In the northern center of Luocheng, a vast expanse of connected manor houses sheltered nearly every member of the Mu clan. At the heart of these residences lay an extensive medicinal garden.

"Scrape! Scrape!"

The sound of the hoe striking the earth was continuous.

A very old, white-haired farmer, clad in a short tunic, tirelessly worked the herb beds, occasionally reaching up to wipe sweat from his brow with the towel draped around his neck. Each time his gaze fell upon the vibrant medicinal herbs, a look of deep satisfaction would crease his aged, wrinkled face.

Following Mu Xiaoling through the winding alleys between the manors, Nie Kong arrived at the medicinal garden to witness this very scene. Nie Kong knew that the elder tending the garden was Mu Zhonglou, the most senior ancestor of the Mu family, possessing a cultivation base of the sixth stage of Celestial Spirit, and serving as a seventh-rank Apothecary for the Great Accomplishment Empire.

What surprised Nie Kong was that Mu Zhonglou appeared to have sealed his cultivation. Not only was he dressed as a humble farmer, but he was performing the labor of one. Logically, a Celestial Spirit expert engaging in such manual labor seemed oddly mismatched, yet on Mu Zhonglou, Nie Kong perceived only an air of natural ease.

Suddenly, a subtle shift occurred in Nie Kong’s mind. Perhaps the current Mu Zhonglou was no longer a seventh-rank Apothecary, but rather…

An eighth-rank Medicine King!

"You've arrived!"

Mu Zhonglou carefully turned over a row of plants before him. He then leaned on his hoe, looking cheerfully toward Nie Kong and Mu Xiaoling as they approached.

Nie Kong composed his mind and quickly stepped forward a few paces: "Greetings, Senior."

"Great-Grandpa Ancestor, I brought him here for you. You two talk amongst yourselves; I'm off now." Mu Xiaoling giggled, turned, and vanished without a trace.

"No need for formalities."

Mu Zhonglou shook his dirt-caked right hand. Only after watching Mu Xiaoling exit the garden gate did he turn his gaze back to Nie Kong, flashing a broad smile. "Little fellow, this girl Xiaoling, to get me to agree to see you, claimed you were a Cave Spirit Master with high-level Celestial Spirit power, then said you were the youngest Medicine King in the world, and then insisted you were the former son of the Mu Sect in the Yin Ruins and the current husband of the Mu Sect mistress… It made it impossible for an old man like me not to see you. Truthfully, if you had really wanted to meet this old fellow, you could have just come directly; there was no need for all this fuss."

Nie Kong smiled. "Senior, I am friends with Hong Ling and Xiaoling. My visit to Luocheng this time is neither because of my strength nor my background, but rather as a junior coming to see you."

"Well said."

Hearing this, Mu Zhonglou’s eyes narrowed pleasantly. "If you had come relying on your Celestial Spirit strength, I would have treated you as a peer in the Celestial Spirit path; if you had come based on your Yin Ruins origin, I would have suggested you seek out the current head of the Mu family, Hong Ling’s father. However, since you are here now as a friend of Hong Ling and Xiaoling, you cannot blame this old man for leaning on his age and treating you directly as a junior."

"Great-Grandpa Ancestor, that is exactly how it should be."

Nie Kong stopped addressing him as 'Senior' and immediately followed Mu Xiaoling's lead in address, though he secretly wiped a bead of sweat. He had considered simply tearing through the void to reach Mu Zhonglou; with his cultivation, no one in the entire Mu family could have stopped him.

That path would have been much faster, but the Nie family of Jiyang and the Mu family of Luocheng had always been close allies, and Mu Zhonglou was an elder to both Mu Hong Ling and Mu Xiaoling. Bursting in unannounced would have been severely impolite. Fortunately, Nie Kong took the proper route; otherwise, the matter he sought might have come to nothing.

Mu Zhonglou paused, then burst into hearty laughter, clapping Nie Kong hard on the shoulder. "You are quite straightforward, little fellow. I actually like you a bit now. Tell me, what is it you need from me?"

Nie Kong grew serious. "Great-Grandpa Ancestor, do you know about the matter of the Spirit Abode?"

"Of course, I know."

Mu Zhonglou nodded. "This has been widely discussed across the Celestial Spirit Continent recently; I couldn't avoid hearing about it. I heard you snatched the Spirit Abode from the hands of the Spirit God Palace? That’s pulling a tooth from a tiger’s mouth. However, with the Yin Ruins backing you, you shouldn't worry too much about retaliation from the Spirit God Palace."

He paused, then added, "Little fellow, are there really that many rare and exotic medicinal herbs inside the Spirit Abode?" He had heard rumors about the Spirit Abode until his ears were ringing lately, but even for him, a realm higher than the Illusionary World, curiosity was unavoidable.

"That is indeed true."

Nie Kong smiled faintly. "Not only are there vast amounts of herbs in the Spirit Abode, but there are also elixirs remaining from the era of the Phantom Illusion Continent. Among them, there are eight varieties of ninth-grade elixirs!"

A flicker of shock crossed Mu Zhonglou's eyes. "Ninth-grade elixirs? Then their medicinal strength and efficacy must be equivalent to the ninth-grade spirit herbs of our Celestial Spirit Continent?"

"Perhaps even slightly stronger," Nie Kong replied, his lips curving upwards as he dropped an even more stunning piece of news. "Besides the eight varieties of ninth-grade elixirs, there is also one tenth-grade elixir! It is called 'Drunken God Incense.' While it won't cause death, it is a wondrous medicine capable of mesmerizing even a Spirit God!"

"What?"

Mu Zhonglou exclaimed involuntarily, utter astonishment evident on his face. On the current Celestial Spirit Continent, the highest-ranked spirit herbs were only eighth-grade. As for ninth-grade spirit herbs, perhaps a Medicine King had managed to refine a few lucky pieces over ten thousand years of history, but none had appeared in the last few centuries. Tenth-grade spirit herbs were out of the question; without the strength to pass a Spirit Tribulation, how could one even think of refining a tenth-grade spirit herb?

Nie Kong sighed feelingly. "Compared to the former Phantom Illusion Continent, we have fallen significantly behind."

"Not significantly—vastly," Mu Zhonglou sighed for a long moment. Then, his eyes suddenly brightened. "Little fellow, do you have those ninth-grade and tenth-grade elixirs on you now?"

"No."

Seeing Nie Kong shake his head, Mu Zhonglou didn't mind. He urged anxiously, "It doesn't matter if you don't have them on you. Come, little fellow, take Great-Grandpa Ancestor to see your Spirit Abode right now." With that, Mu Zhonglou casually slung his hoe over his shoulder and pulled Nie Kong toward the exit of the medicinal garden.

"Great-Grandpa Ancestor, please don't rush."

Nie Kong chuckled wryly. "Going to the Spirit Abode is very simple. I possess the 'Spirit Returning Jade Tablet.' With it, we can instantly arrive inside the Spirit Abode. However, for the moment, only you, Great-Grandpa Ancestor, can go first. I have other matters to attend to, and this is the real reason I came to see you."

Mu Zhonglou's mind was itching from the mention of the ninth and tenth-grade elixirs, and he was somewhat impatient. "Little fellow, don't waste any more time; hurry and speak."

Nie Kong asked with a smile, "Great-Grandpa Ancestor, how many seventh-rank Apothecaries and how many Medicine Kings are there on the Celestial Spirit Continent right now?"

Mu Zhonglou answered without hesitation. "There should be over a dozen seventh-rank Apothecaries. As for Medicine Kings? There are nine."

"So many?" Nie Kong was slightly surprised. He had initially assumed five or six would be excellent, but nine was unexpected. However, thinking of Mu Wanqing, Nie Kong instantly understood. Aunt Wan was also an eighth-rank Medicine King, yet she rarely left the Yin Ruins; outsiders had no idea of her existence.

…… ……RO