11: Trifoliate Ghost Face Mushroom

Lin Feng stopped his steps and said calmly, "By order of Elder Wu of the Spirit Pill Pavilion, I am entering the mountains to gather herbs."

"Elder Wu?" The Mountain-guarding Disciple froze for a moment, then sneered.

"Gathering herbs? You? Elder Wu would let a Menial Servant like you go gather herbs? Who are you kidding?"

"A few days ago, two Inner Sect Senior Brothers teamed up to go in, saying they were helping Elder Wu find some mushroom. They spent days toiling and came out looking like a mess, finding absolutely nothing."

"Who do you think you are? Get lost!"

Lin Feng said no more, simply revealing a token of identification that Elder Wu had casually given him.

Seeing this, the Mountain-guarding Disciple's expression changed. Muturing "This is unbelievable," he reluctantly let him pass.

Upon entering the Back Mountain, Lin Feng felt the environment was completely different.

Ancient trees reached for the sky, blotting out the sun. Exotic flowers and strange herbs were everywhere, many in bizarre forms he had never seen in the medicine garden.

He took a deep breath and cautiously made his way toward the Black Wind Ravine.

Following the crude map Elder Wu had given him, he searched the Black Wind Ravine for a whole day but found nothing.

Seeing the sky grow dark and the miasma thicken, with the low growls of unknown Yao Beasts echoing from afar, he feared for his life if he stayed any longer.

'I can only rely on it.'

Lin Feng gritted his teeth, found a relatively hidden rock crevice to hide in, and sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness, fully activating the heaven-stealing vine.

Spiritual Tendrils slowly reached out, attempting to sense the unique medicinal aura that the three-leaf ghost face mushroom might be emitting in the surrounding environment.

This process was extremely difficult, as countless chaotic scents interfered with the Spiritual Tendrils' perception.

But gradually, the heaven-stealing vine's unique affinity for spirit plants took effect. A trace of an extremely faint, cold, yet strangely vibrant aura came from a very remote corner at the bottom of the ravine and was captured by the Spiritual Tendrils.

Following that sensation, Lin Feng trekked with difficulty and finally found that Spirit Pill plant deep within a shaded cliff crack. It was pitch black with three twisted leaves whose patterns closely resembled ghost faces.

However, next to the mushroom lay a scorpion-shaped Yao Beast covered in bone armor with a faint blue poisonous hook on its tail.

'A guardian Yao Beast?' Lin Feng's heart tightened.

There was no way to retreat.

A ruthless look flashed in his eyes. With his ironwood sword in hand, he pushed his Sword Intent to the limit and lunged forward like lightning.

The Bone Scorpion Yao Beast had a hard shell, a swift poisonous hook, and immense strength.

Relying on his sharp Sword Intent and agile movement, Lin Feng circled it, facing danger at every turn.

Several wounds soon appeared on his body, burning with pain.

Finally, risking a strike from the scorpion's tail, he poured all his spiritual energy into the ironwood sword and stabbed it fiercely into a gap in the armor he sensed through his Sword Intent.

"Puchi!"

The Bone Scorpion let out a sharp hiss, struggled a few times, and finally stopped moving.

Lin Feng collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his whole body in intense pain.

Looking up, he realized its nest was on the other side; it seemed to have just been resting here by chance, not specifically guarding the mushroom.

He shook his head helplessly, endured the pain, and stepped forward to carefully harvest the three-leaf ghost face mushroom.

'These Yao Beast Materials should be worth some Spirit Stones, right? Can't let them go to waste.' Looking over the Bone Scorpion's corpse, he removed the poisonous tail hook and some intact bone armor, putting them into his Storage Pouch.

Dragging his injured body, he returned the way he came. When he reached the Back Mountain entrance, the two Mountain-guarding Disciples were leaning against the rocks. Seeing Lin Feng come out so soon, their faces immediately showed an "I told you so" expression.

The younger Disciple sneered, "Senior Brother, look, what did I say? A Menial Servant wanders in and has to run back out scared out of his wits. Is the Black Wind Ravine a place where people can stay?"

The older Disciple also shook his head. "At least he's sensible enough to fear death. Elder Wu as well, why trouble a Menial Servant by sending him to such a place..."

Their words came to an abrupt halt.

Because Lin Feng had already walked up to them, holding a spirit mushroom in his hand.

"The... the three-leaf ghost face mushroom?"

"How... how is this possible?" the younger Disciple cried out in shock. "How long has he been in there? Only half a day! This... this..."

The older Disciple sucked in a breath of cold air, staring intently at the mushroom, then looked up at Lin Feng's slightly pale but exceptionally calm face.

"You... you really found it? This... this is impossible!"

"A few days ago, two Inner Sect Senior Brothers teamed up and searched for several days but returned empty-handed... You... how could you possibly..."

Lin Feng ignored them and walked toward the Pill Scripture Room, leaving the two Mountain-guarding Disciples dazed in the wind.

When Lin Feng placed the three-leaf ghost face mushroom before Elder Wu, Elder Wu was leisurely sipping a cup of spirit tea.

"Elder, the three-leaf ghost face mushroom you requested."

Elder Wu's hand holding the tea paused, and some tea splashed out, spilling onto the table.

He set down the teacup, picked up the mushroom, and examined it closely, his face filled with disbelief.

"You... you really found it?" He looked Lin Feng up and down—disheveled but with calm eyes.

"Those Inner Sect kids before told me there was no such thing in the Black Wind Ravine, or that it had long been extinct... It seems I've been too lenient with them lately, they're so half-hearted in their work!"

And now, a Utility Disciple at the Second Level of Qi Refining had placed what he needed before him in just one day?

This could no longer be explained by mere luck.

'This kid... is definitely no ordinary Menial Servant. Fat Han's side must be hiding something...'

Looking at Lin Feng again, his gaze became much more complex. Finally, he tossed out a Jade Slip.

"Take it! This is the qi condensing pill Pill Formula. You're only allowed to view it once. How much you can memorize depends on your fortune. Don't come bothering me again."

Lin Feng took the Jade Slip, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and bowed. "Thank you, Elder!"

He forcibly suppressed all distracting thoughts, throwing all his mind and willpower into frantic memorization and comprehension.

The heaven-stealing vine in his Sea of Consciousness seemed to sense its master's urgency, swaying slightly and emitting a cool sensation that actually gave his memory and comprehension a slight boost for a short time.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Lin Feng's forehead, and his face turned slightly pale from the rapid consumption of Mental Energy.

He stood there like an old monk in deep meditation, only his eyelids twitching rapidly.

Not until he walked out of the Pill Scripture Room and returned to his residence did he let out a long breath, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

The main ingredient of the Pill Formula was Qi Condensing Grass.

This was a basic Spiritual Plant used specifically for refining low-level cultivation Medicinal Pills. There were indeed dedicated areas in the medicine garden for growing it, which were supplied directly to the Spirit Pill Pavilion or pill shops in the Marketplace after harvest.

'As expected... even with the Pill Formula, Materials are still the biggest hurdle.' He sighed inwardly.

Steal from the medicine garden under the cover of night? But the risk was immense; if caught, the consequences would be unthinkable.

He shook his head helplessly and immediately began to take stock of all his assets.

The few Spirit Stones he had painstakingly saved from selling Spiritual Plants, plus the pitifully meager Monthly Stipend Steward Han had granted...