Wen Qiao still remembered that the white-bellied wolf spider had stolen the Scarlet Flame Leopard’s Scarlet Star Flower and exchanged it with her for Jade Spirit Pills. As it happened, that Scarlet Star Flower had been Wang Xiuyuan’s goal for entering Cangwu Mountain this time.
Although Wang Xiuyuan did not know that the Scarlet Star Flower was with them, after knowing who he was, Wen Qiao’s impression of him was still quite deep.
Now, seeing his handsome and carefree appearance, she not only could not appreciate it, but kept thinking of the unlucky sight from their first meeting, when he had been stung by poisonous bees until his face had swollen into a huge pig’s head.
Wang Xiuyuan smiled and asked, “Are the two of you here to buy spirit herbs?”
Ning Yuzhou nodded and said warmly, “Since we rarely come to Cangwu Town, we wanted to see what spirit herbs are available here. If there are any good ones, we would like to purchase some.”
Wang Xiuyuan’s eyes flickered slightly. He smiled and said, “I have some friendship with the owner of this shop. If anything catches your eye, feel free to take it. Consider it a gift from me.”
With a righteous expression, Ning Yuzhou refused, making it clear that they could not accept rewards without merit. How could they take other people’s things for free?
Wang Xiuyuan said, “Consider it thanks for the antidote pills that day.”
Ning Yuzhou replied, “Young Master Wang, there is no need to be so polite. You paid yuan crystals for those antidote pills. You do not owe us anything.”
Wang Xiuyuan was very insistent and said, “At that time, our antidote pills had already been used up. If we had not met you, the bee venom might have invaded our internal organs. Who knows whether we could have held on until we descended the mountain? In the end, I still have to thank you.”
With that, without waiting for Ning Yuzhou to refuse again, he instructed the shop assistant to bring out the spirit herbs that the shop kept separately.
After the shop assistant left, Wang Xiuyuan lowered his voice and said to them, “Every shop in Cangwu Town has its own backing. The items displayed in their shops are only ordinary spirit herbs. Some rare and precious ones are not sold publicly. They are usually sent elsewhere. Without connections, it is impossible to buy them.”
Ning Yuzhou revealed a timely look of surprise.
Wang Xiuyuan nodded with a smile and could not help glancing at Wen Qiao, who remained silent beside them.
Wang Xiuyuan had not ignored Wen Qiao. Although Wen Qiao was still young, her flower-like beauty was difficult for any normal man to overlook, let alone someone like Wang Xiuyuan, who prided himself on being romantic and cherishing beauties.
It was just that they had only just become acquainted, so naturally he could not act too enthusiastic. If he offended the other party, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Thus, Wang Xiuyuan was especially restrained as he chatted with Ning Yuzhou, looking every bit like a gentleman.
Sure enough, the spirit herbs the shop assistant brought out this time were not only of higher grade, but also of excellent quality. Among them were several types that did not exist in the space.
Wen Qiao leaned over and examined them one by one. Her originally cold brows and eyes softened unconsciously, and she asked the shop assistant, “I want to buy these spirit herbs.”
Seeing Wen Qiao’s delighted expression and softened features, finally revealing a bit of the sweetness and charm unique to a young girl, Wang Xiuyuan’s heart stirred slightly. Knowing that she truly liked these, he naturally wanted to sell them a favour. He immediately said to the shop assistant, “Of course. Put the bill under my name. I will speak to your shopkeeper later.”
The shop assistant agreed and calculated the total for them. It came to thirteen thousand yuan crystals.
Ning Yuzhou took out a storage pouch. With a sweep of his hand, sparkling, translucent yuan crystals appeared on the table.
He moved extremely quickly, leaving Wang Xiuyuan’s words stuck in his throat. Wang Xiuyuan could only smile helplessly and let the shop assistant collect the yuan crystals.
After buying the spirit herbs, Ning Yuzhou and the others prepared to leave.
Seeing that it was getting late, Wang Xiuyuan invited them to a nearby restaurant to dine together. “Meeting is fate. Since it is rare to meet the two of you here again, why not allow me to host? Please do not refuse.”
Ning Yuzhou declined several times, but in the end, he could only accept Wang Xiuyuan’s enthusiastic invitation.
Wen Qiao silently followed beside Ning Yuzhou. The little boy who had been guiding them had already been dismissed, while Qian Shou followed them at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
Wang Xiuyuan brought them to a luxuriously decorated restaurant in town. The restaurant had four floors and specialised in high-grade ingredients. The prices were expensive, and cultivators without some wealth simply could not afford to dine there.
However, the Shengwu Continent did not lack wealthy cultivators. There were also many cultivators who had made a windfall in Cangwu Mountain and would occasionally come here for a meal, enjoying the delicious spirit food and spirit wine to reward themselves for their hard work.
Because of this, the restaurant was full during mealtimes, and it was difficult to reserve a place in advance.
But Wang Xiuyuan had no such trouble. When they arrived at the restaurant, he directly brought them to a private room on the third floor.
Inside the private room waited a pair of twin sisters. They sat there elegantly brewing tea, and the air was filled with a misty fragrance of tea.
“Young Master, you’re back.”
The two maidservants came forward sweetly and prettily, their faces full of smiles. However, when they clearly saw Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao, the smiles on their faces immediately became somewhat forced.
They also recognised the two.
In the sisters’ hearts, one of them had a clear, elegant, moonlit appearance, yet only cared about money and was unbearably vulgar. The other only had flower-like beauty but was cold as ice and not at all likable.
“Please sit, both of you.” Wang Xiuyuan invited them to take their seats, then pointed at the sisters and said, “These are Jiaojiao and Qianqian, my two maidservants. If you need anything, feel free to instruct them.”
Although Jiaojiao and Qianqian did not really like the two in their hearts, they still smiled and responded, then gracefully withdrew to the side and urged the restaurant attendants to serve the dishes.
The dishes were brought up very quickly, filling the whole table.
Wen Qiao looked them over. Just from appearance alone, the spirit food in this restaurant was several levels higher than the food at the inn where they were staying, not to mention that it had colour, aroma, and flavour all in abundance. As expected of a high-class restaurant, it was worth the price.
Wang Xiuyuan poured wine for the two of them and asked, “I still do not know how to address you both.”
“I am Ning Yuzhou. This is Min Xian, my wife,” Ning Yuzhou said.
Hearing that he had changed her name for her, Wen Qiao looked up at Ning Yuzhou but did not say anything, silently accepting the name Min Xian. Min was her maternal family’s surname, and Xian was the childhood name her parents had given her. Using this name was quite appropriate.
Wang Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, “So you are husband and wife.”
Inwardly, he secretly wiped away a cold sweat. Fortunately, he had restrained himself earlier and had not started acting attentive toward another man’s wife just because the girl was beautiful. Otherwise, would he not have offended someone? This was a lesson. In the future, if he encountered a beautiful female cultivator, he had to first find out whether she had a fiancé or was already married. He could not ignore this simply because she was young.
Jiaojiao and Qianqian, who were serving at the side, were also greatly surprised. Their gazes repeatedly drifted toward Wen Qiao. Although they were puzzled that she had married at such a young age, they were even happier that she was a married woman and not some little vixen coming to compete with them for their young master.
Thus, when Wang Xiuyuan told Jiaojiao and Qianqian to attend to Wen Qiao during the meal, the sisters showed no reluctance at all. Instead, they were especially enthusiastic, standing beside her to serve dishes and pour wine, gently asking what she wanted to eat and arranging everything for her with their fair hands.
Wen Qiao silently ate, being served by the twin sisters as a matter of course, without feeling the slightest discomfort.
Seeing his maidservants suddenly become so enthusiastic, Wang Xiuyuan glanced at Ning Yuzhou. When he saw that Ning Yuzhou had no reaction, he said nothing either.
However, seeing the calm attitude of this married couple, Wang Xiuyuan could not help thinking a little more deeply.
So Wang Xiuyuan began indirectly probing into their origins.
Ning Yuzhou said, “To be honest with Young Master Wang, my wife and I came from the miasmic marshes of South Ming. We are very interested in the outside world, so we wanted to travel around and see more, while also training along the way…”
Wen Qiao lowered her head and drank the soup Jiaojiao and Qianqian handed her. Not only had her name changed, even their origins had changed.
She continued silently listening to her husband fool that Young Master Wang.
Now, she understood somewhat. Wang Xiuyuan was so warmly attaching himself to them because he had his own motives. Her husband, meanwhile, was going along with the situation and turning it to his advantage. Both men were full of schemes, exchanging moves back and forth. There was no room for outsiders to interrupt, so she might as well continue eating and drinking.
Wen Qiao did not just eat and drink herself. She also fed spirit herbs to Wen Tutu, giving him a few of the fresh spirit herbs they had just bought.
Wen Tutu sat at the side, hugging a spirit herb and nibbling on it, treating himself as a cute little bunny with not the slightest bit of threat.
Jiaojiao and Qianqian were girls, so naturally they could not resist such a cute creature. They could not help letting out soft cries, truly liking this adorable little rabbit. They could not resist searching through their storage pouches and taking out spirit herbs to hand over.
Wen Tutu refused no one, relying on acting cute to cheat food and drink out of them.
Wang Xiuyuan glanced over in his free time and discovered that his two maidservants had completely defected to that master and pet, forgetting whose people they were.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Then he continued pulling Ning Yuzhou into conversation.
After Wen Qiao had eaten her fill, she held Wen Tutu and sat at the side, listening to the two men beside her exchange verbal probes.
Wang Xiuyuan finally explained his purpose. “…To be honest, after receiving the antidote pills from you two that day, the bee venom in my body was resolved within half a day. I could feel that although the antidote pills were only high-grade, their effect was even better than ordinary antidote pills. May I ask which alchemist refined them?”
Ning Yuzhou smiled gently. “It is my honour that Young Master Wang thinks so highly of them.”
Wang Xiuyuan said in surprise, “Those antidote pills were refined by Young Master Ning?”
“Exactly.”
Wang Xiuyuan had not expected the antidote pills to have been refined by Ning Yuzhou. Looking at his cultivation, he was clearly only at the peak of the Yuan Feather Realm, yet he was actually able to refine antidote pills of such high quality. This showed how high his alchemy level was. In the future, if his cultivation improved, his alchemy would certainly rise again. Refining high-rank spirit pills would naturally not be a problem.
That day, they had had no choice but to buy antidote pills from the two people they had happened to meet, paying double the market price. They had not held much hope for the effect of the antidote pills at all; they only wanted to hold on until they returned to Cangwu Town.
Who would have thought that the antidote pills would be extremely effective? Unlike the ones commonly sold on the market, the bee venom in their bodies had been resolved in only half a day.
The Anqiu Wang family was an alchemy family. Although Wang Xiuyuan did not have talent in alchemy, he had been influenced by the family since childhood and had some insight into the Dao of alchemy. Naturally, he could see how impressive those antidote pills were. Therefore, when he met Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao again, he was so enthusiastic because he wanted to know who had refined those antidote pills. Whether he could recruit that alchemist for his family’s use or simply form a good connection with him, it would be a good opportunity.
Wang Xiuyuan’s thoughts turned over countless times, while his expression became even warmer. He began chatting with Ning Yuzhou about alchemy.
Ning Yuzhou did not act too monstrous. He only allowed Wang Xiuyuan to see what he hoped to see.
In Wang Xiuyuan’s eyes, Ning Yuzhou was quite a talented alchemist, but his alchemy level had not exceeded his current cultivation by too much. This made Wang Xiuyuan view Ning Yuzhou very favourably and gave him the intention to befriend him.
“You have just come out of Cangwu Mountain. What plans do you have next?”
Ning Yuzhou smiled. “We want to travel around and take a look. Our main purpose is to train, so it does not matter where we go. We will stay in Cangwu Town for a few days first before deciding.”
Hearing this, Wang Xiuyuan invited them to attend the upcoming Five Cities Pill Conference.
He briefly explained what the Five Cities Pill Conference was, then said, “The pill conference will be held for three consecutive days. Alchemists from all over Shengwu will gather together to exchange insights and discuss alchemy. For alchemists, it is an extremely rare opportunity. If Young Master Ning and Madam do not mind, you may attend the pill conference with me.”
Ning Yuzhou did not agree immediately. He only said that he would consider it.
After the meal, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao bid farewell and left.
“I will be staying in Cangwu Town for several days for the time being. If the two of you are interested in the pill conference, you can come find me. We can travel together and have companions on the road,” Wang Xiuyuan said.
Ning Yuzhou agreed, then left with Wen Qiao.
Qian Shou still hid among the crowd, following them from a distance that was neither too close nor too far, secretly protecting them.
After returning to the inn, Wen Qiao took out the spirit herbs and spirit herb seeds they had bought that day and sorted them according to their different types.
Ning Yuzhou held a cup of spirit tea in his hand and watched her with a smile. He asked, “Ah Xian, are you interested in that pill conference?”
Wen Qiao looked up at him and tilted her head. “What about you?”
“With my current level, that pill conference will not give me much inspiration.”
Not much, but there would still be some benefit.
Wen Qiao now understood the way her husband spoke. He liked to say only half of things and leave the other half out. She silently filled in the rest for him in her heart and said, “Anyway, we don’t have anything else to do right now. We can go take a look. Are we going to travel with that Young Master Wang?”
Wen Qiao had not forgotten that Wang Xiuyuan was not exactly an open and honourable gentleman. She was not deceived by his warm and polite attitude.
Although the Anqiu Wang family and the Huaiyin Shang family were competitors, and Wang Xiuyuan had not directly harmed anyone himself, he had tripped up Shang Honglang and his sister, causing them to offend a disciple of a major force as soon as they entered Cangwu Mountain and almost be completely wiped out. This showed that Wang Xiuyuan was not as easy to get along with as he appeared on the surface.
When dealing with such a person, one’s mind had to be even sharper than his, and one had to act even more carefully.
Wen Qiao felt that this was far too tiring.
“Let’s see how things go first,” Ning Yuzhou said with a smile. “In a few days, we’ll be able to decide whether to travel with him.”
Wen Qiao looked at him in confusion. Her brain felt somewhat insufficient. She had no way of guessing what he intended to do from his habit of saying only half of things.
Ning Yuzhou did not say more. He helped her sort the spirit herb seeds, then set up a spirit-gathering array around them and began cultivating.
Seeing him cultivate so actively was rare, and Wen Qiao was very surprised.
During this period, she had seen just how busy Ning Yuzhou was. He was busy refining pills, making talismans, refining tools, and occasionally tinkering with formations when he had time. He could barely squeeze out any time to cultivate.
However, Ning Yuzhou’s cultivation truly was too low. Since it was rare to see him cultivating, Wen Qiao naturally did not disturb him. She even carried Wen Tutu farther away to prevent him from bothering Ning Yuzhou.
Once Ning Yuzhou began cultivating, he cultivated for three days.
When he finally removed the spirit-gathering array, Wen Qiao discovered that his cultivation had already reached the early Yuan Bright Realm.
Wen Qiao: “…”
“Ah Xian, let’s go into the space together and take a look. The space should be much larger now.”
Ning Yuzhou looked eager and took her hand. The two entered the space together.
As soon as they entered, Wen Qiao discovered that the space had expanded several times over. The originally half-mu space had now become two mu large. The grey chaotic energy at the edges had pushed outward, revealing fertile black soil. The stone-gold python vine could not wait to stretch out its body, which had originally been squeezed into clumps, climbing outward and baring its claws as it coiled along the edge of the space.
“The space has grown so much bigger,” Wen Qiao said happily. Now there was more room to plant spirit herbs.
Seeing her happy, Ning Yuzhou also smiled.
However, they did not stay in the space for too long and soon went back out. The reason was that Wang Xiuyuan had come to visit.
After holding back for three days, Wang Xiuyuan finally could not resist coming to find them.
In Wang Xiuyuan’s eyes, Ning Yuzhou, this alchemist from the mysterious miasmic marshes of South Ming, was a promising talent. But when he discovered that Ning Yuzhou had sold a batch of spirit pills in Cangwu Town a few days ago, including nearly thirty supreme-grade pills, that was what made him quickly change his attitude.
When Ning Yuzhou sold the spirit pills, he had not deliberately hidden it, so it was not strange that Wang Xiuyuan found out.
As for those thirty supreme-grade spirit pills, that had also been intentional on his part.
Now, when he refined yellow-grade pills, his pill yield was not only a full batch of ten pills every time, but all of them were supreme-grade. The high-grade pills he had sold were ones he had refined back when he was practising. There were not many of them, and they had all been sold. The supreme-grade ones had been kept for his own people.
After learning of Ning Yuzhou’s alchemy ability, Wang Xiuyuan did not want to miss out on him. If he could draw him over to the Wang family, that would naturally be best. If not, he still had to maintain a good relationship with him. It would be even better if they could establish some kind of connection.
The opportunity to build that connection came very quickly.
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