Chapter 279 - 189: ’The Celestial Being’s Secret
’I never thought a small medicine manor would hold so much wealth. You really can’t judge by appearances.’
Fang Yue found the Medicine Hall’s storeroom. It was nearly overflowing with a dazzling array of medicinal herbs. There were twelve stalks of blood ginseng alone, while other herbs like Udon were measured by the crate.
Fang Yue packed up all the precious herbs like blood ginseng without hesitation.
As for the other silver taels and jewels, he took as much as he could carry, ultimately filling two large chests.
Fortunately, the Black Qilin Horse was more than strong enough. The two large chests, weighing a full two thousand catties, were hoisted onto its back with ease.
His haul this time was incredibly bountiful. After all, these were things money couldn’t buy.
With that, Fang Yue spurred his horse and vanished into the darkness.
It wasn’t until a quarter of an hour later that someone in the Medicine Hall Manor discovered that Hall Master Hu and the other man were already dead.
Panic erupted, and at the same time, the other servants and stewards in the manor began to plunder whatever valuables they could find.
Meanwhile, Fang Yue had returned to his small courtyard in the mountain forest.
He didn’t go inside to rest, but instead sat cross-legged on his bed and began to cultivate.
’I need to increase my strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I’ll be in grave danger if I run into a powerful opponent.’
He casually picked up a stalk of blood ginseng and swallowed it.
Once ingested, the blood ginseng transformed into a stream of pure medicinal power that circulated within him before becoming a current of heat that spread through his entire body.
The blood ginseng was truly a rare treasure, its medicinal properties incredibly potent. Fortunately, Fang Yue had gone through this many times before, so he handled it with relative ease.
The night passed without incident.
Fang Yue’s cultivation session lasted for two full days before he finally opened his eyes and immediately rose to his feet.
It was now six or seven in the morning, and the sky was dimly lit with the first light of dawn.
He walked into the courtyard and stretched his limbs.
’Hmm! This session didn’t increase my strength, but my Talent Points went up by more than seven hundred. That’s equivalent to two years of accumulation!’
Fang Yue was overjoyed. For the past two days, he had been diligently absorbing the medicinal power contained within the blood ginseng, extracting all of it and converting it into Talent Points.
He had obtained plenty of blood ginseng this time, and Fang Yue planned to refine it all in one go to see if he could accumulate ten thousand Talent Points.
Over the following days, Fang Yue continued to swallow and refine blood ginseng.
Three months later, he had finally finished refining the entire batch of blood ginseng.
This time, his Talent Points reached a grand total of 9,997.
He was just three points shy of reaching ten thousand.
’In three days, I’ll reach ten thousand points. Then I’ll finally see what this ’one-in-a-million’ Talent is all about.’
Fang Yue muttered to himself, his face full of anticipation.
~~~~~~
The next day, Fang Yue was cultivating under the Clear Spirit Divine Tree again, as was his routine.
He absorbed the pure Primordial Qi, nourishing his body and soul.
By now, the sun had risen above the horizon.
Golden light cascaded down, enveloping him completely.
At the crow of a rooster, Fang Yue opened his eyes, ending his cultivation session.
"My Lord, the people from the Prefecture City didn’t come again this month." A servant hurried forward to report to Fang Yue as soon as he entered the front courtyard.
This branch of the Observatory relied entirely on supply convoys from the Prefecture City.
Although each delivery from the Prefecture City was substantial and should have been enough for several months...
...lately, Fang Yue had been cultivating so diligently that his food consumption had increased significantly. Add to that his Black Qilin Horse, which was an even bigger glutton—whenever it wasn’t out on the road, it was either sleeping or stuffing its face.
The once-abundant reserves were being depleted at a visible rate.
With supplies now running low, they had sent several messages to the Prefecture City over the past few days.
The last message had been sent nearly half a month ago, but to this day, no one had arrived with supplies.
Something had definitely gone wrong.
"Also, we recently heard that someone killed the Hall Master and Steward of the Medicine Hall in Udon Town. The Medicine Hall collapsed overnight, and a nearby bandit leader, the King of Heaven with Broad Eyes, seized the opportunity to occupy Udon Town."
With Udon Town occupied, the place is in utter chaos, and all its resources have been plundered. So, even if we wanted to go out and buy supplies, it would be impossible for the foreseeable future.
Hearing this, Fang Yue thought, ’Alright, so some of this is my fault.’
He’d killed Hall Master Hu of the Medicine Hall, but he never expected that faction to collapse as a result, let alone that it would lead to nearby bandits occupying Udon Town.
Of course, Fang Yue had no intention of mentioning his involvement.
"I understand. I’ll handle this matter."
Fang Yue nodded. These handymen were just responsible for taking care of the residence and handling minor affairs.
If a major incident occurred, the decision would fall to the Observatory’s Inspector stationed here.
After hearing the report, Fang Yue’s instincts told him that the delayed supplies and the bandit occupation of Udon Town were likely more than just a coincidence.
’Perhaps this is related to the Blood Dragon Platform’s covert activities.’
With that, Fang Yue headed to the stables.
The Black Qilin Horse was there, head buried in its trough, happily eating.
In ancient times, the resources required to raise a fine horse often exceeded the cost of supporting several people.
They required not only a steady supply of beans but sometimes even had to be fed luxuries like eggs—items far beyond the reach of the common person.
Only by feeding them the finest fodder could one produce a superior warhorse.
The Black Qilin Horse was an even greater example of this. Its appetite was more astonishing than that of several Bone Forging Martial Artists combined. Not only did the creature eat fine grain, but it also had to be fed meat.
"Alright, mealtime’s over," Fang Yue said to the Black Qilin Horse. "We’re going out."