Demoness, Stop! - Chapter 35 - Chapter 35 – Jiang Li

Li Yu had already noticed that the short and skinny guy in front of him was quite business-minded.

Knowing that Li Yu’s success rate in refining low-tier pills was high, he refined some hemostatic pills himself to fulfill Elder Han’s request. Then he handed the leftover materials to Li Yu. The pills Li Yu refined from those materials were split fifty-fifty between them.

The sect didn’t demand much from new apprentices in alchemy training. As long as ten batches of materials could produce one pill, it was acceptable. That left the remaining nine batches for both of them to profit from.

What was even more impressive was that he had taken the little booklet Li Yu showed him last time, made many copies outside, and sold them to Kunlun disciples for twenty spirit coins a piece.

Everyone is naturally curious, and twenty spirit coins wasn’t expensive for most Kunlun disciples. He earned quite a bit of spirit coins from this.

In Li Yu’s small courtyard, Wu Tong mysteriously told him, “Meridian Clearing Pills aren’t rare in Kunlun. Normally, they wouldn’t run out unless some big shots in the sect intercepted the pills that were meant to be sold…”

Li Yu instinctively asked, “Would big shots need Meridian Clearing Pills?”

Wu Tong glanced at him and said, “They don’t need them themselves, but their disciples and juniors do. Do you think everyone cultivates like us? Working hard, risking their lives on missions to get pills? Those people do nothing but pop pills, gathering qi in a day and establishing a foundation in three days isn’t a dream. Otherwise, how do you think those in their twenties have mid-stage Foundation Establishment or Golden Core level cultivation?”

These things were not unexpected to Li Yu.

Some are born in Rome, others born as cattle and horses.

Some are born in Kunlun, where the starting point is a place most people won’t reach in ten lifetimes. That’s reality.

He thought a moment and asked, “But would they really need to intercept so many?”

Kunlun is famous for its alchemy. There are at least several hundred alchemists who can make Meridian Clearing Pills. Even if each made just one per month, that’s several hundred pills produced monthly.

Wu Tong shook his head. “You don’t really think all those top geniuses cultivate just one spiritual vein like us, do you? Wait—no, not you, you have four veins…”

He cleared his throat, “But unlike you, even if they cultivate five veins simultaneously, from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, they’d only use around three hundred and fifty Meridian Clearing Pills. There are over two hundred second-tier and above alchemists in the sect, but the materials for Meridian Clearing Pills are limited. Monthly output is about a thousand pills. Half must be given to major sects like Heavenly Dao Sect, Shushan, Emei, and Qingcheng to maintain relationships and trade for resources Kunlun lacks. That leaves about five hundred. Half of those are reserved for disciples of Nascent Soul ancestors. The rest, only about two hundred fifty, are available for ordinary disciples to buy with spirit coins…”

Wu Tong continued, “If a new disciple with exceptional talent joins, the amount of Meridian Clearing Pills for ordinary disciples, originally two hundred or so, will shrink. If that disciple cultivates five veins simultaneously, the ordinary disciples won’t get any that month, at least not until the next month…”

Li Yu asked, “Are you saying a prodigy just joined?”

Wu Tong analyzed, “Prodigy isn’t even enough to describe it. To be able to intercept all the ordinary disciples’ pills for a month—most Nascent Soul ancestors don’t have that authority. The lowest level capable would be a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator. There aren’t many late Nascent Soul ancestors in the sect. In the past six months, only one took in a prodigy: the Xianzhen Ancestor of Yuzhu Peak, Senior Sister Xu Qingxin’s master. She intercepted those pills for her new disciple—rumored to be the Jiang Empire Princess with a Heavenly Spiritual Vein, Jiang Li…”

“Definitely Jiang Li. She joined late, started cultivating late, so Xianzhen Ancestor must be using those pills to boost her cultivation. Intercepting that many pills at once is probably to support her five-vein cultivation. Among the Seven Prodigies of Kunlun, only Senior Sister Qin has had that kind of treatment…”

Wu Tong’s endless analysis made Li Yu stunned.

After all that, it was Jiang Li who snatched his Meridian Clearing Pills, leaving him with money but nowhere to spend it…

Wu Tong said with some regret, “Too bad this Jiang junior sister has been in seclusion since joining, never leaving. If I had her portrait, I could sell my little booklet again…”

Just as he finished speaking, a white figure suddenly descended from the sky, landing in Li Yu’s courtyard.

It was a girl about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a delicately sculpted nose, beautifully shaped brows and eyes, and skin as fair and smooth as jade. When Wu Tong saw her for the first time, his eyes nearly popped out.

But what caught his attention wasn’t the girl herself—it was the clothes she wore.

She wore a pink long dress with exquisite embroidery, which made this already stunning girl look even more ethereal. Along the hem, faint radiant light shimmered—it was clearly no ordinary robe.

At the collar, there was a faint petal-shaped mark.

Emei craftsmanship, top-grade immortal garment!

The moment Li Yu saw the girl, he stood up. Although she was wearing women’s clothing and styled in a girl’s hairstyle, Li Yu immediately recognized her as his good brother.

“Li Yu!”

Jiang Li smiled brightly upon seeing him, holding up the hem of her dress as she ran over. “I knew Senior Sister Qingxin would definitely bring you in…”

Before Li Yu could say anything, she hurriedly said, “I sneaked out while Master wasn’t around. I can’t stay here long. Here, take this…”

She shoved a ring into Li Yu’s hand, then secretly pulled a jade box from her sleeve. “Take this too…”

Another figure in a green dress descended from the sky. Seeing Jiang Li handing the jade box to Li Yu, she sighed helplessly and said, “Junior sister, this fourth-rank talisman, even if you give it to Junior Brother Li, he won’t be able to use it. The spiritual energy required to activate a fourth-rank talisman would drain him dry a hundred times over…”

“That dangerous? Then forget it…” Jiang Li paused, then put away the jade box. A flash of light appeared in her hand, and she produced another talisman, which she gave to Li Yu. “This one is a third-grade talisman. You only need to take a Qi Recovery Pill to use it. Keep it for protection…”

She was about to say more when suddenly a cry echoed from the distant horizon.

The cry grew louder and seemed to be rapidly approaching.

Jiang Li’s face changed. “It’s over, Master sent Qingluan to catch me. I have to go now. I’ll sneak back to see you next time…”

With that, she glanced at Li Yu one last time, sprang into the air, and transformed into a streak of light flying toward the upside-down peak floating in the sky far away.

Jiang Li came and left in a hurry—Li Yu didn’t even get a chance to say a word.

After a moment, he looked at the ring and talisman in his hand and then toward Senior Sister Xu.

Xu Qingxin just smiled wryly. “Those were given to her by the sect’s elders when she was accepted as a disciple. Just keep them. Aside from that fourth-grade talisman, all the important items on her were confiscated by Master. I was always curious why she insisted on keeping that talisman—turns out it was meant for you…”

…

Jiang Li and Xu Qingxin had left some time ago, but Wu Tong was still standing there stunned.

When he came back to himself, he immediately looked at Li Yu and asked, “Just now… that was—”

Li Yu said, “You already know, don’t you?”

Wu Tong jumped up in shock, unable to believe it. “Damn, that was junior sister Jiang! Li Yu, what exactly is your relationship with Jiang Li?!”

The relationship with Jiang Li…

Li Yu thought for a moment. Before, he could have said without hesitation she was his brother. Now, the relationship was hard to define…

But no matter what, in Li Yu’s eyes, she was still his best friend, the closest person to him in this world.

After a long while, Wu Tong finally recovered and murmured, “No wonder, no wonder Senior Sister Xu was with you when you joined. So that’s the kind of relationship you have with Jiang Li. Li Yu, if you get rich in the future, don’t forget your brother, okay…”