"Xifeng, tell me honestly... Did you experience a lot of failures when you first started concocting elixirs?" Tian Yun asked, her curiosity finally getting the better of her as she leaned in closer.

"Of course." Bai Xifeng answered immediately, a nostalgic expression surfacing in her eyes as she looked off into the distance. "I still remember my very first attempts clearly. Back then, I wasted an enormous mountain of herbs. Honestly, I think I cried almost every single day during that initial period."

"You cried because you were frustrated by the failed concoctions?" Jia Xiaobo asked sympathetically, assuming that the repeated failures had dealt a devastating blow to Bai Xifeng’s confidence as a budding pharmacist.

"No." Bai Xifeng shook her head with a solemn, almost heartbroken expression. "I did not cry because the concoctions failed. I cried because I had to spend more money to buy another batch of herbs. At that time, I barely had any money to begin with."

Bai Xifeng let out a long, suffering sigh that seemed to vibrate with phantom poverty, as though the painful memory of her empty pockets still haunted her soul to this day.

Jia Xiaobo and Tian Yun stared blankly at her for several seconds, their mouths slightly agape, completely caught off guard by such an unexpectedly practical and unromantic answer. Then, unable to hold themselves back any longer, both girls burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

"Eh? Why are you both laughing?" Bai Xifeng asked, blinking several times in genuine, wide-eyed confusion.

"Well... Your answer was just so unexpectedly realistic. It is very ’you’, Xifeng." Tian Yun managed to say between her giggles, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"Everything turned out well in the end, though. You have already become a Lord Rank Pharmacist now, so all those tears over money were clearly worth it." Jia Xiaobo nodded, finally regaining her composure.

Bai Xifeng finished the very last bite of her meal shortly after their laughter subsided.

"I am done eating now. I will head off first." Bai Xifeng said as she rose from her seat, smoothing out her robes.

"Hmm... I will come and look for you later to pay the deposit for the storage rune." Tian Yun reminded her.

"Okay. I will be waiting." Bai Xifeng nodded before turning to leave.

After exiting the restaurant, Bai Xifeng headed directly toward the academy’s massive cultivation pagoda. A fairly long queue of students had already snaked around the entrance, all waiting patiently for their allotted turn to enter the pagoda and cultivate within its highly concentrated spiritual energy.

The moment Bai Xifeng appeared, many heads immediately snapped toward her. Waves of whispers quietly spread through the crowd like wildfire. Most of them had already heard the dramatic rumours claiming that Bai Xifeng had perished during her quest, so seeing her standing there alive, well, and lazily lining up together with everyone else left them utterly stunned.

Bai Xifeng ignored all of the stares completely and calmly joined the line. Feeling slightly bored while waiting, she yawned once before casually manifesting a strip of savoury beef jerky from her storage rune. She began chewing on it leisurely, the salty snack providing a nice distraction as the queue slowly advanced toward the doors.

After waiting for roughly fifteen minutes, it finally became her turn. The student on duty today happened to be Cui Bojing, who looked up and froze.

"Oh... it is you again, Junior Sister Bai." Cui Bojing greeted her, his expression carrying a strange, complex mixture of relief, disbelief, and professional caution.

"Hmm... I plan to stay inside for eight hours today." Bai Xifeng stated casually, as though she were talking about a quick afternoon nap rather than an intensive cultivation session.

"Ei-eight hours?" Cui Bojing nearly choked on his own saliva, his eyes bulging.

Even the student standing directly behind Bai Xifeng widened his eyes in shock after hearing that number. At that moment, Cui Bojing experienced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. He distinctly remembered this exact scene happening once before. The only difference was the duration. Last time, Bai Xifeng had requested six hours. This time, she had brazenly increased it to eight hours.

"Are you absolutely certain? Do you even have enough contribution points for a session that long?" Cui Bojing asked cautiously, his pen hovering over the logbook.

"Of course." Bai Xifeng grinned confidently. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Since Bai Xifeng was paying the steep cost herself, Cui Bojing had no legitimate reason to refuse her request.

"Place your academy badge over here." Cui Bojing instructed.

"Okay." Bai Xifeng nodded.

She immediately placed her badge onto the designated platform and watched the glowing runes as the required contribution points were swiftly deducted from her balance.

"Junior Sister Bai, you may enter the pagoda now." Cui Bojing handed over the token to Bai Xifeng before making a gesture with his hands, welcoming Bai Xifeng to the cultivation pagoda.

"Thank you." Bai Xifeng nodded politely as she accepted both her badge and the token before stepping into the cool, spiritually dense atmosphere inside the tower.

However, the very moment she stepped through the threshold of her designated floor, Bai Xifeng let out a horrified shriek that echoed off the walls.

"F**k! I forgot about this!" Bai Xifeng exclaimed in absolute disbelief.

She had completely forgotten that the floor she previously occupied was filled with spirit-projections who all possessed the exact same face as Liu Longwei. The moment those entities noticed her appearance, their eyes immediately lit up with terrifying excitement before they started calling out the same nicknames the real Liu Longwei loved to use for her.

"Wifey!"

"Fengfeng!"

Bai Xifeng could no longer endure the sheer psychological trauma.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko*