Alchemy Master Yun Chi did not quite bow, but he didn’t show disrespect either. This was the kind of honor afforded only to someone of his stature. A platinum rank alchemist really was a special existence.
“It has been some time, Mercenary King. You know why I have come, I take it?”
“Ha ha ha! Straight to the point, I see. How very like you.” The Mercenary King didn’t seem to be upset by Master Yun Chi’s brusk attitude. “Of course. You are here because you wish to travel through the Sandstorm Abyss to Queen Medusa’s Legacy Tomb. I will grant you permission to enter Sandstorm Abyss.”
“We will also need a guide,” Master Yun Chi said.
The Mercenary King waved a hand. “Do not worry. I have already prepared a guide.”
He glanced at one of his guards, who nodded and stepped out of the meeting hall.
A small wait took place. The Mercenary King did not bother engaging Master Yun Chi in conversation, which Wu Jian found strange. Small talk was the bread and butter of politics. It was an essential tool to build and maintain relationships. It was the best way to establish a rapport and foster trust with others.
“Master hates small talk,” Lili Ling stated out of the corner of her mouth.
Wu Jian raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything.”
She shrugged. “You didn’t have to. I can see the confusion on your face.”
“But I’m wearing a mask.”
“… It’s a figure of speech.”
“Alchemists normally aren’t one for small talk,” Tang Tiantian added. “They prefer being left to their own devices so they can refine pills and stuff.”
Lili Ling nodded. “That’s exactly it.”
As they were talking, the doors opened again, and several people walked into the room. One of them was the guard, but there were three other people who looked familiar.
The first one to catch his attention was a gorgeous woman with boobs the size of her head. They were so massive that he couldn’t help but wonder how she stood straight with those gigantic jugs jiggling on her chest. She didn’t wear a bra either. Was she not suffering back pain? Despite not wearing a bra, she allowed her robes to hang loose, causing a generous portion of her cleavage to spill out. It was like she wanted everyone to look.
That’s Ruo Chong if I’m not mistaken. I guess I don’t need to wonder why she’s here. It’s obviously for the same reason as us.
Ruo Chong was known as the Heavenly Beauty of Alchemy, and he could understand why. While her chest might have been her most prominent feature, she also had a beautiful face, hair like midnight, silver eyes, and white skin like freshly polished jade. Gorgeous might not have been doing her justice.
Zhou Lihua is prettier though.
There were many rumors about Ruo Chong like how she was a loose woman who slept with men for favors, how she had a voracious sexual appetite, how she had chosen her apprentice based on how well he could please her in bed. He didn’t know if any of that was true. Some of those rumors sounded like they were spread out of jealousy. There were always people who felt envy for those blessed with talent and good looks.
Standing beside her was a young man. He didn’t look much older than Wu Jian. His brown hair was wavy and matched the color of his eyes, and he had lightly tanned skin. He had a very plain face. It was the kind of face that one might easily dismiss if seen in a crowd. What was his name again? Wei Xiao?
Wait. Is that…?
The last person he recognized was the one who garnered most of his attention. She was a young woman with a lean, athletic build. Her outfit was different from the one he had last seen her wearing. She wore a fitted sleeveless tunic made from a durable olive-green fabric. Her loose-fitting trousers were tied around her calves and had poofy ends, while her feet were clad in a pair of sandals. A lightweight hooded cloak was thrown over the tunic, shielding her body from the sun, though he knew from experience that it was tan and intensely muscled.
While her clothing looked plain at first glance, Wu Jian noticed the finger details like the subtle embroidery and embellishments that reflected her status. The clothing was well-maintained and looked expensive.
She paused upon noticing him. He raised a hand in greeting. She smiled and nodded.
Shā Ying Yue. The first time he had met her was back in Zahn City when he was just a child. It was during the Three Clan’s Tournament. She had been hired by the Ming Family to defeat and cripple him, but he had managed to outwit her. Truthfully, he had been lucky. They hadn’t met again until several years later when she joined the Crimson Sand Mercenary Company and traveled into the White Tiger Sect Ruins. Their last meeting was the international tournament held in the Xia Dynasty.
“I should have known you would be here too,” Master Yun Chi said, groaning as he looked at the woman with loathing.
Ruo Chong summoned a fan and held it to hide her face. All Wu Jian could see was her crinkled eyes. “Oh, my. Yun Chi. What a pleasant surprise.”
“Don’t act so surprised. You should have known I’d come here, too.”
“I suppose so. Still, I had been hoping to be long gone by now.” Ruo Chong glanced at the Mercenary King. “I suppose this is the reason you held my party up?”
The Mercenary King shrugged. “When two platinum alchemists request a favor, I cannot turn either one of them away. In either event, let me introduce you all to your guide. This is Shā Ying Yue. It was her party who had discovered the legacy tomb during their explorations of the Sandstorm Abyss.”
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If she had been exploring the Sandstorm Abyss, she must have gotten much stronger. He glanced in her direction and studied her again, but this time, he used his senses and not his eyes. She wasn’t stronger than him. He had surpassed her already, but she had reached the first subrealm of the Deva Realm. And they let her explore Sandstorm Abyss? He’d heard only Seeker Realm cultivators were allowed to explore it, or had they been mistaken?
“She might not be as strong as others, but she’s extremely well-versed in combat and her unique cultivation method grants her an edge over the magical beasts found within Sandstorm Abyss.”
Wu Jian did not know how her cultivation granted her an edge over the creatures of Sandstorm Abyss, but if they relied on sand for their techniques, then perhaps her blood cultivation would prove advantageous. Sand that became wet was harder to manipulate, so what would happen if it became wet with her blood?
In either event, they wouldn’t leave until tomorrow. Nights in the Qing Provinces desert were extremely cold. Going out when it was almost evening would be foolish. The Mercenary King told them they could reside within the palace for the night and head out in the morning.
Each of them was given their own rooms. Wu Jian’s and Tang Tiantian had rooms right across from Master Yun Chi and Lili Ling. The bedrooms were lavish and opulent accommodations befitting their status as important guests, spacious, elegantly furnished, and adorned with luxurious decorations like fine silk curtains, ornate furniture, and intricate tapestries. They came equipped with a plush bed, a sitting area, and even a private bath, which Wu Jian did not hesitate to use. The private bath was situated right next to a window that granted him a wonderful view of the palace gardens.
It was still relatively early, which meant it wasn’t time for dinner. The Mercenary King had said they were free to explore the palace, so Wu Jian took to wandering around. The palace grounds were massive. He had already visited the Audience Hall, but there were also several reception rooms, courtyards and gardens, a banquet hall, and even an imperial study and armory. The many rooms served specific functions.
As he wandered through hallway after hallway, laughter echoed from across a corner.
“Hey, Shā Lian! Stop running!”
“If I stop running, you’re going to lecture me!”
“Of course I am! And if you don’t stop running, that lecture will be even longer when I catch you!”
A young girl turned the corner a few seconds later. He couldn’t guess her age, but she was definitely younger than him by a few years. She wore a tunic and skirt in an earth tone color and simple sandals. Her dark hair was long and flowed behind her. She had dark eyes, tanned skin, and a vibrant smile. He didn’t know who she was, but he recognized the voice of the one chasing her.
“Look out!”
The young girl shouted as she tried to weave around him. Wu Jian didn’t quite know what was going on, but he sighed as he moved aside, then snatched out his hand and caught the girl by the back of her dress. She made a gagging sound, but he ignored that and lifted her into the air.
“Ack! Hey! Let go! Lemme go! She’s going to catch me!”
“I know,” Wu Jian said.
“If you know that, then let me go! This has nothing to do with you!”
Wu Jian would have made a snarky reply, but Shā Shing Yue chose that moment to rush out from around the corner. She skidded to a stop and blinked when she saw the two of them.
“This yours?” he asked.
“It is,” Shā Shing Yue said.
“How rude! Don’t call me an it! I’m not a thing!” the girl said.
Wu Jian set the girl down, and the moment he did, she tried to bolt, but Shā Shing Yue had already been prepared and caught her. The girl struggled, but she wasn’t a cultivator. Once caught, she was caught for good.
“Thank you for catching my little sister,” Shā Shing Yue said. She paused. “It’s been some time, Jian Wu.”
“That it has. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”
Shā Lian paused in her struggles to look at them. “You know this masked weirdo, big sister?”
“Masked weirdo?” Wu Jian said with a grimace.
“Don’t be rude.” Shā Shing Yue bonked her on the head. “And yes, this man is Jian Wu. He’s someone I’ve encountered multiple times. It seems fate has brought us together once more.”
“Certainly does.”
Shā Lian’s eyes lit up with a cunning gleam. “Since you know him, why don’t you two catch up? I’ll go back to our room and--”
“Not until I’ve thoroughly lectured you.”
“Ack!”
Wu Jian watched in quiet amusement as Shā Shing Yue forced Shā Lian to sit in seiza and lectured her for an hour on how she needed to do her job and why she couldn’t run through the halls. The girl meekly took the lecture head on, but something told Wu Jian that she wouldn’t listen. She just knew it was useless to put up a fight now.
After the lecture, Wu Jian found himself sitting in one of the gardens with Shā Shing Yue and her sister. Shā Lian was not sitting. She was running around the garden, picking flowers to create a flower crown. He wondered if that was okay, but since Shā Shing Yue was allowing it, he didn’t let it bother him too much.
“My sister… used to be an extremely sickly child,” Shā Shing Yue said after watching the young girl for a moment. “She was born without meridians. Even normal humans have meridians. While they cannot be used to cultivate, they still do their job of carrying chi through the body. Someone born without them generally does not live past ten years old.”
I see now…
“She’s the reason you joined the Crimson Sand Mercenaries all those years ago?” he asked.
Shā Shing Yue nodded. “Our mother died giving birth to her, and our father was a deadbeat who had given up. I took my little sister and fled. Because she was so sickly, she couldn’t travel. I sent her to live in an orphanage as I wandered around for a cure, accepting odd jobs in exchange for cash and information. The Crimson Sand Mercenaries heard of me at some point and kidnapped my sister to force me into joining them.” She glanced at him and grinned. “I might still be with them if you hadn’t killed Sǐwáng Hou. Thank you for that.”
After Sǐwáng Hou’s death, the Crimson Sand Mercenaries were demolished by other mercenary bands who had a bone to pick with them. Shā Shing Yue had taken her sister and fled. She was eventually found by someone who worked for The Mercenary King who found her talent at Blood Cultivation useful.
“The Mercenary King offered to hire me, but I told him I would not work for anyone unless they could cure my sister. I was quite brazen back then, but I was desperate,” Shā Shing Yue confessed.
“I imagine so. Family is important,” Wu Jian said.
“Indeed,” Shā Shing Yue agreed. “In either event, The Mercenary King agreed despite my low cultivation at the time. He requested Alchemy Master Yun Chi to refine meridian replacement pills for my sister. They are tier 4 pills that create fake meridians. The effects last for up to two years before she needs to consume another one.”
Which meant The Mercenary King would keep Shā Shing Yue employed for the rest of her life. There was no way he would let her go after all that effort, and Shā Shing Yue was unlikely to find someone else willing to have these pills refined. Still, she didn’t seem unhappy with her current predicament.
“It’s getting late. I believe dinner should be served soon.” Shā Shing Yue stood up and gestured for him. “Come. I’ll show you to the dining hall.”
Wu Jian nodded and stood up. Learning more about Shā Shing Yue was interesting, but at the moment, he was definitely more concerned with filling his stomach.