Yun Xiao rolled her eyes and said dismissively, “There is more than one path to the Kaiyang Sect. How did we just happen to meet? It would be more believable to say you deliberately waited here.”
Since Xie Yunfan had spoken to this extent, if she refused again, it would be truly unreasonable.
Fang Zhiluo gave a slight nod: “In that case, I’ll rely on Martial Uncle Xie for the journey.”
Yun Xiao’s eyes widened, her exquisite face completely displaying her displeasure.
Fang Zhiluo merely glanced at Yun Xiao, then closed her eyes and began meditating.
Seeing this, Yun Xiao’s heart felt utterly cold. She wished she could rush over and kick the annoying Xie Yunfan several times.
Not to mention that her old injuries were not yet healed; even if they were, rashly making a move would only arouse Xie Yunfan’s suspicion.
But if she let it go just like that, her heart felt utterly choked.
Thinking of something, Yun Xiao turned to look at Xie Yunfan: “Hey, you, surnamed Xie, do you have any spiritual herbs? I want as many as you have. Don’t worry, I won’t take them for nothing; I’ll pay with spirit stones.” As she spoke, she took down the storage pouch at her waist, indicating that she meant what she said.
Her attitude greatly displeased Xie Yunfan. He flatly refused: “No.”
Yun Xiao was about to speak again when she suddenly saw a storage pouch flying toward her. She subconsciously raised her hand to catch it.
Fang Zhiluo said gently: “Refine your pills.” The implication was for her to shut up and stop causing trouble.
Yun Xiao probed the storage pouch with her divine sense. The number of spiritual herbs was vast, and the variety was rich; they must have been accumulated for a long time.
A’Luo gave her the spiritual herbs she had painstakingly saved, so how could she bear to put A’Luo in a difficult position?
Fine, I’ll let Xie Yunfan off for now.
It wouldn’t be too late to settle accounts with Xie Yunfan after she had completely refined the spiritual power in her body and successfully raised her cultivation to the Soul Transformation stage.
On that day, the spiritual energy in her body surged, threatening to explode and kill her.
A desperate fight with the ninth-level giant crocodile consumed some spiritual power, but her body still could not withstand the remaining amount. While her consciousness was still clear, she sealed the spiritual energy in her meridians, which was one of the main reasons for her damaged meridians.
Ignoring Xie Yunfan’s gaze, which occasionally fell upon her, Yun Xiao concentrated on refining pills.
Her technique progressed from unfamiliarity to proficiency in just five batches.
Unbeknownst to her, Xie Yunfan, who had been observing her the entire time, was stunned by her unique alchemy technique.
Xie Yunfan asked with his consciousness: “Elder Qiu, have you ever seen this kind of alchemy technique?”
“Never. Hmm? It actually formed pills. But why does this pill pattern have an extra line?”
Xie Yunfan focused his eyes and saw that there was indeed one more pill pattern than on other pills.
He spoke up: “Hey, didn’t you want spiritual herbs? Trade me a pill for them.”
Yun Xiao did not forget that A’Luo said the pills refined by her had an extra thunder pattern. She immediately refused: “No need. The spiritual herbs A’Luo gave me are enough. Even if I really lacked a certain type, I could buy it at the market.”
Xie Yunfan did not expect Yun Xiao to refuse him. His expression darkened.
“I have some Spring Return Pills here, take them.” As she spoke, Fang Zhiluo threw the porcelain bottle containing high-grade Spring Return Pills to Xie Yunfan.
The pills Yun Xiao refined were too unique and should not be distributed externally.
Although Yun Xiao knew A’Luo was doing this for her, she still felt a pang of jealousy. She took out a spiritual fruit, took a large bite, and turned her head to ask Fang Zhiluo: “A’Luo, do you want one?”
Seeing the spiritual fruit in Yun Xiao’s hand, Fang Zhiluo’s mouth already felt sour. She kept her voice steady and replied, “No need. You eat it yourself.”
Yun Xiao was not disappointed. She then turned to face Xie Yunfan: “Want one?”
Xie Yunfan merely took this as Yun Xiao showing weakness toward him. He straightened his robe and said solemnly, “Since you offered, I will reluctantly accept it.”
Yun Xiao rarely refrained from arguing with Xie Yunfan. However, while Xie Yunfan was eating the spiritual fruit, she quickly placed a flight talisman on the flying spiritual artifact.
The spiritual fruit made Xie Yunfan’s face contort in pain. He was about to explode in anger, but Yun Xiao and Fang Zhiluo were nowhere to be seen.
Thus, he knew he had been tricked by Yun Xiao. His fists clenched so tightly they made cracking sounds, and his eyes burned with fury.
Yun Xiao clearly put Xie Yunfan out of her mind. She pestered Fang Zhiluo to stop and rest at a market for a day before continuing their journey.
Smelling the fragrance filling the air, the glutton in her stomach stirred restlessly. Before long, she had so many spiritual foods in her hands that she couldn’t carry any more.
Since Fang Zhiluo wouldn’t eat, she had to put them into her storage pouch to eat slowly later.
Since witnessing the convenience of talismans, Yun Xiao had developed a liking for them. She heard that talismans in the free trade market were cheaper than those in the Myriad Treasure Pavilion, and cultivators often traded unwanted spiritual herbs and spiritual artifacts there.
She immediately became interested. She called Fang Zhiluo and together they went to the free trade market.
The person hadn’t lied to her; there really was everything here.
Yun Xiao did not understand talismans. She tilted her head and looked at Fang Zhiluo: “A’Luo, which talismans should I buy?”
“The talismans here are not very useful to you.”
Yun Xiao’s enthusiasm deflated. Was this trip for nothing?
Spotting a jade gourd on a ground stall, she regained her spirits. She walked over, took the jade gourd in her hand, and asked, “How much for this?”
The stall owner enthusiastically introduced it: “This immortal lady has an excellent eye! My jade gourd comes from the cave dwelling of an Ascended Mighty One—”
Not wanting to listen to the stall owner’s nonsense, Yun Xiao interrupted: “How many spirit stones?”
The stall owner held up one finger and asked an exorbitant price: “One thousand high-grade spirit stones.”
Yun Xiao put it down and started to leave.
The stall owner became anxious: “Immortal Lady, don’t leave so fast! The price can be negotiated.”
Yun Xiao stopped and counter-offered: “One high-grade spirit stone.”
She had just used her spiritual energy to sense it. This jade gourd was, at most, a middle-grade spiritual artifact. The internal space was also not large, capable of holding only about five thousand jin of wine.
Giving the stall owner one high-grade spirit stone was already above the market price.
The stall owner had originally seen that Yun Xiao and the other woman were strangers and wore high-grade spiritual robes, clearly suggesting they came from a noble family or a sect. He thought that people who were inexperienced in the world were the easiest to trick, but he unexpectedly encountered a sharp one.
He did not want to give up and deliberately feigned difficulty, hoping Yun Xiao would offer a little more.
In modern times, Yun Xiao came from an ordinary family and was raised in a single-parent household. She was careful with money, and haggling when buying things was second nature to her. She wouldn’t be manipulated by the stall owner and lifted her leg to walk away.
“Hey, come back! I’ll sell it, I’ll sell it!”
Yun Xiao picked up the jade gourd, pulled out one high-grade spirit stone, and tossed it to the stall owner. Just as she was about to leave, a female voice reached her ears.
“Daoist Friend, wait up.” The red-robed female cultivator quickly stepped forward, her gaze falling on the jade gourd in Yun Xiao’s hand. “I wonder if Daoist Friend would part with it? I am willing to offer double the price.”
Yun Xiao quickly stored the jade gourd in her storage pouch, her attitude resolute: “Not selling.”
“Five times,” the red-robed female cultivator raised the price.
Hearing this, the stall owner was full of regret. He wished he hadn’t called out to Yun Xiao earlier.
Yun Xiao frowned impatiently: “Not selling.”
The moment she saw the jade gourd, she felt a desire for it and trusted her intuition. That was why she was willing to buy it at the high price of one high-grade spirit stone.
The behavior of this red-robed female cultivator was silently telling her that this jade gourd might hold another secret.
Since it held a secret, how could she possibly give it away?
Moreover, she was not lacking a few high-grade spirit stones now.
Ignoring the red-robed female cultivator, Yun Xiao turned to leave, but she was blocked by the red-robed cultivator’s companion’s sword.
Fang Zhiluo released her imposing pressure toward the two red-robed cultivators and said coldly: “Get lost.”
The red-robed female cultivator was only at the early Golden Core stage and almost couldn’t stand firm. She strained to say, “Senior, please forgive us! This junior would not dare again.”
With no one bothering them, Yun Xiao bought some useful spiritual herbs, and then she and Fang Zhiluo walked back.
Choosing a random inn to enter, a familiar voice drifted into her ears.
“Senior Brother Xie, that’s the one who snatched the jade gourd I had my eye on.”
Yun Xiao turned around and saw the red-robed female cultivator glaring at her indignantly.
And the target of the red-robed female cultivator’s complaint was none other than Xie Yunfan.
Yun Xiao took a step back, tilted her head close to Fang Zhiluo, and complained: “See? This person has a fiancée, yet he still courts women everywhere.” She shook her head lightly. “Pity that fiancée. Before they are even married, a vast green meadow is already growing over her head.”
Fang Zhiluo frowned slightly, stared at Xie Yunfan for two breaths, and calmly turned and walked toward the counter.
Cultivators have excellent hearing and eyesight, and Yun Xiao’s words were heard by the red-robed female cultivator and Xie Yunfan, word for word.
The red-robed female cultivator’s face flushed crimson. She pointed her sword at Yun Xiao: “What nonsense are you talking about? Senior Brother Xie and I are absolutely innocent!”
That shy and coy look, however, hardly counted as innocent.
Xie Yunfan’s gaze followed Fang Zhiluo. The veins on his tightly clenched fist were protruding.
What did Fang Zhiluo mean by this? As his fiancée, she was actually indifferent to the female cultivator who appeared by his side.
Yun Xiao couldn’t hold back a laugh, but she didn’t look embarrassed in the slightest: “My apologies, I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t help it. His seniority in the Heaven’s Will Sect is quite high, yet you call him Senior Brother.”
She pointed to Xie Yunfan: “And he acknowledged it. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Innocent? That is truly too innocent.”
Noticing the surrounding people pointing and gossiping about him, Xie Yunfan sternly shouted: “Enough!” He drew his sword. “You have repeatedly tried to sow discord between Martial Niece Fang and me, and now you are ruining the reputations of this Daoist Friend and me. Do you really think I am made of clay?” Having said that, he lunged at Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao dodged.
Xie Yunfan changed his moves, determined to make Yun Xiao pay the price.
The inn instantly devolved into chaos. Low-cultivation cultivators retreated, fearing they would be affected by the battle between the two.
Watching the fierce battle between the two, Fang Zhiluo frowned deeply and called out loudly: “Fighting is prohibited inside the market. If the patrol team catches you, neither of you will escape.”
These words reminded Xie Yunfan. He withdrew his sword and coldly stared at Yun Xiao: “A scholar would rather die than be humiliated. I will surely repay today’s humiliation a hundredfold in the future.”
In resisting Xie Yunfan’s lethal attack, Yun Xiao had to mobilize a large amount of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy that had been sealed in her meridians was now rampaging inside her body.
She raised her hand to wipe away the bloodstain at the corner of her mouth and forced herself to say, “That depends on whether you have the capability.”