Inside Sky Vein Medical Hall.
The young cultivator in a plain white Daoist robe put away the golden threads he had used to take their pulses and said irritably, "You made such a grand spectacle coming here—I thought you'd suffered some terrible injury.
"So the two of you were just messing with me?
"Get up already!
"You're taking up my freshly washed bed!"
Wei Qingye and Li Ye, who had looked incomparably weak just moments ago, immediately sat up. The former familiarly grabbed two peaches, tossing one to Li Ye while taking a bite out of the other himself.
"It was because... I got cornered."
He spoke through a mouthful of peach. "If I lost again... I'd be at mid-stage Golden Core..."
Holding his peach, Li Ye thanked the youth. "Thank you, fellow cultivator, for helping us conceal it."
Only then did he sigh faintly. "This barely passes muster, at least. At least we all saved face."
The youth in the plain white Daoist robe shook his head. "Helping you two cover this up wasn't free. This fellow cultivator here... you're a Four Seasons Sect cultivator, aren't you?"
Although Li Ye was currently wearing a loose robe much like a bathrobe, the clear, spirited aura about him—an aura that often came into contact with vegetation, spiritual beasts, and even heaven and earth itself—could not be concealed.
Upon Sky Vein Sword Mountain, where almost everything was sharp Sword Qi, he was like the sizzling fragrance of meat roasted with all manner of spices inside a temple.
"Yes."
Li Ye asked, "Do you have something you need my help with, fellow cultivator?"
"I do have something I'd like to ask of you." The youth turned and entered an inner room. Before long, he returned carrying a basket of medicinal herb seeds.
"I'd