"..."

"Reward one hundred Soul Nurturing Stones!"

"Already delivered to the host's storage space!"

Listening to the system's notification and feeling the bunch of green, oily stones inside his storage bracelet, Ye Chen inwardly cursed his bad luck. This An Yuyi really lacked any sense of gratitude.

One hundred Soul Nurturing Stones were not cheap. Together, they were worth at least ten thousand. But did Ye Chen lack spirit stones?

What Ye Chen truly needed were treasures that could significantly enhance his own capabilities. He had held expectations for the Soul Nurturing Stones, hoping they might yield a significant enhancement or special variant that could drastically improve his spirit sense.

For instance, the classics mentioned treasures like those from the Moon Palace, which could greatly enhance spirit sense and even produce various mutations.

Such treasures would be beneficial for his future breakthroughs to the Nascent Soul and even to the Deity Transformation stages. But now, all was lost...

At this point, An Yuyi seemed completely dull to Ye Chen. In the future, at best, she could only serve as a tool for earning spirit stones. If it was a treasure Ye Chen cared about, An Yuyi could forget about it. Indeed, her aunt was more appealing.

...

"What business do Fellow Daoists have with me?" Ye Chen asked, although his interest in An Yuyi had waned.

Upon hearing this, An Yuyi responded calmly, "We need to delve deep into the Boundless Demon Sect relics, where we might encounter poisonous fog caused by formations that cannot be avoided. This poison fog can corrode a cultivator's spiritual power and consciousness, and prolonged exposure might even cause physical decay. Ordinary poison antidote pills are ineffective, requiring tailored concoctions.

"Moreover, the nature of the poison fog changes daily, so we need an alchemist to accompany us. This demands a high level of proficiency from the alchemist. If you're not up to it, we'll find someone else!"

Second-grade alchemists were not plentiful among the Divine Will Sect disciples. They had originally arranged for one, but that person had an accident just before departure. Since this mission was considered a welfare mission, they couldn't let other disciples from their sect know about it. That's why they had turned to the Green Cloud Sect for help.

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. He was quite familiar with the exploration of the Boundless Demon Sect's relics. However, he was completely unaware of any poisonous fog within the relics.

These Divine Will Sect disciples truly seemed to be in the know. Whatever was drawing these direct disciples of the Divine Will Sect must indeed be valuable. Naturally, he was determined to be involved.

"I'm capable!"

Ye Chen promptly declared.

Upon hearing this, the two Divine Will Sect direct disciples immediately showed skepticism. Analyzing and concocting a second-grade antidote on-site required high alchemical expertise. They wanted to test Ye Chen right there.

However, without any further discussion, Ye Chen produced a bottle of pills: "This is the Innate Dao Pill I concocted, needed for the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment!"

Upon seeing the pills in Ye Chen's hand, An Yuyi and the others' eyes widened again. The pill was crystalline and snow-white without any impurities, and not a hint of fragrance leaked out, indicating extreme refinement.

Was this a top-grade Innate Dao Pill? Even within the Divine Will Sect, there were only a few alchemists capable of producing such high-quality Innate Dao Pills.

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Thus, top-grade Innate Dao Pills were always in short supply. Even these direct disciples usually only used high-grade pills. Yet, Ye Chen casually produced a bottle of top-grade.

This...

Originally, they should have been looking down on these lower sect cultivators. But unexpectedly, they found themselves feeling somewhat upstaged.

...

Ye Chen's ability to produce top-grade Innate Dao Pills naturally put any doubts about his skill to rest.

"Since that's settled, let's leave immediately!"

An Yuyi stood up excitedly, her movements exaggerated and causing a jingling sound.

Ye Chen then spoke, "You haven't yet told me what exactly we're supposed to do in the relics."

An Yuyi frowned immediately, looking down her nose as she spoke: "Don't ask what you shouldn't. You just need to focus on your alchemy. As for your reward, the Green Cloud Sect will provide it afterwards! This mission, you just need to follow our requests, understood?"

The other two shared the same attitude. In their eyes, Ye Chen was merely a tool.

Ye Chen's lips curled into a smirk, though he was not angry. Just a silent scoff in his mind.

You'd think they had the Divine Will Sect backing them! Understood? Let's see if you can still act so superior later.

Seeing that Ye Chen did not speak further, An Yuyi and the others nodded in satisfaction. They then rose and flew away from the Green Cloud Sect's quarters.

After notifying the Master of Magic Peak, Ye Chen also followed closely behind.

...

Inside the relics, Ye Chen also learned the names of the other two Divine Will Sect direct disciples. The one at the late stage of Foundation Establishment was named Fang Xi, whose combat prowess seemed formidable. The one at the mid-stage, a formation master, was named Pei Ling.

Since entering the relics, Pei Ling had been leading the way with a formation compass, searching for something. Whenever blood souls or blood fiends appeared, it was Fang Xi who would act.

Qi-Refining stage blood souls didn't even warrant Fang Xi's personal intervention. A mere hum from him would cause the blood souls to explode. And blood fiends at the Foundation Establishment stage seemed utterly fragile in his presence, dispatched within a few breaths.

This impressed Ye Chen, confirming that the Divine Will Sect's direct disciples were indeed formidable. Their combat prowess truly stood out within their realm.

Meanwhile, An Yuyi kept urging Pei Ling to hurry up in their search, complaining about not having found whatever they were looking for yet. During breaks, she would refine and nurture her spirit sense with the Soul Nurturing Stone.

Throughout the journey, An Yuyi barely interacted with Ye Chen. Pei Ling and Fang Xi, initially, were quite enthusiastic. They assumed Ye Chen, having given a gift to An Yuyi, must admire the Divine Will Sect and sought to connect with these promising direct disciples.

Initially, they haughtily thought to give Ye Chen a chance, revealing their need for top-grade pills. Hinting that Ye Chen should "catch on" and seize the opportunity to cling to their coattails.

However, they grew annoyed when Ye Chen completely ignored their hints, not giving them any attention. Even though they were Divine Will Sect direct disciples, and Ye Chen was merely from a lower sect, during rest periods, seeing Ye Chen consume top-grade Innate Dao Pills for cultivation, while they could only take high-grade ones, felt like an inversion of the natural order. This only increased Fang Xi's and Pei Ling's dissatisfaction with Ye Chen's lack of deference. To them, he was ungrateful.

As for Ye Chen, he was utterly indifferent to their attitudes. An Yuyi was already blacklisted in his mind, to be used only as a means to earn some spirit stones in the future, and he had no intention of giving her any valuable gifts again. And as for these two men expecting to freeload off him? They could dream on.

As for whether they might resort to any measures against him, Ye Chen was even less concerned. If they dared to cross a line, they might just end up as captives in his Human Emperor Banner...

...

Just like that, six days passed in the blink of an eye.

Pei Ling, who had led the team deeper into the relics, seemed to finally find what he was looking for, displaying wild joy: "The entrance to the Lotus Nurturing Garden should be right here!"

As his words fell, Pei Ling threw several prepared formation disks towards a dead-end stone wall in front of them. The next moment, with a flash of light, the stone wall rumbled and shattered. As the wall completely disappeared, a path shrouded in blood mist revealed itself.

At the top of the path, three blood-red words read: "Lotus Nurturing Garden."

At this moment, An Yuyi also showed wild joy: "The Boundless Demon Sect really has a Lotus Nurturing Garden! Doesn't this mean our trip could actually be successful..."

But then, remembering Ye Chen was also present, the three of them stopped speaking. However, from their animated expressions, it was clear they were communicating secretly, avoiding Ye Chen.

Ye Chen didn't mind. He raised his eyebrows, observing the characters of the Lotus Nurturing Garden. Although he didn't know what benefits could excite the three Divine Will Sect direct disciples so much, it didn't matter. He would find out soon enough. If the treasures were also beneficial for him, then their excitement might just be short-lived!

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