What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

Shen Guiyan raised her jade-like right hand, and there was a slight rustling at the cuff of her sleeve.

A palm-sized, golden squirrel-like spirit beast with purple-gold lightning patterns on its back climbed up her arm and onto her shoulder.

Although the little beast was small, its fur was glossy and smooth, with each hair clearly visible. Its pair of round, dark eyes darted around, radiating a spiritual luster that was not found in ordinary spirit beasts.

It perched on Shen Guiyan's shoulder, its pink little nose twitching in the air, making soft hissing sounds.

"The Purple-Gold Treasure-Seeking Sable," Sima Duan exclaimed softly.

The Core Formation elders present also tensed up. This beast was extremely rare in the cultivation world, possessing an innate ability to perceive spiritual energy far surpassing the divine sense of humans. No matter how ingenious the restrictions on a storage bag were, they were rendered useless before its nose.

Shen Guiyan spoke calmly: "Don't even think about hoarding it. This beast is naturally extremely sensitive to spiritual energy, and the restrictions on the storage bag are practically useless in front of it. If it detects that you are hoarding something and doesn't report it, it will extract your soul and refine your spirit."

These words were spoken.

Several disciples who had been hoping to hide the spiritual herbs turned deathly pale and hurriedly took them out.

Lin Yuan stood at the back of the crowd, unmoved as a mountain.

"Step forward in order and present all the spoils from the secret realm," Sima Duan ordered in a deep voice.

Lin Feilu was the first to step forward.

As the Holy Maiden of the Xuan Yin Sect, her demeanor stood out among the defeated soldiers.

"Disciple Lin Feilu hereby submits the spoils of this secret realm."

Lin Feilu walked to the jade table and patted the storage bag.

"Splash—"

Dozens of jade boxes were piled up into a small mountain.

The Core Formation Elder in charge of registration paused for a moment, then casually opened the topmost jade box.

A thick chill rose into the sky.

"A hundred-year-old Netherworld Moss? And it's a top-quality one, harvested whole!" the Core Formation Elder exclaimed in surprise.

He immediately opened the second one.

"A 300-year-old Blood Jade Ginseng!"

The fourth, the fifth, and the sixth.

The eyes of the several Core Formation elders watching widened, and their breathing became more and more rapid.

The expressions of the other disciples in the group were even more fascinating.

An inner disciple, his face still bearing the marks of a knife wound, stared wide-eyed, his mouth slightly agape, his expression one of utter disbelief. He had risked his life in the secret realm to obtain just two ordinary spiritual herbs, nearly losing his life in the process. And now, the Holy Maiden had simply produced an entire spiritual herb shop?

"How did they get this? How could one person gather so much?" A disciple muttered in a low voice, his tone full of bitterness.

"She's a saint, she has a trump card to protect her life, can we go where she can go?" The other person shook his head with a wry smile.

It was sour as it was, but no one dared to say anything to their face.

The quantity was enormous, and almost all of them were top-grade yin-attribute spiritual herbs. They were in excellent condition and of considerable age. The combined value of these items was several times greater than the total value obtained by the other eleven people.

Even when Shen Guiyan saw these spiritual herbs, a glint of light flashed in her deep, abyss-like eyes. She stretched out two fingers, picked up a sprig of Netherworld Moss from the jade box, and gently sniffed it to confirm its age and quality.

She then put the spiritual herbs back and carefully scanned the contents of all the jade boxes with her divine sense.

The brightness in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Clearly, while these medicinal herbs were precious, they didn't contain what she truly wanted on this trip.

However, she still nodded slightly: "Not bad. In this trial, you alone have gained more than everyone else combined. You deserve the greatest credit."

"Thank you, Uncle Shen." Lin Feilu said calmly, giving a standard disciple's salute.

She returned to the group.

His gaze, almost imperceptibly, swept over Lin Yuan at the back of the crowd, like a gentle breeze.

Lin Yuan stood there calmly, as if he were just a passerby.

These things were all scraped out of the medicine field and the storage bags of Chu Tianhan and others.

As a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator who appears invisible, taking out a bunch of top-grade spiritual herbs would definitely attract the attention of these Core Formation stage cultivators.

But Lin Feilu is different. She is a saintess, possesses extraordinary talent, and has a trump card to protect her life, so it's perfectly reasonable for her to obtain these things. All the points and rewards will be credited to Lin Feilu, further solidifying her position.

Anyway, Lin Feilu is his person, so it doesn't matter who puts his things.

One by one, the disciples stepped forward.

Some people handed over three or five ordinary spiritual herbs, while others took out seven or eight spiritual medicinal plants.

Most people reaped meager harvests, a stark contrast to Lin Feilu's small hill.

It was Lin Yuan's turn to step forward and hand it over.

He hesitantly pulled out a shrunken storage bag from his pocket. He poured out three ordinary hemostatic herbs that had just passed their prime, and a few withered vines.

Several Core Formation elders didn't even bother to glance at it.

"That's all?" one of the elders in charge of registration asked indifferently.

Finally, Lin Yuan paused, feigning fear and trepidation, and took out a jade box with an isolation talisman affixed to it from his storage bag.

"I was lucky enough to find this in a cold pool."

He opened the box.

A sudden surge of icy cold air erupted. Tiny ice crystals condensed above the jade box.

A pure white lotus flower, with a heart like a deep blue gemstone, lies quietly inside.

"Cold Marrow Lotus?"

Shen Guiyan, whose expression had been indifferent, suddenly had a glint of light in her eyes.

With a flick of her wrist, the icy blue jade box detached from Lin Yuan's hand and flew steadily into her fair palm.

Shen Guiyan lowered her head and examined her for a moment, and a slight ripple finally appeared on her stunningly beautiful face.

"A five-hundred-year-old Cold Marrow Lotus. Very good, for you, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, to bring it out intact shows you have good fortune."

Lin Yuan quickly bowed, feigning surprise and flattery.

"This disciple is merely—"

"Squeak!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

The purple-gold treasure-hunting sable that had been quietly crouching on Shen Guiyan's shoulder suddenly stood up on its own.

The little beast's golden fur bristled. Its nose twitched wildly in Lin Yuan's direction, the frequency so fast it almost became a blurry afterimage.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

A series of sharp, piercing screams burst forth from the little beast's mouth.

It even stood up on its hind legs, its two front paws pawing anxiously in the air, its whole little body stretching out towards Lin Yuan as if desperately trying to point out something.

All eyes in the room instantly turned to Lin Yuan.

The air condensed.

The magic power of the several Core Formation elders present was subtly activated almost simultaneously, ready to make a move at any moment.

Shen Guiyan slowly raised her eyes.

Those deep, dark eyes, like ancient pools, locked onto Lin Yuan without any warmth.

"What else are you hiding?"

The tone was flat.

But a spiritual pressure belonging to a Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly pressed down on Lin Yuan's head like an invisible mountain.

Lin Yuan's legs bent slightly, and his knees almost gave way.

Sima Duan's face darkened, and he took a step forward, unleashing the pressure of his perfected Core Formation stage.

"How dare you! Trying to outsmart Uncle Shen? You're asking for death!"

A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on Lin Yuan's forehead at just the right moment. He hunched over even lower, his back trembling slightly, looking utterly terrified and cowardly.

Without saying much, he immediately reached out and patted the storage bag at his waist.

"Splash—"

More than a dozen jade boxes of different sizes rolled to the ground.

"Senior, please forgive me! This disciple dared not keep these things to myself. I just felt that these things were really too embarrassing to present, and I was afraid of disgracing the sect!"

Lin Yuan's voice carried a hint of panic and embarrassment, perfectly portraying a dull-witted, timid outer disciple.

Several Core Formation elders fixed their gazes on the jade box on the ground, and simultaneously scanned it with their divine senses.

The Purple-Gold Treasure-Seeking Sable reacted so strongly, could it be that this boy possesses a spiritual plant even more precious than the Frost Marrow Lotus?

The thought flashed through the minds of several people.

Shen Guiyan waved her sleeve.

More than a dozen jade boxes on the ground popped open at the same time.

The entire room fell silent.

There was no radiance, no exotic fragrance.

The jade box contained nothing but muddy grass roots, half-dead vines, and dozens of seedlings of spiritual herbs that hadn't even grown their leaves yet.

"This..." Sima Duan was stunned.

Shen Guiyan frowned, scanning the mud and seedlings three times with her divine sense to confirm that there were no hidden fluctuations.

"What are you doing storing these immature spiritual plants?" Shen Guiyan's voice was even colder. These things are not old enough to be used as medicine; they're just a pile of junk.

Lin Yuan gave a wry smile, cupped his hands and bowed: "Reporting to Senior. This disciple knows that I am dull-witted and my cultivation is difficult to improve. I am only interested in cultivating spiritual plants."

"Although these spiritual herb seedlings are young, their roots are intact. I dug them up along with the accompanying spiritual soil, intending to try transplanting them back to the sect."

The Core Formation elders exchanged bewildered glances, then revealed expressions of utter absurdity.

The Crimson Forbidden Land is a place of near-death experiences; everyone who goes in risks their life to find high-grade medicinal herbs to exchange for points. This kid is actually digging and transplanting things inside?

"You're a good-for-nothing! You're hopeless!" Sima Duan sneered, his eyes flashing with undisguised contempt.

Shen Guiyan also lost interest in investigating. With a wave of her sleeve, she put the jade box containing the Cold Marrow Lotus into her storage bag.

"Keep these scraps for yourself. The rest of you can continue to hand them in."

At the front of the line.

Lin Feilu's gaze, passing through several figures, landed on Lin Yuan with an extremely complex expression.

The Frost Marrow Lotus is their mission for this trip, and Wen Yuci urgently needs this item to refine healing pills.

But now, Shen Guiyan has snatched the item away right in front of them.

Who would dare to forcibly take the rare and precious materials that a Nascent Soul Ancestor has set his sights on?

Lin Yuan straightened up, patted the dust off his blue robe, and obediently retreated to the edge of the group.

He noticed Lin Feilu's gaze.

Their mission was to bring out the Frost Lotus. Since all spiritual plants had to be handed over, Wen Yuci should have her own ways of obtaining it.

As for being outmaneuvered, who cares?

Moreover, after entering the Foundation Establishment stage, his spiritual strength has increased dramatically once again.

His spiritual strength already far surpasses that of ordinary late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for how much he still needs to reverse the Soul Devouring Technique planted by Wen Yuci, Lin Yuan cannot estimate precisely at the moment. But the direction is correct, and the gap is narrowing.

Now that I've reached the Foundation Establishment stage, I can focus on refining pills and improving my cultivation level once I return.

Exceeding Wen Yuci's control over her soul, he reversed the Soul Devouring Technique and began to control the stunningly beautiful female demon.

Just a matter of time.

The disciples stepped forward one after another to hand over the spiritual plants.

The last one to step forward was a tall, slender inner disciple whose clothes were slightly worn.

It was Gu Jiusi, who continued to disguise himself as a member of the Xuan Yin Sect.

She kept her head down, her face displaying the same weariness and submissiveness as the other disciples. Reaching the jade table, she took out several medium-quality spiritual herbs from her storage bag and neatly arranged them on the table.

The quantity is just right. The quality is neither good nor bad.

This perfectly matches the normal gains of a mid-level inner disciple in a secret realm.

It won't attract attention, nor will it seem suspicious because it's too shabby.

The purple-gold treasure-hunting sable on Shen Guiyan's shoulder glanced at her, twitched its nose twice, then lost interest and continued to doze off on her shoulder.

The elder in charge of registration jotted down a note and waved for her to leave.

Gu Jiusi turned and walked back to the group, her eyes lowered, her expression unchanged.