Li Ruoshui simply cleaned the daoist’s wounds before sitting to one side to tally her gains.
The Giant Eagle was a demon cultivator. Though she didn’t know why it hadn’t transformed into its human form at the end, it didn’t matter. Everything in its Universe Pouch belonged to her now. However, the demon cultivator wasn’t particularly wealthy—no Spirit Jade Pills or Cinnabar Sand. Instead, there was a damaged dao manual titled Perfect Golden Body.
This was a Power Dao technique for tempering the fleshly body. For daoists who cultivated this path, it could serve as a foundational scripture. But for Li Ruoshui, it was merely a type of physique. She hadn’t paid it much mind at first, but after flipping through a few pages, her expression grew solemn. She didn’t fully understand some of the specific terms, but she could grasp that it left no gaps or leaks throughout the body. When cultivated to a profound level, it became indestructible and imperishable.
However, this damaged version could only be cultivated up to the Golden Core Realm.
Moreover, its cultivation method involved drenching the body in spirit medicine—in short, burning money!
The Giant Eagle’s storage pouch contained some medicines for this drenching process, corresponding only to the Shedding Mortality Realm. It seemed it hadn’t even started cultivating before crashing into its death.
Li Ruoshui carefully stowed the items away. She glanced at the daoist’s finger twitching and drawled, “Awake?”
The daoist remained silent, continuing to play dead.
Li Ruoshui pulled out a contract talisman and waved it in front of her. “You pressed your handprint on this. You now owe me ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine Spirit Jade Pills. We’ll round it up to a clean hundred thousand.”
The daoist was so infuriated by Li Ruoshui that she woke up. Her pale face flushed red with blood, and she struggled to sit up against a rock, trembling all over. “You used my medicine!”
Li Ruoshui smiled. “But at the time, you didn’t even have the strength to move, did you?”
The daoist pointed at Li Ruoshui, wanting to curse but unable to get the words out. “You took advantage of someone in distress!”
Li Ruoshui’s eyes flickered as she recalled Feng Qing’s warning, then declared righteously, “I learned it from Medicine King Mountain.”
The daoist: “……”
Li Ruoshui asked again, “Fellow Daoist, is this your first time in the Return to Ruins Gap?” She wasn’t skilled at recruiting people, but she couldn’t let Feng Qing die.
The daoist glared at Li Ruoshui warily. “No.”
Li Ruoshui said, “So Fellow Daoist is also venturing out from your sect for the first time. What a coincidence—I’m new here too. Shall we travel together?” The stories mentioned that medical cultivators generally lacked combat prowess and rarely appeared on the front lines battling Ruin Spirits. These people were never short on money and had no need to scour the Return to Ruins Gap for resources. Even the Return to Ruins Gaps at their own sect gates were guarded by other sects on their behalf.
That said, why had this little medical cultivator come to Taiyi Sect’s Path of No Return?
The daoist pursed her lips and swallowed two more pills.
Li Ruoshui coaxed her patiently. “If you come with me, I’ll wipe the slate clean on that debt.”
The daoist took a deep breath. She was still at her mercy for now. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Yao Changliu.” She paused, then asked, “And you, Fellow Daoist? Which sect are you from?”
Li Ruoshui lied without batting an eye. “Wind Moon Heartless Sect, Li Shangshan.” Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare falsely claim a sect affiliation—that was akin to betraying one’s master and ancestors—but Li Ruoshui had no such qualms.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yao Changliu revealed an “I knew it” expression. Even without seeing Li Ruoshui’s sword, she harbored no doubts about her words.
Li Ruoshui was still mulling over how to flesh out her fabricated identity when Yao Changliu said “Sure,” agreeing to her proposal.
Yao Changliu had her own considerations. Before leaving, her honored master had mentioned that Wind Moon Heartless Sect was one of the Seven Sects, after all. Some sword cultivators were unscrupulous, but in true life-or-death moments, they wouldn’t abandon companions and flee alone.
Li Ruoshui: “……” Was it that this little medical cultivator lacked experience traveling abroad, or was some sect’s reputation so poor that nothing seemed out of character for them? After a moment’s thought, Li Ruoshui decided to let her new teammate witness the world’s dangers firsthand.
She stood up and loomed over Yao Changliu. She even channeled spiritual qi to produce a double-loop electronic sound effect. After a sinister “keh keh” cackle, she said, “In that case, Fellow Daoist, come with me to the Return to Ruins Realm.”
Yao Changliu’s expression changed drastically. Her figure flashed like lightning, retreating several zhang from Li Ruoshui in an instant as she stared at her warily.
Li Ruoshui dropped her villainous act. She covered her mouth and coughed lightly before saying earnestly, “In the Return to Ruins Gap, you should always verify someone’s identity first, right? Your vigilance is too low, Fellow Daoist.” She pulled out the Tianyan Mirror and waved it at Yao Changliu, adding her as a friend. Then she sent a warm greeting to Feng Qing.
“Still alive?”
“I found a medical cultivator. Labor fee: ten thousand Spirit Jade Pills. When the bet opens, we’ll split it two-eight.”
Feng Qing: “???”
Feng Qing: “Dead.”
Azure Wood Canyon.
Feng Qing sat in meditation inside a secluded mountain cave.
She hadn’t pinned her hopes of finding a medical cultivator on Li Ruoshui. She’d shaken down several people via the Tianyan Mirror, but they’d all been unfriendly, telling her to scram.
Feng Qing fiddled with the Tianyan Mirror, worried about scaring off the one medical cultivator. She messaged Li Ruoshui, “Can’t you haggle?”
Li Ruoshui: “No.” The woman hadn’t even set a price—how could she haggle? “Can’t you sword cultivators just charge right in?”
Feng Qing: “What kind of talk is that, Fellow Daoist? Do sword cultivators not fear death?!”
Li Ruoshui chuckled coldly. “I remember when I asked in the Dharma Realm how to break through Heart Fixing, you told me to get beaten half to death on the Martial Practice platform and I’d know.”
Feng Qing had nearly forgotten about that herself, but it did sound like something she’d say. She replied incredulously, “……Why are you holding such a grudge?”
Li Ruoshui: “I just have a good memory and never forget.”
Li Ruoshui could locate Azure Wood Canyon using the map markers, but pinpointing Feng Qing among its countless caves was tricky. After clearing three vine-choked cave mouths and startling a swarm of snakes and insects, Li Ruoshui grew irritated and itched to burn the whole mountain down.
Li Ruoshui: “Fellow Daoist Feng Qing, are you a mouse?”
Feng Qing: “I set up a sword array in the cave. I can’t break it.”
Li Ruoshui endured it and searched five caves before finding Feng Qing.
Not only were there hanging vines, but also boulders sealing the entrance. After shattering the boulders, there was still a sword array that even Feng Qing herself couldn’t undo. Feng Qing was reluctant to brute-force her own array disc, but Li Ruoshui had no such reservations. She vented her pent-up urge to beat Feng Qing senseless on the array disc.
Amid ghostly wails and wolfish howls, a figure darted from the cave. She wore a sleek black-and-gold slanted-collar robe with no superfluous adornments—simple and efficient. Her high ponytail swayed with her movements. Seeing the person lunging at her, Li Ruoshui inexplicably felt an itch in her foot.
Feng Qing swerved midway, dodging Li Ruoshui’s poised kick. She pounced toward the stunned Yao Changliu instead, brimming with enthusiasm and acting like old friends. “This must be Medicine King Mountain’s prodigy, Fellow Daoist Yao Changliu? Might I ask under whom you study?”
Yao Changliu, thin-skinned, flusteredly dodged behind Li Ruoshui.
Feng Qing covered her mouth and coughed, then turned to gaze at Li Ruoshui. “Fellow Daoist Shangshan, seeing is believing—you’re truly not to be judged by appearances. You must be my half-sister from a different mother and master.”
That dog of a sword cultivator never spoke kindly—one look and you knew her heart was black. Li Ruoshui rolled her eyes at her. “What enemy has you hiding so deep?”
Feng Qing didn’t answer. She turned to Yao Changliu instead. “That ten thousand Spirit Jade Pills—Fellow Daoist Yao, I’m actually not worth much.”
Yao Changliu looked bewildered between Li Ruoshui and Feng Qing, slow on the uptake. Puzzled, she said, “Ten thousand Spirit Jade Pills?” Then she turned to Li Ruoshui. “You two……haven’t met before? Fellow Daoist Shangshan, you’re not from Wind Moon Heartless Sect?”
Feng Qing leaned in eagerly. “Ah? Does Fellow Daoist Shangshan want to join my Wind Moon Heartless Sect?”
Li Ruoshui shoved Feng Qing away. “Go to the side.”
Feng Qing grinned, her gaze darting between Yao Changliu and Li Ruoshui. Brimming with interest, she said, “Are you new to Medicine King Mountain? I visit like it’s home—how have I never seen you, Fellow Daoist?”
Yao Changliu: “……”
Silence fell around them.
In the quiet, their scattered words wove into a clear thread, causing the three to simultaneously step back.
Li Ruoshui: “You’re not a Medicine King Mountain cultivator?”
Yao Changliu: “You’re not from Wind Moon Heartless Sect?”
Feng Qing’s voice rang out last, like thunder: “Li Shangshan! You actually tried to swindle my Spirit Jade Pills?!”
