Mortal: I can unlock the card pool by becoming an apprentice to him.

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Yan. What would you like to order today?"

Inside the shop, the shopkeeper, all smiles, bowed and greeted the monk in blue robes before him.

"Same as always, two servings each of Spirit Gathering Powder and Demon Feeding Pill."

The monk in blue robes held a small, furry beast in his arms. The beast resembled a dog but was not a dog, and had two horns on its head.

Right now, it's curled up very obediently in its owner's clothes, occasionally shaking its head slightly, looking extremely cute.

"It seems this Diling Beast is about to advance in rank. Tsk tsk, it's a mutated beast. If it's carefully fed, it will surely be extraordinary in the future." The shopkeeper glanced at the little beast and couldn't help but show envy in his eyes.

The young cultivator raised his chin, his expression noncommittal. Then, he suddenly spoke up, "Shopkeeper, it seems you've encountered some good fortune today?"

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper quickly looked around, then waved his hand with a forced smile, saying, "What good news could there be? The best thing is for our shop to do business peacefully and avoid trouble."

"Oh?" The monk in blue robes said with a half-smile, "If I'm not mistaken, you must have collected quite a few aged herbs today, right?"

The hoofed spirit beast in his arms was an extremely rare mutated demon beast. Although it did not possess any combat skills, it had an extraordinary sensitivity to spirit herbs, especially those that had been around for a long time.

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper behind the counter immediately changed his expression, then said with a wry smile, "I really couldn't hide it from your discerning eyes. I just bought a few old medicinal herbs that are five hundred years old, and before I could even warm them up, you found out."

"Tsk tsk. This place actually has spiritual herbs of this caliber?"

This time, it was the blue-robed cultivator who began to marvel.

It should be noted that 500-year-old medicinal herbs are not common; one might only encounter one in an ordinary market every few years, or even decades.

After all, once this stuff gets out, it'll be snapped up at a high price almost immediately.

"This..." The shopkeeper looked troubled.

"That seller was very mysterious, his cultivation level was so obscure that no one could tell what realm he was at. After the transaction, he left without saying a word, so there was no way to find out his background."

After chatting for a while, the shopkeeper was about to fetch the medicine for the other party when his expression froze after probing the storage bag with his divine sense.

"What bad luck, Fellow Daoist Yan, the Spirit Gathering Powder and Demon Feeding Pills you requested are all gone."

The monk in blue stroked the little beast in his arms, unsurprised.

The two items he wanted were highly beneficial to level-one demonic beasts and were therefore very sought after.

"Fine, if you need it again next time, remember to save some for me."

After saying that, he turned and left.

"It's just that I don't have enough spirit stones, otherwise I would have promoted you to a top-tier demon beast long ago."

The monk in blue gently stroked the small beast in his arms and murmured softly.

Finally, he turned and walked towards another shop.

The moment he stepped inside, the spirit beast in his arms trembled violently, burying its little head in his clothes. Then, it began to breathe heavily, as if it had caught a very sensitive scent...

......

"Junior Brother Lin, Senior Wu, who is in charge of Qingliang Market, has just been invited to a banquet by the Yan family. Why don't we return to the sect immediately to report?"

Yu Jingyan seemed to have bought something she liked, and said with a lighthearted expression.

Lin Mo had already sold off a lot of spiritual herbs and had no intention of lingering here any longer.

Upon hearing this, he instinctively turned around to look.

Not far away, a cultivator in blue robes was holding a small, snow-white beast, observing him intently or unintentionally.

"Is there anything wrong with this?"

Yu Jingyan looked around and asked softly.

"Perhaps it's just my imagination. Senior Wu went to a banquet at the Yan family's residence, and we don't know when he'll be back. Senior Sister, let's head back to the sect as soon as possible."

Lin Mo felt a slight chill in his heart, but remained calm on the surface.

The two left the market town, their flying boat speeding away, leaving the surrounding market town far behind.

We hadn't flown for long when we suddenly heard a strange howl behind us!

"Fellow Daoists, please wait a moment!"

In the distance, three enormous two-headed eagles flapped their wings and sped towards them, each carrying a cultivator. One of them was the blue-robed cultivator that Lin Mo had sensed spying on him earlier.

"A member of the Yan family?"

After a moment's thought, Yu Jingyan realized that the flying boat she was using was of a low grade, and even with full acceleration, she couldn't shake off the two-headed ferocious eagle. So she simply stopped the flying boat and gave Lin Mo a wink. The two of them quietly circulated their spiritual energy to be on guard.

"We are disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect. May I ask what brings you fellow Daoists from the Yan family here?"

Seeing that the three people on the eagle's back were all at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, only one step away from Foundation Establishment.

Without hesitation, Yu Jingyan immediately invoked the name of the Hidden Moon Sect.

The young man in black who was in the lead had a handsome and indifferent face, with long, narrow eyebrows and eyes.

"A disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect?"

He frowned subconsciously, then looked at the blue-robed monk beside him.

"Yan Qing, are you sure these two people have...?"

"Brother, as you know, my Divine Beast is extremely sensitive to the scents of spiritual herbs; it will never be wrong. Besides, even if the other party is a disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect, so what? The three of us brothers are struggling with resources and haven't been able to establish our foundations yet. This place is remote and desolate; as long as..."

The blue-robed cultivator named Yan Qing moved his lips slightly, his voice low and calm.

"As long as the plan goes smoothly and remains undetected, no one will trace it back to the Yan family. Even if they do, that's a headache for the eldest branch of the family. What does it have to do with us three brothers?"

Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in the black-clad youth's eyes, clearly indicating that he agreed with his brother's words.

"My name is Yan Cang. There is a misunderstanding that happens to involve you two. Please stay a moment and cooperate with my two brothers to investigate."

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

"Just now in the market, I wonder if you two mistakenly bought a Cold Sun Grass? This grass was stolen from my Yan family. My younger brother Yan Qing's spirit beast has a keen sense of smell and followed the scent all the way here, and the clue just happened to fall on you. How about... you two open your storage bags and let us check them? If you are innocent, the three of us will leave immediately and will not disturb you at all."

"Hmph, are you joking? You want to forcibly search our storage bags for no reason? The Yan family is just a vassal of my Hidden Moon Sect, yet you dare to be so presumptuous and arrogant."

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman Yu Jingyan was furious. Her jade-like face turned frosty, and her spiritual energy suddenly became fierce, making it seem as if she was about to start a fight at the slightest provocation.

It should be noted that every cultivator who can become a disciple of Si Que is a powerful figure who surpasses others of the same level.

Therefore, even though the three opponents were all more powerful than her, she was confident that she had a 20% chance of escaping and a 40% chance of holding out until reinforcements arrived.

Seeing this, Yan Cang's expression darkened; these two sect disciples were not easy to fool.

Just now, he was thinking that if the other party believed his one-sided story and allowed his storage bag to be searched, then he would be like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

Since that's the case, let's finish this quickly.

Thinking of this, Yan Cang's eyes shifted between light and shadow, and he said coldly, "Since you two are unwilling to be dignified, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

......