When Shui Lanxin returned, she carried another storage ring. Holding it in both hands, she respectfully presented it to Wen Xian.
“Honored guest, this contains the finest alchemy furnace in our establishment: the Purple Firmament Spirit Furnace. It greatly increases the success rate and quality of pills. When refining any pill below the fifth rank, it will never explode.”
Wen Xian did not care about those benefits. Her ability already guaranteed success and quality. She simply needed a furnace.
Still, if she was buying one, she naturally wanted the best.
“How many spirit stones does it cost?”
Wen Xian deliberately acted as though the price meant nothing.
Shui Lanxin’s beautiful eyes curved with her smile.
“You are an honored guest of Water-and-Sky, so I will charge only half price. I ask merely that if your master ever wishes to auction pills, our establishment be the first one you consider. Would that be acceptable?”
Beneath her veil, Wen Xian wore the confident smile of someone who had predicted everything.
The system could hardly believe what it heard. If it possessed eyes, they would have opened wide.
Shui Lanxin had truly cut the price in half. How had Wen Xian known?
Wen Xian celebrated silently. Haggling over vegetables in her former world had given her plenty of experience. Now Shui Lanxin wished to win favor with Wen Xian’s imaginary master. Failing to demand an enormous bargain would waste this heaven-sent opportunity.
“Then I thank Boss Shui. I also need Poison Emperor Vine, Thousand Rock Flowers, Wind Spirit Grass…”
Wen Xian listed one ingredient after another. Shui Lanxin recorded every name, but her heart began beating faster.
She did not understand alchemy, yet she knew that Poison Emperor Vine was essential for refining the third-rank Foundation Establishment Pill. That meant Wen Xian’s master was at least a third-rank alchemist—and possibly even higher.
The possibility made Shui Lanxin more determined to build a strong relationship. She sold Wen Xian every rare and difficult-to-obtain ingredient at half price, all to earn the favor of the third-rank alchemist behind her.
Wen Xian left Water-and-Sky with an excellent bargain. Now that she possessed a furnace and ingredients, she could begin developing alchemy as her second profession.
…
Wen Xian casually tossed a snow-white porcelain bottle from hand to hand.
“Alchemy is rather entertaining. It isn’t difficult at all. In fact, it’s effortless.”
[Only because your cheat ability gives you a one-hundred-percent success rate!]
Ignoring the system’s roar, Wen Xian continued cheerfully.
“What difference does that make? Cheat abilities are part of my strength.”
[How can anyone be as shameless as you?]
“Yes, yes. Everything you say is right.”
[You—]
“Yes, yes. You are always the most correct.”
The system fell silent.
It was furious. Any more anger and its circuits might break.
Elsewhere, Shui Lanxin was in an excellent mood. Today was one of Wen Xian’s scheduled pill deliveries.
One month had passed since Wen Xian bought the furnace and ingredients. Every three days, she returned to sell another group of pills. Every pill was high quality, and many reached supreme quality. The results never changed, leaving Shui Lanxin grinning from ear to ear.
Wen Xian had become a living source of wealth. Shui Lanxin never dared neglect her. She personally welcomed Wen Xian on every visit and sometimes offered ingredients for free, almost afraid the guest might refuse them.
Apart from Feng Lingruan, Wen Xian was the only person who received such devoted attention from Shui Lanxin.
Shui Lanxin waited outside from early morning. When Wen Xian arrived as promised, her welcome was even warmer than the one she gave the Demon Lord.
“Honored guest, what pills have you brought this time?”
Wen Xian tossed over a storage pouch. Shui Lanxin caught it, opened it, and immediately brightened. She stored it away and welcomed Wen Xian inside.
In the guest room, Wen Xian dropped into a chair like a powerful old lord. She crossed one leg over the other and swung it carelessly, looking so rude that someone might wish to strike her.
Shui Lanxin believed the behavior was another part of Wen Xian’s attempt to conceal her sex.
Wen Xian simply knew that no one else realized she was a woman and decided to enjoy the freedom. Shui Lanxin treated her like an honored ancestor. Even if Wen Xian hung upside down, the owner would applaud and praise her unusual style.
“One bottle of third-rank Berserk Pills. One bottle of Foundation Establishment Pills. Three bottles of second-rank Wind Travel Pills. Three bottles of Energy Boosting Pills. Five bottles of Healing Pills and five of Energy Recovery Pills… Every third-rank pill is upper quality, while all the others are supreme quality!”
Shui Lanxin’s heart trembled.
Whenever she saw such pills, she congratulated herself on her judgment. She had invested correctly in Wen Xian again and again. That was why Water-and-Sky now enjoyed a long-term partnership with her—one no other establishment possessed.
“Honored guest, you truly are Lanxin’s lucky star. Meeting you has been the greatest fortune of three lifetimes.”
Shui Lanxin looked at Wen Xian with such suggestive warmth that the emotion almost became solid threads winding around her.
If Shui Lanxin had been human, Wen Xian might have enjoyed the attention.
But Shui Lanxin was a leech spirit. She was a leech!
Wen Xian felt as though she had fallen into an icy cave. In Shui Lanxin’s presence, she remained so calm that she frightened herself, firmly guarding her heart against temptation.
In truth, her heart was not entirely calm.
She feared Shui Lanxin might sit on her lap and try to seduce her. Wen Xian would immediately begin leaping around the room like Michael Jackson.
Shui Lanxin had always sensed that Wen Xian feared her. She considered herself kind and approachable and was very satisfied with her human form. She could not understand the fear. Perhaps it was what humans called an instinctive dislike.
There was no point thinking about something she could not explain. Wen Xian was a source of wealth, and their relationship was only a trade in which both obtained what they needed. As long as the arrangement brought enough profit, nothing else mattered.
“Honored guest, the Beauty Preservation Pills you brought last time were extremely popular. Those three bottles sold almost immediately, and many customers still wish to buy more. Could your master refine another batch? Water-and-Sky will purchase any amount. You receive sixty percent of the proceeds, we receive forty, and our establishment provides all ingredients free of charge. What do you think?”
Wen Xian had no reason to refuse a deal that handed her money.
The ingredients were not especially difficult to obtain. Beauty Preservation Pills were rare only because most alchemists considered them useless and their success rate was too low.
That was how male alchemists saw them. To women, they were almost impossible to resist.
Who would not wish to remain young forever?
After agreeing on the price of their next transaction, Wen Xian took a storage pouch filled with an enormous number of spirit stones and left with carefree confidence.
Shui Lanxin gathered every bottle into her arms like precious children. She closed her eyes in bliss.
“Ah… An endless river of wealth is flowing toward me. What happiness.”
“Why do you have that foolish expression?”
“Are you blind? Can’t you see that I’m—”
The voice behind her made Shui Lanxin frown. She hated being interrupted while enjoying the incomparable joy produced by wealth.
She turned to punish the thoughtless servant, only for her eyes to widen when she saw Pang Ying.
“Why are you here?”
Wasn’t this corpse-faced woman supposed to be capturing someone? Why had she come here? The demonic energy Pang Ying could not conceal brought terrible misfortune. If it scattered Shui Lanxin’s wealth-bringing energy, she would not forgive her easily.
Pang Ying’s face was paler than a corpse and held no expression. Even her voice remained perfectly flat, making her seem like a dead body capable of speech.
“A Wraith Spider led me here. The human sought by the Demon Lord is in this city.”
Wraith Spiders were creatures formed from Pang Ying’s demonic energy. They specialized in tracking. Their silk could detect a scent and pursue its owner even through empty space.
Pang Ying’s cultivation was second only to Feng Lingruan’s within the Demon Realm. She had remained inside the Demon Palace for centuries, but she had not been idle.
Day after day, she used demonic energy to create an army of tens of thousands of wraiths and many thousands of Wraith Spiders. Over the centuries, the spiders spread across every region. Finding one person was not difficult for her.
Shui Lanxin’s bright mood instantly darkened. She rolled her eyes.
“Then search for her. Why come to me? Do you expect me to do your work?”
Both women served Feng Lingruan as her left and right protectors, but they could not tolerate each other.
More accurately, Shui Lanxin disliked Pang Ying. The woman’s body was filled with the air of death, which opposed the life force of Shui Lanxin’s leech race. They could never become close. If not for Feng Lingruan, Shui Lanxin would not speak to her at all.
Pang Ying knew she was unwelcome but did not care. Only the mission mattered. Feng Lingruan’s orders were absolute and had to be completed at any cost.
“The Wraith Spider told me that this person visited here recently. Do you remember her?”
Shui Lanxin yawned lazily and wiped a tear from one eye.
“No. Countless people enter and leave this place. How should I know whether your target is a man or woman, tall or short, fat or thin?”
Pang Ying considered the point.
“She is a human woman traveling with a young White Jade Rouge Python. Do you truly remember nothing?”
Shui Lanxin frowned impatiently and prepared to drive her away. Then the answer reached her lips and stopped.
She remembered.
When her honored guest first arrived, Shui Lanxin had used her Water Spirit Eye to inspect the manuals. She had also examined Wen Xian and discovered that the supposed man was a woman.
The third eye of the leech race could see through nearly anything. It appraised treasures, viewed the channels inside a body, and exposed an opponent’s weaknesses. It was known as the Water Spirit Eye, which could perceive all things.
Shui Lanxin did not care whether her honored guest was a man or woman. But during that examination, she had also noticed the little snake wrapped around Wen Xian’s wrist.
One glance revealed that it was an extraordinarily rare young White Jade Rouge Python. Such a creature was worth a kingdom, yet Shui Lanxin had never considered taking it by force.
A merchant who stole every valuable object she saw would not remain in business for long. Good fortune would abandon her.
Peaceful dealings brought wealth, and then fortune would flow without end. Whether the belief was true hardly mattered; caution was wiser than disbelief.
Shui Lanxin valued money more than life itself.
