Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jiang Chen was going to leave, but he noticed the way Ji Yinyi was looking at
him. She seemed to wait for him to change his mind.
“I told you I was being chased. Why do you still want to go with me? Could
you tell me why?” Jiang Chen said.
He didn’t want to be cheated, but if Ji Yinyi needed his help, he certainly
would love to pay her back for having saved him.
What a smart guy.
Ji Yinyi didn’t expect him to pose her such a question. She felt ashamed,
since she did need help.
Although she was a Celestial Venerable, many things didn’t depend on state.
“You know why I took such a great risk to travel through the Desolate
Forbidden Land with my sister?”
“No.”
Jiang Chen was confused, too. However, he hadn’t asked about it since it was
her privacy.
“My younger sister has a great talent for panaceas. She can refine panaceas
at home only by consulting a panacea book.”
Jiang Chen could be persuaded by reason, but couldn’t be cowed by force.
However, not sure about his temper, Ji Yinyi had to tell him the truth, “As her
elder sister, of course I can’t see her talent wasted.”
“I can understand you,” Jiang Chen said.
He glanced at Ji Ruxue, surprised that she had such a great talent, since
women usually wouldn’t know panaceas so well.
Otherwise, why were alchemists mostly men?
“The big desolate land we are in is stronger than dozens of small desolate
lands all together. There are many branches of the Nine Territories and Ten
Prefectures in the city we are heading for, including the Elixir Association.”
“This alchemists’ organization is well-known in the Three Middle Realms.
Even the Spirit from the Eight Realms have to show them respect.”
“I went there once to visit a master alchemist of the Elixir Association. I told
him about my sister.”
“He was very interested in meeting my sister in person, so he asked me to
take her there to meet him. That’s how you and us met.”
Jiang Chen was puzzled by her story. He still didn’t get what she was
implying.
Could the two sisters already know he was a master alchemist?
Ji Yinyi knew Jiang Chen was confused, but she was too embarrassed to tell
him the rest of the story.
“However, that master’s grandson was intrigued by my sister’s beauty. He
kept bothering her, unwilling to give up courting her. For my sake, my sister
couldn’t refuse him directly, so she lied to him. She told him she was already
engaged.”
Ji Ruxue resolved his puzzle.
“You want me to pretend to be your fiancé? The thing is I’m only a Spiritual
Venerable,” Jiang Chen said in a self-mocking tone.
“That bastard is a Spiritual Venerable, too. You are in a great desolate land.
Your state isn’t what matters most anymore. It’s you background that plays a
more important role,” Ji Ruxue went on.
“Stop talking so rude!” Ji Yinyi said sternly.
Ji Ruxue was struck dumb. She stuck her tongue out, and then she said, “I
mean the master’s grandson.”
“Do you want your younger sister to study with that master?” Jiang Chen said
curiously.
“No. I suppose an alchemist allocated to a great desolate land can’t be very
good. He could jeopardize my sister’s future. I only hope he can recommend
my sister to join the Elixir Association.”
Jiang Chen nodded. He said, “Actually, you don’t have to go to the trouble of
asking him a favor. If this is the case, I actually can do something for you. I’m
very skilled in refining elixirs.”
He was telling the truth, however, the two sisters glanced at each other, not
convinced at all.
They thought Jiang Chen had made a joke, so they just smiled at him.
“I can do you this favor. It’s nothing complicated. As to the disguise, I can
manage it myself.”
As he spoke, his body started to distort like a clay figurine in a craftsman’s
hands. He kept changing rapidly, and soon, he was another person.
“From now on, you can call me Young Master Wind,” Jiang Chen said.
Jiang Chen knew the trend in the Three Middle Realms. The folks here liked
to add the title Young Master to their names.
For example, Young Master Blood Moon, Young Master Xuanji and Young
Master Shenji.
Jiang Chen called himself Young Master Wind to make his new identity as Ji
Yinyi’s fiancé more credible.
“Your way to disguise yourself is amazing,” Ji Ruxue said involuntarily.
“Well, I have to, since many people want to kill me,” Jiang Chen said with a
bitter smile.
They wouldn’t be suspicious of that. If he wasn’t being chased, why would he
have taken refuge in the Desolate Forbidden Land?
Then Jiang Chen got to know the great desolate land where they were was
called Big Dipper Wilderness.
The center of the entire great desolate land was Beiwang City, which Ji Yinyi
had mentioned.
It was a metropolis which those small desolate lands had no way to build,
because there were various force branches of the Nine Territories and Ten
Prefectures.
It was unquestionable that forces that could establish branches here must be
very powerful. The local forces of the desolate land contributed to the city’s
prosperity as well.
Its prosperity was also closely linked to the rich resources all small desolate
lands had brought here.
The three people arrived in the Beiwang City. Jiang Chen and Ji Yinyi were
walking shoulder by shoulder, while Ji Ruxue was walking ahead of them,
looking around.
“Competition really makes people more energetic.”
Jiang Chen felt he had finally come to a lively city. Unlike those sparsely-
populated small desolate lands, it was bustling and hustling here.
There were so many guests invited to the birthday party of the Mistress of the
Ancient Sword Sect, but the party wasn’t as noisy as even a street in the city.
“The Jiang Family has their branch in the city, too. You should be careful,” Ji
Yinyi said.
“Yeah, I know. But because of the Desolate Forbidden Land, I have to go via
Beiwang City to reach Ten Prefectures, don’t I?” Jiang Chen said.
Ji Yinyi nodded her agreement. He was right.
Although there were no planes’ channels in the Three Middle Realms, the
omnipresent Desolate Forbidden Land divided this continent into several
areas.
After leaving small desolate lands, it was inevitable to go to great desolate
lands first in order to travel to Ten Prefectures.
If the Jiang Family didn’t believe Jiang Chen was dead, they must be waiting
for him here.
Because they knew Jiang Chen would definitely take part in the Title Battle.
Since Ji Yinyi had a specific goal, Jiang Chen didn’t have the time to idle
about in the city. They came to the most crowded street in the city directly.
A wooden building that looked like a pagoda rose straight from the ground,
outshining all of the other buildings.
The wooden building was made of fine exotic woods, which made it stand out
from the other constructions. It was even possible to recognize it from very far
away.
The street where it was mainly sold stuff related to panaceas.
For example, ingredients or furnaces. Anything needed by the refining of
panaceas could be found here.
If the Elixir Association is really so influential as Ji Yinyi said, maybe I should
join it.
Jiang Chen thought to himself.
He told the Mistress of the Ancient Sword Sect that he didn’t want to fight for
any force, but looking for a patron was a different thing.
If he didn’t look for one, he wouldn’t even have the chance to draw the
Redcloud Sword or the Heavenly Fault Sword out of the sheath.
Because as soon as he drew them out, people would desire to snatch them
from him.
However, if it was a privileged man supported by the Spirit’s eight clans who
was holding the Heavenly Fault Sword, who would have the nerve to desire
it?
When Jiang Chen was immersed in his own thoughts, Ji Ruxue ran into a
shop, as if she had seen some interesting thing.
This shop was much bigger than the others, since there were rows of
furnaces in it.
An alchemist’s furnace could be compared to a sword cultivator’s sword,
because both of them were unique.
No wonder Ji Ruxue was so excited.
The manager of the shop attended to her warmly. He said, “Miss, you will
definitely be a great alchemist in the future, because you look like one.”
He said it so surely that Ji Ruxue was greatly surprised.
The three of them were standing there together, but the shop manager
recognized her talent immediately, which delighted her a lot.
