The Journey of a Passerby's Elder Brother Being Courted by Feng Ao Tia

"Hu..."

Shen Mushen let out a breath and without a word, slapped the back of her head. "I'm warning you. Don't come up with any more crazy ideas for me."

"I don't want to experience that feeling of having my mind in chaos and my lower body feeling like it's about to burst again!"

"Um..."

Thinking about the last time when she accidentally saw the bulge in his pants when he came out of the room, Lin Yuhe couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Relax~ We're partners now. I won't try to trick you again."

"Hehe..."

Shen Mu didn't trust her words on the surface for the moment and sneered mockingly twice.

After that, he became serious again. "Although I can't stop those strange ideas in your head, regarding that speculation, I still hope you don't reveal it to others for now, including her."

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid. I know what kind of impact this speculation might have on her."

Lin Yuhe also clearly understood what kind of storm would be brought about once this speculation was leaked...

...

Back in his own room.

Shen Mu spread out a large map of the Scarlet Nether Continent and carefully recalled the spawning locations of the materials needed to refine the Heavenly Spirit Pill.

What I'm lacking now is the Wood Spirit Root. Among the materials for refining, the Wood-attribute Tongxuan Purple Spirit Ginseng is the main ingredient, and its grade must be at least fifth grade.

And the Tongxuan Purple Spirit Ginseng above the fifth grade usually has a high probability of spawning in places where demon beasts gather and where the spiritual energy is especially rich.

Let me see...

"Found it. The Hundred Demon Forest outside Heavenly Sword City."

The Hundred Demon Forest covers an area of thirty thousand li and is only five thousand li away from the Myriad Spirits and Hundred Rivers. It's a treasured place for cultivation with rich spiritual energy and also a place where demon beasts often appear and gather.

Among them, the probability of high-level demon beasts appearing is one in four, so one needs to be cautious at all times.

"Although there's a certain level of danger and difficulty, if I want to obtain this Tongxuan Purple Spirit Ginseng within the Scarlet Nether Continent, with my current strength, this is the only place I can go to."

After all, within the territory of the Scarlet Nether Continent, spiritual items above the fifth grade are only relatively common in large map dungeons like the Myriad Spirits and Hundred Rivers.

And if you want to enter the Myriad Spirits and Hundred Rivers without the strength of the Nascent Soul Realm to protect yourself, you'll just be snacks for the high-level demon beasts in there. There won't be any chance to seek opportunities and good fortune at all.

This was a bloody lesson he learned from being reborn more than ten times in that place.

"Alright... The main material has been determined to be in the Hundred Demon Forest. Then for the other materials next..."

"Fire Infant Fruit... Pure Spirit Earth Essence... Heavenly Sunflower Yin Water... Taiyi Gold Essence..."

"..."

About a stick of incense later, Shen Mu marked the spawning points of the corresponding materials on the map and initially decided on several places he would go to next.

"OK, next I'll prepare to go to these places..."

By the way, I can also avoid them and stay away from the conflict events that will happen around them during this period.

...

Ten days later.

Heavenly Sword City.

Shen Mu stood in front of the notice board at the city gate and carefully checked if there were any special emergencies or changes here.

"Um... Fortunately, there's basically no special change here,"

Seeing that the notices posted on the notice board were all some trivial daily events and that the top fifty rankings on the Heavenly Sword Spirit Ranking hadn't changed much, Shen Mu left with peace of mind and stepped into the city gate.

However, not long after Shen Mu left, a city guard of Heavenly Sword City came to the notice board, took down the posted Heavenly Sword Spirit Ranking list with one hand, and replaced it with the latest ranking list.

And the name of the cultivator at the end of the list had been changed to "Jiang Ling", with a cultivation level at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

After entering the city, Shen Mu had a clear goal and went all the way to the largest cultivator's merchant guild in Heavenly Sword City, the Spiritual Fate Merchant Guild.

He was going to buy some pills and talismans in it as consumables that might be used when he went through dungeons.

"Second-grade Restoration Pills... Third-grade Spirit Fusion Pills..."

Two or three pills of each type should be enough.

However, the price...

[Second-grade Restoration Pill: One hundred low-grade spirit stones] [Third-grade Spirit Fusion Pill: Three hundred low-grade spirit stones]

Shen Mu looked at the spirit stone prices under the two rows of pill bottles, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly. A bit of pain couldn't help showing in his eyes.

Damn it, these pills are really expensive. It seems that I need to find time to improve my professional skills like alchemy and artifact refining.

Otherwise, at this rate of spending, I might not be able to find all those materials even if I spend all my savings from the past two and a half years.

Shen Mu silently had some plans in his heart. After finding the Tongxuan Purple Spirit Ginseng, he would find time to get started with those professional skills and practice them slowly during his treasure-hunting journey.

"Alas~ What a pity. I came a few days late and didn't get to witness the battle at the Wine Sword Villa."

"Yeah, it's said that that battle was a very rare scene in the history of the arena at the Wine Sword Villa. Even the villa owner who usually doesn't show up much came to watch in person. That was really impressive."

"But this also proves that the villa owner's vision is really sharp."

"After just ten rounds of fighting, she directly judged that the young man at the Foundation Establishment Realm had the possibility of defeating the Golden Core Realm cultivator. She's truly a sword cultivator master with profound cultivation."

"Are you kidding? More than thirty years ago, she was a once-in-a-millennium swordsmanship genius who could compete with the Heavenly Frost Sword Master."

"Now, her strength is even more unfathomable, and she firmly sits on the position of the owner of the Wine Sword Villa. No one dares to cause trouble in her villa."

"And I've also heard... Although she always covers her face with a spiritual veil, she's also an extremely rare beauty in the mortal world. Many famous prodigies once called her the Heavenly Sword Fairy."

"Really?"

"Of course. About a month ago, the Sixth Prince of the Nine Heavens Dynasty even specially brought betrothal gifts and paid a visit, and met the old villa owner who had been in seclusion for many years."

"..."

Listening to the casual chat of the cultivators not far away, Shen Mu's face didn't change. He silently picked up the pill bottles and left.

It seemed that the development route had still deviated a bit after all.

Fortunately, the deviation wasn't too big, just a little bit.

But... To be cautious and feel at ease, it would be better to go and investigate the information about that young man later.

With a cautious attitude, after paying the spirit stones and stepping out of the merchant guild, Shen Mu went straight to the Wine Sword Villa, planning to inquire about the relevant information of that young man.

However.

After stepping out of the Spiritual Fate Merchant Guild, in a certain attic behind him, a pair of clear and bright eyes quietly caught sight of him and curved into a happy arc.

...

"Da..."

In a solitary pavilion located in a secluded bamboo forest, a disheveled, gray-haired old man with an unkempt appearance placed a white chess piece on the chessboard and said calmly.

"Qingluo, although I don't want to give you too many pointers on your life choices as your master, if you still can't take another step forward after so many years..."

"That knot in your heart... will sooner or later become the biggest shackle of your inner demon and trap you in this realm for your whole life."

"..."

Opposite the chessboard, a graceful and elegant white-haired woman with a perfect temperament sat upright. Her face below her eyes was covered by a purple spiritual veil. She didn't have much of a reaction to her master's words.

She just slightly raised her trembling fair hand and inserted her fingertips into the blue and white chess box containing black chess pieces...