The Dao Cultivation world is full of schemes and deception.
There are many treacherous and cunning individuals who set up similar traps to deceive unsuspecting newcomers.
His current Realm is still shallow, and the other party's true intentions are unknown.
There's no reason to take such a risk for this.
His answer silenced both the Young Lady and the man.
After a long while, the Young Lady finally said urgently, "My father is Gu Zhengyang, the head of Qingdi City's foremost alchemy family. If you save me, my father will surely thank you profusely."
Zhou Qingyu acted as if he hadn't heard, quickening his steps to leave.
The Young Lady grew anxious, mistakenly thinking Zhou Qingyu didn't believe her, and said, "I, I also collected quite a few herbs. If you save me, I'll give all of these to you!"
Oh?
Zhou Qingyu finally stopped.
It sounded like the Young Lady wasn't trying to deceive him.
There were indeed many herbs in this mountain, with signs of having been picked.
He turned back and followed the path to a gully.
There, he saw a beautiful Young Lady in a pink dress being pinned down by a richly dressed youth.
Her blouse was torn open, revealing a large expanse of dazzling white skin.
Tears trembled on her long eyelashes.
Her exquisite face, filled with fear, showed a joyous expression of finding hope in a desperate situation when she saw Zhou Qingyu.
"Young Master, save me!"
Zhou Qingyu shifted his gaze to the richly dressed youth, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and said calmly, "Aren't you going to scram?"
The richly dressed youth was eight feet tall, his bare upper body muscled and powerful, and his hawk-like eyes glared coldly at Zhou Qingyu: "Don't meddle! Otherwise, you'll die!"
As he spoke, he exuded the Cultivation of a third-level Qi Condensation Realm.
Zhou Qingyu's eyes narrowed slightly, sweeping around, and he noticed the Young Lady's herb basket.
It contained quite a few Moon-Gazing Grasses.
He looked back at the richly dressed youth, a hint of a smile appearing: "I've decided to meddle!"
"Hmph! Seeking death!"
His good deed interrupted, the richly dressed youth leaped out of the gully in a rage, clenching his right fist, Spiritual Qi overflowing between his fingers.
"Seven-Inch Punch!"
The Young Lady exclaimed, "Young Master, be careful! This is the Zheng Family's Yellow-grade Mid-tier Martial Skill, and its power is immense..."
Before she finished speaking, the punch came straight at him.
Zhou Qingyu casually shifted his feet, and the punch grazed his arm, striking a pine tree as thick as a person.
Amidst a series of crackling sounds, the pine tree was instantly shattered.
If it had hit a person, it would surely have been fatal.
Seeing the opponent's malicious attack, Zhou Qingyu's eyes also grew cold. Taking advantage of the opponent's spent strength, he circulated his Spiritual Qi and swept out with his leg.
This kick was at a tricky angle and perfectly timed.
The richly dressed youth was slightly startled and quickly crossed his arms to block his chest.
Clang—
With a muffled thud, the richly dressed youth was sent stumbling back several steps, almost falling into the gully, his arms throbbing with searing pain.
"Third-level Qi Condensation?" The richly dressed youth looked at Zhou Qingyu in surprise.
At the same Realm, it wouldn't be easy to kill the other party.
His good deed today might not be completed.
"You dare to meddle in the Zheng Family's affairs! Good, I'll remember you!" The richly dressed youth reluctantly stared at the Young Lady he had almost gotten his hands on, then left with hatred.
Zhou Qingyu didn't bother to pursue him.
He calmly jumped into the gully and walked towards the Young Lady.
The Young Lady mistakenly thought Zhou Qingyu was coming to pull her up, so she quickly clutched her torn clothing over her chest and extended one hand.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qingyu walked right past her and went to the herb basket, immediately starting to pick and choose.
"This Moon-Gazing Grass looks pretty good."
"Oh? There are also auxiliary herbs, complete."
"Why did you pick Poisonous Yin Grass too? This can kill people."
"And why is the Rootless Fruit placed in ironware? It will lose its medicinal properties!"
"Why are these several herbs all placed together? Mixing them will create a potent poison."
"Sigh, what kind of herbs did you pick? More than half the basket is ruined."
...
The Young Lady's forehead twitched with veins. For some reason, she had an urge to hit someone.
A very strong urge!
She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
Biting her teeth, she said, "I'm sorry, these were all picked by me. I've disappointed you."
"I, Gu Changyue, apologize to you, alright?"
Zhou Qingyu pouted.
He kindly pointed it out, and she wasn't grateful.
He picked out a few unpolluted Moon-Gazing Grasses and auxiliary ingredients and said, "As per our agreement, I'll take these."
With that, he stood up to leave.
Gu Changyue was stunned: "You're just leaving like that? What if Zheng Duo comes back?"
"Then you can call for someone else to save you again," Zhou Qingyu said expressionlessly.
Gu Changyue was instantly speechless but couldn't retort.
Because what he said seemed to make a lot of sense!
Never mind, I won't bother arguing with him.
Gu Changyue snorted inwardly, then pointed to her right leg: "My leg is injured. Can you protect me for a while? Once my leg is better, I'll definitely thank you profusely after we go down the mountain."
Zhou Qingyu then noticed that Gu Changyue's right ankle was swollen, likely injured while resisting Zheng Duo.
He frowned slightly.
However, he thought that Yinxi and he both needed to Cultivate and improve their strength, which required more herbs.
Zhou Qingyu spoke, "I can protect you, but I'll need double the herbs!"
As he spoke, he sat down, took out the Moon-Gazing Grass and auxiliary ingredients, and began to concoct Yuánqì Liquid.
Gu Changyue, meanwhile, pulled out a medicine bottle, poured out some powder to apply to her ankle, skillfully bandaged the wound, and then began to observe Zhou Qingyu.
"What's your name?"
"Are you from Qingdi City? I don't seem to have seen you before."
"Thank you for earlier. If it weren't for you, I would have been defiled."
"Can't you say something?"
"This is very rude, you know!"
"You're really very rude, you know!"
"I'm getting angry!"
"I'm really getting angry!"
Watching Zhou Qingyu, who didn't even lift his head and was still diligently fiddling with the herbs, Gu Changyue sighed.
Never mind.
It's exhausting talking to a mute.
At this moment, Zhou Qingyu, who had already washed the herbs, placed them in a groove in a stone.
Then he used his Soul power to force out the Impurities, little by little.
The slightly yellowish Moon-Gazing Grass gradually seeped layers of gray mist from its leaf surfaces, which drifted away with the wind.
When fully processed, the Moon-Gazing Grass became translucent, like ice sculptures.
This left Gu Changyue's eyes in a daze.
"What is he doing?"
Soon, she puffed up with anger again.
Because Zhou Qingyu completely ignored her, focusing solely on refining each herb.
As dusk approached, he finally finished refining.
Then, following a specific order, he successively crushed the Moon-Gazing Grass and numerous auxiliary ingredients, allowing their juices to mix.
He then ignited a flame with Spiritual Qi and began to roast them on the spot.
Wisps of steam rose curling.
"Do you have any small jade bottles? Give me ten, and I'll give you one bottle of medicine later," Zhou Qingyu said immediately.
Gu Changyue gave him a sidelong glance: "I thought you were mute!"
Muttering to herself, she still pulled out ten small jade bottles: "Here, take them. They're not worth much, no need to give me medicine in return."
"Our Gu Family is Qingdi City's foremost alchemy family. What kind of medicine don't we have? Why would we care about yours?"
"However, these herbs you're using are specifically for refining Yuánqì Liquid. Are you also refining Yuánqì Liquid?"
Zhou Qingyu said nothing more.
He took the small jade bottles and absorbed every wisp of steam into them.
The steam, encountering the cold jade bottle walls, formed droplets.
As the droplets accumulated, the small jade bottles were soon filled with transparent liquid.
He repeated the process and successfully produced ten bottles before nightfall.
The more Gu Changyue watched, the more she felt something was wrong.
"No, the Yuánqì Liquid my father refines is pale yellow. Why did you refine yours into a transparent color?"
"It's over! You've wasted all the herbs!"
"If my father knew you wasted herbs like this, he'd surely spit you to death."