The Storyteller’s Tale and an Unexpected Encounter

In the Qin Kingdom.

Gu Ling City.

Inside a bustling inn, a storyteller was in the midst of an impassioned performance.

“They say that on that day, a monstrous calamity befell our Qin Kingdom, unleashed by a magnificent striped tiger that demanded the sacrifice of young boys and girls.

Fortunately, a fairy maiden, bearing the surname Qin, arrived just in time and utterly slaughtered this demon…

Afterward, she and her senior sister journeyed to the Zhao Kingdom, where they uncovered the tiger demon’s true origins.

To their astonishment, a seemingly ordinary human city in the Zhao Kingdom had secretly become a city of demons…

On that fateful day, the heavens crumbled, the earth shattered, and rivers of blood flowed among mountains of corpses, as a monstrous dragon suddenly appeared…!”

The storyteller abruptly paused at this dramatic juncture, taking a sip from the tea in their hand, their gaze subtly sweeping across the audience below.

The accompanying apprentice, holding a collection basket, moved through the crowd, soliciting tips.

“Please, kind sir, if you’ve enjoyed the tale, a small tip would be greatly appreciated.”

The apprentice addressed a tall figure seated before them, clad in black tight-fitting clothes and wearing a bamboo hat, with a civet cat cradled in their arms.

They spoke in a fawning tone.

The apprentice’s mistake was understandable; such an outfit clearly marked the wearer as a martial artist of the jianghu.

Most martial artists who roamed the jianghu were women, with men rarely seen traversing the martial world, and as for the person’s flat chest, well, such things were perfectly normal.

The figure remained silent, merely tossing a few pieces of silver into the apprentice’s basket.

“Thank you, kind sir, thank you so much…”

The apprentice hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

The storyteller, having evidently spotted the silver, brightened, cleared their throat, and continued, “Just as the demonic dragon was about to devour the people, a flash of sword light pierced through the air, instantly severing the dragon’s head!

It turned out to be the master of those two immortal cultivators, who had arrived on the scene…!”

Seated below, Qin Yan cringed so hard his toes curled, not because the apprentice had mistaken his gender, but because of the storyteller’s embellished account of his own deeds.

He gently stroked the back of the civet cat nestled in his arms.

The little civet cat, Xiao Li, had been listening intently, and upon feeling Qin Yan’s touch, it seemed to realize that the person the storyteller spoke of was its own master.

‘Such a thing… it’s absolutely amazing!’

Qin Yan found no further interest in the remaining tales.

It had been more than a month since he had descended the mountain.

Rising, he slowly departed the inn.

He had heard there was an Alchemy Grand Assembly in this city, and with nothing pressing to do today, he decided to go and observe.

Speaking of alchemy, it was truly an indispensable skill for cultivation.

Which protagonist in a xianxia novel didn’t know how to refine pills?

Yet, he, Qin Yan, simply couldn’t grasp it.

It was like mathematics; if you couldn’t do it, you simply couldn’t.

He recalled how, in an effort to learn alchemy, his senior sister had once procured a pill furnace from the neighboring Pill Peak.

What kind of furnace was that?

It was nothing short of a ticking bomb, nearly sending both of them to the Yellow Springs.

“This pill furnace must be defective.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Pill Peak next door and snatch—no, request—a better one for you, junior brother!”

Yu Qingxuan’s words vividly replayed in his mind, drawing a smile to Qin Yan’s face as he walked along the road.

Strolling leisurely, Qin Yan arrived at the site of the Alchemy Grand Assembly.

Entry here was unrestricted, much like an open-air stage where mortals and cultivators alike could enter, provided they paid the admission fee.

The place was lively, teeming with people.

Qin Yan looked down at Xiao Li in his arms, her eyes curiously surveying her surroundings, showing no sign of fear.

A pet cat from his previous life would likely have been highly stressed and crying out by now.

If Xiao Li knew Qin Yan’s thoughts, she might have been furious at the idea.

Yes, she had been a bit timid before, even wetting herself when frightened by that puppet demon dragon, but she was still a demoness!

How could she be scared by a mere crowd like this?

Qin Yan found a relatively spacious spot and observed the cultivators refining pills in the arena.

Each of them had their alchemy tools laid out, primarily various pill furnaces.

“I wonder who will claim the top prize at this year’s Gu Ling City Alchemy Grand Assembly.”

“Is there even a question?

It’ll surely be that one.

I heard she’s the chief disciple of an Elder from the Lingdan Sect, already a Second-Grade Alchemist at such a young age, and she even possesses a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation base.”

Two cultivators conversed near Qin Yan, and following their gaze, Qin Yan also looked towards the cultivator they spoke of in the center of the arena.

However, he only glanced once before his eyes drifted elsewhere, then seemed to catch sight of a familiar figure, causing him to momentarily freeze.

At the edge of the arena, a young woman in a black dress was intently focused on the pill furnace before her.

If this wasn’t Xiao Miao, who else could it be?

He had never expected to encounter her here by chance…

A pensive expression crossed Qin Yan’s face as he recalled their last meeting in that demon city.

It seemed Xiao Miao had been the one to lure out that demon dragon.

He wasn’t sure what she had done, but by the time his Shizun arrived and he regained his senses, the young woman had already vanished without a trace.

“The auspicious moment has arrived!

Open!”

Just then, a shout interrupted Qin Yan’s thoughts.

The cultivators refining pills below immediately ceased their actions.

Some looked dejected, others appeared full of confidence.

Some cultivators’ furnaces emitted plumes of black smoke and a pungent odor, while others diffused a fragrant medicinal aroma that filled the entire space.

Then, Qin Yan watched a middle-aged woman walk among these pill-refining cultivators.

“Xu Ningning, alchemy failed!”

“Zhao Cailü, First-Grade pill, lower quality.”

“…”

The middle-aged woman then approached the young woman whom the two cultivators had been discussing earlier.

“Bi Qingyun, Second-Grade pill, medium quality!”

The middle-aged woman announced loudly, drawing gasps of admiration from the surrounding crowd.

Presumably, this was the champion of the Alchemy Grand Assembly.

Next, the middle-aged woman walked to Xiao Miao.

She examined the pill Xiao Miao handed her; it was emerald green and exuded a rich fragrance.

As someone who had been immersed in the Way of Alchemy for many years, she naturally recognized the pill in her hand.

“Xiao Miao, Second-Grade pill, superior quality!”

This announcement elicited even greater surprise from the crowd.

All eyes turned to the young woman in the black dress at the edge of the arena.

Who exactly was this person, to be even more formidable than the chief disciple of the Lingdan Sect Elder?

Xiao Miao, for her part, remained utterly unfazed by all the attention.

She had not come to this Alchemy Grand Assembly to seek fame, but purely to obtain the rewards.

After all, cultivation demanded immense resources.

Wealth, Dharma, Companions, and Land.

These were the four indispensable elements of cultivation, with wealth ranking first among them.

Qin Yan then watched Xiao Miao follow the woman away, seemingly to collect her reward.

After a moment’s thought, he made his way to the entrance of the Alchemy Grand Assembly, waiting for the young woman.

Xiao Miao would one day become a Grand Alchemist of the Northern Lands; he still remembered Fangyuan’s words.