Good Fortune

Ran Qingmo had arrived. Her clothes were somewhat torn, revealing patches of fair, delicate skin at her shoulder and waist. However, her breathing remained steady, showing no signs of injury. Xu Yuan looked at the woman on the teleportation dais, clad in black with eyes clear as autumn waters, momentarily dazed. *Fighting with the crazy woman...* *Did Tianyan head to the sect master's private quarters in Vault Palace?* *Wait, no.* *Why can Ran Qingmo use the teleportation array too?* At that thought, Xu Yuan instinctively glanced sideways at the spirit puppet woman beside him. Yet the puppet woman showed no intention of attacking Ran Qingmo whatsoever. Instead, she offered Ran Qingmo a graceful, leisurely bow. "Grand Elder, you have arrived." "......" Xu Yuan fell silent. *Grand Elder...* *What Grand Elder?* Xu Yuan said nothing for a moment. According to what he knew, there were only two ways to activate the teleportation arrays. The first was to receive the blessing of the Meishen cherry tree. The second was to kill the crazy woman and loot the token from her corpse. Other than those, there was no other way. Xu Yuan looked at Ran Qingmo with a strange expression and asked softly, "Ran Qingmo, where did you come from?" Ran Qingmo walked slowly down from the teleportation dais, thought for a moment, and said, "Um... it seemed to be a secret pill chamber." "A secret pill chamber?" Xu Yuan's expression grew odd. No such map existed in Cangyuan. Ran Qingmo nodded. On her own, she retrieved a jade bottle from her Sumeru ring and handed it to Xu Yuan. "Xu Yuan, do you recognize these pills?" Xu Yuan instinctively took it and looked down. Inside the small jade bottle were only five white pills, their surfaces faintly encircled by pill veins. One look was enough to tell they were no ordinary items. Before Xu Yuan could speak, the Saint's remnant soul clicked his tongue in admiration. "Tsk, tsk... Seven Treasures Firmament Pills. This little girl's luck is truly astonishing." Hearing the name, Xu Yuan felt deeply impressed despite not knowing what it meant. "Are these pills very precious?" The Saint's remnant soul replied casually, "Heh... They aren't overly precious, but the refinement materials are quite rare." Xu Yuan felt slightly surprised. "What are its effects?" The Saint's remnant soul chuckled. "Extending lifespan and preserving youth." "Just that?" Xu Yuan asked. "A pill developed by the Hehuan Sect naturally wouldn't have just that. When consumed by women, it nourishes yin; when consumed by men..." At that point, the Saint's remnant soul paused. "When consumed by men, it invigorates yang." "......" Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched. Clearing his throat, Xu Yuan handed the jade bottle back to Ran Qingmo. "These are Seven Treasures Firmament Pills." Ran Qingmo's eyes flickered, seemingly recalling their effects as a look of realization dawned on her. "Oh, okay." With that, she uncorked the bottle, took out a single pill, and handed the remaining four back to Xu Yuan. "Xu Yuan, these are for you." "Pfft—" Before Xu Yuan could say a word, the Saint's remnant soul burst into laughter. "Four pills... Brat Xu, this little sweetheart of yours is terrified you won't be up to the task! But thinking about it, that makes sense. You seem to have another sweetheart with the Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique, so your future days—" "......" The Saint's remnant soul began chattering incessantly again. Seeing this, Xu Yuan directly severed their intent-soul link. Unlike the protagonist in the game's plot, who could only passively endure Old Man Luo's long-windedness, Xu Yuan could voluntarily cut the intent-soul connection. This was a restriction his eldest brother had placed on the Saint's remnant soul; when necessary, it could even seal all five of the Saint's senses inside the soul ring, preventing him from coming out at all. With peace restored to his ears, Xu Yuan did not reject Ran Qingmo's goodwill. Taking the jade bottle, he handed over the Meteorite Ice Bead given to him by the Leech King before it perished. Ran Qingmo seemed to cultivate ice-attributed sword arts, and this Meteorite Ice Bead happened to be an ice-element rare treasure, so it might prove useful to her. The moment Ran Qingmo saw the bead, her tranquil eyes widened slightly. However, she did not take it, looking somewhat downcast instead as she said softly, "...I don't have anything else to trade with you." The value of the Meteorite Ice Bead was certainly higher than the Seven Treasures Firmament Pills, especially so for her. Xu Yuan said nothing. Taking her slender wrist, he moved to force the bead into her hand. Ran Qingmo's autumn-water eyes remained somewhat stubborn, and she refused to take it. Xu Yuan frowned and said word by word, "Be good." "......" After a moment of silence, Ran Qingmo pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay..." Xu Yuan walked over and sat on the steps, patting the spot next to him to signal Ran Qingmo to sit as well. Since Tianyan was fighting the crazy woman, Xu Yuan was in no hurry. That crazy woman was the only Level 90 boss in this entire Vault Palace. Ran Qingmo obediently gathered her torn black skirt and sat down beside him. Xu Yuan glanced at the tears in her clothing. Not having seen her for a week, it seemed this giant ice block had not had an easy time in Vault Palace. Looking at her, Xu Yuan asked, "Did you run into the mountain-guarding spirit puppets in Vault Palace earlier?" "Mm." Ran Qingmo nodded. "Where? In that Pill Storage Pavilion you mentioned?" "No. After I came in, I was teleported into an underground palace." "An underground palace?" Xu Yuan was astonished. No such map existed in Cangyuan, just as there had been no Pill Storage Pavilion. Ran Qingmo pondered for a moment and said in a low voice, "That underground palace was very large. Inside, I encountered five Rank Three spirit puppets, but they were pretty foolish. After a few ambushes, they all broke." Xu Yuan understood and smiled. "So you spent these past few days exploring that underground palace?" Ran Qingmo shook her head, then replied earnestly, "I spent these past few days cultivating." This unexpected answer made Xu Yuan frown. "Cultivating?" A trace of regret flashed across Ran Qingmo's dark eyes. "After entering that underground palace, I found the Pill Storage Pavilion that very day. However, most of the pills inside were ruined; only a few were still usable." "......" Xu Yuan was speechless. He could not understand this at all. The importance of a place like a Pill Storage Pavilion in a sect should be in no way inferior to a Scripture Depository. This Scripture Depository had so many mountain-guarding spirit puppets, yet the Pill Storage Pavilion had none? With a strange expression, Xu Yuan asked, "Were there no spirit puppets in that Pill Storage Pavilion?" "There were, but most were broken," Ran Qingmo answered in all seriousness. "Only one puppet with the power of roughly Rank Two was still functioning, but halfway through the fight, it broke too." "......" Xu Yuan remained silent. As if remembering something, Ran Qingmo retrieved a token from her Sumeru ring. "Oh, right. I also found this token in the deepest part of the Pill Storage Pavilion. It seems it can be used to control the arrays within the sect." "......" Xu Yuan stared at her. *Is this the treatment that comes with ninety-three Luck?* Xu Yuan exhaled and chuckled. "I think I get the picture now. But what did you mean when you said Tianyan and a crazy woman got into a fight?" Ran Qingmo hesitated briefly before recounting everything truthfully. "I was cultivating at the time when the arrays outside fluctuated. I used the token to look at the situation inside the sect through the Sky-Peeking Array, and I saw the two of them fighting." "In the sect master's private quarters?" Xu Yuan asked. Ran Qingmo shook her head. "Next to a withered cherry tree. "Also... "Tianyan doesn't seem to be a match for that woman."