Meng Qi never expected this development. Although she was usually indifferent and calm, her hand holding the teacup shuddered slightly. Her original plan was to sell twelve second realm Beiming pills for around six to seven hundred sixth-grade spirit stones, so that she could buy the herbs and other medicinal ingredients to try solving the poison from the jackdaw grass. However, she never thought how the people from great sects were on an absolutely different level than herself. They had so much wealth and spent money like flowing water. It was something that a little Qi Condensation cultivator like herself could never imagine.
Even Xue Jinwen was stunned for a moment. But she quickly returned to her mind, just like her surprise when seeing the Qingfeng pill brought by Meng Qi for the first time. At that time, if she was asked to spend twenty sixth-grade spirit stones to buy one first realm Qingfeng pill, she would absolutely be willing. For disciples with a good background like herself, spirit stones could be used generously as long as the gain worth the expense. If she really could gain something useful from her research, her sect might reward her heavily. For things like great treasures, medical records, spells, or even a chance to enter the sect’s secret ground, spending a few spirit stones was totally more than worth it.
These people definitely had a similar mindset. Xue Jinwen raised her lips, showing a faint smile. She couldn’t help turning her gaze at Meng Qi again. The girl finally showed a bit of a surprise. Her eyes were much brighter than before. It was so shiny, and somehow added a speck of childishness to her expression.
Meng Qi was deep in thought. In a blink of an eye, the price of her Beiming pill has been raised to thirty seventh-grade spirit stones. She could guarantee that she now has become the ‘richest’ person in Qingfeng Valley, even richer than the sect leader. Soon, she would be able to buy a lot of herbs and ingredients she needed.
How nice!
Meng Qi turned her head and met Xue Jinwen’s eyes. She couldn’t help but chuckle: “Sister Xue, thank you for your help.”
“It’s my job.” Xue Jinwen poured another cup of tea for Meng Qi. At this moment, she was truly glad about her sudden curiosity that day. Xiang Linmo that fool tried to bargain with Xiao Qi just to save some spirit stones. The pills were no longer important, this beautiful little girl was the real treasure!
“Ah, I remember…” Xue Jinwen took out a bamboo slip from her storage space. “I heard that you are looking for records related to jackdaw grass. I have a book about Northern Realm herbs here.” She passed the bamboo slip to Meng Qi: “It is useless for me. Mark your spiritual sense on this bamboo slip, and elder sister will send it as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Sister Xue.” Meng Qi certainly wanted this book, but she was a little embarrassed, “Then I will give you some more Beiming pills.”
“No need.” Xue Jinwen waved her hand generously. “This thing is not worth much, and also not very useful to me. The previous three Beiming pills are enough.” She laughed at Meng Qi: “Look at the auction floor. I predict this Beiming Pill will be sold at a high price today.”
Although it wouldn’t reach a sky-high price, compared with other second-grade pills, the current price was definitely very high. What’s more, Xue Jinwen couldn’t guess the background of the girl in front of her. The girl’s two moves were both shocking enough. The first time with the first realm Qingfeng pill shocked herself and Xiang Linmo. The second time, she turned the Profound Auction House into turmoil with her second realm Beiming pill, leaving a deep impression on everyone here. The next time she made another shocking move, Xue Jinwen would no longer be surprised.
“Thank you, sister.” Meng Qi marked her spiritual sense. She looked at the small, smooth, and somewhat yellowed bamboo slip. After some consideration, she said to Xue Jinwen. “I cannot tell sister the refining method. But if you need any first or second grade pills, I can refine some for you.” She wasn’t as alert to the older woman as she was to Chu Tianfeng and Su Junmo. But for the sake of her own karma, it was better not to owe others too much.
“I see…” Xue Jinwen looked into Meng Qi’s clear eyes, and her heart moved slightly. This girl has always been calm and composed. She must be from a good background.
First or second grade pills… Xue Jinwen thought for a moment and asked, “Can I ask for a Ganlin pill?”
“Alright.” Meng Qi nodded. Beiming pill was used to restore spiritual aura, while the Ganlin pill has the effect of stopping bleeding. This also one of the most commonly used pills and was graded into nine realms.
Actually, Xue Jinwen still wanted to ask Meng Qi the reason why she only brought first and second realm pills. If today, the pill being auctioned was of the fourth or fifth realm instead of second, the entire Profound Auction House would already be plunged into frenzied chaos. However, Xue Jinwen also knew that this should be the girl’s secret. She had said that she could only refine the first and second realm pills. But whether she was simply humbling down or that such special pills could only be refined until the second realm, Xue Jinwen had no way to know.
Xue Jinwen smiled again: “Then elder sister thanked younger sister.”
When they were conversing, the price on the auction floor kept rising. In only half an incense stick of time, the price rapidly rose from the initial 30 seventh-grade spirit stones to 150 seventh-grade spirit stones.
At this price, the number of bidders gradually decreased. As Xue Jinwen said, it was just the second realm Beiming pill. If the pill was a fourth or fifth realm, it could be sold at a sky-high price.
Meng Qi didn’t care. Either way, the current price already exceeded her expectation. Finally, the twelve second realm Beiming pills were sold at the price of 270 seventh-grade spirit stones.
“The spirit stones obtained from the auction would also be handed over to you when you go to the relay station to send these Beiming pills.” Xue Jinwen told Meng Qi, “Do you want to continue watching the auction? Or do you want to leave now?”
“I’m leaving now.” Meng Qi nodded to Xue Jinwen. Two hundred and seventy seventh-grade spirit stones were already a massive sum of money for her. But she knew that it was nothing in a place like Beyond The Heaven. At the beginning of the auction, Meng Qi saw how people casually threw out dozens of sixth-grade spirit stones just to ‘buy it back and try’ even before they knew the specialty of her Beiming pills.
Meng Qi still knew her own limit.
“I have to continue watching the auction.” Xue Jinwen said: “After you go out and return to my residence, you will find a teleportation circle to send you back.”
“Yes.” Meng Qi nodded. She saluted Xue Jinwen, then turned around and walked outside.
Xue Jinwen stared at Meng Qi’s departing figure. Not impatient nor arrogant, also calm and composed, what a good girl. The more Xue Jinwen interacted with Meng Qi, the more she valued her. She really wondered which hidden sect actually nurtured such an extraordinary disciple and was looking forward to Meng Qi’s future visits.
There was only one thing that puzzled her: why did a disciple cultivated by such a sect lack spirit stones? For disciples of a large sect, the more talented they were, the less they had to worry about worldly resources like spirit stones. They only needed to focus on cultivating and to spend all energy on their training. As far as she knew, there were disciples of some major sects in the four realms who had never entered Beyond The Heaven before reaching the fifth realm of the Nascent Soul stage. The disciples who were busy operating their sect’s shop here were often those whose talent was just average, or alternatively, people who willingly came on their own initiative—like herself.
Xue Jinwen lifted her finger to pin her hair behind her ears, a light flashed in her eyes.
Meng Qi left the Profound Auction House from the same entrance gate she used before. She couldn’t help but look back at the simple and old-looking courtyard. Such one world-one space setting was not only brilliant, but also extraordinarily complex. She could guess that this must be built using a gigantic array, constructed from countless smaller arrays. But to comprehend how it actually worked was completely beyond Meng Qi’s ability.
Her impression in these past few days: The owner of Beyond The Heaven spent so much thought on every single thing here, from the house and tile, to each tree and plant. To be able to maintain such a large city and seven floating islands, they must be very powerful, and also super rich!
On their way to the auction house, Meng Qi and Xue Jinwen walked very fast, so now she slowed down her pace to enjoy her walk back. The scenery of the floating island was so breathtaking. The blue sky seemed to be within reach, and the white clouds were flowing on the side. Occasionally, a melodious and silky bamboo sound came from a higher place. Whenever Meng Qi looked up, she could see the other floating islands above.
Meng Qi had just walked a bit when another person in a white robe passed by her. The man was tall, his long sleeves fluttered elegantly, and his black hair was tied with a small headdress on the top of his head. From his back figure alone, he somewhat looked like an immortal.
Meng Qi glanced at the man’s back figure.
Su Junmo again?
Was he also leaving early?
Whenever Meng Qi saw this guy, she couldn’t help but think of the noisy white fox. The month she spent with him was really the most terrible month she ever experienced in her whole medical career. As long as the white fox had a little bit of strength, he would chatter and murmur endlessly. If Meng Qi ignored him, he would flutter his tail angrily, making white fur flew all over the room, even entered her mouth and nose.
Every time Meng Qi gave him treatment, the fox would keep talking endlessly. In the end, she couldn’t stand it anymore and hid a little further. However, the so-called celestial demon noble, the great five-tailed white fox, was actually feeling grievance. He was lying on his stomach, clawing around, cradling his head, and kept murmuring for hours.
Meng Qi had no resistance to a fluffy little thing with pointed ears. She also couldn’t hide for too long. After all, Su Junmo’s injury was still hasn’t been healed.
…
In short, during the whole month she spent treating Su Junmo, each day was like one year for Meng Qi. She never knew that fox could talk so much!
After Su Junmo was healed and could transform into a human again, Meng Qi immediately packed up and ran away. Later, as soon as she saw the lofty and cold Su Junmo, she couldn’t help but remember that noisy white fox.
Su Junmo in his human form was very popular with female cultivators, but Meng Qi always hid whenever she saw him. Without his fluffy fur and cute pointed ears, Su Junmo was simply an annoyingly chatty guy in her eyes. Meng Qi was barely able to bear listening to the fluffy white fox’s endless chatter. But when she imagined such a tall and slender man equally being noisy, she would only felt an utter annoyance.
Later, some people asked whether she had done something bad and having a guilty conscience, because she always hid whenever she saw Su Junmo. Across the crowd, Meng Qi looked at the tall and cold man in a white robe, hesitated. She was also surprised. Even if Su Junmo didn’t feel grateful, he should remember how she had healed him. Was it really alright to treat a life savior so indifferently?
Meng Qi couldn’t tell anyone that Su Junmo was actually a very chatty and noisy white fox. Because it would divulge his identity as a demon cultivator, an existence disliked by many humans. Moreover, Su Junmo would definitely not admit it. After all, if his identity was exposed, even if human cultivators wouldn’t kill him, he would definitely be sent out of the Three Thousand World and had to return to the Demon Realm. If that really happened, he wouldn’t be able to stay by his beloved Lu Qingran’s side.
At that time, Meng Qi looked at Su Junmo’s indifferent eyes and cold face. She even thought that maybe the man wanted to kill her to seal her mouth, so that his secret would be hidden forever. Meng Qi withdrew her gaze. Her expression became colder than before. Of course, she has now guessed that it was mostly because she saved Su Junmo and once again provoked Lu Qingran, thus inviting another bad luck to herself.
The man in the white robe seemed to notice Meng Qi. He didn’t turn back, but paused his steps. A pleasant and deep voice, like the ethereal morning light, came from the man: “Fellow Daoist, I am afraid you are going in the wrong direction. The teleportation array to leave this area is on the left side on the forked road just now.”
He wasn’t Su Junmo?!
This was Meng Qi’s first reaction. She was so familiar with Su Junmo’s voice. After being haunted by such endless chattering for a whole month, his voice had been deeply engraved in her memory, impossible to forget.
However, this voice…Master?!!
Meng Qi suddenly accelerated her pace, chasing towards the white-robed man in front. After he finished talking, the man immediately started walking again and now was far away. At this distance, Meng Qi could not even see his figure clearly.
Is he really Master?!
She was a little uncertain. The man’s voice lacked her Master’s lazy and casual tone, and seemed to be sharper. However, the voice was really similar. Moreover….
Meng Qi suddenly remembered. When she took a glance just now, the man’s headdress was made from small black sandalwood, not the white jade one that Su Junmo always wore.
Whatever!
Meng Qi accelerated her pace and hurriedly chased after the man. The reason why she wanted to wait for Qingfeng Valley to merge into Fentian Palace was to leave Qingfeng Town with them. She wanted to go to the Western Realm, but Qingfeng Valley was located at the Eastern Realm’s eastern edge, very far from the Western Realm. The sect was practically only one step away from the boundary that separated humans from the Demon Realm.
In Meng Qi’s previous life, she met her master only after two years later. The man whose appearance was unparalleled, always looked lazy and unrestrained, told Meng Qi that he was coming from a hidden sect in the Western Realm and happened to meet her on his first visit to the Eastern Realm. In this life, Meng Qi wanted to find him in advance and didn’t want to wait another two years. That’s why she was so persistent in going to the Western Realm.
However, she never expected to meet him at Beyond The Heaven.
Meng Qi hastened her steps. Regardless of whether the other party was really her Master or not, she has to confirm it herself. The figure of the white-robed man quickly disappeared from her sight. Meng Qi was not discouraged. She kept chasing in the direction that the man left. But before she could go further, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Fellow Daoist, please stop.” A man’s cold voice fell. Someone had silently arrived at her side. “The place ahead is off-limit.”
The voice was obviously very pleasant to hear. Unfortunately, it was a traumatic noise in Meng Qi’s ears. She almost subconsciously jumped aside in fright.
Another man in a white robe was standing on the place. His expression was cold, and his black hair was tied up by a white jade headdress. The man had long and narrow phoenix eyes, with a tall, beautiful nose bridge. Only by one glance, she had to admit that Su Junmo indeed had the reason to act so lofty.
Meng Qi stared at Su Junmo.
The other party was also measuring her up and down with scrutinizing eyes. Although he never knew this girl before, he looked at her thoughtfully. The Lord whose whereabouts had been unknown for some time, suddenly appeared and summoned him into Beyond The Heaven, just to raise the auction price for this girl?!
And just now, he clearly left the auction house together with the Lord, and he still had many things to say. However, the Lord suddenly went forward, only to remind this girl that she took the wrong path.
Su Junmo’s eyes flickered. He seemed to just look at Meng Qi casually, but his heart was currently full of turmoil—her appearance was okay, but she was still too young! Her figure was far inferior to the elder sisters in his clan. The pill she refined was just second realm and sold at the price of merely several hundred seventh-grade spirit stones.
She didn’t seem to be very talented.
Why did the Lord help her?
Was there anything special about this girl?
…
Su Junmo’s expression remains unchanged, but countless thoughts were flashing through his mind. He could feel a vigilance from the girl.
Hah! She was wary of him?!
Wary about what?
Did she think that he might do something to her?! Hah!
“Thank you for your reminder.” Meng Qi looked at the path ahead with some reluctance. But she also knew that with Su Junmo there, there was no way for her to keep chasing that man. Her eyes fell on Su Junmo’s white robe, and her heart suddenly jumped.
Due to the nature of their profession, medical cultivators usually more sensitive to details than the other cultivators. At one glance, Meng Qi suddenly noticed that the man just now wore an outer robe which style looked a bit similar to Su Junmo’s. But that was not necessarily to be something. The style of cultivators’ outer robe was generally similar. Not to mention that she only took a brief glance.
“Fellow Daoist.” Su Junmo turned around and pointed in another direction. “The teleportation array is in that direction.”
“Then what about the one here?” Meng Qi asked casually. “Is this one not connecting to Beyond The Heaven City?”
“No.” Su Jun answered dully.
“Oh.” Meng Qi nodded, “Thank you, fellow Daoist.”
If this one wasn’t connecting to the city, then it must connect to another floating island. It should not be the teleportation array to leave Beyond The Heaven. Otherwise, Su Junmo would not deliberately stop her.
“Fellow Daoist, thank you for your reminder.” Meng Qi took a step back. Then she turned around and walked to the previous path. Even without looking back, she knew that the man was keeping an eye from behind.
Meng Qi closed her eyes and walked through the teleportation array back to her room. The jade slip in her hand has been slightly warmed by her temperature. She opened her palm and looked at the small and beautiful, yet mysterious jade.
Who was that person?
She shook her head, trying to lift her spirit. She then threw the jade slip back to her storage bracelet. When Meng Qi turned her head, Xiao Qi was still silently lying by her side. His little head was dangling on his paws, and he looked to be listless.
“Xiao Qi?” Meng Qi stretched her hand to raise his chin, examining the little guy. “Why are you…” His eyes obviously dimmed a lot. Although Xiao Qi did sleep a lot in the past few days, he looked exhausted now, as if he had just done some strenuous activities.
Did something happen to his injuries?!
Meng Qi quickly checked his condition.
Still okay!
She breathed a sigh of relief. His injuries didn’t get worse, nor did it had other changes.
Meng Qi pondered for a while. She took out a Beiming pill from the storage space and stuffed it into Xiao Qi’s mouth. But when she was about to talk, she suddenly heard a rush of chaotic footsteps from outside.
“Fellow Daoist Meng!” Someone knocked on the door. He sounded very anxious. “Is fellow Daoist Meng here? Our young palace master is injured, please take a look.” The voice outside paused and before adding anxiously: “He said, only you can cure him!”