Seeing Tao Yaoye still dazed, another burly man chimed in hurriedly, "Our chamber of commerce also offers wealth management products! Eight to twelve percent annual interest, guaranteed profit with zero risk of loss!"
Tao Yaoye gained a profound appreciation for what Senior Brother Lu had said about keeping one's wealth hidden, lest it invite trouble.
Now the trouble had arrived.
One after another, they pitched investment management, setting up foundations, low risk, high returns... None of it made any sense to her.
"No, I don't need any of that," Tao Yaoye refused firmly.
What did twelve percent interest amount to anyway? If she invested these ten million spirit stones into Dream Bubble to expand its scale, her returns would dwarf a paltry twelve percent interest.
"Is that so? What a pity, then." Seeing Tao Yaoye's resolute attitude, the burly men could only shake their heads in regret and give up.
Such a fat duck, yet she just wouldn't take the bait!
Fortunately, this was merely a minor interlude. No major incidents happened along the way.
Aside from some officials stopping the flying boat to claim that a suspected murderer was hiding on board and demanding to verify everyone's identity, after which the murderer lashed out in violence only to be subdued by those same burly product-pitching men from the chamber of commerce.
The murderer had shouted that he had already poisoned the captain, that only he possessed the antidote, and that if they didn't release him, the captain would surely die and they would all perish when the boat crashed.
Unfortunately, before anyone could step forward to say they knew how to steer a flying boat, the captain walked out and announced that he was a poison cultivator, meaning poison was useless against him, before heading right back to pilot the boat.
There was also a Golden Core cultivator skipping fare—he had originally been flying on his own, popping pills as he flew, but grew exhausted along the way. Just as the flying boat passed by, he slipped onto the stern to hitch a free ride.
Too bad his concealment skills were lacking, and he failed to bypass the ticket-checking formation, so he was caught and made to pay the fare.
And a pregnant woman went into labor, falling unconscious from the agony. Fortunately, an alchemist among the passengers stepped in, saving the lives of both mother and daughter.
"Honey, wake up! We're almost at our stop!" Her husband clutched her hand and shouted desperately, but the excruciating pain had already driven the woman unconscious.
The onlookers were beside themselves with anxiety, completely at a loss. With the mother unconscious, would it cost both lives?
"I'm an alchemist. Let me." A woman's voice rang out, sounding vaguely familiar to Lu Yang.
He turned his head and saw that the speaker was a female cultivator whose cuffs were embroidered with a ring of golden pill patterns. This was an alchemist's robe that only certified alchemists were entitled to wear. Hanging at her waist was an identity jade pendant from the Dao Seeking Sect.
Lu Yang remembered her now. She was a senior sister from Pill Cauldron Peak named Moli, who had stood right in the middle of the line when they queued up to beat him.
This meant that among the senior brothers and sisters who had beaten Lu Yang, Senior Sister Moli's strength sat right around the median level—the Nascent Soul stage.
Lu Yang didn't rush forward to greet her; he was also curious to see how Senior Sister Moli planned to help the pregnant woman.
Senior Sister Moli swept her divine sense over the woman to assess her condition, her brows furrowing slightly.
The woman was in too deep a coma; she wouldn't wake without drastic measures, but overly harsh methods might harm the child.
In that case, there was only one way.
Senior Sister Moli closed her eyes. A three-inch-tall figure flew out from her spiritual platform and entered the pregnant woman's head, temporarily taking over her body.
Waaah—
Before long, an infant cried as it entered the world.
"Done."
Senior Sister Moli breathed a sigh of relief as her Nascent Soul returned to her body.
Seeing the child born and both mother and baby safe, the husband gripped Senior Sister Moli's hand in excitement. "Thank you so much for giving birth to a child for my wife! Thank you so much!"
Senior Sister Moli: "..."
If you don't know how to express gratitude, you don't have to speak.
Senior Sister Moli pleaded and reasoned every which way, only to completely fail at dissuading him from sending a brocade banner.
"Senior Sister Moli," Lu Yang stepped forward to greet her once things wrapped up.
"Junior Brother Lu? And Junior Sister Tao... and this is Junior Sister Lan Ting from Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, if I recall? How did the three of you end up together?"
Senior Sister Moli had a pretty good impression of Lu Yang. After all, the two of them had shared intimate physical contact, and blood had even been drawn.
"Junior Sister Tao and I were out on a mission and happened to bump into Junior Sister Lan Ting on the same mission. Just a coincidence."
"I see."
"What about you, Senior Sister Moli? Are you on a mission too?"
Senior Sister Moli shook her sleeves with a touch of pride. "I went to take the alchemist certification exam. Look, I just got these robes."
"Senior Sister, haven't you been an alchemist for a long time?" Senior Sister Moli was already in the Nascent Soul stage, so how was she only just becoming an alchemist?
"Ah, that was recognized only within the sect, not on the outside. Practicing medicine out there counted as illegal practice and could easily get you arrested. Whenever I went out on missions, I had to treat people in secret.
"A few days ago, I got to thinking: rather than deal with all that hassle every time, why not just get an alchemist certification?"
"Congratulations on becoming a certified alchemist of the Alchemy Alliance, Senior Sister," Lu Yang cupped his hands in congratulations, and Tao Yaoye and Lan Ting followed suit.
Senior Sister Moli waved her hand dismissively, feeling annoyed just recalling the exam. "What's there to congratulate? Taking the exam was a whole mess of trouble. I got the date wrong and walked into the wrong exam hall. Only after finishing did I realize it was the selection exam for branch presidents of the Alchemy Alliance. I was wondering why there were so many high-level contenders who could almost keep up with me.
"I took first place. But when they re-verified everyone's identity after the test, they realized I wasn't even a certified alchemist, so I wasn't qualified to take it.
"I had no choice but to run over to the apprentice alchemist exam hall. There I was, concocting pills in front, while a bunch of grandmaster alchemists stood behind me taking notes on how I did it. Annoying to death."
Lu Yang thought that what Senior Sister really should have considered was how much psychological trauma the apprentice alchemists taking the exam alongside her must have suffered.
"Well, you see the result. I successfully became a certified alchemist.
"The Alchemy Alliance even asked if I could serve as branch president. I figured it sounded like too much work, so I declined. In the end, they insisted on saddling me with the title of honorary branch president anyway."
Senior Sister Moli retrieved a golden pill cauldron badge from her identity jade pendant. On the back, two characters were engraved: "Moli."
Lu Yang: "..."
Should he say this was just like a senior sister from Pill Cauldron Peak? Her way of doing things truly stood apart from ordinary people.
Fortunately, after assisting with the childbirth, nothing else happened, and the flying boat arrived safely at the Dao Seeking Sect.
"Goodbye, Junior Sister Lan!"
"Goodbye!"
Lu Yang and Lan Ting waved farewell to each other.
The route of this flying boat included stops at both the Dao Seeking Sect and the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace.
Upon reaching the Dao Seeking Sect and entering the core area, they saw their fellow disciple Meng Jingzhou passing by.
"You're out of secluded cultivation?" Lu Yang casually called out to Meng Jingzhou.
"Secluded cultivation?" Meng Jingzhou was utterly bewildered.
Tao Yaoye said with a smile, "Did Senior Brother Meng forget? A few days ago, when I was heading out on a mission, I wanted to invite you and Senior Brother Lu. But you were in secluded cultivation at the time, so in the end, Senior Brother Lu and I had to go do the mission together."
Meeting Tao Yaoye's calm gaze—which held a faint hint of a threat—Meng Jingzhou immediately put on an expression of sudden realization.
"Oh, right! I really was in secluded cultivation those few days. I just came out, so my head's still a bit fuzzy."
Chapter 524