I'll Go With You

Qinglan City is the largest city in the eastern part of the Cangyun Empire, ranking among the top ten of the empire's one hundred and eight large cities.

With its streets adorned with pearls and its households filled with silk, its pipes playing in the clear weather and its boat songs echoing at night, the prosperity of Qinglan made countless people yearn for it.

As a port city, it connected the trade and shipping routes between the empire and other powers. Goods and commodities from all over the world were transshipped here, bringing an extremely active economy to Qinglan City.

Compared to the dryness of the inland, the climate here was extremely livable. Thus, for thousands of years, top aristocratic families had taken root here, large merchant guilds had developed here, and even powerful cultivators had sought out blessed lands nearby to establish sects and recruit disciples.

All of this converged to create the magnificent and grand Qinglan City of today.

But like all large cities, where there is extravagance, there is bound to be hardship.

The northern district of Qinglan City was a vast slum. Most of the people living in this area were of commoner birth, along with some former noble families whose clans, after enduring the trials of time, had gradually declined and decayed, eventually relocating here.

In the Immortal Realm, strength reigns supreme. If one's cultivation is low, they are inevitably confined to menial occupations, lacking power and wealth. Consequently, the next generation of these commoners cannot receive proper training. For instance, Cangyun Academy requires tuition fees of fifty Cangyun Coins per semester, a sum that is astronomical for most families in the northern part of the city.

Over time, a vicious cycle emerged. The people here began to give up on educating their children, leading to each generation being worse than the last. Thus, this area, which was a simple gathering place for commoners from the city's inception, became a veritable slum.

At this moment, within one of the small houses there, an atmosphere of joy and laughter, unbefitting of the area, filled the air. A young man in fine clothes was rolling up his sleeves, toasting and drinking heartily with a bare-chested, burly man sitting opposite him. A woman in plain cloth, sitting by their side, also had a face full of smiles, constantly putting food into the young man's bowl. This somewhat shabby room was filled with a sense of happiness.

"Hahahaha, Li Mu, you rascal, it's been so long since you've visited Uncle Nie. Have your wings grown strong now, thinking you can outdrink me? Today, we're not saying anything else; we must settle this!"

The bare-chested man threw his head back, draining the strong liquor in his cup, and said to Li Mu with a loud laugh.

"Uncle Nie, I just had a little accident a while back. As soon as I recovered, I was busy with cultivation, which is why I haven't come to drink with you. But it's okay; today, I'll drink to my heart's content with you, Uncle Nie."

Li Mu was also in high spirits at this moment. He once again refilled the burly man's wine cup. The two of them raised their cups and drank them down in one gulp.

"Drink, drink, drink. All you know is drinking. I knew there'd be trouble when you two met."

The door of the house was pushed open from the outside. It was Nie Xiaoyu, who had brought Li Mu back. She was carrying two plates of steaming hot seasonal stir-fries, but she was muttering and chiding the two men in front of her.

"Haha, our Xiao Yu is angry. But Li Mu, if you don't visit me, that's one thing, but you must visit our Xiao Yu often. You don't know how much this little girl has been mentioning your name every day lately. My ears are almost worn out from her constant chatter,"

After another cup of wine went down, the bare-chested man let out a satisfied sigh and shouted to Li Mu.

"Dad! What are you talking about? I'm going to cook. I won't talk to you anymore."

Nie Xiaoyu felt her face burning. She quickly avoided Li Mu's gaze, turned around, and fled out of the house, her father's hearty laughter echoing behind her.

The night deepened, and the boisterous sounds in the small house gradually subsided. In the end, Li Mu, whose cultivation had greatly increased, could not compete with the hearty, bare-chested man when it came to drinking and fell asleep soundly in the house. The beautiful young girl tiptoed over to his side, looking at Li Mu sprawled on the floor without any regard for his image, and couldn't help but laugh. The girl's smile in the moonlight was breathtakingly beautiful.

She gently covered Li Mu with a blanket, and Nie Xiaoyu stood at the doorway, gazing at the young man sleeping soundly before her, lost in thought for a moment. Then, she closed the door.

Entering the gate of lovesickness, knowing the pain of lovesickness. Longing for each other endlessly, short-lived longing without end. If I had known it would tie my heart like this, it would have been better not to have met at all.

The morning sun shone on Li Mu's face through the window. He opened his sleepy eyes and stretched lazily. Since transmigrating to this world, this was the most comfortable sleep he had ever had.

"Brother Mu, you're awake! Just in time, I've just finished breakfast. Come and eat quickly."

The door of the house was pushed open by Xiao Yu. Seeing Li Mu awake, the young girl quickly called him to eat breakfast together.

"This plain congee is so delicious. Xiao Yu, another bowl, please. And these fried dough sticks are also delicious. Xiao Yu, how is your cooking so good? Whoever marries you in the future will truly be blessed."

Li Mu, with half a golden fried dough stick in his mouth, handed his bowl to the young girl, shouting that he could drink several more large bowls.

After breakfast, Xiao Yu's parents rushed to the Twin Phoenix Tower to work, leaving only Li Mu and Xiao Yu at home.

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

"Brother Mu, let's start alchemy. I'll see where you can improve."

With that, the young girl led Li Mu to the backyard, where a black alchemy furnace sat.

"This alchemy furnace was rewarded to me by the Hundred Herbs Hall last time Brother Mu bought so many medicinal herbs. Its quality is excellent. It's thanks to it that I was able to break through to Mortal Grade Three a while ago."

Although alchemy originated from humble beginnings, it has developed into a costly craft. The cultivation of an alchemist requires continuous refinement of medicinal pills to comprehend the process and techniques involved. This requires substantial financial support, not only for vast quantities of herbs but also for high-quality alchemy furnaces, which are sold at exorbitant prices.

Nie Xiaoyu's ability to cultivate to Mortal Grade Three, besides her own talent and effort, was greatly aided by her work at the Hundred Herbs Hall. Otherwise, for a child from an ordinary commoner family, just a single alchemy furnace would consume their entire year's expenses.

Li Mu was not one to hesitate. He immediately lit the alchemy furnace and began refining the Qi Replenishing Pill.

The materials required for this pill were very simple. Li Mu had prepared quite a lot and stored them in the Warehouse System, making them very convenient to access now. As for how he could retrieve items from thin air, Li Mu naturally attributed it to his ethereal master, shamelessly pointing to the ordinary iron ring on his hand as a Space Storage Artifact.

This made Xiao Yu curiously play with the ring, which had no energy fluctuations, for a long time, causing Li Mu's old face to blush.

"Brother Mu, your entire process of refining the Qi Replenishing Pill was very smooth. It was completely at the peak level of a Grade One Alchemist. I couldn't find any room for improvement."

In the time it took for two incense sticks to burn, Li Mu had successfully refined one batch of Qi Replenishing Pills. This amazed Nie Xiaoyu, because even at her current Grade Three Alchemist level, she couldn't necessarily refine this Qi Replenishing Pill faster than Li Mu.

"The difference between Grade Two and Grade One is that you need to simultaneously process more medicinal ingredients in the alchemy furnace for fusion. This requires greater control. I think this should be your breakthrough point, Brother Mu."

The young girl frowned in thought for a moment and then said to Li Mu. Her brother, whether in cultivation or alchemy, needed to break through, and control seemed to be the key.

"That's right! The elemental energy in my elixir field is abundant, and my qi vortex is already saturated. All I lack is the ability to separate the essence of the elemental energy, which indeed requires very strong control. Breaking through to become a Grade Two Alchemist also requires improvement in this area. Xiao Yu, you are truly my lucky star; you've helped me find the crux of the problem in one fell swoop."

Li Mu, who was enlightened by Xiao Yu's outsider's remark, jumped for joy, wishing he could pick up the girl in front of him and give her a kiss.

"Brother, don't celebrate too early. Your current alchemy level is very high, and I can barely find any flaws. But this is just the basic refinement of the Qi Replenishing Pill, which only uses two types of medicinal ingredients. The hallmark of a Grade Two Alchemist, the Healing Pill, requires the fusion of five types of herbs. There are no shortcuts; only continuous practice, failure, practice, and then failure again."

Xiao Yu promptly doused the excited Li Mu's enthusiasm with a splash of cold water. The difficulty of breaking through each grade in alchemy increases geometrically. Powerful Immortal-grade alchemists can extract essence from thousands of herbs simultaneously and fuse them into pills, which is astonishing.

"Actually, I have another method that can help you achieve twice the result with half the effort. I suggest you don't buy medicinal ingredients for alchemy from the Hundred Herbs Hall anymore. Go directly to gather them outside the city. As far as I know, the outer areas of the Black Dragon Mountain Range north of Qinglan City have a large number of low-grade herbs growing. More importantly, it's also a gathering place for low-level Demon Beasts. This way, while gathering herbs, you can also find some Demon Beasts to fight and practice. This way, martial skills and alchemy can be cultivated together, complementing each other, and I believe it will have good results."

The young girl's suggestion made Li Mu's eyes light up. Since he was pursuing breakthroughs in both cultivation and alchemy, why not find a way to cultivate them simultaneously? He never expected that a problem he had been racking his brains over was solved by Xiao Yu in just a few words.

"Thank you so much, Xiao Yu, for finding such a good method for me. I'll get ready right away and head out this afternoon. I know this Black Dragon Mountain place; it's not far from Qinglan City. It should take about two hours by fast horse."

With his goal set, Li Mu couldn't sit still any longer. He wished he could set off immediately to start cultivating. However, he knew that tempering himself outside the city was different from sparring within the city; it was fraught with hidden dangers everywhere, so he still had to go home and prepare.

"I'm not finished yet, Brother Mu. I'm going with you this time."

"Alright, no problem... Wait, what did you say? You want to go with me? No, no, it's the wilderness, full of dangers. Xiao Yu, you're a girl, absolutely not."

As soon as Li Mu heard that the young girl wanted to leave the city with him to gather herbs and train in the Black Dragon Mountain Range, his head began to shake like a rattle. Although the outer areas of the Black Dragon Mountain Range were only gathering spots for the lowest-level demon beasts, who could guarantee that exceptions wouldn't happen? He had many ways to protect himself, but it was far too dangerous for Xiao Yu to go along.

"Hmph, don't underestimate me, Brother Mu. I'm also one of the top ten experts at Cangyun Academy now. Besides, are you sure you can find the right herbs by yourself in the Black Dragon Mountain Range?"

Seeing that Li Mu clearly wasn't agreeing to take her with him, the young girl immediately put her hands on her hips, glared, and pouted her lips, as if she wouldn't give up until she achieved her goal.

"Uh... alright, but Xiao Yu, you have to promise me that if we encounter any powerful demon beasts, you'll protect yourself."

After struggling for a long time, Li Mu realized that he truly needed someone who knew herbs to accompany him to complete this training. Thus, he reluctantly agreed to Xiao Yu's request.

"Haha, that's great! Wait for me, Brother Mu. I'll go get some simple luggage and be right back."

The overjoyed young girl then skipped into the house to start packing her belongings, leaving Li Mu alone in the courtyard with an awkward smile.