Wu De felt as if a mountain were pressing down upon him. He struggled fiercely, but it was useless as Lu Li fished out one Storage Bag after another from his robes.
Suddenly, he let out a furious shout, "Bastard, how could there possibly be a Storage Bag there!"
Lu Li let out an awkward laugh. "Hehe, who knows? But... old man, you're lacking. That thing isn't even the size of a bug."
"Get lost!"
Lu Li curled his lip. "I'm just telling the truth."
The two stared at each other for a long moment before Lu Li rolled to the side. Both of them had entirely depleted their True Qi. He needed to recover as quickly as possible to suppress the situation; if the old man recovered first, things would become troublesome.
However, he possessed the Time Palace, so his recovery speed would not be slow. Right in front of Wu De, he sank his mind directly into the Time Palace.
Seeing this, Wu De wasted no more words and immediately sat cross-legged. Surging Spiritual Qi instantly swarmed toward him.
Within the Time Palace, Lu Li was startled. He wondered what cultivation technique this old man practiced for his speed of absorbing Spiritual Qi to be so fierce.
However, Wu De's thoughts were much the same. He mused that this kid must have obtained some great Fated Chance. Could it be that his master, 'Perfected Lu Li', was truly as formidable as he claimed?
But why had he never heard of such a figure?
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The two opened their eyes almost simultaneously. As their gazes met, they both saw the shock in the other's eyes, yet by tacit agreement, neither asked any questions.
Wu De took a deep breath, stood up, and demanded with a dark expression, "Kid, hand back the Storage Bags!"
Gripping four or five Storage Bags in his hand, Lu Li took a few steps back and said indifferently, "Hand over the materials for the Meridian-Nourishing Pill. Otherwise, I will hold on to these Storage Bags for you."
These Storage Bags were all bound to Wu De. Unless the old man's soul was destroyed, Lu Li had no way to open them even if he kept them. Of course, with them clutched tightly in Lu Li's hand, Wu De could not forcibly take them back either.
"In your dreams!"
Wu De blew at his beard and glared. He truly never expected this kid to be so shameless. Not only had he snatched the Pill formula, he was actually plotting for his spiritual herbs as well. At the same time, he felt deeply stifled. To think that he, a man who had scammed people all across the world, would be like a tiger descending to the plains only to be bullied by dogs, held firmly in the grasp of a little brat.
"Heh, it matters little to me. Your Storage Bags are in my hands anyway. If you don't hand over the spiritual herbs, I simply won't return them. Or perhaps... we could spar a little more?" Lu Li wore the expression of an absolute rogue, making a show of preparing to put Wu De's Storage Bags away.
"Fine, you shameless brat, you win! I'll give them to you, alright?!"
"That's more like it." Lu Li maintained a death grip on the Storage Bags and stretched out his hand. "Take them out. And don't play any tricks; my patience is limited."
Wu De's face twisted in heartache. With a stir of his Divine Sense, a massive jade box instantly appeared in his hands. He opened it, revealing neatly stacked dark-gray spiritual herbs.
The spiritual herbs were about half a foot long with all their roots intact. A faint spiritual mist emanated from them, indicating they were remarkably well-preserved.
There were roughly fifty stalks in total.
"Stone Nettle Grass!" Joy lit up Lu Li's face. He recognized the spiritual herb at a glance; it was indeed Stone Nettle Grass, one of the four main ingredients for the Meridian-Nourishing Pill. He thrust out his left hand. "Hand them over!"
"Kid, don't push things to the absolute extreme. If this old master hadn't come to warn you today, it's uncertain whether you'd even be standing here to speak. Let's make a deal-I'll give you half of this Stone Nettle Grass, how about it?"
Lu Li's eyes shifted slightly. He figured that although this old man had furiously tried to kill him earlier, he had been the one in the wrong first. Moreover, the old man's words were not without reason. After a brief hesitation, he said,
"Half is out of the question. Give me forty stalks, and we can consider this matter settled."
"Fine, it's a deal!" Seeing Lu Li finally relent, Wu De surprisingly felt as if he had picked up a massive bargain. He couldn't help but inwardly curse himself for falling so low. Thoughts aside, he pulled out forty stalks of Stone Nettle Grass and tossed them over.
Lu Li swept his hand through the air, catching them steadily before storing the Stone Nettle Grass away into his medicinal garden space.
This Stone Nettle Grass had been preserved extremely well; it might even be possible to plant and revive them.
"Now can you give me back my Storage Bags?"
"You only have Stone Nettle Grass? What about the rest?"
"The rest?" Wu De scoffed. "Do you think spiritual herbs are as common as cabbage? This Stone Nettle Grass alone took this old master two or three years to gather. I finally managed to track down the whereabouts of some Earth Milk Essence, but you already know how that turned out."
Lu Li stared intently into Wu De's eyes. Seeing that the old man did not appear to be lying, and considering he had already obtained both the Pill formula and forty stalks of Stone Nettle Grass, he decided not to press the issue further. He tossed all the Storage Bags back to Wu De.
The two could barely stand the sight of each other. Once the 'transaction' was complete, they traded a few more mocking remarks before Lu Li turned to leave.
Wu De's eyes darted around. Suddenly, he shamelessly scurried after him. "Kid, where are you going?"
"Does it have anything to do with you?"
In truth, Lu Li did not know where he was going either. Setting aside the fact that his main objective for this trip had already been met, even if it hadn't, he could no longer venture into the Thunder Fire Mountain Range. If he were caught by that mysterious figure, wouldn't he just be seeking his own death?
"So young, yet possessing such a fiery temper. Be careful that your anger doesn't attack your heart and make you explode on the spot."
"You really can't spit ivory from a dog's mouth."
Lu Li had steeped himself in poetry and literature since childhood. Although occasionally mischievous, he considered himself a grounded person. Yet for some reason, whenever he was around this old man, he felt the constant urge to hurl curses.
Hearing this, Wu De gave a light harrumph. He looked up at the sky and continued trailing Lu Li step for step.
Lu Li stopped in exasperation. "I surrender. What exactly do you want?"
Only then did Wu De let out a sly chuckle. "Kid, this old master knows a place with Soul-Calming Flower. Are you interested in going?"
"Soul-Calming Flower?" Lu Li paused, staring suspiciously at Wu De. "Why would you tell me?"
Soul-Calming Flower was also one of the ingredients for the Meridian-Nourishing Pill.
According to the records in the Precious Mirror of Spiritual Herbs, the Soul-Calming Flower possessed the effects of soothing the spirit, settling the mind, and harmonizing True Qi. The Soul-Calming Flower advanced one rank every two hundred years, reaching up to the fourth rank. This meant it could be used to refine fourth-tier Pills, making it highly valuable even to legendary Nascent Soul mighty figures.
It was exceptionally precious.
However, it was said that this Soul-Calming Flower only grew in extremely shaded and damp environments. With Lu Li's limited experience, he did not know where such places could be found.
"To tell you the truth, this old master thinks that place is far too dangerous, so I want to bring you along as a companion." Wu De put on a completely candid expression.
"Dangerous? How dangerous?"
"Let me put it this way-if you go there, not only must you watch out for poisonous insect swarms, but you also have to constantly beware of shifts in the natural terrain."
"Natural terrain?"
"Correct. It is a boundless swamp. One careless step and you will sink right in. Moreover, an incredibly lethal miasma hangs over the waters..."
"That dangerous?"
"Hehe, how can you catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den? You aren't scared, are you, kid?" Wu De provoked.
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