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

Unlike the hustle and bustle outside, business in the secret shop relies on willing customers taking the bait.

There were no hawkers shouting or enthusiastic solicitations; the monks passing by all wore masks and did not speak to each other.

Yan Ruyan's gaze slowly swept over each item.

She hadn't taken the young man's words seriously when he told her that this place was only open to cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. However, to her surprise, the items available here ranged from basic cultivation techniques for the Qi Refining stage to pills and magical artifacts for the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Some cautious independent cultivators are not entirely at ease with secret shops. If they come across something they need to sell urgently, they will hire a low-level cultivator to sell it here while they guard the outside. If anything goes wrong, they will immediately withdraw and flee, never putting themselves in danger."

Upon hearing Lin Mo's explanation, Yan Ruyan nodded slowly, a look of understanding in her eyes.

No wonder she just saw a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining openly selling Spirit Gathering Pills, which are only used by those at the Foundation Establishment stage.

It turned out to be the case.

Unfortunately, after searching around, the two of them couldn't find any trace of the Heart-Soothing Grass.

Yan Ruyan frowned slightly behind her mask and couldn't help but sigh softly.

Seeing this, Lin Mo couldn't help but lower his voice and say, "If I may ask, what is the purpose of this Tranquil Heart Grass that Senior Sister is seeking? If it's for calming the mind and clearing away distracting thoughts, as far as I know, there are several kinds of pills that can be effective. Why bother seeking such an unorthodox item?"

"Junior brother, you may not know this, but I sought this item not for my own use, but for an elder in my family. That elder developed a hidden ailment during his early cultivation and needs this item as a medicinal guide to neutralize the effects of other medicines. The clan has sent many people to search for it, but unfortunately, most of the Silent Heart Grass they found was too young and had weak medicinal properties, making it unsuitable for use in medicine."

As she spoke, Yan Ruyan lowered her eyes and sighed softly.

"Junior brother, don't worry about it. This item is rare to begin with, let alone one that's been around for a while. I only went to the market because I had a sliver of hope and wasn't willing to give up."

"I see."

As Lin Mo spoke, he stopped and looked at the stall directly in front of him.

There was nothing else on the stall except for several small flags the size of a palm and a few strange stones of unknown material.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man with a black cloth covering his face and a cultivation level of only the seventh level of Qi Refining. When he saw Lin Mo walking over, he slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of dark and dull eyes.

"Fellow Daoist, do you need me to set up an array?"

......

"Senior Sister Yan, I will return the spirit stones I just paid to you in a few days."

Lin Mo never expected that what was originally a trip to the market with Yan Ruyan to find spiritual herbs would unexpectedly result in him buying everything he needed.

The man in the secret market just now was selling exactly what he needed: a magic array that could block divine sense from prying into him and conceal his aura.

However, this unassuming magic array, including the array flags, requires more than three hundred spirit stones.

Lin Mo only had two hundred yuan that he had taken from Li Zhiya last time, which was far from enough. Although there were some old herbs in his storage bag, he did not want to sell them in a place like the secret market. Just as he was about to give up, Yan Ruyan took the initiative to speak and bought the magic array for him directly.

"Junior brother, there's no need to be so polite. If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I would have had to deal with Liu Changfeng before I could get away. Besides, you've really broadened Ruyan's horizons today, so consider these spirit stones as payment for your company."

She waved her hand gently.

As the young master of the Yan family, Yan Ruyan naturally wouldn't care about a few hundred spirit stones.

Upon their return to the sect, Lin Mo immediately set up the Severing Breath and Absolute Sense Array in his residence.

The original restrictions on this place were too rudimentary; if a true expert were to investigate, they would definitely not be able to hide it from the other party's eyes.

"Zuo Yi's Little Concealment Formation".

Lin Mo looked at the jade slip in his hand and arranged the array flags in specific locations around his residence according to the description on it. Then, he buried the array plate at the center point where the array flags intersected.

Finally, several spirit stones were embedded into the array plate.

Once the spiritual energy was activated, the entire residence was completely enveloped by the magic array.

Lin Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief after reactivating the built-in restrictions.

In the days that followed, Lin Mo continued to cultivate spiritual herbs as usual, and spent the rest of his time cultivating, except when he went down the mountain to run errands.

His storage bag is now overflowing with five-hundred-year-old Qi Refining stage herbs, filling more than half of the space. If all these herbs were converted into spirit stones, Lin Mo's net worth would likely skyrocket to the level of a Golden Core stage cultivator.

"It would be best not to sell the medicinal herbs in the short term."

Lin Mo gazed calmly at the lush, flourishing medicinal herbs in the herb field, lost in thought.

He used to think that Han Li in the original story was too cautious, not even using such a heaven-defying artifact as the Little Green Bottle. Now that it was his turn, he realized that being a million times more careful was not an overstatement.

A corner of the medicinal herb field.

Two spiritual herbs, each about four inches tall and covered in a faint emerald glow, quietly took root in the soil. These herbs bore no flowers or fruit, and their leaves were as translucent as jade, making them stand out starkly from the surrounding patch of other herbs.

"Two hundred years should be enough."

Lin Mo bent down, his fingertips avoiding the spiritual light, and landed on the leaves of the spiritual herb. Then, he took out a palm-sized jade shovel from his storage bag and slowly dug away the soil around the roots of the spiritual herb.

The roots of the Silent Heart Grass are extremely delicate, and if they are damaged during digging, much of its medicinal properties will be lost.

It took Lin Mo two full hours to finally dig out a whole Lonely Heart Grass.

At the same time, outside Yan Ruyan's residence.

Liu Changfeng, dressed in a plain white robe, stood tall and straight in front of the bluestone steps with his hands behind his back.

"Ruyan greets Senior Brother Liu."

The girl pushed open the courtyard gate, saw the person who came, paused slightly, and then curtsied.

"I've told you so many times, Ruyan, we don't need to be so polite."

Liu Changfeng revealed a gentle smile. He stepped forward slowly, his gaze falling on the girl's exquisite and beautiful face, and he unconsciously swallowed.

"I wonder when you plan to establish your foundation, Junior Sister? I've already spoken with Master, and when I do, she'll lend me the spiritual spring on Cloud Spring Mountain. If you're willing, we could go to Cloud Spring Mountain together and establish our foundations together—wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?"

As Liu Changfeng spoke, he slowly approached, his white robes fluttering in the wind, and a perfectly timed smile graced his handsome face.

Although the Golden Core elder had said that he would only formally accept him as a disciple after he reached Foundation Establishment, Liu Changfeng believed that the matter was already a sure thing.

Otherwise, why would my master lend me the spiritual spring to break through my cultivation level?

In Liu Changfeng's view, the most important thing right now is not to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, but to win over the young master of the Yan family, who is known as the number one genius girl in Yue Kingdom.

At that time, he will have a Golden Core stage master to protect him, a Daoist partner with a Heavenly Spirit Root, and the Yan family's resources.

Liu Changfeng dared not even imagine how smooth his path would be from then on.