After having breakfast, Ning Yue cleaned herself up and took a bamboo basket, preparing to leave. Her task today was to gather the second-rank herbs as much as possible.
Standing at the door, she nodded gently at Yun Lintian and took a deep breath. Her expression gradually became depressed before she opened the door and walked out.
Looking at this scene, Yun Lintian nodded inwardly. It seemed Ning Yue could still put an act on her face.
He closed his eyes and continued to recuperate, thinking of a way to contact the Land of Beyond Heaven.
After leaving the hut, Ning Yue immediately saw many people head toward the Herb Valley. She didn't know why there were so many people more than usual, but she didn't care about it much. Perhaps the sect urgently needed a lot of medicinal herbs.
Traveling along the familiar road for an hour, Ning Yue soon arrived at a deep valley between two mountains.
A dense forest could be seen at the end of the valley path, suitable to nourish a higher rank herb. However, not many people dared to venture deep into the forest. Especially a servant with a pitiful strength like Ning Yue.
At the valley's entrance, Ning Yue saw many outer disciples gather, seemingly preparing to go in. Without a doubt, their goal should be the forest at the end of the valley.
"Ning Yue!" Just as Ning Yue was about to move forward, a familiar male voice resounded from behind. The owner was a thin young man clad in a tattered robe.
Ning Yue returned with a nod.
Similar to her, the thin young man, Hao Lie, was a servant. He was usually bullied by other servants, but he seemed to possess an indomitable will as he was unwilling to resign to a fate like others.
The two knew each other because Ning Yue once gave him some food and medicine when he was in a difficult situation. Since then, Hao Lie had always remained grateful to her.
Hao Lie arrived beside Ning Yue with a big bamboo basket on his back. "I heard you have picked up a wounded man from the river. How's he now?"
Ning Yue's face drooped slightly and wrote something on a book she carried. The content was about how Huang Yuchun poisoned the already crippled Yun Lintian.
If Yun Lintian was here, he would give her ten out of ten for her perfect acting.
Hao Lei was immediately angry and cursed in a low voice. "That bastard is really hateful."
He glanced at the outer disciples in the distance and whispered. "However, you should be careful. Last night, the inner division issued an order for everyone to gather the second-rank herb and above. I'm afraid they are going to make things difficult for us again."
Ning Yue frowned deeply upon hearing this.
"If you're fine with it, we should stick together today." Hao Lie said cautiously. He didn't want Ning Yue to misunderstand him.
Ning Yue hesitated briefly and nodded
Hao Lie nodded heavily and said. "Wait until they go in first, and we can follow from afar."
At this moment, a sturdy man, who seemed to be the leader of the group of outer disciples, yelled loudly at Ning Yue and the others. "Hey! All of you trash, come here."
The other servants glanced at each other before quickly walking toward the sturdy man tremblingly.
"I know it. There is nothing good coming out of these bastards' mouths." Hao Lie cursed in a low voice and followed the group behind.
Ning Yue subconsciously touched the pendant to find a sense of security. Feeling the warm aura from the pendant, she took a deep breath and took a step forward, following Hao Lie.
Seeing all the servants were here, the sturdy man said loudly. "Listen carefully. Today, all of you have to go inside the forest and pick a second-rank herb back for us. You can go back as long as you can gather a kilogram worth of amount."
"What?" The crowd uttered in shock. Most of them here were nothing but Essence Profound Realm practitioners at most. Forcing them to the forest where countless high-level profound beasts resided was no different from sending them to die.
Moreover, he actually told them to find a kilogram worth a second-rank herb. A single sprout was already rare. How were they going to find all of them?
"Why? Do you have a problem?" The sturdy man glared at the crowd coldly, and an intimidating aura immediately enveloped everyone.
The group of servants immediately lowered their heads in fright and didn't dare to say anything further.
Hao Lie clenched his fists tightly while glaring at the sturdy man with hatred. Unfortunately, he was too weak to do anything here.
On the side, Ning Yue lowered her head slightly and remained silent. She usually went to the forest to find a second rank herb, and this task was actually pretty easy for her.
However, she didn't want to see these people die pointlessly like this.
"This is the world we are living in. Only strength could allow you to have the right to control the fates of you and others." Yun Lintian's voice suddenly resounded in Ning Yue's mind, causing her to tremble slightly.
Ning Yue wanted to glance around to find Yun Lintian, but she didn't dare to do it as it would be looked suspicious.
"I talk with you through my Spiritual Sense. You don't have to search for me… Don't worry about others. Some people are destined to die here. You can't help everyone." Yun Lintian said further. "Take care of yourself well and strive to improve your strength so that you can avenge them in the future."
Hearing this, Ning Yue grabbed the pendant tightly, and her eyes gradually filled with firm determination.
"Ning Yue! Step forward. Senior Brother Huang has a task for you." The sturdy man swept his gaze over everyone and paused at Ning Yue.
Hao Lie stepped forward to block Ning Yue and was about to say something, but Ning Yue stopped him and indicated she was fine.
"You…" Hao Lie didn't finish his sentence because he saw the calmness in Ning Yue's eyes. It looked like the calm before the storm somehow.
Ning Yue walked out of the group and looked at the sturdy man calmly, waiting for him to speak.
The sturdy man didn't waste his time. "You're lucky. Senior Brother Huang wanted you to pick a third-rank herb for him. One kilogram like everyone."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l