"I have True Essence Pills and Three Yellow Plums! Exchange them for your Seven Apertures Meridian Fruit and Dragon Bone Flower!" No matter if they’re useful or not, let’s exchange them first. "Two Three Yellow Plums and two True Essence Pills for one Seven Apertures Meridian Pill and one Dragon Bone Fruit!" Chai Wuji said. "You’re robbing me!" Yang Zhenshan exclaimed. Exchanging two for one was a favor he extended to Snow Spirit Palace for Granny Xue and Xue Qiaoer’s sake. But for the Martial God Temple, he didn’t owe any favors, so he wouldn’t grant a discount. "If you make the exchange, past grudges will be written off! If not, we’ll settle everything when we get a chance in the future!" Chai Wuji said. Yang Zhenshan was left speechless. Indeed, when you’re out in the world, you must eventually repay your debts. Back then, he only got one Light Spirit Fruit, but now he needed to give away two Spirit Fruits. "Fine, fine, I’ll make the exchange. Just make sure, past grudges are cleared!" Yang Zhenshan said. No matter how the exchange was made, he wasn’t losing out, because with just one fruit, he could grow countless fruit trees in a few years. Chai Wuji only wanted the fruit, while he needed the seeds. Although Chai Wuji would profit, Yang Zhenshan would certainly profit more. "Go get the Spirit Fruit!" Yang Zhenshan said. Chai Wuji was a little surprised; he didn’t expect Yang Zhenshan to agree so readily, thinking he would haggle for a bit! But since Yang Zhenshan was willing to exchange, he didn’t say any more. He wasn’t worried about Yang Zhenshan playing any tricks, since this was the Martial God Temple after all. After two more quarters of an hour, Chai Wuji returned with two Spirit Fruits. The Seven Apertures Meridian Fruit looked similar to a pineapple, but much smaller, only the size of a fist. As for the Dragon Bone Fruit, dang, isn’t that a pitaya? Yang Zhenshan looked at the two Spirit Fruits, feeling a bit out of tune. He took out the True Essence Pills and Three Yellow Plums, "Alright, the transaction is complete. Don’t come looking for trouble with me in the future!" "I have always acted fairly; today I gained an advantage, so past grudges are cleared!" Chai Wuji said seriously after inspecting the Three Yellow Plums and True Essence Pills. Yang Zhenshan looked at him, "Brother Chai, I didn’t expect you to look so fierce but be quite decent in character!" Chai Wuji had a large hooked nose, giving his face a slightly sinister look, but his actions seemed open and honest, without any signs of treachery. Chai Wuji glanced at Yang Zhenshan, "I am renowned across Jialuo’s lands for being true to my word!" Renowned across Jialuo’s nations? "I didn’t expect Brother Chai to be a famous person; my respects!" Yang Zhenshan cupped his hands. "Take care!" Chai Wuji didn’t want to continue dealing with Yang Zhenshan, so he directly bid him farewell. Yang Zhenshan suddenly felt that this old fellow was a bit cold-hearted. The transaction had just ended, and he was already sending him off, without even a meal, truly heartless! Since the other person was seeing him off, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t just stay. Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi walked away together. After they left the small courtyard in front of the city gate, Yu Qingyi said in surprise, "I thought there would be a fight, I didn’t expect Chai Wuji would really let us go!" Yang Zhenshan’s lips curled slightly, "That’s because they dare not resort to force with us?" "Because you’re too strong?" Yu Qingyi asked in confusion. "No, because they have another major enemy!" Yang Zhenshan said. "Da Yue!" Yu Qingyi suddenly realized. Although Chai Wuji seemed calm just now, Yang Zhenshan noticed he was actually very tense, maintaining a great deal of vigilance towards them. Chai Wuji might be upright, but he certainly wasn’t righteous to the point of laughing off past enmities. The grievances between the two sides are neither too large nor too small. Chai Wuji was able to let them go so easily because the Martial God Temple now needed to face the great enemy, Da Yue. Although the sides hadn’t reached a point where they couldn’t coexist, the Martial God Temple absolutely didn’t want to spark trouble at this moment. So for the unwelcome guests Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi, their only thought was to quickly send them away. "Forget it, let’s go, it’s better not to get involved in the conflict between Da Yue and the Martial God Temple!" The Martial God Temple didn’t want additional trouble, and Yang Zhenshan also didn’t want to provoke a strong enemy. Moreover, he had already harvested Spirit Seeds and Spirit Fruits this time, which was quite a rich gain. "Should we go to Da Yue? Maybe Da Yue can also trade Spirit Fruits with me!" Yu Qingyi said. Yang Zhenshan shook his head, "It’s better to stay low-key. We’ve already taken out two True Essence Pills and two Three Yellow Plums from the Martial God Temple. If we go to Da Yue to take out more Spirit Fruits, it could cause trouble if word gets out!" Although he was no longer too concerned about exposing the Spiritual Spring Space, he couldn’t be too flamboyant either. Keeping a low profile is no harm. Waiting two or three more years before going to Da Yue or other forces to exchange Spirit Fruits isn’t too late. "Let’s find a place to refine pills first. I’ve almost finished studying the recipe for the Soul-attaching Pill, and I can attempt to refine it now!" Yang Zhenshan said. "Alright!" Yu Qingyi had no objection. So, the two once again delved into the deep mountains, hiding inside the Spiritual Spring Space to refine the Soul-attaching Pill. The necessary Spirit Fruits and Treasure Medicine for the Soul-attaching Pill were all available in the space, but apart from the ones planted, there were only about fifty Cloud Berry Fruits and Cold Pine Fruits left. According to the recipe, these fifty Cloud Berry Fruits and Cold Pine Fruits should be able to refine the Soul-attaching Pill five times. Whether it would succeed depended on Yang Zhenshan’s alchemy skills. The higher the grade of the elixir, the more complex the refining process, and the Soul-attaching Pill was undoubtedly the most advanced elixir among the recipes Yang Zhenshan had. Yang Zhenshan didn’t rush to refine the Soul-attaching Pill, but first refined the Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill and the Bone Strengthening Pill to practice. The Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill needed no explanation, while the Bone Strengthening Pill, made with the Light Spirit Fruit as the principal ingredient and supplemented with seven kinds of Treasure Medicine, had the effects of expanding meridians and nourishing meridian injuries. It was very useful for martial artists in the Half-step Innate and Innate Realm. There was no sense of time passing in the mountains. To the couple tucked away in the space, life was never dull; refining pills and cultivating while tending to the flora and fauna in the space. Thus, the second year of Jianxing quietly passed by. They lived in peace, but the people of Da Rong were in dire straits. In the first year of Jianxing, severe drought struck Longyuan, Longxi, and Longnan, and bandits arose everywhere. By the second year of Jianxing, the drought continued, and the more the bandits were suppressed, the more they appeared. At the beginning of the third year of Jianxing, the officials at the court finally realized the severity of the bandit issue and began to mobilize forces from the border towns to surround and suppress the bandits. Large armies were assembled from Beiyuan Town, Longbei Town, and Suzhou Town. At the beginning of March. Zhou Lan led twenty thousand troops from the Camp out of Linyuan City, heading south into Longyuan, reaching Longyang Prefecture. The great army arrived outside Longyang City, and Zhou Lan, holding a telescope, gazed at the bandit army gathering outside the prefecture city, her brows twisting into a knot. What bandit army? They were just a group of starving peasants. Chapters fırst released on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝 There might be bandits inside the city, but those raggedly dressed people gathered outside were nothing but a group of hungry refugees. "General, the scouts report that there are large numbers of refugees outside Heshui County, Ning County, and Xiangle County in the south!" Song Hao, clad in armor, reported in front of Zhou Lan. Meanwhile, Wang Yunqiao stood beside Zhou Lan, looking at her husband. Song Hao gave her a clumsy smile. Wang Yunqiao couldn’t help but roll her eyes, not bothering with this fool. Wang Yunqiao was still the personal guard commander for Zhou Lan, while Song Hao had become the Guerrilla General of the Middle Camp in Beiyuan Town. "These bandits want us to first attack the refugees outside the city!" Zhou Lan said. Wang Yunqiao asked, "Can we drive away the refugees?" Zhou Lan gently shook her head, "No, if we drive these refugees away, they’ll only have one path, death. By staying outside Longyang City, they stand a chance to survive!" The bandits’ tactic was obvious: to tie a large number of refugees to themselves. There was food inside the city, none outside. If the refugees wanted to eat, they had to gather outside the city. If the refugees left Longyang City, they wouldn’t find any food within hundreds of miles. But if Zhou Lan wanted to attack the city, she would first have to disperse the refugees outside the city.