CHAPTER 445: CHAPTER 88 YAN LADY SOLICITS_2

Zhang Yan sneered slightly in his heart, clenched his fists, making a cracking sound. If this woman didn’t know what’s good for her, he wouldn’t mind using heavy hand here.

However, just as the tension was escalating, dozens of streaks of tunneling light flew towards this place. Seeing Yan Yuqin, they all called out, "Madam."

A middle-aged woman, around forty, landed beside her. With an anxious look on her face, she whispered a few words into Yan Yuqin’s ear.

Yan Yuqin furrowed her brows, snorted, and withdrew the Xuan Guang from behind. She first gave the woman a couple of instructions, then turned back and said, "Are you Li Yuanba? What do you want? Cultivation technique? Beauty? Dharma Treasure, or to join the Taihao Sect as a disciple? As long as you agree to be my guest for thirty years, I can grant you all of this. If you’ve thought it through, you can come to Thousand Ridges Mountain to find me."

She seemed to have something urgent to attend to, so after speaking, she didn’t wait for Zhang Yan’s response but instead said to the middle-aged woman, "Aunt Shu, let’s go."

She turned around, mounted the jade couch behind her, and the drapes fell, concealing her slender and graceful figure.

"Yes, Madam."

The middle-aged woman responded respectfully, glanced up and down at Zhang Yan, snorted, then shouted, and all these people quickly took up their tunneling light magic artifacts, disappearing into the distant sky in just a moment.

Zhang Yan watched the direction these people vanished, heading towards a mountain ridge that pierced into the clouds. This mountain’s peak was out of sight, stretching across the sky like a barrier, its size unknown.

He had heard before coming into the mountains that the finest One Qi Ganoderma grows on five peaks within Qingcun Mountain. It seems this Thousand Ridges Peak leads to that place.

His purpose here was to find the "Ganoderma Ancestor," though he had no clues at the moment, but he must come here to investigate in the future.

He waited at the original spot for another incense stick’s time, then saw a familiar streak of tunneling light approaching from afar, stood up and smiled, "Ke Daoist, why are you so late?"

Ke Xiu Jun landed in front of him, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, fellow Daoist. On my way here, I encountered a junior master who once cultivated with my mum, and we chatted quite a bit without realizing it, which caused the delay."

She hesitated again, then whispered, "This junior master earnestly invited me to accompany him, and I thought, if Brother Daoist Li is willing, perhaps we can go together so we can look out for each other."

Ke Xiu Jun was rather ambitious before coming here, but after seeing the prestige of those noble family disciples, she realized how difficult it would be to acquire the One Qi Ganoderma. She and Zhang Yan felt somewhat lone against the odds.

And this junior master was kind and very considerate of younger generations, so his invitation moved her, thus she wanted to invite Zhang Yan to go along.

Zhang Yan pondered for a moment. Since he had just entered Qingcun Mountain and was unfamiliar with the terrain, finding the "Ganoderma Ancestor" wasn’t urgent. Since there were three years left, going with these people first wouldn’t hurt, then he could make plans later. So he cheerfully said, "Alright, then please lead the way, Junior Sister Ke."

Ke Xiu Jun was pleased, rejoicing, "Brother, please follow me."

After speaking, she soared in the light, transforming into a long rainbow to lead the way, and Zhang Yan also used the escape technique to follow behind. In less than half an hour, they arrived at a cliff where seven people were waiting.

This group consisted of both Daoist and common people. Standing at the forefront was a middle-aged Daoist with a clear beard and long whiskers, wearing a leisurely scarf.

Ke Xiu Jun fell from the cloud and shouted "Junior Master Bao" to that Daoist, then turned to invite Zhang Yan over and said, "Daoist Li, let me introduce you. This is Junior Master Bao Dingheng, a senior of the Yuan Yang Sect."

Zhang Yan glanced at the Daoist and saw he was also of Xuan Guang Third Realm cultivation, with a tiny, almost imperceptible flame at his brow, indicating he had developed "True Flame in the Aperture." Zhang Yan cupped his hands and said, "I’m Li Yuanba, greetings to the Daoist."

Bao Dingheng had a kindly expression, looked Zhang Yan over a few times, smilingly bowed, and said, "No need to be polite, Daoist Li. This niece of mine tells me your cultivation is profound and your Mysterious Skill extraordinary. Seeing you now, it’s indeed true."

Zhang Yan exchanged a few pleasantries with him. Bao Dingheng wasn’t aloof, and personally introduced everyone behind him to Zhang Yan.

Most of the others were rather courteous to Zhang Yan, except when it came to a Daoist named Fang He. This person glanced at Zhang Yan and said sarcastically, "I’ve heard Brother Daoist Li is a Power Dao practitioner with profound cultivation. I only hope it’s not false claims, as we don’t bring idle people."

Bao Dingheng, seeing his rudeness, looked at him reproachfully and said unhappily, "What kind of words are those? We’re all fellow Daoists. Meeting here is destiny; we should assist each other. That remark is uncalled for, junior brother."

Fang He mumbled something under his breath, thinking, "One more person to share the pie."

The One Qi Ganoderma usually grows in clusters, often with several in one place, sometimes even over a dozen.

But these things have hands and feet; they flee far away at the scent of living humans. Not to mention whether they can be found successfully, even if caught, no one guarantees there’ll be enough. If not, they’ll inevitably have to search multiple places.

If everyone here was familiar and close, that wouldn’t be an issue, but Ke Xiu Jun and Zhang Yan were just met on the road, so Fang He naturally felt a sense of exclusion, and complained quite a bit when Ke Xiu Jun left to invite Zhang Yan.

Bao Dingheng didn’t see it that way. Ke Xiu Jun was his junior; she wasn’t an outsider. How could he not? Moreover, hearing Ke Xiu Jun praise Zhang Yan highly and knowing she was only accompanied by Zhang Yan, he overthought a bit, assuming Zhang Yan was the Daoist couple she favored, thus treating him as an insider.

He ignored Fang He’s words and said to Zhang Yan with a smile, "Though Qingcun spans tens of thousands of miles, the One Qi Ganoderma prefers to reside near the Earth Veins’ source, thus mainly gathering around these five mountain peaks. The noble family disciples mostly head to Thousand Ridges Peak, so instead of competing with them, let’s first try our luck at the nearest Nine-Headed Peak."

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)