CHAPTER 22: Someone Else’s Big Tail 

To prevent the shield cultivators from getting so embarrassed that they’d jump straight off the cloudship when their lie was exposed, Yu Youyou kindly chose to deny it.

“No, I have never left the sect before.”

However, the more she spoke, the more familiar Kuang Langsheng found her voice. He leaned in closer and said firmly, “No, we must have met somewhere before.”

Hearing this, Qu Qingmiao furrowed her brows.

The other senior brothers nearby muttered among themselves:

“Why is this shield cultivator still using such an outdated pickup line?”

“Exactly. And our little Junior Sister Yu is only thirteen. He looks like he’s thirty—how does he even have the nerve?”

Qu Qingmiao called Yu Youyou over to her side, shielding her behind her back to block out the “harassment” from the shield cultivators.

She lowered her voice in warning, “Cultivators from other sects aren’t as reliable as our own senior brothers. You must always be on guard—don’t be so naïve and easy to deceive.”

Yu Youyou had always been honest with her Senior Sister and replied truthfully, “Senior Sister, it’s usually me deceiving others. You don’t have to worry.”

The concern in Qu Qingmiao’s eyes deepened, and she sighed. “You really are too naïve.”

Yu Youyou: “…”

Why did it feel like her Senior Sister had misunderstood her?

….

The cloud vessel sailed smoothly forward. After leaving Tonghua Prefecture, it flew over Treasure Prefecture.

Qu Qingmiao led Yu Youyou and the others off the vessel. “The sect previously ordered portable pill furnaces for you from the Treasure Pavilion, based on your spiritual attributes. Now we can go pick them up.”

A mysterious force resided in the Ancient Eternal Forest, transforming ordinary spirit beasts into mindless, berserk aberrations.

Most medicinal pills became tainted once taken into the forest, except for those made from herbs that grew within the Ancient Eternal Forest itself. Only these herbs could heal injuries caused by the aberrations. However, these herbs lost their effectiveness once taken out of the forest.

Thus, despite the fact that healer cultivators were so fragile that they couldn’t even handle aberrations at the Qi Refining stage, they remained indispensable in every Four Realms Tournament.

The same was true for Yu Youyou and her group. Since they would have to refine pills on the spot in a forest teeming with aberrations, pill furnaces were essential.

….

Treasure Prefecture was a haven for artifact refining. Mortals were nowhere to be seen here—only cultivators passed through, and the entire city was filled with shops selling all manner of magical treasures.

Qu Qingmiao led them directly to the most lavish Treasure Pavilion in the city.

When the shopkeeper personally brought out the three pill furnaces, the three of them exchanged glances, each having the same thought—

The Pill Cauldron Sect is filthy rich.

Qu Qingmiao seemed to notice their thoughts and said calmly, “Though our Pill Cauldron Sect has declined somewhat in recent years, we are by no means lacking in spirit stones.”

After all, this was the kind of grand sect that supplied middle-grade spirit stones to outer sect disciples just for alchemy practice—one that made a tenfold profit on every bottle of pills sold.

However, Yu Youyou suddenly recalled something. “But, Senior Sister, didn’t you say earlier that the sect was financially struggling, which was why the main dish in the outer sect’s dining hall was replaced with plain steamed buns?”

Qu Qingmiao: “…”

How should she explain this to her dear Junior Sister?

That the reason outer sect disciples were now forced to eat steamed buns… was her?

….

The shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced the pill furnaces: “These are among Treasure Pavilion’s finest creations in recent years! All three are high-grade magical treasures that can be resized with spiritual energy. When not in use, they can shrink down to the size of a walnut—perfect for idly rolling in your palm! At full size, they can fit up to two people inside. In times of danger, you can hide inside for protection. Their defensive capabilities are on par with high-grade defensive treasures!”

Yu Youyou couldn’t imagine who would roll a pill furnace around like a walnut, nor could she fathom what kind of fool would hide inside one.

Then she turned her head—

Qi Nanfeng was beaming, rolling the smallest pill furnace around in his palm.

Su Yizhi was busy trying to climb inside the largest pill furnace.

“…”

Apologies, it seemed her imagination was lacking.

….

Qu Qingmiao and the elders followed the shopkeeper to handle the payment.

Meanwhile, Yu Youyou and the others wandered idly through the Treasure Pavilion. She really was just looking around—everything here was absurdly expensive, and she couldn’t bring herself to make a purchase.

The shield cultivators, however, all suddenly stopped in their tracks, staring in a daze at a spirit stone displayed within a formation.

A keen-eyed Treasure Pavilion attendant stepped forward at just the right moment, smiling as she introduced, “This is a Cold Crystal Stone. When embedded in a weapon, it forms an ice shield—quite suitable for you all, wouldn’t you say?”

Kuang Langsheng lowered his gaze to his massive shield. There were indeed a few empty inlay slots left on it, and he was immediately tempted.

The attendant’s smile deepened, her voice turning into a devil’s whisper in the shield cultivators’ ears:

“I see that you all are shield cultivators. Are you by any chance from Heaven’s Shield Sect? If this Cold Crystal Stone is embedded into a shield, not only will it add an ice shield effect, but it will also enhance resistance against fire…”

“And right now, this Cold Crystal Stone is on sale! Normally, it costs ten thousand spirit stones, but today—only nine thousand!”

At the mention of the price, Kuang Langsheng’s heart turned as cold as the stone itself.

All the shield cultivators fell silent.

After their legs had been healed by Master Tu, they had gone to the black market to compete in underground fights, barely managing to win back their shields. However, the spirit stones and storage pouches that Shen Jun had tricked out of them were gone for good.

Too ashamed to report this humiliating incident to their sect, they had painstakingly gathered contributions from fellow disciples to scrape together nine thousand spirit stones—just enough to pay off their medical debt to Master Tu. But they still hadn’t been able to afford the promised thank-you gift.

Fortunately, Master Tu was a truly generous person and had not held it against them.

But now, they didn’t even have a single spare spirit stone to their names, let alone another nine thousand.

Kuang Langsheng stared at the Cold Crystal Stone, swallowing hard.

In the end, he forced himself to look away.

At that moment, Yu Youyou, who had been silently observing from the side, suddenly spoke up.

“Is this thing really that good?”

Kuang Langsheng nodded, eyes fixed on the Cold Crystal Stone. “Yeah, it can increase defense by twenty percent. If we had this during the Four Realms Tournament, our odds of winning would be much higher.”

Yu Youyou nodded in understanding.

She stepped forward, reaching into the spatial ring on her hand and pulling out spirit stones.

These spirit stones were still warm—freshly reclaimed from the black market just two days ago.

“We’ll take the Cold Crystal Stone. Ring it up.”

Yu Youyou was frugal, yes, but right now, the Heaven’s Shield Sect cultivators were their future teammates—the ones responsible for protecting the three of them in the Ancient Eternal Forest.

If the shield cultivators’ strength increased by even a little, the chances of their own survival would rise as well.

Buying one’s life with money was quite a bargain. More importantly…

Yu Youyou tilted her head slightly and reminded Kuang Langsheng once more, “Remember to write an IOU.”

She never said it was free.

The shield cultivators were deeply moved.

However, Kuang Langsheng’s heart sank the moment he heard these words—why did they sound so familiar?!

The Treasure Pavilion offered a service for embedding spirit stones. After writing a second IOU worth nine thousand spirit stones, Kuang Langsheng carried his shield, walking forward while sneaking glances back at Yu Youyou.

He couldn’t help but ask his junior brother beside him, “Don’t you think… that Junior Sister Yu’s voice sounds a lot like Master Tu? Do you think they could be the same person?”

“Absolutely impossible!” The junior brother firmly denied it.

“Why?”

“There are too many people with similar voices. Besides, Master Tu specializes in reattaching severed limbs. From what I heard at the arena, she even knows how to fight—her style is wild, definitely the path of a rogue cultivator. Have you ever seen a core disciple of a major sect like that?”

That made sense. Kuang Langsheng nodded in agreement.

“More importantly…” The junior brother hesitated for a moment, his face flushing slightly as he looked at Yu Youyou, who was retrieving her spirit stones. The way she moved was simply mesmerizing.

“Master Tu is highly experienced. Although her voice sounds young, the moment she takes action, it’s clear she’s an elder with years of expertise. Judging by her title, she’s probably already bald. But look at Junior Sister Yu—her hair is thick and full. Where is she bald?”

The argument was sound, and Kuang Langsheng was completely convinced.

….

After retrieving the pill furnace, the group wasted no time, piloting the cloudship directly toward Yunhua Sword Sect.

Three days later, the cultivators from both sects arrived at Yunhua Commandery.

“It’s already late. It would be impolite to disturb our fellow cultivators at Yunhua Sword Sect. Let’s rest for the night and visit them tomorrow.”

Yunhua Commandery was vastly different from Tonghua Commandery. Here, the landscape was treacherous, with towering mountains stretching endlessly. The entire commandery capital was nestled within these thousand-mile peaks.