lShe had stepped into the bar with the confidence of a seasoned cultivator and a Qi that belonged to a mortal.

If Yong Kang didn’t know any better, he would have thought her to be one, but he could sense that it was there, flowing within her channels at a speed comparable to that of a foundation establishment realm's. Just hidden.

And her mask too, it was a spirit treasure that felt weak with meager Qi—just foundation establishment again—but from the way it made Yong Kang have a hard time focusing on it, he knew the mask had the ability to reduce attention.

She wore a disturbing set of clothes: a crimson robe with green edges and yellow splotches. Beneath it, she had a pair of pants, which Yong Kang assumed was more for practicality than modesty. All of them were spirit treasures.

He didn’t know what effect they had, but they were definitely spirit treasures. He was confident in that assessment.

Out of everything she wore, though, it was the mask that disturbed Yong Kang the most—an oval object that covered the woman's entire face. It had the design of a circular mouth, like a leech’s, with teeth made of various materials such as wood, gold, or gemstones.

There was no rhyme or reason, but at the same time, Yong Kang could tell there was an artistic consistency to it.

The most pressing detail, however, was the fact that the mask was sucking in Qi, and a whirlpool of ambient energy swirled in front of the spiraling chasm of teeth, drawn straight to the center, where a hole seemed to be present. Yong Kang couldn’t tell—the effect of the mask prevented it.

Wei Cheng, a rich young master from the Heaven Scorcher Sect, stood up from his seat and approached the newcomer. He stopped her with his arms, using them as an obstacle. "Who are you?"

He asked what all of them were thinking at that moment. But also, why was someone like her here? Was she simply passing by? Running away from a sect? An assassin? She wouldn’t need to disguise herself if she wasn’t hiding something.

From behind her mask, the woman stared at Wei Cheng with a gaze that could melt steel. "That’s none of your business."

She bent down and passed Wei Cheng’s physical blockade by going under. The first thing she went to was the notice board next to the counter. The bartender spoke then, "You’re not allowed to take anything from that without a drink, girly."

The woman’s hands went under her robes, and they came back out holding a single silver olive. "Beer. Give it to someone."

The bartender scoffed. It was cheap and blatantly petty, but he was only on the second stage of foundation establishment. What could he do against someone like her?

With her drink ready, she grabbed a piece of paper, read it—twice, even—then left the bar.

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She came and went like a hurricane, and it left an impression on Yong Kang. Possibly even more on Wei Cheng, from how he seethed in his chair.

...

Sheng Xin looked at the request in her hands. She had read it several times already, checked it twice over for any traps, spiritual or physical, and kept her guard up as she moved out of the underbelly and into her room.

The request was simple: grab rare herbs for someone named Bai Ruo Shuang. Sheng Xin wasn’t unfamiliar with her; Bai Ruo was the city’s main healer and the source of a lot of the pills distributed across Moonlight City.

She belonged to the Green Lotus Sect, an alchemist of sorts from the basic background check Sheng Xin did on her way back.

Bai Ruo didn’t put a deadline, but she did add extra pay depending on the quantity of herbs.

Cultivators rarely bartered, especially when it came to stuff like this, but Sheng Xin had a plan.

She knew where rare herbs grew, as well as how to spot them. She also wouldn’t have a hard time navigating areas littered with weak spirit beasts like Shadowveil Forest or the Howling Wind Plains.

Would Bai Ruo strike a deal with her? Sheng Xin wondered as she pocketed a few pills beneath her robes.

Surely the alchemist would see her value and ask her for a more permanent partnership for collecting herbs?

But Sheng Xin’s goal was getting access to a cauldron, which Bai Ruo could provide in exchange for the herbs, so Sheng Xin didn’t need Green Lotus Sect’s cauldrons to make her pills.

Regardless, it would be even better if she could use the high-quality cauldrons that Bai Ruo had.

Bartering wasn’t for cultivators—not commonly—but Sheng Xin could be convincing if she needed to be.

Before she could talk to Bai Ruo about her plans, she first needed to finish the request that would make them even possible.

Moonlight City didn’t have any walls surrounding it, so she was fine to leave anytime she wanted. Seeing as it had multiple lower-ranked sects and three higher-ranked ones surrounding the city, guards were almost nonexistent.

The only thing stopping people from leaving was the possibility of death from spirit beasts or the risk of getting killed by a cultivator.

Both weren’t a problem for Sheng Xin as she rushed out of the city while fueled by pills. Her Qi channels were processing them quite well, and her body barely got damaged by the foreign Qi.

Her first stop was Shadowveil Forest—a fitting name, as everything beneath the thick crown of leaves that was the canopy wasn’t touched by the sun, shrouding the forest in darkness.

Bai Ruo was looking for a common ingredient used for medicine, so she was supposed to look for Darkbloom Petals, and the request specifically asked for an entire bag of the uprooted flowers.

Sheng Xin knew where such flowers grew. Any alchemist worth their coin did, so it didn’t take her long to find them nestled beneath rocks or hollow logs, but also in other places.

Since the hardy flowers grew best in darkness, a forest like Shadowveil was perfect for growing wild Darkblooms.

Sheng Xin also caught herself a rat, this time a Black Back Gray Rat, using the paralyzing effect that her mask had. The critter was caught in surprise when she came out of nowhere and screamed at it.

It jumped and could no longer move when it landed.

Instead of putting it in a cage, Sheng Xin harvested its blood for making formations. She stored the fluid inside her robes, which would both make them more cushioned and hide her presence.

Really, Sheng Xin couldn’t help but wonder why cultivators pretended the demonic arts weren’t for them when demons could do things such as this.

She filled her bag full of Darkblooms and caught several more rats. Each one filled her robes and mask with blood, satisfying the growing hunger of her spirit treasures.

At the same time, the extra blood she collected was used to make formations—basic ones—around the forest.

Now, anyone attempting to chase after her inside Shadowveil would suddenly find her going quicker, invisible, stronger, or themselves caught in some kind of trap.

There were plenty of types, but the most common ones were formations that released paralyzing spores when activated. Sheng Xin wouldn’t have a problem with them thanks to her mask, but her opponents wouldn’t know what happened.

The last rat she caught was caged for later use.

Sheng Xin walked out of Shadowveil Forest with the rodent accompanying her. The tiny Plague Fur skittered and whined with each of her steps. It screeched and panicked nonstop as Sheng Xin journeyed to White Mist Valley to harvest Fog Dews, a type of budding plant found there.

Though it had similar properties to plants she knew, Sheng Xin hadn’t encountered something like it before, mainly because she didn’t prefer fogs as an environment.

When she harvested another bag’s worth of Fog Dew, Sheng Xin made her way back to Moonlight City, where she hid her latest catch and silently made her way over to the Green Lotus Sect, the place the request described as the drop-off spot.

Would they be suspicious of her being a demonic cultivator? Most likely, but Sheng Xin didn’t bother to hide her nature—she never has. It brings more enemies that way, and enemies mean more resources.

Now, Sheng Xin wondered, what would the Green Lotus Sect be?

An enemy? Or a convenient farm for resources? If it’s the latter, they might even live after she breaks past this mortal world and returns to the immortal plane!