The sky had turned dark. Murong Wushuang found some firewood and started a bonfire on the ground. He also sprinkled an acrid, yellow powder around the bonfire.

This powder was able to drive away the snakes and bugs in the mountain.

Murong Wushuang took out a piece of dried meat from his bundle and roasted it over the fire until it was charred all over. He handed it to Ning Xiaochuan. “Eat this!”

Ning Xiaochuan accepted the piece of meat and smiled. “Thanks!”

Murong Wushuang plopped onto the ground and started chewing as well. With his mouth full of food, he said, “Oh right, I still don’t know your name. Surely a person like you, who’s willing to spend fifty thousand copper coins for a leaf, must have an important background?”

Ning Xiaochuan gently tore off a chunk of meat and placed it in his mouth, smiling faintly. “I don’t have much of a background. Just call me Ning Xiaochuan!”

“Ning Xiaochuan, Brother Chuan, seeing as you’re so rich, perhaps I should hang around you from now on?” Murong Wushuang looked towards him.

Ning Xiaochuan smiled again. “We’ll see!”

After having some dried meat, Murong Wushuang and Ning Xiaochuan chatted for a while, then they began cultivating.

Murong Wushuang took out his tattered copy of Heaven and Earth Qi and placed it on the ground. After that, he started to cultivate according to the instructions in the book.

Ning Xiaochuan also took out a copy of Heaven and Earth Qi, placed it on the ground, and began cultivating.

He closed both eyes, sensing the Qi between heaven and earth. The Qi came alive part by part, permeating through his pores and merging with his blood before it flowed into his Combat Atrium.

Ning Xiaochuan was currently cultivating the second level of Heaven and Earth Qi. His absorption rate was twice as fast, and he felt that he would soon reach the third level.

Heaven and Earth Qi was immensely difficult to cultivate for other people, but to him, it had become quite easy.

Once he reached the third level of Heaven and Earth Qi, his rate of Qi absorption would be four times as fast, and his cultivation would be faster too.

After an entire night of cultivation, Ning Xiaochuan felt that the Combat Qi within his body had increased significantly, but he still had not broken through to Stage Eight Qi.

“Hmm? Brother Chuan, why are you cultivating a lowly martial art technique like Heaven and Earth Qi?” Murong Wushuang spoke boldly as if he and Ning Xiaochuan had known each other for a long time.

Ning Xiaochuan closed the Heaven and Earth Qi and said, “Aren’t you cultivating Heaven and Earth Qi as well? Based on your rate of absorbing Qi, you must have reached the second level too.”

Gousheng smiled embarrassedly. “I’m just a layman who cultivates my Qi behind my grandfather’s back. I don’t know any superior techniques, so I can only cultivate a low-level technique like Heaven and Earth Qi.”

Ning Xiaochuan could not help but admire the youth’s talent. Gousheng relied on the lowliest cultivation technique and had never taken Mystical Medicine such as the Heart-nourishing Liquid or the Blood-increasing Liquid, yet he had attained Stage Seven Qi at his age.

If he was born in a Noble’s mansion, nurtured by superior techniques and Mystical Medicine, his talent would shine even brighter than Ning Xiaochuan’s.

A talent like this was being overlooked. Ning Xiaochuan thought of bringing him into Begonia Manor but was still suspicious about his identity. Therefore, Ning Xiaochuan suppressed this idea for now. He would bring it up if the opportunity arose in the future!

They journeyed for one whole day, covering over a hundred miles. They had gone deeper and deeper, and the surrounding trees were getting larger.

The ancient trees’ rhizomes which poked out of the ground were as wide as a bowl.

Here, one would frequently witness the appearance of wild beasts. There were large snakes five meters long and saber-toothed tigers as tall as a man. Some Mystical Beasts would even show up in the mountain. Just their roars alone were enough to turn one’s ears numb with shock.

Mystical Beasts were categorized into nine Grades in total.

They could be further differentiated as aggressive, wild Mystical Beasts or docile, domestic Mystical Beasts.

Typically, only domestic Mystical Beasts could be trained to be a mount or a pet, whereas the Mystical Beasts that appear in the wilderness were exceptionally ferocious. Their fighting strength was many times that of a domestic Mystical Beast.

Even a single Grade One Mystical Beast would have the power to massacre an entire village.

“Be careful. We’ve entered the dangerous part. The last time I came here to search for Mystical Medicine, I met a Grade Two Fire Spider. Its claws nearly pierced through my chest. Luckily, I fled quickly enough.” Gousheng held his machete and moved forward cautiously.

The journey was a relatively calm one. They did not encounter any Mystical Beasts.

In Southpearl Mountain, Mystical Beasts were rather rare, while Fire Devil Mountain had many Mystical Beasts, including those which, according to legend, could take on human forms and had fearsome fighting power.

At last, they reached the top of a foothill. They stood by its precipitous edge and looked down, seeing only layers of mist. The ground was not visible at all.

“That crimson leaf was blown upwards from the bottom of this cliff. At that time, I saw that it was quite special, so I picked it up and stuffed it into my bag. Oh right, Brother Chuan, what did you buy the leaf for?”

Murong Wushuang then hesitated for a long time. In truth, he had been deliberating over this for the past two days, and had finally decided to come clean. “To be honest, this leaf isn’t worth that much. At most, it’s worth eighty copper coins.”

He appeared rather embarrassed.

Murong Wushuang felt that Ning Xiaochuan was not someone who acted pompously just because he was rich. Ning Xiaochuan was even amiable. Thus, Murong Wushuang felt bad about lying to him.

Ning Xiaochuan said, “Of course the leaf is only worth eighty copper coins, but having you lead me here is definitely worth fifty thousand copper coins. In truth, I’m not losing anything.”

Murong Wushuang still did not understand Ning Xiaochuan’s words. Suddenly, in the distant mountain ridge, there came a flurry of footsteps.

“Haha! He’s right. You leading us here is definitely worth fifty thousand copper coins. In fact, it’s worth much, much more than that.” A forty-something middle-aged man came out of the forest, holding the leash of a black Two-headed Dog in one hand.

The black Two-headed Dog kept sniffing the ground. A cyan blaze flickered in its eyes, and it opened its mouth to reveal its sharp teeth.

This was the Thousand-mile Two-headed Dog, considered to be a Grade One Mystical Beast.

Apparently, if it caught the scent of a person, it could track them down even if they were a thousand miles away.

Murong Wushuang narrowed his eyes. “Shopkeeper Cui, what are you doing here?”

This middle-aged man was the shopkeeper of Xuan Emporium, Cui Buping.

Not long ago, Murong Wushuang had gone to him to determine the value of the Blood-toad Tree leaf. It was from this shopkeeper that Murong Wushuang learned that the leaf was only worth eighty copper coins. Murong Wushuang had then sought out Ning Xiaochuan and used various methods to sell it to him.

Murong Wushuang had always felt that this was his most successful sale.

Ning Xiaochuan was not fazed in the slightest. “He’s come for the Blood-toad Wood.”

Cui Buping beamed and nodded. “This young master is a clever one indeed. Many thanks for bringing me here. Otherwise, it would’ve been hard to locate this place.”

From the forest came ten or so martial artists dressed in black, fitting clothes. They all wielded sabers, and a murderous aura poured off them as they stood behind Cui Buping and stared icily at Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Wushuang.

Murong Wushuang had always thought of himself as highly intelligent, but now he realized that he was the biggest fool in the world, because even now he still had not figured out what was going on.

“Brother Chuan, what’s this Blood-toad Wood? How did you know he’s come for the Blood-toad Wood?” Gousheng also grew wary of Ning Xiaochuan, feeling that he must have an ulterior motive.

Ning Xiaochuan took out the leaf. “Blood-toad Wood is classified as a Mystical Wood and is extremely expensive. A little over a pound of Blood-toad Wood can be sold for a hundred thousand copper coins. This leaf that you sold me came from the Blood-toad Tree.”

Murong Wushuang’s mouth dropped open so wide that it could fit an egg. He was frozen in astonishment.

My goodness, slightly more than one pound of Blood-toad Wood could be sold for a hundred thousand copper coins. If one could locate a Blood-toad Tree, one would have hit the jackpot.

Murong Wushuang was instantly infuriated and he rolled up his sleeves. “Cui Buping, you f*cking lied to me. So it’s a priceless treasure, but you told me it’s only worth eighty copper coins. You’re really too greedy! Why did you tail us here? Are you going to kill us over this treasure?”

Cui Buping appeared unperturbed as he smiled. “You’ve hit the nail on the head. Since both of you have brought me to where the Blood-toad Wood grows, it’s time for you to die.”

Naturally, Ning Xiaochuan had predicted this long ago, so he appeared calm.

When Murong Wushuang first decided not to sell him the leaf, Ning Xiaochuan had guessed that Murong Wushuang would look for someone to ascertain the price of the Blood-toad Tree leaf. He also guessed that the person who evaluated the leaf would certainly lie to Murong Wushuang.

This was because a single Blood-toad Tree was tremendously valuable. No one could withstand the temptation and no one would possibly tell Murong Wushuang the truth.

Precisely because Ning Xiaochuan knew that the person who examined the leaf would not be honest with Murong Wushuang, he guessed that Murong Wushuang would come looking for him, so he had purposely waited in the restaurant.

That Cui Buping would follow behind, planning to kill them for the treasure, was all in Ning Xiaochuan’s prediction, naturally.

“Surely you won’t be able to do much against us with just this gang of yours?” Ning Xiaochuan said serenely.

Cui Buping chuckled derisively. “Can you two punks really hold off ten or so martial art experts from Xuanye Emporium?”

From Cui Buping’s perspective, Murong Wushuang was not even worth mentioning as he was a small fry. The only one who might be problematic was Ning Xiaochuan.

Cui Buping waved his arm, and two Stage Six Qi martial artists walked forward with their sabers. Their eyes were merciless and the white Qi around their bodies surged and soared into the air. At the same time, they rushed towards Ning Xiaochuan with blades flashing.

“You dare to leap up and wave your blades in front of a practitioner whose Cultivation is more advanced than yours. You’re asking for it.”

Crimson light rushed out of Ning Xiaochuan’s body and automatically met the enemy head-on. Two strikes were delivered and the air rang with two loud “slaps”. Like two flies being smacked down, the two Stage Six Qi martial artists were sent flying over the cliff.

“Ah…”

“Save us…”

The voices of the two martial artists whose Cultivation had reached Stage Six Qi gradually vanished. As they had fallen into an abyss over a hundred thousand feet deep, there was no doubt that they were dead.