194: When pulling up a radish, you must pull it up by the roots.

The wind and snow in Frost-Falling City seemed to have become a little gentler due to the purification of that sinful courtyard.

Gongsun Yan stood at the city gate and looked back.

That newly born Hundred Herb Garden stubbornly revealed a touch of green amidst the white snow.

But there was not a hint of warmth in her clear eyes.

She would be happy if she cured a patient.

But when she discovered that this illness was a plague deliberately spread by someone, she only felt icy anger.

A doctor has a benevolent heart.

But benevolence is not for butchers.

She withdrew her gaze; the wisp of black cold poison in her palm, restrained by the power of her Pill Dao Saint Body, was still twisting unwillingly.

She could clearly perceive that the roots of this resentment were buried deeper than she had imagined.

It went far beyond just a small Frost-Falling City.

Meanwhile.

Central Region, Nine Heavens Divine City.

Inside a golden palace floating above the clouds at the headquarters of the Myriad Dao Merchant Guild.

Wang Duojin was crossing his legs, enjoying a massage from a maidservant while spitting enthusiastically at the water mirror in front of him.

"Manager Yun, listen to me calculate the numbers for you."

"For your Xuanlin Merchant Guild to make one trip to the Shattered Star Sea, if three out of ten ships return, you should consider yourself lucky."

"Now, if you join our 'Myriad Dao Express Delivery', never mind star pirates, even if an Immortal Lord comes, they would have to politely ask if you need to sign up for a membership!"

On the other side of the water mirror, the face of Yun Shanlai from the Xuanlin Merchant Guild looked worse than if he were crying.

"President Wang is right, absolutely right..."

Just as Wang Duojin was about to quote the franchise fee that made even him tremble with fear.

Hum.

The token at his waist vibrated slightly.

Wang Duojin frowned, a trace of displeasure flashing across his face.

Which blind fool dared to interrupt him while he was negotiating a business deal worth hundreds of millions?

He impatiently sent a wisp of Divine Thought into it.

The next second.

The shrewdness and cunning on his face vanished without a trace instantly.

Replaced by a chilling coldness capable of freezing the Void Realm.

That aura made the True Immortal Realm maidservant massaging his shoulders tremble, and she nearly fell to her knees.

Jin Qianwan, Chief Manager, on the other side of the water mirror, felt a chill shoot straight from the soles of his feet to his crown.

He had never seen this smiling living God of Wealth wear such a terrifying expression.

"Manager Yun."

Wang Duojin's voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Let's end today's meeting here."

"I have some private matters to attend to."

After speaking, he didn't wait for a response and cut off the communication directly.

He slowly stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the palace, and looked down at the bustling Nine Heavens Divine City below.

"Someone come."

A deacon dressed in black with an aura as deep as an abyss appeared behind him like a ghost.

"President."

"Activate the 'Scavenger' protocol."

Wang Duojin's voice was not loud, but it caused the pupils of that Profound Immortal Realm dark department deacon to constrict sharply.

The Scavenger protocol.

This was the highest-level internal directive of the Myriad Dao Pavilion and the Myriad Dao Merchant Guild.

Once activated, it meant using thunderous means to erase a massive power from the Immortal Realm that had touched the Sect's forbidden scale.

"Target?" the deacon's voice was a bit dry.

Wang Duojin did not turn around.

He looked outside the window and calmly spat out a few words.

"In the borderlands of the Southern Region, everyone who uses living people for Alchemy."

"From the Sects down to the medicine shops, including everyone who provides Materials, who buys and sells Medicinal Pills, and the City Lord's Mansions that turn a blind eye..."

"Every single one of them."

He paused and added a sentence.

"Pull out the radish, roots and all."

"Yes!"

The deacon's figure merged into the shadows and disappeared.

Southern Region, Black Wind Mountain Range.

This was the location of the largest black market in the borderlands of the Southern Region.

A caravan composed of thirty huge flying ships was slowly descending into the canyon of the mountain range.

On the flags of the flying ships, a three-legged Medicine Cauldron was embroidered.

It was none other than the largest Medicinal Pill black market supplier in the Southern Region, the "Three Cauldron Studio".

On the deck of the leading flying ship.

A middle-aged man wearing luxurious clothing, whose cultivation had reached the Mid-stage Profound Immortal, stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the bustling black market below with eyes full of arrogance.

His name was Liao Wanshan, the Chief Manager of the Three Cauldron Studio.

"Manager Liao, the 'goods' this time are of extremely high quality."

A True Immortal Realm manager fawned and stepped forward.

"Especially the batch collected from Frost-Falling City; the resentment is extremely heavy. When refining 'Child's Fright', the medicinal efficacy can be increased by thirty percent!"

Liao Wanshan nodded with satisfaction.

"Tell the people below to be quick."

"After delivering the goods, we still have to go to the next place."

"Yes!"

The manager was about to retreat.

Just then.

A cold, clear voice sounded in everyone's ears without warning.

"You don't need to go anywhere."

Liao Wanshan's expression changed, and he looked up sharply.

He saw that at the entrance of the canyon, a young girl dressed in a goose-yellow long dress was standing there, though he didn't know when she had arrived.

She just stood there quietly, as if she had merged into this world.

"Who are you!"

Liao Wanshan shouted sternly, his Divine Thought instantly locking onto Gongsun Yan.

Late Stage Heavenly Immortal?

A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.

"Little girl, are you lost?"

"This is not a place you should be."

Gongsun Yan ignored him.

Her gaze passed through Liao Wanshan and fell upon the heavily guarded flying ships behind him.

She could clearly perceive it.

Inside, it was filled with the wails and resentment of countless children before they died.

"On your bodies."

Gongsun Yan spoke slowly, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"Stained with the tears of medicinal herbs."

"What kind of nonsense is that!"

Liao Wanshan lost his patience.

"Take her down!"

"Whether she lives or dies depends on whether she cooperates!"

The two True Immortal Realm guards behind him grinned and pounced on her.

Gongsun Yan sighed softly.

She raised her hand.

A tiny emerald green seed, smaller than a speck of dust, drifted from her palm.

The seed landed on the ground.

It did not take root, it did not sprout.

It simply disappeared.

The two True Immortal guards who had pounced up stopped abruptly in mid-air.

They lowered their heads in terror.

They saw that on their chests, an emerald green sprout had grown at some point.

The sprout was growing wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"Ah——"

A shrill scream echoed through the canyon.

Their flesh and blood, their immortal essence, and their Divine Soul all became the best nourishment for this sprout!

In the blink of an eye.

The two arrogant True Immortal powerhouses turned into two dried corpses wrapped in vines.

And on the vines, two eerie and beautiful blood-colored flowers bloomed.

On the deck, there was dead silence.

The arrogance on Liao Wanshan's face was completely replaced by fear.

"Demonic... Demonic art!"

He turned to flee.

But his feet seemed to be welded to the deck, unable to move.

He discovered in horror.

The entire fleet, thirty flying ships, had already been completely surrounded by a boundless primeval forest at some point.

On the branches of those towering ancient trees, pairs of cold, ruthless, giant eyes opened.

"I said."

Gongsun Yan's figure appeared in front of Liao Wanshan.

"You don't need to go anywhere."

She reached out and gently pressed her hand on top of Liao Wanshan's head.

"In my name."

"Ten Thousand Woods, revive."

Rumble—

The entire Black Wind Mountain Range trembled violently at this moment.

As if an ancient behemoth that had been sleeping for billions of years was waking up.