“This is not good. There’s trouble. I knew that Zhou Genwei would make things difficult for me.”
Ding Hao’s movement in the border village had been watched ever since the day he saw Zhou Genwei. Not only that there were lots of officers surrounding the courtyard. A few officers would follow him whenever he left the courtyard.
“Gentleman Ding, you are a genius from Wuzhou. General Zhou sent us to protect you.” The officers said sarcastically.
“Darn it!” Ding Hao couldn’t even shake them off even if he wore the black cloak, as they were following him in such close proximity. “How do I buy spiritual rice when they follow so closely?”
Ding Hao accomplished nothing for the past two days that he stayed in the courtyard. The plan to buy spiritual rice had gone awry!
He was going to achieve level five or six of the Nine Layers Blazing Palm when he achieved Moderate Innate Stage. Then he would go to Tu City. But it seemed he had to move up his plan!
Going outside the territory with only an Innate Stage level three was extremely dangerous!
“I have to go even if it is extremely dangerous. The autumnal metropolitan exam is getting closer and closer. I can’t stay here and wait. I have to leave this place and look for Boss Shang in Tu City! He would be able to provide me with a large quantity of spiritual rice!”
On the same day, Liu Yunkun came to see him.
“Brother Di and Brother Ding, I have to bid you farewell. I’ve checked out from the courtyard. You can choose to stay if you want to, but you have to pay for the rental yourselves.”
Di Hu asked, “Celestial Teacher, weren’t you waiting for your friends? Why leave all of a sudden?”
“Yes.” Ding Hao thought, ‘We won’t be able to afford such a nice courtyard after you leave.’
Liu Yunkun said, “The thing is, as students of Jiuzhou Academy when we achieve Energy Forging level three, we have to seek practical experience. So my friends got there first and sent me a message. They told me to meet them at a specific place in the outside territory.”
“Is that so. Then go do your things,” Di Hu said.
Liu Yunkun nodded and said, “Brother Ding, you are already someone with a superior level one celestial gene. I’m sure I will see you at the Jiuzhou Academy metropolitan examination. We’ll meet again at Jiuzhou Academy. I’m Liu Yunkun, from the same academy.”
Ding Hao said, ” Senior Liu, may I ask if you are going to Tu City?”
Liu Yunkun nodded, “That’s right. Our practical mission is in Tu City.”
“I want to go to Tu City…” Ding Hao said gladly.
But Liu Yunkun rejected and said, “Brother Ding, the reason that we ventured outside the territory was to look for lower grade demonic immortals. You shouldn’t come with us. My advice to you is, although the prohibited medicines are great, you can’t take that for a long time. You better stay in Heaven’s Will and practice.”
Ding Hao thought it was bad enough that he wasn’t willing to let him follow, he even scolded Ding Hao.
The disciples of Jiuzhou Academy were usually quite righteous. They rejected the idea of taking prohibited medicine. They wouldn’t agree to accompany Ding Hao to Tu City to buy prohibited medicine.
Liu Yunkun checked out. Di Hu wouldn’t stay either, since it would cost a bomb. Ding Hao thought that he needed to seize the moment and leave as soon as he could. If not, he wouldn’t be able to leave Heaven’s Will territory as Zhou Genwei’s people were watching him!
He tried to speak to Di Hu.
Di Hu was reliable. He took a map and said, “This is a map to Tu City. Under normal circumstances, you should get there in a day’s time.” He advised, “Gentleman Ding, I’m asking you to reconsider. As the outside territory is extremely dangerous, there are all kinds of ferocious beasts, and killers killing people for treasure. Even the moral hunters and businessmen in Heaven’s Will territory may bring you harm if they notice your lack of cultivation powers.”
Ding Hao said with conviction, “Brother Di Hu, I have made up my mind. Do you have any idea how to get rid of the officers? I need to get ready.”
Since he had already made up his mind, Di Hu said, “Alright, I have a friend who has a shop. We’ll go to her shop later, and you can leave through the backdoor.”
After they checked out and walked out of the courtyard, the officers followed them. They pretended not to notice them and went to a shop in the border village.
“The seed of spiritual wood?” This was the first time Ding Hao visited a shop like this.
“Brother Di, did you bring me some business?” The shopkeeper was a middle-aged lady, who gave them a warm welcome.
Di Hu and the lady knew each other well. He laughed, “Sister Wu, this is gentleman Ding. He is looking for some seed of spiritual wood.” Then he whispered, “There are people following him, please help him escape from the back door.”
Lady Wu seemed to know people in high places, as she didn’t fear the officers. She nodded and said, “Small matter.”
They were chatting and Ding Hao looked around the shop. He saw the porcelain vase above the counter. They looked like medicinal pills, but they were seeds, and they had names like ‘Could Like Grass’, ‘Sea Like Vine’, ‘Fiery Fruit’.
Ding Hao was very curious. He asked, “How does one use these seeds?”
The shopkeeper smiled, “Gentleman, these are one-time use only. It helps you to grow larger in a short period of time, which helps in battle.”
“I didn’t know there’re such things.” This was the first time that Ding Hao had heard about spiritual wood that was capable of aiding one in battles. He then asked again, “Do you have anything that someone with a plant-type celestial gene could use?”
“Yes.” The shopkeeper said, “These are all cultivated by plant-type celestial gene masters. Anyone can use them. It is very simple. You crush the bottle. The bottle contains a few seeds and a bit of spiritual soil. Sprinkle the mixture on an area with soil and you should see the effects immediately.”
Ding Hao thought he should return the favor by buying something from her since she was helping him escape. He said, “Do you have something stronger?”
Di Hu whispered to Lady Wu, “Something that can be used in the outside territory.”
“Outside territory?” The shopkeeper looked at Ding Hao and thought, ‘He had the audacity to go outside the territory with this level of power?’ But she didn’t ask him anything. She said, “Then you’ll need something very strong. Gentleman Ding, please come upstairs with me.”
The officers saw Ding Hao going upstairs. They tried to follow.
They were stopped by two salespersons, “That is the warehouse. Unauthorized people are not allowed to go upstairs.”
The soldier shouted, “Give way! How dare you interfere with official matters?!”
The salesperson said with a smile, “Our shopkeeper is friends with the deputy general!”
The officers stopped. They saw that Di Hu didn’t go upstairs, thus they remained downstairs.
Ding Hao went upstairs with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper said, “With your level of power, I highly suggest that you go outside the territory with other people.”
Ding Hao said, “I have my plans.” That was his plan until he realized that in order to do that he had to use his real name. Then Zhou Genwei would notice even quicker. It would also make it easier for Zhou Genwei to kill him if he bribed some master to kill him on the way.
The shopkeeper was only trying to remind him. Then she said, “The seeds downstairs are all lower grade. In my shop, there are two moderate grade seeds of spiritual wood. It should be helpful to you, but…”
Ding Hao said, “You can be straightforward with me.”
The shopkeeper chuckled, “They are quite pricey.”
“Let me have a look. Money is not a problem.” Ding Hao had tens of thousands in banknotes with him. He was confident.
“Please wait a moment.” The shopkeeper went into a room and came out with a tray in her hands and a red cloth covering it.
“Please have a look.” The shopkeeper took off the red cloth, revealing two porcelain bottles on the tray.
The stickers on the bottle had turned yellow. It seemed she had been keeping them for a long time.
Ding Hao picked it up to have a look. The paper said “Zhong Teng.” He didn’t know what it meant.
“This is?”
The shopkeeper said, “Gentleman Ding, this is moderate grade Tengjia grass.”
“Tengjia Grass?” Ding Hao raised his eyebrows.
“Yes.” The shopkeeper continued, “When you use it, it would grow purple-colored vines. They are tough, and they are much tougher than any moderate level armor. The greatest benefit is that once your opponent cuts it, it would grow back rapidly.”
“I see!” Ding Hao looked surprised. If he wore this during the battle, he would be untouchable! He asked, “How many times can I use it?”
“Only once for one bottle.” The shopkeeper smiled and said, “But it lasts for an hour. This is a protective type seed of spiritual wood.”
“Only once.” Ding Hao hesitated. He used to ask the price of armors, they were expensive, especially the moderate grade ones. Then he asked, “How much is it?”
The shopkeeper said, “Thirty Yuan Stone.”
“That’s very expensive.” Ding Hao forced a smile, it was indeed very expensive.
The shopkeeper chuckled, “Gentleman Ding, this is a protective type of object. It can save lives! The moderate grade armor that others are selling cost about three hundred Yuan Stones. The higher-grade ones cost around five hundred Yuan Stones! Our Tengjia Grass armor is stronger than any armor. Most importantly this can protect your whole body while other armors can only protect the important parts of your body!”
The shopkeeper was right. In this world armor was treasure. It was quite normal for someone to possess a moderate grade weapon. There was nothing extraordinary about it, but if someone possessed moderate grade armor, others might feel jealous!
Not everyone can afford armor, especially the moderate grade ones.
The shopkeeper said, “I’ll give you a discount when we settle the bill.”
“Alright.” Ding Hao nodded and picked up the bottle to get a feel of it.
He was cautious. Things like these were not easy to use. If he got a dud what was he going to do? Luckily, fakes were not popular here. He used his power absorption skill to sense it. There was vigorous spiritual energy in the bottle and it exceeded the energy of the bottles downstairs.
This should be good. Ding Hao picked up the second bottle and it said “Zhong Cao”, he asked, “What is this then?”