Chapter 19: Tianyu City

“I’m coming!”

The moment she heard there was something good, Bai Ling’s interest was instantly piqued, and she ran to Lin Fan in a few quick strides.

“Master, what’s the good stuff?” Bai Ling asked, rubbing her little hands together with a look of anticipation.

“Look—”

Lin Fan mysteriously produced a slightly yellowed book and handed it to Bai Ling.

“What’s this~? How is this supposed to be delicious?” Upon seeing what Lin Fan had taken out, Bai Ling was instantly crestfallen.

Lin Fan was so exasperated he couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to flick Bai Ling’s little head, “You little rascal, how can you not go three sentences without mentioning food?!”

“It’s not tasty anyway, so Ling’er doesn’t want it!” With that, Bai Ling turned and ran back toward the patch of medicinal herbs.

“Come back!”

Lin Fan put on a stern face, “If you don’t listen, Master might not want you anymore~”

“N-No… Don’t!”

Bai Ling, who had been cheerful just a moment ago, was so frightened by Lin Fan’s words that she immediately ran back.

“Master, Ling’er will be obedient, please don’t abandon Ling’er, okay…?” As Bai Ling spoke, she rubbed her little head insistently against Lin Fan’s abdomen.

“That depends on whether Ling’er will be obedient from now on…” Lin Fan shook his head and sighed.

“I’ll be obedient! Ling’er will be obedient!” Bai Ling patted her chest, vowing solemnly.

“Alright then, study this book.” Lin Fan shoved the book in his hands into Bai Ling’s.

“This is?”

Bai Ling took the book and flipped through a few pages, “Isn’t this the ‘Alchemy Handbook’? Master, didn’t you say that—that Ling’er couldn’t learn this yet?”

“You did very well with alchemy last time. Master feels you are exceptionally talented, so you can learn it now,” Lin Fan spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

“Really?” Bai Ling asked, half-believing and half-doubting.

Lin Fan nodded, smiling without a word.

The real reason he hadn’t let Bai Ling learn before was primarily because—the raw materials required by this ‘Alchemy Handbook’ were too rare, and Lin Fan simply couldn’t procure them.

But now, things were different.

Whether they were heavenly treasures or holy-grade immortal herbs, they were all like common cabbages, available for the taking. With that, Lin Fan’s worries naturally vanished.

“However, Master must remind you of something,” Lin Fan said with a serious expression, “Refining immortal medicines is not like ordinary pill refining. You must strictly follow the recipe, and you absolutely must not add or subtract raw materials on your own accord. Do… you understand?”

“Don’t worry~” Bai Ling made an “OK” gesture, “Ling’er won’t mess around.”

‘Relax? I’d have to be a fool to relax!’

“Sigh…” Lin Fan sighed silently, ‘I wonder if this will even work…’

The reason Lin Fan was doing this was that he wanted Bai Ling to bypass the threshold of an Alchemist and step directly into the ranks of an Immortal Apothecary.

On the Xianling Continent, there were two types of apothecaries.

One was the Alchemist, with nine ranks.

The other was the Immortal Apothecary, with nine stages.

The barrier to entry for an Alchemist was relatively low; one only needed to be able to control flames and possess a certain level of spiritual perception. However, the final rank one could achieve depended entirely on the cultivator’s own comprehension.

But Immortal Apothecaries were different.

To become a qualified Immortal Apothecary, one not only needed extraordinary spiritual power, but the cultivator’s own cultivation level had to meet the standard as well. Generally speaking, only those with the strength of a Golden Immortal or above were qualified to become an Immortal Apothecary.

“Master, could it be that you intend to… have Senior Sister Bai directly learn how to refine immortal medicines?” Ye Qinghong came forward and asked, somewhat uncertainly.

“That’s right.” Lin Fan nodded.

“But, Master—” Hearing Lin Fan’s affirmative answer, Ye Qinghong felt her breathing become a little unsteady, “Senior Sister Bai is only at the Great Ascension Realm. She’s still a long way from the threshold for an Immortal Apothecary…”

“There’s no harm in trying,” Lin Fan waved his hand at Ye Qinghong, then took out a book and passed it over, “This is the ‘Sixty-Four Immortal-Slaying Formations’. You can study it when you have time.”

“Thank you, Master!”

Ye Qinghong happily took the book, rising onto her tiptoes as if to plant a kiss.

“Hold it!” Lin Fan subconsciously raised a hand to block her. “You two study hard. Master will be checking on you when I return.”

“Eh? Master, you… are you going out?” Ye Qinghong caught the main point in Lin Fan’s words.

“Yes,” Lin Fan nodded in acknowledgment, “I might be out for some time. While I’m away, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of Ling’er.”

“Master, Ling’er isn’t a child. I can take care of myself~” Bai Ling puffed out her barely-there chest and said with a confident expression.

“Alright, alright—”

Although he knew Bai Ling was just putting on a brave face, Lin Fan couldn’t be bothered to expose her. “In that case, Master can rest assured.”

Leaving the courtyard, Lin Fan gazed at the beautiful scenery in the distance and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

‘I have to hurry up…’

Although finding two fairies in less than half a year could be considered incredibly fast, Lin Fan was not satisfied.

To the current Lin Fan, nothing was more important than finding all ten fairies. After all, ensuring the fairies’ safety was ensuring his own.

‘Where on earth should I start looking…’ The thought of the Xianling Continent’s vast territory instantly gave Lin Fan a headache.

[Oh my, how rare, Host~ To think you’d consider taking the initiative~]

The system’s cheeky voice suddenly popped up in Lin Fan’s mind.

“If you’re not going to help, don’t pop up and cause trouble!” Lin Fan retorted irritably.

[Aiya, Host, don’t be so angry~ Who says I’m not here to help?]

“Then tell me directly, where are the other eight reincarnated fairies?” Lin Fan asked bluntly.

[…]

Hearing Lin Fan’s words, the system was rendered speechless.

[Is that how you ask? How would I know?!]

“As expected,” Lin Fan shook his head, “Still as useless as ever. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

[Who are you calling useless?!]

Hearing Lin Fan’s words, the system was instantly displeased.

[This system will show you today what it means to be truly reliable! Close your eyes!]

“Oh?” Lin Fan feigned surprise and closed his eyes. “Then this Seat shall have a good look today.”

Three seconds later…

[Alright! Open your eyes!]

“Hm? This…”

Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes and carefully surveyed his surroundings. It seemed like… there were no particular changes?

“As expected…” Lin Fan gave a bitter smile, “Still as unreliable as ever…”

[I’m telling you, you’re very rude. Can’t you figure things out before you speak? Of course you can’t see anything when no one’s around. Just go find a place with people and try it, wouldn’t that solve it?]

The system replied, full of resentment.

“A place with people?” Lin Fan pondered for a moment. “Alright then.”

Tianyu City, in the southern part of the Xianling Continent.

“This place looks pretty good…” Lin Fan gazed at the bustling crowds on the street and nodded with satisfaction.

“Hm? What’s this?!”

Lin Fan was shocked to discover that he could actually see through everyone’s information. Whether it was their cultivation, race, talent, or age, Lin Fan could see it all with perfect clarity.

“So that’s how it is… Good stuff, this is really good stuff!”

[How about it, Host? I didn’t lie to you, did I?]

The system popped out from his mind to ask.

“No problem, absolutely no problem!” Lin Fan couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up. “It was this Seat’s mistake. My apologies.”

[That’s more like it~]

Hearing Lin Fan’s response, the system hummed in satisfaction, then sank back into his mind and fell silent.

“Young Master, may I ask if you are here for tourism?” On the street, a voluptuous middle-aged woman walked up to Lin Fan and asked.

“Tourism?” Hearing the woman’s question, Lin Fan frowned for a moment, then his expression quickly relaxed. “I suppose so.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Hearing Lin Fan’s reply, the middle-aged woman’s face lit up with a smile. “Since Young Master has come from afar, why not come in and rest for a while?”

“Uh… I actually…” Lin Fan looked at the luxuriously decorated restaurant, seeming to hesitate.

“Come on, come on,” Before Lin Fan could finish speaking, the middle-aged woman pushed him directly into the establishment. “Staff, quickly get some fine dishes for this Young Master to try~”

“You got it!”

A waiter inside the restaurant called out, then brought over a pot of wine and a few plates of side dishes. “Sir, please enjoy these for now. The hot dishes will be ready soon—”

“Forget it,” Lin Fan looked up at the restaurant’s interior, “It would be good to eat something.”

“Madam, are my private rooms still reserved?!”

As he was eating, a bald, burly man walked in from outside. The man had dark skin and sharp eyes, and his entire person looked fierce and sinister. Behind him followed a dozen or so middle-aged men holding clubs.

“Ah, it’s Young Master Long! Reserved, reserved, all the rooms are still reserved for you~” Seeing him, the middle-aged woman immediately put on a fawning smile and hurried over to greet him.

“That’s for the best.”

The bald man nodded in satisfaction, then gestured for his brothers to prepare to go upstairs. Just as the bald man was about to head up, his gaze swept sideways and landed on Lin Fan, who was eating.

‘Judging by this kid’s clothes, he must be a rich master from out of town…’

At this thought, the bald man waved a hand, stopping his brothers who were about to go upstairs. In the next second, a dozen burly men walked over to Lin Fan, completely surrounding his table.

Noticing the unusual situation, Lin Fan couldn’t help but look up. The instant Lin Fan’s gaze met the bald man’s, several lines of information appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Long Tao.]

[Age: 134 years old]

[Race: Human.]

[Cultivation: Early-stage Golden Core.]

[Talent: Extremely common.]

‘An ant at the early-stage Golden Core Realm…’ After glancing at the information on the panel, Lin Fan lowered his head and continued to eat.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, kid! Since you’ve come to Longyu City, why haven’t you paid the protection fee?” Seeing that he was being ignored, Long Tao was instantly displeased and asked angrily.

Lin Fan didn’t respond, merely lifting his wine cup and taking a light sip of the fine wine before him.

“Kid, Young Master Long is talking to you, how dare you ignore him? Believe it or not, with one word from Young Master Long, he’ll have your legs broken in minutes!” A scrawny man barked at Lin Fan.

“Sigh…”

Lin Fan put down his wine cup and let out a long sigh. “These days, why are so many people courting death…”