Chapter 348: Five Portions of Ingredients—Four for You, One for Me—Enough for Alchemy

At that moment, the presence of cultivators could be sensed outside.

With a flip of his palm, Shen Mo completely concealed the aura of the exotic flames.

His gaze then shifted toward the courtyard gate.

There, a familiar figure was striding in quickly.

It was none other than Zhou Mingyi.

Zhou Mingyi clasped his hands with a smile. “I hope I’m not disturbing your cultivation?”

Shen Mo waved his hand. “It’s fine. I assume the materials are ready?”

Zhou Mingyi nodded repeatedly. “Exactly. Everything has been prepared. As long as you have time, we can begin refining at any moment.”

As he spoke, he handed over a storage ring.

Shen Mo accepted it casually.

However, he noticed a hint of worry between Zhou Mingyi’s brows.

“Daoist Zhou, is something troubling you? Tell me about it.” He smiled.

Zhou Mingyi let out a helpless laugh. “Nothing escapes Daoist Shen’s eyes.”

“Someone has been spreading malicious rumors, claiming that Elder Qingmu is about to break his long-standing rule and accept disciples. They have also been publicizing the conflict between Elder Qingmu and our Tianhe Sect.”

“After the news spread, many young alchemists gave up on participating in the alchemy competition.”

“And among those who insisted on competing, nearly all of them were threatened in some way, leading even more to withdraw.”

Zhou Mingyi gritted his teeth. “There’s definitely someone behind this!”

“Elder Qingmu has long declared that Bai Tianyuan is his final personal disciple. He has limited energy and will never take in another student.”

“Moreover, alchemists hold a prestigious status. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare to threaten them.”

Shen Mo nodded. “It seems someone is deliberately trying to sabotage the alchemy competition.”

“There aren’t many forces capable of opposing the Tianhe Sect. It’s likely Elder Qingmu himself.”

Zhou Mingyi smiled bitterly. “A master alchemist of Elder Qingmu’s renown holds immense influence. He alone is enough to challenge an entire sect…”

Shen Mo chuckled lightly.

That Elder Qingmu was indeed rather narrow-minded.

For so many years, he had refused the Tianhe Sect’s request to purchase the Heavy Water Cold Extreme Pill formula. That was one thing.

But now, he was actively trying to ruin the alchemy competition.

It seemed he was determined to sever the heritage of the Ninefold Tianhe Scroll completely.

“Our Tianhe Sect’s Ninth Elder has already arrived at the merchant guild. When he heard about this, he was utterly distraught.”

“He was once one of Elder Qingmu’s disciples, so this morning, he hurriedly prepared gifts and set out to visit Elder Qingmu in hopes that their past master-disciple relationship might sway him.”

Zhou Mingyi sighed. “But… I suspect he’ll be turned away.”

After saying this, he looked slightly uneasy. “Daoist Shen, the Ninth Elder has some strong opinions about you. When he returns later, try not to provoke him.”

“Otherwise, it will strain the relationships between our sect’s elders.”

Shen Mo smiled indifferently.

Back when he had stayed at the Tianhe Sect for a few days, he had easily noticed the factional divides within the sect.

One faction, led by the Sect Master, the Grand Elder, and Zhou Mingyi, believed in independently researching pills suited for the Ninefold Tianhe Scroll’s cultivation.

The other faction, including the Fifth Elder and the Ninth Elder—especially the Ninth Elder, who had been one of Elder Qingmu’s disciples—believed that there was no one money couldn’t buy.

Moreover, they didn’t think anyone in the world could surpass Elder Qingmu in alchemy and create a pill better than the Heavy Water Cold Extreme Pill.

As long as they persisted and showed enough goodwill, Elder Qingmu would eventually relent and sell them the formula.

At that moment, footsteps sounded again from outside the courtyard gate.

This time, however, there were two distinct presences.

The guards at the gate quickly intervened. “Sirs, our esteemed guest is resting. You cannot enter!”

Immediately after, a loud bang echoed.

The courtyard gate was violently kicked open.

Two figures stormed inside.

One was an elderly man with white hair—Tianhe Sect’s Ninth Elder.

The other was a proud-looking young man—Elder Qingmu’s most favored disciple, Bai Tianyuan.

Zhou Mingyi frowned but still cupped his hands in greeting. “Ninth Elder, why did you bring an outsider into the guest manor? What if you disturb Daoist Shen?”

The Ninth Elder snorted coldly. “Outsider? Tianyuan is my junior brother!”

“But the one beside you—he’s the real outsider.”

His expression was ice-cold as he questioned, “Zhou Mingyi, tell me, why did you hand over the medicinal ingredients I prepared to him?”

“Do you even understand how much effort I put into gathering those herbs? I traveled across Jing Country, making countless arrangements to secure them.”

“I even thickened my skin to make an agreement with my master, pleading with him to refine five Heavy Water Cold Extreme Pills for my grandson. Out of past master-disciple sentiment, he reluctantly agreed.”

“But now, you’re handing over the ingredients to this man!”

“Do you realize how great a loss this is for our Tianhe Sect?”

The more he spoke, the more enraged he became.

“My grandson is one of the few within our Tianhe Sect who can cultivate the Ninefold Tianhe Scroll!”

“But he has been stuck at the peak of the Core Formation Realm for twenty years!”

“He cannot wait any longer!”

Zhou Mingyi furrowed his brows.

It was true that the Ninth Elder had contributed most of the five portions of medicinal ingredients.

However, the expenses had been covered by the sect’s funds.

In the end, it was all the sect’s money.

How did it suddenly become the Ninth Elder’s private property just because it passed through his hands?

Bai Tianyuan glanced at Shen Mo with a smirk. “Shen Mo, young sect master of the Jade Cauldron Sect, is it? A pleasure to meet you.”

“The feats you accomplished in Yuzhou have already reached the capital. Even I have heard a little about them.”

Shen Mo gave him a calm glance, his expression unchanged.

“But I never expected that you could refine pills,” Bai Tianyuan sneered.

“Or are you just deceiving President Zhou, planning to swindle away those five precious portions of medicinal ingredients?”

Shen Mo smiled indifferently.

Swindle?

Those five portions of medicinal ingredients were indeed invaluable.

But they weren’t enough to tempt him.

Had it not been for the favor Zhou Mingyi had shown him by gifting the Scorching Earth Sword Manual, he wouldn’t have agreed to refine this pill for the Tianhe Sect in the first place.

Bai Tianyuan’s gaze swept over the three of them—Ninth Elder, Zhou Mingyi, and Shen Mo—before adding fuel to the fire.

“I also heard that President Zhou handed over a top-tier Earth-grade spiritual artifact to this Shen Mo without hesitation?”

“Tsk tsk tsk, a top-tier Earth-grade spiritual artifact isn’t some common cabbage. Daoist Zhou, you’re only the Tenth Elder of Tianhe Sect, yet you think you can just give away the sect’s wealth to outsiders?”

Zhou Mingyi frowned.

He was well aware that the Tianhe Merchant Guild had spies from various factions planted within it.

No sect was ever a monolithic entity.

However, Bai Tianyuan learning about it this quickly was somewhat surprising.

The Ninth Elder was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, but then his anger surged even further. “What?! A top-tier Earth-grade spiritual artifact, and you just gave it away? Did you even report this to the sect?!”

Zhou Mingyi took a deep breath. “Daoist Shen eliminated the demon cultivators in Jiangzhou and slew traitors of the sect. His contributions to our Tianhe Sect are immense!”

“I made the decision to give him the Scorching Earth Sword Manual—so what of it?”

“If the Sect Master were here, he would have made the same choice!”

The Ninth Elder was so furious that he laughed. “Good, very good! You think you can do whatever you want just because the Sect Master favors you? I won’t argue anymore!”

“Then return the five portions of medicinal ingredients to me!”

Shen Mo said calmly, “Out of the five portions of medicinal ingredients, I will give you four. I will keep one portion—it’s enough for refining the pill.”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel