“It’s alright.”
Yun Liu simply smiled and nodded, returning the greetings of each Senior Sister one by one, calm and unruffled.
Unlike the other members of the Shenhua Sect who were always eager for a fight, this child’s eyes were clear and pure, holding a maturity far beyond his years.
Qin Yao stared dazedly at Yun Liu’s profile, lost in thought, until he turned to her in confusion and she suddenly remembered she was supposed to lead the way!
“This way, this way!”
The two of them walked down the steps along the pool, entering the sea of trees where birds sang and flowers bloomed, the air thick with wood spirits.
Passing through a field of flowers and following the Qingfeng Trail, they arrived before a towering tree entwined with vines.
A Yao Lu Disciple inside a tree hollow waved at them excitedly.
“Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome, Younger Brother Yun! No, no, no, Mr. Yun!”
“Senior Sister, you’re too polite.”
“Not at all! You’re a Second-Grade Alchemist, you deserve to be called ‘Mister’!”
The one greeting them was none other than Tian Tian, the girl in charge of the interview.
She had been waiting for a long time, representing how much the host valued this “meeting.”
Just that bottle of Spirit-Guiding Water alone was enough for Master Kuai to acknowledge his claim as a Second-Grade Alchemist.
In the Shenhua Sect, that already made him quite an impressive Pill Alchemist.
Huo Tian Tian’s qipao was bright and eye-catching, her youthful figure budding and full of energy.
This made Yun Liu involuntarily imagine: with Senior Sister Qin’s graceful figure, what kind of breathtaking sight would it be if she wore the Rosy Fragrance Pavilion’s signature uniform while working at the shop?
The little girl tugged at Qin Yao’s sleeve, tiptoed, and said, “Senior Sister, Senior Sister, you came at just the right time! I heard from the Xiaofeng Disciples that there’s a patch of wild Yanling Grass in the Canglian Mountains, but the Three-Realm Demon Monkey that occupies that valley is extremely fierce. Master can’t leave right now, so you’ll have to trouble yourself to go down the mountain and fetch some!”
“Why does it have to be right now!”
Qin Yao frowned, clearly displeased to hear bad news as soon as she arrived.
“Well… I’ll be back soon. Younger Brother Yun, take care of yourself. If anyone dares to bully you, I’ll deal with them when I get back!”
“As if! We’re barely able to ask him for advice!”
“Safe travels, Sister Qin. Be very careful.”
“Mhm, I will.”
This journey would not be short—she might not see the newly-acknowledged (one-sidedly) little brother for ten days or half a month.
Senior Sister looked back longingly, glancing three times with every step, her gaze almost stretching out like a thread.
The other Yao Lu girls peeking from the tree hollow exchanged meaningful glances and shared a knowing smile.
Sister Qin?
Younger Brother Yun?
Isn’t this the classic “older sister and good little brother” story?
Senior Sister’s heart is awakening—an older woman falling for a younger man!
From far away, you could already hear the girls outside Cloud Rosy Palace shouting and laughing ambiguously, their imaginations running wild.
And then they heard how Younger Brother Yun boldly broke off his engagement.
Judging from the looks of it, could this sibling romance have already been going on in secret for a long time?
If the news got out, who knows how many fellow disciples would cry into the night—the goddess in every Shenhua disciple’s heart, the flower of Clear Mist Peak, is already taken!
Yun Liu was just about to wave goodbye when he saw the green radiance slowly rising into the sky, and suddenly his pupils shrank.
Wait!
Qin Yao had gone down the mountain on an errand, and who knew when she would be back.
For cultivators, it was common for journeys to take a year or more.
In games, Sect NPCs often went missing, causing quests to get stuck and side stories to halt.
What about my money!?
The Quest Master panicked—if he didn’t get his money back today, he’d feel unbearably itchy.
The amount wasn’t the issue, but bugs could drive a perfectionist crazy.
What should I do now?
Huo Tian Tian covered her mouth, giggling as she led the way ahead, muttering, “I knew it. With Younger Brother Yun’s skill in alchemy, even if he doesn’t cultivate the Sword way, he’d be a guest of honor at any of the Ling Tian Caves. Turns out he came for Senior Sister.”
But for someone so young, who has damaged his Qi Sea, his future prospects seem limited.
Yet Senior Sister still refuses to leave him—truly, a love more precious than gold…
Inside the Medicine Hut’s main hall, the air was thick with the fragrance of pills.
The Tree Core Cabinet displayed many rare herbs, making people drool with envy.
Disciples of Clear Mist Peak in all kinds of qipao stood in two rows, radiant and charming.
In the center, the teacher they served was an old woman with white hair, leaning on a cane.
Though her strength was nothing special, her status in the Sect was second only to the heads of the five peaks.
Yun Liu’s eyes darted around.
He’d always thought: the Clear Mist Medicine Hut was lively and beautiful, not at all inferior to the brothels and pleasure houses of the mundane world.
Elder Kuai was like a madam, leading a group of beautiful Yao Lu girls in refining pills and medicines, saving lives and healing the sick.
If business wasn’t booming, there had to be something wrong.
The old woman smiled kindly, nodding repeatedly, her gaze at the young man no different than a mother-in-law sizing up a son-in-law—the more she looked, the more amazed she felt.
Master Kuai’s cultivation could not compare to the many Sword way elders, but her gaze was sharp, her Divine Soul strong, and her traits as a Pill Alchemist were obvious.
The Path of Alchemy was broad and profound, completely different from the Sword way, with extremely high thresholds and a focus on temperament.
The Divine Soul was important, but so were a meticulous attitude and precise technique.
That’s why female cultivators, who tended to be more detail-oriented, excelled at it, while most boys were careless and inattentive.
“Mr. Yun, are you really a Second-Grade Alchemist?”
The old woman spoke in a gentle voice.
The Yao Lu Disciples were baffled—wasn’t that a bit too blunt as an opening line?
Mr. Yun had refined a bottle of top-grade Spirit-Guiding Water right in front of them—even Senior Sister might not have managed that.
Could it be false?
This question was intriguing, hiding deeper meaning.
Yun Liu thought for a moment and replied, “Hard to say.”
Elder Kuai smiled without a word, looking even more delighted.
Could it be that he was confident with third-grade spiritual herbs too?
The boy’s Sea of Consciousness was vast and unfathomable; even with her Nascent Soul Stage divine sense, she could not probe its depths.
With just a little guidance, he could quickly reach mastery and even surpass her.
What’s more, Yun Liu was still so young, and his Divine Soul realm far surpassed his cultivation.
Such a special case had never been seen in the entire Nine Provinces.
If she hadn’t seen it herself, with no sign of the Spiritual Platform being altered, she might have thought he’d been possessed.
“What a good ‘hard to say.’ That Heaven-grade Foundation Establishment Pill that appeared in Mist City was your handiwork, wasn’t it? I never thought a true master would be right here among us. City Lord Xiao must be truly blind in his old age.”
Master Kuai was quick and direct, getting straight to the point.
“I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece—just a flash of inspiration. It’d be hard to reproduce.”
Yun Liu admitted frankly, not intending to hide anything, nor feeling he owed anyone an explanation.
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