Cultivation begins with harvest.

The four people from Dongfang Chushan came quickly and left quickly, without lingering. Chen Guang put away the array flags and hurriedly fled in the opposite direction. Once the four people from Dongfang Chushan were out of sight, and his mana, which had been somewhat depleted from releasing the Ice Yuan Bottle, had recovered a bit, he immediately released the Azure Cloud Boat, used his Purple Mist Hand to drag Dongfang Lieming onto the flying boat, and flew away.

After a long while, when Dongfang Chushan and the others returned to their original spot, the ground that had instantly covered more than ten zhang in length was still harder than a stubborn rock. Dongfang Chushan directed his clansmen to retrieve the spiritual artifacts and other relics, while he himself solemnly dug out a flying needle spiritual artifact covered in gold dust from a pile of ice.

……

The Azure Cloud Boat flew away from the Eastern Seven Regions in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and landed quickly. Chen Guang and his companion got off the flying boat and slowed down to carefully and meticulously examine their surroundings. They walked for almost fifty miles in one go, and it wasn't until midday the next day that they found a secluded forest to rest.

After a period of recuperation, when Chen Guang opened his eyes, Dongfang Lieming, who had been anxiously waiting, tugged at the hem of his clothes with both hands and timidly called out, "Senior Brother."

Chen Guang stretched out his hand without thinking: "I know that your information about Zhanyang Flower is right here. You should have one on you. Just one will do."

"I don't know, I really don't know anything, why did this happen..."

These words finally broke Dongfang Lieming down in tears. Large tears fell one after another, making a sound as they hit the ground. It was so obvious that she could not possibly not recognize them as the three unique secret manuals of the Dongfang clan. They were three carefully selected cultivation techniques. Everyone else knew this clearly, so how could she, a cultivator of the Dongfang clan, not know it?

"Our agreement is not yet fulfilled. I will send you back to the outpost and then take your brother back to the sect with me. But I also want my share of the reward. It will no longer be a tacit 'message'; I want the real thing. One plant is enough," Chen Guang emphasized again.

Upon hearing these words, Dongfang Lieming stopped crying. He met Chen Guang's eyes for several breaths before resolutely taking out all the spiritual items from his storage artifact. The spiritual items, radiating intense spiritual energy, were scattered all over the ground. He pushed six wooden boxes to Chen Guang, his eyes still wet, but his gaze had become much clearer: "This is all that I have gained inside. I don't know how to convince you, Senior Brother, that I truly did not participate. It is true that those people are from the Dongfang clan, and it is true that they were once my clansmen, but I really did not contact them, nor do I know them. I have no other way to prove that I did not participate, but I am willing to show everything I have, including what I know."

"Because you sincerely led me into the Firebeard Cave, this is the only way I can repay you with this."

Chen Guang looked at the wooden box, which was exactly the same as the wooden box containing the Zhan Yang Flower that he had obtained before. He could vaguely feel the heat even through the wooden box. Chen Guang frowned and scanned all the spiritual objects. The spiritual energy in some of the boxes was almost comparable to that of Thunder Jade and Emerald. He wondered what kind of treasure it was. It was so precious. If it was a relic of Fire Beard Cave, it would be too complete and brand new.

He withdrew his gaze, first putting away a box of lilac flowers, then holding the rest in front of him: "This box is what I deserve, as for the others, I will give you the market price..."

"Put the rest of your things away, they're yours. Take a rest, we need to hurry back."

Chen Guang had no desire to ask any questions. He simply settled the price of the boxes of Zhanyang flowers and put them away, without glancing at the other spiritual items.

Although Dongfang Lieming's attitude was sincere, there were too many suspicious points. Although he still took her with him at the last moment, on the one hand, he was sure that the possibility of her posing a threat to him was very small, and on the other hand, it was because of the spiritual contract binding and the temptation of the Zhanyang Flower. Putting aside these two factors, it is unknown how much of it was out of trust in Dongfang Lieming.

The return journey was easier than Chen Guang had imagined. With increased experience, he had a deeper understanding of maps and could easily find the best route based on changes in the environment.

More importantly, the other cultivators from the Dongfang clan retreated too quickly and decisively, and did not pursue them afterward. This allowed Chen Guang to leave with ease. He was able to deal with the cultivators he encountered along the way using only fire magic and cotton fire needles, which made his journey seem effortless.

After the 33rd shift of the Bing garrison, Chen Guang and his companion returned in just ten days, having also managed to gather one or two ordinary spiritual herbs along the way.

Inside Jin'an Gate, Dongfang Lieming and Chen Guanggang saw Dongfang Jianming as soon as they entered. He was dressed in a magnificent golden robe and was chatting and laughing with a woman in a white gauze dress at a stall. The stall displayed various kinds of mature spiritual plants, which were quite beautiful.

"Um, ah, you're back." Dongfang Jianming caught a glimpse of the people entering through the door. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were completely unprepared and stammered a little, but immediately approached Dongfang Lieming warmly. "Back so soon, did it go smoothly? Have you... obtained it?"

Dongfang Jianming actually reached out to Dongfang Lieming to take the storage artifact, but Dongfang Lieming slapped his hand away. He was a little unhappy and crossed his arms and stood aside. He glanced at Chen Guang, who was still there, and opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

Chen Guang glanced at Dongfang Jianming and immediately sensed the clear and pure aura emanating from him. This aura was clearly something that only a cultivator with a transparent physique would possess, yet it appeared on a cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining. Because the aura was even more obvious and could not be concealed, there was only one possibility: the Purifying Dust Pill.

Preventing the body from absorbing new worldly influences has obvious benefits for cultivation. If one can continue to take the Purifying Dust Pill, one can be considered to have a "pseudo-transparent body," which is most helpful in the early stages of Qi cultivation.

The Purifying Dust Pill requires pure spiritual energy, and the demand is mainly from cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining. This results in limited profit margins. Alchemists will not start a furnace unless they are begged by others. The price of the pill remains the same, but the price of starting a single furnace is extra. Therefore, using the Purifying Dust Pill to assist cultivation is a luxury. Even though Chen Guang is quite wealthy, he has never used it.

His sister was out adventuring, while he was enjoying himself in a safe place, even able to afford the Cleansing Pill, which made Chen Guang thoughtful.

"Brother Dongfang, you didn't say you wanted to take the treasure and fight the cultivators of the Dongfang Clan, did you?" Chen Guang stared at Dongfang Jianming, his tone unfriendly.

"You ran into them?" Dongfang Jianming glanced back and forth between Chen Guang and Dongfang Lieming in a panic, as if confirming something, before finally revealing a somewhat stiff smile. "Hahaha, isn't that normal? In the wilderness, it's normal to encounter other cultivators robbing you. Didn't you escape unscathed?"

"Great news! Great news! I'll host a banquet at Chenfeng Tower to welcome you. I'll go and make the arrangements first."

After saying that, he grabbed the woman in the white dress's hand and, without saying another word, strode towards the gate of Jin'an.

"Encountering cultivators is normal, but encountering a group of members from the Dongfang clan is not. Such elites cannot be trained in the wilderness in less than ten years. In ten years, how many people would it take to produce one like that?"

The fact that Chen Guang swiftly and decisively killed the four members of the Dongfang clan did not affect his judgment that they were the elite of the Dongfang clan.

After watching Dongfang Jianming leave, Chen Guang looked at Dongfang Lieming, whose expression was uncertain. However, Dongfang Lieming still asked the steward to open a private room and asked Chen Guang to set up a simple screen, saying that he had something to discuss.

Inside the private room, as soon as he sat down, Dongfang Lieming opened his palm and revealed a seed that looked like a pebble, with snow-white fragments on its irregular edges.

It is full of vitality, and a strong earthy smell permeates the air.

"【Three-tailed Snow Sulfur Grass】?" Chen Guang recognized it immediately, and at the same time released a magic shield to block the earthy smell.

Dongfang Lieming's face turned a strange yellow, a sign of mild poisoning. The source was the Three-Tailed Snow Sulfur Grass. He quickly put the seeds into a jade box and pushed it in front of Chen Guang: "I would like to ask my senior brother to cultivate this spiritual plant for me. After it is done, I only need one-third of the seeds. I don't want my elder brother to know about this."

"Oh?" Chen Guang was also confused about what Dongfang Lieming was planning. The Three-Tailed Snow Sulfur Grass was a well-known poisonous herb, but it was also one of the few known spiritual plants that could be upgraded in rank simply by increasing the age of the herb. "It is extremely poisonous and very troublesome to cultivate. Its value is at least equivalent to two Zhan Yang Flowers."

"Then three Zhan Yang flowers will suffice. Senior brother can pay for two flowers later." Dongfang Lieming's eyes flickered. "There are some things he never told me. I still remember my parents' instructions and have always followed them, but he..."

Dongfang Lieming was unable to finish speaking because Chen Guang had already cleared the poisonous gas from the private room and left first, leaving Dongfang Lieming staring at the walls of the private room for a long time, speechless.