“Little Brother, for the bottles of Spiritual Concentrating pills and the Guanyin bracelet, what do you desire in exchange?”
Xu Lingxin’s distinguished and elegant voice resounded throughout the restaurant, and the youngster Jang Yoon found himself staring into a flawless and beautiful countenance. Mesmerizing himself at the soft contours that molded a delicate pair of watery and fragile cheeks, as well as the pair of enchanting and soothing lips, Jang Yoon paired the heavenly sight before him and the glistening dewdrops that accompanied the voice entering his ears, causing his face to flush with a deep shade of crimson.
“This… this fairy over here, for these bottles of Spiritual Concentrating pills and the Guanyin bracelet, may this one hear your exquisite name?”
Under the disappointed sighs and jeers of the surrounding cultivators, the highly ‘esteemed’ and diligent treasure merchant Jang Yoon had been reduced to a youth swooning in love and youthful affection.
As An Fei blinked and raised her head to search for the temple maiden’s figure, she spotted Xu Lingxin briefly whisper into the youngster’s ears, and march back towards her seat whilst holding onto a leather pouch and a thin, metallic bracelet…
…was that also a youth waving his hand towards her with a foolish smile on his countenance?
“…Little Sister, is something wrong? Did anyone bully you whilst I was gone?”
Noticing the piercing stare from An Fei and finding a scorching wave of heat brush her cheeks, Xu Lingxin attempted to widely divert her attention. When finding the young girl completely unfazed and too lazy to even respond to the bait, the temple maiden sighed and slumped gloomily in her chair.
“Little Sister, you really can’t look down on Elder Sister like that, ah…” she prodded at her half-eaten food with her chopsticks.
“Spiritual Concentrating pills are medicinal accelerants that can allow a cultivator to quickly sharpen their focus in times of need. In times of battle and the process of a breakthrough in either one’s cultivation or martial arts, Spiritual Concentrating pills can greatly alleviate the process and reduce the risk of failure…”
…so it would be excusable for cultivators to dip their hands into the widely omnipotent pills and medicines once in a while, ah?
An Fei merely blinked her eyes in response and nodded her head, prompting the temple maiden to lower her gaze in relief.
At the same time, the young girl’s gaze began to contain a hint of pity as she glanced towards the seated cultivators – the hint of a sober being staring into a sea of mindless addicts.
“There wouldn’t be any buildup of tolerance after consumption of those pills?”
“Tolerance? Not for Spiritual Concentrating pills, hardly at all,” Xu Lingxin waved her hand in discontent.
“For immediate-use medicines and pills such as the Spiritual Concentrating pills, Cultivators can flush away any built-up tolerance and blockage in their meridians by advancing a major realm in their cultivation. Rather, it’s the mortals that are in danger of severe tolerance and addiction for spiritual pills and medicines.”
…this so-called Spiritual Concentrating pills were in great demand by these cultivators present, and she mentioned mortals suffering from addiction?
“Mortal scholars, officials, and those associated with the aristocratic and Imperial Family often suffer from overdosing and addiction towards Spiritual Concentrating pills,” the temple maiden pouted her lips towards An Fei’s obvious display of pity.
“For cultivators without a sect, any spiritual pill is a rare find. However, for those with a sect and even mortals with sufficient wealth, Spiritual Concentrating pills are bought in batches of a hundred at minimum.”
“…and apparently, for mortals who lack meridians nor a developed dantian to properly facilitate or store spiritual essence, the onrush of spiritual essence is overwhelming and enhances their vitality, making it a highly used spiritual pill when performing… that…”
Xu Lingxin’s voice trailed off as she rapped her forehead with a set of pristine, soft knuckles. Soon, after she had realized the meaning of the words that had drifted into her ears, An Fei followed in the act of palming her face.
The two young women swiftly dealt onto themselves to holy task of eliminating their thoughts, and were soon pulled from their predicament by the excited applause of the crowd.
The treasure merchant Jang Yoon had been fully deprived of his material goods, and the cultivators now eagerly awaited for the information regarding treasures of greater rarity and potency. Jang Yoon himself puffed his chest in pride after having secured a decent amount of wealth, and the smile on his countenance couldn’t be mistaken.
“Then, starting with the rumors! The first is that the Heaven’s Childe Wei of Han Lin Academy has entered the secular world and is searching for someone!”
“Is it an enemy? How valid is this information?”
A lonesome cultivator called from a table from the rear corners of the restaurant, his sheathed sword laid across his chest in wariness. Jang Yoon delivered a prompt glance towards the cultivator, and his lips soon curled into an unmistakable smirk.
“You all may not believe it, but Heaven’s Childe Wei is searching for a mortal younger sister of his, named Wei An Fei! Supposedly, she had gotten lost whilst they were on an adventure, causing the Heaven’s Childe to lose himself in worry!”
“ – pfft – cough, cough!”
Though her knowledge of Bei Tang’s overly convoluted and cursed language was still well constrained within its period of infancy, An Fei still managed to recognize the gross mispronunciation of her name. After having scrutinized the thin fragments of words she could understand, the young girl topped onto the table with her head clamped in her arms.
“Little Sister, are you alright?”
Xu Lingxin shot to her feet in alarm, and rushed towards the young girl’s side to quickly check whether there had been an issue with the food. As An Fei continued to flounder in a mixture of alarm and laughter, the ‘discussion’ between Jang Yoon and the cultivators had reached an all-high passion.
“How can a cultivator as prestigious as Heaven’s Childe Wei of Han Lin Academy lose the presence of a mortal? And what did you say – such a Heaven’s Childe has a younger sister who is a mere mortal?” a cultivator frowned at the thought.
“Perhaps she is just too young – No! There must be an external factor involved – perhaps she was kidnapped by another fellow cultivator who held animosity towards Heaven’s Childe Wei? Brother Jang, do you know any further details?”
“I haven’t heard anything from either side during the border conflict regarding a kidnapping by a cultivator,” Jang Yoon frowned, before his eyebrows suddenly shot towards the skies.
“Oh, but there’s been news of one of the Violet Jade Pavilion’s elders swearing to claim Heaven’s Childe Wei’s head for himself. Probably, Heaven’s Childe Wei had killed a genius of the Violet Jade Pavilion, which led to this mess?”
“What did you say!? A genius cultivator of the Violet Jade Pavilion was slain!?”
Jang Yoon’s words were frank and discompassionate as he was not present when the event regarding the Violet Jade Pavilion’s ‘genius’ had been slaughtered by Wei Chang Luo.
However, for those who could only receive second-hand information, the border conflict within their mind had escalated from a secular army’s battle to that of a frenzied conflict between cultivators.
“Brother Jang, Brother Jang, just what were the reported casualties of both sides!?”
“Er… the elders of the sect hid the exact details from us, but I estimate a hundred cultivators of the Body Tempering Realm from Great Yong, and at least eighty from our Bei Tang?”
“Eighty Body Tempering Realm cultivators!?”
Those who were not originally paying attention towards Jang Yoon’s matters immediately jumped to their feet once the words had brushed their scalp. Clutching to their hearts in grave shock, they stared at Jang Yoon’s startled countenance, demanding justice with their gaze.
“The… the Third Elder of our sect stated that a conservative was eighty Body Tempering Realm cultivators slain that belong to our Bei Tang…”
Jang Yoon quickly pulled out his senior’s name in haste to rid himself of the horrific responsibility. It was one of the reasons why the elders had constantly permitted his excursions into rudimentary cultivator’s gatherings – to divulge general information to the public.
“Eighty Body Tempering Realm cultivators, fifty Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, a hundred and thirty Spirit Building Realm cultivators,” Jang Yoon rushed, not daring to stop.
“They… they didn’t state how many cultivators of the Core Formation Realm had perished, but the number of seniors that were present at the end of the conflict were twenty compared to the original thirty-seven…”
The originally jovial and rambunctious atmosphere that had once controlled the entire restaurant received a lethal slash to the throat, leaving many to gasp for their breath as they attempted to comprehend the numbers.
At the same time, An Fei released a faint sigh as her mind rebooted from its initial shock, and she rose to her seat to the temple maiden’s relief.
That… globally broadcasting her name to the continent was indeed a fast method of searching for someone. However, since she was stranded deep within enemy territory, the sheer attachment of “Wei An Fei” and her identity was bound to bring massive amounts of trouble…
Oh, my Second Elder Brother, why would you do such a brainless thing?
Just… why?
