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“Huh?” Qiao Ran found the person somewhat unfamiliar, “One of ours?”
“Yes.” Meng Qi nodded, “A medical cultivator.” As she spoke, she bent down to lift the man who was taller than herself.
“I’ll do it!” Qiao Ran hurriedly stepped forward and lifted the unfamiliar medical cultivator.
“Let’s take him down from the wall first.” Meng Qi expressed gratitude and asked Qiao Ran to bring the unconscious cultivator down. Back at their temporary base, Li Che was still detoxifying the Duankong disciple. “He’s not seriously injured, just passed out from aura depletion.” Meng Qi quickly examined her new patient. She fed the medical cultivator two pills and let him lean against the wall. After that, she stood up and jumped back onto the city wall.
Qiao Ran followed without protest, asking casually, “Junior Sister, what are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know if the Thousand Emperor Bell and Luoxin tree are real or fake.” Meng Qi said calmly, “But we can’t just stand still, so let’s do what we can, like Li Che.”
Do what we can…
Qiao Ran glanced back at Li Che, who was focused on detoxifying the Duankong disciple. When he looked back, the slim blue figure had already blended into the crowd again. “Junior Sister,” he called out and hurried after her.
When Meng Qi and Qiao Ran returned to the base of the wall with the third injured cultivator, the previously unconscious medical cultivator had woken up. He had merely exhausted his spiritual aura and wasn’t severely injured. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Meng Qi bandaging another cultivator’s wounds. “Thank you,” he said, struggling to stand up.
Qiao Ran quickly stepped forward to support him, “Careful.”
“Thank you.” The medical cultivator nodded in thanks to him and then walked over to Meng Qi. Qiao Ran then noticed that the bloodshot in the medical cultivator’s eyes had faded, revealing clear eyes once more. “Let me help you,” he said, kneeling beside the injured cultivator. With a wave of his hand, a small cauldron appeared by his side.
Qiao Ran: “…”
Meng Qi simply responded with a soft “Um,” and said nothing more. The two worked silently together, four hands busy tending to a single patient. The faintly bitter medicinal fragrance silently emanated from both Meng Qi’s Five Spirits Cauldron and the medical cultivator’s natal cauldron.
“Eh?” As the two were working busily, Li Che stood up and walked over. “Brother Chen.” He cupped his hands in greeting to the medical cultivator, then quickly joined the rescue efforts without much small talk. “This person’s heart veins are almost completely severed, what a domineering sword aura!”
Qiao Ran stood silently to the side, watching the scene before him. He remembered when he first found Meng Qi: both she and Li Che looked at him with focused, curious, and… pure eyes?
Qiao Ran wasn’t sure how to describe it. He watched the three busy at work, thinking about how, just moments ago, one of them was fighting fiercely on the battlefield. And yet, after being saved by Meng Qi, this person quickly turned around and was now fully committed to saving others. Did he ever consider that the person he was saving might have been someone who attacked him in the chaos?
With conflicted feelings, Qiao Ran absent-mindedly scratched his head before turning his gaze to the still chaotic battlefield in the distance. It felt like two entirely separate realities existed in front and behind him. One side was serene and peaceful, the other brutal, bloody, and merciless.
—He really couldn’t fathom these people.
Qiao Ran’s natal sword seemed to understand its master’s thoughts. Hovering by his side, the sword’s sharp tip swaying gently, almost looking as if deep in thought. Qiao Ran’s gaze drifted back to his still unconscious senior brother, not bothering to ask Meng Qi if his poison could be cured.
Let’s leave it for now—Qiao Ran thought, deciding to focus on what he could do.
With the additional help from Li Che, the heavily injured cultivator’s wounds were treated before long. “Take these.” Meng Qi took out four artifacts from her storage pouch, handing one pair each to Li Che and the medical cultivator whose name she didn’t even know.
“Seventh-realm artifacts?!” Qiao Ran glanced at the two, feeling a sense of delight after his own shock.
“Profound-grade spirit stones!” Soon, a second exclamation followed.
“Meng Qiqi,” Li Che looked at Meng Qi, giving her a thumbs up, “you’re really getting richer!”
Meng Qi smiled slightly, saying, “Qiao Ran and I will continue to find injured cultivators. Li Che, you and this…”
“Chen Yu,” the medical cultivator quickly introduced himself.
“…Fellow Daoist Chen, please stay here with Li Che,” Meng Qi said.
“Alright.” Li Che nodded, “Be careful, Meng Qiqi.”
Meng Qi nodded and turned to call Qiao Ran, “Let’s go.”
“Junior Sister,” Qiao Ran obediently followed, “You don’t know that guy, do you? Aren’t you afraid he won’t return your seventh-realm artifacts?”
“Huh?” Meng Qi was slightly startled, “He is already a Spirit Severing cultivator. His cultivation is higher than Li Che, and the seventh-realm artifacts will soon be useless to him. Why wouldn’t he return it?”
“Junior Sister…” Qiao Ran said earnestly, “It’s not calculated that way.” He continued, “Look, seventh-realm artifacts and magic weapons are not that common now.”
“Not common?” Meng Qi said, “But Tianhai Pavilion has plenty. They say they’re quite skilled at making seventh-realm artifacts now, but unfortunately, there are too few eighth-grade blueprints, and the materials are hard to come by. However, in the shop Tianhai Pavilion open in Beyond The Heaven, they are still selling many seventh-realm artifacts.” She thought for a moment and added, “The prices are also quite reasonable.”
Qiao Ran turned his head and stared at her for a moment, “Do you have a lot of such seventh-realm artifacts?”
“I still have dozens of seventh-realm defensive artifacts.” Meng Qi displayed her storage pouch, “And there are quite a few offensive ones too.”
Qiao Ran: “…”
“Eighth-realm ones are more rare,” Meng Qi said. “Tianhai Pavilion can only produce a small quantity of these, and they are unwilling to sell the best ones. I only managed to purchase a few.”
Qiao Ran: “…”
He suddenly remembered the first time he was ordered to find Meng Qi. That day, Master had called him to his bamboo hut alone and told him some things about this junior sister. Qiao Ran remembered well that Master had said that shortly after Junior Sister was born, she disappeared. Only recently did he learn that she had been found and raised by someone from a very small, poor, and shabby town. When she grew up a bit, she joined a small sect near that town.
According to his master, that sect was even poorer and weaker—so weak that any young disciple from the Duankong Sect could easily crush it with one finger. It was said that the sect, called Qingfeng Valley, had no resources and was just an obscure, ordinary little sect, even in the less prosperous region of Eastern Realm.
His master also said that the entire Qingfeng Valley probably couldn’t muster up ten profound-grade spirit stones. As for high-rank artifacts, rare natural treasures, and ancient legacies… those were even more out of reach.
In short, his junior sister must have endured a lot of hardships growing up!
His master also lamented, blaming himself for not providing her with a better life.
Qiao Ran vividly remembered that when his master told him these things, his eyes were slightly red, and his tone was filled with regret and sorrow. Qiao Ran felt deep sympathy for this junior sister he had never met, so when he left Duankong City on his master’s orders, he specifically went to the sect’s treasure vault and used his points earned from completing various missions to exchange for a small, beautiful-looking protective artifact to give to his junior sister as a meeting gift.
The artifact was shaped like an exquisite jade pendant and quite popular among female cultivators. He thought a fifth-realm artifact would be more than enough for his junior sister. That artifact was still lying in Qiao Ran’s storage pouch, as he had not yet had the chance to give it to her.
Now…
Qiao Ran couldn’t help but glance at his wrist where the seventh-realm protective bracelet glittered with profound-grade spirit stones. Junior Sister was not only wealthier than him but also very generous. In fact, she was probably even wealthier than his master!
Master really had a long and difficult road ahead if he wanted to win her favor!
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