At the foot of the mountain stood Step Pill Court.
Luo Chen stopped and silently watched the bustle inside the courtyard.
Only after a long while did things settle down, and figures began to emerge.
They passed Luo Chen as though they had not noticed him.
Then Luo Chen spoke. "Lü Su, what are you doing?"
Lü Su, who was locking the gate, froze for a moment before smiling naturally.
"Oh, it's Xuan Luo!"
He pointed to the warehouses inside the courtyard and explained, "The masters up on the mountain have needed more and more medicinal ingredients for Pill Refining lately. We at Step Pill Court have to keep their supplies coming. Those warehouses hold ingredients we just received from the Spirit Medicine Institute."
"Oh."
Luo Chen gave a brief acknowledgment, then turned and walked away as he had before.
Lü Su watched him go, puzzled as to why he would ask a question whose answer he already knew.
Luo Chen left Wonderful Pill Peak without slowing down.
He followed a path through the woods, past the lakeshore and the banks of a stream.
Su Ling Sect had a charm all its own beneath the night sky.
Streams of Evasive Light from passing cultivators streaked across it like dazzling meteors.
One stream suddenly stopped. A figure descended, put away a handkerchief-shaped flying Magic Treasure, and greeted him warmly.
"Xuan Luo!"
Luo Chen looked over. It was Feng Zhiyan, who had joined the sect at the same time as him.
Her cultivation had changed in the years since.
"Junior Sister Feng, you've reached Foundation Establishment!"
Feng Zhiyan smiled from the heart. "I only managed it thanks to the help of the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters on Jade Spring Peak. What about you, Senior Brother? What are you doing out here