Chapter 14: The List
In truth, Song Yan did not know Grandma Qin’s true background—in fact, he knew nothing about it at all—but this did not hinder his trust in her. About nine months ago, Song Yan had carried his two bottles of barely-formed Qi Nourishing Pills and gone to every market in the area. No one was willing to take those few Qi Nourishing Pills.
Let alone that the quality of these pills was abysmal.
It was only when he walked into this remote little shop that had just opened for business, clinging to his last shred of hope, that he met Grandma Qin…
“You brat!”
Qin Xijun delivered a sudden rap, striking Song Yan squarely on the head and snapping him out of his memories.
“You think Grandma’s place is a black market?! Huh? You bring all sorts of shady things here to sell…”
“Tell me honestly—where did you get them?”
Song Yan gave an awkward grin and hurriedly recounted his entire experience down the mountain to Grandma Qin in full detail.
“Demonic cultivators…”
Qin Xijun pondered for a moment. “They’ve appeared again…”
“Grandma, well… I don’t have any use for these things. Since you won’t buy them, why don’t you just destroy them all…”
Song Yan was slightly disappointed, but not particularly downcast.
“Tch, why are you so naive?”
Qin Xijun gave him a look. “Things have no good or bad in themselves. It all depends on how a person uses them…”
“Mmm…”
Song Yan looked at that bottle of Spirit Transformation Blood Pills and couldn’t help but mutter to himself: This has no good or bad either?
“Grandma certainly can’t sell them here… but then again…”
Qin Xijun glanced at Song Yan and saw in his eyes nothing but a nearly overflowing, guileless foolishness. She immediately lost all interest in keeping him in suspense.
“Kid, do you know about the Lingyuan Marsh Night Market?”
“The night market… it’s just the market open at night, right?”
Song Yan was confused.
“…”
Qin Xijun was exasperated, muttering to herself: “This child doesn’t understand a thing…”
“The nineteenth of next month. The Lingyuan Marsh Night Market opens. I’ll take you along to offload these goods…”
“Understood? If you understand, get lost!”
Thud!
By the time Song Yan came to his senses, he had been moved to the entrance of the general store, and the wooden door had slammed shut behind him.
“Yan… Yan… who was that?”
The little snake finally dared to poke its head out from inside his robes, still shaken. “A little scary.”
Song Yan smiled bitterly. Grandma Qin was good in every way—her temper was just a bit explosive.
“Grandma Qin is a very good person… her temper is just a little…”
“Come to think of it, I don’t know how old she is now…”
He knew that a cultivator’s appearance could not be used as a basis for judging their age.
In the cultivation world, there were countless ways to preserve one’s youthful appearance. For example, there was a type of pill called the Age-Preserving Pill.
With one pill, one’s youth could be preserved for ten years.
However one looked when taking the pill—even if one’s lifespan were exhausted overnight—one would still look the same.
This pill was a hot-selling item among both male and female cultivators, and female cultivators in particular were passionate about it.
However, this pill was quite complex, and Song Yan was not yet capable of refining it.
He did not know whether Grandma Qin was an inner or outer disciple. In any case, since she called herself Grandma Qin, her age was probably not small. By his personal estimation, she was likely fifty or sixty years old, and with that unfathomable mastery of spiritual energy…
She was at least at the late stage of Qi Refining, wasn’t she…
Shaking his head, Song Yan cast these jumbled thoughts aside and returned to his cave dwelling.
Senior Brother Lin Qing had once told him that, based on the time he had joined the sect, he would need to take an official off-sect mission in two years’ time. The difficulty would naturally be much higher than ordinary chores.
The thing he needed to do most right now was to improve his immediate combat strength.
Break through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining within half a year? He didn’t even think about it.
With his aptitude and cultivation resources, that would be nothing short of a fool’s dream.
He took the flying sword from his Qiankun Bag. The bloodstains on it seemed to have faded somewhat, but it still emitted a foul stench.
Song Yan tried using spiritual energy to cleanse the bloodstains. Whether it was because the blood’s owner was dead, this simple method proved remarkably effective.
Soon, the flying sword was clean as new, and wielding it felt smooth and effortless.
During his fight against Lu Xiaowei and the other two, the flying sword—the supposed ultimate weapon—had proven disappointing, and Song Yan was quite dissatisfied.
Could it be that he had no talent for sword control?
Impossible, absolutely impossible…
It was simply that his combat experience was too poor. Song Yan told himself this, recovering some of his spiritual energy. He paid no mind to Xu Youhe, who was wandering around the cave dwelling, and entered the state of cultivating the nameless incantation by himself.
The most obvious advantage in this trip’s battles was this extraordinary divine sense.
Song Yan decided to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses. He would first cultivate the intensity of his divine sense, and along the way attempt to open all seventeen light points within the Two Boundary Realm.
Lingyuan Marsh Market, Worry-Free General Store.
Shortly after Song Yan left, someone knocked on the wooden door of the general store.
“Who is it? The door is unlocked.”
Creak—
The wooden door was pushed open, and what entered Qin Xijun’s field of vision was a spirited face.
“Oh, Xiao Ye. What an honored guest—what wind blows you here today?”
Qin Xijun casually swept the dust off a nearby chair and said, “Sit.”
Lu Ziye was terrified. He knew she was speaking in that passive-aggressive tone of hers. How would he dare sit? “Hehe, Master, I came to ask you when you’re coming back…”
“I’m not going back!”
“It’s so peaceful here, and I won’t be driven crazy by you little brats.”
Lu Ziye gave an apologetic smile. “Master, back then Sister Qin was also concerned about her family. Please don’t hold it against her anymore.”
“Besides, the Qin family is where you came from. Why let it damage your relationship…”
Qin Xijun’s expression immediately turned cold. “I’ve said it many times. The Qin family has long since rotted through…”
“I am not a member of the Qin family. If there’s nothing else, please leave. My little shop is about to close…”
“Ah, Master…”
Thud!
By the time Lu Ziye came to his senses, he had been moved to the entrance of the general store, and the wooden door had slammed shut behind him.
“So it’s the same ending for whoever comes…”
Lu Ziye muttered and left the market.
…
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The eleventh of the fourth month, outside the Outer Disciple Affairs Hall.
A group of outer disciples were gathered around a bulletin board, discussing animatedly.
On the bulletin board, text written in spiritual energy hovered above, clearly visible.
“How rare… it’s actually a joint sect mission.”
Someone in the crowd chatted with a companion. “Since I’ve joined the sect, I think I’ve only seen it twice. Last time, I remember it was to North Watch Mountain…”
On the bulletin board, many off-sect missions that had already been accepted were publicly displayed, clearly recording which outer disciples would be carrying out the missions.
One eye-catching mission was written at the very top of the bulletin board.
Joint Sect Mission.
Location: Silent Valley.
Issued by Profound Abyss Sect, jointly conducted by Profound Abyss Sect, Lingfu Sect, and Eastern Abyss Sect.
Half a year ago, unusual spiritual energy fluctuations had begun to appear around Silent Valley. Now they had started to affect the spiritual plants and beasts within the valley, which was why this mission had been issued.
The ninth of the fifth month this year.
Leading elder: Xu Ziqing.
Inner disciple: Lu Ziye. Qi Refining, ninth layer…
Outer disciples selected:
Shao Sichao, Qi Refining, sixth layer…
Gu Qingqing, Tang Lin, Song Yan, Qi Refining, fifth layer…
“Hmm? The others have all been in the sect for at least two years, that’s true, but this junior brother named Song Yan has only been in the sect for one year and seven months…”
“That’s really the case…”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps the sect believes this junior brother is already at the middle stage of Qi Refining and can handle this mission?”
“…”
Soon, everyone’s attention was drawn to other things. The topic about Song Yan had lasted only a moment before it was drowned out.
Among the crowd, a plain-faced young man stared at the bulletin board.
He had heard the conversations of those around him. He gazed at the name Song Yan, lost in thought.