Senior sister, I'm going to control you.

Beside the cold pool.

Li Tianran peered through the gaps in the gray fog at the dark green surface of the water.

Ma Wencai's words were still echoing in my mind.

My aunt asked me, "Do you have a Daoist partner?"

What does Ma Rou want to do by asking this question?

A mid-Foundation Establishment stage deacon would not inquire about the private affairs of a disciple without a valid reason.

Whether they're investigating his background or something else, I'm too lazy to delve into it right now.

The most important thing is to get our hands on the spirit stones first.

Ma Wencai squatted on a rock far from the pool, holding an abacus, with only half of his buttocks on it, ready to retreat at any moment.

"Let me make this clear first. I'll wait for you here, I'm not going into the water. That poisonous fog will give you a skin-deep wound if you get even a little bit on it, so you better watch out."

Li Tianran ignored him, squatted by the pool, and smeared the fairy water all over his arms.

Poisonous fog churned on the surface of the pool, and the dark green back of the poisonous toad appeared and disappeared in the fog. Each time it surfaced to breathe, it brought with it a fishy and sweet smell.

He mentally calculated the time according to the old rhythm: one incense stick's time for one breath, and ten breaths per breath.

Three years of practicing by cutting his wrists and bleeding had honed his steady hand, and the blood he used could make the poisonous toads mistake him for one of their own. This pool was practically his personal ATM.

As soon as the first incense stick burned, he flipped over and leaped into the pool, making almost no splash when he entered the water.

The water in the pool was icy cold.

The poisonous fog condenses into dark green mist underwater. The thin film of the magic water begins to hiss as soon as it touches the fog, and a layer of fine bubbles immediately appears on the surface of the arm.

Damn, the fog is even thicker today than last time.

Li Tianran held his breath and swam towards the center of the pool.

The old toad was catching its breath in a crevice in the rock. Its vertical pupils lazily turned and glanced at him before closing again.

Okay, I'll still acknowledge him as one of my kind.

He used his curved knife to slice open the skin of the nearest poisonous toad, cut off its heart, and stuffed it into his storage bag at his waist.

He then reached over to the old toad and gently pressed his hand on its chest.

The moment the aura of the blood seeped out from the palm, the old toad trembled, a small crack appeared on its skin, and an old heart covered in pale golden mucus slid out.

Li Tianran didn't rush to float up; he took advantage of the ten breaths it took for an incense stick to burn to cut off a few more.

It only floated to the surface when the thin film of fairy water was corroded to the point that it could no longer hold on.

It surfaced, gasping for breath.

The blisters on my arms burned painfully in the pool breeze, but I already had a small handful of toad hearts in my storage bag.

Without resting, he reapplied the magic water and, timing it perfectly with the second incense stick's time, dived down again.

This time, his movements were even more nimble.

Each time it dives, it timees the ten breaths the old toad takes to breathe, cuts off the new heart, urges the old heart, and turns away. Before the poisonous toad can react, it has already surfaced.

The weight in the storage bag grew heavier and heavier, causing the belt around his waist to buckle downwards.

During the break between the fourth incense sticks, he leaned against the rocks on the shore and took a breath.

My arms were covered in blisters, and my fingertips were wrinkled from being soaked in the pool water.

The voice in my head was calculating that this stick of incense could rekindle old feelings once more.

He applied the last layer of the elixir, gritted his teeth, and plunged back into the pool.

When I reached the center of the pool, the thin film of the immortal water had been corroded to the thickness of a cicada's wing, and the poisonous mist seeped into my pores, making my entire right arm feel as if it had been burned.

He held his breath and cut off the last few new hearts, but when he reached out to urge the old hearts to be cut off, his hand trembled on the old toad's chest.

Ouch, no, my arm has been soaking in the toxic fog for too long, and the muscles are spasming on their own.

The old toad's vertical pupils suddenly opened, staring straight at him.

The bloodline was still there, but it no longer closed its eyes; a hint of hesitation had crept into its numb understanding of its kind.

Before Li Tianran could turn that hesitation into an attack, he finished with a single strike, then turned and charged upwards.

When it surfaced, it was panting heavily, and the last layer of the ethereal membrane on its arm had rotted away, leaving only remnants.

There were blisters on top of blisters on the exposed skin, and some of them started to bleed.

He examined a pale gold, nearly grade two old heart over and over again, then stuffed it into his pocket along with several other new hearts in good condition.

Then he picked out three from the pile of first-grade stones and threw them to Ma Wencai, who was standing on the rock.

"These three are for settling the previous debt; the rest are mine."

Ma Wencai caught it and looked down at the three ordinary-looking first-grade toad hearts.

He looked up again at Li Tianran's noticeably bulging storage bag.

"You took at least ten or so, and you only gave me three?"

"This will be used to settle the debt; there won't be a single extra one."

Ma Wencai opened his mouth.

It was previously said that three pills would be given as payment for the debt, not that if you took ten pills, you would only receive three.

Damn, no matter how you look at it, he's at a disadvantage, but he swallowed the words back.

His aunt said that he would only be in charge of the accounts at the valley entrance, and the distribution of the toad's heart would be decided by the man surnamed Li himself.

He put the three stones into the jade box and marked them with an asterisk in the ledger.

At this moment, Li Tianran suddenly said:

"I'll come again tomorrow."

"as you like……"

"No, you're coming again tomorrow?!"

Ma Wencai's voice cracked, and he almost dropped the abacus in his arms.

"You fucking took out about ten today."

You've taken so much, are you coming back tomorrow?!

Are those poisonous toads in that cold pond your relatives? My aunt raised them for decades, and even they couldn't withstand you plucking them like that.

Ma Wencai stopped midway through his speech.

Li Tianran wasn't listening to his howling at all; he squatted by the pool and wrapped new strips of cloth around his arm.

His expression was similar to that of someone who had just finished watering a row of spiritual fields—neither excited nor fearful, just taking a breather after finishing one batch of work before starting the next.

Ma Wencai looked at his fingers, which were still so steady as they were wrapped with cloth strips.

Having been submerged at the bottom of the pool for so long, the toxic mist had corroded their skin, causing blisters, yet their hands remained perfectly still when wrapped with strips of cloth.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, wanting to curse, wanting to demand a higher price, wanting to ask how many he had hidden.

But the words stuck in my throat.

What the hell is the point of saying that?

His aunt told him to cooperate fully, otherwise he would be asking for trouble.

He closed the jade box, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

"Okay, okay. I'll wait for you at the valley entrance tomorrow."

Ma Wencai picked up his abacus, turned around and left, but after a few steps he looked back again.

Li Tianran had already wrapped the cloth strips around his neck and was looking down to check the condition of the batch of hearts in his storage bag.

A pale golden luster leaked from the bag's opening, illuminating his face.

Ma Wencai left, cursing and swearing.

When Li Tianran arrived the next day, there was a tear in the cuff of his right sleeve.

The edges were charred, and he had a slight limp in his left leg when walking.

Ma Wencai frowned: "You're injured and you still come? Are you out of your mind?"

Li Tianran didn't answer and walked straight towards the cold pool.

When he surfaced that day, he stuffed all six level-one pills into his storage bag.

Then, from the five old hearts that were close to level two, he picked out the one with the worst appearance and threw it to Ma Wencai.

Ma Wencai held onto that old heart, which was supposedly the worst but was already close to the second level threshold.

Looking up at Li Tianran's obviously larger storage bag, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"How many pills were actually in your bag?"

"I don't know."

Ma Wencai opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Look, I'll help you get in touch with Xue Ding Feng."

I've already covered my aunt's cut; let's renegotiate the profit sharing.

Before he could even speak, Li Tianran was already wrapping new strips of cloth around his arm.

After she finished wrapping it up, she looked up at him.

"Senior Brother Ma, the rules were set by your aunt."

Ma Wencai's lips moved slightly for a moment.

"Yes, she decided it herself, damn it."

He put that old heart into the jade box and drew an asterisk on the account book.

The asterisk was drawn heavier than usual, and the pen tip poked into the paper, making a small hole.

On the third day, when Ma Wencai arrived at the valley entrance with his abacus, he no longer asked if he had come back that day.

Li Tianran stood up from under the withered tree, applied a layer of light green ointment to his right arm, took the new jade box, and walked towards the cold pool.

When he surfaced that day, he tucked a dark golden old heart into his pocket.

Ma Wencai only had time to see a glimmer of light, the kind only found in level three, leaking through his fingers.

"Is that a level three one?"

"near."

"What does it mean to be close to level three? Each one is worth three thousand spirit stones on the market!"

You made more money on this trip than I did in a year, damn it!

Ma Wencai's abacus beads rattled and clicked as he moved them, becoming increasingly tangled.

He helped this kid make the connection, negotiated the price, and paid his share of the commission, but in the end, his own account was full of asterisks, and not a single penny of the money actually went into his pocket.

Li Tianran tossed him three level-one pills.

"You know better than I how much your aunt earns a month. She's not coming tomorrow; she's already withdrawn enough."

He pulled down his hood, turned around, and left.

Ma Wencai watched his figure disappear into the gray fog and cursed.

When I looked up, I saw that Ma Rou was already standing behind me.

"Uh... Auntie, he's gone."

Ma Rou ignored him.

She stood by the pool, looking at the rock.

Li Tianran always emerged from there.

After three days, he pressed a handprint into the edge of the rock.

The poisonous toads she raised, the rules she set, the admission qualifications she personally granted.

The old toad lay in the center of the pool, breathing with its eyes closed. The membrane on its chest was sunken, indicating that it had been forced to molt countless times.

Ma Rou turned her head to look in the direction where Li Tianran disappeared into the gray fog.

"He took more than just those twenty, didn't he?"

"The first time they only gave me three level 1 hearts, the second time they gave me one old heart, and I kept the rest for myself."

The third time, I only saw a glimmer of light at level three.

My aunt, every time he finished collecting the money, he would only give me the money for the journey, and he would keep the rest for himself.

You said he'd take 20% from each pill, but he didn't even tell me the exact figure.

"This is what I decided."

Ma Rou looked at the surface of the pool, her tone as indifferent as if she were talking about the wind direction at the mouth of the valley.

"Come to the cold pool to retrieve the toad's heart; each person must rely on their own abilities, and whoever retrieves it shall keep it for themselves."

When I set the rules back then, I didn't limit the quantity, nor did I say that all of it had to be reported. The fact that he was able to take so much is a testament to his skill.

Ma Wencai was stunned for a moment.

These were indeed words spoken by his aunt back then.

Ma Rou turned around, the string of spirit shells on her anklet touched it, and she stopped smiling.

Her heart was bleeding.

She set the rules, and they've been in place for decades.

But this was the first time that a pseudo-seventh-level disciple had taken advantage of his weakness.

How can I not feel heartbroken?!

Inside the cave, Li Tianran sorted all the toad hearts according to their quality and then pulled out the Immortal Imprisoning Basin.

The elixir has already been partially drained.

Su Yingxue curled up at the bottom of the basin, transparent like a layer of smoke about to dissipate.

She didn't even have the strength to speak, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

The muscles instinctively twitch after being pushed to their limits.

He still remembers the expression on her face when she stepped on his finger back then; it was completely different from how she looked now.

The other three nuns were slumped over the edge of the basin.

The monk's robe was soaked and clung to his body; he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand to cover himself, and his voice was as hoarse as sandpaper scraping against a stone slab.

"Kill me, please kill me."

The other one, head bowed, leaned on her companion's shoulder, muttering not scriptures, but "Father, Mother, your daughter can't go back."

The third one is the quietest.

He hadn't spoken a word since the day he bought him, except for one question before he put him into the pot.

"Will you remember our names after we die?"

Li Tianran said no.

She nodded, as if she already knew the answer, and went into the basin to lie down.

He put the two nuns into the basin.

He paused when it was Su Yingxue's turn.

She can't produce much water anymore, but her body and her remaining cultivation are still there.

Every bit of spiritual energy she absorbed while soaking in the basin for so long acted as a catalyst.

First, put in the new goods and squeeze out the bottom water, then use it to ripen them.

He put Su Yingxue back into the basin, and then put the remaining nun in as well.

Four bodies sank to the bottom of the basin, and the immortal water rose at an unprecedented speed.

Two newly-born nuns floated on their backs on the surface of the celestial water, their lips moving as if they were chanting sutras or cursing him.

Only the third one, the quietest one, looked at him one last time before sinking.

It felt like a liberation.

Li Tianran had no time to pay attention to them.

He placed eleven old hearts, each close to level two, into the celestial water.

The dark golden old toad heart was the last to enter the water, causing the entire basin of celestial water to tremble slightly.

If one could upgrade to a level three Toad Heart... that would be an absolute windfall.