In fact, Song Yan did not know Granny Qin’s true background, or rather, he knew absolutely nothing, but this did not prevent Song Yan from trusting her.

About nine months ago, Song Yan took his two bottles of Qi Nourishing Pill, which barely resembled pills, and ran all over the Lingyuanze Market. No one was willing to accept such a small quantity of Qi Nourishing Pill.

Not to mention, the quality of these Medicinal Pill was extremely poor.

It wasn’t until he, holding onto a last sliver of hope, walked into this secluded little shop, which had just opened for business at the time, and met Granny Qin.

"You brat."

Qin Xijun suddenly delivered a sharp blow to Song Yan’s head, pulling him out of his memories.

"Do you think this Granny’s place is a black market, huh? Bringing all sorts of shady things here to sell. "

"Confess honestly, where did you get them?"

Song Yan chuckled apologetically and immediately recounted his experience down the mountain to Granny Qin in detail.

"Demonic Cultivator."

Qin Xijun pondered for a moment.

"They’ve appeared again."

"Granny, then... I don’t need these things either. Since you won’t take them, why don’t we just destroy them."

Song Yan expressed a slight regret, but he didn’t feel much disappointment.

"Tsk, why are you so honest?"

Qin Xijun rolled her eyes at him: "Things have no good or bad. It just depends on how people use them."

"Oh."

Song Yan looked at the bottle of Spirit Transformation Blood Pill and couldn’t help but wonder: Do these also have no good or bad?

"Granny here, certainly can’t sell them... But then again..."

Qin Xijun glanced at Song Yan, seeing only the almost overflowing clear foolishness in the boy’s eyes, and immediately lost interest in teasing him.

"Do you know about the Lingyuan Ze Night Market, kid?"

"Night Market... just means the market opens at night, right?"

Song Yan was confused.

"..."

Qin Xijun had a headache and muttered to herself, "This child doesn’t understand anything, you know..."

"On the nineteenth of next month, the Lingyuan Ze Night Market will open. I’ll take you there to fence the goods..."

"Understand? If you understand, scram!"

Thump!

By the time Song Yan regained his senses, he had already been moved to the entrance of the Relief Grocery Store, and the wooden door had slammed shut.

"Yan... Yan Yan... who was she?"

The little snake finally dared to peek out from his robe, still shaken: "A bit scary."

Song Yan gave a wry smile. Granny Qin was good in every way, except her temper was a bit explosive.

"Granny Qin is a very good person... it’s just that her temper is a bit..."

"Speaking of which, I wonder how old she is now..."

He knew that a Cultivator’s appearance could not be used as a basis for judging age.

In the Cultivator world, there were countless ways to maintain a youthful appearance. For example, there was a Medicinal Pill called the Youth Retaining Pill.

One pill could keep one young for ten years.

Whatever one looked like when taking the pill, one would still look that way even if one’s Lifespan was exhausted overnight.

This Medicinal Pill was a popular best-seller among both male and female Cultivator, especially favored by female Cultivator.

However, this pill was quite complex and not something Song Yan could refine yet.

He didn’t know if Granny Qin was an Inner Sect Disciple or an Outer Sect Disciple, but since she called herself Granny Qin, she should be quite old. He personally speculated she might be fifty or sixty years old, and coupled with her profound and unfathomable spiritual power techniques... she must at least be in the Late Stage of the Qi Refinement Stage...

Shaking his head, Song Yan cast aside these jumbled thoughts and returned to his Immortal Cave.

Senior Brother Lin Qing had told him that, based on his time since joining the Sect, he would need to take on a formal outward Sect mission in two years, which would naturally be much more difficult than miscellaneous tasks.

The most important thing he needed to do now was to improve his immediate combat strength.

Breakthrough to Qi Refining Stage 6 within half a year? He didn’t even consider it.

With his Aptitude and Cultivation resources, this was nothing short of a pipe dream.

He took out the Flying Sword from his qiankun bag. The bloodstains on it seemed to have faded a bit, but it still emitted a foul, fishy smell.

Song Yan tried to use spiritual power to clean off the bloodstains. Perhaps because the owner of the blood was dead, this simple method proved surprisingly effective.

Soon, the Flying Sword was as clean as new, and he could wield it with ease.

When he faced Lu Xiaowei and the other two, the Flying Sword, which he had thought would be a great weapon, suffered a major setback, and Song Yan was very dissatisfied.

Could it be that he had no talent for sword control?

Impossible, absolutely impossible... it was just that his combat experience was too poor.

Song Yan found an excuse for himself, recovering some spiritual power. He ignored Xu Youhe, who was playing around in the Immortal Cave, and immersed himself in Cultivate the nameless incantation.

The most obvious advantage in the battle during this trip down the mountain was his extraordinary Divine Sense.

Song Yan decided to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, first Cultivate the strength of his Divine Sense, and while he was at it, try to open up the seventeen light spots in the Liangyi Realm.

Lingyuanze Market, Relief Grocery Store.

Not long after Song Yan left, someone knocked on the wooden door of the grocery store.

"Who is it? The door isn’t locked."

Creak—

The wooden door was pushed open, and what met Qin Xijun’s eyes was a heroic face.

"Oh, Xiaoye. A distinguished guest, what brings you here today?"

Qin Xijun casually swept the dust off a chair by the edge and said, "Sit."

Lu Ziye was terrified, knowing that this person was speaking sarcastically. How could he dare to sit? "Hehe, Master, I’m here to ask you, when are you coming back..."

"I’m not going back!"

"It’s so peaceful here, and I won’t be annoyed by you little brats."

Lu Ziye chuckled apologetically: "Master, Senior Sister Qin was also concerned about the Family back then. Please don’t be angry with her."

"Besides, the Qin Family is also where you came from. Why harm the harmony over this?"

Qin Xijun’s face immediately turned cold: "I’ve said it many times, the Qin Family has already rotted through."

"I am not a Qin Family member. If there’s nothing else, please leave. My little shop is closing."

"Hey, Master..."

Thump!

By the time Lu Ziye regained his senses, he had already been moved to the entrance of the grocery store, and the wooden door had slammed shut.

"So, everyone who comes here ends up like this..."

Lu Ziye muttered as he left the Lingyuanze Market.

Time flew by.

April 11th, outside the Outer Sect Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

A group of Outer Sect Disciple surrounded a notice board, discussing animatedly.

On the notice board, text written with spiritual power floated above, clearly visible.

"This is rare. It’s actually a joint Sect mission."

Someone in the crowd chatted with a companion: "Since I joined the Sect, I’ve only seen it twice. Last time, I remember it was to Bei Ya Mountain."

On the notice board, there were many publicly displayed outward missions that had already been taken, clearly recording which Outer Sect Disciple were to execute outward missions.

One prominent mission was written at the very top of the notice board.

Sect Joint Mission.

Location: Jiran Valley.

Issued by Profound Origin Sect, a joint mission of Profound Origin Sect, Spirit Talisman Sect, and Cave Abyss Sect.

Half a year ago, special spiritual power fluctuations began to appear around Jiran Valley, and now they have begun to affect the spiritual plants and Spirit Beast in the valley, hence this mission.

The ninth day of the fifth month of this year.

Leader Elder, Xu Ziqing.

Inner Sect Disciple, Lu Ziye.

Stage 9 Qi Refining.

Outer Sect Disciple selected. Shao Sichao, Qi Refining Stage 6.

Gu Qingqing, Tang Lin, Song Yan, Qi Refining Stage 5.

"Huh? It’s true that everyone else has been in the Sect for two years, but this Junior Brother named Song Yan has only been in the Sect for one year and seven months."

"It really is so."

"I don’t know, maybe the Sect believes this Junior Brother is already in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining and can handle this mission?"

"..."

Soon, everyone’s attention was drawn to other things, and the topic about Song Yan only appeared for a moment before being drowned out.

Among the crowd, an ordinary-looking young man stared at the notice board.

The conversations around him were heard in his ears, and he looked at the name Song Yan, lost in thought.