Ting Bixiao's conversation with Li Yan was like a continuous thunderclap in Ye Mingxin's mind, leaving her standing there in a daze, unable to move.
'A Dustless Pill... this jade bottle actually contains a Dustless Pill, and one of a rank I've never even heard of...'
Compared to this medicinal pill, breaking through to the minor realm of Pseudo-Core was not even a minor matter!
Ye Mingxin was confident she could reach the Pseudo-Core Realm within ten years. After all, she was a genius of the Giant Wood Clan; she absolutely had this much confidence.
But as for whether she could successfully form a Golden Core in the future, she didn't even have a ten percent certainty.
It was highly likely that Ye Mingxin, like the genius predecessors in her clan, would be stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage for her entire life.
But with a Dustless Pill, the situation was completely different. She would have at least a twenty percent chance of success. For any Foundation Establishment cultivator, this was undoubtedly the greatest blessing from the heavens.
Moreover, this Dustless Pill was of a rank she had never even heard of. It would be strange if she wasn't dumbfounded.
Ting Bixiao's shout pierced her mind, and Ye Mingxin was jolted back to her senses. Her body trembled, and she quickly fell to the ground to kowtow.
"Thank you, Senior, for your great kindness! Thank you, Senior, for your great kindness..."
Li Yan gently raised his hand, and a soft force lifted Ye Mingxin to her feet.
"You should take a look at the medicinal pill. If it's not suitable, I can replace it with a magical treasure!"
"No, no, no, this medicinal pill is already the greatest gift for this junior..."
Ye Mingxin had already snatched the purple jade bottle hovering in the air. Then, she realized her action was a bit rash, and a blush appeared on her pretty face.
Everyone present understood Li Yan's words. He was afraid Ye Mingxin would be too embarrassed to inspect it immediately, yet worried that Li Yan might be deceiving her.
With Li Yan's words, Ye Mingxin bowed slightly to him again, then opened the bottle stopper and swept her Divine Sense inside.
At the same time, Ting Bixiao also unabashedly sent out a wisp of his Divine Sense to probe. In the instant it went in and out, he was already clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Mingxin, you've stumbled upon a tremendous fortune this time!"
As a disciple of his lineage, if Ye Mingxin could ultimately succeed in forming a Golden Core, his branch's position would be further consolidated. Ting Bixiao was, of course, extremely happy.
Ye Mingxin had by now hastily replaced the stopper, her face flushed with excitement, her entire body trembling slightly.
"Alright, we have disturbed you for many days. We shall take our leave now!"
Li Yan immediately proposed their departure.
"Mingxin, you go back first. Remember, the matter of the Dustless Pill must not be heard by a third person in the clan."
"Otherwise, even I might not be able to protect this medicinal pill. At that time, many people will propose to redistribute it through other means!"
Ting Bixiao first glanced at Ye Mingxin, then instructed her.
Ye Mingxin immediately nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice. She then gave a graceful curtsy to the three of them, put away the purple jade bottle, and quickly left.
"What, does Fellow Daoist Ting have other matters?"
Ting Bixiao not immediately letting them leave surprised Li Yan somewhat.
The two parties were essentially engaged in a transaction. Just now, it would have been perfectly fine if he hadn't given Ye Mingxin the Dustless Pill.
'Could he think I have more Dustless Pills on me? Regardless of whether he wants to trade, this is a bit too greedy!'
Li Yan thought to himself. He had always been one to not harbor suspicions about his own people, but if there was anything about others he couldn't understand, Li Yan would immediately assume the worst and become highly suspicious.
"Oh, there is one matter I need to inform you about. The Tianlan Clan no longer exists..."
A short while later, Li Yan and Zhao Min exchanged a look, sighing inwardly. A major clan with two Nascent Soul cultivators had been reduced to ruins, its people dead or scattered, in just over half a month.
Only the master of that Tie Lianggu had escaped using that clone.
At the same time, Zhao Min was also extremely impressed by the subtlety of Li Yan's mind.
Just as Li Yan had guessed, there was indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator in the Giant Wood Clan, and the other six clans truly did have other Nascent Soul cultivators as well.
After these three Nascent Soul cultivators quietly contacted the Tingyun Kingdom, the Tingyun Kingdom naturally agreed readily to kill the Tianlan Clan's Nascent Soul cultivators. It was exactly what they had been hoping for.
"The reason I'm telling you this is so you can go to the Tianlan Prairie in the future without worry. It is now under the control of our seven clans and the Tingyun Kingdom."
"If you have any issues there, you can seek out our seven clans to resolve them."
"Most importantly, the other six clans are very grateful for your help this time. Although you did not personally rescue their clansmen, they still all owe you a favor."
"If you need their help in the future, they will spare no effort to assist you once."
"It's just that the matter with the Tianlan Clan has just concluded. Including our clan's ancestor, they still have some follow-up matters to deal with, so the clan heads or ancestors of each clan cannot come to thank you in person."
"Here, this is a token that the ancestor had someone bring back the day before yesterday. In the future, if you two fellow daoists need their assistance, you just need to present this token."
"Of course, if you need our clan's assistance, we will also help you within our capabilities."
As he spoke, a lifelike, Seven-Colored Peacock Carving appeared in Ting Bixiao's hand and flew towards Li Yan.
Ting Bixiao had long since seen that although Zhang Ming's senior sister had a higher cultivation level, everything was decided by Zhang Ming.
The carving was warm to the touch, but he didn't know what material it was made from.
"This is the token of our seven clans. Nowadays, very few other clans still remember the former Sparrow Plume Pagoda Domain!"
Seeing the strange look on Li Yan's face when he saw the token, Ting Bixiao explained briefly.
'It seems these seven clans were the loyal followers of the Peacock Bright King back then!'
Li Yan and Zhao Min had guessed some things.
"In that case, it would be disrespectful of me to refuse. If I need to ask for help in the future, I will definitely trouble you."
Li Yan was not one to be polite. He casually put the token into his Storage Pouch and cupped his fists at Ting Bixiao.
The Giant Wood Clan had fulfilled its promise, so they no longer owed any favors. In the future, if Li Yan needed help, it would only be from the other six clans.
"Then we shall take our leave now!"
"A Guxi and the others said they wanted to see you two!"
"Hehe, there's no need. If fate allows, we will meet again! However, I must first congratulate Fellow Daoist Ting. In not too many years, the clan will likely have four more Golden Core experts!"
Ting Bixiao also chuckled upon hearing this. He knew what Li Yan was referring to.
The chances of A Guxi, Ai Ni, and Ai Sang successfully forming a core were estimated to be at least fifty percent. They were the ones who had truly walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
In order to survive, both their will to pursue the Dao and their techniques had been honed to an incomparable sharpness.
What they lacked now were cultivation resources, and unlike the other cultivators in the clan, they did not need a large amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
The cultivators in the clan were like fat-bellied merchants; only by eating better could their bodies' needs be met.
The bodies of A Guxi and the other two, however, were like hungry wolves. Just a small piece of ordinary meat, once swallowed, could be completely absorbed without wasting a single bit.
As long as Ting Bixiao was not a fool, he would firmly grasp this branch of clansmen in his hands. And what he had to do was very simple: just give out some cultivation resources and techniques.
Coupled with Ye Mingxin, who now had a Dustless Pill, Ting Bixiao's lineage would surely hold a firm grip on the Giant Wood Clan in the future.
Calculating it this way, the death of the two Golden Core cultivators half a month ago was actually a good thing.
In the future, not only would there be more Golden Core cultivators, but they would all be his trusted confidants.
"Hehehe, the next time the Wood Essence Pool is opened, it will surely be specially for the three of them. By then, even if they have already formed their cores, they will surely rise to another level."
"Oh, that's right! I have yet to congratulate Fellow Daoist Zhao on advancing to the Late-stage Golden Core. Such a joyous occasion is most deserving of congratulations. That's why I wanted to ask you two to stay for a drink!"
Ting Bixiao said with a smiling nod, also looking at Zhao Min, then glancing at Li Yan.
He was in a very cheerful mood at this moment. He had more respect for the power behind Li Yan and naturally wanted to be on good terms with him.
He had seen earlier that Zhao Min had already advanced to the Late-stage Golden Core, but he saw that Zhang Ming's cultivation was still the same, only the aura emanating from his physical body was much stronger than fifteen days ago.
So he assumed that most of the wood spirit rhythm had probably been absorbed by Zhao Min.
Earlier, he had been heartbroken over the wood spirit rhythm and was not in the mood to offer congratulations. But now that Ye Mingxin had obtained a rare fourth-rank Dustless Pill, he had temporarily forgotten about the wood spirit rhythm.
"Hehehe... Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ting. We still have some matters to attend to, so we won't trouble you any longer!"
Li Yan chuckled. Zhao Min also gave a slight curtsy to Ting Bixiao. The two of them then transformed into two streaks of escaping light and flew into the distance.
Ting Bixiao looked up at the sky. Only after Li Yan and the others had disappeared did a thoughtful expression appear on his face, and for a moment, he was lost in thought...
Outside a room, the tall youth bowed towards the door and said.
"Master, the two outside cultivators have left!"
After a moment's pause, Wusitu's somewhat sinister voice came from within the room.
"I know. You may withdraw!"
The tall youth said no more and immediately retreated. He knew his master was about to make a move. This master of his had always been a vicious person and had never been willing to suffer a loss.
After the tall youth had gone far away, Wusitu's suppressed, ice-cold voice suddenly came from within the room.
"ZhangMing, ZhangMing..."
Inside the room, the ashen color on Wusitu's skin had not yet completely faded.
In order not to be disturbed by Wusitu, Li Yan had calculated the time.
He had also scraped off several layers from the antidote with his fingernail. Otherwise, Wusitu would have recovered within a day or two after taking the pill.
With Li Yan's way of thinking, not letting the other party die at his hands was already a great kindness. How could he let him recover within half a month?
Wusitu felt the small amount of poison still remaining in his body, his chest heaving violently.
Just as the tall youth had guessed, by having his disciple keep an eye on Li Yan and the others, Wusitu was thinking about how to retaliate.
But Zhang Ming had left immediately upon reaching the fifteenth day today, and Wusitu's current strength was only seventy percent of his peak. He didn't dare to chase after them.
After his heavy breathing slowly calmed down, Wusitu closed his eyes again, able to only temporarily put the matter aside.
At that time, he still didn't know that when he met Li Yan again in the future, he would almost faint from anger when Li Yan said, "The pill I gave you last time was half-dosed. If you make a move again, you won't be so lucky!"
Only then would he know that the deadly poison that had tormented him for nearly a month was the other party's deliberate act.
Several thousand li away from the Giant Wood Clan, Li Yan and Zhao Min were once again standing on the "Cloud-Piercing Willow."
"Junior Brother, your cultivation?"
Ever since they had come out of the "Wood Essence Pool," Zhao Min had also been observing Li Yan's aura. In the end, her conclusion was not much different from Ting Bixiao's.
She could only tell that Li Yan's physical body seemed to have strengthened a bit; she couldn't tell anything else.
Zhao Min was now at the Late-stage Golden Core. She, of course, also had cultivation methods to conceal her cultivation, but she could only deceive those whose cultivation was similar to hers.
An old-timer Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator like Ting Bixiao could still see Zhao Min's true realm at a glance.
Li Yan smiled upon hearing this. The aura on his body suddenly changed, and then returned to that of an Initial-stage Golden Core!