Chapter 516: Medicine Garden Contest!

In the room.

Ling Feng took several deep breaths and only exhaled heavily once the scent of Wang Caiwei had completely dissipated.

Staying calm in such a situation is truly not something just anyone can do!

Ling Feng shook his head with a smile and slowly opened the map Wang Caiwei had just brought him.

The map clearly marked paths and locations of various precious medicinal herbs. The elemental herb he needed was in the northwest corner of the garden. With the recent outbreak of demonic qi, the area where the elemental herbs grew would undoubtedly be crowded.

As the saying goes, the quick-handed get the prize.

This Medicine Garden Contest was likely to attract numerous Spiritual Element Realm experts, so Ling Feng couldn't afford to be careless.

Suddenly, Ling Feng noticed a bright red area in the center of the map labeled

Forbidden Zone

in bold red letters.

Ling Feng thought about it. Since the medicine garden was controlled by the city lord, the area likely contained some rare medicinal herbs that the city lord didn't want to share with outsiders.

After scanning the entire map, Ling Feng had already mapped out his route. All he needed was to wait for three days to enter the medicine garden with Wang Tianlin and gather the elemental herbs.

Soon, the day of the Medicine Garden Contest arrived.

During this time, Ling Feng had not been idle. He bought a detailed map that marked the territories frequented by the demon race. Although it cost him tens of thousands of crystal coins, it was worth the price.

...

On that day of the Medicine Garden Contest, the western outskirts of Iron Wolf City were crowded. The medicine garden controlled by the city lord was located there, and its entrance was in the western suburbs.

There was a sea of people all around, and among the crowd, Ling Feng noticed several figures in black robes marked with skull symbols. They were members of the Skull Gang.

The Skull Gang, a dominant force in the city, naturally wasn't pitiful like the Tianlin Chamber of Commerce, which only had two slots. The gang had a full fifty slots!

About half an hour later, an elderly man with white hair and a beard stood on a high platform in front of the medicine garden gate, looking down at the crowd. He shouted, "This year's Medicine Garden Contest is officially starting! You have three hours to enter the garden and gather herbs. After three hours, you must all exit, or the elders from the lord's mansion will deal with you harshly!"

Everyone nodded repeatedly. These were the old rules, and everyone understood them. The elder's repetition was meant to deter any opportunists.

With that said, the elder took out a key and inserted it into a stone monument, opening the gate to the medicine garden.

Instantly, the crowd surged forward, scrambling to enter. After all, having paid for three years to harvest once, they needed to make the most of it!

Ling Feng, however, moved unhurriedly. Pulling Wang Tianlin along, he pushed into the crowd, careful not to reveal his strength prematurely and attract attention.

Before long, Ling Feng finally reached the entrance of the medicine garden. Holding onto Wang Tianlin, he stepped forward and entered the garden.

Wang Tianlin, dragged along by Ling Feng, was extremely excited. For years, the Tianlin Chamber of Commerce had always been among the last to enter and could only pick up the leftovers and get little harvest.

But this time, they were almost in sync with the first batch of people entering, giving them a much higher chance of obtaining better medicinal herbs.

Wang Tianlin was jubilant as he collected various medicinal herbs along the way. Ling Feng didn't stop him. Though these herbs were of little value to him, they were a significant fortune for a third-rate chamber of commerce like the Tianlin Chamber of Commerce. Since he had taken one of Wang Tianlin's slots, it was only fair to help him out.

Occasionally, some overconfident individuals, seeing Wang Tianlin as merely a seventh-level Transformation Realm martial artist, tried to snatch the precious herbs from him. But Ling Feng easily dealt with them, knocking them away with a single kick.

With his current strength, Ling Feng didn't even need to open his Primordial Locks to handle ordinary Transformation Realm martial artists.

After helping Wang Tianlin collect some valuable herbs, Ling Feng led him swiftly toward the area where the elemental herbs were planted.

In fact, Ling Feng could have left Wang Tianlin behind. However, with his low strength, he would probably be robbed of everything within half an hour if left alone, including his underwear.

Moreover, being robbed was the least of worries; he might not even survive.

Determined to see his good deed through to the end, Ling Feng decided to stick with Wang Tianlin.

With Ling Feng's remarkable speed, they reached the northwest corner of the garden, where the elemental herbs were planted, in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The area for planting the elemental herbs wasn't large. There were only about three to five hundred plants. Most were not very old, ranging from one to three years. Since the garden was opened to the public every three years, finding herbs over ten years old was extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Ling Feng plucked a leaf and chewed it, estimating that a three-year-old elemental herb could only neutralize the demonic poison of a fifth-tier demonic beast.

If the quantity is larger, it should have some effect on the demonic poison of a sixth-tier demon king.

Ling Feng sighed inwardly but accepted what he could get. It was better than nothing.

He grabbed a handful of elemental herbs and tossed them into his storage spirit ring. Suddenly, he felt a sense of danger and sensed a killing intent behind him. The next moment, a strong gust of wind shot towards him—someone was attacking!

"Little Feng, watch out!"

Wang Tianlin, seeing over a dozen black-robed martial artists rushing at Ling Feng with drawn swords, shouted in alarm.

Ling Feng quickly turned, grabbed the sword blades with his right hand, and flung the attackers away. The black-robed figures were sent flying, landing in a heap and crying out in pain. Ling Feng's gaze was sharp as he stared down the attackers and coldly asked, "Are you from the Skull Gang?"

"Not bad!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a black robe, with a skull emblem on his head, clapped his hands and slowly approached. His expression was cold and his aura was somewhat similar to that of Guo Xiao.

"Kid, was it you who killed my third brother?"

The black-robed man stared at Ling Feng with icy eyes like a venomous snake and exuding a sinister and evil aura.

A few days earlier, members of the Skull Gang had found their third leader, Guo Xiao, dead outside the city, while the Tianlin Chamber of Commerce members had returned unscathed. This clearly pointed to the culprit.