Lin Qiongyu’s pupils contracted slightly, her first reaction was to think she was mistaken.
But when she looked closely, she was thunderstruck.
It’s him!
The person in the carriage, how could it be him?
That medicinal farmer from the shanty district, who she and Xue Chengjun had wantonly humiliated, falsely accused!
Also the neighborhood Senior Chen of Shunshui Street, who once confidently treated Mysterious Ginseng within Cloud Clothing Pavilion, and during the siege of the beast tide, stood by seeing death without helping...
Lin Qiongyu only felt the world spin, as if a rat from the gutter had been lifted into the sunlight.
Although she knew Chen Ye had passed the Spirit Plant Master assessment, in her expectation, Chen Ye should have been like the stout and thin Stewards, diligently working in the Herb Pavilion.
Or perhaps in some Spirit Field, casting Cloud Rain Technique, like an old farmer who knows Immortal Cultivation.
That should have been all.
But why was he now surrounded by crowds, respected even by late-stage Qi Cultivation sect disciples?
At this moment,
The past events and the current gap in status between the two made her heart surge with an unprecedented complex and bitter feeling.
She instinctively pulled her scarf lower, wishing she could bury her entire face in shadow, hastily turning around, disappearing into the crowd like she was fleeing.
"Jin’er, sister, will save you today, whatever the cost..."
...
Liu Quan led a group through the front hall of the Herb Pavilion to a quiet and elegant reception room, never letting the enthusiastic smile leave his face:
"Steward Chen, our Peach Mountain District, is truly a wonderful place!"
He personally poured Spirit Tea for Chen Ye and Li Qiuyun, continuing in a vivid voice: "Do you know the origins of our Peach Mountain District? It’s quite an intriguing tale!"
Chen Ye sipped his tea, motioned for him to continue.
The two young apprentices also perked up their ears out of curiosity.
Liu Quan, seeing this, became even more spirited, lowered his voice, and with a tinge of mystery, said: "Legend has it, hundreds of years ago, this place was not a Market, but an ordinary mountain range in the Three Thousand Great Mountains, dense with woods and teeming with Demon Beasts."
"But one day, Divine Fire descended from the sky, Cold Flame raged, surprisingly burning this stretch of mountains hundreds of miles long to ashes, turning it into scorched earth! At that time, everyone thought this place had become barren, devoid of any Vitality."
He paused, selling a point of suspense, seeing the little girl’s wide eyes, only then proudly continued: "But who would have thought, decades later, on this scorched land burnt by Divine Fire, miraculous Spiritual Peach trees grew, the peaches they bore contained strands of Spiritual Qi!"
"Spiritual Peach?" Qing Jun, who was aimlessly swinging her small feet, lit up at the mention of food, "Is it tasty? Are there any now?"
Liu Quan was amused by the little girl and laughed heartily: "Such a greedy little child. Though the Spiritual Peaches are merely the lowest tier of Spirit Fruit, their taste is sweet and refreshing, providing some Spiritual Power, naturally they are delicious. It is these Spiritual Peaches that attracted numerous Loose Cultivators to harvest and settle, eventually forming the Peach Mountain District as it is today!"
Li Qiuyun added from the side: "There is indeed a record of this in the sect’s books. However, the origin of the Divine Fire is a mystery; some say it was a Celestial Meteor Fire, others say it was caused by some Great Power Cultivator’s Magical Battle. As the saying goes, relying on the mountains to eat from them, relying on the water to eat from it, the Loose Cultivators of Peach Mountain District all depend on these Spiritual Peaches for cultivation. If Qing Jun wants some, there are plenty in Lisong Valley!"
"Oh!" Qing Jun responded, her little face instantly filled with anticipation.
While listening to this, Chen Ye’s heart was slightly stirred.
Divine Fire descending, scorched earth growing Spiritual Peaches...
Wait, raging Cold Flame?
This reminded Chen Ye of the early side storyline of the original game, with a Fake Pill minor boss.
Whose specialty was Cold Flame.
Cold Flame alone was not enough to remind Chen Ye of this boss.
But after defeating this person, you could gain information about her tale.
It’s said that as a child, this person was accidentally infested with Cold Flame, causing her to be sickly and frail from a young age.
Her sister, in order to cure her, went alone to foreign lands, and ultimately perished in the beast tide.
Her parents, Spirit Peach medicinal farmers, disregarding their own Cultivation, leased a large number of Spiritual Peach trees from a local gentry to treat her.
However... then came a cold disaster, and the fate of these Spiritual Peach trees was predictable.
As a result, her parents were eventually forced to death by others.
In the end, naturally.
This cultivator infested with Cold Flame was corrupted.
Chen Ye pondered:
"Why does this person, the more I hear, sound like a local of Peach Mountain District? Cold Flame, Spiritual Peach trees, cold disaster..."
This matter could not be ignored by Chen Ye.
This was another character with a name in the original game that Chen Ye had encountered.
Let’s temporarily call this person the Cold Flame Cultivator.
Though this Cold Flame Cultivator would merely become a Fake Pill cultivator in the future.
Not comparable to the Nascent Soul True Monarch Bai Susu of the future, much less his two disciples.
In the current Yan Kingdom, she is not even considered a top-tier figure.
But the Cold Flame Cultivator had a very unique aspect—the Cold Flame parasitic within her was extremely powerful.
Upon awakening, it will allow her Cultivation to soar to the skies!
The rumors dropped after her death also recorded that if she had not been consumed by killing intent after her corruption, forcibly wielding the might of the Cold Flame, slaughtering the entire city and confronting the reinforcements, the Golden Core True Man.
Causing her to be gravely wounded just upon her rise, cutting off her path, otherwise her future achievements would have been limitless!
What does this mean?
It means she is a ticking time bomb!
This future Fake Pill female cultivator might be somewhere in Peach Mountain District right now, experiencing the life and death separation from her sister and parents.
Once she falls to darkness, with her Cultivation skyrocketing, she will directly slaughter the entire Peach Mountain District!
Though a Fake Pill cultivator is not much in the vast Cultivation Realm.
But in a small place like Peach Mountain District...
Chen Ye shivered.
He is currently in charge of the Lisong Medicine Garden in Peach Mountain District, if the Cold Flame Cultivator turns dark, he won’t be able to fare well either!
"Steward Chen? Are you not acclimatized?"
Fatty Steward saw Chen Ye’s expression change slightly, thinking he had overstepped, he quickly and cautiously asked.
"It’s nothing."
Chen Ye waved his hand, suppressing the surging waves in his heart, his face returned to calmness, "It’s just after hearing about the difficult establishment of this Market, it makes me emotional."
He turned his gaze to Liu Quan, seemingly casually asking: "Speaking of which, Steward Liu has lived here long, surely you know the origins in the Market thoroughly. Which families in the Market are now the biggest in the Spiritual Peach business? Surely this cold disaster hit them hard?"
Liu Quan thought this newly appointed Supervisor wanted to understand Yunxi District and didn’t think much of it, immediately speaking without reservation:
"Steward Chen may not know, about seventy to eighty percent of the Spiritual Peach business in Peach Mountain District is controlled by local Cultivation Clans, the rest are in the hands of other sect forces. But to talk about who grows the most, it has to be the Wei Family. This cold disaster indeed hit them hard."
When mentioning the Wei Family, Liu Quan’s eyes flickered, offhandedly saying,
"Speaking of which, there’s another Steward in Lisong Valley, who originates from the Wei Family... However, perhaps because he is clearly a Steward of the Lingyin Sect, yet shows bias toward the Wei Family, leading to discontent from Steward Tian Farmer... Otherwise, by rights, the current Lisong Valley Supervisor should have been Steward Wei."
Bias toward one’s own family is quite normal.
In the past, ancient withdrawal systems existed... However, in Lingyin Sect’s territory, there seem to be not many Markets to avoid even if one wanted to.
Chen Ye pondered over the deeper implications in Liu Quan’s words, immediately understanding that the Fatty Steward is hinting that he might have already crossed paths with Steward Wei, and thanked him at once: "Thank you, Steward Liu for the pointer."
He finally understood why other Stewards in the Herb Pavilion seemed to avoid him.
All because they feared offending the Wei Family.
The Wei Family is not only a local power in Peach Mountain District but also holds some influence within the Lingyin Sect.
And these ordinary Stewards naturally feared them considerably.
Steward Liu shook his head, sighing: "That Wei Family really is detestable, they monopolize the Spiritual Peach business, exploit Loose Cultivators... although they claim to have suffered heavy losses, much of the cost is borne by the Loose Cultivators. I may be just an ordinary Steward, but I have long been fed up with them."
Chen Ye twitched his mouth.
He’s clearly seen that the Fatty Steward was previously haughtily driving away Loose Cultivators seeking medicine.
Yet now his tone takes on a pretentious concern for the world...