“Ah, so the Celestial Immortal of the Tianyuan Sect has arrived! Please forgive my previous negligence—my deepest apologies!”
The Drunken Immortal Elder bowed deeply, lowering himself with utmost reverence. “Kindly move to the Qingtan Grand Hall for a detailed discussion.”
“Very well.” Xuanmo nodded in agreement.
With a gentle wave of the Drunken Immortal Elder’s sleeve, the surrounding space rippled and twisted like water.
Though no one moved their feet, the scenery before them instantly shifted—the majestic and solemn Qingtan Grand Hall, steeped in the rich aroma of aged spirit wine, now appeared beneath their eyes.
“Please, Immortal Elder, have a seat. No need for formalities.”
The Drunken Immortal Elder personally poured a cup of Lingcha, sliding the milky-white jade cup toward Xuanmo’s seat, his face breaking into an unprecedented gentle smile.
“Immortal Elder,” Xuanmo declined the tea and spoke directly, “I am straightforward by nature, so I will be blunt.”
“Excellent! Straightforwardness is refreshing!” The Drunken Immortal Elder’s eyes gleamed sharply as he clapped his hands in approval.
“Then I shall not beat around the bush either. May I ask, Immortal—”
He leaned forward slightly, his voice steady yet carrying a barely perceptible urgency, “this divine nectar, how much does the Tianyuan Sect produce each month? And at what… price might it be obtained?”
Xuanmo’s heart skipped a beat. Production volume? How was she supposed to know? She hadn’t asked before.
But judging by how the Yuan Elder had just taken a sip and then unleashed that sword aura tearing through the sky… this was definitely not a mass-produced commodity!
Her thoughts raced, but her expression remained calm as she slowly extended one finger.
“…One Ling Stone?”
The Drunken Immortal Elder furrowed his thick brows, probing cautiously. Could the production be astonishingly high?
Xuanmo shook her head, calculating swiftly: Xiao Qiancha said the cost was five Mid-grade Spirit Stones… I can sell it for ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones, right?
Doubling the profit. She scolded herself silently for being so mercenary.
“Ten?” The Drunken Immortal Elder pondered briefly, hot gazes converging around him nearly piercing the air.
Finally, under the heavy weight of the hall’s anticipation, he stroked his beard and nodded.
“Though the price is steep… it is worth it! Ten Top-Grade Spirit Stones per bottle—I accept. By the end of next month, please have thirty bottles prepared.”
With that, an unadorned plain Storage Bag floated to Xuanmo. “Inside are thirty Top-Grade Spirit Stones as a deposit. Upon full delivery of the divine brew, the remaining payment will be settled immediately.”
“The deposit contains thirty Top-Grade Spirit Stones. Once the wine is received, our Sect will pay the rest,” the Drunken Immortal Elder explained.
Xuanmo: “?”
Ten… ten Top-Grade Spirit Stones?! Not ten Mid-grade?
She took the deceptively light yet seemingly weighty bag in a daze, her fingertips tingling. One Top-Grade Spirit Stone was worth a hundred Mid-grade ones!
This price was two hundred times Xiao Qiancha’s cost… The Kuanlan Sect was truly extravagant!
“…I understand!”
Xuanmo suppressed the pounding of her heart, forcing her voice to sound steady, and nodded firmly. Just as she was about to take her leave, a familiar figure blocked her path.
“Xiao Mozi!” The newly broken-through Yuan Elder shone with radiant energy, the usually stern expression replaced by an openly sincere smile.
“Today’s breakthrough was all thanks to you. A modest feast is prepared in the hall. Please do honor us with your presence so I may express my gratitude!”
Faced with such warm and earnest invitation, Xuanmo could not refuse. Gritting her teeth, she joined the raucous celebration that unexpectedly made her the star due to the “divine brew.”
***
By nightfall, Xun Xue darted back and forth, finally finishing all the formalities and successfully obtaining residence rights on Tianquanfeng.
Pushing open the familiar wooden door—
“?!”
The scene before Xun Xue froze her in place, her blue eyes filling instantly with four or five overlapping layers of enormous question marks.
Her own Xiao Qiancha was standing on the bed like a fluffed-up cat.
Her small face flushed rosy red, deep blue eyes misty with tears, pink lips biting at the corner, and her sharp little fangs pressed tightly against her lower lip.
From above, she stared down with a wildly complicated expression at—Gantang, who was kneeling on the cold floor, bowing her head like a scolded quail.
“What… is going on?!!” Xun Xue’s voice brimmed with shock and confusion.
Two hours earlier.
At dusk, after a day of cultivation, Lu Qiancha took out two Storage Bags she had obtained earlier on Bei Juluzhou.
She carefully sorted the Ling Stones, Spiritual Medicines, and Magical Artifacts into her own Storage Bag.
While checking the contents of Shigong’s Storage Bag, a small medicine bottle caught her attention.
“Ying Poison? Interesting stuff.”
Seeing the label at the bottom of the bottle sparked an idea in Lu Qiancha’s mind.
This toxin could be used on rare Ling Beasts to promote breeding, and on the battlefield, it could be deployed to disrupt the enemy’s mind.
Thinking this through, she carefully removed the stopper, intending to pour out a small sample to analyze the ingredients…
“Pop—!”
The faint click of the bottle opening sounded like thunder.
A thick, sickly sweet pink smoke suddenly gushed out from the mouth, instantly filling the small room.
“Damn!”
Lu Qiancha hastily swallowed an Antidote Pill, unleashing a surge of spiritual power to fling open the window. A strong gust of wind swept in, expelling the Ying Poison powder from the room.
After this emergency, she collapsed to the ground, focusing intently on circulating her Zhoutian and mobilizing all her spiritual energy to build a dam against the poison spreading inside her body.
Time passed without her knowing. A thin sweat broke out on her forehead, her mouth slightly open as she gasped for breath.
Almost there… just one last push to expel the Ying Poison!
At that moment, disaster struck.
“Senior Brother! I finished cutting down that patch of trees behind the mountain!”
A cheerful, somewhat expectant voice rang outside the door.
Gantang?
The momentary relaxation of Lu Qiancha’s mind caused a thin crack to appear in the spiritual energy barrier she had built.
The poison surged through that fleeting gap, violently smashing through her defenses.
Lu Qiancha groaned quietly, her once-clear blue eyes instantly clouded with pink mist, the tower of her reason crumbling…
“Senior Brother? Senior Brother?” Gantang knocked again, confused. “Why aren’t you answering? Are you dead asleep?”
She pouted. “Hmph! Always rushing me to work, but when it’s time to reward me, you pretend to be deaf and mute? Bad Senior Brother!”
Annoyed more and more, her little devilish thoughts began to bubble up—since she was sleeping, why not play a little prank? After all, she had always teased this gentle and adorable little Junior Sister.
“Senior Brother! I’m coming in!” She deliberately raised her voice, then waited a moment in silence.
Creak
“Eek!”
Gantang pushed open the door.
Just inside, she was startled by a sudden little body throwing itself into her arms, causing an involuntary scream.
“Senior Brother? What are you doing?”
Caught off guard by this unexpected embrace, Gantang looked down at the little blue head buried tightly in her chest, her mind filled with questions.
Lu Qiancha heard Gantang’s voice and paused for a moment. She lay in her arms, her soft voice laced with a hint of coquettishness. “I missed you.”
“????”
Such a straightforward, unguarded confession hit Gantang like a thunderbolt. Her mind instantly went blank, followed by an overwhelming wave of joy drowning her reason.
“Se… Senior Brother? You mean… you missed me??” Gantang’s voice trembled with disbelief as she urgently sought confirmation, her heart screaming:
By the Three Pure Ones above, by the Dao Ancestor, please don’t let this be a joke!
Lu Qiancha nodded with all the courage she could muster, lifting her face again to meet those widened pink eyes filled with shock.
This time, her lips parted slightly, uttering words that made Gantang’s heart nearly stop: “Y-Yes… I… like… Gantang.”
“L-Like?!”
A thunderous roar exploded inside Gantang’s head. The blush on her cheeks spread rapidly to her ears.
She lowered her head instinctively, her voice barely a whisper, filled with an unprecedented shyness and bewilderment: “Se… Senior Brother… this is… this is too sudden… I… I wasn’t prepared…”