Trading system, I exchanged vegetables for golden pills.

"Oh, is that so? I was secretly testing Zhang Qian before, and after spending a few months together, she passed the test. So, during the holiday before the New Year, I took advantage of your hot spot in the Southern Territory to teach her the breathing technique!" Li Wenlong explained in detail.

Ye Chen nodded to indicate that they should continue, which was indeed something he had tacitly approved beforehand.

After all, he had already accepted the apprenticeship of his grand-apprentices, so as long as Old Li felt the time was right, he could pass on his teachings himself.

Li Wenlong continued excitedly, "Originally, I just wanted her to go back and try it out on her own, to get used to the feel of it, and I planned to give her further guidance when she came back to work!"

"As a result, in just two or three days, she has already been able to guide Qi into her body on her own and embark on the right path of cultivation!"

"Hmm, not bad. Being able to get back on track on your own shows that you have good patience and aptitude. It's also quite rare that you can still patiently cultivate during the New Year!" Ye Chen nodded.

"Of course! She just came to my place and brought me some food. She also asked me to bring you a pendant!"

Li Wenlong spoke with a look of satisfaction.

Ye Chen also became interested and said with a smile, "What kind of pendant is it? Let me take a look!"

Li Wenlong took a square wooden box out of his bag and handed it to Ye Chen: "I haven't opened it yet, and I don't know what's inside. You can open it and see for yourself!"

Ye Chen took the square wooden box; it felt heavy in his hand.

"This box looks like an old item. Could this girl have stolen a family heirloom?"

Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.

"Judging from the material, it should be rosewood. This girl is really thoughtful!" Li Wenlong explained.

These boxes could probably fetch a lot of money if sold individually.

The item packaged in such an expensive box must be of decent quality.

The fact that the gifts given to the grand-disciple were so valuable made Ye Chen, the grandmaster, feel a little guilty accepting them.

Ye Chen opened the box, revealing a red velvet bag.

The velvet bag looks new; is it an old box containing a new item?

Judging from its shape, it should be a pendant like a "nothing to worry about" plaque.

Ye Chen took out the pendant from inside, and when he saw it, he was stunned for a moment.

Li Wenlong couldn't help but exclaim, "It's quite beautiful! Is this mutton fat jade? It looks different from anything I've seen before!"

The jade stone is about the size of a normal baby's palm, with a smooth surface and no carvings.

The only feature is a band of patterned gold foil inlaid at the top, used to hang the rope.

The object is old, and it is undoubtedly a genuine antique.

What shocked Ye Chen was not anything else, but the material of this jade stone.

This material is actually the same as the stone inside that little golden gourd.

Ye Chen immediately released his divine sense to sense it, and it was indeed the exact same feeling, with a sense of emptiness and clarity.

Holy crap, this girl just casually gave away something and it turned out to be a treasure...

Ye Chen immediately took out his phone and dialed Zhang Qian's number!

"What's wrong, Master?" Li Wenlong was slightly taken aback by Ye Chen's solemn expression.

Ye Chen made a shushing gesture.

The call was connected quickly.

Zhang Qian's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Grandmaster, good evening. What's up?"

"I received your pendant. I have a question for you: where did you get this pendant from?" Ye Chen asked, getting straight to the point.

"Oh, this pendant was left to me by my grandfather before he passed away. Don't worry, it's from a perfectly legitimate source!" Zhang Qian said half-jokingly.

"Aren't you being ridiculous? How can you give me something that's a family heirloom!" Ye Chen said irritably.

"Because you are my grandmaster. My grandfather once said that we should repay kindness. If one day the kindness is too great to repay, we should give this pendant away!" Zhang Qian said with a smile.

Ye Chen was speechless for a moment: "I said, how can your brain be so old-fashioned? Do you even know what this pendant is?"

"This is just a simple jade pendant. My grandfather said the jade was passed down from my great-grandfather, but the gold inlay was added later!"

Ye Chen took a deep breath. It was passed down from his great-grandfather's generation. It was truly a family heirloom that it could be preserved so well.

He just gave away his family heirloom like that? Seriously, he didn't know what to say!

This significance alone is extraordinary and cannot be measured in monetary terms.

"Grandmaster, please don't feel guilty. The pendant is just to express my gratitude. You and Master are my benefactors in life. My parents also agree to what I did. If my grandfather knew in the afterlife, he would also agree to my decision."

Zhang Qian probably knew what Ye Chen wanted to say, so she immediately tried to persuade him.

"Alright, I'll keep it for you for a few days!" Ye Chen shook his head, and the two ended the call.

"I'm going out for a bit. You're on duty for a while, so go back early too!" Ye Chen said to Li Wenlong.

"Yes, Master!" Li Wenlong nodded.

Ye Chen temporarily put away the jade token, intending to study it more carefully later.

The female disciple from the poor family is still at the hotel; he needs to go and check on her first.

In a hotel, a shy girl from a poor family was engrossed in scrolling through short videos, completely unaware that someone had suddenly appeared in her room...

About two hours later, Ye Chen got the information he wanted.

As for what methods were used, that's not important. With the Heart-Asking Ruler and superb illusion techniques, it wouldn't be difficult to get some information from a minor cultivator.

As for why it's two hours, that's not the point.

The Hanmen sect is a relatively ancient sect, dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty, and has experienced several ups and downs.

At its peak, the number of people reached over a hundred.

The sect now has a total of forty-nine members!

There are two Foundation Establishment stage experts, both quite old, veritable veterans of the Qing Dynasty.

What shocked Ye Chen was that there had even been a Golden Core stage expert among them.

However, that happened more than 200 years ago, so who knows if it's true or not?

Perhaps it's just the sect exaggerating to endorse itself.

The sect's headquarters are not too far from Lucheng, only a few hundred kilometers away. It owns several companies, all of which are quite large in scale, and the sect members are at least financially independent!

The current sect leader's surname is He. He is at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining and has only one son, who is quite talented and has reached the 8th level of Qi Refining.

Young Master He probably sought out Ye Chen to recruit him, but his greater motive was likely something he possessed.

As for matters concerning other sects, the female disciple knew only limited information and only knew some of the more obvious things.

Ye Chen left after failing to obtain any more useful information.

A sect with two Foundation Establishment experts in charge certainly has the right to be arrogant.

Think about it, Beidou only has one Foundation Establishment cultivator, oh, with him there are two.

No wonder those two female disciples from a mere sect don't take Beidou seriously.

After all, BeiDou's overall capabilities are undeniable.

Beidou has only been established for a few decades, so it's already quite impressive that it has caught up with these long-established sects.

The road to development is long and arduous...