He took another sip of Dragon Gall Wine.

This time, the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman seemed to be consuming the medicinal power of the previous sip and did not continue to vie for dominance.

Xu Taiping breathed a sigh of relief and said:

“Thankfully, it’s not entirely impossible to cultivate.”

Enduring the medicinal impact of the Dragon Gall Wine, he first used soul transmission to inform Baiyu and Taiping that he had found a solution and arranged some tasks for them. Then he began to meditate and digest the medicinal power of the wine.

That night, Xu Taiping drank six cups of Dragon Gall Wine in one go, meditating with the Danxia Technique until dawn.

After a night of meditation and breath regulation, his vitality was replenished. Even with the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman constantly devouring, he could maintain it for three hours without issue.

Combined with the diluted Dragon Gall Wine, he could barely manage four hours.

With this, there would be no problems during the daytime.

But this was consuming too much Dragon Gall Wine.

“I need to quickly purchase the herbs for the Eight Treasures Powder and the Qi Preserving Pill.”

Xu Taiping stretched and muttered to himself.

Despite the lingering sense of urgency, his mind was no longer as tense as the day before.

…

In the following days, Xu Taiping’s life returned to the pace before the Seven Peaks competition.

He would practice swordsmanship at Moon Scooping Lake before dawn.

The content of his sword practice was still to write characters according to the requirements on the wooden plaque left by Elder Sansan, correcting any deficiencies from the previous day’s writing and carving them on the wall.

Elder Sansan himself, as before, had not appeared.

Although Xu Taiping was very curious about Elder Sansan’s identity, he had grown accustomed to this method of sword practice and did not inquire further.

After practicing the sword, he would return to Qi Yue Pavilion to practice his techniques as usual, and at night, he continued to soak in the energy core opening soup to cultivate the Danxia Technique.

During this time, he would occasionally tend to the herb garden with Baiyu and Taiping, share a meal, play a few games of chess, and life was still fulfilling.

However, both he and Taiping and Baiyu missed Fairy Lingyue.

Besides, he finally managed to purchase all the herbs needed for the Eight Treasures Powder and the Qi Preserving Pill, but these, along with a magical tool pill furnace, had nearly exhausted all his resources.

However, after preparing several doses of the Eight Treasures Powder and refining a furnace of Qi Preserving Pills, the weight on his heart was finally lifted.

As Fairy Lingyue had said in his heart, with the combination of the Eight Treasures Powder and the Qi Preserving Pill, along with his own diligent cultivation, the damage caused by the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman to his body was indeed minimized.

Now he only needed to take the medicine on time, and his vitality would no longer be lost, nor would he need to consume the Dragon Gall Wine for cultivation.

What worried him, though, was the cost of the Eight Treasures Powder and the Qi Preserving Pill was exorbitant.

He did a quick calculation and found that excluding other expenses, just these two herbs would cost him two thousand merit points a day.

It was foreseeable that in at most a month, he would be completely out of resources.

So he had already decided to take up the bounty from the Sixth Peak.

…

“Taiping!”

One morning, as Xu Taiping was considering whether to go to the Merit Hall to take on the bounty from the Sixth Peak, he hadn’t yet left his home when a visitor arrived.

“Senior Sister Linglong, what brings you here today?”

Xu Taiping opened the courtyard door to find Senior Sister Linglong in red, standing on the rainbow bridge with two others.

Due to the defeat in the last Seven Peaks competition and the injuries of Senior Sister Jiang Zhi and Senior Brother Four, the disciples of the Seventh Peak had been practicing diligently, with Second Senior Brother Qingxiao even entering a year-long closed-door cultivation.

“Isn’t that… the Peak Master of the Sixth Peak and Senior Sister Ziyann?”

He looked closely and recognized the two people beside Senior Sister Linglong.

Seeing that the visitor was the Peak Master of the Sixth Peak, he did not dare to neglect and quickly went to greet them:

“Peak Master Meng, Senior Sister Ziyann, Senior Sister Linglong, your visit honors me. I apologize for not being able to greet you from afar.”

“Don’t be so formal.”

Peak Master Meng waved his hand with a carefree smile.

“Taiping, Peak Master Meng has come to you today to ask you to accompany them to the Cloud Dream Marsh in the Dongting Blessed Land.”

Zhao Linglong winked at Xu Taiping.

Upon hearing this, Xu Taiping immediately understood, thinking:

“Senior Sister Linglong has brought me business!”

But after thinking about it, the Sixth Peak had a good relationship with the Seventh Peak, and Senior Sister Ziyann was especially close to Senior Sister Linglong. Since he was just the right person for the task in Cloud Dream Marsh, it was only natural for the Sixth Peak to seek him out.

“Peak Master Meng, Senior Sister Ziyann, what does the Sixth Peak need me for in Cloud Dream Marsh?”

Xu Taiping asked knowingly.

He wouldn’t foolishly agree right away; this was a business opportunity personally delivered by Senior Sister Linglong.

“Let’s walk and talk. I’d also like to see your Qi Yue Pavilion.”

Peak Master Meng smiled at Xu Taiping.

“Alright,” Xu Taiping nodded.

“You’ve heard of Cloud Dream Marsh in the Dongting Blessed Land, haven’t you?”

Peak Master Meng asked Xu Taiping.

“I have,” Xu Taiping nodded and continued:

“The Cloud Dream Marsh of the Dongting Blessed Land is usually hidden within a fog barrier, which dissipates every sixty years to lift the barrier. According to the customary rules of the Nine Mansions, anyone can enter the Cloud Dream Marsh to explore the immortal ruins by purchasing a pass from the Nine Mansions.”

In fact, his original knowledge of Cloud Dream Marsh was not extensive, but he had recently sought out books to learn more in preparation for taking on that case.

“That’s right,” Peak Master Meng nodded in satisfaction and continued:

“The immortal ruins within Cloud Dream Marsh contain numerous treasures, but due to the strong prohibitions set by ancient immortal sects, the higher the cultivator’s cultivation, the more they are bound by the prohibitions. In contrast, some powerful martial artists have a significant advantage inside.”

“This time, our Sixth Peak needs some herbs from a garden within the ruins. However, the location is likely in the central area of the ruins, which poses certain risks. The garden is surrounded by many ancient beasts and Corpse Ghosts, so we need a martial artist who can withstand their attacks to clear the way for us.”

Peak Master Meng stopped walking and looked at Xu Taiping with a smile.

At that moment, Zhao Linglong winked at Xu Taiping again rapidly.

“Peak Master Meng, I have been focusing on my cultivation recently and may not have the time to go to Cloud Dream Marsh.”

Xu Taiping, quickly catching on, said with some difficulty.

“Don’t worry, Taiping, we won’t let you make the trip for nothing.”

Senior Sister Ziyann stepped forward this time.

“This…”

Xu Taiping still appeared hesitant.

“Taiping, for this trip to Cloud Dream Marsh, the bounty at the Merit Hall is 130,000 merit points, but if it’s you, Taiping, we are willing to offer 230,000 merit points.”

Peak Master Meng looked at Xu Taiping with a beaming smile.

Xu Taiping’s heart skipped a beat at the words, thinking to himself that the wealthy Sixth Peak had indeed raised the bounty by a hundred thousand merit points.

He was very satisfied with the price, but just as he was about to agree, he saw Zhao Linglong making eye signals at him non-stop.

He immediately understood—this was not the Sixth Peak’s final offer.