An hour later, Ye Lingyuan walked out of the room with satisfaction, a brilliant smile on his face.
However, Zi Lingling, who was still in the room, looked quite pitiful.
Her lips were so swollen they could rival sausages, and her neck was covered in red marks.
Zi Lingling took out a Skin-Nourishing Jade-Beautifying Pill, crushed it, and evenly applied it to the marks.
Moments later, the marks completely disappeared as if they had never been there. Zi Lingling stood up, gritting her teeth and saying, "Hmph, it's all your fault, you six old kites! Just you wait, I'll send you all flying!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she vanished from the room.
On the bustling street, Zi Lingling emerged from one shop and then entered a second.
Before staying long in the second shop, she left and entered a third.
Fourth, fifth, sixth…
Zi Lingling was clearly enjoying herself.
This infuriated the six "old rats" who were secretly monitoring her.
These six rats were, of course, people from the three great families and the royal family of the Azure Dragon Empire.
There were two from the Zi family, two from the Royal Dongfang family, one from the Shen family, and one from the Qin family.
As soon as Ye Lingyuan and Zi Lingling appeared outside Dongfang City, they were targeted by the people from the three great families and the royal family.
As for why they were targeting Zi Lingling and Ye Lingyuan, it was all thanks to Zi Donglai, the young master of the Zi family.
Zi Donglai was himself a peerless genius of the Azure Dragon Empire.
He, along with Qin Mingfei of the Qin family, Shen Liufeng of the Shen family, and Dongfang Mingyu and Dongfang Mingzhu of the royal family, were known as the Five Flowers of Azure Dragon, with Zi Donglai consistently holding the top position.
Yet, this top-ranked genius had suffered a setback in the Tianqi Kingdom, not only being captured but also used as leverage to extort the Zi family of the empire.
Although the news was immediately suppressed by the Zi family of the empire, it couldn't escape the notice of the other three families.
The Zi family of the empire was furious and naturally sent people to investigate.
The other three families, on the other hand, were driven by curiosity.
After all, anyone capable of capturing a peerless genius like Zi Donglai was certainly worth their effort to investigate.
Of course, there was another reason: the geniuses of their own families were as renowned as Zi Donglai!
If someone could capture Zi Donglai, they could certainly capture their own family's geniuses.
Therefore, aside from the Zi family, the other three families shared a common objective:
If possible, they would try to win over such individuals; if not, they would at least warn their family disciples to absolutely avoid provoking them.
Thus, after a period of investigation, the portraits of Zi Lingling and Ye Lingyuan spread throughout the Azure Dragon Empire.
And in Dongfang City, spies and informants from the four great families were everywhere.
So, the moment Zi Lingling and Ye Lingyuan appeared in Dongfang City, their whereabouts were immediately reported to the high-ranking officials of the four great families.
The Shen, Qin, and Dongfang families chose to observe and wait, while the Zi family was divided into two factions.
One faction advocated for killing the pair to publicly declare that the dignity of the Zi family of the empire could not be challenged.
The other faction advocated for winning them over, given the deep connection between the Zi family of the empire and the Zi family of Tianqi.
If these two could be made to serve the Zi family of the empire, the strength of the younger generation within the Zi family would undoubtedly reach new heights.
The two factions argued endlessly, their debates fierce and lively.
Meanwhile, Zi Lingling, the person in question, continued to flit in and out of various shops, appearing to be leisurely browsing, but in reality, she was buying time for Ye Lingyuan.
For Ye Lingyuan was leisurely strolling through the territories of the four great families.
As for what he was doing, it was to search for the Soul Nurturing Wood while coincidentally gathering some information.
After all, with his current cultivation, if he didn't deliberately reveal himself, no one would be able to discover his whereabouts.
Zi Lingling spent two hours shopping.
The six "rats" felt dizzy and disoriented, clearly suffering from excessive use of their divine sense.
The two from the Zi family of the empire, in particular, had eyes that were extremely sore and dry, and their divine sense was somewhat hazy.
This was because their orders were to absolutely not allow Zi Lingling to leave their sight or the range of their divine sense!
After two hours of shopping, Zi Lingling had nothing in her hands, leaving the six feeling as though they had been played.
In truth, they were unaware that Zi Lingling had already spent over a hundred million low-grade spirit stones.
The items she had purchased were already stored in her Nine Spirit Ring, including herbs, cultivation techniques, and weapons.
The herbs were, naturally, for alchemy, while the cultivation techniques and weapons were intended to arm the King's Mercenary Group, the Phoenix Spin Army, and the Zi family of Tianqi upon their return.
"Time is about right!"
Zi Lingling muttered to herself and then headed back towards the inn where they were staying.
In their room at the inn, Ye Lingyuan had already returned and was leisurely brewing tea.
The tea was, of course, Cloud Mountain Mist Bud from the Underworld King's Manor, and even the water was from a spring on the peak of South Mountain.
The room was filled with the fragrance of tea.
Zi Lingling pushed the door open, picked up a cup, and drank it down, exclaiming, "I'm so thirsty!"
Ye Lingyuan smiled helplessly. Even the finest tea lost its flavor when Zi Lingling gulped it down like a barbarian.
However, he uttered no word of reprimand, merely casting a barrier outside the room.
He doted on this woman endlessly; how could he possibly blame her?
After downing three cups in quick succession, Zi Lingling asked, slightly tiredly, "How did it go? Did you find it?"
Ye Lingyuan nodded and said, "Yes, I found it!"
"Really? Where is it?"
The fatigue in Zi Lingling's eyes vanished, replaced by a keen spark.
Ye Lingyuan put down his teacup and smiled at her, saying, "In the place you guessed?"
Zi Lingling's eyes widened. "No way? It's really in the Zi family of the empire?"
Ye Lingyuan nodded. "Indeed!"
Zi Lingling was stunned for a moment, then burst into unrestrained laughter.
"It seems the Zi family of the empire truly has heavenly luck to possess such a large Soul Nurturing Wood. However, their luck ends here now that they've encountered me!"
Ye Lingyuan chuckled and asked indulgently, "Ling'er, when are you planning to make your move?"
Zi Lingling shook her head. "No rush. I'll wait until I've refined the Bodhi Luring Pill."
The Bodhi Luring Pill had only one function: to lure.
The Bodhi tree had transcended the realm of plants and reached a level of extraordinary perfection.
Therefore, the aura of the "Dao" within the Bodhi tree was an irresistible temptation to any plant.
That's right!
Zi Lingling intended to use the Bodhi Luring Pill to entice the Soul Nurturing Wood into willingly coming with her.
Because, if she wasn't mistaken, the Soul Nurturing Wood belonging to the Zi family had likely already developed sentience.
And forcibly taking it would provoke resistance from the Soul Nurturing Wood, alerting the people of the Zi family of the empire.
This was not Zi Lingling's original intention.
Her intention was to act without anyone noticing, leaving the Zi family of the empire to suffer this loss in silence.