"At the same time, my old friend in the Third State should be fairly reliable, so by then you won’t have to worry about anyone trying to harm you in the future."

"But do you have any gold or silver on you?"

This last question was crucial. Out in the world, you can’t count on friends helping you. To put it harshly, when a person is wandering alone away from home, not being cheated is already the greatest blessing; you don’t know how many people are just waiting to swindle gold and silver off a vagrant far from their homeland.

In that situation, if you have gold or silver on you, then everything becomes much easier to handle. Right now, even though Lu Qingyin was a princess-level figure of the capital, the capital she belonged to clearly favored men over women; she probably never had any real savings of gold or silver normally, and for a female Cultivator, this was the scariest thing.

No money and you still want to flee disaster?

How are you going to flee? Counting on someone to help you?

Lu Qingyin racked her brains, then timidly took off the bracelet from her wrist and held it in both hands, forcing a smile onto her face as she looked over at the female Cultivator. The female Cultivator frowned at a glance at the bracelet in her palms; she practically had nothing to say.

"Fake."

The female Cultivator picked up the bracelet and directly ground it to dust with Spiritual Qi. While Lu Qingyin stared blankly, she took out one of her own Storage Rings. "There are ten thousand silver taels in this Storage Ring. It won’t be enough to let you live in splendor and wealth for life, but it’s basically enough to count as a dowry when you get married."

"Take it slow."

The Storage Ring was slipped onto Lu Qingyin’s finger. She summoned her own magic treasure, which turned out to be a carriage. The carriage was pulled by a Spirit Beast that looked like a Suanni, with visible flames around its hooves. Then, before Lu Qingyin could react, she scooped Lu Qingyin up and placed her inside the carriage.

Next the Spirit Beast roared into action, accelerating as it charged toward the sky. Its speed grew faster and faster, so fast that with every stride, the patches of white cloud around them fell away behind.

The speed was actually much, much faster than Yi’Er’s.

Within the protection of a Spiritual Energy Barrier, the female Cultivator said to the flustered Lu Qingyin inside the carriage, "The journey will take a year. When you need to relieve yourself, just tell me."

"As for food, drink, and all that, those are minor things. In this year, I suggest you learn more useful skills—whether it’s zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, or bookkeeping and planning. I have the corresponding manuals here. Forget your past identity; that identity brings you not the slightest benefit."

"Just start over from scratch."

Lu Qingyin: "Elder Sister Qin Xiu, is she all right?"

Still worrying about your Elder Sister Qin Xiu at a time like this? The female Cultivator sighed again. "Enough, enough. Just take good care of yourself, hey. She’s bound to suffer some hardships anyway. If you truly gain heaven-defying abilities someday, you can always come back for her slowly. For now you’d best pray that you have a decent Spirit Root."

"After all, I don’t have the time right now to test your Spirit Root."

A few Cultivators came flying head-on in the distance. After sensing the female Cultivator’s cultivation, they hurriedly lowered their altitude, standing on their swords in midair. Only after she swept past them at high speed did they dejectedly continue on their way, speaking with some emotion.

"Even Nascent Soul old monsters are showing up now."

"I’m afraid the Sixth State is going to be hard to handle."

...

In Medicine Master Valley, Yin Shuang’s eyes were brimming with scalding tears, her fists clenched tight. Looking at Yuchi sitting in front of her, picking his feet, she said excitedly, "Husband, I’m pregnant."

Huh? Yuchi picked at his foot until it bled, then looked at Yin Shuang with a blank face. What the hell did that mean? Had life in Medicine Master Valley gotten so comfortable that he was starting to hear things?

Feeling Yuchi’s confusion, Yin Shuang’s expression grew even more resolute. Her silver hair spilled all around her as she gazed at Yuchi, looking incomparably lovely, and said in a milky-soft voice, "Husband, you have to take responsibility for me. It may seem sudden, but it really is your child."

Yuchi: "?"

What’s going on, surprise dad? Yuchi was actually amused. What nonsense was this girl suddenly spouting? Still, her patter was pretty smooth now; compared to the Yin Shuang who used to only say ’money money,’ it seemed her brain worked quite well. A Spiritual Painting Avatar really was pretty smart.

Yin Shuang climbed onto Yuchi’s head, closed her eyes, and hammered his skull with all her might. Her voice was tragic to the extreme, and her expression was full of furious indignation. "You don’t want to take responsibility, do you? Say it, you don’t want to take responsibility, do you, you big liar!"

Yuchi stayed as steady as an old dog, completely ignoring Yin Shuang as she pounded his dog head. He slowly put on his shoes and said leisurely, "What are you talking about? Your master is only your keeper; your master has never even touched you! Are you saying just feeding you an Elixir was enough to get you pregnant?"

Yin Shuang immediately declared firmly, "The physique of a Spiritual Painting Avatar is different from a mortal’s."

Thwack!

Yuchi flicked Yin Shuang on the forehead. While she clutched her head and hissed in aggrieved pain, he wordlessly plucked her off his own head and set her down on the low wooden table in front of him. His gaze then fell on a manual lying on the table.

Yuchi’s eyes grew wet.

He regretted it.

Originally, Sun Miaoxing had invited him to test his Divine Soul aptitude, but he’d definitely refused. After all, he had so many secrets on him; who knew whether Medicine Master Valley would discover those little secrets of his through a Divine Soul test? Besides, the woman over there was already being taken care of by other Female Pharmacists, so he had nothing to do in the meantime.