“Not interacting with each other is also an option, but some people insist on sending things like the medicinal compendium and the young master of the Bai family to my door.” Bai Shengyi’s smile stretched to the corner of her mouth. “Duke Rong, wouldn’t you agree?”
Duke Rong was so infuriated that he almost slammed the door and left.
However, Bai Shengyi’s words were faster than his actions. “Since you don’t want to have a proper conversation, then forget it. I’ll have people investigate my father’s whereabouts.”
With that, Bai Shengyi tossed a casual remark and stood up, preparing to leave.
“Bastard… Stop!” Duke Rong swallowed the words he wanted to curse and changed his tune. “This old man can tell you about your father’s whereabouts, but you must represent the Bai family at the New Year’s Eve banquet in the palace at the end of the year.”
This way, the rumors outside would be dispelled.
Duke Rong felt that this trade was not a disadvantage for Bai Shengyi, and agreeing would not hurt. But Bai Shengyi’s movements did not pause at all.
“You wretch! Your father is trapped on the Path of No Return!”
Duke Rong glared at Bai Shengyi in anger. He truly wanted to crack open her head and see if this junior was born rebellious, specifically here to cause him trouble.
However, he soon suppressed this rage. The Bai family could be without a young master, but they could not be without a patriarch. Bai Yu was already crippled, and he had to make Bai Shengyi find a way to bring the eldest back.
“This old man needs to stay and oversee things at home. As the young master, and as Bai Qingjiang’s daughter, you should be the one to make this trip, shouldn’t you?”
Only then did Bai Shengyi turn around.
As if she could see through Duke Rong, she chuckled, “Old man, your calculations are too precise. You are his biological father, and his plea for help was sent to you, yet you’re asking me to rescue him? Are you that afraid of death?”
Without giving Duke Rong any face, Bai Shengyi directly tore apart his hypocrisy.
“However, you are right about one thing. He is my father.”
After speaking, Bai Shengyi did not linger. Every inch of the air here was nauseating.
Qin Si had been guarding nearby. Seeing Bai Shengyi’s extremely displeased expression, he quietly followed, remaining silent.
As they approached the Xuanjing Tiger’s cave, Bai Shengyi instructed Bai Yu Yue, who was following her, “Remember to get the specific details to me.”
Bai Yu Yue acknowledged her.
Bai Shengyi added, “Hurry up. I want the Bai family to have nothing to do with this old man before my father returns. After all, I am the young master.”
As a Duke, now that he had found an heir, he should be enjoying his twilight years.
Understanding the meaning behind Bai Shengyi’s words, Bai Yu Yue was stunned. “Then what about Bai Qingqing and Bai San?”
Previously, to deceive Duke Rong, those among the eight who had ulterior motives had always been utilized.
“Kill those who don’t obey,” Bai Shengyi said with a completely indifferent expression.
“Do you need my help?” Qin Si asked.
Bai Shengyi couldn’t help but laugh, “It would be best if you could help. I intend to spread the Bai family’s medical halls throughout the Great Ning Dynasty. Hmm, I suspect the royal family won’t be very pleased…”
“Leave it to me,” Qin Si said without batting an eye.
Watching this scene, Bai Yu Yue suddenly felt that choosing to stand with the young master was truly incredibly wise. With the young master’s talent and the help of this prince, what couldn’t be achieved?
Bai Shengyi wasn’t in high spirits, and even her obsession with the Xuanjing Tiger diminished. She remained this way until they reached Maple City.
After submitting the invitation to the Pill Fighting Competition and settling into the city, Qin Si said, “Tonight, many pill refiners will be trading medicinal herbs in the city. Shall we go out for a walk together?”
“Alright,” Bai Shengyi replied with a smile.
Qin Si said, “Don’t smile if you don’t want to.”
Bai Shengyi twitched the corners of her mouth. “I am still quite happy. It’s my first time participating in such a grand event. By the way, why aren’t Elder Mo and my senior sister here?”
The competition was officially starting tomorrow, and tonight was the last day to enter the city, yet Bai Shengyi hadn’t seen those two.
Perhaps because Maple City was inherently a domain for alchemists, the air in the city itself carried a faint, pure fragrance of spiritual pills. Cultivators moved about, creating a lively scene.
However, Bai Shengyi’s gaze inadvertently fell on Qin Si.
He stood to Bai Shengyi’s left, subtly blocking the crowds that inadvertently pushed towards them.
“Those two will not be coming. Mo Shuxin, for her first time attending the Pill Fighting Competition, ‘accidentally’ destroyed the formation of the Pill Fighting Plaza. As for Qian Ying, she received an invitation back then, but instead, she refined medicine during the competition. Because the medicine carried the fragrance of pills, one of the elder judges became too curious and followed her back to Qian Xiao Peak.”
“This…” Bai Shengyi hadn’t expected the two seniors to have such grand feats and widened her eyes.
A smile also appeared on Qin Si’s lips. “So, these two have been blacklisted by the Feng family.”
The Feng family organized the Pill Fighting Competition to showcase the heritage of their pill-refining lineage and attract more talents in the Dao of Pills, not to become a laughingstock for outsiders.
Seeing that Bai Shengyi’s mood seemed to have improved, Qin Si was relieved.
He didn’t ask why Bai Shengyi had been dispirited earlier. Instead, he pointed to a nearby shop.
“This is the largest medicinal shop in the city. Didn’t you say you wanted a three-thousand-year-old Zi Shen Zhi? You can go and ask. If they don’t have it, then go check the trading market.”
The two arrived at an inopportune time. It seemed someone else was also acquiring Zi Shen Zhi, and all the Zi Shen Zhi in the shop, regardless of age, had been bought.
“There was one that was four thousand years old.”
“Do you know that person’s identity?” Bai Shengyi asked.
The shopkeeper shook his head. “He is not from Maple City.”
“Then he’s likely here for the Pill Fighting Competition,” Qin Si guessed. “Is it also medicine for the competition? But why would someone need so much Zi Shen Zhi?”
Zi Shen Zhi was not like White Jade Lingzhi, which was a complete spiritual item. Although it could be used in medicine, its toxicity was actually greater than its medicinal properties. The older the Zi Shen Zhi, the less toxic it was. Therefore, those used in medicine were generally over a thousand years old.
Qin Si used to have two specimens in his collection, but he had already given them to Bai Shengyi. Since Bai Shengyi still needed this item, the two of them headed to the trading market.
“My lord, as I just said, this Zi Shen Zhi is not for sale, only for trade. I want a branch of the Spiritual Tracking Wood.” The cultivator speaking looked no older than thirteen or fourteen, but he exuded a terrifying aura of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.
The cultivator in front of him, who wanted to purchase the Zi Shen Zhi, wore a mask and was unwilling to give up. “Our master is willing to offer 800 high-grade spirit stones.”
Keep in mind that at the medical consultation auction, a mid-tier Earth grade spiritual artifact only cost 1500 high-grade spirit stones. Although Zi Shen Zhi was rare, it was not priceless. This price was already quite sincere.
Many onlookers cast envious glances at the Golden Core cultivator who possessed the Zi Shen Zhi.
However, the Golden Core cultivator firmly refused.
“Not for sale!”
“Spiritual Tracking Wood branch?” Bai Shengyi pondered, then beckoned to the Qiong Meng Vine.
The Qiong Meng Vine broke off a section of its leaf and handed it to her. She stepped forward and asked the cultivator, “Will you trade with this?”
The jade-green vine branch was not conspicuous, but upon closer inspection, the bark of the branch seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting unconsciously, absorbing and exhaling spiritual essence, even after being separated from the main body.
The Golden Core cultivator immediately said, “Deal!”
Instantly, he exchanged the vine branch for the Zi Shen Zhi.
Having obtained what she wanted, Bai Shengyi intended to leave with Qin Si, but she saw the masked person who had just tried to purchase the Zi Shen Zhi from the Golden Core cultivator walk up to her.
“Fellow Daoist, our master urgently needs the Zi Shen Zhi to advance to a seventh-tier alchemist. We are willing to offer 1000 high-grade spirit stones for the Zi Shen Zhi you have. Please consider our offer.”