Universe Infinite Canteen

The three members of the Songxi Sword Sect had just entered the ruined temple when a middle-aged couple with a child walked in to shelter from the rain.

Both around thirty years old and dressed like ordinary folk, the man looked plain and appeared to be ill with his pallid complexion and unsteady footsteps. He would cough violently after walking just a few steps.

Yet, the woman was quite attractive, and even her coarse hemp clothes could not hide her voluptuous figure, with her pair of watery phoenix eyes expressing charm and allure.

As soon as she entered, many men's eyes lit up, and He Qisheng was especially enthusiastic in his welcome.

"Madam, you can bring your little one over here to warm up by the fire. It's cold—don't let the child catch a chill," he called.

The fire had been lit by people from Xingtong Escort Agency earlier, but now He Qisheng and others had claimed the area for themselves.

Upon hearing this, the woman felt tempted. Although each family member was wearing a raincoat and bamboo hat, the heavy rain had soaked their clothes, especially their straw sandals and the hem of their clothes, making them uncomfortable.

While the adults could bear it, a mother's heart always ached for her child.

She turned to look at her husband, and only after he nodded did the family of three approach the fire.

However, as the woman and child sat down, He Qisheng suddenly said to the sick man following them, "Hold on, did I invite you to warm up as well?"

The sick man was startled, seemingly wanting to say something but instead started coughing violently.

A young man beside He Qisheng said with a look of disgust, "Where did this consumptive ghost come from? So unlucky. Move further away from us."

Upon seeing this scene, some members of the Xingtong Escort Agency couldn't help but mutter, "Huh, and they call themselves a reputable sect…"

"Chen Er, watch your words!" Shen Zhou immediately chided him in a low voice. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire

Chen Er pursed his lips but dared not speak again.

Ultimately, only after continual pleading from the woman, did the three members of the Songxi Sword Sect allow the sick man to sit a bit farther away.

Ma Lu was squatting under a wooden pillar, observing his surroundings.

All signs indicated that he had arrived in a martial arts-themed plane.

People like He Qisheng and Shen Zhou were likely individuals from the martial arts circles. Unfortunately, since there was no conflict earlier, Ma Lu did not know what level the martial arts masters here were at.

After all, martial arts is an extensive category. A fight scene like those in "Storm Riders" with visual effects and summoning flying swords to slash at the enemy is martial arts, and so is something like the movie "The Master" where they still grapple with blades and hand movements.

There's a big difference between the two.

However, no matter which type it was, Ma Lu followed his usual rule and cast his Destiny's Protection.

This time, a new number—33—appeared in the blank spot on his token.

Like before, he had to wait for the triggering condition to find out what this "golden finger" was this time.

Ma Lu wasn't in a hurry. He stowed away the Destiny's Protection and then activated the ingredient scanning function on his Traveler's Bracelet.

He didn't hold much hope, considering it was just a ruined temple with seemingly nothing edible nearby. This was purely a matter of professional conduct for a food ingredient collector.

Unexpectedly, he received a series of notifications.

——Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient, Red Pine Gastrodia Elata. The Illustrated Handbook for Red Pine Gastrodia Elata is now unlocked.

——Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient, Yin-Nourishing Ophiopogon. The Illustrated Handbook for Yin-Nourishing Ophiopogon is now unlocked.

—— Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient, "Qi-Boosting Licorice." The Illustrated Handbook for "Qi-Boosting Licorice" has been unlocked.

—— Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 2-star ingredient, "Kidney-Strengthening Goji Berries." The Illustrated Handbook for "Kidney-Strengthening Goji Berries" has been unlocked.

...

Ma Lu was startled by this series of popping messages. What are all these things?!

Long before he set out, he had been pondering what ingredients he could collect after the New Route opened.

In the first plane, he had obtained meat, and in the second, he had secured vegetables, which preliminarily met the criteria to start a restaurant. What he lacked now were probably staples and fruits.

Thus, Ma Lu certainly hoped that the third plane would yield one of these two types of ingredients. However, he had never expected that this new plane would provide medicinal herbs instead.

Could medicinal herbs be used for cooking? Ma Lu wasn't sure, but by now, he had figured out where these herbs had come from.

The Ruined Temple in the barren mountain couldn't possibly have spontaneously grown such fine items, and even if they did, they wouldn't grow together; so, it was highly probable that someone who had taken shelter from the rain in the temple had brought them.

And the most probable ones were the folk from Xingtong Escort Agency, given that they had two horses and a cart.

The goods they were escorting this time were probably these medicinal herbs, though he had no idea where they had obtained them from.

If they were dug up from the wild and not far from here, he could consider digging some up himself.

Although Ma Lu hadn't yet figured out what to do with these herbs, since they were here, he definitely couldn't return empty-handed.

Yet, even if he didn't think very hard, he could predict that Shen Zhou and others wouldn't reveal their client's information to someone as suspicious as him.

Luckily, there was still plenty of time. Gathering ingredients could be deferred. Ma Lu decided to first chat with someone to at least get a clear understanding of the basics of this plane and figure out where the towns were.

That would help him decide on his next move.

He scanned his surroundings; the three people from Songxi Sword Sect were immediately ruled out as they seemed difficult to interact with; the four from Xingtong Escort Agency were also very wary, making it hard to extract any useful information from them.

The remaining Old Beggar seemed as good as dead, and while he was somewhat unsure about the background of that family of three, that left him with the scholar.

Ma Lu walked towards him, but the scholar clearly feared him and quickly got up to change his spot as he approached.

Just then, another figure appeared at the door.

The newcomer rode a tall, splendid horse, its coat pure white without a single patch—a truly luxurious steed.

The person on the horse wore a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, with a Longsword slung around the waist, clearly a man of the martial arts circles.

He rode up to the front of the temple, dismounted, and first bowed to a half-statue of Buddha, saying, "I'm intruding," before taking the white horse inside to shelter from the rain as well.

However, by then, the few spots in the temple not exposed to rain had already been occupied by others.

He glanced at the nearby fire, spotted He Qisheng and others sitting by it, looked towards the Xingtong Escort Agency's guarda a little farther away wearing wary expressions, and watched the scholar again as he frantically scooted closer to the guards.

Finally, his gaze landed on Ma Lu, dressed in Night Travel Clothes that made him look like a thief; he paused briefly in surprise.

However, he didn't hesitate for long and immediately walked over, cupping his hands in greeting, "My friend, I wonder if you could allow me and Little White to take shelter here from the storm?"

Earlier, Ma Lu hadn't heard him clearly because of the loud thunder outside, but when the individual spoke again, he realized that although she had tried to speak in a low tone, she couldn't completely hide the crispness at the end of her words.