"Brother Rou," she said, "give me all the information you have about that heaven-defying pill."

Brother Rou looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Why are you so interested in this legend? I thought you needed information about this city."

"Of course," Fang Ruxue replied instantly, "but isn't a legend like that important information, too? I just want to make sure I don't miss anything. Besides, isn't something like this more exciting than talking about politics? It makes you wonder about our vast world. How many legends are based on true stories? And what if one of them is true and within reach?"

She smiled excitedly at Brother Rou, and it was genuine. While her goal in becoming a cultivator was to kill and protect, she couldn't lie and say that the legends about cultivators weren't alluring. She wondered what it would be like to become a legendary cultivator whose feats became myth and whose name was written in history. It was a thrilling thought.

Seeing her smile, Brother Rou blushed, and he tried to look away as if her face was too bright. In the end, however, he met her gaze and smiled too, as if the pain and grudge from his past were temporarily forgotten.

"Well," he cleared his throat, "the legend of this heaven-defying pill is actually quite new. It originated about thirty years ago. At that time, I had just joined the Jin clan. The story came from a weird incident that happened on this island. A golden thunder struck the peak of our mountain, and qi suddenly became abundant for a short time. I remember it vividly because it was what allowed me to break through to the third stage of the Lock Opening realm."

Fang Ruxue dragged her chair a little closer, leaning in to catch every word. "And this pill was the result of that golden thunder?"

"There are many stories about what happened then. If you were a resident of Water Tower City, you would know that what followed was a conflict between the Qing and Jin clans. It was quite bad, actually; war almost erupted because of it, but the reason was vague. Some said the Qing clan offended the patriarch. Some said it was because the Jin clan burned down one of the Qing clan's businesses and accidentally killed a member of the Qing patriarch's family. But one of the most prominent rumors stated that the conflict was because the golden thunder struck a blade of grass, turning it golden and transforming it into a valuable herb that, if refined, could create a pill that could steal innate talent from the heavens themselves."

"So, who got the grass and made the pill? Was it the Jin clan or the Qing clan?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know. In the first place, even if the rumor about the golden grass was prominent, it was still just a rumor. No one ever saw that golden grass, and many of the stories conflict with each other. The Qing clan claimed they got it and that the golden grass was stored in the most secure place within their clan, waiting for the right time to be refined. The Jin clan claimed the same."

Fang Ruxue's mind began to race with ideas, and her heart beat excitedly in her chest. Brother Rou said it was merely a legend, with many conflicting stories. However, she believed it was not an empty one. After all, she knew something Brother Rou didn't, something that might even make him believe.

She knew about Liu Xing.

By this point, she knew he was important—a disciple from the Purple Moon Sect, one most powerful sect in the world. Such a disciple had been given the mission of retrieving a pill here. Any pill that required his attention had to be miraculous, and this heaven-defying pill, which could steal innate talent from the heavens themselves, fit the bill.

She tried to fish for more information from Brother Rou. As he began to recite each of the rumors he had heard, she began to wonder what kind of reward she should give to him and his grandpa. She had nothing on her, but Liu Xing would surely have valuable things to offer. Ideally, something that could heal him would be best, but even money would immensely help their daily lives.

As he told her a story about a man who claimed to have seen the golden grass in the innermost chamber of the Jin clan, he suddenly stopped talking.

"Why did you stop talking, Brother Rou?" Fang Ruxue raised her eyebrows. She knew not all his stories would be helpful, but the more, the better.

The man pinched his chin. "Actually, I just remembered something that seems important."

"What is it?" she asked eagerly, hoping it was valuable.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"If I remember correctly, several years after the golden thunder struck the mountain and the rumors about the golden grass had mostly settled, an alchemist from the Jin clan suddenly died. I remember him as a man we called Alchemist Rat. We called him that because of a rumor that a rat had fallen into his cauldron while he was refining a pill. Anyway, he died suddenly, and while he wasn't popular, the news of his death was the main commotion for several days."

"What was the reason for his death?" she asked.

"It's… I don't remember exactly, but I think it was poison. Ah, to clarify, he wasn't poisoned by other people. Most pills are made from potent herbs that often contain poison, so alchemists need to learn how to handle these substances. The official reason for his death was that he made a mistake while handling some kind of herb. But the thing that interested me wasn't his death, but what happened after. The Jin clan decided that to prevent the herbs' poisons from harming anyone else, the Alchemy Hall needed to be relocated to a new place. For security purposes, the location was hidden, and to this day, I don't know where it is."

She pinched her chin as she tried to find a connection between the relocation and the legend of the heaven-defying pill.

"Perhaps, just perhaps," said Fang Ruxue, "this new Alchemy Hall was actually meant to accommodate the golden grass so they could experiment with it in peace."

"That's what I thought," he nodded.

She could imagine a golden grass so important that everything about it needed to be handled secretly and carefully. After all, it was a herb that could cause a war.

"Brother Rou, you said you don't know where the Alchemy Hall is, but do you have any idea?"

Brother Rou smiled. "I do, but aren't you going to steer the conversation to other topics first, so it won't be obvious that you're trying to get this pill?"

"How sharp," she said. She had considered changing the subject after he told the legend of the heaven-defying pill, but her excitement had won out. It seemed from this lapse, Brother Rou understood that she was after this pill, or at the very least, some kind of pill. It would explain her interest and excitement. "But no need. At this point, I'm too impatient to ask about anything else."

"Do you want this pill, Fang Ruxue, or is this merely your mission?" he asked. "If it's a mission, who assigned it to you? Are you perhaps from the Mirror Tide Empire?"

She tapped her fingers on her lap and hummed noncommittally. She wondered whether to tell him about Liu Xing. Logically, it was a stupid thing to do. Liu Xing was a fugitive currently being hunted by the Mirror Tide Empire, and the entire Wild Tide Region was hostile to him because of the Purple Moon Sect's connection to the Nether Lotus Sect. However, Brother Rou had been useful to her, and giving him some information would at least be an attempt to even the scales. In the end though, she decided to be vague about it.

"Not the Mirror Tide Empire, but a disciple from a particular sect. He saved me and is taking the time to find me a new home. This information gathering is just my way of helping him."

"Is that so," he gazed into her eyes, as if trying to convey something, and she understood what it was. A warning.

"You don't need to worry about me, Brother Rou. I can't lie and say he isn't dangerous. I've seen him use his power to kill, but I've also seen him use it to protect me and my sisters. He is kind. There's no doubt about it." She inhaled deeply. Indeed, she could read Liu Xing. While he was dangerous, he was also kind and gentle. "More importantly, where is the new Alchemy Hall located? Do you have a guess?"

He looked at her for a few moments before he sighed. "I don't know its exact location, but in the north of this island—"

Just then, the blind healer suddenly entered the house. Instantly, she and Brother Rou turned their heads toward him. The old man was clutching his knees, his back bent, and his breath was rough and short, as if he had just run a kilometer straight. Sweat dotted his face. There was no cane in his hand, and he wiped his forehead with his right hand until it was drenched. Fang Ruxue thought that while maybe not a kilometer, the blind healer had clearly been running a long way, as if he had been in a great hurry to get back.

Instantly, a bad premonition settled in her heart. This old man's usual gait was slow and calm. Anything that would make him run had to be bad. Perhaps there had been an accident and he needed his supplies to save a life.

"What happened, old man? Is someone injured?" she asked.

"You… you need to go, young lady," he said between breaths. "There are people searching for you!"

"Who are they?" Brother Rou asked. "Is it people from the Jin clan?"

"No," the old man said, shaking his head as he struggled to catch his breath. "It's from the Qing clan. Zhang Yupo's child came to me and said that they are violently interrogating people. They're looking for someone new who's been asking a lot of questions. It's only a matter of time before they come here!"

Fang Ruxue's face turned pale, and her heart palpitated. There had been a commotion involving the Qing clan when she was in the city, and she had seen a man flying over it with a trail of blue fire behind him. At the time, while a part of her worried he was looking for her or Liu Xing, she had ultimately dismissed it. After all, they had just arrived. But it seemed that was not the case. Maybe she had messed up, or maybe Liu Xing had. Whatever the reason, the fact that they were looking for her meant trouble, and she decided she didn't want to be caught and detained by them.

Just then, she heard the sound of uniform footsteps approaching from the distance, like a small army marching. She instantly ran to a window and peeked out. Outside, she saw several people walking hurriedly toward the small hut. Their expressions were fierce, as if they were marching to catch a dangerous criminal.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.