Immortal Reincarnation Tribulation

Chapter 302 The Follower

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Du, that's not quite right. This Fire Dance Grass isn't just seventy years old; to be precise, it's eighty-three years and five months old." The white-robed elder burst into laughter, his previous indifference vanishing completely. His attitude towards Du Fan changed dramatically, his eyebrows dancing with delight.

"Wow, Elder Ge's expertise in medicinal herbs is truly profound! I am in awe!"

Upon hearing this, Du Fan was truly astonished. He never expected that this old fellow could determine the age of a spiritual herb so accurately with just a glance.

"It's nothing. I've spent my whole life studying these spiritual flowers and herbs. What's so strange about me being able to tell the age of the herbs?"

"It's just a bit of a pity. If this spiritual herb could advance further and reach a hundred years of medicinal age, its value would be far greater than it is now." The white-robed elder's excitement subsided slightly, and he shook his head, looking very regretful.

"Excuse me, Elder Ge, how much would this Fire Dance Grass be worth at its current age? And how much would it be worth after it reaches a hundred years of medicinal value?" After hearing what the old man said, Du Fan couldn't help but feel a little tempted.

"Hehe, you're lucky to have met me. I've never cared about cultivation or spirit stones in my life. I'm only interested in spiritual flowers and herbs in the world. If you had met the other old guys from Qiuyexuan, Fellow Daoist Du would have suffered a great loss."

Fire Dance Grass is already rare in the Earthly Fiend Islands, and this spiritual herb, over eighty years old, is even more sought after. A single plant can be worth three thousand spirit stones. If this spiritual herb reaches the medicinal properties of a hundred years old, its price in spirit stones will double again. The white-robed elder chuckled and said slowly.

"Three thousand spirit stones..." Du Fan's heart skipped a beat. If it were in the Central Plains, an eighty-year-old Fire Dance Grass would only be worth eight or nine hundred spirit stones at most. Unexpectedly, in a barren place like the Earthly Fiend Islands, its price would increase several times.

"This price is fair enough. Then I'd like to trouble Elder Ge to assess the spirit stone prices of the other spiritual herbs for me." Du Fan nodded calmly, then pointed to several other spiritual herbs and said indifferently.

In this way, Elder Ge appraised the remaining spiritual herbs one by one. After a full half hour, the old man finally finished pricing all the spiritual herbs that Du Fan had brought out.

Among these spiritual herbs, the least valuable was a spiritual flower, priced at 1,400 spirit stones, while the most valuable was a spiritual fruit, which reached an astronomical price of 4,500 spirit stones. Even someone as worldly as Du Fan couldn't help but feel his heart pound.

The white-robed elder could not hide his excitement. He took out several small white jade boxes from his storage bag, put the spiritual herbs that Du Fan had sold into the jade boxes, and then took out a few special talismans to seal them before letting out a long breath.

"Elder Ge, judging from your expression, is your shop preparing to purchase these medicinal herbs of mine?" Du Fan smiled faintly.

"Of course, Cui Liu, come in!" The white-robed old man smiled and nodded, then raised his voice and called out loudly.

"Has Elder Ge set a price for the spiritual herbs that Fellow Daoist Du wishes to sell?" After pushing open the door and entering, Cui Liu first bowed to the two of them, and then asked the old man with a smile.

"Hmm, this plaque shows the amount of spirit stones our shop needs to pay Fellow Daoist Du, as well as my life mark. Take it and collect the spirit stones for Fellow Daoist Du." The white-robed elder flicked his sleeve and immediately took out a palm-sized cyan stone tablet. He quickly cast two spells on it and then handed it to the green-clad girl.

"Okay, ah! Twenty-one thousand eight hundred spirit stones..." Cui Liu was originally all smiles, but when she saw the number of spirit stones marked on the nameplate, her expression changed drastically, and she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"What are you yelling for? Don't you have any manners? Get back to your place!" The white-robed elder frowned slightly and waved his hand impatiently.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I was rude just now. Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Du. Please wait a moment, I'll be right back." Cui Liu was no ordinary person. She quickly regained her composure, bowed apologetically to the two of them, and then turned and left the elegant room.

After a meal, Du Fan was escorted out of Qiuye Pavilion by Cui Liu with great courtesy. At this moment, he suddenly had nearly 20,000 spirit stones and a miniature defensive array on his person.

Du Fan still dared not be careless this time. He deliberately took several detours through alleys to make sure no one was following him before heading straight for the entrance of the market. He planned to return to the Crescent Island villa to make some preparations for the competition a few days later.

……

Two hours later, Du Fan found himself at the foot of a mountain a hundred feet high. If he went around the mountain and walked another hundred miles, he would reach the location of the Crescent Island villa.

But just then, Du Fan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He knew that he was probably being followed. Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't be a big deal, and it wasn't the first time for him.

However, what made Du Fan's expression somewhat unpleasant was that, apart from the mountain in front of him, the rest of the return route was flat and open, without any obstacles or hiding places.

This person had clearly been following them all the way from that cultivation market, and he had only just discovered their whereabouts. This showed that this person was either incredibly powerful or possessed exceptionally strong spiritual power. In short, this person was definitely not an ordinary cultivator.

Of course, since Du Fan has already discovered the person following him, the other party cannot be above the Foundation Establishment stage; he is most likely a Qi Refining stage cultivator at the Great Perfection stage with considerable strength.

When Du Fan turned around, his gaze swept quickly and soon landed on a large blue boulder next to a big tree. The moment he saw the boulder, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Cultivators have amazing memories. Just now, when he walked past that big tree, the area next to it was perfectly flat and empty.

After discovering this strange phenomenon, he quickly guessed the result and his heart sank slightly.

Because he had basically determined the identity of the newcomer. This scene was strikingly similar to the appearance of the woman in black that day. This person came from... Returning to one's roots!

"Fellow Daoist has been following me for so long, why don't you show yourself?" Du Fan took a deep breath, his voice somewhat gloomy.

"A mere cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining can discover the two of us; he truly has some skill." A voice, indistinguishable in gender, came from the blue boulder.

Immediately afterward, the boulder twisted and deformed, and after a burst of blue light, two men in black appeared.

The two men were completely covered by black robes, making it impossible to tell their gender. Only their dark eyes, which gleamed with an eerie light, were visible. Their entire attire was identical to that of the assassins under the Fallen Leaves Return to Roots banner.

"Two people..." Du Fan's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He had originally thought that there was only one other person, but the scene in front of him was something he had not expected.

When he fought that female assassin with his Qi Refining Stage Level 6 cultivation, he could only be considered evenly matched. Even now, with his magic power much stronger and his various minor Five Elements spells having reached Level 3 perfection, his combat power has increased by more than half.

However, that was only a significant increase, not several times over.

If the opponent is only one person, even though these assassins' techniques and supernatural abilities are unpredictable and their combat strength is far superior to that of cultivators of the same level, Du Fan is confident that he can fight them and has a winning rate of over 70%.

However, there are two opponents now. If we act rashly, not only will there be considerable risks, but there will also be insufficient benefits, making it extremely low in cost-effectiveness.

Du Fan subconsciously shook his head, already prepared to flee far away.

"You think too highly of me by returning to my roots, sending two assassins to do this job for me at the same time." Du Fan smiled bitterly, while his internal magic quietly circulated, preparing to use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that allows one to escape) technique.

"Oh? Judging from your appearance, you should be a cultivator from an outer island. You even know something about our 'Returning to Roots'? Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps on our 'Returning to Roots' life-or-death list?"

"Forget it, this matter has nothing to do with me. We came here for the miniature defensive array on you. If you hand over the array, we'll turn around and leave without causing you any trouble. But if you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me for being impolite." One of the men in black spoke slowly, his voice icy cold.

Upon hearing this, Du Fan was somewhat surprised. If what the other party said was true, then these two were not assassins hired by Master Ma.

"I naturally don't want to make enemies with you, but I also don't want to give away what I bought with spirit stones." Du Fan sneered and accelerated the circulation of his internal energy.

"Why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Kill him quickly, we need to rush back to report." Another man in black seemed a little impatient. After speaking, he immediately made a hand seal, and in the blink of an eye, his figure began to blur, as if he would merge into nothingness in the next moment.

Upon seeing this, the man in black who had spoken earlier didn't say a word. He suddenly moved his feet, and his entire body transformed into a black streak of light, rushing straight towards Du Fan.

Upon witnessing this scene, Du Fan's eyes twitched slightly. He hurriedly chanted a spell, preparing to use earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic in Chinese fantasy novels) to escape. But at that moment, a chilling voice suddenly rang out, echoing throughout the surrounding area.

"You two have quite the nerve! Master Sun ordered you to go to the market to purchase materials, not to cause trouble here! Don't forget, murder and robbery are strictly forbidden by our organization. If you break our rules, you know the consequences, don't you?"

As the words echoed, the void between the two sides rippled, and a black ray of light swept out. After a moment, another black-clad figure, whose gender was indistinguishable, appeared.