"Brother Jin, I don't really have anything I want to buy in particular. I'm just looking around," You Xueer said.
"Alright, then feel free to browse. I'm going to go check in with the manager here, and I'll meet back up with you in a bit," Jin Haochen said.
"Okay, Brother Jin, go take care of your business."
Jin Haochen didn't leave immediately. Instead, he called a waiter over to accompany them, instructing him to pay close attention to where his little sister looked and what she found interesting.
Once he left, Rong Xuan accompanied You Xueer as they began browsing Wangyue Pavilion.
The first floor was the most popular medicinal pill section. Row after row of shelves displayed various pills, though they were all low-grade ones—not a single one was above the fourth grade.
There was a wide variety of pills, but the best ones were merely high-grade, with no top-grade pills in sight.
"Don't you have any top-grade medicinal pills here?" You Xueer asked curiously.
She wanted to see just how different top-grade medicinal pills were from the high-grade ones she brewed herself.
Chapter 25: Fighting "Green Tea" with "Tea"
"You flatter me, Miss. Top-grade medicinal pills are very rare in the mainland nowadays, and those that can be put up for sale are even fewer. You practically never see top-grade medicinal pills on the market anymore."
"None?" You Xueer was somewhat surprised. She thought about how Eldest Senior Sister hadn't seemed to mention being able to brew top-grade medicinal pills either; the sect's books merely stated that such pills existed.
"I've heard that a long time ago, top-grade medicinal pills were quite numerous, but now they are extremely scarce," the waiter said. "However, I hear that the efficacy of a top-grade medicinal pill isn't simply double that of a high-grade one. As for how good it actually is, people nowadays no longer know."
A thought stirred in You Xueer's mind. Plentiful in the past, scarce now—that meant the entire macro-environment had changed.
So what was the difference between the past and the present?
Starlight Power!
Could it be that the lack of Starlight Power was what caused top-grade medicinal pills to be so extremely rare nowadays?
That being said, could Starlight Power be used to brew pills?
At this possibility, a surge of excitement flared in her heart, and she could hardly wait to go right back and test it out!
Rong Xuan felt a twinge of sorrow, because he had heard Eldest Senior Sister say that at a time when others were unable to brew top-grade medicinal pills, their sect used to be able to make them.
It was just that those pill formulas had been lost...
Although You Xueer's heart was burning with excitement, she still had her wits about her and didn't rush back right away.
She would finish looking around here first, and go into seclusion the moment she got back!
"Are there no intermediate or advanced medicinal pills here?" she asked.
"Pills above the fourth grade are all upstairs. If Miss needs any, we can go up."
"No need, I was just asking." She couldn't brew pills of that level yet, nor was she short on pills; browsing what was here was enough for her.
She walked around the medicinal pill section, learning which pills were popular, intending to make them her primary targets once she got back so she could sell them for lots of money later on.
After checking this place out, they went over to the spiritual weapon section. You Xueer picked out a high-grade spiritual weapon—a long sword suited for a woman.
She moved to pay for it, but the waiter had someone set it aside: "Let's wait until Miss finishes browsing and settle the bill all at once."
You must be joking. The Young Master's intention was to gift it to Miss; how could he possibly let her pay?
You Xueer thought about it and figured it made sense, just in case she wanted to buy anything else.
"Spirit beasts and formations are on the second floor. Would Miss like to go take a look?"
"Alright, we..."
"Elder Sister? It really is you, Elder Sister!" A joyful voice came from behind, and You Xueer's body instinctively froze.
You Xueer sighed inwardly. Hearing that voice was enough to trigger an instinctive bodily reaction—which showed just how terrified the original owner had been of it.
What a pitiful child.
"Elder Sister, I heard you fell off a cliff and thought something had happened to you. Why didn't you let the family know you were okay? Father and Mother were so worried about you; when I left home, Father was so worried he had even lost weight."
You Xueer rolled her eyes. How come she herself had no idea the original owner had fallen off a cliff?
"Elder Sister, why aren't you answering me?" You Xueer's voice was sweet and delicate, yet tinged with a trace of grievance, as if You Xueer not turning around inflicted some immense grievance upon her.
Notice how everyone around them was looking over with curiosity, some casting accusatory glances at her.
Heh, when it came to playing the green tea card, it seemed everyone fancied themselves an expert.
You Xueer turned around, her eyes brimming with tears. Her gaze toward You Xueer was aggrieved and pitiful, mixed with a deep, yearning anticipation.
"Younger Sister, after I went missing, was Father really worried about me?" Tears fell from You Xueer's eyes, yet her voice sounded very happy, "I knew it! I am Father's legitimate daughter; he wouldn't truly abandon me! So when you said before that Father didn't want me anymore, you were lying to me, weren't you?"
You Xueer hadn't expected You Xueer to say something like that. She froze for a moment, failing to refute her words right away, which gave You Xueer the chance to keep talking.
"Younger Sister, is Father's illness cured? Stepmother said Father was sick and asked me to go deep into the mountains myself to gather medicine for him, claiming the effect would be even better. But I fell off a cliff in the mountains, injured and unconscious, and after being rescued, I was taken to Mocheng. When I woke up there, I ran into Senior Brother and Senior Sister, and afterwards I came to the sect."
"Elder Sister, even if you reached the sect, you should have sent word home, otherwise Father would keep worrying about you."
"Ah? Father told me to go die outside and not return to dirty the family's land. I thought Father didn't want a daughter like me anymore." You Xueer's tears fell even harder.
What? Could there really be a father who would say such a thing to his own daughter?
Seeing the expressions of everyone around them shift, You Xueer hastily said, "How could Father not want you? When he found out you were missing, he was worried sick!"
"If Father wanted me, why didn't he feed me all these years? Back then, I was so hungry I went into the mountains to look for food. I didn't come home for two months, and Father didn't look for me even once. When I went back, Father didn't even know I'd been gone for so long," You Xueer said with grievance.
Only then did the crowd realize that You Xueer, the elder sister, looked three or four years younger than You Xueer.
Was it because she was frequently underfed and had to go out looking for food on her own?
Not realizing she was gone for two months—what kind of father was that?
How could such a family have the nerve to claim they were worried about her?
"Elder Sister, come away with me. Let's have a proper chat," You Xueer said as she reached out to grab You Xueer's arm.
You Xueer's body shuddered, subconsciously dodging backward as the expression on her face turned terrified.
Her reaction left everyone around them stunned.
And that wasn't all. Seeing You Xueer reach out again, she suddenly hugged her head, squatted down, and cried out, "No, don't hit me!"
"Junior Sister!" Seeing You Xueer's reaction, Rong Xuan felt a pang of heartache as he reached out, pulled her up, and gathered her into his embrace. He patted her back to soothe her, saying, "Junior Sister, don't be afraid. Senior Brother is here; no one can bully you."
Rong Xuan's expression was exceptionally ugly. You Xueer's reaction clearly meant she had been beaten to the point of trauma by You Xueer!
Just what kind of life had You Xueer been living back at the You family?!
Not only Rong Xuan, but everyone else saw it too, and the looks they directed at You Xueer completely changed.
You Xueer hadn't expected You Xueer to pull this trick. She stood frozen in place, hurriedly defending herself, "I—I didn't bully Elder Sister."
"You didn't?" Rong Xuan cast a cold glance at her. "If you didn't bully Junior Sister, why would she instinctively scream at you not to hit her? If your You family truly treated her as a legitimate daughter, why does she look like a child of eleven or twelve even though she's a year older than you? Only someone who is starved and deprived of warm clothes would grow up this stunted and skinny! You aren't going to tell me that food was placed right in front of her and she refused to eat it herself, are you?"
"I..."
"Little Sister!" Jin Haochen came down from upstairs, looking at the shivering You Xueer and then at You Xueer, who was so anxious she looked ready to cry. His gaze turned icy.
That woman just now had seemed concerned about You Xueer, but in reality, every single sentence was accusing her of unfilial behavior—of running off to cultivate immortality without even telling her family, leaving them worried—hoping to incite the onlookers to condemn You Xueer.
He saw right through such a clumsy performance.
Thinking of what Ji Qing and the others had told him earlier about how You Xueer had been starved since childhood in the You family, treated even worse than a servant, and looked less than an eleven-or-twelve-year-old child at fourteen—and then looking at You Xueer, who had grown into a graceful young lady—rage flared within his heart!
Chapter 26: That Sister of Yours, You'd Better Stay Far Away From Her
He walked up to You Xueer and said, "Don't be afraid. Big Brother is here; no one will ever hurt you again."
You Xueer raised her head from Rong Xuan's arms, caught Jin Haochen's look of concern for her, and cast a glance of disgust toward You Xueer. Joy bloomed in her heart.
Regardless of whether Jin Haochen would eventually fall into You Xueer's fishpond in the future, at least his first impression was bad.
And everyone knew that first impressions were crucial.
In the novel, Jin Haochen and You Xueer's first meeting took place more than a dozen years later, by which time You Xueer had already reached the Golden Core stage.
Back then, Jin Haochen was psychologically warped, feeling that the world was entirely dark and gloomy, which was why he had been deeply captivated upon meeting You Xueer, who was as brilliant and radiant as sunshine.
Right now, You Xueer still harbored worldly little schemes and hadn't yet become a radiant, grand Golden Core cultivator. Nor had Jin Haochen developed a dark, warped psyche from those past events, so he likely wouldn't be as infatuated with You Xueer as the book described.
She smiled at Jin Haochen and said somewhat sheepishly, "Brother Jin, nobody hurt me."
That pale little face, those tear-dampened eyelashes, and that forced smile looked utterly pitiful no matter how one looked at it.
Jin Haochen's heart ached for her even more.
"Elder Sister..." You Xueer couldn't understand how things had escalated to this point. Facing everyone's condemnation, she stood at a loss, the innocent look she directed at You Xueer concealing a deep-seated resentment.
Jin Haochen had, after all, grown up in a major clan and lived for thirty or forty years; how could he possibly miss the resentment hidden in her gaze?
He frowned, but before he could do anything, You Xueer pulled on his sleeve and said, "B-Brother Jin, Sixth Senior Brother, I want to go back now."
"Alright, we won't look around anymore today," Jin Haochen said, then turned to the waiter from earlier. "Pack up the items Miss was looking at just now."
The waiter packed the long sword away, and Jin Haochen said, "We looked around for so long, and you only picked out a sword? Never mind, I'll have your other things prepared for you later."
You Xueer took out her Storage Bag to offer spiritual stones, but he pushed the sword right into her arms: "When you're with Big Brother, do you need to pay any spiritual stones? Let's go, we're heading back."
To maintain the appearance of being deeply affected by You Xueer, You Xueer couldn't refuse and instead forced out another fake smile: "Then thank you, Brother Jin."
"Let's go." Rong Xuan grabbed You Xueer's hand, while Jin Haochen walked on her other side, the two of them shielding You Xueer as they walked out of Wangyue Pavilion.
As they bypassed You Xueer, they didn't even spare her a single glance.
Once inside the beast-drawn carriage, You Xueer apologized somewhat remorsefully, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I messed up Brother Jin's affairs so he didn't even finish what he needed to do."
"It's about done anyway; I just originally wanted to take you around Wangyue Pavilion properly," Jin Haochen replied, then added immediately, "Ordinarily, it's not right to speak ill of people behind their backs, but that sister of yours—you'd better stay far away from her."
"Huh?"
"On the surface, she was acting concerned just now, but in reality, she was constantly condemning you. Later on, the look she gave you was filled with resentment. Even though she hid it well, I saw it very clearly. Her intentions are vicious, and if you keep interacting with her, you might get stabbed in the back without even knowing how it happened," Jin Haochen said.
You Xueer's jaw dropped.
Jin Haochen wasn't just having a bad impression of You Xueer—he outright loathed her!
She hadn't expected that meeting early would lead his and You Xueer's paths to diverge completely.
At this rate, he probably wouldn't end up falling into You Xueer's fishpond, right?
Seeing her drop her jaw in shock, Jin Haochen assumed she was startled by his words and reached out to flick her forehead: "Did you hear what Big Brother said?"
You Xueer covered her forehead and nodded: "I know. I won't interact with her. She—she used to bully me all the time, and I remember it."
Rong Xuan reached over to stroke her head: "Junior Sister, the Taiyi Sect is your home from now on. Senior Brother and Senior Sister will treat you well; you don't need to remember any of the unhappy things from the past."
You Xueer genuinely felt Rong Xuan's care, nodded, and smiled: "Mm, I will. I'll also protect Senior Brother and Senior Sister, and guard the Taiyi Sect well!"
After You Xueer and the others left, You Xueer watched them walk away, suddenly feeling as though something had drained right out of her body, leaving her feeling rather uncomfortable.
Was it because You Xueer had actually learned to fight back?
With no more excitement to watch, the onlookers also dispersed.
Looking at the aggrieved, tearful You Xueer, Li You said, "Junior Sister."
You Xueer twitched the corners of her mouth through her tears, attempting to defend herself: "Li Senior Brother, I—I really never bullied Elder Sister at home."
"Mm, Junior Sister is kind-hearted; I believe you didn't," Li You said. "Shall we go look at the things we need to buy?"
"The entrance to the Secret Realm might open at any time; we still need to get our preparations in order," Yu Feng also chimed in.
"Then I'll listen to both Senior Brothers."
Yu Feng nodded and headed toward the medicinal pill section first.
He didn't say much, but anyone with eyes could tell that You Xueer and You Xueer didn't have a good relationship, and it was equally clear that You Xueer had lived a hard life in the You family.
You Xueer wasn't quite as flawless as she had previously appeared, but her talent was exceptional, and she was also a direct disciple of a true immortal. Knowing that much was enough for him.
Upon returning to her quarters, You Xueer told them she was going into seclusion and not to disturb her until the Secret Realm opened.
She couldn't wait to test whether she could use Starlight Power to brew pills!
However, Jin Haochen and Rong Xuan assumed she had been triggered by running into You Xueer, which had brought back painful memories of the past and made her want to lock herself away to lick her wounds in solitude, filling them with heartache on her behalf.
Bearing the worried gazes of the two men, You Xueer closed the door behind her, then patted her chest.
As expected, that saying was true: Walk the path of others so they have nowhere to walk.
Playing the pitiful card wasn't rocket science; it wasn't like only certain people knew how to do it.
Once she put on a weak act, even the female protagonist couldn't handle it!
It was just that the aftereffects were a bit heavy; all the way back, Senior Brother and Big Brother Jin had been acting so high-strung that even she felt a little embarrassed.
Time to brew pills!
She tossed today's events to the back of her mind, laid out the medicinal herbs to sort them one by one, and brought out her pill cauldron to begin.
This time, she planned to brew the Azure Snow Pills she had made on her very first try.
She was already very familiar with this pill, able to consistently produce a hundred percent high-grade yield, with a quantity reaching seven pills.
The initial steps were the same as before. After putting the herbs in, she began using her Wood Spiritual Energy to process them and extract their essences. When it came time for the fusion stage, she began trying to guide the Starlight Power within her body out into the exterior and into the pill cauldron.
She had already grown very familiar with this step from channeling Starlight Power to Gungun previously.
She controlled the Starlight Power to merge the essences, discovering that with the addition of Starlight Power, the fusion of the herbal essences became even smoother and more flawless.
It worked!
Suppressing her surging excitement, she continued brewing. At the pill-condensation stage, she slowly infused both her Wood Spiritual Energy and Starlight Power in together.
A quarter of an hour later, she withdrew her hands and the corners of her lips curled upward.
Chapter 27: They'd Want to Beat Her to Death
She opened the lid of the pill cauldron. Though she already had a preliminary grasp of what was inside, seeing nine jade-green pills lying within still filled her with pleasant surprise.
Normally, people topped out at seven pills, and she had never heard of anyone exceeding that number, yet this time she had brewed nine!
This showed that the effect of adding Starlight Power was quite obvious!
She took the pills out. Seven were high-grade, while the other two bore lightning-like patterns on their surfaces and smelled much more fragrant than the other seven high-grade ones.
Their grade clearly looked a notch higher.
"Are these top-grade medicinal pills?"
She wasn't entirely certain, seeing as she had never seen what a top-grade pill looked like before.
"I'll just test one."
She had already experienced the effects of high-grade medicinal pills before, so she popped a patterned pill into her mouth. The instant she did, she felt the medicinal potency of this pill—it was even stronger than the second-grade healing pill her senior sister had previously let her try!
Not only was the medicinal strength greater, but the pill took effect much faster. If she were injured, the recovery time would be twice as fast as a first-grade high-grade Azure Snow Pill.
Let alone compared to medium-grade and low-grade ones.
Needless to say, this was definitely a top-grade medicinal pill!
On her very first try adding Starlight Power, she had produced two top-grade pills. She was overjoyed, and as she looked at the remaining pill, she thought the medicinal patterns on it looked more and more pleasing to the eye!
After celebrating for a good while, her stomach began to rumble. She ate a serving of seared second-grade Monster Beast meat, followed by a spirit fruit and a cup of spiritual tea. After closing her eyes to regulate her breath and completely calming her mindset, she brought out a second batch of herbs.
This time, she first used Starlight Power to nourish the herbs, then incorporated Starlight Power throughout the entire brewing process.
She found that with Starlight Power, extracting the herbal essences felt much more effortless, and the quality of the extracted essence was even better than before.
Aside from the time spent nourishing the herbs with Starlight Power at the very start, her actual brewing time was a quarter shorter than previously.
Once the brewing was finished, she rubbed her hands together in delight: "This Starlight Power is truly amazing! Now, it's time to witness the results!"
She opened the lid, and nine pills still lay inside the cauldron. Four were top-grade pills with medicinal patterns, while the other five were high-grade.
"It seems top-grade pills really are hard to make!" She shook her head, clearly unsatisfied with this outcome.
If other alchemists were to hear her say this, they would probably want to beat her to death.
Succeeding in making two top-grade pills on her first attempt, and four top-grade pills on her second batch—how could she still have the nerve to call this hard to brew?
You Xueer put the pills away. This time she wasn't as excited as before; once she stored the pills away and prepared to start the next batch, she realized that while her mental strength was fine, her internal Wood Spiritual Energy was running low.
There was no helping it; top-grade medicinal pills consumed far more spiritual energy than ordinary ones.
She popped a spiritual recovery pill into her mouth, conjured a sphere of water directed into the pill cauldron, and then controlled the water sphere to clean the cauldron thoroughly.
Once her Wood Spiritual Energy was mostly replenished, she started the next batch. After a full day of every single one of the nine Azure Snow Pills turning out to be top-grade, she switched to brewing spiritual recovery pills.
She was already accustomed to using Starlight Power for brewing, and her first batch of spiritual recovery pills yielded four top-grade ones.
Seeing her bottles filled with top-grade medicinal pills multiply, You Xueer felt a surge of joy and became more motivated than ever.
If not for the fact that her Wood Spiritual Energy rank was too low and required her to "restore HP" from time to time, she would have wanted to brew non-stop!
Before heading out, she had advanced to rank five in Wood Spiritual Energy, rank four in Fire Spiritual Energy, and her Water Spiritual Energy was the weakest at just rank one.
This was because she had spent the last two months focusing heavily on alchemy and reading, leaving far less time for cultivation.
Even so, having advanced to ranks five and four within just half a year of entering the sect still shocked Ji Qing and the others.