it was true or not, he would still prefer to strike first rather than wait passively.

Mo Cangqin clenched his jaw and said, "Elders, as far as I know, the pills sent by the Immortal Herb Valley were all made by Lin Yi himself. More than that, he also has a spirit herb in his possession that can increase lifespan."

As soon as he said this, all the elders in the room grew short of breath.

A spirit herb that could extend life had an enormous appeal to anyone.

Grandmasters could live for more than two hundred years, but without becoming Spirit Venerables, even two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

Every one of them was already over a hundred years old. One life-extending spirit herb—one could imagine how important that was to them.

"Are you certain?" one elder asked excitedly.

"Certain." Mo Cangqin nodded solemnly.

"Good, good."

The elder nodded repeatedly. Then his sharp eyes fixed on Mo Cangqin as he raised his voice and questioned, "Then why did you not say so sooner?"

"Elder, I only just confirmed this myself. That's why I rushed back to tell you at once." Mo Cangqin answered without the slightest sign of panic.

"Brother, what are we waiting for? Those wenches from the valley—at worst, we can just break with them entirely," said an elder with a fiery temper.

The rest of the elders were of the same mind. Compared with a life-extending spirit herb, those few Foundation-Nourishing Pills were trifling indeed.

The Grand Elder's eyelids moved slightly as he said in a deep voice, "No rush. Have you forgotten? Since that thief was able to defeat Cangqin in one strike, his strength is certainly not weak."

"If we lack absolute certainty and let him escape, the one who suffers may well be our Mo family."

At the Grand Elder's reminder, everyone felt as if struck by a blow to the head, instantly clearing their minds.

Though spirit herbs were tempting, one still needed the life to take them.

If Lin Yi was determined to break free, there really would not be many here who could stop him.

A Grandmaster hiding in the shadows would undoubtedly plunge the Mo family into crisis.

Although the Grand Elder was the strongest among them, his age was so advanced that he could no longer make many moves.

His existence served more as a deterrent.

"Then what should we do? Are we supposed to just watch this spirit herb without taking any action?" one elder asked.

The Grand Elder opened his cloudy eyes and said, "Cangqin, go contact the Mo family's partners. With more than a dozen Grandmasters striking together, no matter how formidable that thief may be, he will surely be unable to escape."

"Yes." Joy flared in Mo Cangqin's heart, and he hurriedly agreed.

Now, even if Lin Yi had ten lives, they would not be enough to kill.

...

At the same time, on Dragon-Tiger Cliff, a man over two meters tall was pounding his fists again and again against the hard cliff face.

Boom, boom, boom.

Each time his fists landed, the entire cliff trembled slightly.

The once intact rock wall was also being shattered into a web of cracks by his blows.

"Tiger Demon Fist!"

This towering man was Snake King. He lowered his body slightly and drew one arm back, like a fully drawn bow.

Suddenly, a flash of brilliance passed through his eyes, and his fist burst forth.

With a deafening explosion, the cliff face before him blew apart, stones scattering in all directions.

Looking at his fist, it was utterly unharmed.

"Lin Yi, this time I'll smash you with one punch."

For the sake of the challenge in a few days, he had been squeezing out every ounce of his potential each day. He could also feel the barrier of the Grandmaster realm growing thinner and thinner, as though it could be pierced through at any moment.

At last.

Snake King roared and sat down cross-legged on the spot.

He clenched all the spirit stones on him in his palm, and a vast amount of spiritual energy poured into his dantian.

No one knew how much time passed before Snake King suddenly opened his eyes.

He thrust out a punch through the air, sending a fist wind flying toward a large stone in the distance.

Boom.

The enormous boulder, towering as high as two men, was instantly blasted to pieces.

"So this is a Grandmaster?"

Snake King flexed his fist, confidence blazing within him. If Lin Yi dared to appear before him again, he was certain he could smash him apart with one punch.

...

Lin Yi was cultivating when someone knocked on the door.

A sweet voice called out, "Brother, are you in there?"

Lin Yi looked toward the door, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

When he opened it, he saw Doudou standing outside, holding a bowl of lotus seed soup. It looked tempting and delicious.

Lin Doudou said excitedly, "I made this lotus seed soup myself. Hurry and try it."

Lin Yi asked, "Didn't you go off to play with Xiao Nan? Why are you back again?"

Lin Doudou deliberately put on a stern face. "Brother, are you tired of me?"

Lin Yi shook his head. "How could that be?"

Lin Doudou immediately smiled sweetly and urged him again, "Brother, drink this bowl of lotus seed soup quickly. I worked hard to make it."

"All right, then let me taste Doudou's handiwork."

Lin Yi patted Lin Doudou's silky hair, took the soup, and drank it.

Soon, the bowl was drained clean.

Lin Doudou blinked and asked, "How is it? Tasty?"

Lin Yi said, "Not bad."

Lin Doudou nodded in satisfaction, then lowered her head to look at her watch and murmured softly, "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Lin Yi asked curiously, "What are you counting?"

Two dimples appeared in Lin Doudou's cheeks as she said mysteriously, "You'll know in a moment."

When she counted down to one, a flash of ruthlessness appeared in Lin Doudou's eyes. Her short nails, which had been small and neat just moments before, suddenly grew long and sharp, like little knives.

Whoosh.

Lin Doudou suddenly swung her hand, and those sharp nails stabbed straight toward Lin Yi's eyes.

Lin Yi leaped lightly backward and avoided Doudou's fierce strike.

Doudou lunged again, her five fingers curved like claws, viciously reaching for Lin Yi's chest.

However, Lin Yi shifted aside without panic. Lin Doudou's claws struck the wall, leaving five deep little holes behind.

"Why are you unharmed?" Lin Doudou asked in surprise.

"Why should I be hurt?" Lin Yi replied.

From the moment this Doudou knocked on his door, he had known the one before him was a fake.

But Lin Yi was in no hurry to strike. He wanted to see exactly what this counterfeit Doudou intended to do.