I Can Devour Spirits

They had been walking for almost half an incense stick’s time, yet the old man had no intention of stopping.

Duan Rong turned his head to glance at his side, the vast white fog enveloped them. Along the way, they had passed over twenty iron chains, which clearly led to different parts of the sect.

Duan Rong’s eyes moved, and he asked tentatively, ”Old Qin, Ximen Kankan and Xiao Yu, their iron chains seem to be quite close to each other!”

The old man walked with his hands behind his back, and upon hearing this, he sneered, ”One of them is going to the Stone Workshop, and the other to the Weapon Workshop. Both are under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Stable Hall. They are on two adjacent mountain peaks, so of course, the chains are close together.”

”Imperial Stable Hall?!” Duan Rong’s heart skipped a beat. The term was unfamiliar to him. ”Then Old Qin, where do I go to be a Medicine Boy?”

”To Pharmacist Shang’s place.”

Duan Rong’s eyes moved again, continuing to ask, ”Where does Pharmacist Shang belong?”

”Pharmacist Shang is a registered pharmacist of the Sect Medicine Pavilion. But over there, he manages himself.”

”Sect Medicine Pavilion? Registered pharmacist? He manages himself?” Duan Rong pondered for a moment, contemplating the old man’s words, his eyes flickered and he wanted to continue asking. ”Qin...”

Duan Rong had just uttered a word when the old man suddenly turned his head, his eyes flashing with a knife-like gleam, and stared at Duan Rong, saying, ”Kid, as a registered disciple, just mind your own business. The sect is so big, don’t ask about everything under the sun!”

The old man finished speaking and continued walking forward.

Duan Rong watched the old man’s back, sighed softly, and thought: The Taiyi Sect has so many organizations. He had just arrived, and he had already heard several organizational names. There was the Elder Hall, the Lower Courtyard, the Imperial Stable Hall, and the Medicine Pavilion, not to mention that Pharmacist Shang who even had a place of his own.

A sect with thousands of years of history, the structure is indeed bloated!

Old Qin walked ahead, but behind him, he had a silent opinion of Duan Rong.

He usually didn’t show a good face to these registered disciples, much less chit-chat about things like the Medicine Pavilion or the Imperial Stable Hall.

He initially thought this kid knew his place, spoke politely, and didn’t have the bad habits of those noble family disciples. Furthermore, the kid had recognized the three poisonous herbs placed by Pharmacist Shang, which made him look at the kid with admiration, leading to a brief chat, but he didn’t expect this kid to push his luck trying to pry information from him.

Naturally, Duan Rong understood why the old man was angry, so along the way, he just focused on walking without saying another word.

Thus, the two walked along the cliffs for a long time until they finally stopped at a steep cliff face.

Near the cliff face, there was only one iron chain, hanging solitary in a sea of white fog.

Old Qin took out two beast skin wraps from the stone cave in the cliff face, handing one to Duan Rong.

Since Duan Rong had behaved obediently, merely walking without saying a word, Old Qin’s attitude towards him had softened considerably. ”Tie the vine rope tightly around your waist. During the chain slide, no matter what situation you encounter, holding onto the beast skin will save your life!”

Duan Rong took the beast skin wrap, glanced gratefully at Old Qin, and firmly tied the vine rope around his waist.

Once Duan Rong had finished tying it, Old Qin had already leaped from the cliff edge, disappearing into the vast white fog.

Duan Rong crouched by the cliff, grasped the openings on both ends of the beast skin with his hands, placed it on the iron chain, and leaped into the vast mist...

Duan Rong’s body whistled through the valley fog, the mist quickly dampening his face, hair, and clothes.

Looking at the swirling mist, Duan Rong felt a surreal sense of walking on clouds, gliding through the mist.

Old Qin had glided through the chain, seemingly thinning the mist along the way, otherwise, Duan Rong’s face would probably be even wetter.

As Duan Rong slid along, he suddenly saw a white shadow standing on the dark iron chain not far ahead, with a red tip the size of a fist on its head.

It was an Immortal Crane, calmly standing on the swaying chain, preening its feathers with its beak. Even as Duan Rong slid out of the mist, it seemed unfazed.

Only when Duan Rong drew near did it suddenly spread its great wings, shooting up like an arrow, flying straight into the clouded sky.

As it leapt, the tips of its wings even brushed past Duan Rong’s cheek.

Watching the crane’s silhouette vanish into the vast fog, Duan Rong smiled. The crane’s silhouette, the white fog, the cliff, and the iron chain formed such a wondrous scene that he suddenly felt as if he had stumbled into an Immortal Blessed Land...

Duan Rong, enveloped in the vast white fog, slid for an unknown duration before a massive shadow appeared before him, its color deepening, gradually revealing a mountain peak out of the white fog.

Duan Rong slid off the iron chain, leaping onto the cliff edge of the mountain peak.

Standing at the cliff’s edge, Duan Rong saw Old Qin already there, twisting his drenched sleeves, a wet puddle forming at his feet...

Duan Rong placed the beast skin wrap into the adjacent stone cave, mimicking Old Qin by wringing out his sleeve.

After wringing out his clothes, Old Qin walked forward, and Duan Rong promptly followed.

Walking along, Duan Rong circulated his Inner Breath, adjusting to the horse stance, and within just half an incense stick’s duration, the heat generated by his Inner Breath had already dried his clothes.

Duan Rong glanced sideways to see Old Qin’s clothes still clinging wetly to his body.

Duan Rong’s eyes shifted, scrutinizing Old Qin’s temple.

Old Qin’s temple was as flat as ever, showing no signs of peculiarity.

Since they were within the sect, Duan Rong didn’t use Divine Sense Projection to probe Old Qin’s Dantian. However, by observing Old Qin’s temple and his movements along the way, Duan Rong had already concluded that Old Qin was an ordinary person who hadn’t practiced martial arts.

An ordinary person, not a martial artist, within the sect, managing the assignments of registered disciples in the Lower Courtyard.

There must be something significant about this. The old man must have some background, huh?

Duan Rong’s gaze toward Old Qin turned more solemn instead of dismissive.

As they walked, the two suddenly stopped in front of a mountain cave on the cliff’s edge.

Old Qin turned to Duan Rong and said, ”We’re here. That’s Pharmacist Shang’s place. Follow me.”

As Duan Rong followed Old Qin, he gazed intently at the mountain cave not far ahead.

In front of the cave, there was a considerable platform, clearly man-made.

On the edge of the cliff, the platform had stone railings sculpted as if on-site, encircling it.

At that moment, in a corner of the platform, there were four black dots busily doing something, their actions accompanied by faint sounds of stone and metal.

As Duan Rong followed Old Qin closer, the four black dots revealed themselves.

Three men and one woman, all young, clad in green Daoist robes, their expressions stern, exuding an unapproachable aura.

Duan Rong glanced at the tools in their hands, which were surprisingly for processing herbs. However, with just a glance, Duan Rong noticed several tools he hadn’t seen before.

Bear in mind, he had devoured the Artifact Spirits from Gu Suxiu’s ancestral collection and nearly all artifact spirits left by Shen Ping at the Wild Boar Mountain cave, so theoretically, he should be familiar with the world’s herb-processing tools.

Yet a few tools, in a sweep of his gaze, Duan Rong was certain these were absent from the artifact spirits he had absorbed and digested.

Old Qin addressed the four busy medicine boys in the corner, ”Pan Yong, is Pharmacist Shang in?”

A square-faced young man with a radiant countenance looked up, chuckling with a slightly simple-hearted smile, ”Old Qin is here. Master Shang is in. You can go right in.”

Old Qin nodded, pointing at the ground near the cave entrance, ”Leave your bag here and follow me inside.”

Duan Rong laid down the bundle he was carrying and followed Old Qin into the mountain cave.

As Old Qin turned to enter the cave, the other three, a man and a woman, suddenly looked up, casting a peculiar glance at Duan Rong’s back.

The woman, somewhat good-looking, her face flushed from work, snorted through her nose as she glimpsed Duan Rong’s profile and muttered, ”Another fool coming in!”

Pan Yong’s face darkened on hearing this, ”Tang Zhu, stop talking nonsense.”

The woman called Tang Zhu realized her slip, promptly pursed her lips, and resumed her work.

The others also went back to work, various faint noises resounding once more in the corner of the platform...