Chapter 13: Meeting an “acquaintance” again

“What condition?” Bai Ling asked excitedly.

“You have to change your form.”

Lin Fan’s meaning was obvious.

Changing her form meant that Bai Ling could not lie on Lin Fan’s bed in her human form.

“This…”

After hearing Lin Fan’s condition, a trace of disappointment flashed in Bai Ling’s eyes.

But soon, she returned to her usual self.

“No problem, Master.”

Huh???

Lin Fan was a bit surprised.

He had thought Bai Ling would make a fuss for a while.

He didn’t expect her to agree so quickly.

“Goodnight, Master~”

After transforming into her spirit cat form, Bai Ling didn’t delay and, with a whoosh, dove into Lin Fan’s quilt.

“Good… huh?!”

Lin Fan seemed to have felt something and suddenly shouted, “Come out! Where are you burrowing?!”

The next morning.

“Master, Senior Sister Bai, come out to eat—”

Early in the morning, Ye Qinghong called out towards Lin Fan’s room.

“Hah—yawn—”

Lin Fan opened his eyes, carefully turned over, and glanced at Bai Ling sleeping soundly beside his pillow.

“Honestly, what was all that fuss last night for…”

___

[Ding dong! Master-Disciple Interaction Quest completed!]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Forging Immortal Points ×500.]

[Congratulations, Host, for triggering an additional reward and obtaining one “Alchemy Handbook.”]

___

“Hm? This reward seems to be much more than before,” Lin Fan couldn’t help but remark.

[The rewards for Master-Disciple Interaction Quests will increase as the number of the Host’s disciples increases~]

“I see.”

Lin Fan smacked his lips.

‘By that calculation, the prices of the items in the Forging Immortal Shop are still quite reasonable.’

“Master, this thing… can I take a look at it?”

Ye Qinghong asked tentatively, looking at the book in Lin Fan’s hand.

“Look all you want.”

Lin Fan casually tossed the book into Ye Qinghong’s hands.

“This… This is?!”

When Ye Qinghong saw the cover of the book, she couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

However, to be safe, Ye Qinghong casually flipped through a few pages of the book’s content.

“It’s actually real…”

A look of deep shock appeared on Ye Qinghong’s face.

“Real? What’s real?”

Looking at Ye Qinghong’s astonished expression, Lin Fan was very confused.

‘Isn’t it just a tattered book? What’s there to be so surprised about?’

“Master, this book… where did it come from?!”

Ye Qinghong pressed Lin Fan for an answer.

“Uh… an old friend gave it to me. Is there a problem?”

Lin Fan naturally couldn’t say that it was a reward from the System.

“An old friend?!”

After hearing Lin Fan’s explanation, the expression on Ye Qinghong’s face became even more shocked, and the hands holding the book began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Master, you… are old friends with the Supreme Purity Moral Heavenly Venerate?!”

Cough cough! Cough!

Ye Qinghong’s words made Lin Fan, who was drinking water, instantly choke.

“What did you say?!”

‘Supreme Purity Moral Heavenly Venerate… isn’t that Taishang Laojun?!’

[TL Note: Taishang Laojun – A supreme Taoist deity, often seen as the divine form of Laozi and one of the highest gods in Taoist tradition.]

“Huh? Master, you… why do you seem so excited?”

Ye Qinghong looked at Lin Fan’s shocked face, feeling a bit puzzled.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing…”

Lin Fan calmed his inner feelings and waved his hand at Ye Qinghong.

He had thought that the random rewards given by the System would surely be some low-quality items.

Who would have thought that this time the reward would be so explosive, even bringing out Taishang Laojun’s alchemy insights?!

“What? Qinghong, are you interested in this?”

Lin Fan changed the subject and asked with a smile.

“No, no, no,”

Ye Qinghong waved her hands repeatedly.

“Although the ‘Alchemy Handbook’ is extremely precious, Qinghong still wants to learn about formations.”

“But…”

Ye Qinghong hesitated.

“But what?”

Lin Fan pressed.

“But this thing is very suitable for Senior Sister Bai to learn…”

Ye Qinghong’s eyes lowered in thought.

“Right, where is Senior Sister Bai? I’ll go call her.”

“Wait a moment!”

Lin Fan hurriedly stopped Ye Qinghong, who was getting up from her stool.

“You sit down, I’ll go!”

‘Are you kidding me? If Ye Qinghong found out that Bai Ling slept with Lin Fan last night, who knows what kind of misunderstanding would arise.’

“Oh… okay!”

Although she wasn’t sure why Lin Fan reacted so strongly, Ye Qinghong still obediently sat back down.

A short while later, Lin Fan walked out of the room carrying Bai Ling in her spirit cat form.

“Master, is this Senior Sister Bai’s true form?”

Ye Qinghong’s eyes lit up as she looked at the sleepy-eyed Bai Ling.

“So cute—”

“Cute she may be, but…”

Lin Fan sat back in his seat.

“She’s too willful and can’t control her mouth.”

“Aowu—”

Clearly, Lin Fan’s words instantly drew Bai Ling’s dissatisfaction.

With a yelp, Bai Ling bit down directly on Lin Fan’s finger.

“Ah—”

Caught off guard, Lin Fan instantly let out a miserable cry.

“Ling’er, what are you doing? Let go, hurry up and let go…”

“Pfft—”

Lin Fan’s pathetic appearance directly made Ye Qinghong burst into laughter.

“Sister Qinghong, I want a hug~”

With a whoosh, Bai Ling jumped directly into Ye Qinghong’s arms.

“You little rascal, you’ve even learned to find someone for protection~”

Lin Fan said with feigned anger.

“Just watch me teach you a good lesson!”

“Master, forget it, forget it,”

Ye Qinghong stroked Bai Ling’s fur, her expression full of enjoyment.

“So comfortable…”

“Sister Qinghong, what’s this?”

Bai Ling caught sight of the book placed on the stone table out of the corner of her eye.

“‘Alchemy Handbook’,”

Ye Qinghong explained.

“Does Senior Sister Bai want to learn alchemy?”

“Alchemy?”

Bai Ling blinked her mischievous big eyes, then nodded lightly.

“Ling’er wants to learn!”

“For real?”

Lin Fan looked disbelieving.

“Ling’er, alchemy is not an easy thing. Are you sure—you want to learn alchemy?”

“Mhm!”

Bai Ling nodded solemnly.

“Alright~”

Lin Fan put away the “Alchemy Handbook.”

“I’ll give you a few low-grade pill recipes first, you can practice with those.”

“No, Ling’er won’t learn low-grade recipes, Ling’er wants to learn this!”

Bai Ling said insistently.

“No—Ling’er, listen to me,”

Lin Fan explained with some helplessness.

“This ‘Alchemy Handbook’ is a guide for refining immortal pills. And you, having just started with alchemy, must begin with the most basic pills. Do you—understand?”

“Oh…”

Bai Ling replied with some disappointment.

“But to learn alchemy, three things are essential: a cauldron, beast fire, and medicinal herbs. Master can provide the cauldron. As for beast fire, Ling’er, your Nine-Revolving Glazed Fire is more than enough. The only thing we lack right now are medicinal herbs.”

“After we finish breakfast, Master will take you to pick some spirit herbs,”

Lin Fan raised his cup and took a sip.

“And I’ll take you to broaden your horizons.”

Southern part of the Xianling Continent.

Star-Moon Forest.

“Boss, let me tell you—this is definitely the most ideal habitat. Look, the spiritual energy is abundant, the medicinal herbs are plentiful, it’s practically heaven~”

Inside the forest, a green demonic beast said fawningly to a blue demonic beast.

“Not bad, not bad~”

The blue demonic beast glanced around, his eyes full of satisfaction.

“This is the place. Notify the brothers, we’ll settle down here!”

“Alright!”

Hearing this, the green demonic beast readily agreed and then trotted away.

“Boss, do you think—that plague god will chase us here?”

A yellow demonic beast asked cautiously.

“I’ll beat you to death, you jinx!”

Hearing this, the blue demonic beast flew into a rage and immediately threw a punch, sending the yellow demonic beast flying over ten meters away.

At the same time—

Above the Star-Moon Forest.

“Master, where is this?”

Bai Ling and Ye Qinghong asked in unison.

“Star-Moon Forest,”

Lin Fan explained.

“Don’t be fooled by the forest’s small size. For the alchemists of the continent, this place is definitely a paradise.”

“Master, let’s go down quickly and take a look, Ling’er can’t wait!”

Bai Ling rubbed her small hands and said excitedly.

“Follow me!”

With that, Lin Fan leaned forward and flew downwards.

Seeing this, Bai Ling and the other followed closely behind.

“Brothers, grab your tools and occupy this whole place!”

The green demonic beast stood on a rock, shouting triumphantly to the other demonic beasts.

“Reporting to Second Brother, as per your instructions, all the brothers have been properly arranged,” a demonic beast with a long horn on its head walked over and said quite proudly.

“Very good! Next, we will…”

“Report—”

Just as the green demonic beast was about to arrange the next step, an ugly-looking demonic beast ran over and said in a panic, “Reporting to Second Brother, it’s bad! That plague god has found us!”

“What did you say?!”

Before the green demonic beast could ask further, the trio of Bai Ling had already arrived in front of the demonic beasts.

“Hey, it’s you guys~”

Bai Ling recognized the few demonic beasts present at a glance.

“Long time no see, you guys… are doing well~”

…

The air suddenly froze.

After a long while, one demonic beast finally couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, “Run!”

Instantly, the demonic beasts present were like a pot that had exploded.

They all stood up and scattered in all directions around the forest, fleeing for their lives.

“Hey? You guys… why are you running?!”
Bai Ling shouted at the fleeing demonic beasts.

“Why they’re running, don’t you have a clue in your heart…”

Lin Fan said faintly from the side, as he had also clearly recognized the faces of these few demonic beasts.

“No, I have to go up and explain things clearly to them.”

Bai Ling clenched her fists and then chased after one of the demonic beasts.

“Ling’er, wait a—”

Before Lin Fan could finish speaking, Bai Ling was already gone.

“Sigh…”

Lin Fan sighed and simply sat down where he was.

“Master, are we… not going to chase after them and see?”

Ye Qinghong asked with a worried expression, looking at Bai Ling’s retreating back.

“No need,”

Lin Fan leaned against a large tree.

“I believe in Ling’er, she will handle it well.”

At the same time, the leading blue demonic beast also learned of Bai Ling’s appearance and hurriedly rushed in the direction of its comrades.

“Great Aunt, we were wrong! We shouldn’t have caused you trouble. We beg you… please… spare our lives!”

The chased demonic beast was clearly exhausted, speaking breathlessly.

“Can’t you just let me finish what I have to say!”

Seeing the demonic beast in front of her stop, Bai Ling took the opportunity to close the distance with a single bound.

Just as Bai Ling was about to explain something, a sudden roar came from behind her.

“Stop!”