At that moment, the attendant that greeted Yi Yun returned. Following him was another thin and tiny middle-aged alchemist dressed in black and white. He had a sullen expression.

“Sir, I have already inquired for you. Our store has three of the herbs you are looking for: Ghee Fragrance, Snakethroat Grass, and Dragon Bloodworm,” said the attendant.

Yi Yun was delighted. He never expected to be able to buy that many rare herbs at one go. He was pleasantly surprised that he could find three strains on sale.

“How much Spirit Jade for these three strains of herbs?” asked Yi Yun.

The attendant smiled and said, “Sir, our Heaven Refinement Pavilion seldom sells its herbs to external parties. Furthermore, our selling price is relatively higher than most.”

“How much is it exactly?” asked Yi Yun calmly. In fact, he was already prepared to pay more Spirit Jade when he came to the Martial Numinous clan. The person had only said those things to admonish him.

“It appears you have just come to Martial City. You do not have any labels of other Martial Numinous clan stores either. A warrior such as yourself can cooperate with the Martial Numinous clan. Our Martial Numinous clan recruits all the best elites in the world, so you can choose to sign a contract with us and work for our Heaven Refinement Pavilion. Then, you will be able to purchase herbs at a discount. Furthermore, by working with us, you do not need to leave the sect you hail from,” said the alchemist with a smile.

He stretched out his hand and beckoned as a contract appeared out of thin air in front of Yi Yun.

Yi Yun’s expression immediately turned cold after he swept his glance over it.

There were way too many restrictions in the contract.

He already knew that the Martial Numinous clan would be extremely stringent towards outsiders. But he never imagined that they would try to directly recruit him as a servant of the Martial Numinous clan.

He had likely noticed that Yi Yun had pretty good strength for a mortal-born and had thoughts of recruiting him.

The alchemist was a member of the Martial Numinous clan and, although he treated Yi Yun politely on the surface, he was actually very arrogant deep down.

When the attendant mentioned that they seldom sold their herbs to external parties, what he meant was that they seldom sold their herbs to mortal-born.

“I have no interest in working for you. For the sake of your business, there is no reason to reject any sales and purchases that come your way. I’m only here to buy herbs.” Yi Yun directly rejected the contract.

“In truth I was being considerate of you because it’s impossible for you to afford it.” The alchemist frowned when he was so immediately rejected. He had been rather cordial but he never expected Yi Yun to reject his his kind intentions.

How dare a mortal-born say he was uninterested when the Heaven Refinement Pavilion had taken the initiative to recruit him…

He did not know what pill Yi Yun was planning to refine with the selected herbs. However, one of the items—the Dragon Bloodworm—could be used to refine pills that aided breakthroughs. It was for this reason that the alchemist was interested in recruiting Yi Yun.

Having a first-storey Dao Palace on the brink of a breakthrough was quite a good cultivation level. Unfortunately, he wasn’t smart. He did not know that without the backing of the Martial Numinous clan, it was very difficult to survive in Martial City.

Most mortal-born that came to Martial City would be all too eager to sign a contract with the Martial Numinous clan and work for it.

“You can buy them directly too. Two Godly Monarch Immortal Annuli and these three herbs are yours.” The alchemist scoffed as he said this with a teasing tone.

Yi Yun’s expression sank immediately.

They might as well rob him if they were going to price the herbs with Godly Monarch Immortal Annuli.

Those items were at most worth about forty to fifty million mid-grade Spirit Jade, not even half a Godly Monarch Immortal Annulus!

Furthermore, Yi Yun had searched Li Yunfeng’s soul. He knew that the Martial Numinous clan had purchased these herbs at a much lower price.

Just because he was mortal-born, the Martial Numinous clan’s alchemists would demand an exorbitant price. The alchemist did not believe that Yi Yun could produce two Godly Monarch Immortal Annuli. He had named that price because he was unhappy with Yi Yun’s rejection of his offer. He believed that Yi Yun could still change his mind and sign the contract.

Yi Yun’s gaze turned heavy. Were it not for him being in Martial Numinous Palace, he would have really considered robbing them of their herbs.

It was impossible for him to buy the herbs with two Godly Monarch Immortal Annuli. However, it was also impossible for him to sign a contract to work for them.

At that moment, the silence was cut by a sudden loud dispute, interrupting whatever was happening on Yi Yun’s side.

“I already said it’s worth five points!” By the corner, a low-grade alchemist said angrily.

And in front of him, a thin and frail girl said anxiously, “How can it be that little? Alchemist Wang, take a good look again. This Firemoney Grass has three hundred years to it. I went to great effort to snatch it from the mouth of the herb’s companion, the Firemoney Beast. I nearly lost my life…”

As she said that, the girl’s eyes welled up in tears.

“Heh heh, it is true that this Firemoney Grass is three hundred years old but you did not seal the spirit energy within before slowly plucking it whole. This caused its roots to be damaged and made it lose a lot of its energy. It was also not well preserved, so now it’s almost a useless herb,” said Alchemist Wang slowly.

“But…” The petite girl hung her head low as she pinched her fingers. With her cultivation level, it was already life-threatening just to pluck the Firemoney Grass. How was it possible for her to do all of that extra stuff?

Yi Yun glanced at the Firemoney Grass and noticed that it was indeed damaged. However, it was an exaggeration to call it useless. He gained a rough idea of how the Martial Numinous clan’s points worked when he searched Li Yunfeng’s soul.

Five points was equivalent to about five hundred Spirit Jade. It was lower than the price of Firemoney Grass.

“No buts! Hmph! Based on this count, the amount of herbs you have submitted today does not meet the requirements. As punishment, you will have two points deducted! Don’t forget, you are contracted to the Martial Numinous clan as a female servant. You currently have no qualifications to serve others. It’s already fortunate for you that you haven’t been forced to do sordid acts. Instead, all we ask is that you come to our Heaven Refinement Pavilion daily and deliver enough herbs!” said Alchemist Wang impatiently.

“Ah?” The petite girl looked up suddenly and widened her eyes. “Alchemist Wang, how can you do that… You even deducted two of my points. How am I to survive…”

As she said this, tears began dripping down her face.

At that moment, the watching Yi Yun’s eyes lit up.

The petite girl looked familiar but he did not believe that he had seen the girl before. He scoured through his memories and found a familiar face from Li Yunfeng’s memories.

“She is… the personal attendant of Wang Mu’s wife, Xiaoqing.”

Back when Yi Yun searched Li Yunfeng’s soul, he was informed of the internal structure of the Martial Numinous clan as well as the situation regarding Wang Mu and his wife. With that, he had identified the petite girl.

As the personal attendant of Wang Mu’s wife, why was Xiaoqing here? Furthermore, why was she now a herb-picking servant for the Heaven Refinement Pavilion?