A gathering of such magnitude, featuring medicinal elixirs and rare ingredients, was a sight that rarely graced Pingzhou, perhaps once in a decade or two. Only large sects like the Medicine King Sect possessed the prestige required to host such a grand convention.

In previous years, the Medicine King Sect always chose to hold these events in the capital city of Pingzhou. However, for reasons unknown this year, they decided to convene in the most remote county seat: Zhuqi County.

It was rumored that Hall Master Li Dashanren had vehemently petitioned the Medicine King Sect Leader to secure this venue. If such a monumental event were to be held in Zhuqi County, it would undeniably elevate the martial standing of the Medicine Gathering Hall branch here.

This grand trade fair for medicinal herbs and elixirs naturally sent ripples of excitement through the martial world of Pingzhou, drawing countless figures streaming toward the county.

Secret manuals, formidable weaponry and armor, and curative medicines—these have always been the three essential pillars for anyone navigating the jianghu.

Secret manuals are typically guarded treasures, rarely offered for sale unless one has fallen into dire straits. Master-crafted weaponry and armor are the rarest finds, requiring a grand forging master to bring them into existence, thus keeping their trade volume low. Only medicines face immense and constant demand; every sect, large or small, requires them.

When walking the jianghu, how can one avoid the blade? Once wounded, life depends on poultices and pills. Beyond mere survival, certain miraculous elixirs could enhance internal cultivation, treasures that all martial artists chase with feverish desire.

It was hardly surprising that Zhuqi County had recently become flooded with martial artists arriving from every corner of Pingzhou.

With three or four months remaining until the convention begins, the current arrivals mostly comprised preparatory staff from the various major sects—people sent ahead to secure lodging and provisions in advance. The true top brass of the various factions had yet to appear.

The true peak of arrivals would hit about half a month before the trading convention officially commenced.

As the local branch of the Medicine King Sect, the Medicine Gathering Hall in Zhuqi County had already begun the monumental task of organizing this event, unseen for over a decade.

Many of the senior medicine gatherers from the Hall were still out in the field and had not yet returned. The Hall was currently critically short-handed. Hall Master Li decided to order all disciples currently gathering herbs outside to halt their expeditions immediately, dispatching them instead to maintain order within the county seat.

Apothecary Wang instructed Ye Qin that he need not venture into the mountains for the time being. Instead, he was to remain within the Hall, managing menial tasks and awaiting orders.

Ye Qin immediately nodded in assent, retreating from Apothecary Wang’s quarters with a façade of respect.

Toward this Apothecary Wang, he offered only superficial deference; there was no genuine warmth between them. Their relationship resembled that of an employer and a hired laborer far more than that of a master and a disciple—one toiling ceaselessly, the other merely collecting the spoils.

Ye Qin had served within the Medicine Gathering Hall for three or four years and was intimately aware that emotion held no currency between the upper echelons and the lower ranks; nearly everything was transacted based on monetary worth. If he failed to gather herbs and earn coin, the most severe punishments awaited him. Within the Hall, genuine sentiment was reserved almost exclusively for those taught by the same master or those with a long-established acquaintance.

With the immediate burden of mountain foraging lifted, the weight on Ye Qin’s shoulders temporarily eased. He returned to the small stone dwelling that served as his quarters within the disciples' courtyard.

Herb-gathering apprentices were not entitled to separate rooms, so he still shared the space with Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao. However, the male and female apprentices had long been segregated; Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying now occupied an adjacent stone hut. Given that several young gatherers and apprentices had perished over the past few years, the courtyard’s stone dwellings were ample, far from crowded.

As Ye Qin stepped back into the courtyard, a sense of alienation washed over him; having been away for over half a year, it felt strangely unfamiliar.

Suddenly, he heard the sharp sounds of an argument erupting ahead.

He saw four figures—two men and two women—standing in the courtyard, clearly embroiled in a heated dispute.

One youth, barely seventeen or eighteen, whose frame seemed carved from solid iron, was trembling with fury. He incessantly balled his fists, his knuckles resembling hardened lumps, and shouted accusations, clearly itching to smash someone with his iron-hard palms.

Beside him stood a shorter young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, with quick, darting eyes, his tone wavering with indecision.

A girl in a green robe, about the same age, possessed a set face dusted with a frosty resolve.

The last was a petite girl, no older than fifteen or sixteen, her hair tied in two small braids, a sharp sword strapped to her back. Her eyes were puffy and red, tears still glistening on her cheeks, radiating an aura of profound hurt.

Ye Qin paused briefly. Were those not Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying? What a coincidence, meeting them immediately upon his return. Half a year had clearly done wonders; Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao had shot up in stature, while the young Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying were beginning to display the demeanor of genuine martial heroines.

But what had caused this friction?

Ye Qin calmly walked forward.

Sun Ying, who had been sobbing, let out a gasp of unexpected joy upon seeing him. “Second Senior Brother?! Second Senior Brother is back! That’s wonderful, now we have one more person. Second Senior Brother, you simply must help us!”

Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, and Qian Ruoxiu also noticed his arrival.

However, only Qian Ruoxiu offered Ye Qin a curt nod of acknowledgment.

“What good does it do that Second Senior Brother is back? With his current cultivation method, can he even stand up to those disciples from the Inner Hall? What difference does it make if there are five of us instead of four? At best, having one less person means one less burden. If we have to flee during a fight, perhaps we can run even faster,” Feng Xiao sneered, shrugging dismissively.

“Third Brother, how can you speak to Second Brother like that!” Yang Yicheng shot Feng Xiao a sharp look, then called out loudly to Ye Qin, “Second Brother, it’s good that you’re back. With one more person, at least we’ll have a bit more strength.”

Ye Qin nodded to him, then turned to question Sun Ying.

“Fifth Junior Sister, what exactly has happened?”

“It’s those bastards from the Inner Hall! Yesterday, Fifth Junior Sister and a few of our Outer Hall sisters went out and ran into some of those Inner Hall disciples. They took advantage of their numbers and started making lewd remarks toward Fifth Junior Sister. If I had been there, I swear I’d have punched those sons of bitches until they died,” Yang Yicheng explained, his voice bristling with anger on Sun Ying’s behalf.

“Oh, something like that happened?”

A chill flickered in Ye Qin’s eyes, and even his tone grew perceptibly colder. “Then what is there to consider? We find an opportunity and teach them a lesson! Do they truly believe that we Outer Hall disciples were raised on thin air?”

He was not inherently a troublemaker; often, when trouble found him, he would endure it without reacting too aggressively. But when his fellow martial brothers and sisters ran into difficulty, he could not stand aside.

In the entire Zhuqi County, these few individuals were practically the only ones he could count as companions. Whatever petty conflicts existed between the five of them were internal matters; they were not to be bullied by outsiders. To see his companions insulted by outsiders was something he simply could not tolerate.

“Second Senior Brother, you know as well as anyone the skills of those Inner Hall disciples. They’ve been learning martial arts longer than we have—for every technique we learn, they learn two. When we were learning basic stances, they were already studying intermediate forms. How can we fight them? Look at the five of us: Eldest Senior Brother, Fourth Junior Sister, and Fifth Junior Sister focus on external strength and swordplay, which is somewhat manageable. But the two of us? One focuses on movement techniques, and the other on a cultivation method that prohibits fighting. We simply can’t beat them. If the five of us go looking for trouble, we’ll just end up getting beaten senseless for nothing,” Feng Xiao argued, clearly intent on avoiding confrontation.