Sun Xiaosheng felt a headache coming on as he watched Sun Cheng's relentless badgering.
“Sun Yang died during the beast tide. Given how he relied on his cultivation to disregard the family's arrangements, dying out there was bound to happen sooner or later!”
“I know you had a close relationship with Sun Yang, but he's dead now. Grieving won't do any good—you'd better spend your energy thinking about how to pass next month's family exam!”
With those words, Sun Xiaosheng flicked his sleeves and left, leaving Sun Cheng sitting on the ground, utterly despondent.
Sun Yang had been his greatest reliance in the Sun family. How could he have died so mysteriously...
Now that he was dead, what was he supposed to do in the future?!
Wen Jingshu merely overheard the exchange and didn't take it to heart.
Little did they know, the actual killer was standing right there...
Over the next half-month, Wen Jingshu toured Cangwu Island, bought a selection of local specialties, and finally prepared to leave, thoroughly satisfied.
Sun Ling, Xue Wanshu, Zheng Jilin, and Jinyin saw her off at the Aoyou Ferry. Unconcealed admiration shone in Xue Wanshu's eyes as she said with reluctant reluctance,
“Junior Sister, I'll see you at the Grand Hundred Sects Tournament!”
The Grand Hundred Sects Tournament was a grand sparring competition held once every two hundred years. From the Four Great Sects down to newly founded sects, any disciple from any faction could participate as long as they registered.
At the same time, every tournament served as a stage for the top geniuses of each major sect to showcase their talents. Xu Haoguang and Beili had taken first and third place respectively in the tournament of their generation.
They had become famous overnight from that single battle!
In addition to martial spars, the Grand Hundred Sects Tournament also held competitions for the four auxiliary arts and secondary paths—puppets, divination, mechanisms, and more. If one could imagine it, it was there. With at least twenty thousand disciples participating in every tournament, it was a spectacular gathering of elites.
Hearing Xue Wanshu's words, Zheng Jilin countered in disagreement, “How do you know our Little Senior Sister will represent the Qingyun Sect?”
“Little Senior Sister, please take pity on our Pill Sect! The martial arena is sorely missing a first-place trophy for us!”
Xue Wanshu was displeased upon hearing this. If Wen Jingshu really represented the Pill Sect, how could the Qingyun Sect claim first place? She immediately snapped back:
“What does your lack of a first-place trophy have to do with our Junior Sister? Junior Sister is a disciple of our Law Enforcement Hall! There's no way she'll represent the Pill Sect.”
Unconvinced, Zheng Jilin scoffed, “So what if she's a Law Enforcement Hall disciple? How can that compare to Misty Peak? Little Senior Sister is an inner sect disciple of our Misty Peak! That's Misty Peak! Do you have any idea how prestigious that is?”
“I don't care about prestige! Junior Sister belongs to the Qingyun Sect!”
“She belongs to the Pill Sect!”
“Qingyun Sect!”
“Pill Sect!”
...
Alchemy cultivators were generally uninterested in combat power for its own sake; to them, raising their strength was merely a means to better study the Dao of Alchemy.
Furthermore, an alchemy cultivator's ascension didn't strictly require reaching the Tribulation Passage Stage. There were grandmasters of alchemy who achieved sudden enlightenment and ascended directly while still at the Mahayana Stage.
Besides, even if they were to ascend through the conventional route, it was just a matter of popping a few extra pills.
Pills that others found impossible to acquire even with priceless wealth could easily be refined once an alchemist's rank increased.
Because of this, the Pill Sect never made much of a showing in the martial arena rankings at any Grand Hundred Sects Tournament.
The last time the Pill Sect had claimed first place in the martial arena was back during Wen Shuyi's generation.
Pulling her thoughts back, Wen Jingshu looked at the two who were on the verge of a fistfight and said, “Alright, it's still early. I'll decide when the time comes based on the situation.”
Worst-case scenario, she could just use an alternate identity.
Was she really incapable of balancing the scales between a mere two sects?
Since Wen Jingshu had spoken, the two had no choice but to restrain themselves, however unwilling they were.
After exchanging a few final words with Sun Ling and Jinyin, Wen Jingshu stepped onto the Aoyou Ferry.
Standing on the shore, Jinyin watched the ferry depart.
She had desperately wanted to shamelessly follow Wen Jingshu, but after that battle, she had balked. She possessed self-awareness, knowing that at her current strength, remaining by Wen Jingshu's side would only drag her down.
Fortunately, thanks to Wen Jingshu, she had become acquainted with Sun Ling, the young leader of the Sun family. Out of respect for Wen Jingshu, Sun Ling extended extra care to them.
Knowing when to quit while ahead, Jinyin contentedly stayed behind on Cangwu Island.
Watching the Aoyou Ferry drift further away, she made a silent resolution in her heart.
One day, she would head to the mainland and follow in Wen Jingshu's footsteps!
She and the Eldest Young Lady would surely meet again!
The size of the Aoyou Ferry was comparable to a small town. Constructed entirely from Thousand-Year Cold Dark Iron, its hull was predominantly black and densely carved with array runes. A single glance was enough to gauge the formidable power of those formations.
Aboard the vessel, gold-wire wood floored the ground, intricately carved dazzling gold wood formed the pillars, and glazed tiles infused with spiritual charm shimmered with fine grains of light under the sun. Running it for a single day consumed over a thousand top-grade spirit stones.
The spiritual energy inside the ship was thirty percent denser than outside, leading many passengers to spend their time on board cultivating.
From a distance, the Aoyou Ferry shone with resplendent magnificence as it braved the wind and waves, resembling a floating immortal palace upon the sea.
The nine-story structure tapered upward tier by tier. Each level featured pavilions, corridors, and artificial rockeries. There were also alchemy rooms, meditation rooms, study rooms, and artifact refining rooms, as well as taverns and pleasure houses where cultivators could rest and unwind.
The top floor held only ten rooms, reserved exclusively for individuals of noble status.
Wen Jingshu was one such noble guest.
With Golden Core Stage maidservants catering to her every need and Nascent Soul Stage guards patrolling back and forth, talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu couldn't help but marvel at how wonderful it was to have a powerful background.
Finally having some free time, Wen Jingshu took out her transmission stone and saw a message from her sister:
“Shushu, Beili chose the Nine-Transformation Spirit-Restoring Pill.”
Wen Jingshu didn't react much to this.
After all, it was entirely within expectations.
It would take three months for the Aoyou Ferry to reach the mainland, giving Wen Jingshu the perfect opportunity to hone her alchemy and talisman arts.
Leaving a wispy trace of her aura in the room, Wen Jingshu entered the Shengsheng Bead once more.
She drew out the Qingshuang Tripod, ignited the Glazed Fire, and carefully memorized the recipe for the low-grade second-rank Heart-Clearing Pill. After silently simulating the process dozens of times in her mind, she finally unsealed the cauldron to begin refining.
Herbs were tossed into the tripod one by one in proper order. Thanks to her increased cultivation, forming a low-grade second-rank pill was practically second nature.
Once again, the batch produced eleven pills—five supreme-grade and six top-grade.
Mu Yanghe watched Wen Jingshu's alchemy technique, her expression a mix of surprise and bewilderment:
“Little Celestial Maiden, others produce ten pills per batch, so how do you get eleven? As expected of the Little Celestial Maiden who rescued me from deep waters and raging fires—you're awesome!”
“It's just... why are you still using such ancient alchemy techniques?”
“Lower-realm cultivators use those hand seals because of spiritual energy constraints, but your wood spiritual root has already shed into an immortal root. Condensing pills only takes three hand seals!”
Wen Jingshu was shocked.
Three hand seals? Immortals only need three hand seals to refine pills?
Before Wen Jingshu could question her further, Mu Yanghe continued talking to herself, “Oh! I get it! Little Celestial Maiden, you're testing me, aren't you?”
“You still don't believe I'm from the Immortal Realm, do you?! That's why you're using lower-realm alchemy hand seals to test me!”
“Rest assured, Little Celestial Maiden! Although I'm a formation cultivator, I know a bit about alchemy too. Merely the Medicinal Quenching Seal, Medicinal Fusing Seal, and Pill-Condensing Seal—this celestial maiden knows them!”
“Just wait, I'll show you right now!”
Vowing solemnly, Mu Yanghe picked up a spiritual plant and tossed it straight into the cauldron, only for Wen Jingshu to watch the plant get incinerated to ash right before her eyes.
Mu Yanghe scratched the top of her skull in embarrassment. “Sorry, Little Celestial Maiden... I forgot that right now I'm just a useless pile of bones.”
Wen Jingshu: ...
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