Chapter 87: Which Elder’s Top Disciple Are You?

The female disciple trembled, startled by the sudden shout. Her squatting body immediately lost balance, and she plopped down in the muddy herb garden. She quickly got up, saw the mud all over her backside, and couldn't help but complain to Jiang Fan: "What are you shouting for?"

Jiang Fan let out a slight breath, walked over, and pointed at the 'Tiger Rose': "Is this your first time encountering this type of rose?"

A hint of guilt flashed across the disciple's delicate face, but she stubbornly replied, "Who said so? I have them planted in my backyard."

Jiang Fan simply smiled without speaking. He picked up a dry twig from the ground and carefully poked the rose.

The result: this seemingly beautiful rose, with pink and white stripes, suddenly retracted its petals, enveloping the end of the twig. It was like a fierce tiger suddenly attacking, biting down hard on its prey. With a snap, the twig broke.

Witnessing this, the female disciple gasped, covering her mouth. She realized that if she had touched it with her finger just now, the outcome would have been obvious: even if it wasn't bitten off, her skin would have been broken.

Blushing, she bowed slightly and said, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you, and thank you."

Jiang Fan replied indifferently, "It's nothing." He then took out a prepared jade box and a sharp jade knife, skillfully snipping away. Soon, the box was completely full. Roughly estimated, it weighed about three catties. This was enough to refine the Tiger Pellets needed to complete the first layer of the 'Iron Blood True Scripture'.

He could also take another seven catties of medicinal herbs. It was obvious what he would take: the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill, land coral and black-veined ganoderma. Fortunately, both ingredients were in the lower-grade herb garden and not far away. He then took out specialized containers and individually collected three and a half catties of each of these two ingredients.

The delicate young woman watched Jiang Fan's incredibly skilled movements with surprise. "This... Junior Brother, may I ask which peak's talented disciple you are?"

"I am Su Qiuning from Medicine Peak. Junior Brother, it seems you were just collecting ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills. Are you perhaps a disciple from Pill Peak?" She was quite puzzled. Only disciples from Pill Peak would need the ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills. What use would disciples from other peaks have for them?

"Which peak's disciple?" It was debatable whether he could even become a peak disciple. He cleared his throat and said, "I'm just curious about medicinal herbs; I'm not a Pill Peak disciple." On his first day in the sect, he had been tricked into entering a female disciple's spirit pond. How could he dare to tell anyone the truth again? He wouldn't reveal his identity as a Soul Master even if it killed him.

"Oh." Seeing his reluctance to elaborate, Su Qiuning didn't press further.

Just then, the voice of the herb garden supervisor came from the entrance: "Su Qiuning, you have fifteen minutes left. Select your herbs and come out as soon as possible. Do not linger."

Hearing this, Su Qiuning's expression tightened. She pulled out the prescription from her pocket, looked at the several ingredients she hadn't found yet, and frowned worriedly: "What do I do? There are still five types I haven't collected. Not to mention preparing the medicine. This is my master's last task for me. If I fail the assessment, I'll be punished with a year of closed-door cultivation." The thought of a year of closed-door cultivation, a punishment akin to imprisonment, made her face turn pale.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan walked past her, and her eyes lit up slightly. Pressing her lips together, she said, blushing, "Junior Brother, could you do me a favor? Could you help me find all the medicinal herbs on this prescription?"

"Find herbs?" How difficult could the prescription be that she couldn't even find all the herbs? He took the prescription and glanced at it, secretly surprised. "Isn't this the 'Black Soul Bone-Mending Paste' from the 'Immortal Medical Tome'?" All the required herbs were unique in the world. At the very least, his low-grade key certainly wouldn't qualify him to obtain these herbs. No wonder she couldn't find all the herbs. These herbs were not only rare but also incredibly peculiar; someone without experience would genuinely struggle to find them quickly. Fortunately, the 'Immortal Medical Tome' had information on all of them.

"Please, Junior Brother," Su Qiuning begged, pressing her small hands together as time grew increasingly urgent. "If you can find them, I'll only take one portion of the herbs; the rest will be yours!"

One portion of herbs, at most one catty. The remaining nine catties would go to Jiang Fan? However, he first confirmed, asking, "Are you holding the key to the high-grade herb garden? Ninety percent of the ingredients on this list are in the high-grade herb garden."

Seeing that Jiang Fan knew the grade of these herbs immediately, Su Qiuning felt her hope grow. She nodded repeatedly. "Yes, I can freely collect ten catties of herbs from the high, medium, and low-grade herb gardens here."

Jiang Fan completely relaxed and said, "Good! It's a deal!" He first checked what Su Qiuning had already collected, then immediately entered the high-grade herb garden.

Su Qiuning couldn't help but worry, "I've searched everywhere here, but I don't think they're present."

Jiang Fan said nothing. He scanned the area and spotted what looked like ordinary mugwort. He put on his gloves and pulled it up. Immediately, a cluster of golden-yellow roots was pulled out.

"Dragon's Beard Root! The Dragon's Beard Root from the prescription!" she exclaimed. "That's right, how could I forget? Dragon's Beard Root likes to parasitize the roots of wild grass."

Next, Jiang Fan then saw an apple tree, which seemed to bear very ordinary apples. But when he took out a mirror and directed a beam of light onto them, the apples immediately turned pure white.

"Ah! Snow Crystal Fruit! So it only reveals its true form when exposed to sunlight? My teacher never mentioned that!"

After that, Jiang Fan continuously found one difficult-to-find herb after another in the high-grade herb garden. In less than fifteen minutes, all the herbs on the prescription were gathered. Jiang Fan separated one catty and handed it to her: "Check it against the prescription to see if anything is missing."

Su Qiuning quickly compared them one by one, her delicate face filled with surprise: "They're all here! Every single one!" She gazed at Jiang Fan with an almost worshipful look: "Junior Brother, you are truly amazing. Much more skilled than even my Senior Sister!" Jiang Fan could practically tell where the required herbs were hidden with just a glance. This was something only their master, the Peak Master of Medicine Peak, could do. She felt that Jiang Fan must be a highly talented disciple from some peak. Otherwise, he wouldn't possess such abilities!

This look of adoration made Jiang Fan feel a bit awkward. He had taken ninety percent of such precious herbs, yet the other person not only showed no reluctance but praised him so openly. He scratched his head, thinking that refining the Black Soul Bone-Mending Paste was also very difficult. Su Qiuning even struggled to find the herbs; with only one portion of ingredients in her hand, it would likely be very difficult for her to successfully prepare it.

"Never mind, 'since you've sent Buddha, send him all the way to the West'!" He thought. "Consider it squaring the account completely. Senior Sister Su, if you trust me, I can also prepare the medicine for you."

Su Qiuning's eyes lit up; she was indeed feeling troubled. She had all the herbs, but she had no confidence at all in successfully refining them. "Trust you? Yes! Yes! Of course, I trust you!" she nodded eagerly.

And so, Jiang Fan immediately started a fire and used a pill-refining furnace to brew the bone-mending paste. Soon after, a mass of paste, dark as ink and gleaming, appeared before Su Qiuning. She couldn't help but frown, muttering to herself, "Shouldn't Black Soul Bone-Mending Paste be indigo? How did this Junior Brother refine it into black? Did he fail?" But since he was helping her out of kindness, she couldn't say anything. She could only suppress her worry, put it away, and repeatedly thank him: "Thank you, Junior Brother."

"Oh, by the way, I still don't know your name, Junior Brother, or your peak. I'd like to visit another day to thank you properly."

Jiang Fan waved his hand: "My name is Jiang Fan. There's no need for a formal visit to thank me. Because I'm a new disciple and haven't officially joined a peak yet."

Su Qiuning nodded: "Oh, so you're Junior Brother Jiang."

But then, her expression froze. "Wait! He said he's a new disciple?"