Chapter Sixty-Seven: A Hundred Herbs of Sincere Heart, A Friend's Ancient Promise

Before returning to the Abode of Returning Ruins, Jiang Xiuyuan decided to visit one more place.

The Hundred Herb Valley.

Back then, his cooperation with the Hundred Herb Valley involved trading his advanced alchemy philosophies for their vast resources. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement that left both parties well satisfied.

Nearly a thousand years had passed, and he wanted to see whether that bond of goodwill still endured.

The Hundred Herb Valley of today was long past being a second-rate sect content with a corner of the world.

When Jiang Xiuyuan arrived outside the mountain gates of the Hundred Herb Valley accompanied by Jiang Yiyi and Jiang Xiaobai, what met his eyes was a completely different scene.

The grand protective array of the sect was more than ten times more magnificent than it had been a millennium ago, suffused with spiritual light and rich with the fragrance of medicinal herbs. Inside and outside the gates, traffic was heavy and people bustled about; countless cultivators from all over the Eastern Domain were queuing up, waiting to purchase medicinal pills.

Above the mountain gate, the three characters "Hundred Herb Valley" were written in a flying, unrestrained dragon-and-phoenix script, exuding an extraordinary aura. Beside them hung a slightly smaller plaque, crafted from a more ancient and solemn material, inscribed with four characters: "The Orthodox Path of Alchemy."

Such grand airs.

Jiang Xiuyuan smiled faintly. It seemed the "seeds" he had left behind back then had long since taken root, sprouted, and grown into towering trees.

Unlike his approach at the Jiang family, he did not send his voice directly. Instead, he walked up to the mountain gate like an ordinary visitor.

"Two seniors, are you here to seek pills or to visit friends?" A gate-keeping disciple noticed their transcendent demeanors and stepped forward to ask politely.

"To visit a friend," Jiang Xiuyuan said calmly. "I am looking for your valley master."

The disciple was slightly stunned, a trace of embarrassment showing on his face. "Senior, our valley master is extremely busy and does not easily receive outside guests. Without a recommendation or an appointment, I am afraid..."

Jiang Xiuyuan did not make things difficult for him. He simply took out a jade pendant.

It was a most ordinary piece of jade, carved from the "Condensing Fragrance Jade" that could be found everywhere in the Hundred Herb Valley, with only a single character, "Jiang," carved upon it. This was the token personally handed to him by Elder Qian, the person he had cooperated with all those years ago.

"Give this to your valley master. When she sees it, she will naturally meet me."

Doubtfully, the disciple accepted the jade pendant, yet still respectfully uttered an assent before turning and entering the mountain gate.

Jiang Xiuyuan, Jiang Yiyi, and Jiang Xiaobai waited quietly outside the mountain gate.

Less than the time it took to burn a single stick of incense—

Suddenly, from deep within the Hundred Herb Valley, three clear, resonant, and melodious bell tolls echoed across the firmament!

This was the highest-spec welcoming bell of the Hundred Herb Valley! It was only ever sounded when welcoming great figures of the Deity Transformation stage or honored guests who had bestowed immense grace upon the sect!

All the cultivators waiting inside and outside the mountain gate wore expressions of profound shock, speculating amongst themselves as to which great personage had arrived.

Immediately afterward, the protective array of the Hundred Herb Valley swung wide open. A streak of escaping light flew out at maximum speed, landing right before Jiang Xiuyuan.

The newcomer was a middle-aged female cultivator who looked to be in her thirties, with a capable and spirited visage. She wore the green alchemy robe exclusive to the valley master of the Hundred Herb Valley, her cultivation base having reached the late Nascent Soul stage, her aura steady and profound.

The moment she landed, her gaze locked firmly onto Jiang Xiuyuan, filled with excitement, awe, and a trace of the nervousness a junior feels upon meeting a legendary figure.

"This junior, the thirty-seventh valley master of the Hundred Herb Valley, Liu Qingmei, pays her respects to... the Recluse of Returning Ruins!"

She bowed deeply to Jiang Xiuyuan, performing the grand ceremony reserved for a junior meeting an esteemed mentor.

The title "Recluse of Returning Ruins" took Jiang Xiuyuan somewhat by surprise. It seemed that Elder Qian had not disclosed his true name back then, but had instead chosen a moniker for him.

"Valley Master Liu, there is no need for such formalities." Jiang Xiuyuan raised a hand.

"Senior, please!" Liu Qingmei turned sideways, making a respectful gesture of invitation, and personally led the way ahead.

This sight once again caused the surrounding cultivators to drop their jaws in astonishment. Try as they might, they could not fathom why the valley master of the Hundred Herb Valley, a figure renowned throughout the Eastern Domain, would be so respectful to a seemingly unremarkable "mortal."

Guided by Liu Qingmei, Jiang Xiuyuan and his daughter entered the depths of the Hundred Herb Valley, arriving before an ancient, restricted ancestral hall.

Within the hall, the spirit tablets of the past patriarchs of the Hundred Herb Valley were enshrined.

At the very top, alongside the founding patriarch of the Hundred Herb Valley, stood another nameless spirit tablet placed parallel to it.

Upon the tablet, no name was inscribed; there were only four characters: "Esteemed Mentor of Returning Ruins."

Liu Qingmei lit three sticks of pure incense, first bowing to the past patriarchs, and then bowing deeply once more before that nameless spirit tablet.

"My grandmaster, Elder Qian, left behind an ancestral instruction before his transformation," Liu Qingmei turned around to look at Jiang Xiuyuan, her eyes filled with sincerity and gratitude. "He said that the Hundred Herb Valley owes its present standing entirely to the guidance of an esteemed mentor who called himself the 'Recluse of Returning Ruins' a thousand years ago. The alchemy philosophies passed down by the mentor are the foundational roots of our sect and our supreme treasure."

"The ancestral instruction stated that if anyone holding a jade pendant inscribed with the 'Jiang' character should ever arrive in the future, regardless of what they seek, everyone in the Hundred Herb Valley must exhaust all their resources to repay even a fraction of the mentor's kindness."

"Elder Qian... when did he pass?" Jiang Xiuyuan asked softly.

"My grandmaster, two hundred years ago, attempted to break through to the Deity Transformation stage with the cultivation base of a Great Circle Nascent Soul, but failed, and his physical body disintegrated as he passed away." Liu Qingmei's tone carried a hint of sorrow and reverence. "His greatest regret before passing away was not being able to see his benefactor one last time to express his gratitude in person."

Jiang Xiuyuan fell silent.

Old friends had passed away.

Yet his promise and his goodwill had taken root in the Hundred Herb Valley like a seed, passing down through the centuries.

The capable female valley master before him was Elder Qian's grand-disciple. She had never laid eyes on him before, yet solely on the strength of her master's dying instruction and a single token, she had accorded him the highest standard of respect.

This was the substance left behind by the passage of time.

A tender warmth known as "inheritance" and "loyalty."

"He was a good business partner," Jiang Xiuyuan evaluated calmly.

"Senior, please enter." Liu Qingmei invited them into a quiet chamber and served the finest medicinal tea.

"I wonder what brings Senior here this time? As long as this junior can accomplish it, I shall not refuse!" Liu Qingmei's attitude remained exceptionally respectful.

Jiang Xiuyuan shook his head and smiled. "I have no particular business; I was merely passing by on my way home to take a look. Seeing the present prosperity of the Hundred Herb Valley, and seeing that you have not forgotten the agreement of years past, sets my mind at ease."

His purpose in coming here had always been to resolve a karmic tie.

Seeing that his old friend's promise had been fulfilled with such a flawless continuation, the lingering concern in his heart was finally laid to rest.

Hearing this, Liu Qingmei felt even more deeply moved. This legendary mentor had bestowed a grace great enough to alter the destiny of an entire sect, yet sought no reward; even after a millennium, he had merely "dropped by to take a look."

What magnanimity and breadth of spirit!

She retrieved a delicate jade box from her storage pouch and offered it with both hands. "Senior, this is a token of this junior's sincerity. Inside are three 'Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pills,' which our valley spent hundreds of years refining based on the incomplete alchemy formula fragments Senior left behind. Although their efficacy may not be a ten-thousandth of the original version, they have miraculous effects on injuries to the primordial spirit. Please do accept them, Senior."

Jiang Xiuyuan glanced at them; these pills were indeed extraordinary, representing the absolute pinnacle of healing elixirs in the Eastern Domain.

He did not refuse, accepting the jade box.

If he refused, the other party would lose sleep with worry. This was not merely a matter of medicinal pills; it was an "answer sheet" passed down for nearly a thousand years.

"You have put your heart into this." Jiang Xiuyuan accepted the pills and rose to his feet. "I should take my leave."

"Won't Senior stay a few more days? This junior still has many doubts regarding the path of alchemy that I wish to seek Senior's guidance on," Liu Qingmei said hastily.

"Our paths have met here, which is already a rare fortune. You have done well; simply continue walking forward."

Leaving behind a word of encouragement, Jiang Xiuyuan took Jiang Yiyi and turned to leave.

Liu Qingmei escorted them all the way outside the mountain gate, watching as the figures of the father and daughter vanished into the distant horizon, standing motionless for a very long time.