Cloud Heaven Sword Sect

"Brother Ning? Brother Ning?"

"Mm..."

A lazy voice drifted out. The owner of the Myriad Things Come shop, Yang Ning, was sprawled over a Massage Bed, too lethargic to even lift his eyelids.

Qiao Bin breathed heavily and licked his cracked lips. His hair was a mess, dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and he kept blinking and sniffling. His throat bobbed. "Th-that stuff's still available, right?"

Yang Ning lazily climbed to his feet. Looking at Qiao Bin in this state, he hardly seemed like the Law Enforcement Hall's Chief Seat's eldest disciple.

"Didn't you just buy a pack the day before yesterday?"

Qiao Bin scratched his cheek, breathing a little fast. "G-give me two more packs!"

Yang Ning stretched. "They're on the shelf. Help yourself."

Qiao Bin's eyes lit up, and he jogged into the Thatched Cottage. Watching his retreating back, Yang Ning thought to himself, Cultivators really are something. One pack a day, and he still hasn't smoked himself to death. If he were a Mortal, even his ashes would probably be rainbow-colored by now.

Before long, Qiao Bin hurried out, clutching a pack of Lanzhou with black packaging.

Sniffling, he strode along, tearing open the plastic wrap as he entered the dedicated Incense Burning Room.

At a glance, Qiao Bin saw a dozen or so Cultivators from the Cloudsky Sword Sect seated on several rows of wooden benches. Each had at least two sticks of Enlightenment Incense beside them. Smoke filled the room so thickly that the Cultivators could barely make out the faces of those sitting across from them.

Inside the Incense Burning Room, every Cultivator showed off their own tricks. Those from Beast Taming Peak used their spirit pets perched on their shoulders to light their cigarettes; those from Dan Peak summoned dancing flames at their fingertips; those from Artifact Peak pulled out all kinds of Treasure Tools. A few well-off ones even used luxurious lighters.

Qiao Bin made his way through the smoke, looking left and right. At last, he spotted a seat along the wall and hurried over, afraid someone else would claim it.

He lifted his white robe and sat down, crossing his legs. All traces of his usual immortal bearing vanished. As soon as he sat, Qiao Bin spotted a still-smoldering cigarette butt scattered on the floor. He hurriedly picked it up and blew on it, afraid the ember would go out.

"Good, good. No need to buy a lighter—I've saved a Spirit Stone."

With trembling hands, Qiao Bin pulled a cigarette from the pack of Lanzhou and clamped it between his lips. Using the cigarette butt, he drew in a deep breath.

"Hiss—huff—"

He narrowed his eyes and slowly exhaled a wisp of green smoke. His cultivation, stuck at the early stage of Core Formation, broke through to the middle stage at that very moment. The Law Enforcement Hall had been swamped with complicated business lately, and as its eldest disciple, he'd been so busy he could barely keep his feet on the ground. Last night, anxiety had made it impossible for him to meditate and cultivate, so he'd had no choice but to resort to his old trick: a stick of Lanzhou.

Just then, a woman's smoky voice came from beside him. "Qiao Shidi, congratulations on your breakthrough. Could I have a stick of Lanzhou, please...?"

Qiao Bin turned to look at the female Cultivator before him. She was Dong Xiaojie, the Second Disciple of Jade Maiden Peak, tall and willowy, with a red-soled high heel hooked over one foot, swinging back and forth. She had the air of a mature, commanding woman. She'd also been the first to discover that Enlightenment Incense helped with cultivation, and was now a mighty cultivator at the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

Qiao Bin immediately took one out of the black box and handed it to Dong Xiaojie with both hands.

"Senior Disciple Dong, you're the Eldest Senior Sister of our Incense Sect. What's one stick of incense between us?"

Dong Xiaojie took the Lanzhou, put it between her lips, and lit it with a lighter.

"Qiao Shidi, you flatter me. Your breakthroughs are all thanks to Boss Yang's Enlightenment Incense. How could I possibly deserve to be called the Eldest Senior Sister?"

Qiao Bin smiled awkwardly and glanced at the poster on the wall. It showed Miss Dong in red-soled stilettos, a Lanzhou cigarette held between her fingers. Beneath it hung a slogan for the Enlightenment Incense: "Strange Senior Brother, please give me a stick of Lanzhou."

As one of the first customers at the Myriad Things Come shop, Miss Dong was forthright, open-minded, and talkative. The two chatted over their Enlightenment Incense, ranging from cultivation methods to sword techniques, from the affairs of the various peaks to gossip and entertainment.

How the little junior sister at Jade Maiden Peak had changed partners again, how the third junior brother at Beast Taming Peak had a spirit dog that had bitten someone again, how the Law Enforcement Hall had recently caught so many Demon Cult spies that it was busy expanding the prison...

They chatted as one stick of Lanzhou followed another. Later, when that wasn't enough, they simply smoked five or six at a time. Before half a tea's time had passed, the whole pack of Lanzhou had been reduced to cigarette butts, which the two of them tossed into the trash can beside them.

As more and more people entered the Incense Burning Room, it grew crowded. Dong Xiaojie stood and patted Qiao Bin on the shoulder. "Qiao Shidi, come visit Jade Maiden Peak sometime. The Eldest Senior Sister will introduce you to a partner."

Qiao Bin smiled honestly, opened the first pack from his second purchase, and handed the whole pack of Lanzhou to Miss Dong. "Sure thing, Eldest Senior Sister!"

Dong Xiaojie smiled, reaching out to take the Lanzhou. Her red-painted fingernails brushed the back of Qiao Bin's hand. Then she turned and strode away in her red-soled high heels, swaying her hips as she disappeared into the smoke, leaving Qiao Bin staring after her with burning eyes.

Qiao Bin swallowed, took out another cigarette, and put it between his lips. As he smoked, he savored their conversation, his heart warm. After a long while, he stood up, opened two packs of Lanzhou, and began handing Enlightenment Incense around to everyone in the room.

This was the custom of the Myriad Things Come Incense Sect: Cultivators who broke through with the help of Enlightenment Incense had to pass it around to the fellow senior and junior brothers and sisters present, sharing a little good fortune with one another.