Chapter 76: Return to Mysterious Secrets

Taking advantage of the benefits of the Earth-Stealing Pill, Su Che successfully captured a second cultivator in the later stages of Qi Cultivation. As the Earth-Stealing Pill proved highly effective time and again, Su Che rewarded Luo Lianqiao with twenty spirit stones.

In the Immortal Prison, when other prisoners heard this news, they felt both envy and jealousy toward Luo Lianqiao. It was unfortunate for them that they did not know how to refine pills and could not create such an excellent substance as the Earth-Stealing Pill. However, through this, the prisoners realized that even though their freedom was restricted, as long as they made contributions in this prison, they could still continue on their path of cultivation. The unseen warden indeed applied rewards and punishments fairly, not as heartless as they had thought before.

Luo Lianqiao was particularly satisfied with the two consecutive rewards. After all, the materials needed for pill refinement were provided by the warden, and he was merely the one who crafted the pills. Receiving so many spirit stones was quite good. It should be noted that even at Tianlu Peak, the rewards given to inner sect disciples for creating Earth-Stealing Pills were at most at this level.

In the Immortal Prison, Lao He counted the Qiankun Bag belonging to “Zheng Jun” and reported to Su Che, “Master, we’ve obtained 500 spirit stones, one top-grade magic weapon—flying sword, two mid-grade defensive magic weapons, along with various spirit talismans and pills… Roughly calculated, the total value is about 2,800 spirit stones.”

With a gain of 2,800 spirit stones, after deducting the one top-grade spirit talisman and two Earth-Stealing Pills used by Su Che, it could be said that the profits were quite substantial.

Yet Su Che still disdained him secretly: “As an inner sect disciple, he only has this much wealth. It seems ‘Zheng Jun’ isn’t doing very well.”

Despite his disdain, Su Che understood that even among inner sect disciples, competition was extremely fierce. Generally, cultivators would use any resources they obtained immediately for their own cultivation, leaving little surplus. Unless, like himself, they had successive opportunities—such as a secret herb garden and various specialties from the Yinwind Gorge—allowing them to amass considerable wealth even at the Qi Cultivation stage.

Next, Lao He would wake up the unconscious Zheng Jun to interrogate him, while Su Che would continue on his journey.

As they neared Xuanji City, the interrogation was completed, and the basic situation had been clarified.

“Master, here’s what happened,” Lao He reported. “Initially, through Yu Qing’s recommendation, you broke the rules to enter the Mysterious Secrets Peak’s Herb Garden. Unexpectedly, this led to you taking over the position of garden manager that someone else should have had. That unlucky person is Zheng Jun.”

“Oh?” Su Che then thought, “So, the ambush I faced by Zheng Jun was also related to Manager Chen on the first floor of the herb garden, right?”
Su Che remembered clearly that when he first went to report to Manager Chen, that old man had tried to make things difficult for him. Later, because he saved that Flowing Cloud Golden Chrysanthemum, Manager Chen’s attitude toward him changed drastically—he always smiled whenever they met…
“Yes, master,” Lao He replied. “The one behind this is that old bastard, Manager Chen. He’s jealous of your ability to heal spiritual herbs, and he’s also very interested in your rapid progress from the first level of Qi Cultivation to the third level in just four months. So, after finding out where you were, he arranged for Zheng Jun to lay an ambush to capture you alive.”
Su Che asked, “Then what’s the relationship between Manager Chen and this Zheng Jun?”
“Uncle and nephew.”
“Another blood relationship?” Su Che frowned. “Why does Tianxuan Sect have so many family or blood ties within it?”
“That’s quite normal,” Lao He replied with a smile. “I learned from a classic that within tens of thousands of miles, there are at least a thousand cultivation families attached to Tianxuan Sect. They send many of their descendants to Tianxuan Sect every year, and over time, numerous small groups with family backgrounds have formed within the sect.”
“I see…” Su Che deduced, “So, if we capture Zheng Jun, not only will we break completely with Manager Chen, but it will also involve their Chen family?”
“Yes. It’s inevitable—pulling out the radish means pulling out the mud as well,” Lao He replied gravely.
“What a hassle!”
Su Che muttered to himself, but there was nothing he could do. Since Zheng Jun had already found him, whether he captured or killed Zheng Jun, he would inevitably offend the entire Chen family. He just didn’t know how powerful the Chen family was in Tianxuan Sect.
Lao He replied, “In Tianxuan Sect, the highest-ranking members of the Chen family are two Golden Core stage elders. Below them are more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators like Manager Chen. As for the overall strength of their family, it’s only considered medium-sized in the cultivation world.”
“Even if it’s just a medium-sized family, it’s still an overwhelming force for me,” Su Che thought anxiously. “After all, I’m alone and weak.”
Lao He said half-seriously and half-jokingly, “Master, don’t forget that behind your identity as ‘Su Che,’ you also have a cultivation family to rely on.”

“The Su family?” Su Che shook his head inwardly. “It’s a declining minor clan. I don’t want to drag them into trouble.”
Lao He was also aware of Su Che’s plan to reuse a body, as no thought in Su Che’s mind was hidden from him.
Yet Lao He reminded him, “But master, don’t forget—you are the most highly anticipated member of the Su family’s current generation. In the future, if you achieve something, they will surely come to you persistently, asking you to revive the family.”
“We’ll talk about that later!”
Su Che sped ahead, passing by Xuanji City without entering, heading straight for the sacred gates of Tianxuanzong.
Xuanji Peak.
Back at Xuanji Peak, Su Che first went to Lei Xiao’s place.
“What?”
As soon as he saw Su Che, Lei Xiao’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Am I seeing things? It seems like… you’ve reached the third level of Qi cultivation?”
Su Che nodded and smiled without giving any explanation.
Two months ago, when Su Che left the Spirit Herb Garden to train in the Yinwind Gorge, he had already reached the peak of the third level of Qi cultivation. He just hadn’t come to see Lei Xiao at the time, so Lei Xiao still didn’t know.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He sneered, “It’s not just the third level—soon he’ll reach the fifth level. Once master reveals his true cultivation level, it will surely shock many people to the core.”
“Is it really the third level?” Lei Xiao asked again, incredulous. After all, he was still only at the second level. Su Che’s rapid progress was an enormous shock to him.
Not long ago, when he first met Su Che, Su Che was just a new junior disciple. It hadn’t even been half a year, and now he had already reached the third level of Qi cultivation?
Su Che didn’t want to deceive Lei Xiao about his true cultivation level, nor did he want to reveal it completely, so he changed the subject. “I’ve brought the two Silver Beard Herbs as planned—one with a 500-year history and the other with an 800-year history. Have you prepared the Lei family’s Earth Spirit Pills yet?”
The deal for exchanging spirit herbs with the Lei family had long passed its deadline, but it had been delayed because Su Che was so absorbed in his training in the Yinwind Gorge.
“They’re already ready.”
Lei Xiao still stared with wide eyes, scrutinizing Su Che, feeling that his cultivation progress was too exaggerated. Yet he replied, “I went to the Spirit Herb Garden to look for you a week ago and then found out you were out training. Brother, could you tell me what kind of fortune you encountered outside that allowed your cultivation to soar to this level?”

“It’s just a gift from our elders in the family. Besides, it’s just an improvement at the Qi cultivation stage—nothing special.” Su Che shook his head lightly, unwilling to explain further, and quickly threw those two Silver Beard Grasses to distract Lei Xiao’s attention.
Bang! Bang!
As Su Che threw the two spirit herbs on the ground, Lei Xiao cried out in shock, “Hey! How can you treat such precious items like this?”
These two Silver Beard Grasses were still alive, with plenty of soil attached. If transplanted in time, they could continue to grow for hundreds of years… Perhaps only Su Che could come up with such fresh specimens.
After Lei Xiao carefully stored the spirit herbs, Su Che said, “Hand over the Earth Spirit Pills to me as soon as possible. Due to my reasons, the transaction has been delayed, and our elders are already blaming me. We agreed on ninety Earth Spirit Pills; you can give me eighty-five.”
The other five, of course, were as a bonus for Lei Xiao.
“No problem!” Lei Xiao laughed. “Making five Earth Spirit Pills at once—really, I’m lucky to be with you.”
“That’s only fair. When we work together as brothers, we both need to profit,” Su Che said sincerely. “In the entire Mysterious Peak, you’re the only good brother I have.”
“Mm-hmm,” Lei Xiao nodded vigorously. “I’ll go to our elders right now and get the Earth Spirit Pills. You can have them tonight.”
Su Che nodded and asked, “In two days, I and Song Fatty from the Heavenly Objects Peak will have a duel at the Competition Peak. You don’t know about this, do you?”
To his surprise, Lei Xiao nodded. “How could I not? A month ago, ‘Zhen Lan’ from the Heavenly Objects Peak started spreading the word everywhere, saying she wanted to embarrass Senior Yu Qing badly. I guess quite a few people will come to watch.”
“Zhen Lan from the Heavenly Objects Peak…” Su Che shook his head. “A woman driven by love into hatred is truly troublesome!”