Relic

"Anything even slightly high-end, like that Earth Grade Cultivation Method I gave you, can't be bought with money."

"There are always rumors about Earth Grade Cultivation Methods selling for ten million Gold Coins at auctions, but in reality, you can never find one that actually suits you."

"So, anything you can buy with Gold Coins anytime, anywhere is worthless, common trash."

"I'm telling you, any problem that can be solved with money isn't a problem. The real problem is that you don't have money."

"But your senior brother here is an Alchemist. I'm not short on money, understand? A million or so is nothing. I can earn it back by casually refining a few Fourth Grade Pills."

"You're my junior sister now. From this day onward, you're one of those damned rich people too—eat pills like candy!"

Xiao Yi Xian remained silent as she accepted the Storage Ring Xiao Yan had stuffed into her hand.

The Storage Ring contained some Body Tempering Pills and body-tempering Dou Techniques. They could greatly strengthen her physique and naturally improve Xiao Yi Xian's resistance to all kinds of deadly poison.

Old Yao did indeed possess the "Poison Pill" method to resolve the problem of the Calamity Poison Body, but it required three Heavenly Flames, Bodhi Body Transformation Saliva, and the Magical Core of a seventh-rank Scorpion Dragon Beast.

Before then, Xiao Yi Xian could only endure the backlash of her Calamity Poison Body on her own.

"Why are you treating me so well?" Seeing the large number of pills and high-level Dou Techniques in the Storage Ring, Xiao Yi Xian found it difficult to accept.

"It's like how major factions nurture their disciples. I think you have the potential to break through to Dou Zun, perhaps even Dou Sheng. Compared to a future top-tier expert, a few low-level pills and reproducible Earth Grade Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques are naturally things I can give you casually."

"If I came across Medicinal Herbs that I needed, I definitely wouldn't give them to you," Xiao Yan answered offhandedly.

"Dou Zun... Dou Sheng?"

Xiao Yi Xian looked confused. She had always thought that breaking through to Dou Shi in the future would already be quite good. There were only a few Dou Shi in all of Qingshan Town.

"Yeah. You think Dou Zun and Dou Sheng are that rare? They're really nothing special. As long as you have enough pills and cultivate a Heavenly Grade Cultivation Method, breaking through to Dou Zun is easy."

"Heavenly Grade Cultivation Method... easy?"

Xiao Yi Xian no longer wanted to talk to Xiao Yan. She felt far too fragile to accept the world he had described.

Could Qingshan Town really be too small? Xiao Yi Xian fell into deep self-doubt.

"By the way, you know this area well. Do you know of any Ancient Ruins or anything like that around here?" Xiao Yan suddenly thought of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. In the original story, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian had discovered the first Fragmented Map in the Beast Mountain Range.

"...I keep a first-rank magical beast. Last time, it told me that it found something unusual at a cliff. I had originally planned to check it out this time, so we can go together."

"You've got guts. You're only a Dou Zhe, yet you dare explore ruins."

"..."

Xiao Yi Xian did not respond, but Xiao Yan guessed that she was definitely cursing him in her heart. Aren't you a Dou Zhe too? If Dou Zhe can't explore ruins, why did you ask me about it?

The two continued through the forest for quite some time. Only when the sun was nearly setting did Xiao Yan lead Xiao Yi Xian up a mountain peak over a thousand meters tall.

"Alright, we'll rest here for the night. You spent all day running around with me, so taking a full set of Body Tempering Pills now will definitely work well."

Xiao Yan stretched lazily, then began setting up camp with the Heavy Black Ruler on his back, huffing and puffing as he worked. Xiao Yi Xian watched in astonishment, deeply struck by the enormous difference in physical fitness between two fellow Dou Zhe. At the same time, she was stunned that he ate pills by the set.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Xiao Yi Xian got up early, intending to prepare something for them to eat, only to discover that Xiao Yan had already finished breakfast and cultivated for some time.

"You didn't stay up all night, did you?" Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened.

"Cultivation feels pretty good, and someone needed to keep watch here, so I didn't sleep."

Xiao Yi Xian pursed her lips and could not help asking, "How old are you this year? What star Dou Zhe are you? And what grade Alchemist?"

"Fourteen. Eight-star. Second grade. What about you? How old are you?" Xiao Yan asked as he packed up the tent and slung the Heavy Black Ruler onto his back.

"A woman's age is a secret!"

Xiao Yi Xian avoided answering, though Xiao Yan guessed she was older than him. Otherwise, she could not possibly be taller than him.

Xiao Yi Xian hurriedly ate the breakfast Xiao Yan had prepared: a cold, hard meat pancake. To her surprise, the filling was magical beast meat mixed with a little medicinal powder. One pancake cost at least several hundred Gold Coins, giving her an entirely new understanding of what it meant to be extravagantly wealthy.

As soon as Xiao Yi Xian finished breakfast, Xiao Yan immediately said, "Let's go! Bring that magical beast of yours over, and we'll explore the ruins!"

Xiao Yan was in high spirits because a question had suddenly occurred to him during the night.

There were only four Fragmented Maps belonging to the Nether Flame Demon Saint in total, yet two were in the Jia Ma Empire and one was in the Black Corner Region—was it possible that the Nether Flame Demon Saint's ruins were nearby?

Although ruins of that level would require at least a Dou Zun to explore, just thinking about it was exciting!

Xiao Yi Xian rolled her eyes at Xiao Yan, then took a short bamboo flute from her Storage Ring. She placed it against her small lips and blew gently. A rather strange soundwave quickly spread from the flute, echoing across the mountain.

"Xiao Lan is a first-rank Blue Eagle. I told you before that it was the one who discovered Little Medicine Valley," Xiao Yi Xian said.

"A bird, huh?" Xiao Yan nodded.

"It's a Blue Eagle! Not some ordinary bird!"

Just as Xiao Yi Xian had said, it was an enormous Blue Eagle rather than an ordinary bird—even with Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian both standing on its back, it could still fly with ease.

"This magical beast has rather poor aptitude, doesn't it? It's already an adult yet only at the first rank. Its Dou Qi doesn't even have a clear attribute, and its intelligence is low too. Forget the seventh rank—even reaching the fifth rank would be a struggle."

"Xiao Lan doesn't need to break through! When I become powerful in the future, I'll support it!" (╯>д<)╯˙˙

"Alright, then you can prepare a Seventh Grade Pill, a Form Transformation Pill, for it."

"...I was wrong, Senior Brother. Please make sure to properly train Xiao Lan." (ノ°ο°)ノ

After flying through the air for more than two hours, the Blue Eagle slowly descended beside a cliff.

Between the sheer cliff faces, the steep walls were strewn with shattered rocks, grotesquely twisted trees growing in wild disorder, and things that looked like bones.

Xiao Yan's gaze slowly swept across the cliff face before suddenly stopping, moments later, at a section of rock concealed by fallen timber.

The strange trees on this part of the cliff had been arranged with great ingenuity, but with Old Yao's reminder, Xiao Yan still detected something amiss.

Narrowing his eyes slightly and using the slanting sunlight, Xiao Yan seemed able to make out a pitch-black hollow in the cliff through the gaps between the trees.

This was presumably that ruin which, having appeared too early, was painfully shabby—aside from the Fragmented Map, everything else combined was probably not worth as much as a single Earth Grade Cultivation Method.