Chapter 426 – The Eight Gates of Golden Locks, the Illusory Water of Invisibility (1/2)

“I’m not different then,” Ru Xin said in an exasperated manner. “If you want me to refine pills, then keep your mouth shut.” Leaping up, she stepped onto a verdant leaf and drifted off in the wind.

Li Qingshan followed behind her on a cloud, unable to help himself as he studied her back. Merfolk were also one of the otherfolk. They resided in water, mainly around the shore of the South sea. They were beautiful and good at singing, able to spin water into silk, and their tears could become pearls.

The Mist province was much larger than the Green province. He was unable to imagine how she had managed to traverse almost fifty thousand kilometers to settle down here. After seeing her true form, she had only become even more mysterious.

“Alright, alright. I’m half-Merfolk. What do you think of it?” Ru Xin was unable to put up with Li Qingshan’s gaze anymore, so she suddenly stopped the verdant leaf and spoke up in annoyance.

“Nothing really. Actually, you were quite beautiful just then, especially your eyes,” Li Qingshan said sincerely. Perhaps because they condensed the essence of nature, there were many races of otherfolk known for their beauty, while the Merfolk were among the most beautiful. It was said that their eyes possessed a mysterious power, and direct eye contact had to be avoided, or it could enchant people.

Ru Xin’s heart skipped a beat. She found Li Qingshan to be very strange. When regular people saw otherfolk, they would either be shocked and surprised or they would be repulsed. He did not react like that at all, which made her feel closer to him. Her nervousness and anxiety settled down. She pointed at her eyes with a smile. “The Condensed Jade pearls refined from my eyes are priceless.”

Li Qingshan was taken aback before sneering. “And I had thought it was something impressive. There’s something on me that’s worth much more than your pair of beads.”

Ru Xin had originally mentioned it to test him, but she never expected him to get competitive instead. She had no idea on how to respond. She was rather curious about what he was talking about, but the phrase “beads down below” suddenly crossed her mind, which made her take off.

Li Qingshan was perplexed. I’m talking about my daemon core. What were you thinking of?

A hundred and fifty kilometers south-west of Clear River city were a few dozen mountains that rose and fell. They were known as the Chain mountains. They were not exactly a blessed land, but spiritual qi was abundant, which made it a good place to cultivate.

The two of them moved through the enshrouding mist and landed on a cliff face. Ru Xin waved her hand, and the scenery before them twisted, revealing the entrance to a dwelling. Two large words were engraved above, “Ru Xin”.

“Please, fellow Li.” Ru Xin made a gesture for him to come in.

The cave was complete with stone tables and chairs. Everything was arranged neatly and elegantly in nature, without a speck of dust. The curling incense only made the place even more otherworldly.

Ru Xin said, “Do you want tea? If you don’t, I’m not going to bother. You’re not having any, right?”

Li Qingshan smiled. “I’ll have some.”

As Ru Xin prepared the tea, Li Qingshan did not hold back and inspected the entire place, in and out. Suddenly, he heard a clatter in the front room, and Ru Xin yelled out, “Li Qingshan, get your ass over for your tea.”

Li Qingshan returned to the room, picked up the tea cup, and took a small sip. He said slowly, “This place might be peaceful and quiet, but if a daemon attacks, it’ll be bad.”

“The formations can last for a while and sending a distress signal to the academy is very convenient too. Moreover, it’s not like I’m made out of paper, completely useless. Let’s not talk about this. Take out the remaining Blue Butterfly flowers. With my current ability, refining a few True Spirit pills won’t take very long at all.” Ru Xin brushed him off.

Li Qingshan placed down the tea cup and opened his hundred treasures pouch. Blue Butterfly flowers fluttered out rapidly, but that was not the end of it. Then he took out the spiritual herbs he had collected underground one by one.

“Thousand-year Dark Blood ginseng, thousand-year milkvetch…” Ru Xin was taken aback as she appraised the spiritual herbs one by one. Her eyes lit up. She had refined pills for so long, so she had seen quite a large variety of spiritual herbs. However, all of these spiritual herbs were either millenium-old or centuries-old. Every single one of them were spiritual herbs people could only dream of, yet Li Qingshan had pulled them out like vegetables. She had even forgotten how to speak for a moment.

“Alright, just these for now.”

“Fellow Li, please have some tea.” Ru Xin smiled softly and lifted up the tea cup.

“Right here!” Li Qingshan snorted and opened his mouth.

“Sigh, to think you’d actually believe me.” Ru Xin threw the cup on the table before picking up the spiritual herbs and carefully examining them. “Where did you get all these spiritual… Forget it. Heh, we’re rich. Looks like my two years of doing good hasn’t gone to waste.”

The two of them arrived in the alchemy room. Ru Xin took out the Crystal Resin cauldron before taking out various spiritual herbs. She immediately began refining.

Li Qingshan backed out silently. Ru Xin looked back. “Where are you going?”

“I’m off to set up a dwelling.”

Li Qingshan had plans to set up a dwelling a long time ago. There were too many prying eyes in the academy, which really made cultivation inconvenient. It was even more so when it came to his daemon cultivation. After seeing Ru Xin’s dwelling today, he made up his mind.

“You’re not going to watch this time?”

“I’m too busy. No time.”

“Don’t blame me if any pills go missing.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just kill the donkey once it’s done it’s job. Even you won’t be able to escape.” Li Qingshan waved his hand without even looking back.

Ru Xin was slightly surprised as she quipped, “You’re the donkey.” Li Qingshan had already made his way out of the dwelling, and his laughter gradually vanished. Originally, she thought he would spend some time with her refining pills, and it would be rather troublesome, but she never expected him to leave so eagerly, which instead made her feel rather lonely.