In the outer regions of Pill Valley, there was a plaza near a river. This was a place where outer disciples would gather.

These outer disciples that were geniuses in the outside world were only ordinary here.

In the rest of the world, outer disciples weren’t very useful. They mostly just used up resources, and when there were too many of them, the sects would kick out a few who had no potential.

However, in Pill Valley, even outer disciples could bring them profit. That was because their cultivation relied on refining a large number of medicinal pills. Their profit made up for their consumption.

So Pill Valley didn’t kick out these outer disciples. Even if their talent was lacking compared to others, they were still alchemists. In fact, anyone who could enter Pill Valley was monstrously talented. But your status depended on just how much of a monster you were.

These disciples had to refine pills to exchange for cultivation resources, and Pill Valley had many cultivation rooms with powerful formations that could assist them. However, those rooms weren’t free for outer disciples.

Outer disciples didn’t even get a tenth of the benefits that inner disciples were blessed with. In fact, there were essentially no benefits. Everything they had was gained through them working hard on their alchemy.

Some outer disciples would come to the outer regions of Pill Valley to gather medicinal ingredients.

The outskirts of Pill Valley were mostly wild land. But this wild land was actually Pill Valley’s medicinal garden. Other than a few special regions with people guarding them though, the rest was just wilderness.

That was because some medicinal ingredients could only grow in the wild. If they were planted in a medicinal field, they might be affected by other ingredients, or their growth would be stunted, or they might simply outright die.

So the outskirts of Pill Valley had quite a few precious medicines growing. Some were high tier, and some were low tier. Disciples could gather them based on their own requirements.

The majority of the medicinal ingredients that disciples practiced their alchemy with were obtained through trading merit points with Pill Valley. Once they refined those medicinal ingredients into pills, they could exchange the pills for more merit points. It was the same as farmers working for landlords.

The earth, seeds, and fertilizer, all came from the landlord. If you worked hard and managed to grow the crops, then once the various costs were subtracted, you could still make some money.

However, this money was based on your own success. Some people who failed too many refinements would even end up owing money.

So there would always be a few disciples out gathering medicine. As long as they could gather some rare ones or ones that Pill Valley was currently lacking, they would make a bit of money. They could keep these medicinal ingredients or exchange them. It was very beneficial to everyone.

As for this large plaza, it had become a place for outer disciples to trade their excess medicinal ingredients. There were all kinds of medicines displayed.

Long Chen and the Pill Fairy were currently strolling through this plaza. But both of them had disguised their faces so others wouldn’t be able to recognize them. If they didn’t, it would cause a huge disturbance.

“Thank you, Long San. It’s my first time being able to come out and have such a relaxed stroll.” At this time, the Pill Fairy had made her face look ordinary and was wearing the robes of an outer disciple. However, her eyes were as enchanting as ever.

Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh emotionally inside. He had once said that different people had different hardships.

Someone like the Pill Fairy, with a majestic status within Pill Valley, wasn’t even able to go for a simple stroll. Just what was with this world?

Everyone was envious of what others had while not caring about what they possessed themselves. They didn’t realize that as they envied others, others also envied them.

Through their chatting, Long Chen felt that the Pill Fairy was actually a very pitiable person. She lived under a spotlight, and under it, she had to live according to specific standards. She was unable to walk out of this spotlight or even learn what the outside world was like.

“As long as you want to, I’ll accompany you at any time.”

Long Chen walked alongside the Pill Fairy. Smelling her specific fragrance, he felt a peaceful feeling in his heart. As they were walking, he suddenly paused because he saw a square melon.

“Hey, little fellow, is this melon of yours sweet?”

As soon as Long Chen said this, he regretted it. But it was too late.

“Scram!” The disciple holding the melon immediately exploded in fury and walked off.

“Why was that person so rude? If you wanted to buy his melon, why would he get mad if you asked him if it is sweet?” wondered the Pill Fairy.

“It was my fault. That’s a bitter melon.” Long Chen looked at the Pill Fairy awkwardly. Only after speaking had he realized that this was a sixth tier medicinal ingredient, the Earthen Bitter Melon, something used to expel the accumulated internal heat that was stored up within alchemists. For him to ask if it was sweet or not was definitely asking to be cursed.

The Pill Fairy looked at his embarrassed expression and couldn’t help but laugh. It was a lovely sound, but it just made Long Chen even more embarrassed. That Earthen Bitter Melon was strange. Some kind of mutation had to have occurred in it. Normally, they would be a light green color, but this one was dark green.

Originally, Long Chen had been thinking about buying some snacks for Wan Qing, but instead he ended up in such an awkward position.

“Are your Violet Jade Cherries sweet?” Long Chen pointed to a pile of cherries on a vendor’s booth.

“They are.”

“Can I taste one?”

“No.” That vendor’s reply was extremely direct.

“Hey, if I don’t try one, how will I know if it’s sweet or not?”

“These Violet Jade Cherries are very precious. I’ll taste one and you can use my expression to judge whether they’re sweet or not,” replied the vendor coldly.

So, this fellow thought he could compete with him? This was Long Chen’s first time running into such an opponent. The Pill Fairy stood to the side as Long Chen began to stubbornly argue with the vendor until they were both red in the face.

She found it funny, but she also felt that this way of living was more authentic; no one had misgivings about her due to her status. She felt an unprecedented relaxed feeling.

Then as Long Chen began to argue with the vendor over whether the Violet Jade Cherries were sweet or not for an incense stick’s worth of time, she became speechless. One side had to have a taste of one, while the other refused.

“Hmph, you won’t let me taste one? Fine! I just won’t buy any! What’s so amazing about them? I have plenty of money, and I’ll just spend it on even better stuff!” raged Long Chen. He hadn’t even managed to swindle away a single cherry. Could it be that his conning divine ability had declined by so much?

“Hmph, is having money amazing? I have plenty of good stuff here. If you won’t buy them, someone else will!”

“Oh, you have White Eye Lotuses? Those aren’t bad. How much for one pound?” Long Chen suddenly turned toward another one of the other vendor’s wares.

“Thirty for one pound.” The thirty he mentioned was merit points.

“Thirty? That’s too expensive. Can it be cheaper?” Long Chen directly began to bargain.

The Pill Fairy was startled. These lotuses weren’t actually expensive. They could be easily gained from Pill Valley, and their quality would be greater than what was sold here. She didn’t know what he was doing.

“One pound for thirty, two pounds for fifty. The more you want, the greater the discount.” It seemed this vendor wasn’t so easily angered. He still conducted his business properly.

“Alright, pack some more… more… more… come on, I don’t want to keep asking.”

“How much do you want? The bag’s full.”

“Keep packing until the discount’s 100%.”

“Bastard, you’re just wasting my time!”

Finally, the disciple snapped. He charged out at Long Chen while picking up a cane from the ground.

Long Chen pulled the Pill Fairy away with him as he fled. He didn’t know how far he ran, but the plaza had long since vanished behind them. The enraged disciple was easily thrown off.

Long Chen and the Pill Fairy arrived at a secluded forest path, and the Pill Fairy was shaking with laughter. This Long San was truly evil.

However, she didn’t feel any loathing for this. While Long San was domineering on the surface, he didn’t use his power to bully the weak.

Even when he had been cursed and chased away by a Xiantian realm disciple, he had just laughed and fled. The Pill Fairy had never seen such a person in Pill Valley.

The Pill Fairy’s face suddenly reddened and she pulled her hand out of Long Chen’s grasp. Just now, it had been Long Chen who had pulled her away. She hadn’t noticed before, but now that she did, her heart pounded.

However, she found that Long San didn’t react to this. There wasn’t the slightest malice in his eyes. They were completely calm. It was as if they had held hands like two children playing around.

“Oh?”

Long Chen and the Pill Fairy suddenly noticed a group of people walking in the distance. Seeing one of those figures, Long Chen’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s Xuan Jizi!” said the Pill Fairy.

Long Chen was startled. “You know him?”

A faint disgust appeared in the Pill Fairy’s eyes. “This person is extremely evil. He has harmed countless geniuses, and his sins are irredeemable. Now he’s running from the rest of the world like a mouse. I heard he was chased down until he vanished without a trace, but I didn’t expect Protector Zhuo to find him. Since he is someone from Heavenly Fate Island, his ability to read the heavens is extremely powerful…”

A determined expression suddenly wiped away her worry. “Long San, can I trust you?”

“Well, I suppose. I’m quite reliable,” said Long Chen vaguely, not quite sure what she was planning.

“I want to kill Xuan Jizi. Can you help?”

“What?!”