171 - The Demon Fox Wife is a Foodie

Pharmacist Master stroked his beard thoughtfully, "If that's the case, I'll contact a few trusted friends to support my disciple at the upcoming assembly." With those words, there was little left to be discussed. Pharmacist Master dismissed the sound barrier with a wave and turned to ask Yanzhao, "Dear disciple, do you wish to continue your journey below the mountain, or will you return to the Pharmacist Sect with me?" Yanzhao tilted her head, pondering. She needed to meet Ayin first and retrieve her little fox. Therefore, she replied, "I will continue my training." "That's good too." Pharmacist Master patted her on the head, "Just inform me before you head to the Immortal Sect Disciple Assembly. Winning isn't necessary; just give it your best. Participation matters most." Yanzhao nodded obediently, "Understood." Though she said this, her heart was firm: I must retrieve my mother's keepsakes. Chapter 184 Pharmacist Master bid farewell to Su Zijun and signaled Elder Chen to leave the Myriad Treasures Palace with him. Seeing this, Yanzhao called out to Elder Chen. Elder Chen halted, watching as Yanzhao ran towards him, producing a Qiankun pouch from her pocket. "This is the promised share for Elder Chen." Although it was only a third of the total, it was still a significant amount, causing Yanzhao some heartache. However, her senior sister had said not to hog it all, so Yanzhao dutifully divided the reward into three, giving one part to Elder Chen. Pharmacist Master was puzzled by this display: "What is it you have there?" Yanzhao briefly explained, prompting Pharmacist Master to exclaim with surprise as he grabbed the Qiankun pouch and probed inside with his spiritual sense. "Oh my, who would have thought my dear disciple had such good fortune?" Pharmacist Master beamed with his small eyes. "Elder Chen, it's only fair to share." Elder Chen replied, "..." before snatching the pouch back and pocketing it. "The sect leader isn't included in this sharing." Such a large sum of money—rather than allowing Pharmacist Master to squander it, Elder Chen preferred to keep it for his disciples' cultivation needs. Pharmacist Master bristled, "Stingy!" Elder Chen turned a deaf ear. After their playful bickering left the Myriad Treasures Palace behind, Yanzhao handed another portion of the reward to Ren Qingyue before heading straight to Su Zijun. Ren Qingyue, with lowered eyes, guessed what Yanzhao was about to say. Sure enough, Yanzhao was direct, "The treasure." Su Zijun was momentarily taken aback before falling speechless. No surprise, Yanzhao was indeed the daughter of Yan Yuanqing—just as straightforward in nature. However, she was one to keep her word. She reached for a dark purple jade pendant at her waist and handed it to Yanzhao. Yanzhao examined the jade, biting it lightly, dissatisfied with its appearance. "What use is this stone?" Su Zijun's mouth twitched and Ren Qingyue facepalmed. Yanzhao clearly hadn't considered that a jade pendant worn by the wealthiest in the human realm would be anything but ordinary. Su Zijun explained, "This is a Luyi Jade, personally refined by me. Wearing it nurtures the spiritual artifacts on your body, allowing damaged ones to self-repair and promoting those with spiritual insight to ascend in grade." Ren Qingyue gasped on hearing this. The effects of this treasure were astonishing. What was even more unbelievable was that Su Zijun would so casually gift it to Yanzhao! Who could have imagined that a mere cultivator of the Golden Core stage would carry such formidable treasures capable of causing upheaval? Yanzhao, now satisfied, cheerfully put on the jade pendant, continuing to inquire to Su Zijun, "Is Ayin in the Purple Bamboo Forest?" Su Zijun raised an eyebrow, "What did you call me?" Yanzhao quickly responded, "Godmother." Su Zijun smiled warmly before answering Yanzhao's question, "She has returned to Nianqing Mountain and is not in the Purple Bamboo Forest." Earlier, Lei Shuang had taken Yanzhao to a manor on this Nianqing Mountain—Nan Gongyin’s retreat in the human realm, connected to the Taixu Immortal Domain. Upon hearing this, Yanzhao chuckled, "Ayin also named me Nianqing." It seems Nan Gongyin really liked that name. Su Zijun merely smiled silently, though there was a hint of wistfulness in her eyes. Yanzhao decided to head to Nianqing Mountain immediately, eager to see the little fox. Without a great roc to ferry her, the only way to reach Nan Gongyin's retreat was to use the Heaven-Crossing Scroll. Ren Qingyue walked with Yanzhao out of the Myriad Treasures Palace, pondering what excuse to use to transform back into a little fox once they reached Nan Gongyin's sanctuary. Next to her, Yanzhao's eyes brightened, spotting an opportunity she'd waited long enough for, and eagerly spoke up, "Senior sister, let me try—I want to learn!" Yanzhao took out the Heaven-Crossing Scroll but held it in her hands without offering it to Ren Qingyue. "Please teach me." Ren Qingyue was surprised. She wasn't sure if Yanzhao's cultivation was sufficient to activate the scroll, but Yanzhao's keen attitude was rare. Furthermore, they were likely not far from Nan Gongyin's dwelling. Thus, she thought, letting Azhao try wouldn't hurt. "Alright," Ren Qingyue nodded, "You need to bite your fingertip, write the destination on the scroll's blank space, and then inject your spiritual power, ensuring full concentration." Yanzhao agreed enthusiastically, "Okay!" Seeing Yanzhao unfurl the scroll, Ren Qingyue added, "The characters for Nianqing Mountain—do you know how to write them?" "I do!" Yanzhao replied confidently. So she swiftly bit her fingertip and, in one go, wrote the three characters: Nian Qing ["youthful" 青 (qing)] Mountain. Ren Qingyue watched her writing, frowning slightly at the second "qing." She had forgotten to ask Su Zijun which specific character for "qing" should be used for Nianqing Mountain. The "qing" Yanzhao used was different from Ren's intended "清" for clarity, but seemed correct at first glance. Ren Qingyue thought it over, concluding it didn't quite fit. To Nan Gongyin, "清" was undoubtedly the only answer. However, while she deliberated, Yanzhao finished writing the last character and mimicked Ren Qingyue's prior gesture by holding down the Heaven-Crossing Scroll with her hand. Ren Qingyue's heart skipped a beat, realizing the mistake. Ah, wait! But before she could speak, a flash of golden light enveloped them. "......" Ren Qingyue's vision went dark with despair. She could only hope for three possible outcomes: either Nianqing Mountain did not exist, Yanzhao couldn't activate the scroll due to insufficient cultivation, or Yanzhao's mistakenly written name was somehow correct. The last possibility seemed slim, but as long as either of the first two conditions were met, they wouldn't be teleported. Ren Qingyue silently prayed. Unfortunately, events took a contrary turn as the sensation of spatial transference was unmistakably vivid. The scroll's radiant glow blurred their surroundings as they traversed with increasing speed, dimming then brightening once more. When the gold light finally faded away, Ren Qingyue's eyes were momentarily struck by a blinding glare, prompting her to shut them instinctively. Simultaneously, they found themselves battered by a bone-chilling wind. Caught unprepared, both Ren Qingyue and Yanzhao shivered involuntarily. "Shi—" Ren Qingyue struggled to open her eyes, seeing all was white. The intense glare that had stung her eyes was from sunlight reflecting off the snow. Yanzhao also took in their surroundings in bewilderment, "Hey, where are we?" This place looked strikingly unfamiliar compared to where she'd been before. And it was freezing. The sky and earth seemed to share the same color, and the expansive hills were buried under snow, with the snow at their feet measuring at least a foot deep. Evidently, this was Nian Qing Mountain instead of Nian Qing ["pure" 清] Mountain. "You wrote the wrong character," Ren Qingyue remarked with a helpless sigh, placing a hand on Yanzhao's shoulder and channeling warmth into her, shaking her head with a rueful smile, "It should have been the water radical '清' instead of the grass radical '青'." Yanzhao widened her large round eyes, "Ah..." But she only knew that one "qing". She thought it had to do with 'green' mountains. Realizing her blunder, Yanzhao felt dejected and guilt-ridden, dropping her head with a subdued tone, "What do we do now?" "Give me the scroll," Ren Qingyue said, extending a calm hand to Yanzhao, "We'll use it again to leave." This time, Yanzhao didn't dare act on her own, obediently handing the Heaven-Crossing Scroll to Ren Qingyue. Ren Qingyue unfolded the scroll and wrote the correct "Nianqing Mountain." Finally, she focused her energy into the scroll, waiting for the spatial transfer to resume. The golden light arrived as expected. Just as Ren Qingyue was about to relax, the light flickered for a moment before extinguishing completely. The three characters she had written on the Heaven-Crossing Scroll peeled off its surface, slowly dripping onto the snow. "Why did the light go out?" Yanzhao asked, perplexed. Ren Qingyue: "..." The failure to activate the Heaven-Crossing Scroll wasn't due to any flaw in the tool or a lack of her cultivation power; it was because... this Nianqing Mountain had a barrier that allowed entry but not exit. Ren Qingyue explained the reason to Yanzhao, who seemed to grasp the situation, realizing that they were temporarily trapped there. "How did this happen..." Yanzhao murmured, her spirits sinking. They were so close to reuniting with the little fox, yet her mistake in writing the wrong character led her and her senior sister to an unknown and unfamiliar place. For now, there seemed no knowing how long they might be stuck here. "Don't worry," Ren Qingyue reassured, calmly patting Yanzhao on the back of her head. "We just need to find whoever set up this array and explain our situation to them." She had grown accustomed to addressing the unexpected scenarios Yanzhao inevitably stirred up. Thus, she promptly regained her composure, observing their snowy surroundings, and began to devise a plan. Since the place had a barrier and it was one-way, the array's center must be within, and the person who set it up was likely also inside the barrier's boundaries. Such barriers are typically used by major immortal sects to restrict disciples from leaving the mountain at will. Therefore, Ren Qingyue surmised they might have unintentionally stumbled into a sect's restricted land. Ren Qingyue attempted to divine their whereabouts but found her readings blurred by the barrier's interference, leaving them no choice but to seek direction on their own. She tried flying with her sword to scout from above. However, even this ability was suppressed by the barrier. Ren Qingyue fell silent. Perhaps she should have checked the almanac before setting out today. Yesterday's unexpected windfall seemed to have exhausted her good fortune, leaving her with nothing but bad luck and cluelessness now. Beside her, Yanzhao looked like a quail missing its feathers, wrapping herself up and refraining from drawing any attention, fearing her senior sister's anger. Upon hearing Ren Qingyue's comforting words, Yanzhao mustered the courage to look up, "Where is this person?" Ren Qingyue shook her head, "I don't know either." After all, she had never been to this place before. As she looked around, the landscape was cloaked in white, offering a unique charm of endless snow. "We'll take it one step at a time," Ren Qingyue said, taking Yanzhao's hand and leading her forward through the snow. The snow layer on the mountain was thick, obscuring whether beneath their feet lay a dip or a slope. Each step needed to be taken with care, lest they unknowingly drift apart. Yanzhao dutifully followed her senior sister. She watched their clasped hands. And realized how the warmth was continuously flowing from Ren Qingyue's hand to hers. Yanzhao was touched. Recalling the past, she noticed that every time she got into trouble, her senior sister would always be there to clean up her mess. Although her senior sister sometimes had a temper and enjoyed pulling her ear or slapping her hands, no matter what happened, her sister would always cover for her. Just like now. Her teacher had once said that her senior sister liked her too, which Yanzhao found hard to believe until now, when she could truly sense her sister's kindness. Even though she made such a big blunder, not only did her senior sister not punish her, but she also held her hand to make sure she wouldn't get lost.