Ju Bao Fang.
The shopkeeper, Qing Qiu, dressed in a green dress, welcomed the Sun sisters into the back hall’s reception room. After some pleasantries, she smiled and said, "I am truly sorry to have the eldest young ladies of Medicine King Valley personally deliver the pills this time."
"You are too kind, Shopkeeper," Sun Xing Chun replied with a smile. "Firstly, Yun Nuan and I wanted to travel and see the world. Secondly, the quantity and total price of the pills ordered by Ju Bao Fang this time are indeed substantial. Entrusting them to an ordinary merchant caravan felt too risky, so after much persuasion, we finally got our second uncle to agree to let us escort this batch of pills to the Snow Domain Celestial Pool."
Sun Yun Nuan stood up, took out two storage pouches, and shook them. Instantly, hundreds of boxes of pills floated down.
Qing Qiu’s beautiful eyes narrowed into a smile. "Medicine King Valley truly lives up to its reputation as the foremost alchemy sect in the world. Its foundation is incomparable to other sects. To put it bluntly, more than half of the pills on Ju Bao Fang’s shelves come from Medicine King Valley."
Sun Xing Chun smiled. "You flatter us, Shopkeeper. Our Medicine King Valley and Ju Bao Fang have been cooperating for many years. My grandfather trusts Ju Bao Fang, so as long as it's an order from Ju Bao Fang, our alchemy chambers will prioritize its production to meet Ju Bao Fang's needs as much as possible."
Qing Qiu nodded with a smile.
Sun Xing Chun’s heart stirred, and she began to make small talk. "This is my first time in the Snow Domain Celestial Pool, and I find this place to be a land of extraordinary people and spirits. Just now, as Yun Nuan and I were passing by on the stone bridge, we saw a young man in white practicing his fist techniques. His fist intent was dense, and although he was only in the lower five realms, he inexplicably gave off the feeling of a fist technique grandmaster."
"Oh?" Qing Qiu was startled for a moment, then laughed. "A martial artist in the lower five realms, dressed in white, with the aura of a fist technique grandmaster. Individually, these three characteristics are common on the Snow Domain Celestial Pool, where cultivators are everywhere. However, if all three converge in one person, I can only think of one individual. He sometimes visits the small town as well."
"Who?"
"Lin Bai Yi."
Qing Qiu narrowed her eyes and smiled. "The young ladies might have just seen the master of the Snow Domain Celestial Pool."
"What?!" Sun Xing Chun was so shocked that she stood up abruptly, her expression astonished. "How could it be him..."
"What's wrong?" Qing Qiu asked, surprised.
"No... nothing..." Sun Xing Chun, realizing she had lost her composure, smiled and said, "I just never expected the esteemed Lin Bai Yi to be practicing his fist techniques on a stone bridge like that. I truly didn't expect it..."
Qing Qiu chuckled. Lin Zhao was a very approachable person. He had no airs of being the master of the Snow Domain Celestial Pool. Sometimes, he would escort the two children from the Mountain Peak Villa to the academy. He would chat with the vegetable-selling aunties along the way, laugh knowingly when he saw fortune-tellers tricking people, and hurry the oil-cake vendor to fry faster at the breakfast stall. He was a man of the world, as if he were about to squat by the roadside with a bowl of noodles, eating and chatting with farmers.
...
Not long after, Sun Xing Chun and Sun Yun Nuan took their leave and returned to the spirit boat at the foot of the mountain. As they passed the stone bridge, the person was no longer there. For no reason, Sun Xing Chun felt a sense of loss.
On the way back.
Inside the spirit boat's cabin, Sun Yun Nuan sat by the window, gazing at the scenery of white clouds and mountains, looking content. It was a rare outing, but it was a pity they didn't get to go out and have fun, otherwise, they would have been even happier. However, their second uncle had his reasons for not letting them roam. The Northern Region was perilous, with great demons appearing frequently. Human cultivators venturing into the martial world of the Northern Region faced great danger. If it weren't for the Snow Domain Celestial Pool standing at the border between the two races, human cultivators would likely still not dare to venture north beyond the Fusu Great Wall.
"Yun Nuan." Sun Xing Chun sat by the window, looking outside with her brows furrowed. "I have something I want to tell you."
"Heh heh~~~" Sun Yun Nuan chuckled lightly, turned, and hugged her sister's arm. "I knew you had something on your mind. Is it about that person on the stone bridge who might be Lin Bai Yi?"
"Mm." Sun Xing Chun affectionately nuzzled her sister's face and smiled. "Actually, my loss of composure on the stone bridge was because my Natal Object... the Fire Spirit Jade, had an extremely strong resonant induction at that moment."
"Ah?!" Sun Yun Nuan's eyes widened in alarm. "Does that mean... Lin Bai Yi is your destined person?"
"Mm..." Sun Xing Chun gritted her teeth and said softly, "I don't know what to do. I only dare to tell you. What do you think I should do? He is Lin Bai Yi, after all, from over a hundred years ago..."
"Sister!" Sun Yun Nuan pouted. "That's not right. We cultivators on the mountain don't need to be so concerned about age. Even though Lin Bai Yi is over a hundred years old, but..."
"Oh my!" Sun Xing Chun exclaimed with a laugh. "Where is your mind going? I'm not talking about his age. Looking at him, how does he seem like a hundred-year-old man? He's clearly just a young man in his early twenties."
"Then what are you worried about, Sister?"
"I..." Sun Xing Chun pursed her red lips, suddenly reluctant to speak, her mind in a complete mess. She was worried about everything. How could she not be worried? Although she was a descendant of Medicine King Valley, Medicine King Valley was ultimately just an upper-tier sect. And who was Lin Bai Yi? He owned a Mountain Peak Villa filled with powerful individuals. He was the commander of the Snow Domain Celestial Pool's three armies, and formerly a marshal of the human race. Their statuses were too disparate. Furthermore, Sun Xing Chun was not familiar with Lin Zhao and had no opportunity to get to know him. Should she just go up the mountain, hold out the Fire Spirit Jade, and say, "We resonated, please fall in love with me and marry me"? The thought made Sun Xing Chun's face turn red. She was, after all, just a seventeen-year-old girl, very shy!
"Oh dear..." Sun Yun Nuan looked at her sister's expression, and her own face blushed. As twins, they felt each other's emotions. Sun Yun Nuan looked at her sister with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Then, she considered that if Lin Bai Yi were her destined person, wouldn't she be even more flustered than her sister? The thought made Sun Yun Nuan's cheeks glow even brighter.
...
Several days later.
Snow Domain Celestial Pool, Mountain Peak Villa.
Early in the morning, Lin Zhao logged in and rushed to the gourd trellis. He squatted down, sticking his backside out, to observe the growth of the gourd vines. The petals of the first flower were already showing signs of wilting, and the red gourd below was becoming more clearly defined, its surface even showing translucent textures. This was a good sign, indicating it was not far from ripening. What brought Lin Zhao even greater joy was the appearance of a second flower. Just as he had imagined, beneath the second gourd flower, a small orange gourd had formed!
Indeed, seven flowers on one vine; this harvest would likely yield seven immortal gourds!
"Phew!" He took a deep breath and rushed to the entrance of Tian Ran Ju. Sitting down, he picked up a branch and began drawing in the dirt, needing to decide the allocation of these seven gourds.
He frowned. He would definitely keep one for himself. There was a limit to altruism, after all. He was destined to become a sword immortal; how could he do without an immortal gourd?
"Third Senior Brother must have one too." Lin Zhao pondered. "The gourd hanging from Senior Brother's waist doesn't look great. Although Senior Brother doesn't need an immortal gourd to nurture his flying sword, he must have one for drinking wine."
"Indeed, indeed." Beside him, Xiao Jiu'er nodded repeatedly, appearing out of nowhere.
"Right." Lin Zhao slapped his thigh. "My Xiao Jiu'er must also have one."
"Mm, mm, mm!" Su Qing Jiu's beautiful eyes narrowed, and she smiled, nodding repeatedly. Of course, she had to have one! Although Su Qing Jiu didn't need an immortal gourd to nurture her flying sword, as a Great Sword Immortal of the twelfth realm, and given that this gourd was planted by Brother Lin Zhao, she knew she might be taking someone else's spot, but she absolutely had to have one. No matter what, who else but her, Xiao Jiu'er? If she didn't claim one of these seven gourds, it would seem like she wasn't important enough to Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao continued to ponder. "Among the new generation at the Mountain Peak Villa, Tong Yu and Zhang Luo Bai each get one. That leaves only two. Oh dear, there are too few gourds. Why only seven?" He looked at Wu Zhi not far away.
Wu Zhi couldn't help but smile. "Master, I don't need one. My demon soul sword is nurtured in the spiritual void. Besides, Wu Zhi only has one arm, and having an immortal gourd would be troublesome. I am already very satisfied that Master thought of me."
"Alright then." Lin Zhao pondered. "I've also decided on a destination for one more."
"Who?" Su Qing Jiu asked.
"Old Daoist Wang." Lin Zhao smiled. "After all, this gourd seed came from Old Daoist Wang. Previously, to suppress the reincarnation of the true dragon, Qi Lian Dao, Old Daoist Wang's wine gourd was shattered. We must remember where it came from, shouldn't we?"
"Mm!" Su Qing Jiu nodded with a smile.
Lin Zhao chuckled. The last gourd, he would save for Miss Leng. He had to give her a tangible gift. As a player, he might be bound by the system and unable to give it away, but that was fine. He could have Wu Zhi or Xiao Jiu'er deliver it; he didn't believe there was no way.
...
Upper Realm.
Wu Wang Mountain, the Ancestral Mountain of the Demon Race's Upper Realm.
On one of the mountain peaks, a sword light descended from the sky, transforming into a scholar in a green robe carrying an empty sword scabbard. In his hand, he held a sword blade with many nicks along its edge. It was the Martial Sage, Ding Mu Chen. In front of him stood an old Daoist in a gray robe, leaning on a walking stick, with a severely cracked green gourd hanging from his waist.
"Wonderful!" Old Daoist Wang laughed. "Truly, your junior brother is remarkable. I even want to take him as a personal disciple. To still remember this old Daoist Wang at this time, tsk tsk..." He patted the broken gourd at his waist and said, "The four words 'remembering where it came from' warm the heart the most!"
The scholar in green sat down abruptly and looked at the swampy area below, where lightning was spreading. "What? Is Wu Wang Mountain restless again? You, an elder, have to be stationed here?"
"Hmph, 'stationed' is also a very apt word." The old Daoist glanced at the other man and laughed. "Ding Mu Chen, you wish I would defecate on the Ancestral Mountain of Wu Wang Mountain, don't you? Preferably on that old fellow's forehead?"
"Not at all, not at all..." The scholar in green grinned. "Senior is a venerable figure, an ancestor of our military family's ancestral court. How dare little Ding be presumptuous?"
"Hmph!" The old Daoist's gaze fell on the long sword with countless nicks in his hand. "How can ordinary immortal swords in the world bear your boundless sword intent, Ding Mu Chen? How long will this immortal sword be entrusted to the mortal world?"
The scholar in green scratched his head. "Until the mortal world no longer needs it!"