You're just a single demon beast? I have a whole army of beast tamers!

Instead of planting it directly, Qin Shou carved out a three-foot square plot in the center of the medicinal field, crushed several wood-attribute spirit stones into powder, mixed them into the soil, and then carefully placed the flower in the ground.

As soon as its roots touched the ground, they spontaneously unfurled and firmly embedded themselves in the soil. Silver light flowed on its stem, and it absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy on its own without anyone prompting it.

"You're doing well." Qin Shou breathed a sigh of relief.

Next up was the silver-leaved dragon-patterned grass.

This herb prefers shade and cannot withstand direct sunlight.

Qin Shou planted it on a semi-shaded slope to the west of the Five-Colored Tree, and built a low wall next to it with several blue stones to block the mountain wind.

The silver-leaved dragon grass looked a little wilted when it was first planted, but after a while the leaf tips slowly perked up.

Qin Shou then took out a jade bottle and poured a few drops of spiritual spring water onto the roots.

The blade of grass trembled slightly, and several extremely fine dragon patterns appeared on its surface.

"This place is more suitable than the secret medicine garden," Qin Shou nodded.

Finally, there was that purple-black scrophularia.

This is a second-grade immortal medicine. The root is already the size of a fist, and the three purple fruits at the top are not yet fully ripe.

The Qin beast found a shady earthen slope and buried it half a foot deep.

Not long after it was planted, several ordinary medicinal herbs around it seemed to be driven away by something, leaning to both sides on their own, clearly unable to withstand the medicinal aura of the Purple Black Scrophularia.

"A second-rank official is a second-rank official; they occupy land."

Qin Shou patted the dirt off his hands and stood by the field for a while.

With these elixirs, we will no longer be short of resources for alchemy in the future.

Although one of the Nine-Aperture Immortal Flowers has bloomed, it is still a little short of being truly mature.

All he has to do now is wait for the colored sphere to accumulate more energy.

If the flower is to ripen quickly, it will inevitably require the intervention of the power of nature.

But that energy has other uses right now: for the bloodline of demonic beasts, for tempering magical artifacts, and for accelerating the growth of spiritual plants; none of them can be done without it.

"Let it grow slowly."

Qin Shou thought to himself, "Once the Nine Aperture Immortal Spirit Flower has adapted to this place, I'll plant some other first-grade immortal herbs in the back."

Once I break through to the True Immortal realm, this space will most likely change again.

If I can truly cultivate a celestial vein by then, I won't need to constantly tend to these celestial medicines.

He circled around the space again.

The Golden-Winged Roc lay on the highest branch of the Five-Colored Tree, its golden light contained within, and it was dozing with its eyes closed.

The Void Dragon coiled around the Spirit Spring, its body half-hidden in the mist, only occasionally flicking its tail.

The cicadas of spring and autumn perched on a giant leaf, their wings trembling very slightly, as if they too were cultivating with the spiritual energy of the surrounding space.

"You guys seem quite at ease," Qin Beast smiled, not disturbing them.

He walked to the foot of the tribulation platform, sat down cross-legged, and took out all the immortal pills he had saved over the years, spreading them out in several rows in front of him.

One jade vase after another, there must have been at least two thousand.

Qin Beasts didn't rush to count them; they first sorted them by category.

He had the most Condensing Essence Pills, followed by Nourishing Essence Pills and Strengthening Foundation Pills, as well as many other first-grade immortal pills that he had casually refined over the years.

It took two full hours to count them.

When the final number came out, even Qin Shou himself was taken aback.

More than 3,100.

Three-line patterns make up the majority, four-line patterns number over four hundred, and five-line patterns number nearly one hundred.

There were even two bottles of Six-Path Pattern Condensation Pills that he had specially left behind, a total of twelve pills.

"No wonder."

He muttered something to himself.

Over the years, each time he refined pills for the Shui family, he would only hand over three pills on the surface, occasionally four.

In reality, he could produce at least five pills in one batch, and sometimes six or seven.

The Shui family thought he only had one or two extra, little did they know he had secretly hidden so many.

"More than three thousand pieces, if sold at market price, would yield at least several thousand, or even more than ten thousand immortal crystals."

Qin Shou carefully put the pills away, keeping only a few bottles for regular use.

He leaned against the tribulation platform, looked up at the five-colored tree canopy that blocked out the sky, and his expression gradually calmed down.

The Shui family treated him with kindness, which cannot be said to be entirely without gratitude.

From the Immortal Spirit Pool to his Daoist partner, offspring, and finally to his status as a serving alchemist, everything gave him an excellent start as an outsider cultivator.

But aren't all those good things meant to be useful?

The reason for giving it to Chi Zi was that his cultivation level was too low;

I gave it to my Daoist partner to prevent him from developing any other intentions;

Giving it to the child is to keep him forever tied to the Shui family.

Over the years, the number of elixirs he refined and handed over to the Shui family after completion was already enormous.

If we consider market value, he should have paid back the immortal crystals he owed the Shui family long ago, and he might even have earned tens of thousands of immortal crystals for the Shui family.

"Ten children were taken away as well."

Qin Shou said in a low voice, "This relationship ends here."

Once I have the confidence to fight Xuanxian, I will go to fetch him and settle this score as well.

He didn't linger in the space, but instead took out a green wooden box and put the three-patterned pills inside separately.

Items with four or more patterns were placed in another white jade box, and a restriction was placed on the opening of the box.

Before leaving, he went to see the Nine-Aperture Immortal Flower again.

In just one hour, the first petal of the flower was already brighter than when it was first planted.

The spiritual energy in this space is more vibrant than in the secret realm. This flower might bloom again here in less than a hundred years.

Qin Beast exited the space and returned to the quiet room.

A few rays of moonlight shone through the crack in the window, illuminating half of his arm.

Just as he was about to sit down to meditate, he suddenly heard a very faint bell ringing from a great distance outside the courtyard.

That was the night patrol bell of Wucang Immortal City, which ran every two hours.

After the bell rang, the two guards at the gate seemed to have changed positions, with one of them walking closer to the gate.

"They're really keeping a close eye on things."

Qin Shou snorted softly, closed his eyes, and ignored him.

He was getting ready to go to Wanxiang Pavilion.

The next morning, when Qin Shou came out of the quiet room, Shui Yao was already waiting in the courtyard.

Today she changed into a light red robe, her hair was neatly tied up, and there was a hint of eagerness in her eyes.

Seeing him come out, she immediately approached him: "Leaving now?"

"Let's go now."

Qin Shou nodded. "You'll come with me. When we get there, talk less and observe more."

Shuiyao pouted: "When have I ever caused you any trouble?"

Qin Shou didn't reply, but walked towards the courtyard gate.

Shui Rou took two steps from behind and stuffed a black cloth bag that she had prepared beforehand into Shui Yao's hand.

Shuiyao was puzzled. She opened it and found a few ordinary-looking fairy crystals inside.

"Take it, use it as pocket money," Shui Rou whispered.

Shuiyao glanced at her, said nothing, and stuffed the cloth bag into her sleeve.

The two left the Shui family's villa and crossed two long streets.

The eastern part of Wucang Immortal City has always been bustling, but the black market is not on the ground.

Shuiyao led Qin Shou into a seemingly ordinary teahouse, then down a hidden door in the back hall, and across a long, winding stone staircase to an underground market.

Above them was a smooth, black stone dome, inlaid with over a hundred bright pearls, illuminating the entire street as if it were daytime.

The shops on both sides are at different heights, and different colored banners are hung in front of each shop.

Most of the cultivators coming and going wore cloaks, their faces obscured by various colored spiritual lights.

Shuiyao was also prepared, taking out a thin gauze hat and handing it to Qin Shou, and putting one on herself as well.

"Wanxiang Pavilion is at the very back."

Shuiyao whispered, "Don't be fooled by the large number of people here. Those who can actually get to the innermost part are either highly skilled in cultivation or carrying a large business."

Qin Shou nodded and walked forward with the crowd.

He saw many stalls along the way.

There were vendors selling broken immortal artifacts, vendors hawking materials from unknown demonic beasts, and several black-clad cultivators squatting in a corner with a few dark stones in front of them, their origins unknown.