"Look for me in that same alley if you want my help again!" Bagai grinned.

He waved as Mei left, sulking.

"Yeah, whatever."

Even though she was a little mad, if anything he bought turned out to be profitable, she could still ask for his help in the future. Even if he was a little scatterbrained, he didn't try to run off with the money in the end. Well, now that she realised she could sneak around in the shop fine, she could probably note down the price of pills in advance on a piece of paper. Urgh, what a pain...

"Mei."

Mei nearly jumped from the sudden voice in her head ...it really was quite hard to get used to Xiao Mei calling her every now and then.

"What?"

"Do you think it'd work if we teleported Yong Hao here to help find the profitable pills?"

"Huh? Who is he?"

Xiao Mei: ...

"Ohhh, that guy that runs the store back home! That you sold the White Lotus pill to! Right..." Mei exclaimed, something finally clicking. "Wait, you want to drag him here?"

"Yeah. If you get caught, just teleport away. Easy."

...was it really going to be? What if the store locked down or something dumb that stopped them buying yet again?

Mei suddenly felt really tired.

...

Yong Hao held the painting before Mei.

"This is worthless."

Mei put her palm to her face. 200 jade... gone....

No, there was still hope! Screw it, she was going to storm the sect master's palace and see if he could appraise it! Of course, she could try ask the elders for help, but she was afraid of being scolded for wasting their time...

The Frigid Pill fetched a profit of 1 Jade... incredible. And the White Lotus pill was resold for a loss of 10 Jade. She was reduced to 560 Jade, if she didn't include Xiao Mei's savings. She really didn't feel in the mood to drag the poor man to Tiangou right now, so she left him be.

...

With a flash, she appeared before the Sect Master's palace. She tried to teleport inside directly earlier, but was stopped by some sort of formation.

"Hello?" she shouted, waving towards the stone lions.

As the 10 metre tall statues turned towards her, Mei took a step back. Even after knowing they were going to move, it was still a little startling...

"Disciple?" one of the stone lions asked. "Why are you here? Did you forget the sect master is in seclusion?"

"Well..." Mei said sheepishly.

"I told you this wouldn't work!" Xiao Mei said.

"Shut up."

The stone lions stared at each other for a moment. The one on the right leaned back, raising its paws into an awkward shrug. Mei was worried it would lose its balance and fall on her, but it managed.

"Go in if you'd like."

That easy?!

"Normally the sect master would warp the visitor past this gate, so this is the first time it's been opened in centuries. Be honoured!"

The two lions got off their pedestals, tugging at the rings of the gate with all their might. Mei hurriedly ran a safe distance.

With a horrible groaning sound accompanied by the crackle of crushed ice. the gates swung open, letting the frosty air from outside in.

"Hmm. You've become a Foundational cultivator. Seems like you no longer need our protection."

"Haha..."

Mei remembered when the lions breathed warm air on her previously. Did whoever made these lions really need to make the warming mechanism breath? Like for instance, making a warming pad on the ground?

She walked into the palace, looking around, as the lions shut the gates behind her, the sound echoing for a good minute. The windows were shut, likely due to seclusion, draping the interior in darkness. Mei realised for the millionth time she did not in fact have a lantern.

"Xiao Mei. Do your spirit light thing."

"Screw you."

Now with a light, Mei wandered into the hallway she remembered previously. Without the sect master escorting her, she had free reign to check on each of the random doors, but all of them were all locked.

It was so silent here. Maybe the sect master was secluding elsewhere. Or did cultivations enter a coma-like state during seclusion?

Mei suddenly remembered the sect master had been carving a stele back when she last visited. Maybe it was worth checking out... she slowly walked along the hallways until light came back into sight. But just as she was about to walk straight to the stele, Xiao Mei stopped her.

"Big Mei, those white ferns."

Xiao Mei pointed at the ferns that grew all over like grass.

"What about them?" Mei felt slightly annoyed.

"Do you think... they would be a good cultivation resource? Since they've been sitting here for so long."

...

Where was Xiao Mei getting her ideas?

What was she supposed to be, a mischievous house cat eating all the house plants in the owner's absence?

Without a word, she squatted down, tugging at the ferns. Urgh! they were insanely tough, like the plants back in Qiulan.

She tugged and tugged, until finally, the ferns came out, along with all their roots, still undamaged. Well... if it worked, it worked... Satisfied, Mei set them aside and checked on the stele.

"If you are reading this, you must have barged into the palace in my absence! You sure have guts, don't you? Well, whoever you are, I regret to inform you, I am not in this palace if you were looking for me! I instructed the lions to let elders or disciples that asked inside, so feel free to do as you like here. But if you mess up the place, take responsibility and clean it up!"

...what type of crap was that?

She thought he might have been engraving some sort of crazy cultivation technique, as a farewell before he left the sect alone for a thousand years!

"PS: It's not convenient to engrave a whole manual on a stele, if you were hoping to find one. But if I forgot to lock any doors, feel free to read any manuals that may or may not be inside. Take any valuables, however, and my stone lions will be after you!"

Mei: ...