Gathering Herb Peak (Pill Peak), the Inner Sect's Pill Gathering Pavilion.
"Grand Uncle-Master, here are four Qi Induction Pills. I've deducted 32 Contribution Points from your account."
He'd only had to walk a little farther, yet he'd saved 8 Contribution Points. Chen Xian was delighted.
He'd only learned after asking around that Inner Sect disciples got a 20% discount when buying things at their own peak.
He hadn't expected it to be true. Although he wasn't an Inner Sect disciple, he could still enjoy the discount.
If there was a bargain to be had within the rules, you'd be a fool not to take it. Who could blame him for having seniority?
He reached for the wooden box, and his fingers happened to brush against the other man's.
Chen Xian looked at the Pill Peak disciple before him, who was refined and gentle but seemed a little sickly, and suddenly had a thought.
[Name: Tang Yu]
[Realm: Dao Master, Eighth Layer (Third-Grade Pill Master)]
[Traits: Natural Pill Heart (Yellow), Flame Affinity (Yellow), Extraordinary Memory (White), Radiant Charm (White), Congenital Myasthenia (Gray)]
"Hm? Your name is Tang Yu?"
Seeing the other man's name, Chen Xian asked without thinking. What a coincidence.
"Grand Uncle-Master knows me?"
Tang Yu froze and quickly searched his memories. As far as he could recall, this was only the second time he'd seen Grand Uncle-Master Chen. The first had been a few days ago, when he'd caught a distant glimpse of him at the sect-wide assembly.
He knew the Grand Uncle-Master, but the other man shouldn't have known him.
"I've heard your name. You know Lin Xiaoyan and Zhou... what was her name again?"
For a moment, Chen Xian couldn't remember the name of Lin Xiaoyan's fiancée.
"Zhou Wanru." Tang Yu smiled gently and answered without hesitation.
"Ah, right! Lin Xiaoyan's fiancée."
Chen Xian slapped his thigh. He said it outright while watching Tang Yu's expression from the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, the instant he said "fiancée," Tang Yu's expression turned awkward.
Chen Xian had spent his whole life reading people, and he could tell at a glance that sorrow lingered between Tang Yu's brows.
He had to admit, the man stood tall and straight as a green bamboo, with long hair, blue robes, and a face as handsome as jade. He was a peerless beauty.
Add that forlorn look, and he suddenly had the air of the second male lead in a romance novel.
It was one thing to be handsome, but he had two rare yellow traits, too. No wonder women liked him.
But that didn't mean he should go and ruin someone else's relationship!
"I wonder if Junior Brother Xiaoyan gave Junior Sister Wanru the bouquet I arranged for him. I wonder if she'll like it."
Tang Yu murmured, seemingly without thinking.
"Don't worry! That silly boy even praised your bouquet. I guarantee he'll deliver it to her."
Chen Xian couldn't stand that kind of coy talk, and his tone came out a little sharp.
Tang Yu didn't notice the Grand Uncle-Master's sarcasm. He smiled. "That's good. Grand Uncle-Master, you don't know what Junior Brother Xiaoyan is like. He's so stubborn. Junior Sister Wanru told him not to give her flashy gifts, so he really stopped. How could he know that no girl would turn down a little romance?"
Chen Xian sneered inwardly. As if I don't know Lin Xiaoyan's stubborn. He's practically helped you win his fiancée! Bah, you green-tea man!
"Junior Brother Xiaoyan and Junior Sister Wanru have been having some disagreements lately. I hope the bouquet I arranged for him can help them make up."
Tang Yu smiled as he spoke.
Chen Xian, who'd been inwardly mocking Tang Yu's hypocrisy, jolted. Wait! Something about this feels wrong!
"What do you mean, the bouquet you arranged for Lin Xiaoyan?" he asked urgently.
"Uh? Junior Brother Xiaoyan came to buy a Realm-Breaking Pill from me this morning. I told him that giving her only cultivation items wasn't romantic enough, so I arranged a bouquet for him to give Junior Sister Wanru in his own name."
Tang Yu looked confused. He had no idea why Grand Uncle-Master Chen was getting so worked up.
"Oh no! It's over!"
Chen Xian slapped his forehead. This was a huge misunderstanding! The flowers Tang Yu had arranged were meant to help Lin Xiaoyan, not steal the show!
Lin Xiaoyan, you idiot! You completely misunderstood Tang Yu!
Tang Yu wasn't planning to give the flowers to Zhou Wanru at all.
So all along, Tang Yu had simply been a good senior brother. No wonder Lin Xiaoyan hadn't known where the green had come from.
The whole mess had been Lin Xiaoyan's own doing.
"What's wrong, Grand Uncle-Master?" Tang Yu frowned, unable to see what was over.
Looking at his concerned expression, Chen Xian wished he could find a coffin and climb straight inside. He'd spent all that time maligning this elegant young man in his thoughts.
"I really am a scoundrel!"
He'd leave Lin Xiaoyan alone for now and grab a trait first. He seized Tang Yu's hand. "The truth is, I can tell fortunes. Let me see what your luck will be like in the near future."
[Natural Pill Heart (Yellow) trait copying: 59, 58...]
"Oh, all right."
Tang Yu took him at his word. Watching the Grand Uncle-Master raise and furrow his brows by turns, he obediently held out his hand and waited.
The seconds ticked by, and the atmosphere grew awkward.
Tang Yu blinked innocently. "Grand Uncle-Master, have you figured it out yet? Is my fate particularly bad?"
"Almost! Don't move!"
Chen Xian glanced at the countdown. Three, two, one.
[Copy Points -10, trait copied successfully!]
He released Tang Yu's soft hand, then shut his eyes with exaggerated solemnity and began muttering, "With the Nine Heavens Saint above and the Houtu Spirit below... By the power vested in me... Mami beibei hong..."
"Is this some kind of divination technique?"
Tang Yu felt that something seemed off, but divination wasn't his specialty, so he couldn't tell what.
A few seconds later, Chen Xian opened his eyes and fixed Tang Yu with a grave look.
The Grand Uncle-Master's cloudy eyes, full of pity, made Tang Yu's skin crawl. He couldn't help swallowing.
"Grand Uncle-Master... how did it go?"
"Ahem!" Chen Xian looked away. "I've divined your fate in the near future."
"Please enlighten me, Grand Uncle-Master!"
"You're about to face a calamity—an ordeal of the heart."
Tang Yu nodded.
"You'll most likely be proposed to."
Tang Yu nodded again.
"The person proposing to you will most likely be someone you know."
Tang Yu nodded once more, then muttered under his breath, "Someone I know? Senior Sister Ruonan? Junior Sister Xiaodie? Or Senior Brother Boran?"
Chen Xian's pupils shook violently. You're popular with both men and women!
"None of them!"
"Then who could it be?"
Tang Yu frowned. He'd already gone through everyone who might feel something more than friendship for him.
Chen Xian said, "Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed. But I can risk letting you in on one thing."
"Someone is going to lose his fiancée!"
Chen Xian had practically spelled it out. But he simply couldn't say any more, so he could only leave Tang Yu to work it out for himself.
He tucked the Qi Induction Pills into his pocket and, before Tang Yu could say anything, fled the Pill Gathering Pavilion.
Tang Yu was left sitting in front of the medicine counter for a long while. Then he sprang to his feet, his expression complicated.
"Oh my heavens! No way... Could Junior Brother Xiaoyan have improper feelings for me, too?"
Chen Xian had no idea Tang Yu's train of thought had gone so wildly astray that he'd been left completely stunned.
He'd already escaped back to his room.
"Young people and their romances are terrifying. I'll leave them to it. First I'll cultivate, then I'll make candied hawthorns!"
He sat cross-legged on the cushion, opened the wooden box containing the Qi Induction Pills, and carefully took one out to put in his mouth.
The Qi Induction Pill didn't dissolve right away.
Instead, like a White Rabbit milk candy, it melted little by little in his mouth, and wisps of pure Dao Qi flowed down his throat and spread through his body.
The Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art began circulating through its cycles, and Chen Xian's expression turned solemn.
Dao Disciple, Third Layer—today was the day!