308: The Four Families

Ever since that incident, although Feng Ming remained within the Trial Grounds, many participants from the Earth Ranking still delivered Seventh-grade Medicinal Herbs to him daily.

These people were all personnel arranged by the Four Great Families, not Loose Cultivators seeking to trade herbs.

After finishing the inventory of the herbs, Feng Mian spoke in a low voice, "The herbs delivered recently have been getting fewer and fewer. The Four Great Families have sent word that, apart from the final two batches, all the herbs under their control have already been delivered."

Feng Ming nodded, lightly tapping the stone table before him with his fingertips, "How many plants do we have on hand now?"

"Just finished counting. Altogether, we have eighty plants. According to the information we've gathered, the total output of seventh-grade herbs in past Trials has been around one hundred and ten plants. By that calculation, there are still thirty plants in other people's hands."

Feng Mian's tone was grave, "It's just that those Loose Cultivators are hiding too well and are completely unwilling to part with them. Getting our hands on them will be quite difficult."

Feng Ming nodded, a flicker of contemplation flashing in his eyes, "I've already had the Four Great Families start acquiring herbs from the Loose Cultivators. The feedback has been fairly positive."

"Feng Da has sent a message," Feng Mian changed the subject, lowering his voice slightly, "Apart from the portion held by the Loose Cultivators, the majority of the remaining herbs are in the hands of Zhao Peng and Zhang Bai."

"Zhao Peng and Zhang Bai?"

Hearing these two names, Feng Ming was momentarily taken aback, then turned his gaze to the map of the trial grounds.

Zhang Bai was still entrenched in the area around the Weak Water Pool. As for Zhao Peng, his location was surprisingly far away. Just looking at the markers on the map, even with his speed, it would probably take five days to get there.

"This Zhao Peng, although he didn't act against Shuwan before, has been lurking in the shadows waiting for an opportunity!" A cold glint flashed in Feng Ming's eyes, "Judging by this distance now, he's clearly deliberately avoiding me!"

"Since that's the case, I'll start settling accounts with him first!"

"Husband..."

Seeing Feng Ming stand up, Jiang Shuwan quickly stepped forward, her tone carrying a hint of worry as she reached out to grab his sleeve.

Feng Ming looked at the map, his voice steady. He raised his hand and gently covered the back of her hand to reassure her, "There's still a month and a half until the end of the Liangzhou Trial! The rankings for all parties are basically set now and won't fluctuate much more, so I plan to leave for a trip to get my hands on these last two batches of herbs!"

"Then I..."

Jiang Shuwan was about to say she would go with him, but Feng Ming shook his head, interrupting her, "You are pregnant, it's not suitable for you to travel overnight."

"Zhao Peng and Zhang Bai are very far apart, so don't follow me back and forth. You and eldest brother stay here. Gather the final herbs in five days, then head to the Weak Water Pool. After I deal with Zhang Bai, I'll go directly to the Weak Water Pool to meet up with you!"

"Alright, then you must be extra careful!" Jiang Shuwan nodded. Although she couldn't accompany him, thinking about meeting him at the Weak Water Pool soon brought her some comfort.

"Qin Hu! Guan Rong!" Feng Ming turned to look at the two men standing by on standby.

Qin Hu and Guan Rong exchanged a glance, immediately stepping forward and cupping their fists, "Your subordinates are here!"

"While I'm away, your primary task is to protect Shuwan's safety!" Feng Ming's tone carried an indisputable firmness, "I don't want any accidents here!"

Qin Hu and Guan Rong straightened their chests and responded in a deep voice, "Your subordinates understand! We swear to protect Madam's safety with our lives!"

Feng Mian also stepped forward, patted Feng Ming's shoulder, and earnestly advised, "Be careful on your journey. Put your own well-being first in all matters."

Feng Ming grinned, said nothing more, and with a flicker of his figure, vanished from the spot... Feng Ming's sudden departure from the team quickly drew the attention of people both inside and outside the trial grounds. After all, this guy hadn't left the resting ridge for a long time. This sudden move obviously meant he had important business.

Where some were happy, others were worried.

Those Cultivators located in the same direction as Zhao Peng now wore bitter expressions, their hearts filled with unease.

"I say, why is he coming towards us?" one person asked, his face pale and his voice trembling.

"I don't know. We haven't provoked him. He probably isn't coming for us, right?" the person beside him hurriedly tried to reassure himself, but the panic in his tone was impossible to hide.

"That makes sense! Looking at our route, it seems Zhao Peng is there. Do you think he might be targeting Zhao Peng?"

"Highly likely! Although this guy didn't directly act against Jiang Shuwan before, he did indeed lead his people and observed the area for quite a while!"

"Could it be that Feng Ming is here for revenge?"

"Revenge?"

Zhao Peng, having received the news at this moment, was so angry he rushed straight out of his tent.

When he saw on the map that Feng Ming's figure was rapidly approaching his direction, his heart sank, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

A subordinate beside him hurriedly reminded him, "Boss, although we didn't do anything before, we did track his wife for a period of time..."

"Nonsense! When did we ever track his wife?" Zhao Peng harshly rebuked, his face livid, "We were just passing by, and in the end, we didn't do anything at all!"

However, just as he thought his subordinate was overthinking, an icy voice suddenly resounded throughout the entire trial grounds—a voice broadcasted to the entire region, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Zhao Peng, stay where you are! Dare to leave a radius of a hundred meters, and I'll kill you!"

Zhao Peng instantly froze on the spot. The subordinate beside him frantically opened the communication stone to check. The more he looked, the more unpleasant his expression became. Trembling, he said to Zhao Peng, "Boss... it's... it's really Feng Ming! This guy really is coming for us!"

Zhao Peng swallowed hard, hurriedly taking out his own communication stone. The next moment, he saw that the sender of the message was indeed Feng Ming!

The Cultivators originally camped around Zhao Peng's base, learning of this, fled in panic as if they had seen a plague god, hastily packing their things and scrambling away from him.

In just a short moment, apart from his own subordinates, there wasn't a single outside Cultivator to be seen near Zhao Peng's camp.

"Boss, what do we do?" a subordinate asked anxiously, "Should we run too?"

Zhao Peng looked at the rapidly moving light dot on the map, his face deathly pale. He knew very well that he couldn't escape. Not to mention Feng Ming's strength far surpassed his own, just in terms of movement speed, he had absolutely no chance of shaking him off.

Moreover, Feng Ming had already issued a harsh warning. If he dared to run, once caught, the other party would absolutely not hesitate to take his life.

"Boss?" Seeing Zhao Peng remain silent for a long time, the subordinate spoke up again urgently.

Zhao Peng snapped back to reality, slowly shaking his head, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness, "We can't outrun him. His speed is too fast!"

"But we can't just wait here to die!" The subordinate stamped his foot in agitation.

Zhao Peng was just about to speak when a message from his family suddenly came through on the communication stone. With just one glance, he instantly flew into a rage, his face turning even more unpleasant.