Lifting the wooden lid, a rich aroma of malt mixed with a unique crisp bitterness instantly drifted across the street corner.
Before long, it drew a few curious passersby.
“Miss, what kind of alcohol is this? Why is there white foam floating on top?” a man asked, swallowing his saliva.
“Beer. Ten copper coins a bowl. It beats the heat and relieves fatigue,” Su Yueli replied calmly.
The man fished out ten copper coins, picked up a bowl, and tipped his head back to chug it down.
“Sss— Refreshing!” The man's eyes lit up. “Though it's bitter at first, this icy kick goes straight to the head. Fine brew!”
With the first customer came a second.
Ten copper coins a bowl was not cheap for ordinary folk, but they could still afford it. In less than half an hour, a long queue formed in front of the handcart.
While she was busy, the originally noisy crowd suddenly fell silent.
The people at the back of the line wore looks of awe, parting to both sides to make way.
Su Yueli looked up and saw a young man wearing a moon-white robe slowly walking over.
With a longsword on his back and a handsome face, he carried a faint, ethereal aura that far surpassed ordinary martial artists.
Hushed whispers rippled through the crowd.
“It's an immortal master...”
“Looking at his clothes, he's an outer disciple of the Chiyan Sect. Why would he come to our mortal market?”
Listening to the discussions around her, Su Yueli lowered her eyelids slightly, sizing him up.
Seeing the crowd make way, the young man did not cut in line. Instead, he smiled warmly. “Please do not be alarmed, everyone. Though I am a cultivator, I grew up in Qingzhou City as well. We are all people of Qingzhou. I will queue up to buy the alcohol according to the rules.”
With that, he actually walked to the very back of the line and quietly began to queue.
Su Yueli raised an eyebrow inwardly. Cultivators viewed mortals like ants. She had witnessed the overbearing nature of the Cangyun Sect and heard of their cruelty in slaughtering villages. This was the first time she had seen such a polite and rule-abiding disciple of an immortal sect.
He was surprisingly polite.
After a while, it was the young man's turn.
The kegs were almost empty, with only the last one remaining.
“Miss, give me a bowl to try,” the young man said, handing over some copper coins.
Su Yueli scooped a bowl and handed it over.
The young man downed it in one gulp, closing his eyes briefly before nodding in admiration. “Fine brew! It has no spiritual qi, yet it can completely dispel the mortal summer heat and refresh the mind.”
“I'll take all that's left.” The young man still wanted more, so he asked, “Miss, how much of this brew can you make in seven days?”
“Around fifty kegs.”
“Great, I'll take them all.”
The young man casually tossed over a heavy silver ingot, easily worth fifty taels. “This is the deposit. I will come to collect them in seven days.”
After paying, the young man walked over to the empty keg, lightly swiped his finger against its side, and the wooden keg vanished into thin air.
The surrounding mortals gasped in shock. The young man, long accustomed to this, tapped his foot lightly. He transformed into a streak of light and soared into the sky on his flying sword.
Su Yueli watched the direction the young man had departed, a ripple of emotion flashing in her eyes.
That was the space ring only found in novels—a pocket dimension contained within a tiny space. It was indeed incredibly convenient.
Unfortunately, ordinary mortals could neither obtain nor afford such an immortal item.
With the alcohol sold out, Su Yueli packed up the handcart and prepared to return to the dojo.
Just then, a familiar figure blocked her path.
It was the Young Dojo Master of the Changwei Dojo, Zhao Xiu.
“Miss Su, I heard you are selling a unique alcohol here. I came specifically to support you,” Zhao Xiu said, walking over with a smile.
“Sold out,” Su Yueli said flatly.
Zhao Xiu glanced at the empty wooden kegs, looking regretful. “What a pity. In that case, I hope that once you brew more tomorrow, you can sell them to me first. Price is not an issue.”
“There won't be any tomorrow. Brewing takes time.”
Su Yueli looked at him and changed her tune. “I will have stock in seven days. Pay the deposit first.”
Why pass up a chance to make money?
This was her first time brewing, so she hadn't made much. Although Zhao Xiu clearly had an ulterior motive, there was no reason to reject money delivered right to her doorstep.
Zhao Xiu was taken aback, clearly not expecting Su Yueli to be so direct. He then laughed heartily, pulled out a silver ingot, and handed it over. “Excellent! How straightforward! I will come to collect the brew in seven days!”
Su Yueli took the silver, weighed it in her hand, and turned to push her cart away.
Upon returning to the dojo, Su Yueli calculated today's earnings.
Between the copper coins from individual sales and the deposits from the young man and Zhao Xiu, she had made nearly a hundred taels of silver.
This amount was absolutely a massive fortune in the mortal world.
Without any delay, Su Yueli headed straight to the grain shop in the west of the city.
With capital on hand, she bought over a thousand pounds of barley and herbs in one go, hiring a worker to haul them back to the Iron Bone Dojo on a handcart.
As she walked, Su Yueli's thoughts drifted.
That Chiyan Sect outer disciple seemed quite easy to talk to, and he didn't have the arrogant, high-and-mighty attitude typical of immortal sects.
When he came to collect the alcohol in seven days, she might be able to use the opportunity to gather some information about the cultivation world.
After all, wandering aimlessly in this mortal city on her own would never allow her to even touch the threshold of that realm.
Immortals and mortals—even martial artists were no exception—were as isolated as if they belonged to two different worlds. The barrier to information was extremely high.
If she wanted to know about cultivators, she could only catch wind of scattered rumors here and there.
Over the next seven days, life was peaceful and orderly.
Aside from keeping an eye on the large clay vats fermenting the alcohol, Su Yueli spent every single day practicing her punches in the courtyard without fail.
Tie Ling'er continued to practice her breathing technique clumsily. Though her progress was slow, she didn't complain about the pain anymore.
As for the martial apprentices in the front yard, whenever they occasionally passed by the inner courtyard, their gazes would inevitably drift toward Su Yueli.
An peerless beauty, combined with the formidable strength of a Third Realm Blood Exchange expert, held a fatal attraction for these men.
But their awe far outweighed their affection.
Faced with a martial path genius who had even astonished Dojo Master Tie Tu, how could this group of low-level martial artists—who hadn't even reached the First Realm—have the courage to confess? They could only bottle up their feelings deep inside.
On the night seven days later.
A dense aroma of alcohol permeated the rear courtyard.
Su Yueli inspected the dozen or so large clay vats. Looking at the white foam bubbling over the liquid inside, she nodded in satisfaction.
Tomorrow, she could deliver the goods.
Washing the residue off her hands, Su Yueli pushed open her bedroom door, preparing to turn in for the night.
Just as she took off her outer robe, a faint sound of footsteps came from outside the door.
Squeak—
The door was pushed open, and Tie Ling'er poked half her head in before slipping inside.
Su Yueli was taken aback upon seeing her. She instinctively pulled the blanket up in front of herself, but then realized her reaction was a bit odd.
So she asked, “Ling'er, it's so late. Why aren't you resting? Is something the matter?”
Tie Ling'er simply leaped onto the bed, saying with a grin, “I want to sleep with Sister Yueli tonight!”
The corner of Su Yueli's mouth twitched. She stared blankly, never expecting something like this to happen.
Tie Ling'er was different from her. Although they both appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, the girl was genuinely of that age.
Meanwhile, Su Yueli had lived two lives, totaling several decades...
Watching the young girl crawl over, Su Yueli quickly shrank into the corner.
Wait, men and women shouldn't be so physically close!
Rate on N.U.
