In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun coated Lesser Peak in a warm golden layer.
When Yue Qingqian, riding her flying sword and carrying a large bundle of "Seven Star Iron Vines"—a rare material that would be enough to cause small-scale conflicts in the outside world—landed in the courtyard, she felt like a general returning in triumph after winning a great battle. Her cheeks were slightly flushed with excitement, and her eyes sparkled with the brilliant light of having completed a difficult mission.
Lin Fan was sitting in his exclusive rocking chair, seemingly leisurely sipping his tea, but the finger of the hand resting on the armrest, tapping lightly every now and then, betrayed the slight unrest in his heart.
"Senior Brother!" Yue Qingqian's voice was filled with suppressed joy. She presented the large bundle of Seven Star Iron Vines in her arms and placed it solemnly on the stone table in front of Lin Fan, as if presenting a treasure. "I succeeded! The mission... the mission is complete!"
Lin Fan's gaze was instantly drawn to the bundle of spiritual vines that emitted a faint aura of metal.
He shot up from his rocking chair, his eyes glowing even brighter than Yue Qingqian's. He practically dashed to the stone table, carefully picked up a Seven Star Iron Vine, and gently stroked its body with his fingers. His expression was not like he was looking at a medicinal herb, but more like he was caressing a long-lost peerless treasure.
He completely ignored his junior sister's pleading eyes for praise, his entire being immersed in the inspection of this batch of "strategic supplies."
"Mm... of considerable age, at least over a hundred years old," he murmured to himself as he inspected, his tone full of satisfaction. "The vine is tough, and the star-guiding power within is pure and abundant... Excellent, excellent! With these, the foundation of the 'Lesser Heavenly Cycle Star-Guiding Magnetic Array' is stable! With the addition of Magnetic Spirit Ore, our Lesser Peak's anti-surveillance and anti-divination capabilities can be increased by at least thirty percent! At that time, even if the Sect Master himself performs a divination, he will only get a jumble of garbled code!"
Only after carefully inspecting every single iron vine and confirming there were no problems did Lin Fan satisfyingly put them all into his storage pouch. Then, he finally turned his attention back to the greatest hero of this operation, who was still waiting eagerly by the side.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat, resuming his profound senior brother persona. "How did it go? Recount all the details, word for word."
"Yes!" Yue Qingqian immediately straightened her back, like a soldier reporting the battle situation to the supreme commander.
She recounted her experience at Hundred Herbs Peak in great detail. From how she had perfectly played a "plant idiot," to how she had precisely displayed the huge contrast between a "fire control genius" and an "alchemy dunce," to Elder Liu's series of brilliant self-convincing "rationalizations," and finally, how she had "unintentionally" proposed the ancient theory about the Seven Star Iron Vine and successfully "tricked" this precious batch of materials from Elder Liu.
She spoke vividly, her tone full of pride in her acting skills and infinite admiration for her senior brother's divine-like planning.
Lin Fan listened, nodding slowly, the look of satisfaction on his face growing stronger and stronger. He was like the most critical director, watching his star student hand in a nearly perfect answer sheet.
After Yue Qingqian finished speaking, Lin Fan gave her the highest praise he had ever given.
"Junior Sister," he praised sincerely, "your performance was perfect! Flawless! Your control of the entire conversational rhythm, your deep understanding of the character's personality, and your freely retractable expressions and body language... it was simply natural! I, your senior brother, declare that you have been officially promoted from an actor to a 'performance artist'!"
He said solemnly, "You must remember, the success this time is not just about us getting the materials. More importantly, you have successfully and firmly established your harmless persona of a 'talented but eccentric' individual in Elder Liu's heart! This is of crucial, milestone significance to our subsequent 'Shearing the Sheep' grand plan!"
Receiving such high affirmation from her senior brother, Yue Qingqian's small face beamed with happiness, feeling even happier than if she had broken through to a new major realm.
However, after the praise, Lin Fan's expression became serious again.
"The first victory is just the beginning. We absolutely cannot be complacent, because the next mission will be even more arduous."
He once again spread out the beast-hide scroll covered with the "procurement list" and pointed to two other names on it—"Thousand Illusions Orchid" and "Void Nether Flower."
"These two items are more than ten times more precious than the Seven Star Iron Vine. They are the core materials for refining high-grade illusion-type and spatial-type pills. Ordinary disciples have no access to them at all. They must be stored in the most heavily guarded special medicine storehouse of Hundred Herbs Peak. To ask for them directly is almost impossible."
Yue Qingqian's expression also became solemn. She knew the challenge had leveled up.
"Therefore," a wise light flashed in Lin Fan's eyes, "we need to change our strategy. Asking directly won't work, so we can only create an opportunity that will allow us to 'legally' come into contact with them."
He assigned Yue Qingqian a second task.
"Junior Sister, your next mission to Hundred Herbs Peak is no longer to ask for medicinal herbs. Instead... you must find a way to enter the Scripture Pavilion of Hundred Herbs Peak!"
"According to your 'persona,' you are a specialized genius who can't remember alchemy formulas. So, using this as a reason, request permission from Elder Liu to enter the Scripture Pavilion to 'browse through the collection of books,' hoping to find some 'ideographic alchemy method' from the ancient classics that is suitable for your 'special constitution' and doesn't require rote memorization. This reason is logical and reasonable; it will be hard for him to refuse."
"As long as we can get in, we will obtain a wealth that is countless times more precious than the materials themselves—knowledge!"
To help Yue Qingqian better complete this infiltration mission, Lin Fan decided to upgrade her equipment again.
From his storage pouch, he took out a seemingly ordinary peace buckle carved from common green jade and handed it to Yue Qingqian.
"This is a newly improved 'Breath-Concealing Jade.' Wear it close to your body. It will better help you hide the uncontrollable sharp aura of your 'Innate Sword Heart,' making your 'weak woman' image appear more authentic and believable."
"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Yue Qingqian obediently took the jade pendant.
However, the moment her fingertips touched the jade pendant and a trace of her spiritual sense subconsciously probed into it, her entire body was struck as if by lightning, and she stood there, stunned!
In her perception, the interior of this seemingly ordinary jade pendant was not solid jade at all! Inside, there was a chaotic array composed of billions of runes smaller than dust, as profound and complex as the vast starry sky!
Just by perceiving a corner of that array, she felt as if her soul was about to be devoured by the ancient and majestic aura within it!
An almost negligible force seeped out from the jade pendant and gently covered her body. At that moment, she felt the proud "Innate Sword Heart" within her, which was always operating on its own, become as gentle and quiet as a candle flame gently held in a large hand. Not a single trace of its sharpness could leak out.
A storm more violent than any before raged in Yue Qingqian's heart!
She looked up in horror at her senior brother, who was calmly cleaning the teacups on the table.
To be able to casually create such a terrifying magical treasure that even a Nascent Soul old monster might not be able to see through, one that contained the supreme principles of the Great Dao...
Just how unfathomably deep had her senior brother's strength reached?!
She clenched the warm jade pendant in her hand, and there was no longer a single trace of doubt in her heart.
She knew that the next mission would be even more challenging. But with such an unfathomable senior brother as her most solid support, she felt that she was capable of anything!