Chapter 107

Chapter 107

The two arrived at the grand hall of Heavenly Cloud Peak and found that aside from Qin Hongdao who was still on a mission outside, Yi Xuan and Sheng Yunshen were both present.

"Welcome."

After Sheng Zhenhai gestured for them to take their seats, he said, "Wang Qirong and that Saint-grade alchemy cauldron have disappeared together. Our people don’t know when she went missing or whether she left secretly on her own or was taken by someone else; they have no idea about any of it."

Ever since the incident of cultivators going berserk spread in Tai Zecheng, Wang Qirong had been hiding in the forbidden area of the Wang Family in Anqiu City. The official story was that she was comprehending alchemy within the forbidden area and ignoring all other matters. The outside world knew that Wang Qirong was a talented alchemist among the younger generation of the Wang Family, and the family had high hopes for her, intent on cultivating her. Therefore, her seclusion in the forbidden area did not attract attention from the outside world.

No one expected her to just vanish like this.

After Wang Qirong disappeared from the forbidden area, it caused a panic within the Wang Family, and now they were secretly searching for her everywhere.

The Wang Family did not publicize Wang Qirong’s disappearance but kept it tightly under wraps, as if they had some ulterior motives.

Liu Ruozhu sighed softly, "It seems that Wang Qirong’s disappearance might not have much to do with the Wang Family. If someone helped her leave the Wang Family, the person assisting her must be quite powerful. This is troubling."

Indeed, it was troublesome. The spirit pills refined by that Saint-grade cauldron harmed people significantly. If a cultivator unknowingly consumed them, even if the number of spirit pills ingested was small, they would still leave traces of yin malevolence within the body, affecting the cultivator’s cultivation.

Keeping that cauldron around, there was no telling how many more people it would harm and how much bloodshed and chaos it would cause in the future.

"Master, do you intend to inform the people of the other sects about this?" asked Yi Xuan.

"Yes," Sheng Zhenhai nodded slightly. "We should at least let them know so they can be on guard. Even if we don’t say anything, they probably already know most of it by now, considering those spirit pills causing cultivators to go berserk wasn’t just happening in Tai Zecheng and Dinghai City. It’s said that several cultivation cities have experienced similar situations; it can’t be hidden."

After a while of discussion, Sheng Zhenhai said, "Alright, I’ve only informed you about this matter so you’re aware. The rest will be handled by us old folks. You don’t need to worry about it and focus on your cultivation."

Then, Sheng Zhenhai and his wife checked on their disciples’ cultivation progress and gave them guidance before allowing them to return to their cultivation.

After leaving the grand hall, Sheng Yunshen asked, "Would you like to come over for some spirit wine?"

"No," Yi Xuan replied. "I need to go back and comprehend the Frost Snow Technique."

Ning Yuzhou also said, "Xiao Ache and I need to make a trip to Treasure Peak."

Sheng Yunshen’s expression turned serious as he asked defensively, "Junior Brother Ning, where are you going and what for?" His gaze flickered between Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou.

Wen Qiao returned his stare with an expressionless face.

Ning Yuzhou glanced at him and replied gently, "There are quite a few contribution points in my identity token, and I want to go to Treasure Peak to exchange them for some alchemy materials."

Hearing this, Sheng Yunshen first sighed in relief. Under everyone’s gazes, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat embarrassed. He couldn’t say that he was frightened by Little Junior Sister’s behavior last time when she went to Treasure Peak to look for a dual-cultivation technique. Subconsciously, he would think the worst whenever he heard the two of them mention going to Treasure Peak.

A father’s heart was truly worn out with worry.

After bidding farewell to Yi Xuan, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao headed toward Treasure Peak.

Wen Qiao had visited once before and was familiar with the various treasure halls in Treasure Peak. She knew exactly where the alchemy materials were stored and led him straight to Hall B.

Ning Yuzhou looked at her with a smile. "Xiao Ache knows this place well?"

Wen Qiao nonchalantly replied, "I’ve been here once."

Ning Yuzhou continued asking, "Why are you coming here?"

"Just to find something random."

"What are you looking for?"

"It’s just to find something."

"Hmm?"

"…"

The conversation was going nowhere, and Wen Qiao avoided looking at him with a stern face.

Wen Tuantuan lay on its sister’s shoulder, looking between the alchemist and its sister, calmly pretending to be a ball of fur, unwilling to get involved in the humans’ affairs.

Arriving at Hall B, the two showed their identity tokens to the gatekeeper.

"It turns out to be Junior Brother and Junior Sister from Heavenly Cloud Peak." The gatekeeper was a fellow disciple at the Profound Realm and smiled before speaking. "The first to third floors are low to mid-grade alchemy materials. The fourth floor is high-grade alchemy materials, but the required contribution points are correspondingly higher."

"Thank you for informing us, Senior Brother. We understand," Ning Yuzhou said, handing a bottle of spirit pills to this senior brother.

The senior brother waved at the two of them. After they entered, he opened the pill bottle and found that it contained top-grade Qi Nourishing Pills, causing him to laugh.

Indeed, this was the genius alchemist whom even Uncle Master Fei called "Virtuous Younger Brother"; he was generous indeed.

After entering the treasure hall, the two started browsing from the first floor.

There were many low-grade alchemy materials on the first floor, some with decent properties. They were displayed on shelves, separated by specific restrictions that allowed viewing but not touching. If one wanted to take any away, they could simply place their identity token in front of the restriction. The restriction would automatically identify the token and deduct the contribution points inside, allowing the item to be taken away – a very user-friendly system.

Ning Yuzhou didn’t rush to look at the alchemy materials. Instead, he studied the restrictions.

Seeing his earnest study, Wen Qiao didn’t disturb him and took Wen Tuantuan to stroll around. Although she wasn’t proficient in alchemy, she could still learn about alchemy materials.

The alchemy materials displayed on the shelves were separated by restrictions, with an explanatory sign below each, clearly indicating the name, use, and required contribution points.

In addition to alchemy materials, there were also various finished spirit artifacts. They were separated on either side of the hall; the left side held materials, and the right side held spirit artifacts, making it clear at a glance.

After Ning Yuzhou finished studying the restrictions, he began examining the surrounding alchemy materials.

They walked from the first to the third floor, and Ning Yuzhou used his identity token to swipe several types of materials, deducting only a small amount of contribution points.

Next, they arrived at the fourth floor.

Displayed on the fourth floor were high-grade alchemy materials. Compared to the first three floors, which were filled with alchemy materials, the fourth floor was somewhat empty, and the restrictions set up were more advanced than the previous three floors. Not only were the alchemy materials high-grade, but the spirit artifacts were also high-grade, all above the Heavenly grade.

Ning Yuzhou, as usual, first studied the restrictions on the fourth floor before searching for alchemy materials.

Wen Qiao came to a cabinet and saw golden-yellow soft armor displayed on it, with the nameplate reading: Celestial Rank Fine Gold Odd Feather Soft Armor.

This was a defensive Celestial Rank Spirit Artifact that could withstand an attack from a cultivator in the Primordial Emperor Realm.

When Wen Qiao looked at the required contribution points for it, she found that it needed ten thousand contribution points. Ordinary inner sect disciples simply couldn't afford it, and her token only had a pitiful few hundred contribution points, of which two hundred were earned after they completed the Tai Zecheng mission earlier.

Because the Tai Zecheng mission was relatively difficult, they each received two hundred contribution points only after completing it perfectly, showing how hard it was to earn contribution points from the sect.

Compared to her meager hundreds of contribution points, Ning Yuzhou's identity token had an alarming number of contribution points.

Who could blame him when casually concocting a pill formula or refining a spirit artifact could earn him rewards from the sect? With more rewards came higher contribution points, something no ordinary person could match.

Ning Yuzhou walked over, glanced at the Fine Gold Odd Feather Soft Armor, and asked, "Do you like it?"

"It's alright," Wen Qiao glanced at him, "It suits you well."

Her husband was weak, with low cultivation and not as robust as her, so wearing Celestial Rank defensive soft armor would be perfect.

Ning Yuzhou fell silent for a moment before taking out his token and placing it before the restriction.

A flash of spiritual light later, the restriction disappeared, and Ning Yuzhou took out the Fine Gold Odd Feather Soft Armor, handing it to her. "Ah Shuo, keep it."

Wen Qiao assumed he wanted her to keep it for him, so she didn't refuse.

Wen Qiao continued looking at other Celestial Rank Spirit Artifacts, marveling at their high contribution point costs. By the time she saw the King Rank Spirit Artifacts quietly displayed in the corner, she didn’t dare look at their required contribution points anymore.

A million contribution points for a King Rank Spirit Artifact, what did that even mean?

Meanwhile, Ning Yuzhou used his token to swipe through dozens of high-level materials. Wen Qiao couldn’t help but stare at him, wondering just how many high-level materials his token could cover.

However, even after Ning Yuzhou picked all the high-level materials he wanted, there seemed to still be points left in his token.

Wen Qiao suddenly felt like a pauper, as if she’d been relying on her husband to support her all along.

It seemed she needed to work harder on missions in the future.

With this thought, when they returned to Ju Cui Peak, she heard Ning Yuzhou say, "Ah Shuo, do you want to go out for training?"

Wen Qiao turned to look at him, and even Wen Tutu, who was absorbed in spirit pills, perked up her ears, her ruby eyes staring at him.

"Husband, what do you mean?"

"We've been in the sect for quite some time; we should go out and walk around, just the two of us. What do you think?" Ning Yuzhou said gently.

Wen Qiao instantly perked up, asking excitedly, "Husband, do you already have a plan?"

Ning Yuzhou hummed in agreement, telling her to take out the light blue stone. "Go ask Senior Brother Chen where he found this thing; let’s go to that place too."

Wen Qiao became even happier, unable to resist throwing herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Ning Yuzhou smiled and held her waist, embracing the girl who had thrown herself at him. He tilted his head to give her fair and beautiful face a light kiss, asking softly, "That happy?"

"Yes, because I mentioned the stone being unusual, and you said you wanted to go for training."

Clearly, it was to satisfy her curiosity; how could she not be happy?

Wen Qiao grinned, quickly pecking him on the cheek before scooping up Wen Tutu and running out, leaving behind the words, "Husband, I’m going to find Senior Brother Chen."

Ning Yuzhou sat there, watching her retreating back.

After a while, he reached up to touch where she had kissed him, unable to suppress a slight smile.

His features were soft, his lips slightly curved, and at that moment, his tenderness was more intoxicating than warm spring breezes and water.

***

Wen Qiao arrived at Heavenly Weapon Peak.

The disciples of Heavenly Weapon Peak all knew her and greeted her in pleasant surprise when they saw her. "Little Junior Sister, why are you here? Little Junior Brother Ning isn’t at Heavenly Weapon Peak today."

In recent weeks, Ning Yuzhou had been refining the Treasure Branch Lamp at Heavenly Weapon Peak, and Wen Qiao would often come over to see him. Everyone at Heavenly Weapon Peak recognized this little junior sister from Tianyun Peak, even calling her "little junior sister" themselves.

Because the peak master of Heavenly Weapon Peak, Li Fengchun, also referred to Ning Yuzhou as "Junior Brother Ning," the disciples of Heavenly Weapon Peak gradually aligned themselves with those of Heavenly Spirit Peak. They didn’t look down on Ning Yuzhou due to his low cultivation and were incredibly respectful before him. After all, he was their peak master’s "junior brother," and they couldn’t afford to be disrespectful.

As a result, the disciples of Heavenly Weapon Peak were also very affectionate towards Wen Qiao.

"I'm looking for Senior Brother Chen Ziming. Is he here?"

Upon hearing this, someone went to inform him and invited Wen Qiao to rest in the pavilion at the foot of the mountain.

Soon, Senior Brother Chen descended from halfway up the mountain, smiling when he saw Wen Qiao. "Junior Sister Min, how do you have the time to come over? What do you need from me?"

Wen Qiao took out the light blue stone and asked, "Senior Brother Chen, can you tell me where you picked up this stone?"

Chen Ziming took one look and recognized the stone, immediately smiling. "Junior Sister Min wants to check it out too?"

Wen Qiao hummed in agreement. "I’ll visit if I have time."

Chen Ziming then carefully told her where he found the stone, afraid she might get it wrong. He even specially drew a map for her, saying, "Junior Sister Min, that place is a bit eerie. When you go there in the future, you must be careful. By the way, I’ve never known what this stone is. If you figure it out, please let me know."

As an alchemist, Chen Ziming was extremely interested in all unknown alchemy materials. If he hadn’t thought the stone was an alchemy material, he wouldn’t have picked it up in the first place.

Of course, since he had already given the item away, no matter what value it had, he wouldn’t regret it. He was just curious about its use.

"Okay, Senior Brother Chen, don’t worry. If we discover its use, we’ll let you know."

Wen Qiao put away the map, bid farewell to Senior Brother Chen, and left Heavenly Weapon Peak.

Upon returning to Jade Gathering Peak, Wen Qiao lingered at the foot of the mountain for a moment before slowly making her way up to the cave abode halfway up.

"Gu~"

Wen Tutu let out a puzzled sound, tilting her head to look at her, seemingly perplexed by her sluggish pace.

Wen Qiao said, "Quiet, Wen Tutu, I'm thinking."

Wen Tutu emitted a series of gnawing sounds before calmly retrieving a spirit fruit from her cheek pouch, munching on it slowly.

Arriving back at the cave abode on the mountainside, Wen Qiao peeked inside and found Ning Yuzhou lounging in a recliner, examining a black and gold stone in his hand with unusual ease.

This was the high-grade alchemy material they had exchanged for earlier at the Treasure Peak – something called Luminous Gold Oddstone. When integrated into weapons, it could enhance their flexibility and transformability, allowing them to stretch freely and catch enemies off guard.

Noticing her return, Ning Yuzhou lifted his gaze and gave her a gentle smile.

That smile seemed to light up the entire world, as if spring breezes were blowing and flowers blooming, causing people to feel intoxicated.

Feeling her cheeks warm, Wen Qiao hastily averted her eyes, not daring to look at him again.

"Azhuo's back, did you find out?" Ning Yuzhou asked, reaching out to pull her onto the recliner, wrapping his arm around her waist so she was nestled against him, their position intimate.

Blushing, Wen Qiao hummed in agreement, taking out the map Chen Ziming had given her and handing it over.

Ning Yuzhou held her slender waist, opened the map with his free hand, and said with a smile, "This Senior Brother Chen is quite thoughtful."

Wen Qiao hummed again, recounting what Senior Brother Chen had told her earlier.

After listening, Ning Yuzhou dismissed it nonchalantly, saying, "If we figure it out, there's no harm in telling him. Azhuo, when do you think we should set off?"

"Whenever."

Ning Yuzhou turned his head to look at her, seeing the young girl's fair profile, her beautiful lips slightly pursed, full and rosy, tempting him to taste her sweetness.

The body in his arms was graceful and fragrant.

Unbeknownst to him, the young girl had grown into a sweet and charming young woman.