By the time Jiang Yi walked out of the Dueling Arts Pavilion, darkness had fallen completely.
Heavy clouds pressed down over the eaves. The north wind blew hard, and grains of snow pattered down, striking the roof tiles with a soft rustle.
Before long, He Laohun hurried over with Yang Xun.
At the sight of them, Jiang Yi, who carried the Hanyuan Pill inside his robes, felt his heart ease and grew considerably more reassured.
It felt rather like being an accountant carrying public funds, forever worried that a highwayman might spring out along the way and club him over the head.
"What good fortune!"
Yang Xun clapped his hands in admiration, a rare smile appearing on his habitually stern, long face with its sparse eyebrows.
Naturally, he understood the value of a Hanyuan Pill. In Dharma Lineages bearing the designation "Sect" at the Men rank, pills had always been scarce cultivation resources, often insufficient even for their own disciples.
Only Dharma Lineages at the higher Pai rank, which could afford to support "Alchemists," might have enough to spare to let surplus pills enter the marketplaces and thereby attract cultivators from all quarters.
"I've visited Three Harmonies Ward dozens of times and been to Knowing Truth Garden plenty, but this is truly the first time I've ever seen a second-class prize."
Yang Xun felt deeply gratified, as though he himself had gained a fortuitous encounter.
"With this Hanyuan Pill as your foundation, combined with the Eighth-Grade Ritual of the Water Pool and Fire Marsh, the sixth level of Qi Refining will be within reach.
Once you make it to that realm, even if you never advance another inch afterward, you could still become the chief steward of a Market Ward."
Jiang Yi took out the jade bottle and presented it