Yun Xiao feigned fear, turning and lowering her head to bury it in Fang Zhiluo’s embrace. She complained: “A’Luo, he is scaring me again. He is asking me about everything; he must be coveting the treasures on my person.”
These words were spoken with such sincerity that even Fang Zhiluo could not detect anything amiss.
Xie Yunfan was about to flare up, but he was interrupted by the sword Fang Zhiluo suddenly drew.
“Martial Uncle Xie is not visiting the mountains for the first time. You should know that traveling outside the sect often entails many inconveniences; concealing one’s identity can avoid many unnecessary troubles.” Fang Zhiluo’s tone was very cold. Previously, whenever she saw Xie Yunfan, they did not converse much, but he had always been courteous and treated others with respect. Therefore, whenever others mentioned Xie Yunfan, he was mostly praised.
Now it seemed that was only the facet Xie Yunfan purposefully displayed, and the person before her was the true Xie Yunfan.
Xie Yunfan was speechless. He darkened his face and questioned, “Are you truly going to become my enemy for the sake of this unknown and secretive female cultivator?”
“Martial Uncle Xie exaggerates. She helped me and saved my life. I am merely doing what I should. If Martial Uncle Xie feels my actions are inappropriate, you are welcome to report the matter to my master and let my master decide,” Fang Zhiluo said patiently.
Xie Yunfan held a high position and enjoyed high prestige in the Heaven’s Will Sect. She had no choice but to handle the situation cautiously.
Yun Xiao ate a spiritual fruit she casually picked. It was very sour—fitting her current state of mind.
Fang Zhiluo’s attitude was firm. Even if Xie Yunfan was extremely unwilling, he had no choice but to plan gradually. He once again adopted the appearance of a graceful gentleman: “The Sect Grand Competition is approaching. Martial Niece Fang will likely be setting off soon. I shall travel with you.”
This arrogant and unilateral statement made Yun Xiao roll her eyes. She certainly did not want to travel with this self-important, deaf, and blind man.
She raised her hand and lightly tugged at Fang Zhiluo’s sleeve, weakly saying, “A’Luo, you promised to take me with you. Look how malicious he is toward me; I’m scared.” While speaking, she also coughed heavily twice, silently informing Fang Zhiluo that she was still injured.
Xie Yunfan’s brows furrowed tightly. She was defaming him again in front of him. Did this female cultivator think he was dead?
The killing intent that burst forth startled Yun Xiao, who quickly buried her head back into Fang Zhiluo’s arms and muttered, “See, he harbors ill intentions toward me.”
If it had been before, Fang Zhiluo might have agreed to Xie Yunfan’s suggestion. However, Xie Yunfan’s accusations and sudden aggression had just overturned the image she held of him. How could she dare to travel with Yun Xiao and a person like him?
She politely refused, “She has injuries; traveling will be inconvenient. I won’t delay Martial Uncle Xie.”
Being blocked, and now being rejected, even Xie Yunfan, with the best temper, would lose control, let alone a man whose good temperament was only for show.
He angrily flicked his sleeve, turned his side profile toward Fang Zhiluo, and said coldly, “Suit yourself.”
Catching sight of Yun Xiao’s sleeve from the corner of his eye, he warned again, “Martial Niece Fang, it is best to be more cautious, lest you be taken advantage of by some unsavory character.” With that, he flew away.
Fang Zhiluo helped Yun Xiao return to the cold pool. She glanced at Yun Xiao and saw her pale face. She quickly took out two pills for Yun Xiao to consume and reprimanded her, “You clearly know you’re injured, yet your mouth is still unforgiving. You deserve it.”
Yun Xiao did not speak, only staring pitifully at Fang Zhiluo with her tear-filled peach blossom eyes.
Fang Zhiluo sighed: “I’ll help you back to the cave dwelling to rest.”
With two pills in her stomach, Yun Xiao felt better. She avoided Fang Zhiluo’s outstretched hand, smacked her lips, and said, “I still haven’t eaten the Sky-Devouring Wolf I killed.”
What could Fang Zhiluo do? She could only indulge Yun Xiao, the patient.
Yun Xiao was not polite to Fang Zhiluo and familiarized herself with ordering Fang Zhiluo to help her.
Half an hour later, the air in this area was filled with a rich, spicy fragrance.
Yun Xiao handed the prepared dipping sauce dish to Fang Zhiluo: “Try it. It will definitely leave you with an endless aftertaste.”
Fang Zhiluo did not doubt her. She took the dipping dish, and, imitating Yun Xiao, picked up a piece of fish meat, dipped it thoroughly in the sauce, and put it into her mouth.
She frowned, her expression twisted: “Why is it so sour?”
“Sour? I guess I put the wrong seasoning in,” Yun Xiao casually handed the finished sweet and sour fish to Fang Zhiluo. “Try this one too.”
Fang Zhiluo picked up a small piece and put it into her mouth. Her brows, which had yet to relax, furrowed again. She looked up at Yun Xiao, who was sitting opposite her: “Are you doing this on purpose?”
Yun Xiao shrugged innocently and calmly pulled out a spiritual fruit, handing it to Fang Zhiluo.
This time, Fang Zhiluo did not dare to accept it, having been frightened by the sourness.
Yun Xiao withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened, lowered her head, took a large bite of the fruit flesh, and ate it expressionlessly. She said seriously, “It’s not sour. I added this spiritual fruit to both the dipping sauce and the sweet and sour fish.”
Fang Zhiluo looked at Yun Xiao with a complicated expression, putting down her chopsticks: “You eat it yourself.”
She suspected Yun Xiao was doing it on purpose, but she couldn’t find any evidence.
Yun Xiao placed a new dipping dish in front of Fang Zhiluo: “This one doesn’t have that spiritual fruit.”
Seeing that Fang Zhiluo was not moving, she sighed dramatically, “You said you would take care of me earlier. Now, I just ask you to eat a meal with me, and you keep making excuses.”
Fang Zhiluo clenched her hands by her side and gritted her teeth: “I’ll eat.”
There was no unexpected sourness, only a fresh and spicy taste upon entry.
Seeing Fang Zhiluo’s brow relax as she ate bite after bite, the sourness in Yun Xiao’s heart faded away.
What lousy male lead? Her A’Luo wouldn’t even look at that arrogant stallion.
The departing Xie Yunfan headed straight for the collapsed area. Judging from the spiritual energy fluctuations, he analyzed that a Soul Transformation cultivator’s battle had occurred here.
A battle between Soul Transformation cultivators could easily destroy an entire city. No wonder Zhong Qiu and the others were turned into dust.
He casually grabbed a cultivator and asked, “Tell me exactly what happened that day.”
The cultivator was only at the early Golden Core stage and was furious at Xie Yunfan’s actions but dared not act out. He could only recount the events in detail: “That day, I was in the middle of the Mist Forest when I suddenly saw lightning flashing over here. Afterward, I heard the mountain breaking apart. I rushed over to see, but an early Nascent Soul senior scared me away. I only dared to return after that senior left.”
Xie Yunfan pressed, “Was it a female cultivator?”
“Yes, I heard she even dug out another female cultivator from under the stones.”
Xie Yunfan released his grip, and the cultivator immediately left.
He flew up into the sky, staring intently at the area below, and asked with his consciousness: “Elder Qiu, did you sense anything?”
After a moment, Elder Qiu replied: “After several days, the spiritual energy is still dense. It is likely that rare heavenly treasures were originally born beneath this place.”
Finally, Elder Qiu added, “It might have been top-grade.”
“Then did you notice anything about the female cultivator next to Fang Zhiluo? I suspect that female cultivator is the Azure Jiao,” Xie Yunfan laid out his thoughts.
“The battle of Soul Transformation cultivators can also cause abnormal phenomena, but your suspicion is not entirely unfounded. You can find an opportunity to probe her,” Elder Qiu suggested.
After another day of rest, Fang Zhiluo saw that Yun Xiao’s external injuries were mostly healed, so she proposed setting off immediately.
Yun Xiao naturally had no objections. She even took the pot, instantly packing everything into her storage pouch, and then unhurriedly boarded the flying spiritual artifact.
She cast a wronged glance at Fang Zhiluo, who was already meditating and cultivating. She rested her chin on one hand, bored, and looked around.
Finally, she remembered that she had not yet tried alchemy, and she got an idea. She rummaged through her spatial dimension for an alchemy furnace and five sets of Spring Return Pill ingredients and began the alchemy process.
Although Fang Zhiluo was cultivating, she remained vigilant.
Seeing Yun Xiao practicing alchemy on the flying spiritual artifact, the corner of her mouth twitched. Even if one did not need to bathe and burn incense beforehand for alchemy, it should never be so casual.
Forget it. She had added defensive talismans to this flying spiritual artifact. Even if Yun Xiao’s furnace exploded, it wouldn’t damage the artifact.
Quietly placing a defensive talisman on Yun Xiao, she closed her eyes again to continue cultivating.
As expected, Yun Xiao failed.
She was not discouraged in the slightest; instead, her fighting spirit soared. She no longer followed the standard steps for alchemy, instead adding ingredients to the furnace based on intuition.
Two quarters of an hour later, a rich pill aroma spread out—it was about to succeed.
Yun Xiao suppressed her excitement and focused her spiritual power output. Soon, ten perfectly round pills formed.
She had already discovered yesterday that as long as she did not drastically mobilize her spiritual power, it would not affect her internal injuries, which gave her some confidence in self-preservation.
She eagerly took out the pills. Staring blankly at the white patterns that had appeared on the pills, she turned her head and asked Fang Zhiluo, “A’Luo, can you help me see what’s going on? Is this a success or a failure?”
Fang Zhiluo suppressed her astonishment. She looked at them for a while but couldn’t figure it out, shaking her head: “When we reach the Kaiyang Sect, I will ask the elders of the Pill Sect for you.”
The Sect Grand Competition is held in rotation among the four major sects every ten years, and this year it was the Kaiyang Sect’s turn.
Yun Xiao could not wait. She tossed a pill into her mouth.
She was so fast that Fang Zhiluo did not have time to stop her.
“After eating it, there’s a pleasant, tingling sensation. It’s comfortable.” Yun Xiao offered a pill to Fang Zhiluo. “Do you want to try? The medicinal effect is the same as the one you gave me.”
Fang Zhiluo accepted it and examined it in her hand. It was indeed a high-grade Spring Return Pill.
The Spring Return Pill can help cultivators heal internal and external injuries. The refining process is complicated and requires a certain level of spiritual power, so alchemists usually only allow disciples to attempt it after their cultivation has reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
Those with good talent might be able to refine low-grade Spring Return Pills within a year, with a maximum pill formation rate of forty percent. Those with poorer talent might take three years to complete a single batch.
A low-grade Spring Return Pill can help cultivators below the Golden Core stage heal. A middle-grade pill can help cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage heal, and a high-grade pill can help cultivators below the Soul Transformation stage heal.
If the cultivation level is higher, the effect of taking the Spring Return Pill is minimal.
She asked the doubt in her heart: “Have you refined pills before?”
Only this could explain why Yun Xiao could refine a high-grade Spring Return Pill.
“No, this is my first time,” Yun Xiao said on her own. “I wish I hadn’t followed the book for the first three attempts; not only did I waste three sets of ingredients, but the explosions also covered me in ash.”
Fang Zhiluo turned her head to look elsewhere. She currently did not want to speak to Yun Xiao.
Refining a high-grade Spring Return Pill on her first attempt—if this were to get out, the elders of the Pill Sect would likely go crazy.
She recalled that she had diligently studied for three years and still could not produce a single batch of pills. Her heart felt even more distressed.
“What’s wrong?” Yun Xiao tilted her head to look at Fang Zhiluo. “If you don’t want to eat it, just throw it away. Don’t be unhappy.”
Calming her emotions, Fang Zhiluo put the pill into her mouth.
The next moment, she felt a current of electricity surge through her body. She began to twitch all over, only stopping after half a zhancha (approximately six minutes).
This greatly alarmed Yun Xiao, who wanted to help Fang Zhiluo but did not know how.
Fang Zhiluo let out a breath of turbid air: “The Spring Return Pill you refined carries the power of thunder.” This also explained why an extra white pattern appeared on the pill.
Just as Yun Xiao was about to ask Fang Zhiluo something else, an annoying voice suddenly came from behind them.
“Since we’ve met, why don’t we travel together? What do you think, Martial Niece Fang?” Xie Yunfan’s gaze fell upon Yun Xiao. “I see this Daoist Friend’s complexion is much better than a few days ago. I assume she is mostly recovered.”