The moonlight was like water, shimmering and bright.
The woman's features were exquisite. Her skirt rippled in the cool breeze, and her bright eyes were fixed on him.
Ji Xiu turned his head.
Looking at this uncommonly beautiful face, he felt a wave of familiarity, a sense of déjà vu.
He thought for a moment and recalled the veiled woman he had brushed past the day he left the Lin Residence.
Then, thinking of the recent rumors in Anning County about the Lin Residence...
...he spoke, his tone probing:
"Boss Lin's eldest daughter, Miss Lin Ruxue?"
He stopped walking.
Lin Ruxue wasn't surprised. She just nodded lightly.
"I've heard the rumors about you. You joined the Sword Sect at sixteen. It's a shame you started so late, otherwise..."
She was about to continue in a regretful tone when her eyes suddenly narrowed. Seeing that Ji Xiu's Qi and Blood were like a Dragon and Tiger, roiling and vigorous, she couldn't help but frown, her expression a mix of shock and doubt.
"Huh? That's not right. The last time I had that fleeting glance of you, you were clearly..."
Ji Xiu remained noncommittal, not mentioning his own Cultivation. Instead, he turned to face the moon-robed woman, who was half a head shorter than him with dark hair cascading over her shoulders, and said:
"Since you've already heard the rumors, Eldest Miss, there's no harm in telling you."
"A month ago, I sold myself to your esteemed residence. After I protected the Second Miss, Lin Ruyue, when her horse bolted, I earned her appreciation and was made a Groom."
"I've practiced the Horse Riding Skill since I was young and have some foundation. I can tell how a horse was startled with a single glance and understand the mystery behind it."
"That day, there were remnants of a 'Saffron Pill' inside the horse's stomach. If too much of this is ingested, even the most docile animal will become agitated and restless, like a wild beast."
"If you're so inclined, Eldest Miss, you can investigate it when you return. It concerns your sister, after all."
After speaking, Ji Xiu turned to leave without a second thought.
However, upon hearing this, Lin Ruxue's eyes narrowed. Her delicate, crescent-moon-shaped boots moved as swift as a soaring goose. With a single step that cracked the stone beneath her, she darted in front of Ji Xiu.
Moonlight spilled down, and the nearby lights were dim.
In her haste, Lin Ruxue had closed the distance, and now she stood so close that her head was tilted up just below his collar, their bodies nearly touching.
Even though Ji Xiu took half a step back, her side-swept hair, stirred by the cool breeze, still brushed against his neck, carrying a faint, fragrant scent.
"So that's how it is."
Lin Ruxue murmured softly, seemingly having figured something out. She then looked back at Ji Xiu, their eyes meeting.
"But I don't understand."
"If you had taken this secret to your grave, and instead shared wine and become sworn brothers with him in that private room just now, and then... had a night of passion."
Her expression became a little unnatural, but she frowned in confusion.
"Wouldn't that have been far more beneficial for you?"
"From what I know, the silver coins and Pills my father gave you were only worth a few dozen taels. For a Martial Artist, that's not much."
"And you've just been freed from the Slave Registry and have a younger sister to support. Even if Lu Manor appreciates you, they couldn't possibly give you much money."
"Plus, for you to have progressed this far in your training, I imagine... you must have consumed quite a few Pills. You've probably already spent all your savings and maybe even taken out 'gang loans' or 'martial hall loans' with interest piling up..."
"You..."
She let out a torrent of words, and the more she said, the darker Ji Xiu's expression became.
'Gang loans? Martial hall loans?'
'What is all this nonsense?'
How would he dare go to the territories of the Three Great Gangs and Four Great Halls to sign a contract and borrow silver coins?
If he couldn't pay it back, a Bone Tempering Expert would personally come to his door and escort him to a coal mine to dig coal or to the mountains to hunt, exposing him to the elements. What a fantastic life that would be!
'My life would be over!'
'Disciples from large Sects really have overactive imaginations.'
At this, Ji Xiu lowered his gaze.
"Miss Ruyue pleaded on my behalf for five taels of silver, which helped me knock on the door of the Martial Dao."
"Before, my position was low and my words carried no weight. Even if I had spoken up, it probably would have done no good. I fear I would have disappeared from the Lin Residence within a day."
"Now that I'm at Lu Manor, I have nothing to worry about."
"As for what you said, Eldest Miss..."
He placed a hand on the sword at his waist and began to walk, moving from the brightly lit, bustling market toward a dark, damp alley. Step by step, he started to cross through it, heading back to Lu Manor without a backward glance.
At the same time, his voice faded with the distance.
"Wealth is merely external. Integrity is fundamental."
"If I were to lose the sincerity of my true self for the sake of trivial, immediate gains..."
"...then in the years to come, even if I reach Bone Tempering or even Skin Refining, I imagine... that would be the limit of my achievements."
"In this lifetime."
"I would never be able to grasp or comprehend... what it means to be a 'Qi Cultivation Grandmaster'!"
By the end, he had walked farther and farther away, his voice becoming as faint as a buzzing mosquito, but Lin Ruxue heard every word clearly.
And every single word struck a chord deep within her.
She gazed at his back, as straight as a pine tree, as he walked into the dark alley under the moonlight.
After a long moment, her eyes, deeply moved, began to shine.
"It seems he's not just a notable figure, but a gentleman as well."
"He is..."
"One of us!"
Finally, her eyes turned sharp.
"Saffron, is it..."
"Hmph!"
She glanced back at Feiyan Tower, a look of disgust flashing in her eyes. With a soft scoff, she too departed.
...
「The moon set, the sun rose, and the golden rooster crowed at dawn.」
Ji Xiu, who had risen early, watched his little sister go happily to the manor's study hall to learn her letters.
He applied the Tiger Blood Powder sent from the Lin Residence yesterday, then contentedly practiced his stances for a full double-hour, exhaling a puff of white air.
"So what if she's a noble lady from a great Sect, a master with Great Success in Bone Tempering, a heroine!"
"Faced with my Innate Wisdom from two lives and the heroic spirit I've cultivated for decades, even she was bluffed by me."
"With this, I've repaid a favor and eliminated a future threat. So satisfying!"
He feasted on the white congee and cured meat his little sister had prepared.
Ji Xiu then boarded a carriage and made his way to the 'Medicine House'.
After arriving, he expertly changed into the blue clothes of an apprentice. With a composed expression, he followed behind Zheng Jun and began doing the same work as the other Medicine Boys, much to Zheng Jun's exasperation.
"Lord Ji, you still haven't given up?"
"This path of a Pill Master isn't something you can get into without several, even a dozen years of experience. You watch all day, stare all day, you even organized all those 'Nine-Grade Pill' texts Pharmacist Huang collected, but it's not like..."
He was rambling on.
Just then, green smoke began to curl up from within the Pill House. The disheveled Pharmacist Huang, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, reluctantly began shouting at the Medicine Boys to light the fire and add the ingredients, preparing for Alchemy.
Seeing this, Zheng Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he didn't dare say more.
"This must be another large 'order' from outside."
"Every time he has to refine these ordinary Blood Nourishing and Muscle Forging Level Ninth-grade Pills, the Pharmacist feels it's a waste of time and looks completely unwilling. We'd better be careful, or we'll get an earful..."
As he spoke, Pharmacist Huang expertly prepared the potent blood-activating ingredients like leopard bone powder, Salvia Miltiorrhiza, and Chi Shao. Yawning, he began to perform the 'Five Steps of Outer Alchemy' and start the Alchemy process.
However, just as he was performing the 'heavy soup boil to extract the medicinal properties' step...
Ji Xiu, who had been assisting, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"Pharmacist, isn't your fire a bit too strong?"
The Medicine Boys and servants of the Medicine House all knew one rule.
And that was...
...once 'Pharmacist Huang' began Alchemy, the biggest taboo was to be disturbed.
The last person who spoke up and interfered with his train of thought during Alchemy was cursed out by Pharmacist Huang, dragged away, and expelled from the Medicine House.
Therefore, when he heard Ji Xiu speak so clearly, Zheng Jun nearly fainted. 'For heaven's sake,' he thought, 'you've only been here a few days. How long has Pharmacist Huang been doing this?'
'Whether his fire is right or not...'
'You think he wouldn't know!?'
"You brat...!"
The dozing Pharmacist Huang was suddenly jolted awake. He flew into a rage and was about to say something, but when he glanced at the Pill Furnace's condition, his eyes narrowed, a sharp glint passing through them.
At this moment, Ji Xiu's voice was heard again, slowly and clearly:
"Not only that."
"Now that the furnace has been lit and the heavy soup is boiling to extract the medicinal properties, the fire is too high. You can't just follow the standard procedure."
"In my opinion, you should add another two taels of leopard bone powder, one leaf of Chi Shao, and a little Salvia Miltiorrhiza, then increase the fire for three breaths!"
"Only then can you balance the medicinal properties."
Zheng Jun yanked hard on Ji Xiu's sleeve.
But not only did this master not stop, he continued to speak with eloquence, leaving Zheng Jun completely dumbfounded.
'No, buddy.'
'I may call myself a 'Ninth Grade Pill Master', but I've never personally refined a pill. How many years have I studied? You've only been here a few days!'
'And you're here pontificating!'
Just as he thought Pharmacist Huang was about to explode with rage...
...the disheveled old man, contrary to his usual behavior, pursed his lips and, without a word, adjusted the fire and added the ingredients exactly as Ji Xiu had said!
In that instant, Zheng Jun's jaw dropped!
And just when he thought that was the end of it.
The next moment, an earth-shattering sentence was spoken slowly:
"Hmm..."
"You brat, what you said makes some sense. You have a bit of a talent for 'Alchemy'."
"I can see you've truly been summarizing my scattered 'Nine-Grade Pill' texts these past few days and have gotten a foot in the door."
"But reading a thousand times is not as good as trying it once."
"Since you already know the 'Five Steps of Outer Alchemy'—heavy soup, pouring, property preservation, toxin removal, and pill formation—you, come and refine it!"
"If you succeed, half of this furnace of Pills is yours!"
!
'Wait, Pharmacist...'
'He's gone crazy, and you've gone crazy with him?'
However, what they expected even less was that Ji Xiu, dressed in his blue apprentice clothes, simply smiled. Showing no fear, he gave a slight bow and calmly sat down cross-legged beside the Earth-Fire Pill Furnace!
This time, it wasn't just Zheng Jun who was stupefied. All the Medicine Boys looked up in unison, staring at each other with shock on their faces, feeling as if the sun had risen in the west.
But how could they know the source of Ji Xiu's confidence!
[Seventeen pages of 'Nine-Grade Pill' texts collected. 'Mortal: Ninth Grade Alchemy Skill' can be advanced!]
[Condition for repayment after advancement: Open the furnace for Alchemy and successfully refine thirty batches of pills.]
"Primordial Daoist Talisman, advance it to me!"
...
Half a double-hour later.
Pharmacist Huang was sprawled on the ground, staring intently at Ji Xiu, who moved with graceful ease and a composed expression. He watched him boil the supplementary ingredients, pour them over the main ingredient, preserve and condense the medicinal properties, expel the pill toxins, and refine the pills in the furnace!
He strictly followed the steps he had recorded—'heavy soup, pouring, property preservation, toxin removal, and pill formation'—as if... he had done it many times before!
Unbelievable, truly unbelievable!
A short while later.
The young man reached out and gave a light slap!
With a loud 'BANG'!
The fire went out.
The Pill Furnace opened.
A clear fragrance filled the entire Pill House.
And there...
...lay six round 'Leopard Embryo Pills' of the Ninth Grade of the Mortal Rank. Each one was worth thirty taels, for a total market price of one hundred eighty taels!
According to Pharmacist Huang's words, just from this one refinement session...
...Ji Xiu had earned a net profit of ninety taels, equivalent to three months' salary for a Guest!
This was the exorbitant profit of a 'Pill Master'!
[Mortal: Ninth Grade Alchemy Skill: (1/30)]
[Thirty successful refinements to reach the peak!]