Li Yingling looked at the burlap sack in her hand, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension. At this point, she wasn't naive enough to not understand that this was a medicinal field belonging to another sect. As a well-educated young lady from a prestigious family, the thought of stealing was quite a challenge to her moral compass!
She was about to voice her concerns when Chu Xingchen gave her a silencing gesture, startling her into silence. He quickly whispered, "Keep your voice down! You don't want to wake up the brothers inside who are napping! Just go, grab whatever you see!"
With the sack in her hand, the spirit herbs within, and her master's encouragement ringing in her ears, Li Yingling felt like she had no choice but to act. She gritted her teeth and carefully slipped through the large hole in the barrier.
Hadn't she read in stories that the world of cultivation was full of deceit and treachery? Achieving immortality meant that others wouldn't! This was the way of cultivation, right?
Once inside the medicinal field, the nervous Li Yingling didn't hesitate. She grabbed the nearest spirit herb and yanked it out of the ground. She didn't care what effects it might have or whether she was using the right technique; she just stuffed everything into the burlap sack.
As she continued, she found herself getting more excited, especially when she spotted the brightest glowing herbs. These would be perfect for lighting the way like candles!
In the end, she filled the entire sack to the brim and, feeling a rush of satisfaction, prepared to make her escape. However, it was now Chu Xingchen's turn to be dumbfounded. This piece of land wasn't large to begin with, especially since it belonged to a small sect. He wouldn't dare provoke a large sect at his current level.
But Li Yingling's eagerness showed no restraint—she had almost plundered a quarter of the herbs!
As she dashed out, her excitement caused her to lose control of her speed. The previously drowsy disciple in charge of guarding the medicinal field was startled awake. Blinking groggily, he noticed that a large patch of herbs had been uprooted, particularly some vital ones that the sect leader had been in desperate need of!
"Which foolish thief dares to steal the Resurrection herbs?! You think you can just take what you want?" the guard roared, pulling a bell to sound the alarm.
Li Yingling's heart raced. Chu Xingchen reacted swiftly, grabbing her hand and using Earth Escape to make a hasty retreat.
As they tunneled underground, Li Yingling faintly heard the guard yelling, "That darn thief! Trying to steal the herbs I painstakingly collected for the sect leader! Furong! I'm so sorry!"
Chu Xingchen's Earth Escape was specifically designed for quick escapes. He had also trained diligently, allowing him to move swiftly. When they resurfaced, they found themselves in an unfamiliar location.
With practiced ease, Chu Xingchen quickly set up a series of deceptive trails to confuse their pursuers before leading Li Yingling in the opposite direction. He repeated this maneuver at least eight times, ensuring their safety before carefully returning to the dilapidated temple.
Once they were back, Chu Xingchen took the burlap sack from the still-shaken Li Yingling and began sorting through the spirit herbs inside. After identifying a couple of them, he frowned.
"Why did this girl only bring back herbs for boosting yang energy?" he muttered.
Li Yingling, still recovering from the shock, asked, "Master… do you think we'll get caught?"
Chu Xingchen replied calmly, "No, I've already prepared our escape route. We're perfectly fine!"
Thinking back to Chu Xingchen's quick and skillful actions, she observed his relaxed demeanor, devoid of any signs of tension. It was evident that he was no novice at this.
Li Yingling couldn't help but ask, "Master, do you do this often?"
"Not often," Chu Xingchen replied. "It was just that when I had lower cultivation, I would easily get into trouble while traveling through the Xuanwu Kingdom, so I practiced this skill on the side."
Li Yingling asked curiously, "Then, Master, your cultivation level should be pretty high now. Why are you still running away?"
"What else should I do? If they attack, I'll just take them down?" Chu Xingchen responded while sorting through the spirit herbs. "You don't need to overthink it. That sect had a small grievance with me in the past, so taking a few herbs today is just settling the score."
"What kind of grievance?" Li Yingling pressed.
Chu Xingchen sighed and began to explain. "The sect leader had a partner who looked good but had questionable character. Unfortunately, the leader was deeply in love with them. Later, they set their sights on me due to my unmatched charisma and tried to flirt with me multiple times. The leader found out."
"I explained to him that I wasn't the only one being flirted with; his eldest disciple was also involved with the partner. But hearing that only made him angrier, and then I was chased by that old dog for three days and nights."
Li Yingling couldn't help but laugh at the story.
Chu Xingchen glanced at her but said nothing, continuing to organize the spirit herbs. Afterward, he selected a few suitable herbs, removed their roots, and tossed them directly into a pot.
As for the other herbs that weren't needed for now, he stored them away in his spatial ring.
He lit a fire, added water, and got it boiling!
The starter package from the system included basic alchemy and forging techniques. Unfortunately, one required a dan furnace, and the other needed a stove. However, upon further investigation, he discovered that while forging required a stove, alchemy could be done in a pot—it just wouldn't be as effective.
Taking a deep breath, he focused his energy and began the refining process!
To his surprise, after reaching the Golden Core stage, controlling spiritual energy felt much easier. The essence from the herbs was quickly extracted, and the pot of water soon turned a rich green.
Next came the process of boiling it down to concentrate the effects.
The pot of water was reduced to a droplet the size of a pill.
Chu Xingchen carefully wrapped the droplet in his spiritual energy and turned to Li Yingling, saying, "Open your mouth, my good apprentice."
Li Yingling was left stunned. "Isn't alchemical medicine supposed to be solid? Why is this liquid? And it looks so green—it resembles poison!"
"How am I supposed to get you to take it?" Li Yingling weakly asked, "Are you sure I can eat this?"
"If it weren't for the fact that eating the raw spirit herbs has poor effects and side effects, I wouldn't even bother refining this for you," Chu Xingchen replied impatiently. "Hurry up and open your mouth. After you eat it, you can get back to cultivating."
Reluctantly, Li Yingling opened her mouth and swallowed the green liquid.
As the liquid exploded in her mouth, the bitter taste nearly made her retch. She fought to keep it down.
But the effect was indeed impressive; she felt spiritual energy surging within her.
Quickly, Li Yingling returned to her bed, crossed her legs, and began to cultivate.
Chu Xingchen observed her for a moment and, seeing that she was fine, settled back onto his bed.
He opened the system page to check his tasks. There were two main beginner tasks: one was to recruit a qualified apprentice, and the other was to have that apprentice reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
Once Li Yingling reached Foundation Establishment, he would complete the second beginner task, unlocking a reward of a supernatural ability.
And then, he could unlock official missions.
Feeling emotional, he thought, "Who has a beginner task that takes over three years to complete?"