Chapter 212 - Materials for the Sword

Upon hearing that Lu Mingshu was searching for resources, the inn"s clerk suggested a place to her enthusiastically. "Miss, you can try the Pure White Grace Pavilion. In Beiming, they are the one that has everything you need. They have a shop in Green Hills Bank as well; the largest shop over there."

Lu Mingshu thanked him and went over to the Pure White Grace Pavilion.

"Welcome, Miss!" A clerk immediately came to greet her as she walked in. "What does Miss need? I"m not boasting, but our shop has everything that other shops have and everything that other shops don"t!"

That"s considered "not boasting"?

"Do you have Fairy Gravel and Mystic Yellow Stones here?" she asked.

The clerk ushered her to a seat. "The two items that Miss mentioned are treasures. Have a seat first, I"ll check it out for you."

Lu Mingshu nodded.

After a few moments, the shopkeeper came up to her. "Miss, you asked for Fairy Gravel and Yellow Mystic Stones, right?"

"Yes."

The shopkeeper smiled apologetically. "I"m so sorry, both items are rare and precious. We don"t have any stock in our branch since it"s too small. If there"s no rush, I could help you ask for it from the main branch?"

Lu Mingshu shook her head. "I"m just a pa.s.serby. If I have to wait, then I"ll just go down there myself. Where is the main branch of the Pure White Grace Pavilion?"

"It"s in Black Crane State…."The shopkeeper gave her a thorough and detailed location.

"Thanks a lot." A thought came to her mind. "Oh yeah, do you have anything that can help withstand the strong winds on the Ming River?"

"Yes." The shopkeeper called the clerk over.

When paying the bill, Lu Mingshu felt inside her coin purse…

Apart from the sword, she didn"t have much money left. All she had were goods.

"shopkeeper, do you accept goods?"

He smiled. "Of course, but we only accept rare items. We don"t take common items."

Lu Mingshu took out a small box. The box was no bigger than her palms, and it was made out of jade.

The shopkeeper turned serious. Anything that needed to be placed in a jade box was a rare item that had to be preserved. Some materials would lose their effects otherwise.

Just as expected, when she opened the box, a pleasant smell filled his nose. The shopkeeper looked closer to realize it contained two pills.

"This medicine…" the shopkeeper leaned forward to smell them, expression changing.

"What do you think?"

The shopkeeper plastered a smile on his face. "Miss, please be patient and allow me to try the effects of the medicine." He took the jade box that the clerk pa.s.sed him, cautiously sc.r.a.ping a bit of the powder and dissolving it in his bowl.

After he drank it, his chest immediately felt warm. It was just powder, yet it was so effective already.

What he was unaware of was that Lu Mingshu exchanged for these two pills from the Heavenly Wheel. No matter how serious the injury, one would recover once they took one of these pills. They were precious even in other worlds, so the price would increase ten times if put into her world. If she wasn"t lacking money, she wouldn"t want to sell them.

"Great!" The shopkeeper praised. "Miss, based on the effects, one pill would cost ten mystic crystals. When we take an exchange, we only pay 80% of the selling price; so, two for sixteen mystic crystals, how"s that?"

Lu Mingshu nodded. "Deduct it from my bill."

Sixteen mystic crystals would be enough for her whole trip if she didn"t spend much.

The shopkeeper closed the box and handed it to the clerk, who was asked to take the mystic crystals out too.

Not long after, the clerk came out, pa.s.sed the mystic crystals to the shopkeeper, and whispered something to him.

The shopkeeper"s face changed.

"Okay, I got it," he started after the clerk left for a moment. "Miss, I have some information that you might be interested in."

"What information?"

"You"re looking for Yellow Mystic Stones, right?"

"Yes."

"A place may have them."

"Oh?"

"Do you know the eye of the Ming River?"

Lu Mingshu nodded.

The eye of the Ming River. It was a special place on the Ming River, and it was located at the end of the Ming River. Strong winds and billowing waves as if it was the deep sea. In the turbulence, a very deep spiral was formed - the eye of the Ming River.

It was unknown what this spiral was like or where it led. Its force was greater than one could imagine; even a Spirit Realm disciple would get sucked into it if they got too close.

"A few days ago, near the eye of Ming River, the land broke open, and a small hill was formed. It"s said that it"s an extremely rare Yellow Mystic Stone mine."

"Yellow Mystic Stone is extremely precious. n.o.body has gone there yet?" Lu Mingshu looked at him in confusion.

He smiled. "Of course someone went, or how would I have this information? It"s just that Yellow Mystic Stone isn"t easy to mine. It"s good enough if you could get one or two before the whole mine lands in the hands of an aristocratic family or some powerful character. Who dares to compete with the Ye Family in White Heron State? Right now, they"re busy with their spring hunt, but when it ends, they will send people over to mine."

"By then, the Yellow Mystic Stones would all be theirs, right?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "Yes. Since the Ye Family isn"t short on money, they would obviously keep the precious stones for their own use."

Lu Mingshu pondered for a moment. "What do I need to pay for this information?"

The shopkeeper caressed his beard and smiled, "In the Green Hills Bank branch, we do not have enough hands, and we dare not fight with the Ye Family. If Miss successfully gets the Yellow Mystic Stones, can you spare us one?"

Lu Mingshu nodded. "Sure. I can promise that I will give 2% of the stones if I get them successfully."

"Many thanks." The shopkeeper took a map and told her all about the eye of the Ming River.

As she was leaving, Lu Mingshu saw a person in a turquoise s.h.i.+rt pa.s.sing by. She then asked, "You have Ye Family members here?"

The shopkeeper nodded helplessly. "In Green Hills Bank, our Pure White Grace Pavilion is one of the best shops. Since their spring hunt is held here, their resources are all supplied by us."

No wonder.

Lu Mingshu went to inform Captain Ding after she left the Pure White Grace Pavilion.

"Miss, you"re travelling to the eye of Ming River?" Captain Ding asked, jaws dropping.

Lu Mingshu nodded.

Captain Ding looked at her in worry. "The eye of the Ming River is extremely dangerous. Even a Spirit Realm disciple may not make it back. Miss should never go there!"

"Be at ease, I am going to a place some distance away from the eye of the Ming River itself. I"m not going into the whirlpool."

If it was such a dangerous place, she wouldn"t have made up her mind so fast. Based on the map, the distance from the whirlpool was acceptable for Harmonization Realm disciples.

"This…" Unable to convince her, Captain Ding agreed. "Okay, Miss will have to wait a day. After we settle our stocks in the morning, we will send Miss over."

Lu Mingshu nodded. If Captain Ding really rejected her, it would be tough for her too. It would be hard to get another boat all of a sudden, and others might not be willing to send her there either.

"You can wait for me for three days. If I don"t return after three days, you can leave as you wish."

"We have already collected your fees, so we won"t break our promise. Miss can take your time, we will wait," Captain Ding replied.

Lu Mingshu smiled. The Jianghu people on the Ming River really took their promises seriously.

After one night, Captain Ding woke up early the next morning to prep his boat. They could set off as soon Lu Mingshu came over.

Chapter 213 - Unaware of the Oriole Behind

When Lu Mingshu boarded the boat, she saw a huge s.h.i.+p setting sail outside Green Hills Bank. The s.h.i.+p had the logo of the Ye Family on it.

"Their spring hunt has ended?" she asked.

"Yes!" Ah Lang continued. "I heard that first place this time is an illegitimate child. When the results came out, Green Hills Bank nearly exploded."

Ye Mingguang… he won?

Nothing surprising. His ability isn"t any weaker than the others, and he"s in a tough situation, unlike the others, so he has much more drive to succeed.

She nodded and went into the cabin, taking the map and a.n.a.lyzing it carefully.

Ah Lang thought that she would be curious and ask a few more questions. Seeing that she wasn"t bothered, he said no more and went to hang the sail up.

The Ye Family would send people to the eye of the Ming River soon, so she didn"t have much time.

Knowing that she was in a rush, Captain Ding and Ah Lang took turns to steer the boat. It only took them three days to get to a small island.

"Miss Lu, we are here!"

Lu Mingshu came out from the cabin and looked into the distance.

During the past three days, the closer they got to the eye of the Ming River, the larger the waves and winds became, making it harder to sail a boat. When they arrived, there was a three-feet-high wave.

Adding on the biting cold temperature, it was harmful to one"s body. It was no wonder that, in a place where land was so valuable, this little island wasn"t occupied.

Lu Mingshu took out the map. The hill in the distance was blurry.

Ah Lang took out a bra.s.s-colored leaf. "Miss Lu, this is what you wanted; same as the Ye Family"s. The only restriction is that others aren"t allowed to copy the silver color that they use."

Ah Ling took a bag over too. "These are dried goods. They won"t spoil if Miss puts them in her mustard seed pouch."

Lu Mingshu thanked them. Seeing the strong wind blowing over, she took out a small bottle and pa.s.sed it to them. "There are a few pills inside, given to me by my master. They"re good for your body. Please take one since your Inner Breath is too weak, so you"re unable to withstand the strong winds."

Ah Ling took the bottle. "Wah, it smells so good." The pill that came out of the bottle was white and s.h.i.+ning. So cute.

"Wait!" Captain Ding stopped his boat and walked over, looking excited. He took the pill to examine and smell it. Unable to contain his joy, he pulled his pair of grandchildren along. "Thank Miss Lu right now, you two!"

Ah Ling and Ah Lang stared at him blankly.

"You foolish kids!" Captain Ding was now on cloud nine. "This is a soluble pill for opening apertures!"

These soluble pills were much more expensive than other medicines used for medicine baths. It was rare for medicines to have an effect that opened one"s apertures. For someone whose body const.i.tution wasn"t good, opening even one more closed aperture would give them a higher chance to reach the Harmonization Realm.

What Captain Ding wasn"t aware of was that these pills weren"t from this world. In other worlds, where pill-refining methods were more advanced, this type of pill wasn"t expensive. Lu Mingshu had gotten these pills when she was in the Inner Breath realm, and these were just leftovers.

After receiving the pills, Captain Ding told her with determination that he would wait for her return.

After she finished preparing, Lu Mingshu threw the copper leaf onto the water and jumped on it. A force immediately supported her weight and balanced on the water steadily.

After converting her mystic force, the copper leaf flew out, sticking closely to the water.

Lu Mingshu"s sleeves flapped in the strong wind. The waves came through continuously, b.u.mping all the way, sending her further along.

Ah Ling looked at Lu Mingshu disappearing into the watery mist caused by the strong wind. "I hope Miss Lu comes back safely." She put her palms together.

These days, she had gotten along well with Lu Mingshu, and Lu Mingshu had even gifted her pills. She obviously hoped that Lu Mingshu would succeed.

Captain Ding looked over in a distance further away and furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh no!"

"Grandpa?"

Ah Ling and Ah Lang looked over to where he was looking, and their eyes widened in shock. "This…!"

Among the surging waves, a boat was speeding over toward them. Even though it was also a small boat, it was way finer than the Ding Family"s boat. The Ye Family"s crest could be slightly seen in the mist, gradually becoming clearer as they got closer.

"It"s them!" Ah Ling shouted in surprise.

At the bow of the boat, a few teenagers in turquoise s.h.i.+rts stood there. They looked at the Ding Family with arrogance.

The truth was now obvious; there was no need for more guesses.

"I"m afraid that Miss Lu has fallen into their trap," Captain Ding whispered.

How could there be such a coincidence? The Ye Family arrived shortly after them, and they were the only one.

"Why are they so petty? Why are they being so forceful!?" Ah Ling said furiously.

"The Ye Family won"t talk logic with outsiders," Ah Lang said calmly. "Calm down, I doubt the situation will be in their favor anyway."

Captain Ding nodded. "Miss Lu"s ability is outstanding, so she won"t be at a loss if they want to start a fight. But right now, we don"t know what the Ye Family"s plan is, so we aren"t able to tell what kind of trap they set up."

Among the three of them, Captain Ding was the only one in the Harmonization Realm, but he had only barely opened the main aperture, which made him way weaker than the aristocratic family disciples. The only thing he could do now was pray for Lu Mingshu.

On the other hand, Lu Mingshu had already reached the destination.

The little hill was surrounded by mist, and it was all loess and stones; there was no green. The s.p.a.ce it took up wasn"t very big either. She finished examining the area just by moving around a little.

Lu Mingshu stopped searching. Instead, she looked around for a stone and sat on it.

"Hahaha." A laughter came from afar. Lu Mingshu looked up to see turquoise s.h.i.+rts dancing lightly under the strong wind as three guys and one girl stepped on sh.o.r.e.

"Miss Lu, we meet again," Ye Zhenxing said to her.

He stepped on the leaf, leaping high into the air and landing on the hill. The silver leaf then disappeared in a flash and appeared between his fingers, natural and unrestrained.

"Just in time." Lu Mingshu stood up calmly. "You all know how to find the Yellow Mystic Stones, right?"

"Pooh! Whose finding anything for you?" Ye Zhenfan shouted loudly in anger.

But Lu Mingshu paid no attention to him as she continued to stare at Ye Zhenxing.

Seems like I missed something, Ye Zhenfan thought.

When they met the first time, his Ninth Brother was in sorry shape because of this Miss, and she looked cold and indifferent. Based on her bearing, this sect disciple wasn"t foolish. At this point, anyone would be able to tell that they had fallen into a trap, so why was she still so calm?

"Miss Lu, you could"ve just told us if you wanted Yellow Mystic Stones. Why was there a need to help Ye Mingguang?" Ye Zhenxing asked softly.

"Coincidence."

"You ruined our good thing because of coincidence?" Ye Zhenfan was fl.u.s.tered.

This spring hunt was different from the previous one; this spring hunt had something to do with a very important quota. Ye Zhenfan initially thought that it would be either him or Ye Zhenxing, but it was taken away by Ye Mingguang right under their noses. How could he let this matter go?

Ye Xingfan looked at her furiously. The smile on his face was all gone. "Miss Lu, we lost first place because of you, don"t you think you need to take responsibility?"

"Isn"t that because you all aren"t capable enough?" Lu Mingshu slowly said.

"What the h.e.l.l did you say?" Ye Zhenfan blew up.

"If you"re capable, why do you need to play tricks? Even if I gave him some injury medicine, he wouldn"t have been able to recover in one day. Your loss has nothing to do with me."

Other than Ye Zhenxing, the group looked at her with anger.

"Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Eleventh Brother, what are you still waiting for? People are already mocking us!" the young girl shouted.

Chapter 214 - Talk with your Ability

"No hurry." Ye Zhenxing held his hand up. "Miss Lu, you don"t seem to be surprised at all. Were you expecting us?"

Lu Mingshu nodded. "Wasn"t it obvious? Why would the Pure White Grace Pavilion shopkeeper suddenly tell me about the Yellow Mystic Stone mine? The same place where there was a bunch of Ye Family members in the shop? There was at least an 80% chance that you all did this."

"You… you knew?" Ye Zhenfan looked at her with wide eyes. He thought that she was gullible since they did it so easily. "You still dared to come?"

Lu Mingshu threw him a glance. "If I didn"t, you all wouldn"t let me off. Besides, what can you do to me that I wouldn"t dare to come?"

Her att.i.tude and tone were perfectly fine, but because she was looking at them disdainfully, she was able to suppress these few Ye Family disciples.

In White Heron State, there wasn"t anyone who dared to be so arrogant in front of a Ye Family member. The Ye Family members were the only ones who dared to be arrogant!

Ye Zhenxing couldn"t help but smile. "Miss Lu, it"s impressive that Nine Jade Palace has someone like you."

"I just don"t have the habit of hiding when things go wrong."

This was the Ye Family"s territory, where could she even hide? If these few Ye Family members had their eyes on her already, then what was coming would come no matter what. How long could she hide? If she hid, how was she supposed to travel?

"Ah, nice!" Ye Zhenxing smiled. "That"s for the best then. So, how will you settle things?"

"Isn"t that a question for yourself?" Lu Mingshu raised her eyebrows. "I"m not the one who can"t stop troubling people."

"Hmph!" Ye Zhenfan snickered. "You know that this is our territory, yet you"re the one that found trouble with me first by helping Ye Mingguang. Aren"t you the one that brought yourself the trouble? If we weren"t at the Pure White Grace Pavilion, we wouldn"t have found the sneaky culprit!"

Lu Mingshu sneered. "Mr. Ninth Ye, your tricks against Ye Mingguang aren"t very smart either. Preventing him from getting injury medicine? There are so many merchants in Green Hills Bank, are you even capable of informing them all? If Ye Mingguang went to the harbor and found a merchant who just reached Green Hills Bank and asked to trade, what makes you think the merchant wouldn"t trade?"

"So you"re trying to say that it"s not your fault, huh?"

"You"re the unreasonable one, yet you"re blaming me for not cooperating with you. That"s funny."

"Ninth Brother, this s.l.u.t just has a dirty mouth, why are you still talking with her?"

Lu Mingshu stared at her coldly. Suddenly, a mystic light dashed toward her.

"What are you doing!?" Ye Zhenfan yelled and blocked it with his sword.

Ye Zhenxing and the other Ye Family disciple took out their swords at the same time.

"Ah!" The girl screamed and blocked the attack.

Piak!

A clear sound could be heard.

The Ye Family members were dumbfounded.

The Ye Family girl couldn"t believe what just happened. A red-colored palm-mark was on her face. She teared up and cried out loud.

She had never been slapped by anyone since she was born!

"Talk properly as a human," Lu Mingshu slowly said. "Especially to girls; it doesn"t sound nice."

"You…!" The Ye Family girl pointed at her furiously. "Tenth Brother!"

Ye Zhenxing"s smile was all gone now.

That day when he went back with Ye Zhenfan, he said nothing about Lu Mingshu because he was clear that she would have the upper hand.

When they saw her take out that box in the Pure White Grace Pavilion, he decided to show her who the boss was here, and Ye Zhenfan brought up that day immediately.

Ye Zhenxing thought that he was already overestimating her ability by tricking her into coming here and joining hands with the other Ye Family disciples. Since they were all elites, no matter how powerful Lu Mingshu was, given her sect and her age, how could they possibly lose when they joined hands?

However, the last thing that they expected was that she could slap anyone she wanted among them.

Without true ability, such a slap was impossible.

Ye Zhenxing took in a deep breath. "Eighth Sister, Miss Lu is right. A girl shouldn"t be so vulgar."

The Ye Family girl stared at him in disbelief. "Tenth Brother!"

"However," Ye Zhenxing said loftily, "Miss Lu, this girl of our family, no matter what wrongdoing she did, others do not have the right to punish her."

"So?"

Ye Zhenxing fished out his sword. "Martial artists should talk with their ability. Do you agree?"

Lu Mingshu finally smiled. "Even though you"re from the Ye Family just like them, you"re much more capable. Alright. Since you wanna teach me a lesson, please do."

"Please guide me true!" Ye Zhenxing wasted no more time. After saying that sentence, he flashed over, and the sword-light was already in front of Lu Mingshu.

Ye Zhenfan attacked at the same time. He wasn"t necessarily as smart as his younger brother, but when it came to martial arts, he still had plenty to offer.

Both of them were from the Ye Family and they practiced together since they were young, so they were well-coordinated. Light blue traces could be seen from the sword-lights that were das.h.i.+ng toward Lu Mingshu. The sword-lights came at her continuously and even attacked from different directions, making her unable to avoid them.

Lu Mingshu"s mystic light enlarged, and with a hiss, it turned into a dragon.

She didn"t dodge either of the two sword-lights. Instead, she went against them both head-on.

Ye Zhenfan and Ye Zhenxing took a step back after her attack. They looked at her, jaws dropping.

"Physical Manifestation of Sword Intent?" Ye Zhenxing mumbled. "So, it"s true…."

He didn"t believe it when Ye Zhenfan mentioned it. How old was Lu Mingshu? She had only been in the Harmonization Realm for a year at most, right? Even if she was gifted, it wasn"t so easy to master the Physical Manifestation of Sword Intent. Most did it when they were in the Harmonization Realm, but only after practicing their skills for a long time. If one"s body const.i.tution wasn"t very good, they might only master it after reaching the Spirit Realm.

However, since they started, there was no reason for them to stop now.

Lu Mingshu"s eyes shone, and the mystic light on her sword shone brighter.

Having fought with her once already, Ye Zhenfan wasn"t surprised. "What the h.e.l.l are you all doing? Mystic Water Sword!" he yelled.

This brought the other two back to reality.

If their Ninth and Tenth Brothers couldn"t do it alone, they had to fight too. How could they allow an outsider to bully Ye Family members?

The Mystic Water Sword of the Ye Family wasn"t weak. If multiple attacks were combined, the power would be multiplied!

This was something that all Beiming residents were aware of.

Four rays of light blue sword-light shot forward, looking like fish jumping out of the river and causing layers of energy to ripple.

Under the beautiful sight, endless killing moves were hidden beneath. Layer by layer, continuously.

A four-person Mystic Water Sword attack - let"s see where she can hide now!

"Interesting!" Lu Mingshu muttered, feeling the layers of force getting stronger. In no time, it had turned into a suppressive power, inundating Lu Mingshu.

The mystic light around her enlarged. Lu Mingshu didn"t dodge; instead, she went forward.

Ye Zhenfan sneered. "You really do not know where you stand!" You may have beaten me, but our Ye Family Mystic Water Sword is not that easy!

On the other hand, Ye Zhenxing was grinning from ear to ear. To him, this Miss Lu was still young, so it was expected that she would underestimate her enemy. Nice, now she"ll know how powerful our Mystic Water Sword is.

The layers of water were now one with Lu Mingshu.

Ye Zhenxing smirked, antic.i.p.ating Lu Mingshu"s sorry figure. However, the next moment, he was shouting, "That"s impossible!"