“Good.” Xue Chengxuan said. “Fentian City is the closest to the Western Realm. From here, it will take around seven days to reach Xingluo City. We stopped here to visit some friends and will depart in three days. Does fellow Daoist Meng perhaps have another plan?”

Xue Chengxuan’s attitude was gentle and warm, but Murong Fei and Wen He who was looking from the side were surprised. Among the younger generation of Feng Alliance, Xue Chengxuan was the most talented and capable. It was a known fact that the elders had high hopes for him, and he was the most promising candidate to become the future leader of Feng Alliance.

Murong Fei, Wen He, and Xue Chengxuan had a good relationship. Growing up together, they knew that even though Xue Chengxuan always treated others gently, he still didn’t have a Dao companion. Xue Chengxuan was polite to female cultivators but equally so to everyone. Although he looked warm and affable, he has never been too close to any particular person.

Wen He had a younger sister at home. His clan has long wanted a Wen daughter to be Xue Chengxuan’s Dao companion. This way, the Xue and Wen would be tied by marriage. In the future, they would support each other, which would benefit both clans.

When the elders of two clans brought forth this matter, Xue Chengxuan simply dealt with a smile. Towards Wen He’s younger sister, he treated her politely and gently, but without getting too close nor too estranged, no different than before. No one could pick up faults, but they clearly saw that Xue Chengxuan didn’t have unnecessary thoughts towards the girl.

It was Wen He and Murong Fei’s first time to see Xue Chengxuan taking the initiative towards a female cultivator. They glanced at each other, and couldn’t help looking at Meng Qi again. This Foundation Establishment girl looked pretty good. However, Qingfeng Valley…They remembered Su Junmo’s introduction just now and tried hard to recall, but failed to recognize any medical sect with this name.

Qingfeng Valley was too small. The successive sect leaders were just Golden Core cultivators. Moreover, it was located on the Eastern Realm’s east border, far away from the Western Realm. It was no wonder that Murong Fei and Wen He, two high ranking disciples of the Western Realm’s great sects, never heard about such a small and unknown sect.

They looked at Xue Chengxuan in confusion. This was a talented young man who was valued by Feng Alliance’s elders. Countless young female cultivators in the Western Realm couldn’t move him in the slightest, was it possible that he fell in love at first sight with a Foundation Establishment girl?

Xue Chengxuan ignored his two friends’ reaction, and patiently waited for Meng Qi’s reply.

“Hmm….” Meng Qi carefully considered her plan. She came to Fentian City only for the jade cicada vine on the cliff outside this city. Moreover…

She watched with satisfaction how Su Junmo remained quiet since Xue Chengxuan appeared.

Anyway, she definitely wanted to go to Xingluo City. If she accepted this invitation, she could talk with Feng Alliance’s medical cultivators along the way, which absolutely would be better than having the noisy fox blabbering nonstop about Demon Realm’s gossips.

After thinking for a while, Meng Qi ignored Su Junmo’s desperate eye signal and nodded: “Many thanks for fellow Daoist Xue. Should we meet at the city gate in three days?”

“Good.” Xue Chengxuan smiled softly. “By the way, what is fellow Daoist Meng’s business coming to Fentian City? Maybe I can help a bit. Although my visits to Fentian City aren’t many, I still have some friends here who can help.”

“Many thanks for fellow Daoist Xue.” Meng Qi smiled back, “I can handle it myself.”

Although Meng Qi’s expression was as calm as usual, she began to be dizzy. Looking at Xue Chengxuan, she felt that the man had split into two.

Is it because of the cup of wine just now?

Meng Qi hardly touched wine before. In fact, it was hard for cultivators to get drunk, but Meng Qi was still in the Foundation Establishment stage. Ruyi Inn’s wine was made from ten kinds of spiritual flowers and spiritual herbs. Although the taste was sweet and light, its effect wasn’t half-hearted. Even a Golden Core cultivator who wasn’t used to drinking could become drunk after just a few cups.

Meng Qi subconsciously raised her hand to grip the table.

Qin Xiumo was originally sitting on the side indifferently, taking no care about Xue Chengxuan’s group. But he was the first to notice Meng Qi’s abnormality. He suddenly stood up: “Let’s go.”

“Huh?” Meng Qi raised her head at Qin Xiumo. Her eyes were hazy, “Go…” She shook her head: “Go where?”

“Go back to rest.” Qin Xiumo replied.

“Oh, okay.” Meng Qi nodded obediently, her white cheeks were dyed in crimson.

Qin Xiumo’s fingers twitched slightly. He was used to seeing Meng Qi’s usually serious and calm appearance, seemingly rejecting people thousands of miles away. But now, she looked more like a girl of her age, and surprisingly also looked….cute? Was she really drunk? Compared to when she was sober, Meng Qi seemed to be very obedient now.

Qin Xiumo coughed lightly. He then reached out an arm to pull Meng Qi up. Sure enough, the girl obediently got up and stood beside him. “We just had a long journey. She is tired and now drunk. I will take her to rest.” Qin Xiumo took Meng Qi’s hand and walked out of the gazebo.

“I’m sorry.” Xue Chengxuan hurriedly stood up and sent the two out of the gazebo. He looked at Meng Qi apologetically: “I don’t know that fellow Daoist Meng cannot drink, it’s my fault.” Xue Chengxuan hurriedly ordered the waiter who was waiting outside: “Send the two people to rest. Put their tabs on mine.”

“Yes.” The waiter smiled and led Qin Xiumo toward the backyard, “This way, please.”

Xue Chengxuan watched Qin Xiumo and Meng Qi away before returning to the gazebo. “Brother Su.” He smiled bitterly, “I made fellow Daoist Meng drink alcohol. It is my inconsideration.”

Su Junmo smiled slightly: “Nothing.” He had some questions to ask, and thus stayed behind. “Xingluo Pavilion’s new pavilion master used ten years collecting materials in the Starfallen Sea to exchange with the right to host this year’s Medical Cultivator Conference in Xingluo City, is it true?”

“Yes.” Xue Chengxuan took a seat, “My father originally refused this offer. However, it might be fate.” He smiled at Su Junmo. “I used the same words said by fellow Daoist Meng just now to persuade the elders.” He then paused briefly. “I am a medical cultivator, and my offensive skills aren’t good. However, Starfallen Sea is a treasure trove filled with countless spiritual plants and animals, many with medicinal properties. For thousands of years, many predecessors entered Starfallen Sea to hunt materials. It is a pity…”

Xue Chengxuan sighed softly, “Only a handful managed to return with an intact body, and those who were able to leave Starfallen Sea with the things they wanted were even rarer. Now, the Eastern Realm’s number one sword cultivator is willing to go hunting for ten years in our stead. For all medical cultivators in the Three Thousand World, this is certainly a good thing.”

“Even so, it is still improper after all.” Murong Fei snorted, “He doing this, isn’t he scraping off our medical cultivators’ pride?”

“So what?” Xue Chengxuan turned his head and looked at Murong Fei sharply. His eyes were bright with flame. Meng Qi and Qin Xiumo weren’t there anymore, and Su Junmo had always been on good terms with them, so Xue Chengxuan spoke more directly: “Which one is more important, temporary pride, or the chance to step further into the medical path? The elders have accepted this term. If you still make a fuss, beware of repercussions.”

Murong Fei was stunned. Among the three of them, Xue Chengxuan was the oldest and always took good care of himself and Wen He. They grew up together, and Xue Chengxuan has been a big brother figure to them. He knew that Xue Chengxuan wasn’t reprimanding, but giving a warning.

“Yes.” Murong Fei hurriedly straightened his back and replied respectfully.

Xue Chengxuan smiled slightly. He poured another cup of wine, this time for Su Junmo: “Fellow Daoist Meng is young, but very open-minded. She can see the bigger picture in an instant. No wonder she can enter brother Su’s eyes. Indeed interesting. It’s worth being acquainted with her.”

Su Junmo “…”

He held the wine cup, but did not take a sip. His mind busily analyzed Xue Chengxuan’s words.

Why does he feel that this guy’s words have hidden meaning?

What fate?

What interesting?

Ah, is he perhaps interested in Meng Qiqi?

Su Junmo suddenly became alert.

….

“Two guests, we arrive.” The waiter led Qin Xiumo and Meng Qi into a courtyard with four rooms in total. The courtyard was thick with foliage, and it looked serene and elegant. “Two guests, have a good rest.” The waiter also noticed Meng Qi’s drunkenness. “If you don’t need anything, I’ll retire now.”

Qin Xiumo took out a second-grade spirit stone from his storage bag and threw it to the waiter, then helped Meng Qi into the leftmost room. Drunken Meng Qi was so obedient. When Qin Xiumo told her to sit, she sat obediently on the bed.

“Are you alright by yourself?” Qin Xiumo poured a cup of tea for Meng Qi. He watched the girl pick the cup and drank the tea without saying a word.

“Mm.” Meng Qi nodded in a daze. Although she hasn’t completely lost her consciousness, her vision was somewhat swaggering and a bit hazy. She could hear Qin Xiumo talking to her, but every word sounded strange, as if floating from a distance and took a long time to reach her ears.

“Yeah.” Meng Qi nodded.

Qin Xiumo: “…”

Somewhat worrying.

Qin Xiumo folded both hands on his chest and took a good look at Meng Qi, who was sitting at the edge of the bed with her head swaying slightly. He stared at Meng Qi for a moment, then sighed slowly. Although some cultivators didn’t care about trivial things and were pretty liberal in the relationship between men and women, this girl was still seventeen or eighteen. On top of that, she was also his life savior.

Qin Xiumo made a hand gesture to activate a spell that conjured a small stream of water. The water was clear and cold, soaking a soft towel Qin Xiumo casually found. He handed the wet towel to Meng Qi and said hoarsely: “Wipe your face.”

“Okay.” After a momentary pause, Meng Qi took the wet towel from Qin Xiumo and obediently wiped her face.

Qin Xiumo looked at her clean, fair face, then to the fluttering eyelashes. When drunk, Meng Qi’s voice seemed softer. So soft and sweet that, in fact, for a moment he couldn’t equate her with the girl who was so ruthless when extorting spirit stones.

“Wipe your hands too.” Qin Xiumo used the spell once again to wet the towel.

In his life…no! Including his previous life, he has never done such a thing. If his master knew that he used the sect’s spell to do this kind of thing, even if he wasn’t heavily injured, didn’t get betrayed by his close friend, and didn’t fell into Qi deviation, his master would still be angry enough to expel him from the sect and refused to acknowledge him as a disciple.

But the drunken girl before him had taken the wet towel and wiped her hands obediently.

Qin Xiumo: “…”

…He feels a danger! Such an obedient Meng Qi somehow made him want to bully!

“You…” When Qin Xiumo finally spoke again, his voice was hoarser: “Take a good rest.”

Watching Meng Qi nodded obediently, Qin Xiumo’s throat rolled up and down. “Call me if you need anything.” He added, “I will be outside.”

Qin Xiumo dared not to stay here any longer. Probably it was the effect of her drunkenness, but the light medicinal fragrance that always accompanied Meng Qi’s body now was all over the room, mixed with the mellow yet intoxicating flowery scent from the wine. Qin Xiumo hurriedly strode out. Once the door has closed, he took a deep breath, but couldn’t completely dissipate the dry feeling in his body.

He didn’t look back, and raised his hand casually. The door was closed, completely separating him from Meng Qi. The black-robed youth stomped his feet and folded his arms on his chest, stood under the eaves just right outside Meng Qi’s room. His mind started to wander. Xue Chengxuan might be a good person. People raised as an heir of such a prestigious place like Feng Alliance would never show such enthusiasm to a Foundation Establishment cultivator for no reason.

Qin Xiumo slowly exhaled. His eyes instantly regained its usual iciness and sharpness.

….

Meng Qi sat on the bed for a while. She was indeed a little drunk, but just a cup of wine wouldn’t make her completely drunk. She also had just wiped her face and hands with cold water, which helped her sobered a little.

She shook her head and took the beast house out of the storage space. Xiao Qi jumped out, his nose fluttered, and suddenly turned his head at Meng Qi.

Did she drink alcohol?

Meng Qi already sat cross-legged on the bed, holding Beyond The Heaven’s jade slip in her palm. In the past, whenever she prepared to enter Beyond The Heaven, Meng Qi had never been so careless. But today, alcohol dulled her mind. Without even arranging a protective array, she infused her spiritual aura into the jade slip.

A faint light flashed. When Meng Qi opened her eyes, she already stood outside the gate of Beyond The Heaven City.

She exhaled. The scent of alcohol seemed to follow her even here. Meng Qi shook her head and walked forward. She wanted to find bamboo slips with some information about Medical Cultivator Conference. She also wanted to buy a container for the jade cicada vine.

The Jade cicada vine was very special. The plant only grew on a cliff with particular conditions, was hard to pick, and also needed to be stored with a special container. Only a box made of a kind of cold jade unique to the Northern Realm could ensure that the jade cicada vine wouldn’t lose its effect after taken away from the cliff.

Meng Qi’s steps were somewhat shaky. She already regretted it. She should have refused the toast. After all, Xue Chengxuan didn’t force her to drink. However, Meng Qi’s mood at that time was very good. Except for her master, she rarely found a person who could understand her ideas instantly. And so, she was taken away by the atmosphere.

But now she regretted it. Really regretted.

Meng Qi paused her steps and stood unmoved for a while. She shook her head again. In her current state, she knew that it would be hard to find what she needed. Meng Qi looked around, then walked towards the nearest teleportation array. She had been here several times and has grown familiar with the road. She walked straight into the array.

A light flashed. Stepping out the teleportation array, she arrived at the Profound Auction House’s floating island.

Upon arriving, Meng Qi noticed seven or eight cultivators scattered around, seemingly waiting for someone. They were the people who were waiting to catch the mysterious Beiming Pill seller. After the auction that day, they were ordered to stand by in turn, squatting on the floating island for weeks. Seeing someone coming, everyone’s sharp gaze immediately turned to Meng Qi.

But in fact, they were already at a loss. The order from their sects was to find the cultivator who refined the Beiming Pill. But who exactly the cultivator was, whether they were male or female, or their age…no one knew. Beside that, they also watched Xue Jinwen movement. Someone had gone to great lengths to find out that she was the appraisal who sent the Beiming Pill for auction.

Meng Qi glanced at those people, feeling a bit strange. She had visited this island several times. Except on the day of the last auction, she had never seen so many people here.　But she didn’t care too much. Even if something has happened, she wasn’t in the position to know.

Meng Qi went straight to Xue Jinwen’s courtyard. But she was surprised to see that there were even more people here. She hesitated a little, but still pushed the gate and went inside.

As usual, the courtyard was full of flowers and trees that were pleasant to the eye. The door to the main hall was open, and Xue Jinwen, dressed in red, was inside. The beautiful woman was lazily reading a bamboo slip in her hand, propping one hand on her forehead.

“Sister Xue.” Meng Qi politely knocked on the door three times.

“Huh? Xiao.. it’s you!” Xue Jinwen raised her head to look at Meng Qi, a surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes. Xue Jinwen smiled, put down the bamboo slip in her hand, and walked outside.

Xue Jinwen waved her hand to close the entrance gate to the courtyard. This way, even if the cultivators outside had the ability to shake heaven and earth, as long as they couldn’t defeat the owner of Beyond The Heaven, no one could break in. Anything in the courtyard would be blocked from outside’s gazes.

“Eh?” Xue Jinwen walked towards Meng Qi and squeezed her cheek, “Did you drunk?”

“How does sister Xue know?” Meng Qi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“If you use jade slip to visit Beyond The Heaven when drunk, you will be even drunker.” Smiling lightly, Xue Jinwen explained: “The owner once said, Beyond The Heaven isn’t paradise separated from the world, but more like a momentary dream. If someone comes here when drunk, they will get even drunker.”

“For this reason?” Meng Qi muttered.

“What is your purpose coming today?” Xue Jinwen stared at Meng Qi for a moment, then asked with a smile: “Did you hear about the Medical Cultivator Conference?”

“Mm.” Meng Qi nodded. She was a wandering cultivator in her previous life, and her master wasn’t a medical cultivator. Although she had heard about the conference, it was no more than passing news.

“Then, do you know?” Xue Jinwen said: “This year’s Medical Cultivator Conference is in Xingluo City, hosted by Xingluo Pavilion.”

“I know.” Meng Qi nodded. A bit wobblingly, she tried to support her body on the door frame.

“Come in, sit down first.” Amused, Xue Jinwen took her to sit in front of a bookcase. “Xingluo Pavilion is the number one sword sect in the Eastern Realm. I have heard many medical cultivators complaining over this these day, saying that it is sweeping the face of medical cultivators.” She chuckled: “My father and other elders at home also argued for a long time about this matter. Later, my elder brother came forward and finally convinced them to accept this proposal.”

“Yeah.” Meng Qi nodded: “I know.” After a pause, she said: “Xingluo Pavilion Master promised to enter the Starfallen Sea for ten years. No matter how it is calculated, we are taking advantage of this deal.”

Xue Jinwen was startled. A hint of surprise flashed in her enchanting eyes, and she couldn’t help laughing out: “If my elder brother meets you…yes, he surely will make you a confidant. Did you know? He also said the same words to our father. Yeah…” Xue Jinwen used Meng Qi’s tone: “He also thinks that we are taking advantage.”

Meng Qi’s brain suddenly buzzed. She felt like she should remember a certain thing. But her head was really dizzy. The thought simply flashed by and quickly passed through her mind without her being able to clearly grasp.

She shook her head and realized that she was indeed had became dizzier than before. “Sister Xue.” Meng Qi said: “I want to find something, can I ask your help?” She quickly added: “I will pay you spirit stones separately. Sister Xue has helped me many times.”