Am I Fast or What?

“She's merely a pill cultivator...”

What kind of pill cultivator could stab three of him to death with a single sword strike?!

What kind of misunderstanding did she have about Lin Mu?!

Where exactly was that girl weak and fragile?!

Ye Chang'an was starting to question his entire existence. Gritting his teeth, he covered his hand with a layer of pale green spiritual energy, grabbed the blade, and forced the sword out of his chest.

A dark shadow flickered across his eyes as he stared straight at her, confronting her with a hoarse voice. “The Saintess keeps telling me not to treat her as a substitute, but can you even tell who is actually treating her as a substitute?”

Chen Qingqiu's movements froze. Her knuckles turned white on the hilt, and a tiny crack appeared in the eternal coldness of her eyes.

She took two steps back and sheathed her sword. “Nonsense.”

Ye Chang'an looked at her suddenly tense profile, a wave of resentment welling up in his chest.

She was actually still thinking about Song Yao!

Back then, she had been knocked off the Heavenly Revelation Board by Song Yao and suppressed by her at every turn. Shouldn't she hate Song Yao?

Song Yao and he used to be engaged. Shouldn't she be jealous?

Why was everyone, one after another, so obsessed with Song Yao?!

He took a deep breath. That wildly uninhibited figure suddenly flashed through his mind, leaving his chest feeling stifled and his emotions incredibly complex.

Everyone knew that Song Yao loved him to death, even turning against her junior sister for his sake.

But no one knew that in private, Song Yao beat him so badly he couldn't even fight back.

Even he couldn't read her mind.

Did she truly love him, or did she just treat him as a cure for her boredom—or perhaps not even that?

In the end, when she left the Nine Saints Hall for the Earth Realm, she hadn't even thought about seeing him one last time.

The wound on his chest throbbed with pain, and irritation flared in his heart. Looking up, he saw Chen Qingqiu with her eyes cast down, clearly lost in thought about someone as well.

He suddenly found it utterly absurd.

They were supposed to get married this year. Here they were, a man and a woman alone in a room, yet they had come to blows over a dead person and were now sighing with sorrow over her.

Did this make any sense?

...

Being attacked by two demons of unknown origin had at least allowed her to escape that mind-numbing moral philosophy class.

Song Yao slept soundly until the afternoon, waking up thoroughly satisfied and heading out to eat.

To showcase its status as a great sect, the Beiyao Sect had established a small kitchen that provided food all day long.

However, most disciples chose to consume Qi-Replenishing Pills or practice inedia to maintain their peak condition.

Song Yao had no intention of making a name for herself in the cultivation world, so she didn't care about keeping her "peak condition."

Having slept for so long, she was starving. She devoured a bowl of wontons and a whole stewed chicken, then strolled leisurely to the courtyard of Ji Duchuan, knocking on the door before entering.

The medicine furnace in the courtyard was emitting warm, white steam, and the bitter scent of herbs mingled with the fresh air in the breeze.

Ji Duchuan sat cross-legged beside the cauldron, his light-colored robes draped loosely over his knees. A wisp of pale green spiritual fire flickered at his fingertips as he finely adjusted the flame beneath the cauldron.

He didn't turn around when he heard footsteps, only raising his eyes slightly to glance at the approaching figure out of the corner of his eye.

Song Yao squatted down beside him, placing the various packages in her hands right in front of him. Tucking her hands into her sleeves, she said with an obsequious smile, “Senior Ji, you've worked so hard refining pills. This junior has brought you some gifts.”

Ji Duchuan glanced at them.

A whole stewed chicken, a large bowl of chicken soup, a large bowl of noodles, and a pile of freshly baked pastries.

All of them were still steaming.

He fell silent for half a second. “Are these ‘gifts’ just takeout from the kitchen?”

Song Yao nodded.

Ji Duchuan: “...Thank you.”

Song Yao: “You're welcome. How much longer until the Golden Scale Snake Pill is ready?”

Ji Duchuan: “...”

This kid didn't beat around the bush at all.

He nodded toward the cauldron, saying helplessly, “It will still take a few more hours. To refine this pill for you, I haven't closed my eyes for the past two days, nor have I eaten a single bite.”

Song Yao immediately showed some initiative and held the chicken soup to his lips. “Want some?”

A thick layer of oil floated on top of the chicken soup. Ji Duchuan really couldn't bring himself to drink it, so he turned his head away slightly. “No, thank you.”

Song Yao let out an “oh” and held the entire chicken to his lips. “Want a bite?”

Ji Duchuan: “...”

Did she expect him to just gnaw on it like that?

She wanted to curry favor, but she had absolutely no idea how to do it properly.

She was probably a tyrant who did whatever she wanted back in her own sect.

He wanted to refuse, but when he turned and saw the slight anticipation in her eyes, he forced himself to swallow his words. He nodded toward the pastries below. “I'll have those instead.”

Before he could even finish speaking, Song Yao swiftly stuffed a pastry into his mouth. She then grabbed one for herself and stood up to wander around the courtyard.

Choking on the pastry, Ji Duchuan's eyes rolled back. Watching her figure, he had a bizarre illusion of a heroic figure who accomplished a great deed and then vanished into the night, hiding their fame and contribution.

So, her entire purpose in coming here was just to feed him?

It took him a long while to swallow the pastry. Feeling even weaker than before, he said, “You should go back. Once the pill is finished, I'll have someone deliver it to you.”

Song Yao paused in her tracks, strolled back to squat beside him, and stuffed another pastry toward his mouth. “This junior wanted to see if there is anything I can help with.”

This time, Ji Duchuan was prepared. He pressed his lips tightly together, preventing her from shoving the pastry directly down his throat, and retreated repeatedly. “No need, really no need. Aren't you disciples supposed to be studying together? Go on.”

Song Yao poked the pastry against his lips again. “No, I want to stay here and keep you company.”

Ji Duchuan: “...”

He deeply regretted his life choices.

Had he never seen a Qi-Replenishing Pill before? Why did he have to go and ask for hers?

Now look at him.

He couldn't even escape.

His lips were clamped shut so tightly that Song Yao finally realized he didn't want a second piece. She let him go, her gaze falling on a cauldron in the corner. “Can I use that one to refine some pills?”

Ji Duchuan felt as if he had just grasped a lifesaving straw. “Yes, yes! Go ahead and use it.”

As long as she didn't torment him, anything was fine.

“Thank you.”

There were differences between cauldrons, and Ji Duchuan's was bound to be extremely expensive.

Song Yao didn't want to blow up another cauldron and end up in debt again. She carefully studied and researched it for a while before starting her refinement.

Over the past few days, she had used quite a few “guinea pigs” in the Beiyao Sect for her experiments, giving her a clearer understanding of the herb ratios needed for her Qi-Replenishing Pills.

Since she had some free time now, she wanted to adjust the formula and test the waters, and perhaps have Ji Duchuan evaluate it for her.

She took a bunch of herbs and Fire-Driving Talismans out of her spatial pouch and placed them on the ground. She did some calculations in her notebook, closed it before she could grow drowsy, and threw all the portioned herbs into the cauldron at once.

Then, she threw a Fire-Driving Talisman beneath the furnace. Spiritual energy gathered in her palm, and as the talisman flared up, she pressed down with her spiritual energy, forcefully suppressing the flame.

Ji Duchuan glanced over, his heart leaping into his throat.

In all his years of refining pills, he had never seen such a wild technique.

When refining Qi-Replenishing Pills, wasn't one supposed to add the herbs in a specific order and then melt them with a gentle fire?

He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he didn't dare to speak up and warn her.

It had been hard enough for this girl to quiet down and stop tormenting him. It was better not to draw her attention.

Yet in the very next second, a thunderous explosion erupted from her direction.

His heart jolted, and he hurriedly looked up.

The cauldron lid flew open, and billowing black smoke poured out.

With her face covered in soot, Song Yao pulled a handful of translucent, white pills out of the cauldron. Smiling at him through the black smoke, she asked, “Am I fast or what?”