Zhang Yong sat beside the table, tapping his foot rhythmically on the ground.
"Can you calm down a little?" Su Ming scolded while reading a scroll in his hand.
"How can I calm down? With every second that passes, the situation becomes more dangerous for Master," Zhang Yong said anxiously.
Su Ming looked at Zhang Yong, closed the scroll quietly, and then said:
"I understand your worry, but there's nothing we can do. All we can do is wait. It's not easy to obtain herbs of that grade, and besides, this Buddhist Heart Herb is extremely rare. If it's found, it will be sold immediately."
Zhang Yong sighed and said in a low voice:
"I know that… but I can't just sit here and watch Master die slowly."
At once, with the sound of cawing, two birds landed quietly on the second-floor window.
Su Ming stepped forward, grabbed the scrolls, and began reading:
"Zhang Yong, after calculating all our revenue, we have seventeen crystal coins we can spend, and that's after deducting other expenses."
Zhang Yong gestured with his hand:
"And don't forget, we still have your fourth-level recipe, which will earn us five more."
"Oh, it seems the little friend has made some more progress," a voice came from the staircase as footsteps echoed.
Both of them turned instantly, and Duan Winly had just climbed up to the second floor.
Duan Winly smiled faintly as he walked toward the table.
"I have some news that may interest you."
Zhang Yong quickly stood up with excitement.
"Did you find the Buddhist Heart Herb?"
Duan Winly nodded.
"Yes, I heard that the Buddhist Heart Herb will be auctioned in the Proud Light Province to the south in a place called the Pride Auction, located in Black Heart City, near the sea. The auction begins in six days."
Zhang Yong frowned slightly as he processed the information, then muttered:
"Black Heart Province… I see." He raised his head calmly. "How long will the journey take to get there?"
Duan Winly raised his hands and gestured:
"Five days. Our province lies in the middle between provinces, and it's two provinces away from the imperial capital."
Zhang Yong turned quietly to Su Ming.
"Su Ming, let's get ready. We'll wear the Alchemy Association cloaks so the road will be safer. I don't want us being stopped for no reason."
After a while, both of them had prepared and stood outside the city.
Calmly, Zhang Yong summoned Kuro from the void and gestured to Su Ming.
"We mustn't waste time. Let's leave quickly."
Both of them leaped onto Kuro's back, and she soared swiftly into the sky.
"Kuro, can you fly faster?" Zhang Yong urged softly.
'Father, I have another skill that might be useful,' Kuro asked with some hesitation.
"If you're confident, then use it," Zhang Yong confirmed.
Kuro paused in mid-air, spiritual energy swirling around her wings. She flapped once, and sharp blades of energy shot out, leaving cracks in the air itself.
Kuro's body became enveloped in spiritual energy, and she shot toward the rift like an arrow, breaking through as she pierced a hole in space itself.
"She tore open the void!" Su Ming gasped in shock as he watched the scene from within.
Everything turned black, white, and gray, shifting into nothing but black lines as Kuro flew with tremendous force.
Zhang Yong flipped his palm, revealing the Heaven Source Flask, and sparks began drifting from the tunnel walls into the container.
"I was right. This void passage contains great Law of Space , If I swallow the liquid formed from this, my comprehension of the Law of Space will advance," Zhang Yong said slowly as sparks continued to flow into the flask.
In truth, such a powerful ability as tearing the void was something only those who had reached King rank or above could use. For a void-type beast like Kuro, this was extremely rare. By this world's standards, Kuro was nearly equivalent to a fifth-grade beast.
Kuro continued her journey through the void at incredible speed, until signs of exhaustion began appearing on her. This was due to her shallow cultivation foundation, as well as the fact this was perhaps her first time using the skill. Carrying two humans at once forced her to spread her energy to protect them while maintaining her speed.
'Father… I can't keep up this speed for long…' her tired voice trembled.
Zhang Yong nodded.
"Alright, you can rest for a while."
Immediately, Kuro flapped her wings, pierced the void again, and returned to reality. Everything went back to normal.
Zhang Yong calmly put the flask back into his soul.
Kuro landed quietly, and the two dismounted, spotting a nearby city. Judging by the time, only a single day had passed.
"Alright Kuro, take some rest," Zhang Yong said, extending his hand to return her to the void.
'Wait, Father!' Kuro stopped him quickly.
She leapt into the air, and her body shrank until she was the size of a normal bird. Perching on Zhang Yong's shoulder, she chirped:
'This is better.'
Zhang Yong was stunned.
"Hah? You can change size now? Just how many surprises are you hiding?"
Kuro laughed foolishly.
'Hehe, nothing else! But this way I can accompany you more easily,' she rubbed her head happily against Zhang Yong's neck.
Su Ming was also a little surprised at the sight.
"Your spirit beast is full of surprises. But this ability shouldn't be revealed to anyone. If the world knew, she would definitely be hunted. Perhaps even someone at King rank wouldn't hesitate to take her."
Zhang Yong sneered.
"You say it as if King rank is something trivial."
Su Ming pointed upward.
"Actually, it's said that recently there was a conflict between the current Emperor and another one of the Emperors. Perhaps you don't know, but on the entire continent, there are twenty-one Kings and nine Emperors. Most remain in seclusion and rarely appear—only at special occasions."
Zhang Yong turned toward the nearby city.
"Yeah, and luckily for us, we don't know where they are. I don't want trouble with them right now. So, where exactly are we?"
Su Ming shaded his eyes with his hand, gazing at the distant city.
"That's Crescent City in the Province of Light. We're just one province away from Black Heart Province. On foot, the distance will take about three days. Even if we delay, we'll still arrive early. Let's start running."
Zhang Yong grabbed Su Ming's shoulder.
"Why the rush? I have something I need to do anyway. Since we're here, let's take a look."
He placed his hand over his face, and a black mask without expressions—without even eye slits—appeared. Yet from the inside, it allowed clear sight and felt comfortable to wear. He then produced another mask that only covered half the face, leaving the eyes, nose, and mouth visible, and handed it to Su Ming.
"Wear this."
Su Ming put on the mask silently, watching to see what Zhang Yong would do.
The two walked into the city, filled with vendors, stalls, and shops stretching down the streets.
The ground was paved with solid white cement stones, and people bustled about.
Zhang Yong stopped before a shop.
"Lang Wu Store…" he muttered, stepping inside.
It was a herb store.
"Young sirs, please come in," a young girl greeted at the entrance.
Although both wore masks, they still bore the robes of the Alchemy Association. Anyone who saw them would treat them with respect. After all, as fourth-grade alchemists, how awe-inspiring was that?
The two walked quietly to the counter, where an elderly man with a plump belly pressed against the desk greeted them.
"May I ask what the young sirs desire?" he clasped his hands politely.
"I came to sell," Zhang Yong replied calmly, placing three herbs on the table.
The man frowned as he examined them, then his eyes widened.
"These are third-grade herbs, Spirit Breeze Grass! For these three, the total will be 3,600 spirit stones."
The price was fair enough. First-grade herbs sold between ten to a hundred spirit stones, second-grade from a hundred to seven hundred fifty, and third-grade from that up to fifteen hundred—though rarity could heavily affect the value.
Zhang Yong smiled behind his mask and, with a wave of his hand, produced ten more Spirit Breeze Grasses.
The old man smiled knowingly.
"It seems the young sir has treasures he intends to sell." He understood why Zhang Yong had concealed his face. Anyone walking into a store with rare third-grade herbs clearly intended to sell many more. To protect themselves, such caution was natural.
"Good, you understand," Zhang Yong said as he placed an entire bundle of herbs on the table.
The old man smiled gently.
"Please, rest for a moment while the calculations are made."
He gestured to the girl at the door, who immediately led them into a refined room furnished with tables, chairs, carvings, and paintings on the walls.
She brought tea and set it on the table while Zhang Yong and Su Ming took their seats.
Zhang Yong sipped quietly, waiting.
"I didn't think you planned to sell herbs here," Su Ming asked curiously.
"These were just herbs I brought to sell. Doing it away from our province is safer," Zhang Yong explained calmly.
After some time, the old man returned, presenting a spatial ring with a respectful bow.
"The total came to 39,000 spirit stones."
Zhang Yong took the ring, inspected its contents swiftly, then nodded.
"Good." He rose, signaling Su Ming to leave.
The old man smiled humbly.
"If you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to return to Lang Wu Store."
Zhang Yong gave a slight nod and left with Su Ming.
Once they were farther away, Su Ming couldn't hide his amazement.
"Hah, selling herbs is so profitable. Why didn't we just do this before instead of building a shop and struggling?"
Kuro pecked Su Ming's head sharply, making him grab it in pain.
"Ouch! Hey, Yong, control your beast!"
Zhang Yong chuckled, tapping Su Ming's head lightly.
"Of course we can sell herbs, but pills are worth much more. And I didn't bring that many herbs."
Unexpectedly, the Yin-Yang Lake he had possessed had been extremely effective, though slightly incomplete—about eight-tenths of the original. But that was to be expected. Unlike natural lakes, this was an artificial one, so the results could never be the same.
And the other reason was simply producing too much herbs will caught a lot of eyes around them
The two left the city and began running. Since the distance was close, there was no need to ride Kuro
After three days of running, they arrived at the city.
At the entrance of Black Heart City, horses and spirit beasts pulling carriages crowded the gates.
The two entered quietly, and the air was filled with respectful gazes toward them—simply because of their alchemist robes.
Zhang Yong laughed inwardly.
'It's wonderful to have backing. I guess I understand the feeling of those so-called young masters.'
They walked further in, marveling at the grand shops lining the streets.
Black Heart City was famous for its auctions, and its greatest commercial hall was the Pride Auction itself—a name personally bestowed by the Emperor.
Thus, no one dared use force or try to pressure it. Doing so would be like insulting the Emperor himself.
From what Su Ming had told Zhang Yong, in the past, there had originally been three empires. The current Emperor seized the throne through eliminating his brothers, sitting upon a blood-soaked throne and ruling with an iron fist.
He then conquered the other two empires and merged them into his own kingdom, giving rise to the Tian Xuan Empire.
After some thought, Zhang Yong found it reasonable that such a place could indeed possess a treasure as rare as the Buddhist Heart Herb. There were even rumors that humans themselves could be auctioned off here as slaves.
However, there were still two days before the auction.
The two booked an inn to rest. Each sat on his own bed, with Su Ming beginning his cultivation.
Zhang Yong sat cross-legged, looking at his palm where the Heaven Controlling Flask appeared.
His expression turned uneasy.
"From the restrictions placed on it, if someone with shallow cultivation drinks it, they'll explode. Normally, it gathers the Law of Time. But since I absorbed the Law of Space in the void passage, there's a chance it's not just the Law of Space. Even though my body is as tough as a high-grade mysterious weapon now, I fear I'll explode. But maybe relying on the luck I've accumulated so far, I can succeed. Hah, I'll just take one sip—it shouldn't hurt."
He lifted the flask and drank just a little. The moment the liquid slid down his throat, a burning sensation ignited, searing his esophagus.
At once, he spat blood as heat surged through his veins. His blood vessels bulged across his face, turning crimson.
Immediately, he activated the Great Sun Origin flames fire throughout his body.
This was one of this Origin Flame's abilities—the power to improve blood circulation. But the drawback was, if the blood circulated too fast, the body could explode. Zhang Yong desperately tried to comprehend the Law of Space.
"Space is nothing… no… it's something… it lives… unseen… how do you comprehend… what cannot be studied… aaahhh…" he stifled his screams, groaning in agony, unable to stop.
"What proves… the existence of space… is matter itself… but even though space exists everywhere, it cannot be felt. Therefore, you need matter to prove its existence. I am that matter. I am the vessel of space."
Su Ming was horrified at Zhang Yong's dreadful condition. He leapt from his meditation and rushed over.
"What did you do?!" he shouted, seeing Zhang Yong drenched in sweat, eyes clenched shut.
But when he placed a hand on his shoulder, a prickling sensation burned his palm, forcing him to pull back.
"He's too hot… how can he have spiritual energy when his dantian is broken?" His eyes widened. "Could it be… he consumed something infused with Law power?"
With a cracking sound, an aura burst from Zhang Yong's body, pushing Su Ming back slightly. The aura darkened, turning into a gloomy violet.
It brought a chilling sensation down Su Ming's spine. That was the demonic flame.
Then, the flames gradually subsided. Zhang Yong didn't wake up—he remained seated cross-legged on the bed.
"He's comprehending the Law… solidifying his foundation," Su Ming realized instantly, letting out a relieved sigh. "I hope he doesn't take too long. Knowing Zhang Yong, he should be done by morning. No need to worry now. I'll return to my training."
Su Ming climbed back onto his bed and resumed his cultivation once again.