"Repay a favor?"
Ye Feng held the golden medal thrown by Miao Dao, looking bewildered. It seemed like they were meeting for the second time, and this was their first conversation.
When had the other party owed him a favor?
"Ye Feng, it should be about Miao Wenjing!"
At this moment, Lei Jian spoke up, "Miao Dao is Wenjing's grandfather. The favor Senior Miao Dao mentioned should be about you removing the蠱符 (gu charm) from Wenjing's body!"
"After Wenjing inexplicably fell victim to the 蠱符, she must have left on her own to prevent her grandfather from being threatened and controlled by the Huang family... and ended up becoming a beggar..."
"You removed the 蠱符 from Wenjing, and also removed the shackles from Senior Miao Dao... This is a significant favor!"
Lei Jian's expression was quite emotional.
"I see..."
Ye Feng began to understand. "But speaking of which, why did Miao Wenjing say earlier that she was poisoned? That was clearly a 蠱符."
"This is one of the reasons why the Huang family's 蠱符 is so tricky... Falling victim to a 蠱符 presents symptoms of poisoning, a kind of venom that seeps into the bone marrow and constantly erodes the body... Conventional detection methods would also consider it poisoning..."
"So, in theory, if the Huang family doesn't admit it, others can hardly find evidence as to whether it's a 蠱符 or actual poisoning!"
"By means of this, the Huang family has gradually become the leading family over the years by either soliciting or suppressing other families within the Adventurer's Guild!"
By the end of his speech, Wu Ye Lin's brows were filled with worry.
...
Since Wu Ye Lan had not yet returned, Ye Feng was led by Lei Jian to where Miao Wenjing was. Wu Ye Lin cautioned Ye Feng and Lei Jian to try not to be alone and to be careful before attending to her own business.
...
Miao Wenjing was both surprised and delighted by Ye Feng's arrival. Upon learning the purpose of his visit, she became immediately excited...
Thus, Ye Feng spent the entire afternoon discussing arcane runes and the Rune of Sympathetic Resonance with Miao Wenjing...
...
As dusk fell,
"You're truly amazing, to have such research into the Rune of Sympathetic Resonance and arcane runes!"
After discussing with Miao Wenjing for the whole afternoon, Ye Feng couldn't help but praise her.
"Mr. Ye is too kind. I merely heard it from a storyteller by chance and gained some insights. As for Mr. Ye... you have such profound and systematic insights into arcane runes!"
"Especially this 蠱符, how it actually works. I never imagined that the arcane energy proud of by Arcanists would instead fuel the 蠱符's invasion of the human body..."
Miao Wenjing's expression was quite excited because Ye Feng had told him the method to remove the 蠱符. Although his current strength was insufficient, he believed that with time, he too would possess the ability to break free from the 蠱符.
"Ye Feng, Lin sent word that the Guild Master is back!"
At this moment, Lei Jian ran up to Ye Feng and said.
"Oh, good!~"
...
Lei Jian did not accompany Ye Feng and the others to the Wu Ye Adventurer's Guild. Instead, he returned to his own lodgings to rest.
He was currently injured, and the auction tomorrow was likely to be unsettled. He needed to recover his energy and heal his wounds.
Of course, Lei Jian felt that he was not suited to be present during Ye Feng's conversation with Wu Ye Lan...
...
In the top-floor room of the Wu Ye Adventurer's Guild building,
"Ye Feng, Little Lin said you were looking for me?"
As Ye Feng entered the room, Wu Ye Lan, who was wolfing down food at the dining table, spoke to him.
"Damn..."
Seeing the scene before him, Ye Feng was somewhat speechless.
Because Wu Ye Lan, the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild, was covered in a thick layer of dust, his hair was a bit disheveled, and he was eating with his mouth and hands covered in grease.
As he spoke to Ye Feng, Wu Ye Lan was still stuffing food into his mouth, looking like a refugee who had been starving for a long time...
"Cough cough!~"
Wu Ye Lan also realized something and coughed awkwardly. "I've been busy with some matters recently... I haven't eaten properly in a long time. Please excuse my appearance, young friend!"
"Oh, it's nothing~"
Ye Feng waved his hand. "I came to ask about the Strengthening Fruit. Where did you get the Strengthening Fruit? Such a good thing shouldn't be kept for yourself, should it? Why put it up for auction?"
"And what is that divine envoy Elias? Why is that guy targeting the Adventurer's Guild? Is it also because of the Strengthening Fruit?"
Ye Feng fired off several questions.
"This... The Strengthening Fruit was obtained by an exploration team more than 20 years ago from an ancient ruin by chance. At that time, the exploration team didn't know it was a Strengthening Fruit and brought it to the Adventurer's Guild along with general supplies to be auctioned..."
"To be honest, I only recognized the Strengthening Fruit later... Because the Strengthening Fruit had been on display for quite some time, I wasn't the only one who recognized this magical fruit at the time... It eventually led to a bloody struggle to seize the Strengthening Fruit... even attracting the legendary Three-Headed Hellhound..."
"At that time, Shen Potian, the current City Lord of the Sea Restaurant, and I joined forces, along with the spirit-suppressing formation, to suppress and kill that Three-Headed Hellhound..."
"Later... I was the one who obtained the Strengthening Fruit... Because of this magical fruit, I was fortunate enough to survive the heavenly tribulation I encountered while advancing to the Epic tier..."
Wu Ye Lan wiped his greasy mouth and hands, recalled for a moment, and said.
"This is the incident of the Strengthening Fruit appearing in the Adventurer's Guild over 20 years ago?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng couldn't help but recall what Han Xianxing had told him about the Strengthening Fruit when he was at the Tyrannosaurus Rex Base.
"Yes!"
Wu Ye Lan nodded. "Only I, Shen Potian, and the City Lord of the Sea Restaurant knew who the Strengthening Fruit ultimately belonged to... After that, the three of us kept it a secret! After all, a Strengthening Fruit would attract endless competition from many powerful individuals... even monsters like the Three-Headed Hellhound that only existed in legends..."
"Did you get another Strengthening Fruit this time? How did you get it?"
Ye Feng picked up the conversation.
"Uh... this, I actually didn't get a new Strengthening Fruit. The Strengthening Fruit that the news spread about this time is actually the one that appeared over twenty years ago..."
"To withstand the heavenly tribulation, I ate half of it... The remaining half, I've kept, thinking of deciphering the secret of the Strengthening Fruit..."
"The reason I spread news of the Strengthening Fruit this time is because I sensed danger and wanted to use the Strengthening Fruit as a reward to secure the help of the leaders of the Seven Great Powers..."
As he spoke, Wu Ye Lan's hand flashed, and a strangely shaped cage appeared in his hand.
The base of the cage was octagonal, engraved with mysterious runes. On the top and bottom of the cage, there were seven spoon-shaped blue and white lights.
Inside the cage was half of a bright red fruit that looked somewhat like a tomato. It was the Strengthening Fruit.
Half of the Strengthening Fruit had been cut away, and a large amount of red heat emanated, but it was all contained within the cage, making the entire cage appear to be suffused with a red glow.
What surprised Ye Feng even more was that this cage completely blocked his senses and did not emit any fluctuations outward. If he hadn't seen it with his eyes, he would have thought it didn't exist...
"This cage... is some kind of formation?"
Seeing this, Ye Feng couldn't help but be amazed.
...