The list

In truth, Song Yan did not know Granny Qin's true background-one could even say he knew nothing of it at all-but that did not stop him from trusting her.

About nine months earlier, Song Yan had taken his two bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, which barely even looked like pills, all around the Market Ward. No one had been willing to buy such a paltry quantity.

Not to mention that their quality was abysmal.

Until, clinging to his last shred of hope, he had walked into this secluded little shop, which had only just opened for business, and met Granny Qin...

"You little brat!"

Without warning, Qin Xijun gave Song Yan a solid rap on the head, jolting him out of his memories.

"Do you think I'm running a black market here!? Huh? Bringing every shady thing you find here to sell..."

"Out with it. Where did you get these?"

Song Yan chuckled apologetically and hurriedly told Granny Qin everything that had happened on this trip down the mountain.

"A Devil Cultivator..."

Qin Xijun pondered for a moment. "They've appeared again..."

"Granny, well... I have no use for these things anyway. Since you won't buy them, why don't we just destroy them..."

Song Yan felt a little regret, but not much disappointment.

"Tsk, why are you so simple?"

Qin Xijun rolled her eyes at him. "Objects aren't good or evil. It depends on how people use them..."

"Oh..."

Song Yan looked at the bottle of Spirit-Transforming Blood Pills and could not help muttering inwardly, Even these aren't good or evil?

"I certainly can't sell them here... but..."

Qin Xijun glanced at Song Yan, saw nothing but clear-eyed stupidity almost spilling out of his eyes, and immediately lost interest in keeping him guessing.

"Have you heard of the Spirit Source Marsh Night Market, brat?"

"Night market... that just means the Market Ward opens at night, right?"

Song Yan was utterly baffled.

"..."

Qin Xijun's head ached. She muttered to herself, "This child doesn't know a thing, honestly..."

"The Spirit Source Marsh Night Market opens on the nineteenth of next month. I'll take you along to fence the goods then..."

"Got it...? If you've got it, scram!"

Thud!

By the time Song Yan came to his senses, he had already been moved to the general store's entrance, and the wooden door slammed shut.

"Yan... Yanyan... who is she?"

Only then did the little snake dare to poke her head out of his robes, still shaken. "She's a little scary."

Song Yan smiled wryly. Granny Qin was wonderful in every way, except that her temper was a little explosive.

"Granny Qin is a very good person... her temper is just a little..."

"Come to think of it, I don't know how old she is now..."

He knew that a cultivator's appearance could not be used to judge their age.

In the cultivation world, there were countless ways to preserve a youthful appearance. For instance, there was a pill called the Youth-Preserving Pill.

One pill could preserve one's youth for ten years.

Whatever one looked like when taking the pill, one would retain that appearance even if one's lifespan ran out overnight.

This pill was a hot seller among male and female cultivators alike, with female cultivators particularly keen on it.

However, it was rather complicated to make, and Song Yan could not refine it yet.

He did not know whether Granny Qin belonged to the inner or outer sect. In any case, since she called herself Granny Qin, she must be getting on in years. By his own estimate, she was probably fifty or sixty. Combined with her profound, unfathomable command of spiritual power...

Surely she was at least in the late stage of Qi Refining...

Shaking his head, Song Yan cast aside these jumbled thoughts and returned to his cave abode.

Senior Brother Lin Qing had once told him that, counting from when he joined the sect, he would have to take on an official mission outside the sect after two years. Naturally, it would be much more difficult than miscellaneous chores.

What he needed most at present was to improve his immediate fighting strength.

Break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining within half a year? He did not even consider it.

With his aptitude and cultivation resources, that was nothing but a fool's dream.

He took the flying sword out of his Heaven and Earth Bag. The bloodstains on it seemed to have faded a little, but it still gave off a foul, bloody stench.

Song Yan tried to clear away the filthy blood with spiritual power. Perhaps because the blood's owner was dead, this simple method proved remarkably effective.

Soon, the flying sword was as clean as new, and he could control it with ease.

When he had faced Lu Xiaowei and the other two, the flying sword he had thought would be a deadly weapon had suffered a humiliating setback. Song Yan was very dissatisfied.

Could it be that I have no talent for Swordsmanship?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible...

I just have too little experience fighting enemies.

Song Yan made excuses for himself and recovered a little spiritual power. Paying no attention to Xu Youhe, who was roaming around the cave abode, he settled into practicing the nameless mnemonic.

On this trip down the mountain, his most obvious advantage in battle had been his extraordinary Divine Sense.

Song Yan decided to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses. He would first train the strength of his Divine Sense, and try opening up all seventeen points of light in the Two-Pole Realm along the way.

The Worry-Relief General Store, Spirit Source Marsh Market.

Not long after Song Yan left, someone knocked on the general store's wooden door.

"Who is it? The door's unlocked."

Creak-

The wooden door swung open, revealing a face with a heroic cast before Qin Xijun.

"Oh, Little Ye. An honored guest. What wind has blown you here today?"

Qin Xijun casually brushed the dust off a nearby chair and said, "Sit."

Lu Ziye trembled with apprehension. Knowing that she was speaking sarcastically, he did not dare sit. "Hehe, Master, I came to ask when you'll return..."

"I'm not going back!"

"It's so peaceful here, without you little brats getting on my nerves."

Lu Ziye gave an awkward, placating smile. "Master, Senior Sister Qin was concerned for her lineage back then. Please stop being angry with her."

"Besides, you came from the Qin Household too. Why let this spoil relations..."

Qin Xijun's expression immediately turned cold. "I've said it many times. The Qin Household has long since rotted to the core..."

"I am not a member of the Qin Household. If there's nothing else, please leave. My little shop is closing..."

"Ah, Master..."

Thud!

By the time Lu Ziye came to his senses, he had already been moved to the general store's entrance, and the wooden door slammed shut.

"So everyone who comes gets the same treatment..."

Muttering to himself, Lu Ziye left the Market Ward.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

April eleventh, outside the outer sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

A group of outer sect disciples stood around a noticeboard, discussing it animatedly.

Words written in spiritual power hovered above the noticeboard, clearly visible.

"Now this is rare... a joint sect mission."

Someone in the crowd chatted with a companion. "I think I've only seen this twice since joining the sect. Last time, I remember they went to Beiya Mountain..."

The noticeboard displayed many missions outside the sect that had already been accepted, clearly recording which outer sect disciples would undertake them.

One conspicuous mission was written at the very top of the noticeboard.

Joint sect mission.

Location: Silent Valley.

Issued by the Xuanyuan Sect, jointly undertaken by the Xuanyuan Sect, Spirit Talisman Sect, and Dongyuan Sect.

Unusual spiritual power fluctuations had begun appearing around Silent Valley half a year earlier. They had now begun affecting the Spirit Plants and spirit beasts within the valley, hence this mission.

May ninth of this year.

Leading elder: Xu Ziqing.

Inner sect disciple: Lu Ziye. Ninth Layer of Qi Refining...

Assigned outer sect disciples.

Shao Sichao, sixth level of Qi Refining...

Gu Qingqing, Tang Lin, Song Yan, fifth level of Qi Refining...

"Huh? It's true that all the others have been in the sect for two full years, but this junior brother named Song Yan has only been here a year and seven months..."

"You're right..."

"No idea. Maybe the sect thinks this junior brother can handle the mission since he's already in the middle stage of Qi Refining?"

"..."

Soon, something else drew everyone's attention. The discussion of Song Yan lasted only a moment before it was drowned out.

Amid the crowd, an ordinary-looking youth stared at the noticeboard.

He heard the conversations around him and gazed thoughtfully at Song Yan's name.