Green Mountain Town

Near Wutan City, on the edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, there was a small town called Green Mountain.

Most of its residents worked as mercenaries, searching for medicinal herbs and hunting magical beasts in the vast Magical Beast Mountain Range every day.

Its unique surroundings also often drew people looking to train.

And now, a young man dressed in black, with a long saber on his back, had arrived.

After meeting Xiao Yan and getting the Flame Mantra, Xiao Lei had immediately left Wutan City and headed here.

"Xiao Yi Xian has the Woe Poison Body. I wonder what changes will happen after I copy it!"

Xiao Lei's Dou Qi now had a mix of fire and wood attributes. It seemed this was because he had copied Guni's alchemy skills. Since alchemy required a fire attribute, the system had directly changed the pure fire attribute Xiao Lei had possessed when he first broke through to Dou Zhe.

"If poison gets mixed into my Dou Qi, then the pills I refine will be deadly!"

"The system obviously won't let that happen, but I'll have to try it to find out exactly what it'll do."

Thinking this, Xiao Lei grew even more eager for his trip to Green Mountain Town.

Since he was new in town, Xiao Lei simply grabbed a mercenary nearby and asked for directions.

"Where's the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion?"

"Who the fuck are you, talking so big? Do you know who I am, you little—"

After Xiao Lei gave him a thorough beating...

"Big brother, big brother... Here, this way! The Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion is just ahead. That Xiao Yi Xian you asked about usually sees patients at the clinic, too. You see, could I maybe..."

The mercenary covered his face, which had been beaten into a pig's head, and smiled ingratiatingly.

"Get lost!"

After letting the mercenary go, Xiao Lei headed straight for the place where Xiao Yi Xian saw patients.

As he walked, Xiao Lei noticed two mercenaries nearby sneakily pulling their arms back under their robes. They took out a dagger and cut a shallow gash into the left arm of each.

Xiao Lei was amazed. Now that was a clever trick!

No wound? Make one!

As long as you didn't let your thinking go off the rails, there were always more ways than difficulties!

Just to get Xiao Yi Xian to treat them, they'd even carved themselves up.

Compared with the love-struck fools Xiao Lei had seen in his previous life, these two were every bit as devoted!

Was Xiao Yi Xian really that charming?

Curious, Xiao Lei walked over and asked them.

"Brothers, what are you doing?"

The two looked Xiao Lei over and thought he seemed unfamiliar.

"Not from around here, are you? Look over there! That's Xiao Yi Xian!"

As the mercenary spoke, he looked toward Xiao Yi Xian with an entranced expression.

"This really is my first time in Green Mountain Town. Is there some special custom here? And what does it have to do with that physician?"

Xiao Lei pretended not to know, playing dumb.

The two mercenaries looked at him in speechless disbelief.

What the hell was he talking about, a custom?!

"See that long line at the entrance? If you obediently wait in line, you won't get your turn until nightfall! But if you've got an external injury like this and it's urgent, Xiao Yi Xian will let you cut in. Nobody else gets to complain!"

"And if it's just some ordinary ailment, Xiao Yi Xian might only touch you a little while taking your pulse. But with a wound, it's different! Stopping the bleeding, applying medicine, bandaging it—which of those doesn't require touching you?"

The mercenary gestured animatedly, as if he could already see Xiao Yi Xian gently bandaging his wound.

Heh! Xiao Lei was deeply impressed. Those really were veteran moves! They'd actually come up with a trick like that!

Unlike him, Xiao Lei, who was merely a Da Dou Shi, had a little money (Ya Fei and Xiao Yu had each given him some before he left), was an alchemist, and was handsome. What else did he have going for him?!

"You guys are something else!"

Xiao Lei gave them a thumbs-up. The two mercenaries swelled with pride, their nostrils nearly pointing at the sky.

"Of course! Of course! Heh, hahaha!"

The two mercenaries said in unison, convinced they were geniuses.

A moment later, Xiao Lei still hadn't said anything. Feeling they hadn't basked in their own brilliance enough, the two turned around, planning to boast some more.

But Xiao Lei was nowhere to be seen. They looked around and finally spotted him heading straight for Xiao Yi Xian, skipping the line and going right to the point.

"Quick, let's go first! Otherwise, our wounds will scab over!"

The cuts the two had made weren't deep. With a Dou Zhe's physical constitution, they could heal on their own even without medicine.

"Is that guy trying to get himself killed by skipping the line?"

The two mercenaries watched Xiao Lei like he was an idiot.

In other places, these lawless mercenaries might cut in line, but everyone behaved themselves at Xiao Yi Xian's clinic.

That was because the line was long every day, and all kinds of people came through.

Why should you get to cut in? If you did, would that make all of us who'd waited here for ages a bunch of idiots?!

Cutting in meant offending everyone. It wasn't something most people dared to do!

The best trick the two mercenaries could come up with was making their injuries seem more urgent.

Sure enough, Xiao Lei's actions quickly riled up the crowd of miserable people waiting in line.

"Who the hell is this guy? He thinks he's so great, just cutting in when we're all waiting! What does that make the rest of us?"

"Hey, kid! Get back here right now! Take another step and I'll smash your head in!"

They shouted, but not one of them stepped out of line to hit Xiao Lei. It wasn't because they knew he was strong and were afraid to pick a fight.

It was because Xiao Lei was some distance from the line. If they went out to hit him, they'd lose their places and have to start over.

And when there were a lot of people around, everyone tended to think someone else would take action.

It was like someone suddenly passing out in front of you. If there were plenty of people nearby, everyone would think someone else would help.

But if you were alone, with no one else to pass the responsibility to, most people would do something, to one degree or another.

If Xiao Lei had cut into the line, there was a good chance the person behind him would have smacked him on the head.

So Xiao Lei didn't cut in. He simply walked around the line toward Xiao Yi Xian.

The two mercenaries who witnessed this were dumbfounded. So you could play it like that?!

They'd thought a whole bunch of people would gang up and beat Xiao Lei to a pulp! But things had turned out exactly the opposite.

"Hmph, so what if he gets to the front? If Xiao Yi Xian tells him to go back and wait, he'll still have to do it!"

The two mercenaries could only glare furiously at Xiao Lei from the back of the line.

Seeing Xiao Lei bypass the line and come straight toward her, Xiao Yi Xian couldn't help frowning.

She was the one who had set the rules. Anyone who didn't need urgent treatment had to wait in line, except those with serious injuries. Wasn't Xiao Lei snubbing her by acting like this?

As Xiao Lei was about to reach her, Xiao Yi Xian opened her mouth to speak. But Xiao Lei suddenly slapped a jade bottle down on the table.

"I heard you were interested in alchemy, Miss Xiao Yi Xian. Would you care to discuss it with me?"

As Xiao Lei spoke, he opened the bottle with a grin. A waft of pill fragrance spilled out.

The scent of a low-tier pill wasn't especially strong, but Xiao Yi Xian was used to handling medicinal ingredients and had a keen sense of smell. She recognized it at once.

"A pill! This person is an alchemist!"

Xiao Yi Xian looked at Xiao Lei in delight. Others might not care much about alchemists, but she certainly did!

One of her dreams was to become an alchemist!

Looking again, he was a handsome young man with a youthful air, a long saber across his back, like a swordsman wandering the world.

In short, Xiao Yi Xian's first impression of Xiao Lei was perfect!

And then...

"Everyone! I'm sorry! If your condition isn't urgent, could you come back this afternoon? I have some private matters to take care of. Thank you!"

The two mercenaries' jaws dropped. "That actually works?!"