After Duan Rong devoured and absorbed the artifact spirits from the discarded debris, he sifted through the chaotic information he acquired, discerning the truth from the falsehoods and blending them into a coherent understanding.
He had already seen through Shang Xiangyu’s intentions.
By using his own younger brother as a medicinal guide, Shang Xiangyu crafted those thirty-six Blood Spring Pills, which were only capable of alleviating his fundamental depletion ailment, buying him at most half a year.
He intended to use this period to find a way to join the Filthy Blood Sect and cultivate the Filthy Blood Divine Skill to completely cure his foundational depletion ailment.
When Duan Rong discerned Shang Xiangyu’s intentions, he immediately arrived at another shocking conclusion.
That is, Shang Xiangyu would never return.
The moment this thought flashed through Duan Rong’s mind, his eyes suddenly lit up.
If Shang Xiangyu never returned, then he wouldn’t have to leave the Taiyi Sect.
In fact, in the depths of his heart, Duan Rong didn’t want to leave at all.
In Qingzhou, he possessed the most genuine and unassailable identity, which was an identity he had traversed from another world to obtain, without any pretense.
Moreover, after countless days and nights of painstaking cultivation and several life-and-death temperings, killing Jie Daohan and Fan Yuanhai, he finally reached where he was today.
He entered the sect!
He truly didn’t want to give all that up!
Furthermore, here remain the friendships he cherished most, such as Ximen Kankan and the others, and Xiao Yu...
And, as long as Shang Xiangyu did not return, Duan Rong was confident that in three years, he could definitely advance to the rank of an outer disciple.
In that case, at worst, he would be appointed as a county magistrate somewhere.
Going to a small place to be a local ruler wouldn’t be too bad either.
Starting a family with Xiao Yu, raising two kids.
A cozy family life would be countless times better than his previous life, wouldn’t it?!
However, all of these assumptions were based on the premise that Shang Xiangyu wouldn’t return.
But the question is... would Shang Xiangyu really not come back? Can this be confirmed?
Duan Rong absentmindedly caressed his fingertips, sinking into deep contemplation.
Duan Rong believed that with Shang Xiangyu’s cunning and methods, he would certainly find a way to join the Filthy Blood Sect.
As a martial artist at the Primordial Qi Realm and a pharmacist, the Filthy Blood Sect would certainly accept him.
Particularly his identity as a pharmacist, which was probably exactly what the Filthy Blood Sect was lacking.
Then, after joining the Filthy Blood Sect and cultivating the Filthy Blood Divine Skill to cure his foundational depletion ailment completely, would he return to the Taiyi Sect?
Duan Rong’s eyes were deep and flickering, with many thoughts colliding and churning...
Finally, his wandering gaze finally condensed.
At that moment, he finally confirmed completely that Shang Xiangyu would not return.
If, after cultivating the Filthy Blood Divine Skill and curing his foundational depletion, he returned to the sect, too much time would have passed.
After being away for so long, suddenly returning would undoubtedly subject him to the sect’s scrutiny.
Who could guarantee that he could withstand that scrutiny?
Moreover, the Filthy Blood Sect would never let him return. Nurturing a pharmacist takes a lot of resources, and even within a sect, pharmacists hold esteemed positions.
How could the Filthy Blood Sect allow a pharmacist to return?
Even if he himself was willing to take the risk, the higher-ups of the Filthy Blood Sect would never allow such a risk.
Once assured of this matter, Duan Rong suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of excitement and fervor.
He never expected things would take such a dramatic turn.
He unexpectedly had nothing to do to escape from Shang Xiangyu’s control, not needing to flee at all.
Duan Rong rearranged some books back to their original order, and at this moment, he suddenly turned his head to look at a black iron cabinet placed against the wall not far from the desk.
The cabinet wasn’t large, divided into an upper and lower section. The upper section was a drawer, while the lower had two doors that opened outward.
This cabinet was forged entirely of iron.
In Changling Mountain, forming a world of its own, there was hardly any interaction with the outside world.
Below the Imperial Stable Hall, there were many workshops. Moreover, the craftsmen within the workshops evidently had profound skills in mechanical crafts and curiosities.
Just the complex mechanisms of the Star Disc alone left Duan Rong in awe.
The double-layered large alchemy furnace found here and this black iron cabinet were also crafted by the workshops under the Imperial Stable Hall.
The lock on the drawer above and the two locks on the double doors below were both copper locks.
Duan Rong knew that Pan Yong had the key to the lock on the double doors.
A few days prior, when they were organizing this stone house, Pan Yong had opened that copper lock and sorted through a number of bottles and jars inside the cabinet.
But the key to the drawer on top—Pan Yong didn’t have it. That key must have been taken by Shang Xiangyu.
When tidying the house that day, Duan Rong had already used Divine Sense Penetration to explore that drawer.
Inside, there was a jade pendant, a waistband, a bottle of elixir, and Shang Xiangyu’s Star Disc.
The item Duan Rong valued most was Shang Xiangyu’s Star Disc.
Shang Xiangyu’s Star Disc still contained 6,500 contribution points.
Six thousand five hundred points!
At Xia Honghua’s place, sixty points a month meant only seven hundred and twenty points a year!
But more importantly, it wasn’t the points themselves that mattered, but Shang Xiangyu’s access privileges!
If he used Shang Xiangyu’s Star Disc, he could exchange all the remaining levels of auxiliary medicine for the Fetal Concealment Scripture!
The original cultivation of the Fetal Concealment Scripture was painstakingly slow, almost like the crawl of a tortoise, making it extremely hard to accomplish.
But through the peculiar method of devouring the Tree Spirit, he could nearly achieve in one night what was extremely arduous in cultivating the Fetal Concealment Scripture.