The great alchemy competition, held once every three years, did not lose any of its excitement.

After all, no one could be certain if one day they might need something, so it was very necessary to make connections with a few talented alchemists.

As for those grandmasters who had been famous for a long time, their face and status were not something just anyone could casually claim.

At this moment, the square was filled with core disciples from various great sects as far as the eye could see.

Perhaps to display their identity, unlike the silks and brocades of the mortal world, cultivators’ robes were mostly light and ethereal, simply put, imbued with immortal aura. Even the disciple uniforms of major sects were no exception.

An Ning quickly caught sight of disciples from the Xuqing Sect.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Shangguan Ling’s eyes flashed with a trace of panic not far away. Especially since in less than half a day, An Ning had smoothly passed through the rounds and successfully secured a spot for promotion.

Particularly in the second round, when the Superior Rejuvenation Pill appeared, more than one person from the stands had already stepped forward to inquire.

Who exactly was this stranger? Especially since there were clearly no marks of any major sect on her.

If she were an ordinary wanderer…

Even the surrounding senior and junior brothers and sisters showed interested expressions: “Why does the junior sister keep staring at that fairy? Do you have some prior connection?”

Shangguan Ling instinctively glanced at Sikong Jing beside her and hurriedly shook her head:

“Nothing, just curious!”

But her heart was already in turmoil.

How could this be?

Forget the alchemy—why was this person’s talent so extraordinary? Even her master, the Golden Core Elder, might not be able to achieve such results with a fourth-grade pill.

No, impossible. She herself…

Everything was in chaos…

Could it be that this person also had some kind of fortune?

Looking at the calm sky-blue figure on the stage, a flicker of suspicion crossed Shangguan Ling’s mind. Yet when she saw the increasingly handsome features of the man beside her, she suppressed her doubts again.

No… it couldn’t be. If this person truly had a fortune, how could she not seek out the senior brother?

Perhaps it was all just coincidence…

Taking a deep breath, Shangguan Ling forced herself to set aside her unease. However, as she turned, she saw her senior brother’s gaze fixed unwaveringly on that person…

Instinctively, Shangguan Ling painfully clutched her chest: “Senior brother, I feel so unwell…”

“Ling’er, what’s wrong?”

Seeing her pale face and tightly clutching her chest, Sikong Jing’s expression showed a flicker of guilt, quickly turning into worry as he cautiously embraced her.

Even his voice softened dramatically:

“Did your old wound flare up again?”

“It’s my fault. If I had known you were unwell, junior sister, I shouldn’t have risked bringing you here. Otherwise, this competition…”

Before he could finish, Shangguan Ling hurriedly interrupted: “Senior brother, it’s nothing. I just need some rest…”

“Junior sister, if you really are fine, remember your body is irreplaceable. Don’t force yourself!”

Sikong Jing’s originally sharp brows furrowed slightly.

“Rest assured, senior brother. This wound has lasted so long. No matter how serious, it couldn’t have left much harm…”

“Alright, Ling’er. I know you’re still worried, but uncle has raised me like a daughter for many years. Even if it costs my life, I mustn’t say I’m injured, let alone anything worse…”

Shangguan Ling shyly glanced at the man beside her and bit her lip.

Especially seeing his suddenly gentle expression, her heart involuntarily warmed with sweetness.

She kept telling herself it was fine; after all, everything had already changed, hadn’t it?

Here, the City Lord of Sikong City had not died, and Sikong City had no chaos. Jing Gege (Brother Jing) did not have to endure those hardships. Without those, with his prideful nature since childhood, how could he treat a triple spirit root cultivator from the countryside so differently?

Not to mention how he repeatedly risked his cultivation and life for this person.

No matter what, the person in Jing Gege’s eyes now was her, wasn’t it?

While both hid their thoughts, on the stage, An Ning had already taken out the final batch of pills.

Under the gloomy gaze of the opponent, she successfully secured the spot for the final round.

Although she did not hear what the two said from the stands, the occasional glances filled with resentment and unease, and the other person tightly holding the person beside them for fear of losing something, were enough for An Ning to speculate!

At least before the original body’s first life, this was not simple.

The competition ended, and An Ning quickly returned to her private room.

On the tea stove, fragrant tea steam rose gently.

Unexpectedly, the first visitor was none other than Zhang Baozhu.

“Baozhu?”

Upon seeing her, An Ning was momentarily stunned.

Zhang Baozhu was about twenty-three years old, her cultivation only at mid-stage Qi Refining, clearly not at the longevity extension realm. Yet her face looked like that of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.

Clearly enhanced by spiritual medicine, she now wore a pink-blue lotus leaf dress. Under the delicate makeup, her eyes and brows carried a hint of charm. The earlier innocent and naive demeanor was nowhere to be found after just a few years.

Behind her followed a young girl dressed as a maid, with similar features.

“Sister A-Ning!”

The moment the private room door opened, Baozhu’s face showed obvious joy.

“Sister A-Ning, why did you leave so suddenly before? I was just about to look for you that day when a few senior sisters told me you had already left!”

“By the way, I heard the City Lord of West Flame City has a bad temper. Sister A-Ning, how are you doing there…”

“Don’t worry, look at me now, do I look bad?”

Reaching out to take the teacup handed to her, Baozhu instinctively shook her head.

Well… true!

Looking at the exquisitely decorated private room, the standard was even higher than those of inner sect disciples she had seen before.

Having followed the main disciples for many years, Baozhu had some insight and could naturally tell that the robes on the person before her were extraordinary. Just the robe alone was probably worth a fortune…

Admiration flashed in Zhang Baozhu’s eyes.

The teacup still held some warmth, a rare top-grade spirit tea. Baozhu did not want to waste a drop.

Before long, the cup was emptied.

“By the way, Sister A-Ning, when I went home before, I heard your second aunt seemed to have some syndrome and looked like she didn’t have long to live. When I went there, she even specially begged me to get some news for Sister Pandi… or now should be called Uncle Chen.”

Realizing she might have said something wrong, Zhang Baozhu hurriedly smacked her mouth.

Uncle Chen—so it seemed that this cousin of the original body had at least succeeded in Foundation Establishment.

Four spirit roots, that speed was indeed impressive.

“And that cousin of yours…”

An Ning looked curious.

Baozhu gently shook her head: “When I spoke to Uncle Chen then, he just said he knew it calmly.”

“Maybe busy with cultivation afterward, he has been inside the sect all along. No news of leaving.”

So she never went back!

An Ning instinctively picked up her teacup.

“But…” Baozhu seemed to recall something, “When I was talking about this, Uncle Chen’s face looked really bad.”

More precisely, it was terrifyingly abnormal.

Baozhu sipped the clear tea again, her eyes flashing with complexity.

“Anyway, since then, Uncle Chen has become even more diligent. People in the peak said he practices swordsmanship until midnight every day. He even wakes up before dawn…”

“By the way…”

Baozhu cautiously glanced at An Ning before speaking:

“Actually, Aunt also asked about you, Sister A-Ning…”

The aunt she mentioned was undoubtedly the biological mother of this body, Mrs. Zhou.

An Ning was not surprised.

Setting aside shallow filial affection, the reason the original body was so well taken care of over the years without much neglect was to gain some benefit, wasn’t it?

She took out a small bottle of health pills she had casually given away earlier. The thumb-sized jade bottle contained only about three to five pills. She handed the jade bottle to the person before her:

“You must already know my situation. It’s definitely impossible for me to go back. Please help take these back. Just say the worldly ties have ended; no need to worry anymore!”

She then placed a bottle of Spirit Nurturing Pills into her hand: “Thank you!”

Baozhu tightly clenched the jade bottle in her hand, tears glimmering in her eyes:

“Don’t worry, Sister A-Ning, I will definitely handle what you asked!”

“And Sister A-Ning, you… you must be careful in the future. If… if nothing happens, please absolutely do not leave West Flame City again…”

Before leaving, Baozhu suddenly leaned forward, her voice hoarse.

Looking directly at the young girl before her, An Ning’s eyes showed some surprise, then immediately understanding.

Facing Baozhu’s obviously anxious gaze, An Ning smiled lightly and nodded: “West Flame City is very good. I’m used to it here and have no intention of wandering around…”

“This time I came to broaden my horizons with my City Lord.”

Thinking of the legendary City Lord of West Flame City, Zhang Baozhu finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The various makeup disguises melted away to reveal a genuine smile.

“Sister A-Ning, you must take care!”

***

“Aunt, why did you…”

Just after stepping outside the door, a young maid with some resemblance to Zhang Baozhu anxiously asked.

“Clearly, the master ordered…”

The master the maid mentioned was now a direct disciple of Sword Peak, also one of the followers of Sikong Jing, the young master of Sikong City.

Although she did not know why the master cared so much about the person just now and specially asked her aunt to come here, it was probably because of that impressive alchemy talent!

The little girl couldn’t help but think.

In her eyes, even if there was some hometown friendship before, the two people clearly differed vastly in status, and their relationship did not seem deep.

The master was her aunt, and even the breadwinner of the Zhang family.

She did not understand why her aunt would take the risk to warn that person in such circumstances?

If anything harmful to the master was found out…

The little girl shuddered instinctively.

“Aunt…”

Gently touching the red hairpin at her temple, Zhang Baozhu did not answer immediately but asked the girl before her:

“A-Ling, how long have you been here?”

“It’s… been seven years, Aunt. Why are you asking?”

At first hearing A-Ling, the girl before her was momentarily confused. Because of often coming here to avoid mentioning, the name Zhang Ling had not been heard for a long time.

Even her aunt usually called her A-Bi.

Thinking of this, A-Ling lowered her head.

As a lowly maid, she was naturally much shorter than the many heroic and high-level cultivators around. Those years had not been easy for her aunt, let alone for a maid.

The joy of being selected earlier to help her aunt had long disappeared.

“Seven years already!”

“Yeah, seven years…”

Looking at her barely nineteen-year-old niece with pity, Zhang Baozhu’s eyes showed melancholy:

“Those years, A-Ling, you saw it too. My life hasn’t been easy. But you know, before this, aunt’s life was even harder…”

Baozhu gave a light, bitter laugh:

“In the eyes of those noble direct disciples, who are we? No family background, no cultivation, no better than lowly female slaves!”

The turning point came seven years ago. Unlike the alchemy talent A-Ling suspected, Baozhu clearly knew that what those people coveted on Sister A-Ning was not just this…

Or at least not only this.

After all, seven years ago, Sister A-Ning had not yet shown these signs.

Maybe because of disdain for her, a lowly maid with weak spiritual power, Baozhu had learned quite a lot from her master.

It turned out that the one instructing him and secretly investigating Sister A-Ning’s news was the young master of Sikong City.

Honestly, Baozhu almost couldn’t believe it. But what followed forced her to accept it.

So the question arose: what could attract the attention of the dignified young master of Sikong City?

Thinking of the vague rumors about Chen Family Village and the chances she had coaxed herself to visit the first floor of the library, Baozhu quickly realized something.

Hence today’s warning.

But with Sister A-Ning’s intelligence, she probably already knew!

“A-Ling, aunt knows what you want to say. Indeed, we currently rely on the master well. But don’t forget one thing: when the cunning rabbit dies, the hound is cooked.”

No matter the reason, their target was Sister A-Ning. Their current kindness to me was the same. Once Sister A-Ning really encounters trouble and becomes useless, what value do we have?

Even to avoid offending the City Lord of West Flame City, wouldn’t it be natural for them to make those who know disappear?

Hearing her aunt’s certainty, A-Ling was scared: “That can’t be… Aunt, you’re at least part of the master’s people…”

Her aunt replied mercilessly with a light snort:

“Why can’t it?”

Just a few years of superficial friendship, and she, born lowly with weak spiritual power, could really expect to be spared out of sentiment?

Warningly, she glanced at her niece:

“A-Ling, you must remember, those proud ones will never look downwards…”

Thinking of Pandi, also with four spirit roots and from a humble background, who had already succeeded in Foundation Establishment recently, Baozhu’s eyes showed some envy, but it soon vanished.

She was not Pandi and did not have her fortune or nature. Youthful looks or anything else aside, if she did not take this path, she wouldn’t even have what she had now…

The next day, the much-anticipated final quickly arrived.

At this moment, on the competition stage, seeing her host prepare the items one after another, the system immediately widened its eyes:

“No… it can’t be. Host, it’s just a small competition!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep