Although the Wen family possessed plenty of Marrow-Cleansing Pills, they also understood the principle that possessing a treasure could make one a target. Thus, they never went around bragging about it.
Zhao Chan took the pill, and upon realizing it was indeed a Marrow-Cleansing Pill, she swallowed it right down.
Watching her urgent display, the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu sighed but said nothing.
Low-level cultivators had always been this way; once they grabbed an opportunity, they would hold on for dear life and force it down their throats, no matter what!
As for why she hadn't simply killed Zhao Chan, the first reason was that Wen Jingshu's own journey as a talisman cultivator hadn't been easy, making her feel a trace of instinctual pity for people like them.
Second, when she was at the stall earlier, she had scanned the pills Zhao Chan had refined with her divine sense.
For a rogue cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining to refine so many mid-grade Rejuvenation Pills under such scarce resources meant she possessed quite a high talent in the Dao of Alchemy.
Third, with her current disguise, Zhao Chan had no idea who she was or what that bead was actually used for. There was no way Zhao Chan could ever recognize the original appearance of Yinian'an.
Fourth, there was simply no need.
Given her current net worth, she had absolutely no reason to act against the weak.
Cultivators were forbidden from attacking mortals to avoid being tainted by karma that could disrupt their Dao Heart, ultimately leading to inner demons during crucial breakthroughs.
In truth, indiscriminately slaughtering cultivators carried the same consequences. This was why evil cultivators and demonic cultivators progressed quickly in their cultivation but rarely survived their advancement tribulations.
Looking at it from another angle, since Zhao Chan had traveled thousands of miles to deliver a sub-bead of Yinian'an to her, it was only right that she paid a little fee for the trouble.
Still, Zhao Chan certainly placed an immense amount of trust in her, going so far as to begin cleansing her spiritual roots right in front of her.
In her current state, let alone Wen Jingshu, even a random three-year-old child could easily kill her.
Watching Zhao Chan roll around on the ground in agony, Wen Jingshu casually infused a bit of healing immortal qi into her. Then, leaving her to her fate, she swept her divine sense over the golden bead.
A sub-bead of Yinian'an: the Hunyuan Bead. The user can utilize the Hunyuan Bead to manifest a clone.
The clone is identical to the original body. Upon retrieving the clone, the user can fully inherit all of its achievements, including cultivation base, insights, and skills.
Wen Jingshu's heart pounded wildly.
In other words, she could use the Hunyuan Bead to split off another version of herself—one to refine pills, and one to practice swordplay?
Or one to cultivate, and one to draw talismans?
Or perhaps she could have her clone travel the outside world while her original body remained safely hidden away inside the sect?!
Having the Hunyuan Bead was practically equivalent to having an extra life!
As expected of Yinian'an, which had claimed the second spot on the Divine Artifact Board after being revealed only once! It was truly incredible!
She was starting to look forward to the day she collected all the beads of Yinian'an. If a single bead was already this heaven-defying, wouldn't the fully assembled set be capable of shattering the heavens themselves?
Oh, wait, it actually did shatter the heavens once.
Calming her excited heart, Wen Jingshu withdrew her divine sense. Seeing that Zhao Chan wouldn't be finished anytime soon, she instructed Zhao Xun to keep watch over her:
“Uncle Zhao, once she successfully cleanses her marrow, if she still has a wood or fire spiritual root, send her to the Pill Sect's outer sect as promised.”
Zhao Xun emerged from the shadows and replied, “Understood, Young Mistress.”
Having settled Zhao Chan's matter, Wen Jingshu began walking back toward Yundan City.
She still remembered that a female cultivator had been buying up beads on a massive scale back on the trading street.
Her intuition told her that the female cultivator was also looking for the Hunyuan Bead.
Zhao Xun watched Wen Jingshu's departing figure, then looked down at the female cultivator writhing in agony on the ground, unable to help but sigh with emotion.
The members of the Wen family were truly good people!
The term “good people” here carried no sarcasm, nor did it mean they were simple-minded pushovers. Rather, compared to other cultivation clans, as long as no lines were crossed, the Wen family members were easygoing and generous, never looking down on others just because of their high cultivation bases.
They were never stingy with the useless items in their possession when it came to low-level cultivators.
Naturally, the most direct benefit of this was that by sowing so many seeds of goodwill, their path to immortality was somewhat smoother than that of ordinary cultivators.
Other alchemists had their noses in the air and never treated their Dao protectors as human beings, yet none of the three top alchemists of the Wen family had ever treated their Dao protectors harshly.
This was precisely why Zhao Xun was willing to follow Wen Shuyi.
Top-tier alchemists were common, but top-tier alchemists with good temperaments were rare.
Thinking back to the competition to become Wen Shuyi's Dao protector, which had dragged on for a century, Zhao Xun still felt incredibly fortunate. He was glad that Wen Shuyi had chosen him out of the dozen or so candidates...
Wen Jingshu had no idea that her simple action had set an old man down memory lane once again.
After quickly returning to the trading street, she walked in the direction of the bustling crowd and easily spotted the female cultivator.
The masked female cultivator stood on a high platform, surrounded by countless rogue cultivators who were desperately trying to pitch their own beads to her.
“Little Fairy, look at my bead! Its color is perfectly round and flawless—a treasure at first glance! You won't regret buying it, Little Fairy!”
“My bead was dug up from an immortal's cave dwelling! It is definitely what you are looking for, Little Fairy, and it only costs fifty low-grade spirit stones!”
“Your bead doesn't have a shred of spiritual energy! How could it possibly catch Little Fairy's eye? My bead is brimming with spiritual energy, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It's definitely a treasure, and it only costs one hundred mid-grade spirit stones!”
“Little Fairy, look at mine...”
...
Squeezed and jostled from all sides, the female cultivator had no way of inspecting them properly and could only struggle to maintain order:
“One at a time, please!”
Glancing at the chaotic scene, Wen Jingshu asked Li Xunzhi:
“Uncle Li, can you see what she looks like?”
Hearing Wen Jingshu's voice, Li Xunzhi stepped out from the shadows and looked toward the masked female cultivator.
“Young Mistress, that person is your Senior Sister, Yun Xiange.”
Wen Shuyi cared deeply for Wen Jingshu and had specially ordered them to conduct a thorough investigation into Beili.
This included, but was not limited to, Beili's background, life experiences, reputation, character, temperament, and his relationships within his lineage.
Although Beili was Wen Jingshu's destined master, not just anyone was qualified to take her as a disciple.
If Beili's character was lacking, Wen Shuyi would never have agreed to let her apprentice under him, no matter how perfectly suited his cultivation techniques and mantras were for Wen Jingshu.
Naturally, Lin Yunan, Fu Sinian, and Yun Xiange—as Beili's disciples—fell within the scope of the investigation.
Hearing Li Xunzhi's words, Wen Jingshu was somewhat surprised.
Due to Fu Sinian and Yun Xiange's attitudes toward her, she had disliked them from the very beginning.
Of course, she had also not missed the faint, lingering hostility Yun Xiange directed at her.
Previously, she had assumed it was merely childish jealousy, born from a fear that she would steal away their Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother.
Now, however, it seemed things were not that simple.
Yun Xiange had secrets of her own.
Although every cultivator harbored secrets, as long as those secrets did not infringe upon her interests, she couldn't care less.
But now that Yun Xiange also seemed to be searching for the beads of Yinian'an, she had to pay closer attention to this Junior Senior Sister of hers.
“Uncle Li, send a few people to keep an eye on her. Report to me immediately if anything is out of the ordinary.”
With a brief acknowledgement, Li Xunzhi vanished from Wen Jingshu's side.
Wen Jingshu watched for a little longer before turning to leave.
She only hoped this Junior Senior Sister of hers was not an enemy.
Rate on N.U.
