A Prescient Gift and an Unannounced Arrival

Qin Yan looked at Fangyuan, who stood before him. The young woman clearly wore an expression of having gotten away with something while feigning innocence.

He remained silent, simply gazing at Fangyuan. Fangyuan, in turn, watched the now-silent Qin Yan, pondering whether she might have gone too far.

“Are you angry?”

Fangyuan asked.

Without speaking, Qin Yan merely shook his head. He might not understand women, but he certainly understood men.

The women of this world, imbued with masculine sensibilities, were easily managed by him, though Qin Yan rarely chose to exert such influence.

“You’re clearly upset,” Fangyuan declared, clasping her hands behind her back, her gaze distant with an inexplicable sigh. “While a man’s thoughts are difficult to decipher, I have, after all, lived through centuries of seasons.”

Yet, the Fangyuan before him showed no trace of having endured centuries; she appeared merely an arrogant young woman.

“Next, we need to leave this place,” Fangyuan announced. “This jade slip mentions a teleportation array left here. I’ll release my Gu worms to find it.”

As she spoke, Fangyuan unleashed her Gu worms, which swiftly located a dust-covered teleportation array in a corner of the stone chamber.

“Found it!” A joyful smile spread across Fangyuan’s face before she abruptly handed a jade slip to Qin Yan. “This contains a sixth-grade pill formula. Beyond exchanging it for some wealth, it’s of no other use to me, so I’m giving it to you as compensation for upsetting you earlier.”

“For me?”

Qin Yan’s brow furrowed slightly as he regarded Fangyuan. The young woman was surprisingly generous. After a moment of thought, he responded, “What if I refuse it? After all, I know nothing about alchemy.”

“You may not understand it, but the young woman named Xiao Miao by your side does. In the future, she will become a renowned alchemist of the Northern Lands.”

Fangyuan spoke, then, without awaiting a reply, pressed the pill formula into Qin Yan’s hand.

For a cultivator who had lived for unknown centuries and was now reborn to make such a peculiar gesture, Qin Yan found it utterly impossible to believe she had no ulterior motives.

He then used his divine sense to examine the jade slip, only to perceive that while it indeed contained a sixth-grade pill formula, it also had conditions for access.

One needed to be at least a fifth-grade alchemist.

What a joke! No wonder Fangyuan didn’t want it. Someone without talent in alchemy would never reach even a third-grade alchemist’s level in their lifetime, let alone a fifth-grade one.

It was worth noting that the Elder specializing in alchemy on Mount Five of the Yanqing Sect was currently only a sixth-grade alchemist.

Qin Yan had no reason to refuse Fangyuan’s gift; it would be unseemly for a grown man to be so coy. However, more than the pill formula, Qin Yan was intrigued by Fangyuan’s words: that Xiao Miao would become a renowned alchemist of the Northern Lands in the future.

Such prescient information was truly invaluable. Fangyuan seemed to know exactly where dangers lurked and where opportunities lay in the future.

Qin Yan, being a pragmatic man, naturally embraced such a powerful alliance whenever possible—a perfectly normal thought process. To hesitate or offend would be the height of foolishness for a cultivator.

“You want me to pass it on to Xiao Miao?” Qin Yan inquired, a hint of interest in his tone.

“Hmph, nurturing others isn’t my style, Fangyuan,” she retorted with a cold snort, tilting her head slightly to look at Qin Yan. “The item is yours now, so you’re free to dispose of it as you wish.”

Qin Yan nodded, then fell silent, following Fangyuan to the teleportation array. There, he watched as she retrieved spirit stones from her storage ring and began activating the formation.

“Are you ready?” A faint smile played on Fangyuan’s lips. “Next, we’re going to turn this entire hidden realm upside down.”

A flash of white light enveloped them.

Qin Yan and Fangyuan had been transported from the stone chamber into a dense mountain forest.

Fangyuan scanned her surroundings warily, her senses picking up a disturbance in the nearby dense woods. She spoke directly, her voice a soft, sharp command: “Who goes there in the distance? Why such stealth?”

Qin Yan also looked in that direction, where he saw a woman in white robes, clutching a longsword, emerge from the trees.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded, holding her sword in a defensive posture. “And why are you near my Sword Sect?”

“Sword Sect?” A smile touched Fangyuan’s lips upon hearing the name. “How truly effortless. We are foreign cultivators, and I presume your Sword Sect has already heard of us. In that case, please lead us to your Sect Master; we have urgent matters to discuss.”

“See our Sect Master?” The woman in white looked suspicious. However, it was true that recently, foreign cultivators had been roaming, slaying demons everywhere, doing nothing else but eradicating the demon race. “Why do you wish to see the Sect Master?”

Fangyuan frowned slightly at the question. The white-robed woman opposite her was merely at the Qi Condensation stage; Fangyuan truly had no desire to waste her breath on her.

With that, she directly extended her divine sense, causing the white-robed cultivator to blanch in alarm. It was well known that Fangyuan was capable of slaying half-step Golden Core demon beasts.

“Since you have urgent matters to discuss with our Sect Master,” the white-robed cultivator said, looking at the imposing Fangyuan and considering the possible connection to the foreign cultivators, “then please, both of you, follow me—”

With that, she turned and departed. Qin Yan glanced at Fangyuan, meeting the young woman’s gaze, and watched as she nodded.

The journey passed in silence.

Qin Yan and Fangyuan followed the white-robed cultivator into the Sword Sect, now finding themselves within a grand hall.

“Hahahahaha, fellow Daoists from afar, may I ask the purpose of your visit to my Sword Sect? Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality.”

A warm, gentle voice drifted from outside the hall, and a middle-aged female cultivator, clad in white robes, entered. Her long hair was tied up, giving her a graceful, well-preserved appearance.

This, undoubtedly, was the Sect Master of the Sword Sect.

Fangyuan rose from her seat as the Sword Sect Master entered, and Qin Yan followed suit. After they exchanged greetings, the Sect Master gestured for Qin Yan and Fangyuan to sit.

The Sect Master then scrutinized Qin Yan and Fangyuan, observing that both possessed stable spiritual energy and profound auras.

From the Sword Sect Master’s perspective—

She, as the Sect Master, was naturally aware of the recent events in the surrounding area: cultivators, seemingly from nowhere, were slaying demons near the Sword Sect, acting as if they meant to scour the earth clean.

These cultivators were all remarkably young, appearing much like… like the favored prodigies of major sects.

Yet, why would the pampered prodigies of major sects bother coming to this remote region to slay demons, especially arriving in groups? Anyone with common sense would know there was something peculiar afoot.

Now, with two foreign cultivators presenting themselves before the Sword Sect to pay their respects, the Sect Master was naturally delighted.

After all, these foreign cultivators had been incredibly impolite. Had their masters not taught them that the first order of business upon entering another’s territory was to formally pay respects to the sect?