"Is it... is it okay if I come to you to refine ingredients after I've finished eating these?"
Zi Yan looked up at Xiao Jietian with anticipation, gently tugging at the corner of his robe.
"Yes, you can come to me in the future. But you'll have to bring your own ingredients."
Xiao Jietian wouldn't let such a golden opportunity slip away. This was a walking treasure-hunting machine—and also a stable source of rare medicinal ingredients.
He told her where he lived in the Inner Academy.
"Good, good, no problem!" When Zi Yan heard Xiao Jietian agree, her entire face lit up with joy, and her head swayed slightly with happiness. "I'll definitely come find you! And if you need anything in the future, just tell me—I'll handle it all!"
She added in a quieter, more relieved tone, "Finally, I don't have to keep eating those awful raw things."
Xiao Jietian smiled knowingly at her endearing reaction. Zi Yan looked far too cute for her own good.
"Then can you help me refine these into pills too?"
Zi Yan suddenly produced nearly five different types of medicinal ingredients. Many didn't look like they'd been freshly harvested.
Xiao Jietian's eyelids twitched as he examined the specimens. These had probably been "conveniently borrowed" from the Inner Academy's medicinal storage.
Some elder was likely wailing in despair right now. Zi Yan had probably fled to the deep forest to seek refuge.
Seeing Xiao Jietian's expression, Zi Yan thought she'd taken out too many. She shuffled her feet awkwardly on the ground and placed a finger to her lips in thought.
After a moment's consideration, she said with a pained expression, "Hmm~ there's a bit too much here. If you help me refine them all, I can... I can give you one of them."
The offer clearly cost her greatly to make.
Xiao Jietian didn't take any of Zi Yan's medicinal ingredients. There was nothing he desperately needed among them, and it was better to show generosity now to build goodwill—so he could ask her to help find specific ingredients in the future.
"I won't take your ingredients. This time, I'll help you for free."
Under Zi Yan's drooling, mesmerized gaze, Xiao Jietian refined all the medicinal ingredients into fragrant pills.
"Here you go." He handed her multiple jade bottles. "These are all refined from your ingredients. They should last you quite a while. But don't give them to others casually—the energy inside is too concentrated, and ordinary people could be harmed."
"Slurp~" Zi Yan wiped the corner of her mouth. "I don't even have enough for myself! I don't have any friends in the Inner Academy anyway, so I'll eat them all myself."
She spoke innocently, but her expression grew dejected when she mentioned the word "friends."
In the Inner Academy, people didn't treat her like a normal person. When she was little, she'd even been bullied by other magical beasts in the forest.
She looked up at Xiao Jietian, mentally labeling him as a good person.
Xiao Jietian was one of the very few people in the Inner Academy who genuinely helped her without expecting anything in return.
"It's okay. I can be your friend," Xiao Jietian said gently, looking at the pitiful girl before him. "If you don't have enough to eat in the future, you can come directly to me."
"Really? Are you really willing to be my friend?"
Zi Yan clutched the pills Xiao Jietian had refined, her eyes shining as she gazed up at him hopefully.
"Really. If you don't believe me, we can pinky swear."
Xiao Jietian squatted down and extended his pinky finger toward her.
Zi Yan's face broke into a pure, radiant smile. She quickly stored the jade bottles, then even wiped her small hand on her clothes before extending her little pinky finger to link with Xiao Jietian's.
"Pinky swear, cross my heart, never change for a hundred years."
Hearing Xiao Jietian's words, Zi Yan shook her head.
"That's not long enough! Let me say it: Pinky swear~ cross my heart, never change, forever."
"Okay, okay. Never change, forever," Xiao Jietian agreed with a warm smile.
He gently stroked her head once more.
"Xiao Jietian, what are you planning to do now?" Zi Yan asked curiously.
"I'm planning to wander around this area for a while."
"What's there to wander around here? It's boring." Zi Yan placed her hands behind her back and began skipping away. "I'll go first then. I'll come find you later!"
Her cheerful demeanor showed just how happy she truly was.
Xiao Jietian chuckled softly and continued walking deeper into the forest.
He spent an entire day exploring a small section of the area but didn't encounter a single Sixth-Rank Magical Beast. His plan to temper himself through combat with powerful beasts fell through.
As for why he didn't fight with Bai Ya—it was simply too boring.
Bai Ya didn't dare fight Xiao Jietian at full strength. Setting aside whether he could even win, if he accidentally injured Xiao Jietian, his master would definitely scold him mercilessly.
* * *
That night, in the Wind Palace within the Eternal Heaven Realm, Xiao Jietian sat embracing Yun Yun.
"Stop it! Didn't we just finish?" Yun Yun glared at him half-heartedly.
But Xiao Jietian ignored her protest and continued doing as he pleased.
"You're saying the Black Skull Tomb has been acting hostile toward our Boundless Heaven Hall recently? They've even attacked our caravans?"
Xiao Jietian's expression grew serious as he looked at Yun Yun.
"Yes... before, they even attacked our caravans directly, but they were repelled," Yun Yun explained, slightly breathless. "Although they all wore masks, based on the clues we gathered, we determined they were people from the Black Skull Tomb."
"According to intelligence from spies we planted, we received news that other forces are secretly supporting their actions."
Xiao Jietian tilted his head slightly, gazing at her tenderly. "The Black Skull Tomb isn't weak. Only those particular forces would be capable of commanding them."
"Indeed," Yun Yun struggled to control her voice as she continued. "They probably want to use the Black Skull Tomb to probe our strength. After all, the Black-Corner Region is only so large, and they don't want anyone else coming to share a slice of the pie."
"Keep monitoring them. Once you've investigated thoroughly, inform me. I'll deal with them personally." Xiao Jietian's eyes gleamed dangerously. "The Black-Corner Region has been too peaceful lately. It's time for some changes."
"We'll discuss these matters later. Let's focus on the main business first."
Xiao Jietian pulled her closer forcefully.
Yun Yun couldn't help but roll her eyes at his insatiability.
* * *
The following morning, Xiao Jietian—who had attended three "concerts" in one night—walked out of Ya Fei's palace feeling refreshed.
Upon exiting, he spotted Queen Medusa sitting cross-legged on a lotus platform in the center of the lake.
This was no ordinary lake—it was formed by the liquefaction of concentrated heaven and earth energy. Cultivating upon it yielded twice the results with half the effort.
Of course, this liquefied energy was very turbid and couldn't be consumed directly, otherwise the energy would run rampant through one's meridians.
Xiao Jietian didn't yet have the ability to purify it completely.
"I want to come along when you make your move later," Medusa opened her eyes and called out to Xiao Jietian, who was walking across the water's surface. "My hands are itching for a fight."
"Fei Yan, can you stop always peeking?" Xiao Jietian stumbled slightly, nearly losing his balance and falling into the water. "Why don't you just join in instead?"
"It's because you're all so loud that it affects my cultivation—that's why I look," Medusa retorted coolly. "I haven't even asked you to compensate me for emotional damages yet."
She raised her head arrogantly. "I won't give you any advantage. This Queen will never submit to a man in her entire life. You're truly a toad lusting after swan meat—ugly ambitions paired with wild delusions."
Xiao Jietian looked at the stubborn Medusa and smiled mysteriously. 'She's all talk. In the future, I'd like to see just how stubborn that mouth really is.'
"Put away those ridiculous ideas." Medusa's sharp gaze pierced through him. "Can you refine Sixth-Rank pills now?"
Medusa had spent considerable time with Xiao Jietian by now. Through chatting with Little Fairy Doctor and the others—who didn't treat Medusa as an outsider—she had come to know him quite well.
"Yes. As long as you gather enough ingredients, I can refine them anytime."
Xiao Jietian sensed the Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python's soul within Medusa. The little creature had been suppressed and fallen into deep slumber.
"Good. Then it wasn't in vain that I've worked hard guarding your home here."
Queen Medusa crossed her arms over her ample chest, and the resulting pressure nearly blinded Xiao Jietian with its magnificence.
Noticing his expression, Medusa's lips curved into a slight, satisfied smile.
Xiao Jietian walked directly across the water to Medusa's cultivation lotus platform and sat down casually beside her.