Jing Yi's heart thumped loudly when they reached the Alchemy peak. Ah, back in the Hei Dian Sect he had wanted to become part of the Alchemy division so badly to make sure that he could be of help to Qiu Ling. Now, he wasn't even together with Qiu Ling anymore and had found out about his true love that was waiting for him somewhere.
Well, continuing to learn alchemy might not be such a bad thing. After all, demons weren't invincible either. His Tian would probably need some help from time to time too. His efforts wouldn't be wasted.
He walked over to Wu Min Huan and cupped his fists. "Thank you for helping me so much, senior martial brother Wu."
"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing. Come on in then. This shouldn't be too difficult. I'm sure the Grandelder will love to take you in."
Jing Yi just smiled. He knew that things very likely wouldn't be as easy as Wu Min Huan made them seem. This wasn't the Hei Dian Sect where you could decide yourself where to go and then really go there. This was the Yun Zou Sect where it would depend on the Elders in charge of the peaks to decide if they wanted you there or not. He shouldn't get his expectations up too much.
Wu Min Huan wasn't worried though. He just nodded and made his way inside, directly going to the workroom of the Grandelder. He wasn't there though. The only person inside was a young man with a pallid face and a pair of watery eyes that didn't even look over when they entered.
"Nian Hong Fang!" Wu Min Huan rushed over but halted two steps away from him as if he was afraid he could hurt him if he got any closer. "I brought someone over who wants to become part of your Alchemy peak."
Nian Hong Fang glanced up but still turned away with the basket full of herbs in his hands. "I'll be with you in a moment." He brought the basket over to the table and started to sort through the herbs.
Wu Min Huan waited but when a few minutes had passed and Nian Hong Fang had only managed to sort half of them, he couldn't take it any longer. He rushed over again, this time halting across from him on the other side of the table. "Oh, come on! It wasn't my fault! You also know that my Master entrusts everything important to my junior martial brother Yu now. Regardless of what I had said it wouldn't have made a difference. He still would have sent junior martial brother Ma."
Nian Hong Fang lifted his chin. "What are you even talking about? I would never question the decisions of the Sect Master."
"Sure, sure, sure. You wouldn't." Wu Min Huan's fingers drummed onto the table. Ah, such an important task, he couldn't let this be ruined by his tiff with Nian Hong Fang! "Mn … How about this? I'll go and ask my junior martial brother Yu where exactly our Master sent junior martial brother Ma. Wouldn't that take some of the worries off your shoulders?"
Nian Hong Fang paused before he frowned and continued to sort the herbs. "What are you even talking about? Even if I was worried about him and even if you went and asked your junior martial brother, it wouldn't change anything. Wasn't all this because the two of you don't get along?"
Wu Min Huan coughed. Ugh, this guy was too smart. Tricking him probably wouldn't work. "Well … We're not that close but he wouldn't refuse to tell me something like that, would he?"
Nian Hong Fang's hands stilled. He really wanted to know where Ma Zhi Wu had been sent to.
Qiu Ling looked from one man to the other and finally dragged Jing Yi over to the table too. "This is my fiance. So do you want to take him in or not?" He stared at Nian Hong Fang, waiting for a reply.
The Grandelder's disciple blinked in astonishment. Wasn't this the Grandmaster's disciple, Qiu Ling, that had come by some years ago to find out about the ingredients for the Amethyst Lightning Pill? Then the person next to him … He looked at Jing Yi. That was probably the rumored beloved of this senior martial brother Qiu that the Amethyst Lightning Pill had been intended for.
Nian Hong Fang wasn't against letting someone enter their peak. If the person was earnest about this, why shouldn't he be given a chance? "So you want to become a disciple of our Alchemy peak?"
Jing Yi nodded. "Yes, senior martial brother Nian. The Sect Master sent me on a mission in the Hei Dian Sect previously and I had the luck to learn a bit about alchemy there. I was hoping that I'd be able to continue my studies here in the Yun Zou Sect."
Nian Hong Fang nodded. "It's not impossible. The path to becoming an Alchemist isn't easy though. If you merely dabbled a bit in it, you should consider well if you want to continue on this path or rather choose something else. If I remember correctly, then senior martial brother Qiu searched for the ingredients of the Amethyst Lightning Pill for you before. You should have Heavenly Spirit Veins now. Maybe it would be better to focus completely on your cultivation?"
Jing Yi furrowed his brow. This wasn't wrong either. Yes, it might be of help to Tian if he learned alchemy but to help him he had to find him first and the first step to that was to ascend to the Nine Heavens. He needed to cultivate for that. So maybe …
"What are you talking so much for?" A certain rogue couldn't refrain from yelling out his opinion on the matter. "My beloved already said he wants to enter your peak so he wants to enter your peak! As if he wouldn't be able to do both at the same time with me at his side."
Nian Hong Fang turned to look at Wu Min Huan instead of taking it up with Qiu Ling. One glance was enough to tell him that he wouldn't win against this guy, after all.
Wu Min Huan gritted his teeth. "Yes, I'll still go and ask junior martial brother Yu!"
Nian Hong Fang smiled sweetly. "You're such a nice person, senior martial brother Wu."