"Yun Ling Pill?"
Zhao Yuansong's eyes flickered, clearly surprised.
Ji Yuan, standing beside him, also turned his head, a hint of curiosity on his face.
He had learned about the reputation of the Yun Ling Pill from the intelligence provided by Ming Xin Xuan. It was one of the signature elixirs of the Nine Profound Sect. Although it was not ranked, it was always in short supply.
This pill had the effect of nurturing the soul light. If a cultivator in the Enlightenment Realm took one, their soul light would be significantly strengthened, equivalent to months of diligent study of Taoist scriptures, saving considerable time.
However, what truly made this pill famous throughout Feiyun County was its effect on cultivators in the Spirit Point Realm. After taking it, they could accelerate the dispersal of blood mist, with each pill equivalent to a year's worth of arduous cultivation.
With such efficacy, the Nine Profound Sect could not refine many Yun Ling Pills in a year. Most were sold to various regions, earning the sect a large sum of money. Only a small portion was kept within the sect, either as rewards or as compensation for certain tasks.
"Since that inner disciple brother is willing to offer three Yun Ling Pills, the difficulty of this mission must not be low, right?" Zhao Yuansong asked.
Generally speaking, even for missions issued by the sect, a single Yun Ling Pill as a reward was enough to indicate the mission's difficulty, making it challenging even for cultivators in the second realm to complete.
Furthermore, for an inner disciple to offer three Yun Ling Pills at once, along with other rewards and merits, this undertaking was undoubtedly fraught with immense challenges.
"It is indeed a bit difficult, but with that senior brother's abilities, it's merely troublesome at most," Lin Miaoyi said with a smile. "However, the spiritual medicine that senior brother is looking for is scattered throughout a vast expanse of forest. With only a few people, it might take ten days to half a month to find even one of them."
She explained to Zhao Yuansong that the senior brother urgently needed a special type of medicinal herb to cultivate a certain technique, hence his willingness to offer Yun Ling Pills as remuneration.
Moreover, due to the troublesome nature of the task and the considerable distance involved, few inner disciples were willing to undertake it, leading them to seek help from outer disciples.
With Lin Miaoyi's assistance, seven or eight outer disciples had already agreed to depart immediately with the inner disciple to the northern part of Feiyun County.
"Not all fellow disciples receive Yun Ling Pills as rewards. Those senior brothers and sisters will at most receive three hundred taels of silver each," Lin Miaoyi said with a playful blink, quite pleased. "Only Tang brothers and I will receive an additional Yun Ling Pill on top of that. If senior brother Zhao is also interested, this last one can be yours."
Hearing this, Zhao Yuansong fell into contemplation. Although the matter did not seem as simple as it appeared on the surface, a Yun Ling Pill was indeed very important to him.
Though he had now entered the second realm, possessed a magic artifact, and comprehended sword intent, it was still somewhat challenging to make a stunning debut in the grand competition and successfully challenge one of the top thirty-six disciples in the inner sect.
However, with a Yun Ling Pill, he could thoroughly consolidate his current cultivation, advance a small step further, and significantly increase his chances of success.
The key was that Yun Ling Pills were already scarce within the Nine Profound Sect, and it was nearing the end of the year, with most of them held by elders of various factions or inner disciples. Within two to three months, it might not be possible to find another one.
"Senior brother, please rest assured, there is no real danger in this mission. The demon beasts guarding the spiritual medicine are at most at the early stage of the second realm," Lin Miaoyi said, seeing his hesitation, and tried to persuade him. "Now that there is an inner disciple senior brother, and senior brother Zhao has also broken through to the second realm, it should be a piece of cake."
A second-tier demon beast, comparable to a second-realm cultivator in cultivation, was much stronger than a cultivator of the same realm. However, as long as its origins were understood and some preparatory measures were taken, killing it was not particularly difficult.
Furthermore, the objective of this expedition was merely to obtain the spiritual medicine, not to engage in a life-or-death struggle with the guardian beast, which naturally reduced the risk.
However, Zhao Yuansong did not immediately agree. He arranged with Lin Miaoyi to give him one night to consider, and he would provide his answer by noon the next day.
Lin Miaoyi naturally had no objections. After a few pleasantries, they parted ways.
"This matter is probably not that simple," Ji Yuan said in a deep voice after leaving the bamboo forest and confirming they were alone.
Upon hearing this, Li Junxian and Zheng Wanrong, who were beside him, nodded in unison. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that there was definitely something hidden behind this.
The explanation given by the other party seemed reasonable and logical, yet it was still somewhat far-fetched. Perhaps it could fool ordinary outer disciples, but in front of them, many loopholes became apparent.
The value of the Yun Ling Pill, let alone for Ji Yuan who had intelligence from Ming Xin Xuan, even Li Junxian and others had gained ample understanding after traversing several prefectures.
Although this pill was not ranked, in other prefectures, one could fetch at least a thousand taels of silver, and it was still in high demand, often unobtainable even with money.
Even for an inner disciple of the Nine Profound Sect, the cost of obtaining a Yun Ling Pill was at least several hundred taels of silver!
Not to mention that in addition to the Yun Ling Pill, the inner disciple also offered three hundred taels of silver and considerable merit as rewards for this mission.
"Perhaps, within the inner sect, only missions of rank C or higher would offer such rewards," Zhao Yuansong's eyes flickered, a look of deep thought on his face.
It seemed that the inner disciple had downplayed the mission's difficulty, using generous rewards to divert the attention of the outer disciples.
Some of them even speculated that Lin Miaoyi and the Tang brothers might be aware of the truth. After all, as top-ranked outer disciples, their knowledge was naturally higher than that of ordinary disciples, and it was unlikely they would fail to see the flaws.
However, even though they knew there might be a problem, Zhao Yuansong found it difficult to make a firm decision immediately, as the Yun Ling Pill was indeed very important to him.
With this pill, his plan would have a greater chance of success.
And if this matter were accomplished, he would not necessarily soar to unprecedented heights within the Nine Profound Sect, but at least his future path in Taoism would be much smoother. He was at least confident of reaching the third realm.
Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, a hand suddenly extended, holding three talismans radiating spiritual light, and stuffed them into his embrace.
Zhao Yuansong was first stunned, then turned to look. He saw Ji Yuan looking at him indifferently.
"If you want to go, then don't hesitate any longer," Ji Yuan said with a smile. "One Heaven Sword Talisman, one Shield Mountain Talisman, and one Divine Movement Talisman. They provide both offense and defense, and ensure that you can leave whenever you wish, with no one able to stop you."
All three were ranked talismans. The value of a single one was equivalent to half a magic artifact.
The Heaven Sword Talisman was primarily for offense, with a single strike comparable to a peak second-realm cultivator. The Shield Mountain Talisman was primarily for defense, capable of withstanding multiple full-force attacks from a second-realm cultivator.
As for the Divine Movement Talisman, it provided extreme speed to the user. Normally, unless it was a third-realm cultivator or a second-realm cultivator with flying spiritual energy, no one could intercept them.
With these three ranked talismans, it was not foolproof, but at least as long as they did not encounter an insurmountable predicament, they could stay or leave at will.
"What are you looking at? That's all there is, and you have to return them later!" Seeing the other person staring blankly at him, Ji Yuan glared impatiently.
"Thanks." Zhao Yuansong said nothing more. After putting away the talismans, he thanked Ji Yuan solemnly.
Given their friendship, some words did not need to be spoken aloud; they would be remembered in their hearts.
On the side, Li Junxian and Zheng Wanrong exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.
Half an hour later, Ji Yuan, having parted ways with the three, finally returned to Profound Heaven Peak.
Seeing that everyone was either cultivating or already asleep, and that the simple huts had no lights, he quietly returned to his own room.
He glanced at Zhao Yuebai, who was meditating, and feeling the smooth flow of vital energy in his body, Ji Yuan nodded with satisfaction. He then sat down on the wooden bed plank on the other side.
He let out a long sigh. After closing his eyes, his hands began to form a series of hand seals.
The thick spiritual power in his dantian immediately surged into his meridians. Following the circulation path of the Profound Heaven Sword Art, he circulated small heavenly cycles within his body.
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth slowly converged, and with each inhalation and exhalation, Ji Yuan drew it into his body, refining it into his own spiritual power, causing his dantian to continuously fill up.
Within his dantian, a seven-story, sky-blue pagoda floated, emitting countless rays of light. Every time he completed a small heavenly cycle, the spiritual power returning to this point would surge into the pagoda endlessly.
While being nourished by the spiritual power, the Profound Heaven Devouring Spirit Pagoda, with each rotation, would refine and polish the incoming spiritual power, making it slightly purer, before allowing it to return to the dantian and circulate into the meridians for the next cycle.
By the time a large heavenly cycle was completed, it was already late at night. Compared to a few hours earlier, Ji Yuan's aura had slightly increased, and his cultivation had improved a little.
He dispelled the hand seals of the Profound Heaven Sword Art and, after pondering for a while, six Heavy Water Beads flew out from his sleeve, appearing before him.
Gazing at the six Heavy Water Beads, Ji Yuan unhesitatingly opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of pure spiritual power, enveloping them all. He then used a technique to swallow them.
The Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture immediately began to circulate. His hands continuously formed over a dozen hand seals. The six Heavy Water Beads he had swallowed transformed into rice-sized luminous specks.
With a thought from Ji Yuan, the six rice-sized luminous specks passed through the mist filling his body and reached the three locations illuminated by his soul light within his flesh and blood.
At this moment, he performed a secret method recorded in the Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture. In the blood and flesh from which the mist had been dispersed, two points of light quickly appeared, revealing the acupoints of his physique.
He used the secret method to activate them, causing the luminous specks transformed from the six Heavy Water Beads to directly strike into the six acupoints. With the force they contained, they forcefully broke open the sealed acupoints!
A sharp pain immediately surged through him. Ji Yuan gritted his teeth and endured, simultaneously circulating the spiritual power within his body. As the Heavy Water Beads flowed into the six acupoints, they repeatedly washed the newly opened acupoints.
Once the turbid Qi accumulated in the acupoints was washed away by streams of pure spiritual power, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, his heart was lifted once more.
Cultivators in the Spirit Point Realm not only needed to use their soul light to disperse the obstructions in their flesh and blood but also had to open acupoints to absorb more spiritual energy.
Now that the acupoints had been opened and the turbid Qi within had been cleansed, the most crucial moment had arrived!