Little Luo Fellow Daoist, Are You Here to Take in the Local Color?

Feather Robe Pavilion and Heavenly Music Pavilion were Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion's two biggest draws.

The girls here sold their arts, not their bodies.

Of course, if a high-level cultivator took a liking to one of them, or someone threw down enough spirit stones, that was another matter entirely.

After all, they could hardly stop the girls from running toward a brighter future!

There was naturally a reason why they could carve out such a huge reputation even in a place so filthy.

Just think about it. So long as female cultivators who had achieved something in Qi Refining knew how to take care of themselves, none of them would be ugly.

And if they possessed exquisite dancing skills or beautiful singing voices, then used spells and spiritual incantations to complement them, the sight would surely be breathtaking.

Sure enough, Luo Chen stood outside the building, enjoying a song and dance unlike anything he had ever seen in either his past life or this one.

Five female cultivators, dressed in delicate, beautiful gowns, danced gracefully across the elevated stage within the building.

At times they fluttered into the air; at times they drifted gently back to the ground.

As their broad sleeves swirled, mist billowed around them, as though one had stepped into an immortal realm.

And these female cultivators were the fairies of that immortal realm.

After the performance ended, Luo Chen could not help grumbling.

"No wonder those cultivators run to Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion the moment they earn spirit stones. With dances this beautiful, why didn't anyone tell me sooner?!"

When Gu Cai Yi came outside, she happened to see Luo Chen squatting on the ground and drawing circles.

"What are you doing?"

Luo Chen raised his head and looked pitifully at the fairy before him.

"Cai Yi Elder Sister, I'm your little brother, right?"

"Uh..."

"As your little brother, I really want to support your work. Could I come take you to work every day? And, while I'm at it, observe you practicing your dances."

Gu Cai Yi was somewhat dumbfounded. What kind of act was this?

After thinking for a moment, she covered her mouth and chuckled. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to mooch off Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion's spiritual qi, would you?"

"How could that be!" Luo Chen declared righteously. "I'm not that kind of person. I'm just worried that one of your brainless admirers might do something improper to you on your way to or from work."

"Don't worry. I'm a Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivator, after all. I don't put ordinary petty scoundrels in my eyes."

Gu Cai Yi shook her head, then added, "Besides, it's not as though you can't come in. As long as you pay five spirit stones for admission every evening, you can watch as much dancing as you want."

Five spirit stones!

Luo Chen sprang to his feet. "Fellow Daoist Cai Yi, time is spirit stones. Please take me to see Xiang Xiang Girl! I have a major deal to discuss with her."

"Hehe, come with me!"

Within the Waterside Pavilion.

A stick of Soul Calming Incense burned in a uniquely shaped incense burner, its smoke curling upward.

Gu Cai Yi sat by the pavilion on her own, scattering feed for the goldfish.

Luo Chen, meanwhile, sat before a girl far more beautiful than Gu Cai Yi.

Naturally, Luo Chen would never treat her as a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl.

As far as he knew, Xiang Xiang Girl had cultivated for over twenty years. Her actual age had to be somewhere around thirty or forty!

She merely looked somewhat youthful.

There was nothing admirable about that youthful-looking aesthetic. Luo Chen still preferred women like Cai Yi Elder Sister.

Moreover, she was a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator. He had to deal with her carefully.

"You're Cai Yi's neighbor?"

"I'm Little Luo from next door."

"I heard you make your living through pill refining?"

"It's a meager skill, barely enough to put food on the table."

"But with Grain Avoidance Pills alone, I'm afraid it would be difficult for you to live in the Inner City for long."

Luo Chen fell silent. He sensed that something was off about Xiang Xiang Girl.

Wasn't he here today to sell a secondhand alchemy furnace for women's personal use?

Why was she asking so many questions?

Yu Xiang smiled faintly. "I'm curious. What pill did you refine with that inferior Spirit Iron Pot that earned you enough spirit stones?"

"This..." Luo Chen looked troubled.

All Wonders Pill sold well, and some of those suffering from it were female cultivators from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion. Of course, they were also the ones benefiting from it.

Still, admitting face-to-face that he had personally refined it felt rather strange.

"I won't ask for nothing. Sell me one, and consider it a way to satisfy my curiosity. I'll pay fifty spirit stones for it, and we can call it the beginning of a friendship."

With a flick of Yu Xiang's hand, a purple alchemy furnace half the height of a man landed inside the pavilion.

Luo Chen's gaze was instantly drawn to it.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace, a Tier 1 Lower-Grade Dharma Artifact!

Produced in Sky Sail City and sold by Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, it was definitely not some product with no maker, no label, and no guarantee.

"Let's be friends. If this little woman has anything she doesn't understand about the Alchemy Dao in the future, she will have another fellow cultivator to discuss it with."

Luo Chen stared fixedly at the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace and casually said, "My pills sell for five spirit stones each. If you pay fifty for one, you'll be taking a loss."

"I never judge friendship by whether I profit or lose." Yu Xiang smiled. "Besides, your attainments in the Alchemy Dao are worthy of a suitable alchemy furnace."

Now that she had put it that way, what else was there to say?

In any case, Luo Chen was not the one losing out. He was definitely becoming this fellow cultivator's friend!

He swiftly took out two hundred and fifty spirit stones, along with a bottle of All Wonders Pills.

"This pill is called All Wonders Pill. Its medicinal nature is mild, and it has aphrodisiac and mind-bewitching effects. It also contains a large amount of spiritual qi. At the deepest point of coupling, it can replace the cultivator's leaking vital essence. No more than three may be taken in a day. Any more than that may cause changes and damage the Lower Gate Golden Lock. This pill also has a slight desire-inducing effect on female cultivators, so its use is not recommended."

It was rare for Luo Chen to explain the specifics of All Wonders Pill so thoroughly.

There was none of that empty nonsense about strengthening the foundation and nourishing the origin. Those were merely sales pitches used to fool buyers.

After saying it all in one breath, Luo Chen rose, put the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace into his Storage Bag, cupped his hands, and left with effortless flair.

Looking at his dashing retreating figure, then at the bottle of pills on the table, Yu Xiang was somewhat dazed.

I spent fifty spirit stones to buy a bottle of aphrodisiacs exclusively for male cultivators?

She turned to look at Gu Cai Yi. Gu Cai Yi's hand was still stretched beyond the railing, and all the fish feed had long since spilled away.

Her expression at that moment was equally incredulous.

Yu Xiang's expression turned strange. "Cai Yi, the pills your neighbor refines are a little improper!"

Gu Cai Yi tugged stiffly at the corner of her mouth. "Perhaps life forced his hand!"

"I gave such a heartfelt introduction to the pill at the time, and my expression must have been serious. They probably won't think I'm some improper cultivator, right?"

Luo Chen replayed the scene in his mind and felt that he should have left Xiang Xiang Girl with a good impression.

Perhaps he might get another chance to discuss the Alchemy Dao with her in the future, mooch some spiritual qi from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, and watch Cai Yi's dances.

When he left Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, he found that night had already fallen. The building was lit up in dazzling splendor, with swallows and orioles coming and going.

Some male cultivators entering from outside no longer looked like the transcendent immortals they usually pretended to be.

Luo Chen looked down on them. A bunch of weak-willed trash addicted to pleasure!

I am definitely not one of their kind!

"Is that Little Luo Fellow Daoist?"

A half-doubtful greeting came from nearby.

Luo Chen looked over instinctively and saw his old customer, Zeng Wen, with two girls in his arms, looking at him uncertainly.

Luo Chen swallowed. "Fellow Daoist Zeng, you've mistaken me for someone else."

While chatting with Xiang Xiang Girl earlier, he had naturally removed his black gauze conical hat.

But when he came out, he had forgotten to put it back on.

A fatal blunder!

Zeng Wen released the women beside him and enthusiastically seized Luo Chen's hand.

"Ha, I knew I hadn't mistaken you. Little Luo Fellow Daoist, what a coincidence. Are you here to take in the local color today?"

"Uh..."

"Could it be that you came to personally test the effects of All Wonders Pill?" Zeng Wen's eyes lit up as he movedly patted Luo Chen's shoulder. "I never expected Little Luo Fellow Daoist to be so considerate. Last time, you said All Wonders Pill still had room for improvement. You must have come now to find what is missing and patch the gaps."

Luo Chen's thick skin, which he had always been proud of, could not quite hold up under his old customer's heartfelt admiration.

When Zeng Wen enthusiastically invited him to sample fine wine and admire beautiful women together, Luo Chen finally could not take it anymore.

"I've already found the problem. Even better All Wonders Pills will be sold in the future. Fellow Daoist Zeng, farewell."

With that, Luo Chen fled in defeat.

Watching his drifting retreating figure, Zeng Wen sighed with feeling.

"I know several independent cultivator pill refiners, but there is not a second one as responsible as Little Luo Fellow Daoist. Sure enough, choosing him was the most correct decision I could have made."