Night,
Another night.
At exactly midnight, the adventure world's reset timer refreshed.
Ye Chuan sat on his bed, beginning his daily routine of collecting resources. After gathering all the items from his tenants, he headed to the herb garden to water and fertilize the young immortal herbs. If it weren't for the fact that the Qingyun Sect's herb garden had already been thoroughly looted, he would have definitely snatched a few more seedlings.
Next was the daily point shop, but nothing particularly interesting appeared—not even the occasional Ghost World Key that Lan Xiaoke sometimes offered.
"Sigh, the recent items haven't been very useful," Ye Chuan muttered. After finishing his daily tasks and finding nothing to boost his progress, he turned his full attention to the adventure world—
Tianxuan Continent, activate.
...
...
When he opened his eyes again, Ye Chuan found himself inside his cave abode. He stood up, brushing off nonexistent dust from his robes, only to notice a familiar figure nearby, busy preparing tea.
"Jiu'er," Ye Chuan called out.
"Senior Brother Huang, you're awake?" The figure pouring tea was none other than Jiu'er, a low-ranking disciple and Ye Chuan's personal attendant. Seeing him rise, she quickly brought over a steaming cup.
"Here, have some tea."
"Thanks." Ye Chuan took a sip and found the flavor surprisingly pleasant. "This tastes good—it's not the usual tea from my stock, is it?"
Jiu'er nodded. "I bought it from a merchant down the mountain."
"Must’ve been expensive."
"You’ve helped me so much, even punishing that liar. Compared to that, this is nothing." Jiu'er shook her head.
The "liar" she referred to was the one Ye Chuan had forced to drink a truth serum—though since Zi Ning'er had already killed him, Ye Chuan hadn’t given it much thought.
Looking at his attendant, Ye Chuan suddenly remembered something important. He patted the spot beside him with a smile.
"Jiu'er, sit down."
"I’d rather stand." Jiu'er hesitated, shaking her head.
"Ahem, I wanted to ask you something," Ye Chuan said. "I’ve recently taken an interest in alchemy. Do you know anything about it?"
Jiu'er shook her head again.
"Neither do I, but I’ve heard that besides a cauldron, you also need recipes. Do you think the Divine Pill Peak would share any with us disciples of the Flying Sword Peak?"
Jiu'er immediately explained, "The Divine Pill Peak is special—they accept requests from all peaks to refine pills, but they rarely share their recipes with outsiders. If someone wants to learn alchemy, they’d either have to join the Divine Pill Peak or study on their own."
"So they guard their recipes closely."
"Of course."
As a low-ranking disciple, Jiu'er’s knowledge was limited. No matter how Ye Chuan probed, he couldn’t extract any useful details.
"Seems she doesn’t know." Ye Chuan sighed inwardly.
But if he wanted information about the Divine Pill Peak, there was one perfect person to ask—
Zi Ning'er.
As his senior sister and someone of high status, she undoubtedly knew far more than Jiu'er.
With that in mind, Ye Chuan left his cave and soared toward Zi Ning'er’s residence on his flying sword.
"Senior Sister, are you there?"
Her cave wasn’t far. As soon as he called out, a voice echoed from inside. "Junior Brother Huang? Come in."
"Alright." Pushing open the door, Ye Chuan found Zi Ning'er seated, engrossed in a cultivation manual.
"Junior Brother, what brings you here? Our trip to the sacred grounds isn’t until tomorrow." She assumed he’d mixed up the dates.
Ye Chuan chuckled. "Senior Sister, I just wanted to check on your injuries, and also..."
He paused, feigning hesitation.
"What is it?"
"Well..." Ye Chuan presented his premeditated excuse.
Upon hearing his interest in alchemy, Zi Ning'er’s delicate face flickered with surprise. "Alchemy? I didn’t know you had such talent. Do you possess a wood or fire spiritual root?"
"Yes, but my fire root is a bit... special. It spews black smoke." Ye Chuan summoned his spiritual flame.
The fire was indeed black, exuding a profound aura, yet its scorching heat was unmistakable.
It felt like it could ignite the air itself.
"That’s definitely fire-attribute spiritual energy. Could this be a mutated spiritual root?" Zi Ning'er sensed the heat but dared not touch the flame.
When Ye Chuan mentioned wanting to learn alchemy, she asked, "So you plan to study on your own?"
"Exactly. The Flying Sword Peak doesn’t have any alchemy resources—no recipes either."
"Ah, so you came to me for help." Zi Ning'er smiled. "That’s no trouble at all. I’ll take you to the Divine Pill Peak and find you a mentor."
"Great."
Ye Chuan agreed but suddenly added, "But with the recent thefts at the Divine Pill Peak, won’t my visit seem suspicious?"
"The herb garden’s already been stripped bare. They’ve stopped setting up barriers there—there’s not even a single seedling left." Zi Ning'er seemed well-informed.
The garden had become cursed. Even with elders standing guard, newly planted herbs would vanish into thin air, roots and all, right before their eyes.
Terrifying!
"Come, Junior Brother. I’ll take you to the Divine Pill Peak."
"Alright."
With Zi Ning'er leading the way, Ye Chuan was more than happy to follow.
As they flew toward the peak on their swords, Ye Chuan pretended to ponder. "Senior Sister, with all these thefts happening, do you think the pill recipes might get stolen too?"
"Don’t worry, Junior Brother." Zi Ning'er smirked confidently. "All the Divine Pill Peak’s recipes are stored in the Pill Tower, guarded by a spirit-transformation-level demon beast. No petty thief would dare step foot inside."
"Oh? The recipes?"
"See that?" She pointed to a tall tower on the peak. "That’s the Pill Tower."
"Oh?" Ye Chuan’s smile widened.
Perfect. Knowing the location was half the battle. As for the spirit-transformation beast? He’d just summon a horde of Pokémon to swarm it, grab the goods, and flee before anyone could react.
"This way, Junior Brother." Zi Ning'er gestured.
"Right." Watching her lead, Ye Chuan suddenly said, "Senior Sister, you’ve been so kind to me. I don’t know how to repay you."
"Hehe, it’s my duty as your senior. If you really want to repay someone, repay the sect." She laughed brightly, turning to pat his shoulder.
"Repay the sect." Ye Chuan grinned just as brightly. "I will."