230: Sir, please come again next time!

She only needed sixty-three more types of Materials to complete the task Lu Hao had entrusted to her.

However, starting from the eighth day, the situation began to feel wrong!

Shi Yi's procurement efforts within the Danyang Ancient Region seemed to have encountered some inexplicable obstacles.

The Danyang Ancient Region was vast; in the first week, Shi Yi and her companions had only explored one-tenth of its territory, yet they had already found eight types of Materials.

But from the eighth day onwards, Shi Yi had not seen a single type of Material they needed! Logically, this was highly unlikely.

Something was wrong! Extremely wrong!

On the tenth day, Shi Yi finally realized what was happening.

Although collecting Materials naturally became more difficult over time, it was highly improbable that they wouldn't even be able to hear news of a single Spiritual Plant for three whole days!

Unless someone was making trouble behind the scenes!

At this thought, a cold glint appeared in Shi Yi's eyes; obstructing her from completing her task was the same as opposing her master, and that made them her mortal enemy!

"I must first determine if this is truly the case before deciding on my next course of action."

Shi Yi walked into another shop; this was a rather famous one in the area, and its stock of medicinal herbs was extremely rich.

As soon as she entered, she asked directly:

"Boss, do you have any 100,000-year-old Celestial Silkworm Silk? I am willing to pay a high price for it!"

The boss heard this and slowly shook his head, saying:

"Apologies, miss. 100,000-year-old Celestial Silkworm Silk is an extremely rare treasure. I truly do not have any here; perhaps you might try looking at other shops?"

"Very well, if you don't have it, then never mind."

Shi Yi replied casually, then cast a quick glance toward the medicinal herbs before walking straight out of the shop.

Behind her, a humanoid puppet floated eerily, sticking close to her like a bodyguard.

Without stopping, Shi Yi immediately walked into another shop and began inquiring about the whereabouts of the 100,000-year-old Celestial Silkworm Silk.

As Shi Yi had expected, not a single shop claimed to have this treasure.

Later, Shi Yi stopped obsessing over the 100,000-year-old Celestial Silkworm Silk and switched to a different treasure: a 10,000-year-old Ice Spiritual Plant!

The result seemed to be exactly the same.

After wandering for a day, Shi Yi sighed helplessly; she still had no harvest.

She walked back into the first shop she had visited that day. Business seemed to be good, as Shi Yi noticed a satisfied smile plastered on the boss's face.

Shi Yi approached the boss once more and continued to ask:

"Boss, do you have any 10,000-year-old Ice Spiritual Plant here?"

The boss smiled apologetically:

"I am truly sorry, customer. The two medicinal herbs you asked for today are simply too precious; our shop has never managed to acquire such items!"

"Sigh… what a pity… I'm really out of luck today."

Shi Yi feigned a sigh and turned to walk outside.

The boss called out loudly from behind:

"Take care, customer! Do come again next time if you have any needs!"

After Shi Yi left, the boss immediately took the 10,000-year-old Ice Spiritual Plant out of his Storage Pouch, looked at the medicinal herb, and said with a smile:

"Hahaha, now I can finally sell this to the Ancient Pill Sect!"

The Third Elder had no other choice but to send people to pass a message to the shops near Shi Yi.

If it was a medicinal herb that Shi Yi needed, they were to claim they didn't have it; later, they could sell it to the Ancient Pill Sect, which was willing to purchase it at double the price!

Of course, all the shop owners who received this news were required to swear a blood oath not to disclose it, lest Shi Yi find out.

But apparently, the Third Elder had underestimated Shi Yi's shrewdness; after today's probing, she was certain that someone was making trouble behind the scenes to prevent her from collecting medicinal herbs!

Why?

Because when Shi Yi first entered that shop, the 10,000-year-old Ice Spiritual Plant had been lying quietly in the medicinal herb section, yet the boss had claimed he had never acquired it?

Wasn't he just treating her like a fool?

"Damn it!"

Having figured out the truth, Shi Yi cursed inwardly!

"Who exactly is opposing my master? To be able to stop me from procuring Materials, there must be a massive power behind them!"

"Could it be the Three Great Sects?"

"But why would they target my master's procurement of Materials? My master doesn't seem to have targeted them either."

Shi Yi couldn't quite figure it out. Forget it; things were already like this, and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't exactly force people to sell her the Materials, could she?

She was of low status and little influence; she feared no one would take her seriously. If not for the puppet behind her, Shi Yi probably wouldn't have dared to buy things so openly.

She was only at the Nascent Soul stage, which was far too low.

"If I can't buy the Materials, then the person behind this won't have it easy either!"

Shi Yi made up her mind; she decided to retaliate!

The next day, Shi Yi stopped asking for just one type of Material. Instead, as soon as she entered a shop, she rattled off a long list of random Materials, as if she were reciting a menu.

She wanted to confuse the power behind this, so they wouldn't know which medicinal herbs she was actually after!

This way, she could see if she could fish in troubled waters and manage to buy one or two of the medicinal herbs she needed.

However, as Shi Yi recited her list of Materials, the shop owner's eyes turned red!

He stared intently at Shi Yi with an incredibly excited gaze, as if he were looking at a mountain of Spirit Stones.

Shi Yi felt her scalp tingle under his gaze.

A moment later, Shi Yi finally finished listing all the names of the Materials. The boss continued to look at her with an expectant face, and seeing that she had stopped, he asked, unwilling to give up:

"Miss? That's all? Are there any other medicinal herbs you need?"

Shi Yi shook her head and said slowly:

"Not for now. Boss, do you have any of these Materials here?"

"No… but you could list some more medicinal herbs you need; who knows, perhaps I might have them?"

The boss said, holding back his laughter and full of anticipation.

...

Shi Yi was completely speechless… Do you have them or not? Could you at least try to be a bit more convincing? You were looking at me with that kind of gaze just a moment ago, and now you're telling me you don't have them?!

And why don't you take a look at the medicinal herb right next to you? Isn't it one of the ones in the pile I just listed!!!

I'm truly exasperated! You can't even lie properly; you're just too unprofessional!

Shi Yi complained inwardly, but she still said with a smile:

"Fine, sorry to bother you, Boss. Since you don't have them, I'll go ask elsewhere."

"Alright, alright, honored guest—ah, no, customer, please take care!!! Do come again!!!"

Come again, my foot! You don't have anything, why would I come back?

Shi Yi walked out of the shop, cursing under her breath, when the boss behind her suddenly shouted again:

"Customer! You must come again next time!!! Through wind and rain, I will be here waiting for you!"

...