"It's possible, but I also need to cultivate,"
Zhang Ergou spread his hands.
"I'm only at the Qi Refining stage. Anyone I meet is stronger than me."
"If I have to spend time refining these pills for you, my cultivation speed will definitely slow down."
"What if a slightly stronger enemy comes looking for me? Won't I be instantly killed?"
Zi Lin nodded, frowning as if considering the truth of Zhang Ergou's words.
Her strength was innate; she didn't need cultivation.
She only needed to consume medicinal ingredients to naturally grow stronger.
Therefore, she didn't understand human cultivation very well.
"How about this? If anyone bullies you, I'll beat them up for you!"
Zi Lin thought for a moment and then said.
Zhang Ergou was secretly delighted but did not show it.
"But what if I can't find you?"
"Then what should we do?" Zi Lin pondered. "How about I follow you from now on?"
She had nothing else to do anyway, and following Zhang Ergou meant delicious pills.
Thinking about it this way, Zi Lin suddenly felt she had struck a good deal.
"That might not be appropriate!" Although overjoyed, Zhang Ergou maintained a facade of reserve.
"It's settled then." Zi Lin didn't give him a chance to refuse.
"Hurry up and refine all these medicinal ingredients for me." Zi Lin pointed to the dozens of herbs she had taken out from her storage ring.
Zhang Ergou was already a bit numb.
Thousand-year Polygonum multiflorum.
Hundred-year blood ginseng.
Dark plum fruit, and other precious herbs that were rarely seen in normal times, were being consumed by Zi Lin like snacks.
It was truly a waste of heaven's bounty.
Two hours later, Zhang Ergou had refined all ten-plus herbs into pills.
He put them into a jade bottle and handed it to Zi Lin.
Zi Lin's face was full of smiles.
"Zhang Ergou, you have Dan Fire, so you must be really short on medicinal ingredients, right?"
Zi Lin blinked her large eyes, seemingly trying to tempt Zhang Ergou.
"Yes, although I can only refine Qi Condensation Pills now, those medicinal ingredients are too expensive!"
Zhang Ergou complained helplessly.
He had indeed "acquired" quite a bit of contribution points through ambushing people a few days ago, but spending them all at once would surely attract unwanted attention.
Things were tense right now, so it was better to keep a low profile.
Having just broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining, Zhang Ergou now required more spiritual energy for his cultivation than before.
Seeing his diminishing supply of Qi Condensation Pills, he had racked his brain for a solution.
Hearing Zi Lin's words, Zhang Ergou's eyes lit up, wondering if she had a way.
"I'm familiar with the old man who guards the medicinal garden, hee hee!" Zi Lin chuckled.
That night, Zi Lin led Zhang Ergou to the outer sect medicinal garden of the Misty Sect.
The medicinal garden covered an extremely vast area. Clouds and mist floated above it, and various medicinal herbs emitted a strange glow.
Even standing on the periphery, one could smell a rich medicinal fragrance.
Of course, not just anyone could enter this medicinal garden.
It was surrounded by numerous restrictions.
"How do we get in?" Zhang Ergou looked at the empty yet forbidden garden, his heart stirring with anticipation.
"Through the main entrance!" Zi Lin's voice was commanding.
As she spoke, she walked towards the main entrance of the medicinal garden.
Not far from the main entrance, a pavilion stood, blocking the view of the deeper parts of the garden.
"The medicine old man isn't here!" Zi Lin announced.
"How do you know?"
"I can smell his scent, and the cultivation of the two people inside this pavilion isn't high," Zi Lin said dismissively.
"Two people?"
Zhang Ergou instantly became nervous.
"Oh, don't worry, those two are busy with something. They're so shameless."
Zi Lin's face suddenly turned red.
Indeed, as they approached the pavilion, Zhang Ergou heard sounds of an unspeakable nature emanating from within.
Zi Lin flickered and, before Zhang Ergou could get a clear look, the sounds from the pavilion ceased.
"Let's go, it's done!"
Zi Lin reappeared before Zhang Ergou.
"What did you do to them?"
"Nothing much, I just knocked them out with a stick!" Zi Lin tugged at her ponytail and skipped forward.
Thieves!
Were they here to steal medicinal ingredients? They were clearly robbing!
His lips twitched, and Zhang Ergou followed Zi Lin into the depths of the medicinal garden.
Looking at the medicinal herbs in the garden, Zhang Ergou felt his vision blur.
Many precious medicinal ingredients were cultivated here.
Zhang Ergou now understood where Zi Lin's medicinal ingredients came from.
The herbs used to refine Qi Condensation Pills were common ones.
They were also cultivated in large quantities, so stealing a few wouldn't be noticed.
Zhang Ergou breathed a sigh of relief.
"Stop spacing out and start picking!" Zi Lin had already plucked a precious herb.
Seeing Zhang Ergou lost in thought, she urged him.
Zhang Ergou snapped back to reality and quickly joined in the harvesting.
"Don't just pick from one spot. If the medicine old man finds out, it'll be troublesome. That old man is quite difficult to deal with."
Zi Lin reminded him.
"I know!"
Zhang Ergou had done his fair share of petty theft since he was a child.
This kind of herb-stealing was second nature to him.
Under the moonlight, two figures, one large and one small, shamelessly worked in the medicinal garden like two bandits.
They filled an entire storage ring before Zhang Ergou, satisfied, finally stopped.
"Let's go! The herbs we picked today are enough for more than half a year." Although they only picked precious herbs, Zi Lin's haul was still considerable.
Just as the two of them turned to leave,
Zhang Ergou's Dan Fire trembled for no reason.
Could it be a treasure?
Zhang Ergou had this thought.
He squinted and scanned his surroundings, but it was night, and the mist made his vision limited. Zhang Ergou found nothing.
"Let's go, I feel like the medicine old man is coming back."
Zi Lin stared in one direction for a while, her expression suddenly becoming tense.
"No way!"
Zhang Ergou's expression froze on his face.
He saw a white light rapidly approaching in the distance, clearly someone flying on a sword towards them.
"Huh, medicine old man, you're back? I just came to see you, but you weren't here, so I was about to leave."
Zi Lin blinked her large eyes and spoke to a slender old man in a gray Daoist robe who had just landed.
"Zi Lin, you little girl, have you been causing trouble in my medicinal garden again?"
Yao Fan saw Zi Lin and felt a headache coming on. He couldn't beat this little girl, and scolding her was useless.
"Oh, medicine old man, you're wrongly accusing me! I just missed you, so I came to see you!"
"Really?"
"Of course! I heard that Li Manzi has taken a fancy to another female disciple and wants to take her as his concubine!"
Zi Lin's eyes flickered as she revealed a juicy piece of gossip.
"What?"
Yao Fan erupted in anger.
"I just heard this news, so I came to tell you. What do you think, medicine old man, am I a good friend?"
"Li Manzi, aren't you tired of living!" Yao Fan immediately turned and flew away furiously in a certain direction.
"Who is Li Manzi? Why is Elder Yao Fan so angry upon hearing that he wants a concubine?"
Zhang Ergou asked curiously.
"Li Manzi is Yao Fan's brother-in-law. Yao Fan's sister, Yao Mei'er, married Li Manzi, hee hee!"
...
Zhang Ergou had a premonition that something big was about to happen in the Misty Sect!