Sacred Pill City in the Distance, Cao Ying's First Appearance

News of Xiao Chen effortlessly killing two Five-star Dou Emperors in the battle at Black Wind Gorge spread like wildfire under the deliberate and incidental dissemination of the merchant caravan. As a result, the Han Family caravan's remaining journey became exceptionally smooth. Wherever they passed, forces large and small cast respectful, awed gazes at the convoy bearing the Han Family's moon-and-star insignia. No one dared to trouble them again.

The atmosphere within the caravan also underwent a subtle change. Every guard and servant looked toward that ever-calm carriage with almost fanatical admiration and reverence. Xiao Chen's presence was like a stabilizing pillar, giving the caravan confidence it had never possessed before.

Han Yue's attitude toward Xiao Chen gained an indescribable closeness beyond her original respect... along with a trace of shyness. She still spoke with Xiao Chen every day, bringing him information, tea, and snacks, but whenever their eyes met, she would unconsciously look away. The tips of her fair ears would occasionally blush a faint pink. Into her moonlike coldness had quietly blended the bashful sweetness of a young girl.

Xiao Chen was not made of wood, so he naturally sensed the change in Han Yue's feelings. He neither exposed it nor deliberately distanced himself from her, allowing everything to take its natural course. He appreciated Han Yue's intelligence and resilience, but nothing more. What weighed more heavily on his heart was his family's safety, his younger brother's growth, and the enormous enemy lurking in the shadows—Soul Hall.

Half a month quietly passed in peace.

On this day, as the caravan crossed a majestic mountain range, the view before them suddenly opened up.

On the distant horizon, the outline of a city so vast and magnificent that words could not describe it slowly entered their sight, like an ancient beast crouching upon the earth. Above the city was not a clear sky, but a dazzling multicolored energy barrier. Countless profound runes faintly flowed across its surface, emanating heart-palpitating energy fluctuations. Even from such a great distance, they could feel the soaring energy permeating that city and... the Medicinal Fragrance that had nearly solidified into substance!

That place was the holy land in the hearts of all alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent, the core city of the Central Plains—Sacred Pill City!

"Young Master Xiao, we've arrived. Sacred Pill City lies ahead." Han Yue stood beside Xiao Chen, gazing at the distant colossal city. Her voice carried a trace of excitement and yearning. Even as the eldest daughter of the Han Family, she could not visit Sacred Pill City often.

Xiao Chen nodded slightly, his gaze piercing through the void and settling upon the great city. His Soul Power allowed him to clearly sense countless powerful auras hidden within it. Dou Emperors and Dou Zongs were everywhere, and there was no lack of Dou Zuns at his own level! Several auras were even more obscure and profound, like a vast sea of stars, causing even him to feel a trace of pressure—they had to be peak Dou Zuns, or perhaps... Half-Saints!

As expected of the place where the Alchemist Tower resides. Hidden dragons and crouching tigers indeed. Xiao Chen thought. At the same time, he sharply detected faint traces of cold Soul Aura lingering in certain corners of the city, identical to that of Soul Hall.

Soul Hall's people have come too, as expected... Xiao Chen's gaze turned slightly cold.

The caravan stopped at a massive relay station a hundred li away from Sacred Pill City. Within a hundred li of the city, all unauthorized flight and large caravans were forbidden from entering directly. Everyone had to transfer to Sacred Pill City's official transportation or enter on foot.

The relay station bustled with voices. Alchemists, people seeking medicine, and representatives from various factions had gathered from all corners of the continent. All kinds of people mingled there in a chaotic mix. The air was filled with the strange scents of pills and Medicinal Ingredients, as well as an invisible atmosphere of competition and tension.

The Han Family caravan had its own contacts. They quickly completed the entry procedures and arranged accommodations within the city—a residence purchased by the Han Family.

Just as Xiao Chen and Han Yue were preparing to enter the towering city gate with the crowd, a commotion suddenly arose ahead. The crowd automatically parted, opening a path.

A group dressed in uniform alchemist robes emerged slowly from the city, surrounding a woman as though preparing to leave.

The woman at their center wore a tight black alchemist robe embroidered with seven silver ripples that displayed her status! A Seven-rank Alchemist!

She was exceptionally beautiful, though not with Han Yue's moonlike coolness. Her beauty was like a black rose—seductive, confident, and carrying a touch of aggressive allure. Her skin was fairer than snow, her red lips full and enticing, and her peach-blossom eyes shone brilliantly as they moved, as if capable of stealing souls. Her figure was fiery, and the tight alchemist robe emphasized her breathtaking curves, drawing countless open and covert gazes filled with amazement, adoration, and reverence.

"It's the Cao Family's enchantress, Cao Ying!"

"She actually came out too!"

"Tsk, tsk. A Seven-rank Alchemist at such a young age—she'll surely become one of the Alchemist Tower's giants in the future!"

Low exclamations rose from the crowd, revealing the stunning woman's identity.

Cao Ying was the Cao Family's most gifted alchemist in a century, a formidable contender for a future position among the Alchemist Tower's giants. Her monstrous talent and seductive, enchanting temperament had made her famous throughout Sacred Pill City.

Cao Ying seemed long accustomed to the surrounding gazes. A lazy, confident smile rested on her lovely face as her eyes casually swept over the crowd. Yet when her gaze passed Han Yue and finally settled on the blue-robed figure beside her, her soul-stealing peach-blossom eyes paused slightly, and an imperceptible flash of surprise crossed them.

With her powerful Soul Power at the peak of the Spirit Realm, even touching the edge of the Heavenly Realm, she could not see through this young man at all! He stood there like a bottomless black hole, silently swallowing every attempt to probe him. Moreover, he possessed an indescribable aura—calm and detached, yet seemingly filled with the confidence of someone who controlled everything. He was completely unlike any young prodigy she had ever seen.

"Little Sister Han Yue, it has been a long time. Have you been well?" Cao Ying stopped and looked at Han Yue with a smiling expression. Her voice was soft and alluring to the bone, yet her gaze drifted toward Xiao Chen from time to time.

When Han Yue saw Cao Ying, a polite smile also appeared on her cool face. "Sister Cao Ying is even more elegant than before. I merely came with the family caravan to witness the grand occasion of the Pill Gathering."

"Oh?" Cao Ying's beautiful eyes shifted as she finally turned her attention squarely upon Xiao Chen. Her red lips parted, carrying a hint of curiosity and scrutiny. "This young master is unfamiliar to me. Which outstanding member of the Han Family might he be, to have Little Sister Han Yue personally accompany him?"

Her instincts told her that this Blue-robed Youth was anything but ordinary.

Xiao Chen calmly met Cao Ying's gaze, which seemed capable of seeing through people's hearts, and said lightly, "Xiao Chen, an unaffiliated cultivator. I merely happened to travel here with Miss Han."

"Xiao Chen?" Cao Ying quickly ran through the names of renowned young powerhouses in the Central Plains, but there was no such person. Yet the smile on her face became even more alluring. "So it is Young Master Xiao. Your bearing is extraordinary. I presume you are also an alchemist here to participate in the Pill Gathering?"

"I know a little. I came to broaden my horizons." Xiao Chen's tone remained calm.

The interest in Cao Ying's eyes deepened. Young men who could remain so calm and detached in the face of her allure and reputation were rare indeed. She was about to say something more.

Suddenly, panicked cries came from nearby.

"Miss! Miss, what's wrong?!"

Within the crowd, a petite and delicate-looking young woman dressed in plain white was deathly pale. Her brows were tightly furrowed, one hand clutching her head as her body swayed, as though she might faint at any moment. A not-insignificant Soul fluctuation emanated from her, but it was currently in utter disorder.

"It's the Dan Family's young miss, Dan Chen!"

"She's having another episode? I heard her soul is naturally gifted, but her constitution is special and cannot bear such powerful Soul Power. Her soul often falls into disorder..."

Someone recognized the young woman.

Cao Ying frowned slightly. As an alchemist, she could naturally tell that something was wrong with Dan Chen's soul. She was about to step forward and examine her.

However, someone moved before her.

Xiao Chen had somehow already appeared beside Dan Chen. He reached out to support her from a distance, and a gentle, vast surge of Soul Power containing a strange soothing force silently entered Dan Chen's body like a spring breeze brushing over a lake.

Dan Chen's pale face and chaotic soul were nourished and sorted out by that power. Her tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, a trace of color returned to her pale cheeks, and her chaotic Soul fluctuation swiftly calmed. She opened her large, watery eyes in confusion and looked at Xiao Chen, who was so close. A blush surfaced on her little face as she murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Th-thank you, Young Master."

Xiao Chen withdrew his hand and nodded slightly. "It was nothing. Your soul talent is extraordinary, but your constitution cannot fully bear it. You must be more careful in the future and progress gradually."

He had acted partly because he could not bear to watch the fragile young woman suffer, and partly because he had noticed that Dan Chen's soul was exceptionally pure, somewhat similar to Yao Lao's condition. Perhaps she might be useful for researching soul restoration in the future.

This scene caused strange light to flash repeatedly through Cao Ying's peach-blossom eyes.

Such exquisite and gentle control over Soul Power! He had soothed Dan Chen's troublesome soul disorder with such ease! This was definitely not something that came from merely knowing a little!

This Xiao Chen... truly hid his depths well!

The probing look in her eyes diminished, replaced by genuine interest and... an indescribable desire to challenge him.

Meanwhile, Han Yue watched Xiao Chen's gentle profile as he supported Dan Chen, then saw the undisguised interest in Cao Ying's gaze. For no reason she could name, her heart tightened slightly.

Sacred Pill City had arrived.

And the storms gathering around Xiao Chen seemed to have only just begun to brew.