That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Lin Zhifeng returned to the sect and, without even taking a break, went to find the Ninth Elder looking travel-worn.

He recounted the prepared statement to the Ninth Elder.

The Ninth Elder remained silent for a long time after hearing this, but did not ask any further questions. He simply said, "Now that you have received the inheritance of alchemy, would you be willing to learn medicine from me?"

Lin Zhifeng felt dizzy upon hearing this, and shook his head vigorously, refusing without hesitation: "Ninth Elder, I don't want to! I still want to be a sword cultivator! As for alchemy, I only plan to refine some that I need occasionally, and I don't want to study it in depth."

The Ninth Elder was disappointed in him, but he also knew that everyone has their own ambitions.

Moreover, to achieve great success in sword cultivation, one truly needs to focus solely on the way of the sword. He himself made slow progress in swordsmanship because he was too distracted by medical skills.

Despite his regret, the Ninth Elder had no choice but to follow Lin Zhifeng.

Fortunately, Lin Zhifeng had given the formula for the Exorcism Pill to the Ninth Elder, who was now eager to study it. Therefore, Lin Zhifeng managed to get away with it.

Lin Zhifeng bid farewell to the Ninth Elder before returning to his cave dwelling. After resting briefly, he went to check on the beehive he had built in the backyard.

Since returning from the secret realm, Lin Zhifeng has been busy with one thing after another and hasn't had a moment to spare.

After the hive was modified, he didn't check on it more than a few times. It was all thanks to Qingfeng, who, entrusted by Lin Zhifeng, truly took the care of the queen bee to heart.

When Lin Zhifeng went to the backyard, he saw that the queen bee was being well taken care of by Qingfeng and had already laid a swarm of wild bees.

Wild bees grow very quickly and mature in a short period of time; most of them are now adults.

Many have already been dispatched by the Queen Bee to collect pollen from the sacred fields within the clan, and will return to begin making honey.

Because their queen was Lin Zhifeng's spirit pet, the newly hatched wild bees also regarded Lin Zhifeng as their master.

Although wild bees are low-level creatures, at least they will no longer attack the people and beasts of the Sword Sect once they have a master.

With the help of these wild bees spreading pollen, the crops in the sect are growing exceptionally well. Qingfeng said that this year's spiritual fruits are more plentiful than in previous years.

Unexpectedly, a mutually beneficial relationship has been formed. This is wonderful!

Lin Zhifeng was very satisfied with the stable production of honey and royal jelly from his bee farm. He also praised his spirit pet, the wild queen bee.

As for Qingfeng, Lin Zhifeng not only praised him verbally but also gave him a considerable amount of cultivation resources as a reward. Qingfeng accepted the gifts with profuse thanks and became even more attentive to the tasks Lin Zhifeng assigned.

The days that followed were a period of peaceful and quiet cultivation for Lin Zhifeng.

The Demon Realm previously launched a massive attack on the cultivation world, but ended up suffering heavy losses themselves. They are quite quiet now, and it seems they won't cause any more trouble for at least a hundred years.

In the world of cultivation, time flies by.

Lin Zhifeng focused on cultivation every day, and in the blink of an eye, he had broken through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

That day, Qingfeng brought news that people from the Divine Dragon Dynasty had come to visit—saying they had an appointment with Lin Zhifeng to go out together.

Lin Zhifeng knew that it was Long Quan, the crown prince of the Tianlong Dynasty, who had arrived.

They had previously agreed that Lin Zhifeng and Ding Mo would bring the Treasure-Seeking Rat along to accompany Longquan to explore the secret realm of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty and help Longquan find a sacred object that could help him awaken his divine dragon bloodline.

It seems the time has come!

Thinking of this, Lin Zhifeng dared not be negligent at all (after all, the big spender had arrived) and hurriedly went to the sect's main gate to greet him.

The newcomers were indeed Longquan and his guards.

Seeing that so many people had arrived, Lin Zhifeng felt it inappropriate to lead them all inside. After hesitating for a moment, Lin Zhifeng said to Longquan, "Brother Long, either you can find a place to wait for me, I need to go back and ask the elders for leave and make some preparations. I also need to call Ding Mo; or Longquan, you can come into the sect with me, but I'm afraid your guards cannot come along."

Before Longquan could speak, the Nascent Soul Realm guard beside him said with dissatisfaction, "Your Highness, you must not risk going with him alone. What will happen to the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty if something happens to you?"

Lin Zhifeng thought to himself: What should the Tianlong Dynasty do? Just choose another crown prince! I remember Longquan saying last time that he has several younger brothers! Besides, who are you talking about with such petty and sarcastic remarks? Our Sword Sect is a prestigious sect, would we possibly murder your crown prince?

Lin Zhifeng sneered, "Who do we have here? It's a senior in the Nascent Soul stage! If I remember correctly, when you lost to my martial uncle last time, you were at the late Nascent Soul stage, right? How come you haven't improved at all in all this time? You've actually regressed! Now you're only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage? Tsk tsk tsk... Look at you, all you do is scheme and plot all day long!"

That Nascent Soul cultivator was defeated by Ding Mo in one move, and because he was jealous of Ding Mo's youthful genius, he suffered a cultivation deviation and his realm fell. He had finally cultivated back to the mid-Nascent Soul stage in just over a year, but after Lin Zhifeng's words, he almost vomited blood again.

Longquan quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Long Yi, you mustn't be rude! Brother Lin and the Sword Sect are absolutely trustworthy!"

After pretending to reprimand his subordinates, he turned to Lin Zhifeng with a smile and said, "Although I have complete trust in the Sword Sect and Brother Lin's character, time is of the essence. I will lead my men to wait for Senior Brother Lin and Senior Brother Ding at the foot of the mountain!"

"In that case, let's meet at the foot of the mountain in an hour!" Lin Zhifeng said, then turned and headed towards Ding Mo's residence.

On the way, Lin Zhifeng couldn't help but complain: "Longquan, that big idiot, doesn't even understand the hierarchy. Ding Mo is a Nascent Soul cultivator, and you're just a Core Formation cultivator. You have to call him 'Uncle-Master,' you know that?"

In their feudal dynasty, people were always distinguished by their social status. Even that Nascent Soul cultivator was merely a guard by Longquan's side. Therefore, the fact that Longquan addressed Ding Mo as "Senior Brother" was only because of Ding Mo's strength and because Longquan needed his help.

Thinking about this, Lin Zhifeng couldn't help but feel a little envious of Longquan. Putting everything else aside, at least he didn't have to call someone only a few years older than him "Uncle-Master"!

Lin Zhifeng has cultivated relentlessly, benefited from his master's teachings, and received support from the system, yet he has only barely reached the late Nascent Soul stage. It's possible that by the time he breaks through to the Deity Transformation stage, Ding Mo will have already broken through to the Void Refinement stage.

Lin Zhifeng arrived at Ding Mo's cave dwelling soon, just as Ding Mo was returning from outside.

Lin Zhifeng told Ding Mo about Longquan's visit and his invitation to explore the Heavenly Dragon Secret Realm together.

This matter had been agreed upon more than a year ago, and since Ding Mo was still far from another breakthrough, he could go along. Therefore, Ding Mo agreed without hesitation.