Li Danshu glanced at Zi Luo, picked up the palm-leaf fan beside him, and vigorously fanned the bottom of the furnace a few times. What should have been a serious pill refinement was turned by him into something resembling the cooking of bone broth.

He asked, “Girl Zi Luo, what brings you to my place so late at night?”

“Fourth Master Uncle, I’ve come to ask you for pills.” Zi Luo pushed Zanxing forward in front of Li Danshu. “This junior sister’s face was injured by the demonic aura of a ‘Yu’. Master said that ordinary spiritual herbs cannot remove the scars, and asked you to think of a solution.”

Li Danshu narrowed his eyes: “A ‘Yu’? To still be able to see a ‘Yu’ in this day and age is quite rare indeed.” He beckoned to Zanxing, “Girl, come forward and let me take a look.”

Zanxing stepped forward. Li Danshu held her face and examined it, then released his grip and said, “Not difficult. Just refine a dose of the Jade Complexion Pill and take it.”

Zanxing thought to herself, aren’t pills made with lead? Wouldn’t eating them kill someone? But in a cultivation novel, what need was there for science?

“That’s wonderful, Fourth Master Uncle,” Zi Luo was wholeheartedly thinking of Zanxing: “Please help refine the pill for Junior Sister Zanxing!”

“Easier said than done,” Li Danshu glanced at her. “Girl Zi Luo, my disciples are all men, and we rarely refine such pills. Refining this pill requires quite a few ingredients. The others are manageable, but especially needed is a section of the Night Vine branch. Without the Night Vine branch, this Jade Complexion Pill cannot be refined.”

Zi Luo looked at him and spoke suspiciously: “Fourth Master Uncle, I heard from Master that you’ve been researching a new pill recently, and you’re missing exactly one ingredient – Night Vine branch…”

Li Danshu coughed lightly: “Anyway, Night Vine branch is needed. Whether or not to refine this pill still depends on how this little girl chooses.”

Zanxing: “…” Isn’t this taking advantage of someone’s misfortune?

She asked: “May I ask, is Night Vine branch very expensive? Where can the Night Vine branch be found?”

Li Danshu’s eyes lit up, and he smiled: “Easy to find, easy to find! Not expensive, not expensive! We have Night Vine branches right on our Gufeng Mountain. In three more days, you inner sect disciples will all enter the mountain to pick herbs. At that time, you can bring back the Night Vine branch along with the rest.”

Zi Luo was somewhat angry: “Master Uncle, Junior Sister Zanxing is a disciple of our sect. How can you be so calculating?”

Li Danshu turned toward that enormous pill furnace, not even looking at Zi Luo, and snorted twice: “I’m still your master uncle, so how can you be so calculating?”

Zi Luo was helpless. Zanxing pulled her aside and thanked Li Danshu: “Thank you, Fourth Master Uncle. When I find the Night Vine branch, I’ll bring it to you immediately.”

After leaving the great hall, Zi Luo shook her head disapprovingly: “Junior Sister Zanxing, you don’t know – Night Vine branches grow in extremely yin places, close to black swamps, and are very dangerous. Even if I were to retrieve them, it wouldn’t be easy. If it were truly that simple, why would Fourth Master Uncle ask you to get them? You agreed rather impulsively just now.”

“I only agreed to it; I may not necessarily be able to retrieve them. I’ll see how it goes.” Zanxing remembered what Li Danshu had just said: “By the way, Senior Sister, Fourth Master Uncle said that in three days we’ll enter the mountain to pick herbs. What does that mean?”

“Our Taiyan Sect has abundant spiritual medicines and herbs, and no shortage of pills, because Gufeng Mountain’s spiritual energy nourishes people, and the mountain contains countless spiritual beasts and flora. These flowers, plants, and spiritual beasts are all very precious and also very dangerous. Inner sect disciples periodically enter the mountain to gather medicinal materials and spiritual fruits – partly to replenish the sect’s storehouse, and partly to familiarize themselves with the medicine classics, counting as training.” When Zi Luo spoke of this matter, she was quite moved. “Speaking of our Sect Master, he also obtained a stroke of fortune in Gufeng Mountain back in the day, which led to his current achievements. Therefore, every opportunity to enter the mountain is precious.”

Now Zanxing understood. In other words, the Taiyan Sect’s disciples were all free laborers. The Taiyan Sect provided food, clothing, lodging, and cultivation resources, while the Taiyan Sect’s disciples worked for them to fill the storehouse.

This was good – having a complete循环 system meant they wouldn’t have to worry about the sect being eaten into bankruptcy and collapse someday. For a working drone, this was somewhat more reassuring.

“For new inner sect disciples entering the mountain for the first time, the medicinal materials and spiritual fruits they gather can be kept for their use, counting as a reward for the sect’s assessment. After you enter the mountain, remember to find more spiritual herbs that help with recuperation and breakthroughs.” Zi Luo reminded Zanxing, “There’s nothing else these next few days. You were injured in the previous assessment, so take advantage of the time before entering the mountain to rest well.”

Zanxing smiled: “Thank you, Senior Sister.”

“No need to thank me. Perhaps…” She wanted to say something more, but ultimately held back, saying: “It’s getting late today. Junior Sister Zanxing, you should head back first. Tomorrow you have half a day to rest, so you can sleep in a bit.”

…

After Zanxing left, Zi Luo returned to the hall.

She walked up to Li Danshu, who was sitting on the ground, and said: “Fourth Master Uncle.”

Li Danshu grunted: “She’s gone?”

“She’s gone.”

“You’re saying this little girl is the one who found the ‘Qing E Nian Hua Gun’ and even executed ‘Jing Hua Shui Yue’?” Li Danshu looked up and asked.

“Master Uncle Yueguang said so himself.” Zi Luo asked: “Did Fourth Master Uncle notice anything just now?”

Li Danshu removed the gauze cap from his head and shook it, causing some dust to fly out. He then carefully and properly put it back on before saying: “She looks like nothing special, just an ordinary little girl. Her constitution and spiritual roots are fundamentally unsuited for cultivation. I wonder how the ‘Qing E Nian Hua Gun’ could have chosen her?”

“Perhaps Junior Sister Zanxing has some special quality about her.” Zi Luo said: “Now that Sect Master is in closed-door cultivation, by the time of the assessment competition to select Sixth Master Uncle’s disciple, Sect Master should be able to emerge from seclusion. If Sect Master knew that the ‘Qing E Nian Hua Gun’ had reappeared in the world, who knows how happy he would be.”

“Of course he’d be happy-nineteen years…” Li Danshu sighed, his gaze becoming somewhat distant as he looked at the pill furnace. “Who could have imagined that in this world, someone could still execute ‘Jing Hua Shui Yue’?”

…

Zanxing returned to the small wooden building.

The night was already very deep.

Usually at this time, the fully dressed-up Duan Xiangrao would just be heading out, and the room would still retain the jasmine fragrance that Duan Xiangrao loved most. Now that one of the two beds had been dismantled, the original vacation cabin seemed somewhat lonely.

She removed her outer robe and sat down in front of the soft couch on the first floor, pouring herself a cup of spiritual spring tea and taking a sip.

Originally, she had thought that becoming an inner sect disciple would heal the injury on her face, but she hadn’t expected that she would still need to personally enter the mountain to pick herbs. This was different from what she had imagined. From Zi Luo’s tone, Gufeng Mountain was fraught with danger – it wasn’t an ordinary scenic area. If there were any accidents, with her current battered and scarred body, who knew what kind of trouble might arise?

After all, there was still the original story world eyeing her with hostile intent.

Wait, the original story?

In the original story, there seemed to indeed be such a plot segment.