Chapter 45 The Stalker's Spirit Herb is Damaged
The second match started in the afternoon. Song Yin did not return to the inn, but instead went back to the accommodation arranged by the Alchemist Conference.
She carefully watched where she was going, making sure that the embarrassing incident of almost tripping would not happen again. Even Aotian has a sense of pride!
As she walked, Song Yin slowed her pace for a moment, locked her gaze on the vendor in front of her, and picked up a woven net to ask the owner.
How much is this?
The shopkeeper was an elderly woman. "Fairy, you have a good eye. This is the best one you've ever made up. It's not worth much, just ten low-grade spirit stones."
Song Yin gave Ling Shi and turned to leave, quickly looking back behind her.
It was a normal street, with pedestrians of all ages and genders. Adults strolled with children, young girls held and played with their spirit pets, and occasionally, people flew overhead on swords. Children chased each other, laughing and playing, their runners brushing against Song Yin's ear...
Everything was normal, so why did she feel like someone was following her?
"A fairy?"
Upon hearing the old woman's voice, Song Yin looked away, exchanged a few casual words with the old woman, and then left.
This time she quickened her pace, hoping that her master would return to his residence before she did.
She sensed someone was following her but couldn't find them. There were only two possibilities: either she was imagining things, or the other person's cultivation level was far superior to hers.
Opening the gate and entering the courtyard, Song Yin observed the direction she had come from for a long time. Finding no one there, she closed the gate tightly. When she first moved in, her master had set up a restriction on the place, preventing strangers from entering or leaving at will, and also allowing them to peek inside. With the restriction in place, entering the courtyard made her feel much more at ease.
"Master, Master, are you back? Master?"
The door to the cultivation room opened automatically, and Qi Zibo's voice came from inside.
"Is the match over?"
Song Yin ran straight into the cultivation room without asking when her master would return or why he was back so early. She rushed straight to her master.
"On my way back, I sensed that someone was following me. This feeling lasted until I reached the front gate, but I just couldn't find the person."
Qi Zibo stopped cultivating and looked directly at him. "Are you sure?"
Song Yin nodded.
Damn it, she's just a little girl who loves reading novels about overpowered protagonists. She hasn't offended anyone since embarking on the path of immortality. Who on earth is following her?
If I follow her all the way, won't I just see her almost trip and fall? No way! What about my handsome image?!
In an instant, her master vanished before her eyes. Song Yin blinked. Where did he go?
Qi Zibo flew to the sky, releasing his divine sense, which was at the Nascent Soul stage, in all directions.
Qi Zibo locked onto the unfamiliar aura hidden around his residence with his divine sense. He then used his spiritual energy to attack the unfamiliar aura. He flew to the hiding place but couldn't find anyone. However, he clearly saw a stranger hiding there, an ordinary person who was as ordinary as could be.
The more ordinary someone seems, the more suspicious they are. Why would someone be following Song Yin?
Could it be that his investigation of the spiritual veins alerted others, and seeing that Song Yin was his disciple, they wanted to capture her to restrict his actions?
Song Yin ran out of the cultivation room, but there was no one in the courtyard.
Soon, she saw her master enter through the main gate.
Song Yin ran forward, "Master."
Qi Zibo, no longer as relaxed as usual, said to Song Yin seriously, "I will pick you up and drop you off at the venue for the competition. After the competition, don't wander around. Go straight back here." He then took out a defensive magic artifact. "This is a fifth-tier magic artifact. Keep it with you in case you need it."
Song Yin took the magical artifact and stored it in her spatial storage: "Master, you found the stalker?"
Qi Zibo: "We did find a suspicious person, but unfortunately he escaped too quickly. He either has a high-level magic weapon on him or is at least a Nascent Soul cultivator."
Song Yin: "Even a Nascent Soul stage expert can stalk people? And stalk someone like me who's only at the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Qi Zibo pondered for a moment, "Perhaps they're here for me."
Do you have enemies?
Qi Zibo: "In this life, everyone has a few enemies, but I'm not sure if the other party is an enemy this time." After thinking for a moment, Qi Zibo still told Song Yin about his mission.
"I've come to the Alchemist Conference with a secret mission: to investigate the depletion of spiritual veins in the Northern Continent and to find new ones. It's understandable that someone wants to stop my investigation, since spiritual veins are crucial to the development of this area. This person was probably attracted by the mission, so you must be careful during the upcoming competition."
Song Yin: "The spiritual veins are depleted? Is our Immortal Firmament Sect in the same situation?"
Qi Zibo: "According to the information we have, all known spiritual veins in the cultivation world are drying up, and all forces are searching for new spiritual veins."
"Since it's a secret mission, isn't it a bit inappropriate to just tell me directly?" Song Yin asked hesitantly.
Qi Zibo: "It's alright. Once your cultivation reaches a certain level, you will also be involved in these sect affairs. Consider it an early introduction."
Song Yin's eyes darted around for a moment. Actually, she also had a secret mission. Her master had just revealed the secret mission so clearly. No wonder her grandmaster hadn't given the mission to her.
Qi Zibo urged her to go inside: "Get some rest first, and don't relax during the afternoon competition."
Song Yin returned to her room and pondered the matter of the depleted spiritual veins.
With the spiritual veins depleted, the cultivation world will be in a state of scarce spiritual energy, making ascension extremely difficult. This won't do; her ultimate goal is ascension.
The break passed quickly. Qi Zibo escorted Song Yin directly to the venue, and he didn't leave early, waiting for Song Yin to finish her afternoon match. He then went upstairs to find Xin Huailiang and instructed him to take good care of the disciples. The two set up a protective barrier during their conversation, not worrying about being overheard.
When Xin Huailiang heard him say this, he knew something had happened. Instead of arguing as usual, he asked for details.
Qi Zibo did not hide anything and told him everything.
Xin Huailiang stroked his chin. "Song Yin is quite lucky. Last time it was me, a Nascent Soul cultivator, who had my eye on her, and now a new Nascent Soul cultivator has his eye on her."
Qi Zibo's face fell. "How dare you say that? It's a good thing Song Yin didn't have any problems in the Foundation Establishment Competition. If she had, I would have turned your Spirit Pill Peak upside down."
Xin Huailiang: "I didn't really intend to harm her. If I really wanted to harm her, why would I need to go to the sect leader? Our sect leader is thorough in his work. If he agreed to my suggestion, it must be because he had made a foolproof plan. Even if you didn't suggest getting her out, the sect leader would have done it anyway."
Qi Zibo knew this, of course, but that didn't stop him from giving Xin Huai a cold look. "Hmph, in any case, you take care of your disciple's safety. I'll go downstairs and keep an eye on Song Yin first."
Xin Huailiang stopped Qi Zibo: "Wait, there's another question. If these disciples and Song Yin were to meet with an accident, who would you save first?"
Qi Zibo answered naturally, "Of course, I'll save my apprentice first."
Xin Huailiang's gaze seemed to see through everything: "Regarding the Cleansing Spirit Pill incident, you said that the disciple who was injured was completely innocent, but the Cleansing Spirit Pill incident might implicate Shao Yangtian and the other two. As their master, I had to protect my personally taught disciple. Today, your answer is no different from mine back then. If we could go back to that time, would you still use those words to criticize me?"
Before you had an apprentice, you could say such high-sounding things. Now that you have an apprentice, can you still say such things? Xin Huailiang was secretly overjoyed. He had turned the tables on the other side. It was so satisfying!
Qi Zibo frowned, and without answering his question, went downstairs.
Xin Huailiang fanned himself with a fan, his face beaming with the joy of victory. He was determined to share this good news with his three apprentices after the afternoon's competition.
Downstairs, Song Yin returned to her seat, waiting for the second round of questions. The socially awkward contestant to her left didn't show up; it seemed his alchemy attempt had failed, and he was eliminated in the first round.
"The second match, Feng Xuan Dan."
It was another familiar elixir. Song Yin went to select spiritual herbs according to the elixir formula.
The spiritual herbs on the table were still neatly arranged, but when she parted the top layer of spiritual herbs, all the herbs underneath were destroyed and had no medicinal properties.
"These medicinal herbs are bad."
Song Yin's voice rang out, and everyone's eyes turned to her.
Li Fu was to Song Yin's right. His gaze fell on the spiritual herbs on Song Yin's table. He saw that the herbs were severely damaged. Some were broken, some had their essence removed, and some had been crushed into mud.
Judge Zhang of the Heavenly Stems Sect stepped down from the stage to inspect the items himself. When he saw the spiritual herbs on Song Yin's desk, he was stunned. He thought that Song Yin was the first to finish refining the pill that morning. Could it be that someone deliberately sabotaged Song Yin's attempt to eliminate her?
"Don't worry, all the spiritual herbs have backups. I'll send someone to get them."
Referee Zhang returned to his seat, waiting for the others to get new spiritual herbs, and took the opportunity to observe the expressions of everyone in the competition, hoping to identify the suspect.
Everyone else began processing the spiritual herbs, but Song Yin remained standing, waiting for them to be delivered. Song Yin wasn't in a hurry; instead, she used her time to observe the others. This observation led her to a startling scene. The man to her right, seeing that he couldn't refine the pills well, couldn't hide his relief. Didn't he know she was observing him? A seed of doubt was planted in Song Yin's heart.
Soon the person who retrieved the spirit herb gave Song Yin the new one, but the competition had already started, and before long, others were far ahead of her.
Qi Zibo frowned as he watched. He wasn't worried about Song Yin not having enough time, but rather whether the person following her was related to the person who destroyed the spiritual herbs in Song Yin's competition.
Even though she was slower than all her opponents, Song Yin still completed the Wind Profound Pill refining at the fastest speed and successfully advanced to the third round.
However, in this competition, she was no longer the first to complete the alchemy. The first was Li Fu to her right, the second was Shao Yangtian, the third was the familiar name Bai Yuqing, and the fourth was Song Yin.
Song Yin is not the type to swallow her anger; she will not let go of any opportunity to vent her frustrations.
"Wait a minute," Song Yin called out to the contestant on her right.
Li Fu was the first to finish refining the Wind Profound Pill. He didn't leave the scene early, but instead waited to see if Song Yin would advance. After confirming Song Yin's advancement, he was about to leave when Song Yin called him back.
Li Fu: "Fellow Daoist, is there something you need?"
Song Yin pointed to the door, "Let's talk outside."
Li Fu followed her out, and at the door he asked Song Yin again, "What does Fellow Daoist want to say? Say 'it will get better' at the door."
Song Yin asked directly, "Did you sabotage my competition for spirit herbs?"
Li Fu immediately denied it: "It wasn't me."
Song Yin: "But when I can't refine pills, I observe my surroundings and see that only you are rejoicing. Are you rejoicing that your scheme has succeeded?"
Li Fu was caught off guard and became instantly embarrassed. "I...I...it wasn't me. I wanted to get first place, but it was for the reward. Your alchemy skills are very good, and it's normal to want to be eliminated by strong opponents, but I wouldn't resort to underhanded methods. That's not good for cultivation and can easily lead to inner demons. I have no reason to do that."
Song Yin: "...I'll believe you for now." This person doesn't seem to be lying, so who is secretly pulling strings?
Seeing that Song Yin believed in his innocence, Li Fu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left.
Song Yin followed her master back to her residence.
Song Yin thought this little trick would only happen once, but the next day, before the competition, she checked the spirit herb first, and the spirit herb was still damaged.
After reading it, Li Fu immediately waved his hand at Song Yin: "It really wasn't me, I can swear to Heaven."
Song Yin's gaze was deep and unfathomable. "Yes, I'm sure it's not you."
One contestant suffered damage to his spiritual herbs in two consecutive matches, which alarmed the city lord upstairs, who went downstairs with the others.
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Author's Note: Song Yin: Oh dear, I knew it! Someone would definitely sabotage a competition like mine halfway through. [Sunglasses]
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[Empty bowl]
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