Elder Cheng left the Ye family’s residence and headed to the next destination.
The reason he wanted to take Ye Xichen as his disciple was twofold.
First, Elder Cheng had never seen the symptoms Ye Xichen exhibited before.
Second, the unfamiliar energy coursing within Ye Xichen intrigued Elder Cheng; perhaps it was this very energy that had propelled this so-called waste, in everyone’s eyes, to make such rapid progress in just one month.
Unfortunately, Elder Cheng only received a single response from Ye Xichen:
“I want to think it over.”
No matter what, he had to find a way to bring Ye Xichen under his wing.
She was an invaluable subject for study.
To think that in this world, aside from the , there existed other gender transformation cultivation techniques.
Elder Cheng once speculated that practicing the might cure his True Fire injury.
He had long been plagued by this True Fire affliction, leaving him mentally and physically drained.
“Elder Cheng, are you done with your affairs?”
A portly middle-aged man approached.
He had been waiting near the Ye estate for quite some time.
“Qian Louzhu, sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No worries, no worries. I have plenty of time.”
The stout man was Qian, the shopkeeper of Yunbao Pavilion, the top herb shop in the capital.
He was also a cultivator but certainly no match for the Five Great Families.
Besides, Yunbao Pavilion was a business under the Yun family, and Qian was merely an employee.
He sought out Elder Cheng to request treatment for a hidden ailment.
“Elder Cheng, please follow me.”
On the bustling street, Zhang Yuge and Zhang Qingyao walked side by side.
With Yunlan’s help, Zhang Yuge had obtained a human skin mask, allowing him to change his appearance.
“Master, there’s something I’m not sure if I should ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“Out of all the templates available, why insist on using my original face?”
“Because your face is ordinary enough, average enough that no one would remember it.”
“…Fine then.”
“Don’t sweat the trivial details. Zhang Qingyao’s face is your face now. Your Wanted Posters cover the city; if you walked the streets with Zhang Shuai’s face, you’d be recognized within a few steps. Besides, my Face Changing Grand Art isn’t some common disguise technique. The effect is permanent.”
“See? See? My face has Master’s seal of approval—it’s recognized as handsome. Ah, sometimes being handsome is a burden.”
Their banter was audible to Zhang Qingyao standing nearby.
Initially, Zhang Yuge disagreed with the Reception Girl tagging along, but she insisted, throwing tantrums, so Yunlan reluctantly gave her a human skin mask as well.
Now, the two posed as a plain, ordinary couple among the capital’s busiest streets, blending in seamlessly.
“But the face is mine now, so the handsome one is this young master, not you.”
Zhang Yuge was slightly annoyed as he pinched the girl’s cheek teasingly.
“Ouch, it hurts… Young master, don’t pinch so hard—Qingyao’s mask is about to fall off.”
Zhang Yuge let go.
“But young master, now that we’ve discovered Li Yuhan poisoned you, should we still cooperate with them? They might continue to harm us.”
Zhang Qingyao rubbed her reddened cheek and asked.
“We still have to cooperate. The Zhang family depends on Li Yuhan’s rescue. Since the poison hasn’t acted yet, it means I still have use. Li Yuhan needs me to impersonate the Imperial Tutor for his rain summoning ritual. He’s probably planning to eliminate me along with the Five Great Families at the ceremony. I must say, the blood inside Li Yuhan’s body is naturally poisonous, which I didn’t expect.”
If it weren’t for last night’s intense all-night dual cultivation session with Zhang Qingyao and my breakthrough to Qi Refining Stage Six this morning, allowing the system to scan my status, I might not have realized I was poisoned.
Zhang Yuge glanced at the girl beside him, his eyes drifting downward.
Though a long skirt concealed it, Zhang Qingyao had been holding onto him since leaving.
He could sense something was wrong.
Her legs trembled; if she hadn’t clung to him so tightly, leaning against him, she’d probably have collapsed halfway.
“If you’re tired, you don’t have to come out with me.”
Hearing this, the girl blushed and instinctively rebutted:
“I-I’m not tired at all, young master, don’t say that. I’m full of energy!”
“All right, all right, you’re full of energy, that’s great.”
“Don’t be so dismissive.”
“Ahem.”
A cough interrupted them both simultaneously.
Yunlan had had enough and needed to stop these two.
“We’re here—the herb shop is just ahead.”
At Yunlan’s prompt, the master and servant awkwardly parted ways and entered Yunbao Pavilion.
Directly refining the antidote required too much destiny value, which Zhang Yuge couldn’t afford, so he settled for purchasing the Dan Recipe instead.
Some of the herbs needed for the antidote weren’t in Wu De’s inheritance, so Zhang Yuge had to buy them at the herb shop.
That was why Yunlan had procured two human skin masks for them.
Zhang Yuge scanned the room; the shop was bustling, a sign of its strong reputation.
He approached the counter and produced the Dan Recipe.
“I’ll take one portion of each herb listed here.”
The Reception Girl, about eighteen or nineteen, accepted the recipe and glanced at it before raising her eyes to look at Zhang Yuge curiously but still kindly proceeded to retrieve the herbs from the back.
No sooner had the girl gone inside than a man’s voice rang out from outside.
The crowd immediately dispersed at his words.
Zhang Yuge frowned slightly—he had just come to get herbs, and now the shop was closing.
A corpulent middle-aged man and a pale-faced elder in a blue robe entered.
Recognizing the elder’s robes as those of the Five Spirit Sect, Zhang Yuge immediately turned his back to them.
A month ago, he had killed a receiving elder of the Five Spirit Sect.
Seeing their members now naturally made him uneasy.
“What are you afraid of? You’re disguised,”
Yunlan scolded.
“What’s there to fear from a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Don’t go telling others you’re my disciple.”
The Reception Girl showed respect upon seeing the two.
She hurried forward and saluted.
“Greetings, Shopkeeper Qian, Elder Cheng.”
Noticing everyone else had left and Zhang Yuge and Zhang Qingyao standing motionless there, Qian’s expression darkened.
“Didn’t I say we’re closed today? Why is someone still here?”
“Reporting to the shopkeeper, this gentleman just showed a Dan Recipe, and I was retrieving herbs for him…”
the girl explained, thinking to herself that this visitor was indeed ill-timed.
“What kind of Dan Recipe? Bring it here for me to see!”
Without waiting for the girl to finish, Qian snatched the recipe from her hand.
Currently, he was to attend an important matter with the esteemed Elder Cheng; anyone causing a delay naturally displeased him.
His gaze swept over the recipe again, then glanced at the unremarkable Zhang Yuge, whose face immediately darkened.