Chapter 94: A Bad Omen

Song Qiaoqiao found Fang Yun’s last words a bit strange.

She felt that as his senior sister, she should have been the one saying that to him.

’How did our roles get reversed?’

Still, she responded sincerely to Fang Yun’s kind offer.

"I appreciate the thought, Junior Brother. But if I really run into trouble, I’ll go to my great-grandfather."

"..."

Fang Yun gave an awkward smile.

’Looks like I should stick to the facts when making polite offers to Senior Sister Song Qiaoqiao,’ he thought.

Indeed, Song Qiaoqiao had a point. She was nearly at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer and would be breaking through to Foundation Establishment after that. Any problem she might face would be far beyond the ability of a mere Inner Sect Disciple like him to solve.

"Junior Brother, did you just say you live here?"

"Yes, Senior Sister." Fang Yun’s awkward smile vanished as he nodded.

Song Qiaoqiao was, of course, aware of the special nature of the Area A residences.

"In that case, you must have gotten along very well with Elder Bai, Junior Brother."

Song Qiaoqiao immediately came to this conclusion. For Fang Yun to be assigned a residence here, it had to be a special arrangement by Elder Bai Heyan.

She was happy for Fang Yun.

Getting along well with Bai Heyan was undoubtedly a huge boon for him.

"It went well. I believe Elder Bai is quite satisfied with me."

"That’s good." Song Qiaoqiao nodded and then asked, "Junior Brother, have you started taking Alchemy tasks yet?"

"Yes, I have. Elder Bai has arranged for my first hundred Alchemy tasks to be Refining Qi Enhancement Pills, which happen to be exactly what I need for my cultivation."

"Qi Enhancement Pills... I’ve refined a total of thirty-five batches myself." Song Qiaoqiao shared her own experience. "My best result was four Middle Grade Qi Enhancement Pills and two Lower Grade ones, which earned me a third-tier reward for the task."

The Alchemy tasks from the Dan Cloud Pavilion were typically divided into five reward tiers. The reward varied depending on the outcome of each batch.

All pills produced from these tasks had to be turned in, including any Wasted Pills.

The pills from each batch were to be placed in a single bottle; this was the required submission method.

It wasn’t difficult to determine if a set of pills came from the same batch; any experienced Alchemy Master could tell. Secretly holding back any refined pills was practically impossible.

Fang Yun’s task, however, was special. He only needed to submit the required pills.

There was no requirement that the pills he submitted had to be the ones refined using the provided Spirit Medicine.

"To produce four Middle Grade and two Lower Grade Qi Enhancement Pills within thirty-five batches is quite good," Fang Yun commented.

"All the other senior brothers and sisters said it was excellent. You have high standards, Junior Brother."

"It’s decent." ’My evaluation was perfectly objective,’ Fang Yun thought.

"What about you, Junior Brother?"

"Me? I’ve refined thirteen batches of Qi Enhancement Pills so far. My best result was one Upper Grade and five Middle Grade pills."

"Refining an Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pill in just thirteen batches... Your talent is truly extraordinary, Junior Brother." Song Qiaoqiao nodded, now understanding why his standards were so high.

It was because his own abilities were just that formidable.

The results Fang Yun described were far better than what Song Qiaoqiao had imagined.

In that moment, she completely re-evaluated her perception of his talent.

Once the topic turned to Alchemy, the two of them talked for a long, long time.

Fang Yun even offered to guide her in refining Qi Enhancement Pills in the future, an offer which Song Qiaoqiao did not refuse.

Fang Yun also shared some of his personal insights on refining Qi Enhancement Pills with her.

However, some of the insights he shared were difficult for Song Qiaoqiao to grasp.

Seeing the confused look on her face, Fang Yun switched to what he felt was a simpler, more intuitive explanation, something he was quite good at.

The sun sank below the western horizon.

Fang Yun glanced at the sky and took his leave from Song Qiaoqiao’s residence.

It was getting late.

He had stayed at Song Qiaoqiao’s much longer than he had intended.

The time had flown by, and he had truly enjoyed his conversation with her.

Song Qiaoqiao walked him to the door, bidding him a reluctant farewell. She had genuinely learned a great deal from their conversation.

Back at his residence, Fang Yun was still full of energy.

He planned to do some reading before bed. If he had another Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pill, he would have taken it out to refine and absorb right away.

Now that he was an Inner Sect Disciple, Fang Yun also wanted to pay a visit to Steward Song.

It had been quite a while since he last saw him.

Steward Song had been instrumental in helping him become a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Fang Yun deeply valued those who had helped him.

「The next day.」

「Noon.」

After tending to his six-mu plot of Qi Nourishing Grass, Fang Yun left the Celestial Cloud Sect and arrived at the Spirit Field Institute just outside the sect’s grounds.

Steward Song could usually be found here.

"Elder Song," Fang Yun called out to the steward, whose head was bowed.

Steward Song looked up, thought he was seeing things, and then stared intently.

He wasn’t mistaken. The person standing before him, Fang Yun, was dressed in the robes of a Celestial Cloud Sect Inner Sect Disciple.

"Fang Yun, you’ve become an Inner Sect Disciple!"

"I just broke through to the late stages of Qi Refining not long ago," Fang Yun replied.

"So fast! That’s wonderful!"

Steward Song was aware of Fang Yun’s Alchemy Talent, but his speed in breaking through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer was still far faster than he had ever imagined.

When he first discovered Fang Yun’s Alchemy Talent, he had felt that he *might* have brought a future Elder into the sect. Looking at Fang Yun now, Steward Song felt he could drop the "might."

After all, Fang Yun had been a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect for less than two years. When he first joined, he had only recently broken through to the third layer of Qi Refining.

The two first reminisced about old times, with Fang Yun taking the opportunity to express his gratitude, which brought a constant smile to Steward Song’s face. After catching up, their conversation shifted to the present.

"Elder Song, has anything of note happened recently?"

This was the Cultivator Marketplace outside the Celestial Cloud Sect, after all—a place where one could gather a great deal of information.

"There was a small matter, but it was resolved quickly."

"Please, tell me."

"A few days ago, over at the Spirit Fields to the west, three Spirit Plant farmers were killed. It was the work of a Demon from the Celestial Demon Sect."

"So brazen?"

This was something Fang Yun had never encountered before.

He never would have expected a Cultivator from the Celestial Demon Sect to appear right on the Celestial Cloud Sect’s doorstep. According to what he knew, such things shouldn’t have happened for centuries.

"A crazed Demon," Steward Song specified.

"Even if it was crazed, it couldn’t have found its way here on its own. Someone else from the Celestial Demon Sect must have brought it," Fang Yun analyzed immediately.

This was definitely not good news.

The appearance of a Demon from the Celestial Demon Sect here could be an omen.

"Indeed," Steward Song nodded.

"Did they find the Demon who brought it here?"