Under the Devil Suppression Tree

In the hall, Yang Yi explained the purpose of his visit and handed over the teaching token.

Xu Menghua put his teacup aside and said in a serious voice, "You listened to my suggestion and accepted a mission, and I have already said that I will guide you in the cultivation of the Mountain-hugging Fist. There is no need for the token."

"I am afraid that I cannot shoulder this responsibility." Yang Yi bowed.

"What responsibility do you have?" Xu Menghua did not understand this.

"Since you have been in charge of the Mission Hall, you have never showed any favoritism or acts of cheating. The others say that you are upright and plainspoken, and that you have a clear distinction between public and private affairs. If I receive your instruction for nothing, wouldn't it ruin your reputation?"

Yang Yi pursed his lips and continued, "In the future, if a disciple imitates me and comes to ask for guidance after accepting a mission, will you agree to it?"

"Ha, I suspect that you are trying to flatter me, but you do have a point."

Xu Menghua laughed out loud, his eyes flickered as he said, "In the past, there were disciples who came to me with a teaching token. I knew their intentions. They were trying to get close to me under the pretext of having a lesson, so I sent them away. As time passed, fewer people came to me. You're not the first to come with a teaching token, but you're the first one to speak righteously."

"I just don't want others to think that I'm a opportunist," Yang Yi said righteously.

It was not difficult for the others to misunderstand the kind of person he was based on his current actions.

Xu Menghua looked deeply at Yang Yi.

"Alright, I'll accept this teaching token, but it's just for safekeeping. When you need it someday, you can get it back anytime." He pondered this for a moment and finally took it.

Yang Yi bowed again.

Xu Menghua had accepted the teaching token. As for whether he used it or not, it was none of his business.

Actually, Yang Yi's real goal was not to ask Xu Menghua for advice on the Mountain-hugging Fist, but the Crimson Afterglow Technique.

He was about to break through to the Bone Refining stage. If he had a nominal "master" to cover for him, it would make his breakthrough seem more justified.

There were disciples at Yang Yi's age who had reached the Strength Entry realm. He was only breaking through to the Bone Refining stage, so there was nothing to be surprised about, but it was still better to be cautious.

Moreover, Xu Menghua was a manager. Nobody would doubt his abilities because of his identity. Establishing a relationship with him would be nothing but beneficial to Yang Yi.

Yang Yi listened to Xu Menghua telling him about his experience of cultivating the Mountain-hugging Fist for half a day.

He had the system on his side, so there were no obstacles for him to achieve breakthroughs.

However, by listening to the experience of a senior, he would be able to better understand the essence of the martial art, and execute the moves more smoothly.

By the time he left Xu Menghua's residence, it was already afternoon.

Yang Yi was prepared to go to the training field to continue consolidating what he had learned today.

He was not the best in comprehending what he was taught. Xu Menghua had personally demonstrated a few key points to him, and he needed more time in actual combat practice to ponder over them.

When he passed by the Mission Hall, he noticed that many people were gathered there.

Jian Wenbin just happened to walk out from the Mission Hall.

Yang Yi wanted to greet him, but he noticed that there was something wrong with his expression.

Jian Wenbin came out, bowed to the other disciples and then left in a dejected state.

"Sigh, Senior Brother Shen Ge was such a good person. I can't believe that he's gone."

"I heard that he encountered a Spiral Force demonic beast."

"It's the same situation again. Can't the mission classification be done more rigorously?"

"The sect can't be blamed for this. Unexpected incidents are... unexpected."

"There have been a lot of unexpected incidents recently. On my last mission, I encountered a demonic beast that exceeded the stated standard as well. I almost died!"

"Be careful in the future. I'm afraid that something big will happen in the Sunset Mountains."

The disciples whispered amongst themselves. Although their voices were soft, they managed to reach Yang Yi's ears.

Before Yang Yi went out on a mission, he had met Shen Ge once. He did not expect that he would be gone in the few days after they met.

He continued toward the training field in a somewhat distracted manner.

For the entire afternoon, Yang Yi trained with the others on the training field.

When the sky darkened, his entire body was covered in abrasions and he was drenched in sweat.

When they parted ways, the Senior Brother who was sparring with him kindly reminded him, "Junior Brother Yang, you should go back early and have some rest. Someone has been taking advantage of the dark to attack other disciples lately."

"Okay," Yang Yi responded softly.

Before returning to the wooden hut, he went to the Spiritual Spring Mountain to soak for four hours.

Recently, his expenses were a little high, and his wealth was thinning at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, Yang Yi did not mind. Money was supposed to be spent. If he ran out of money, he could always write back home and have someone deliver more money to him.

Five days passed by in the blink of an eye.

Every other day, Yang Yi would bring a teaching token with him as he visited Xu Menghua, which made the manager's eyelids twitch.

A teaching token cost 1,000 taels. Even if his family was rich, Xu Menghua was of the opinion that he should not splurge in this manner unless his family was super rich!

On this day, Yang Yi left Xu Menghua's residence and did not go to the training field.

Instead, he turned around and went to the Harmony Court.

The time he had agreed upon with Zhuang Chenglu had arrived!

Yang Yi had not taken the initiative to request for feedback on his martial arts these past few days.

He had been waiting for this day.

The progress he made by cultivating on his own was not enough.

Would it not be wonderful if the Crimson Afterglow Technique also had a special event where it refined the dragon blood pill as well?

This was equivalent to having many pills. His resources would multiply!

Of course, it was completely dependent on one's luck to receive random feedback on related events from countless parallel planes.

However, as long as it could increase the probability, Yang Yi felt that it was necessary to give it a try.

"Senior Brother, I'm Yang Yi. I'm here to look for Senior Sister Zhuang Chenglu. We have an appointment."

Arriving at the entrance of the Harmony Court, Yang Yi bowed to a purple-clothed man who walked out of the court.

According to the rules, outer disciples were not allowed to enter the inner sect without permission.

"Oh, you're here for Junior Sister Zhuang? Since you have an appointment, go on in. She should be in the pill room." The senior disciple was easy to talk to.

Yang Yi bowed once more and entered.

"Sigh, another muddle-headed one..." The man shook his head regretfully.

Yang Yi walked into the Harmony Court.

The smell of medicine hung in the air.

Aside from their daily cultivation, the most common thing that the disciples of the Harmony Court did was cultivate pills.

"Senior Sister Zhuang, I'm Yang Yi. I'm here for the dragon blood pill."

When he arrived at the pill room, Yang Yi saw Zhuang Chenglu busying herself in front of the pill furnace.

The hot pill furnace illuminated her flushed cheeks.

A few strands of hair on her forehead were wet with sweat.

Yang Yi stood outside silently.

The greatest taboo in pill cultivation was to be disturbed during the process.

Suddenly, Zhuang Chenglu walked out in a hurry.

"Senior Sister Zhuang, my dragon blood pill..." Yang Yi began.

Before he could finish his words, Zhuang Chenglu spoke, "Quickly go to the medicinal field and pick these few spiritual herbs!"

She handed a piece of paper to Yang Yi, and before he could answer, she entered the pill room once again.

"Uh..." Yang Yi was baffled.

Could it be that she discovered that she was short of medicine halfway through the pill cultivation process? How careless could she be?

Even though he was somewhat unwilling, he endured it for the dragon blood pill.

On the way to the medicinal field, he passed by the cliff.

This was a remote place that was usually deserted.

However, at this moment, there were many female outer disciples gathered here for no reason, and they were blocking the way.

They were looking at the devil suppression tree nearby and were discussing among themselves. Soft giggles could occasionally be heard.

Yang Yi did not have the time to appreciate this scene, and he silently made his way through the crowd. His inconsiderate actions made the female disciples roll their eyes at him.