The Wedding Feast

After returning to Bamboo Creek Island, Zhou Ning resumed his old routine.

Like the other fishermen, he went out in his boat, hunted fish, cultivated, and cooked every day.

The only addition was pill refining.

Time flew by.

Summer gave way to autumn, and autumn ended as winter arrived. It was now the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, an auspicious day for marriage.

At the first faint light of a winter morning.

A small fire heated the Pill Furnace until it was scorching, spreading warmth throughout the room.

Four gleaming white pills emerged from the furnace spout. They were firm and compact, smooth as porcelain, free of cracks or blemishes, and gave off a sweet scent of herbs.

These were signs of pure medicinal potency.

Zhou Ning's face lit up with delight. He had succeeded in refining first-tier, mid-grade Spirit Essence Pills.

That meant he was now a genuine first-tier Alchemist.

What was more, the batch had yielded four pills. Given the cost of the ingredients, he could make a profit of a little over one pill.

Zhou Ning tossed one into his mouth. It melted on his tongue, and its gentle medicinal power slowly sank into his Dantian and flowed along his meridians. His spiritual power circulated a little more briskly.

Unfortunately, its medicinal power still couldn't compare to that of a Ginseng-Nurturing Pill.

The ingredients for Ginseng-Nurturing Pills were too expensive. Even with Zhou Ning's wealth, he couldn't afford to squander them.

Moreover, refining the pill required an additional step to extract thunder slurry, making it twice as difficult.

He had made up his mind to attempt it only after he could produce five Spirit Essence Pills in a single batch.

Zhou Ning took out a jade bottle, put all three remaining pills inside, and sealed it tightly with a wooden stopper.

At market price, this bottle of Spirit Essence Pills was worth 120 jin of spirit rice.

However, quite a few things had happened over the past half year.

As the Lei Household and the Jade Countenance Sect waged war, quite a few Alchemists had died in Forget-Return Market, leaving everyone fearing for their own safety.

Zhou Ning thought to himself, Bamboo Creek Island is safer after all.

With so many Alchemists dead, pill prices on the market had soared. A bottle of Spirit Essence Pills now sold for 180 jin of spirit rice, and they were extremely scarce.

Old Jia had previously stockpiled a batch of pills.

He often prayed in secret for the fighting to grow fiercer, so he could make a killing.

As he wished, pill prices climbed steadily. Old Jia sold all the pills he had stockpiled at high prices and made a huge profit.

But the Lei Household and the Jade Countenance Sect were still fighting, with no sign of stopping. The situation only grew worse.

Pill prices continued to skyrocket, and the retainers of Cuiwei Lake would rather eat spirit rice than spend it on pills. As a result, the profits Old Jia made buying goods on others' behalf plummeted.

Now Old Jia burned incense every morning and evening, praying for peace under heaven. He was a truly good man.

There was another matter. Just three days after Zhou Ning returned from Forget-Return Market,

Old Jia brought a young girl to Bamboo Creek Island, where she became a retainer of the Su Household.

Zhou Ning had been startled at the time, because the girl was none other than his guide in Forget-Return Market.

He thought his whereabouts had been discovered and nearly packed his bags to flee.

Only later, after probing during casual conversation, did he learn that the Beast-Taming Han Household had come to ask questions.

Fortunately, Old Jia was well versed in the ways of the world and had handled them calmly.

After that incident, Old Jia had a bad feeling and brought his granddaughter to the peaceful Bamboo Creek Island.

Jia Tingwan now grew spirit lotus roots. As for Jiang Xi, the woman who had grown them before her...

Well, today was the happy occasion of Steward Su and Jiang Xi's wedding.

Zhou Ning had no choice but to interrupt his cultivation and attend.

Outside the courtyard.

Xu Qinghou wore a short blue-green padded jacket. As soon as he saw Zhou Ning, he asked, "Did the pills... turn out?"

There was even a slight tremor in his voice.

Xu Qinghou had never believed Zhou Ning could refine pills.

That was until half a month ago, when Zhou Ning brought out a blackened Stasis-Clearing Pill and told him he had refined an inferior pill.

From then on, Xu Qinghou had been on edge. He and Old Jia had secretly discussed it for several days in a row.

His feelings were complicated. He wanted Zhou Ning to do a little better, so he would have someone to chase after, but he didn't want Zhou Ning to do too well.

An Alchemist! What a lofty status that was!

Fortunately, Zhou Ning shook his head and sighed. "I almost succeeded."

"Almost... so you failed?"

Xu Qinghou and Old Jia both breathed sighs of relief, and their smiles became natural.

Even the air seemed cheerful.

Zhou Ning was speechless.

Old Jia broached the matter. "It's Steward Su's big day. I'm planning to give twenty jin of spirit rice. What about you two?"

Though he was at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, Steward Su was a Seventh Layer of Qi Refining cultivator. They seemed to be only one layer apart, but one was in the Qi Refining Middle Stage and the other in Late Qi Refining. They couldn't be spoken of in the same breath.

Besides, Steward Su had the great tree of the Su Household at his back, making the gap in their statuses even wider.

It was one thing for Old Jia to be easygoing and carefree on ordinary days, but on an occasion like this, he would never dare be perfunctory.

His granddaughter now lived on Bamboo Creek Island as well, giving him a vulnerable spot.

Xu Qinghou said, "I'll give twenty jin too. What about you, Zhou Ning?"

Zhou Ning thought for a moment. "Ten jin for me."

The image he presented to others was that of a fallen man who had exhausted his savings on pill refining.

The three went together to the east side of Bamboo Creek Island.

Pavilions and towers were decorated with lanterns and streamers, with red ornaments hanging everywhere. Retainers of the Su Household gathered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing in a lively scene.

The person in charge of receiving gifts was the same mortal youth Zhou Ning had met last time.

Though a mortal, he showed no sign of being intimidated and called out loudly, "Elder Jia, Brother Xu, Brother Zhou, please come in!"

Upon entering the residence where the wedding banquet was being held, the three found a table in a corner.

Zhou Ning looked toward the hall. A tall, handsome young man in red formal robes stood there, elegant in his bearing.

Old Jia sent a message through Divine Sense. "See him? Su Junsong, a true direct descendant of the Su Household. Twenty-eight years old, Seventh Layer of Qi Refining."

Xu Qinghou was twenty-two this year. He weighed the gap between them in his mind and could only gaze at the ocean and sigh.

"Young Master Junsong has always been kind and gentle, so he accepted Steward Su's invitation to preside over the wedding banquet," Old Jia explained.

"If you rise to prominence in the future, you can go to Young Master Junsong as well. He is the fairest of men."

Zhou Ning quietly committed this to memory.

On the dais.

Steward Su wore festive wedding robes, his mouth nearly split into a grin, and he was all smiles and good cheer.

He seemed like a completely different person from the overbearing Steward Su Zhou Ning had seen when he last asked for leave.

"Cultivation, status..." Zhou Ning fell silent.

Jiang Xi, the woman who grew spirit lotus roots, wore a red ceremonial dress and a bridal crown. She stood between Su Junsong and Steward Su.

The guests below the dais all had the same thought: today's groom seemed to be Su Junsong, while the fifty-year-old Steward Su looked like a servant.

Su Junsong smiled warmly and announced in a clear voice, "The auspicious hour has arrived. Beat the drums and play the music!"

Drums boomed, and the sounds of strings and bamboo instruments rose.

Holding the other end of a red silk ribbon, Steward Su slowly entered the hall with the bride.

The mortal youth who had been guarding the entrance held a register and chanted, "Present the gifts!"

"Bride price from the Su Household: one flying Law Artifact!"

A child came forward carrying a green-leaf Law Artifact just like Old Jia's and placed it on the red table.

"Bride price from the Su Household: one Storage Bag!"

Another child came forward carrying a Storage Bag.

"Bride price from the Su Household: one Three Flowers Pill!"

Xu Qinghou watched, dumbstruck. Th-this... she had struck it rich!

The retainers below the dais burned with envy, wishing only that they had been born women!

The corner of Zhou Ning's mouth twitched as well.

Dressed all in red, Jiang Xi looked at the pile of gifts and the guests' complicated expressions below the dais. The smile on her face twisted slightly.

The debt she had incurred refining pills in her youthful ignorance had long since been paid off by Su, and now she had easily obtained the three items she had once dreamed of.

Most of her regret at being forced to give herself to Steward Su had vanished.

If only... She glanced from the corner of her eye at Su Junsong beside her. She had never expected to meet the "true husband" of her dreams on her wedding day!

If I'd had enough resources to nurture me back then and made something of my pill refining... perhaps everything would have been different...

At that thought, Jiang Xi's gaze swept down to Zhou Ning.

She remembered that he had a Pill Furnace.