Chapter 24: 024 Part 2

The Daoist’s gaze turned somewhat dark and cold. She looked at Wei Mingyi for a moment, then suddenly relaxed her brow and smiled. “Fellow Daoist, rest assured. I already know that Yangchun Terrace has a master; I won’t come again.” A wanderer needs at least that much perceptiveness. She also couldn’t be bothered to find out which faction Yangchun Terrace belonged to. A Meridian Opening 2nd Layer who dared to wander outside likely had some colossus backing her.

Those from aristocratic families, no matter the size, always introduced themselves with a hint of pride, eager to recount all their ancestors’ glorious deeds. But this person walked alone in the Wild Domain and looked somewhat uncomfortable mentioning her clan—most likely not from an aristocratic faction. Wei Mingyi silently pondered. She had been about to ask how to trade, but swallowed her words just as she was about to speak. She didn’t know how to trade and didn’t want to expose this weakness before a stranger.

A decision quickly formed in her mind. She said calmly, “I want Pill Jades and a piece of information.”

The Daoist’s eyelid twitched. Things like Pill Jades were indeed indispensable, but they weren’t as important as merit points. The merit points in the Heavenly Merit Ledger were earned by genuinely killing Wicked Wraiths. She wondered which clan’s spendthrift this was. But these weren’t matters the Daoist needed to bother with. She asked, “What information?”

Wei Mingyi said, “Have you heard of ‘Wither and Flourish’?”

The Daoist’s eyes grew solemn. After a long while, she spoke: “That is an extremely rare poison, originally from the Yun Clan of the Cloud Realm. But because the refining method harms the heavens’ harmony, the Cloud Realm has listed it as a forbidden drug and does not allow clan members to refine it. Some earlier stocks still exist, most likely in the hands of major aristocratic families.”

Wei Mingyi asked, “What about the antidote?”

The Daoist was amused by her and retorted, “Fellow Daoist, do I look like I would know?”

Wei Mingyi: “…” Fine, she had been hoping for too much.

“The antidote would have to be Heaven-tier. And in the Nine Provinces, there are very few Daoists who can refine Heaven-tier pills. It would probably require the Grotto-Heaven Perfected One of the Cloud Realm to act,” the Daoist added casually.

Wei Mingyi frowned. She wasn’t satisfied with this result, but this person probably couldn’t tell her much more. She tossed a bottle of Miasma-Breaking Elixirs to the Daoist. The Daoist didn’t renege either, directly throwing a Qiankun Pouch containing Pill Jades to Wei Mingyi. She scrambled upright and used a minor technique to clean the dust from her robes before opening the pill bottle and pouring a Miasma-Breaking Elixir into her palm.

The Daoist’s expression grew solemn. “Profound tier, high-grade.” Pills refined by alchemists were greatly constrained by their own cultivation level; only a very few could transcend their level to refine pills. Someone capable of refining high-grade Profound-tier Miasma-Breaking Elixirs was most likely a Golden Core alchemist, and an exceptionally talented one at that. The Alchemical Cauldron Pavilion within the Heavenly Dao Alliance did sell Miasma-Breaking Elixirs, but at most, they were mid-grade. After taking too many pills, pill poison would accumulate, but did the Alchemical Cauldron Pavilion care about that? They weren’t taking the pills themselves; they just suppressed costs as much as possible. Besides, they could also sell a matching Heart-Cleansing Pill to remove the excess pill poison.

Which clan under the Cloud Realm could nurture such a gifted alchemist? Wouldn’t they be snatched away by a higher-ranking clan? Unless—

The Daoist’s eyes flickered. She asked cautiously, “Who might you be?”

Wei Mingyi blinked.

When announcing yourself outside, you needed a regional prefix. But being too specific made you easy to target.

She met the Daoist’s gaze, clasped her hands behind her back, and said with pride: “The Nine Provinces, Chongyuan Sect.”

The Daoist furrowed her brows.

She’d never heard of it at all.

Forget it; at least they were a Master-Disciple Lineage.

She swallowed the Miasma-Breaking Elixir and rose to salute. “A rogue cultivator, Lang Fengya.”

Wei Mingyi returned the salute.

A polite rogue cultivator, who hadn’t run off with the medicine.

Operating in the Wild Domain, once Wei Mingyi expanded her territory, she could sell undeveloped land with remaining Wicked Wraiths to people like her.

Although Wei Mingyi didn’t currently have any excess Wild Domain land, after thinking of this point, she also went along to check her Golden Finger. Her current Achievement Points were enough to buy land. Aside from that, some relatively cheap buildings had been unlocked. Wei Mingyi hadn’t yet decided where to allocate them.

If she kept unlocking Wild Domain land, based on Chongyuan Sect’s current strength, they couldn’t develop all the unlocked plots. They’d have to transfer them to other fellow Daoists, using that to spread Chongyuan Sect’s reputation.

But in the Wild Domain—at least for now—she hadn’t found particularly reliable fellow Daoists. Then again, anyone here was hunting Wicked Wraiths. As long as it didn’t endanger Chongyuan Sect, selling to aristocratic factions was fine. She wouldn’t unlock decorations for them anyway. She could even use them to achieve certain objectives, giving Chongyuan Sect more time to develop.

Mulling it over, Wei Mingyi hit upon another key question. If she was becoming a land developer, wasn’t there a reward system for selling land? Like Achievement Points or something? She muttered to herself. But after fiddling for a while, no miracle occurred, and she had to give up, accepting the fact that the game system was incomplete.

After the transaction concluded, Lang Fengya went on her way. Wei Mingyi paid no further mind to her life or death and returned to Chongyuan Sect’s Dao ground before dark, telling the Sect Leader and others about her experiences.

“Many rogue cultivators who don’t want to be absorbed by aristocratic families, but have no sect to rely on, do indeed come to cultivate in the Wild Domain. Not having a base in the Wild Domain means facing near-certain death. For this person to have survived, she must have some skill,” Su Xuanjing said.

“Miasma-Breaking Elixirs are in high demand in the Wild Domain. Some people are even willing to trade merit points from the Heavenly Merit Ledger for them. Should we get into the business of selling spirit pills?” Wei Mingyi asked. Out here in the Wild Domain, there was no need to follow the rules set by the aristocratic families. Without waiting for Su Xuanjing and the others to answer, she continued, “How are merit points from the Heavenly Merit Ledger traded?”

“The Wicked Wraiths at Yangchun Terrace have been cleared. Daoists will be roaming nearby. Since they operate in the Wild Domain, medicine is indispensable. We could indeed do some business here. Spirit Replenishing Pills, Miasma-Breaking Elixirs, and Heart-Cleansing Pills wouldn’t be hard to sell here,” Su Xuanjing pondered for a moment before replying.

As for how to exchange merit points, everyone unconsciously turned their eyes toward Wu Chongyun, waiting for her answer.

Wu Chongyun looked up and said lazily, “The Heavenly Dao’s law exists. With both parties swearing an oath to form a contract, the exchange happens automatically.”

Wei Mingyi felt relieved upon hearing this. With that Dao Fruit predecessor’s law enveloping the Heavenly Merit Ledger, she’d know how to trade when she encountered it in the future.

The rest of the discussion was between Su Xuanjing and Hua Xiaozhu. Yangchun Terrace had quite a few spirit plants. Hua Xiaozhu and Mo Xuanxiao had already opened up medicinal fields here, preparing to plant. But this area had intermingled spirit energy and chaos qi, making it unsuitable for all herbs; some still needed to be planted back in Chongyuan Sect.

Wei Mingyi had thought of upgrading the spirit fields, but after asking the Assistant Master, she learned the current fields sufficed for their needs, so she suppressed the idea. A start-up was difficult; she wanted this and that.

After the meeting adjourned, Wei Mingyi pushed the exhausted-looking Wu Chongyun back. Patting her head, she looked down and asked, “Shizun, that Lang Fengya said ‘Wither and Flourish’ originated from the Yun Clan of the Cloud Realm. Do you hold a grudge against the Yun Clan?” Those top aristocratic families were like local tyrants. Normally, “villagers” never got to meet local tyrants. But Wei Mingyi was wildly ambitious—Chongyuan Sect would eventually unify the entire universe.

“What if I do? What if I don’t?” Wu Chongyun asked her flatly.

“Give me a hundred years, and I will definitely reach Grotto-Heaven!” Wei Mingyi vowed earnestly. “I will kill all your enemies for you.”

Wu Chongyun gave a dismissive scoff. Her lowered eyelashes cast a shadow of gloom. She said blandly, “I don’t.”

“Then someone took ‘Wither and Flourish’ from the Cloud Realm,” Wei Mingyi’s brow furrowed. “Then how do we get the antidote formula?”

Wu Chongyun smiled mockingly. She said softly, “Heaven-tier pills—even with a formula, what then?”

Wei Mingyi raised an eyebrow. “What if the Assistant Master refines one?” If her cultivation wasn’t enough, she’d use equipment to compensate. Originally, Wei Mingyi had hesitated about what to purchase with her Achievement Points, but at this moment, she made her decision: to open a building that boosted alchemy success rates. She patiently browsed the System’s Building Mall and found an alchemy room called the “Revival Furnace”—the initial promotional price was five thousand Achievement Points.

She hadn’t seen a promotional price when buying the Meridian Opening Pool earlier. Was the Meridian Opening Pool too cheap? Wei Mingyi didn’t overthink it. Besides cursing the System for being a cheat, she had no other recourse—after all, the mall had no price-haggling channel.

Just a little short.

It would be enough by November.

Outside Yangchun Terrace.

After trying many methods and still being unable to breach that barrier, the cultivators of the Gold Mountain Yan Clan, Jade Emperor Sect, and the Pure Clean Sect hadn’t given up. Instead, they grew more persistent, believing there were extraordinarily rare treasures inside. They chose to camp nearby. But such massive vital energy exposed in the Wild Domain inevitably attracted more Wicked Wraiths, as well as other cultivators hunting them.

“Are those faint, flickering silhouettes inside Yangchun Terrace remnants from ancient cultivators?”

“Apart from the Sun-Moon Pot recorded in the notes, could there also be an immortal legacy inside?”

“Can’t even open a Profound-tier magical tool—could a Earth-tier tool be needed? Should we inform our superiors?”

The cultivators of the Gold Mountain Yan Clan were agitated yet troubled.

While they kept banging away at the mountain protection array outside, the cultivators of Chongyuan Sect and Hidden Moon Sect inside paid them no mind. After clearing out the Wicked Wraiths, everyone was focused on consolidating their cultivation, with no immediate plans to enter the Wild Domain to train. The Wicked Wraiths roaming the Wild Domain varied in cultivation level and were too dangerous for Meridian Opening stage cultivators.

However, Wei Mingyi’s mindset wasn’t as placid as the native cultivators’. Watching these persistent Daoists, a mischievous idea suddenly popped into her head. She roused her Senior Disciple Sister, Meng Bujue, who had been cultivating in her sleep, and asked her to use her divine ability, confusing the Daoists’ senses with a dream mist resembling Mirage Qi. Wei Mingyi herself pretended to be an ethereal Daoist aloof from the world and placed a “Merit Box” inscribed with Dao Script at the edge of Yangchun Terrace.

The Merit Box had appeared suddenly.

Ji Tianhe, the Daoist from Jade Emperor Sect, noticed it first. At a glance, she also spotted an unfamiliar white-robed figure. This person had an otherworldly grace, utterly transcendent, as if an exiled immortal had descended to the mortal world. Such an appearance naturally inspired goodwill at first sight. Ji Tianhe unconsciously stepped forward, staring at the unremarkable box and murmuring, “Merit Box?”

The two Yan Brothers from Gold Mountain were alerted by Ji Tianhe’s movements and couldn’t help stepping forward as well, eyeing it intently. “Could it be that the path hasn’t opened because we’re using the wrong method and need to use merit to open it?”

Ji Tianhe said, “What is merit? Could it be the merit points from the Heavenly Merit Ledger?”