Chapter 386: Going to Hongshan

Zhu Zifeng was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with elation.

He knew this was his chance to stay by Qin Tuo’s side.

Besides, he’d been hoping for just such an opportunity to learn more from Qin Tuo.

So, Zhu Zifeng nodded and said with a smile,

"Of course, Mr. Qin. This is an opportunity I couldn’t have hoped for. Rest assured, as long as I draw breath, I won’t let anyone harm a single hair on Miss Chen’s head!"

Qin Tuo nodded, very satisfied with Zhu Zifeng’s declaration.

So, Sun Liyi took his people and returned to Medicine King Valley, while Zhu Zifeng remained in the Provincial City.

When Zhu Zifeng returned to the villa with Qin Tuo, Chen Man Ni was rather taken aback.

"Qin Tuo, why did you bring him back?"

Chen Man Ni’s face was filled with confusion, as was Ouyang Feifei’s.

They had both seen Zhu Zifeng target Qin Tuo during the Martial Artist Convention.

Besides, given Zhu Zifeng’s status, he was clearly no ordinary person.

Qin Tuo smiled.

"Don’t worry. From now on, he will be protecting you."

Hearing this, the two women exchanged an even more bewildered glance.

Zhu Zifeng stepped forward and smiled at Chen Man Ni.

"Miss Chen, there were some misunderstandings before, for which I offended you. From now on, I will make up for my past mistakes with my actions."

Chen Man Ni could only shake her head with a wry smile and look to Qin Tuo, her eyes asking for an explanation.

Qin Tuo explained with a smile,

"Manni, Miss Ouyang, don’t ask so many questions. All you need to know is that he will protect you well from now on."

In the end, Chen Man Ni and Ouyang Feifei didn’t press the matter.

They knew some secret arrangement must have been made, and since Qin Tuo didn’t want to talk about it, they decided to just go with the flow.

After obtaining the medicinal herbs, Qin Tuo first stored them in a secret warehouse.

Whenever he had a spare moment, Qin Tuo planned to refine these herbs into top-quality pills.

Now, looking at the densely packed herbs in the warehouse, a surge of ambition washed over Qin Tuo.

He wasted no time and immediately began refining the herbs.

A significant portion of the herbs were a century old. Elsewhere, a single stalk of such an herb would be priceless.

But in Medicine King Valley’s collection, there were several hundred of them—a truly staggering amount.

And to Qin Tuo’s greatest surprise and delight, the batch even included more than ten stalks of thousand-year-old divine herbs.

’Amazing. They really live up to the name Medicine King Valley, having so many divine herbs of this age!’

Qin Tuo was thoroughly pleased. He wasted no time, gathering the divine herbs to extract their incredibly potent medicinal essences.

The entire warehouse was filled with a rich, medicinal fragrance so potent that even people far away caught the strange scent and looked around in surprise.

But no one knew it was Qin Tuo, refining pills in secret.

A few days later, Qin Tuo’s efforts finally bore fruit.

The few small pills before him looked somewhat ordinary, but they contained an immense amount of Spiritual Power.

These were Spirit Gathering Pills, condensed from the very essence of the herbs.

’Let’s see if these Spirit Gathering Pills can help me break through to the next stage!’

Qin Tuo’s eyes gleamed as he slowly swallowed the pills.

After taking the Spirit Gathering Pills, Qin Tuo wasted no time and sat down cross-legged.

As time passed, a white mist gradually began to rise from Qin Tuo’s body...

The incredibly potent effects of the Spirit Gathering Pills were released completely, bringing the Spiritual Power in his body to a near-boil.

However, when everything finally calmed, Qin Tuo opened his eyes and couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

He found that his strength hadn’t increased significantly; the amount of his Spiritual Power was only a fraction more than before.

’It seems that after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, the amount of Spiritual Qi I need increases exponentially!’

Qin Tuo shook his head helplessly and muttered to himself.

This many rare herbs was an incredible haul, yet even they weren’t enough for a major breakthrough.

’Looks like there’s only one other path left...’

Qin Tuo thought to himself. It was time to make a trip to Hongshan and see if there was any Spiritual Qi there.

If he could find a massive number of Spirit Stones, his Spiritual Qi problem would be completely solved.

There were still some herbs left in the warehouse, but the most precious ones had been completely used up by Qin Tuo. The remaining materials were not enough to refine any more top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills.

Qin Tuo walked out of the warehouse and gave Huang Junkai a call.

Huang Junkai had just returned to the Provincial City and happened to get the call right after.

"Mr. Qin, you asked me to procure a batch of raw stones, right? I have them in storage now. Did you want to come take a look?"

Qin Tuo nodded and, without another word, headed straight for the Huang Family’s residence.

There, he saw a truckload of densely packed raw stones.

After a careful inspection, Qin Tuo was pleasantly surprised.

’Excellent! I can’t believe there are more than ten Spirit Stones here!’

Qin Tuo discovered that among this truckload of raw stones, there were indeed over a dozen stones containing Spiritual Qi.

Taking the dozen or so Spirit Stones in his hands, Qin Tuo absorbed all the Spiritual Qi from them until they were completely depleted.

He discovered that the total Spiritual Qi he had just absorbed was in no way inferior to what he had gotten from all those medicinal herbs.

Realizing this, Qin Tuo’s resolve hardened.

"How is it, Mr. Qin? Did you find anything?"

A look of anticipation flashed in Huang Junkai’s eyes.

Qin Tuo nodded and said with a satisfied smile,

"Very good, Young Master Huang. It looks like I’ll have to go to Hongshan myself after all."

Hearing this, Huang Junkai nodded eagerly and said with a smile,

"Mr. Qin, when are you going? I’m ready to go with you anytime!"

Huang Junkai had regretted not being able to accompany Qin Tuo to Hongshan before.

Now that he heard Qin Tuo’s plan, he immediately seized the opportunity, hoping to act as his guide.

Qin Tuo thought for a moment.

"Tomorrow morning. We’ll leave early."

Huang Junkai nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

"Yes, Mr. Qin. I’ll come and pick you up."

Back at the villa, Qin Tuo thought for a moment and decided to make full use of the remaining medicinal herbs.

He spent a few hours refining the herbs into several Great Rejuvenation Pills.

These Great Rejuvenation Pills were of little use to Qin Tuo anymore, but for Long Wu, they would be incredibly beneficial.