In the southeastern part of Lanzhou, Misty Swamp.
At this moment, ten bandit cultivators captured from outside the Hongya Marketplace by the Zhou Family and three mortals with Spirit Root Aptitude, who had been secretly gathered through the hands of loose cultivators, were all sent to a remote small island deep within Misty Swamp.
The island was secluded, with scarce resources, and very few cultivators set foot there.
Moreover, even if a cultivator came here, unless they were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, they would be driven away by the Green Wood Spirit Apes on the island.
On this day, Zhou Mingde, the Supreme Elder of the Zhou Family, quietly left Jiufeng Ridge and secretly made his way to the island.
He first swept the captured bandit cultivators with his Divine Sense.
These bandit cultivators had been continually drugged into unconsciousness and were guarded by the Green Wood Spirit Apes around the clock; they didn't even know where they were.
The other three mortals who harbored dreams of cultivation were placed in a cave and were also not allowed to go outside.
The Zhou Family had not deliberately deceived these mortals, having already clarified to them in advance that the path to cultivation would take them to a faraway place, and it would be difficult to return and see their families again.
Since these mortals had voluntarily chosen this path, they could not blame the Zhou Family later on when they reached the Dragon Transformation Sect.
After exchanging a few words with the Green Wood Spirit Ape, Zhou Mingde hid in a concealed spot to wait for the arrival of the Dragon Transformation Sect's personnel.
After waiting for almost half a day, a huge black tortoise suddenly emerged from beneath the waters outside the island, its shell carrying a middle-aged woman clad in a red robe.
Such a disturbance, of course, could not be concealed from Zhou Mingde on the island.
When he realized that the woman in red was not Lin Hongyu but a missionary envoy of the Dragon Transformation Sect with a late Foundation Establishment cultivation level, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly, outside the grounds of the Zhou Family, he had some concerns about meeting someone as tough as Lin Hongyu alone.
Fortunately, Lin Hongyu was reliable and did not come personally.
Immediately, after concealing his facial features with a spell, he appeared before the woman.
"Junior Lin Yan pays respect to the elder," she said.
Upon seeing Zhou Mingde come out, the woman who had disembarked from the tortoise hastily paid homage to him.
"Oh, your surname is Lin as well. Could it be that you're from the same clan as Taoist Friend Lin?" Zhou Mingde scrutinized the woman in red, asking in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, the woman in red hurriedly shook her head to deny it, "No, elder, you are mistaken. I just happen to share the same surname as the Protector Lord."
"I see," Zhou Mingde nodded without dwelling on the matter further.
He then looked at her and said, "Taoist Friend Lin must have told you everything, right? Did you bring the items?"
"Yes, Protector Lord has explained everything to me, and I have brought the items for the exchange," replied the beautiful woman in red as she tapped her storage pouch and presented three jade boxes to Zhou Mingde.
Zhou Mingde saw this but was very cautious, using mana to open the jade boxes from a distance without touching them directly.
Inside the opened jade boxes were three different rare treasures.
One box contained a spirit ginseng with excellent quality and a dark red hue, presumably Red Blood Ginseng.
Another box contained a reddish gemstone that was three fingers wide and half a foot long.
The last box contained a reddish-brown egg.
"A Dragon Blood Ginseng aged over three hundred years, a Red Dragon Gem, and this egg is from a Dragon Descendant Demon Beast, the Redflame Dragon Python," the woman in red, Lin Yan, had already introduced the three items to Zhou Mingde as he was inspecting the treasures in the jade boxes.
Without a doubt, these three items were all Specialty Spiritual Objects of the Dragon Transformation Sect.
As a power that might have a fifth-order Flood Dragon as its protector, the Dragon Transformation Sect was certainly not short of such Dragon Blood Spirit Items.
Lin Hongyu, as a Protector of the Dragon Transformation Sect, might not have been able to obtain the higher-level Dragon Blood Spirit Items, but some lower-level ones were definitely within her reach.
After all, those practicing the Sect's Dragon Transformation Secret Technique required various Dragon Blood Spirit Items as supplements.
However, Zhou Mingde merely nodded slightly and said, "The items are all quite satisfactory, but next time I would like to exchange them for things that our Zhou Family needs more. Here is a list; take it back to Taoist Friend Lin."
"Yes, I will definitely convey the elder's words and the items," Lin Yan, the woman in red, respectfully agreed and put the jade slip provided by Zhou Mingde into her storage pouch.
Zhou Mingde then swept his sleeve, closing the lids of the three jade boxes and placing them in his storage pouch.
Pointing in a certain direction, he said, "The people are there, you can take them. I'll take my leave now."
Having said that, he ascended into the sky and returned home to the Zhou Family.
Seeing him depart , a flicker of surprise flashed in Lin Yan's eyes.
She quickly headed in the direction pointed out by Zhou Mingde.
After she found the ten unconscious loose cultivators and three mortals confined in the cave, her heart eased.
In no time, she had moved all ten bandit cultivators and the three mortals onto the tortoise's back.
Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, she controlled the giant tortoise to dive back into the water, leaving beneath the surface.
As for Zhou Mingde, after returning to his clan, he called Zhou Daoyi and Zhou Chun to his dwelling and discussed the details of the transaction.
"As it stands, the other party seems to be trustworthy, and we can continue to proceed according to plan," he said.