Teacher by day, Farmer by passion - Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Limbs.
“Did I forget to mention that? Oh dear.”

Ace rolled his eyes at the voice in his head. Get on with it.

“Oh, eager now, are we? Fine. There’s a reason peak-grade pills are nothing more than myths in the mortal realm. Mortal cauldrons can’t handle them. They shatter long before the pill even takes form. The sheer purity and density of spiritual energy required to refine one would rupture an ordinary cauldron from the inside out.”

Ace frowned. That made sense. But there was something even stranger.

Then how does Akha even know what a peak-grade pill is?

She had called it by name without hesitation, her voice laced with awe but not confusion. That meant she had seen—or at least heard—of them before. But such knowledge shouldn’t exist here.

“Now that,” the voice purred, “is the interesting part.”

Ace glanced at Akha, who still cradled the pill in her hands as if holding a sacred relic. But there was no point in dwelling on it now.

Shaking his head, he turned to the three women.

“Alright, that’s enough excitement,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “Don’t get too caught up in this. Keep refining. Take turns if you have to.”

Akha, Khani, and Kathum straightened at once, nodding in unison.

Ace extended his hand. “I’ll be taking these.”

Akha hesitated, her fingers tightening around the pills for just a moment before she reluctantly handed them over. Her hands lingered a second longer, unwilling to let go.

Ace arched a brow. “That attached already?”

She huffed but said nothing.

Smirking, Ace flicked out one of the peak-grade pills and tossed it back to her. “Here. A souvenir.”

Akha’s breath caught, her hands trembling slightly as she accepted it.

Khani and Kathum looked envious but stayed silent.

“Good. Keep up the work.” With a flick of his wrist, Ace stored the remaining pills inside a jade bottle and turned away.

____

Meanwhile, Shan Yifeng and Liu Mei wove through the same street for the third time, their eyes sweeping every corner as if searching for something unseen.

“Junior Brother, I only followed you because you said something interesting would happen,” Liu Mei muttered, arms crossed.

“Shush,” Shan Yifeng shot back, barely sparing her a glance.

He had led her here for a reason. This was the exact spot where they had seen a body being left behind.

After a few more steps, Shan Yifeng came to an abrupt stop in front of a nondescript wall, his gaze sharpening.

“It’s an illusion formation,” he murmured. “I’ve got it.”Liu Mei blinked. “Huh? When did you start learning formations?”

Shan Yifeng didn’t respond right away, his gaze locked onto the wall before him.

Unlike Liu Mei, whose instincts guided her to evade attacks without conscious thought, Shan Yifeng had been steadily uncovering the path laid out by his cultivation technique.

The manual his master had given him outlined several stages of mastery. He was currently on the third.

The first was Space Imprintment—a technique that allowed him to send his attacks into space itself, lying dormant until triggered by an opponent swapping places with him.

The second, which he had named Void Walk, let him momentarily step into a separate spatial layer, effectively hiding from sight. However, the energy consumption was enormous, making it difficult to use freely.

And now, after advancing to Major Gold Rank, he had unlocked the third ability—one he called Eyes of Truth. This technique granted him the ability to see through deception, revealing hidden realities, though at a steep cost to his energy reserves.

Stepping forward, he placed his palm against the wall. The moment he did, the illusion rippled like water and disappeared.

Before them lay a vast, circular clearing.

And in its center—

A mountain of dismembered limbs.

Fore limbs, hind limbs, all lay scattered in a grotesque heap, piled high in plain sight.

And there was no trace of any humans patrolling nearby.

Liu Mei didn’t flinch. She didn’t feel disgusted at the grotesque scene before her. But—

She also didn’t smile like she usually did.

Shan Yifeng stepped into the formation circle, carefully tracing a few intricate symbols onto its surface.

They were small—so minuscule that unless someone was actively searching, they would never notice them.

“Brother, shall we report this to authorities and leave?” she asked, her voice quieter than usual.

Shan Yifeng didn’t look at her. “Shush, Don’t disturb me.”

Liu Mei clicked her tongue. “Tch. Touche~”

Just as he prepared to inscribe another, his ears twitched.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Liu Mei by the waist and activated Void Walk.

In an instant, the two of them vanished into the void.

Mere moments later, two figures entered the clearing.

“Hm? There’s no one here,” one of them muttered, scanning the surroundings.

“I told you, you’re just being paranoid,” the other woman said, clearly annoyed.

“The Xiao family will have our heads if this place is exposed, dummy,” the first woman snapped.

Then, after a moment, she spoke again. “Let’s search around a bit.”

The two figures moved cautiously, sweeping their gazes across the area, oblivious to the hidden pair watching them from the void.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the two figures finally left.

Yet, Shan Yifeng remained still, his vigilance unwavering.

I thoroughly made sure to check the surroundings before entering. If they just come and go without triggering the warning formation I added, there must be another exit… or I missed something.

Beside him, Liu Mei’s eyes sparkled with wonder as she took in their surroundings. The void—dark yet shimmering, endless yet serene—was mesmerizing to her.

“Junior Brother, what is this?” she whispered, awestruck. “Teach me! This is so beautiful! I can hide anytime I want!”

She twirled in place, eyes wide with wonder. The void felt infinite yet intimate, its shifting lights like stars caught between waking and dreaming.

“Junior Brother, this is incredible!” she whispered, her voice nearly swallowed by the vast silence.

As they say, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. And to Liu Mei, the void was nothing short of breathtaking.