Song Yao herself hadn't expected to gain fame from such a minor incident.
Although she wanted to rely on pill cultivation to earn some capital to survive in the future, she had no intention of keeping a high profile.
After thinking it over, she decided her only option was to shrink her market and avoid drawing too much attention for the time being.
The more famous she became, the harder it would be to escape.
Although she had never been universally adored, she had been universally hunted, and the two experiences were probably not all that different in essence.
She wanted no part of it.
But things didn't go as she wished. The more she refused to sell, the louder and more bizarre the rumors outside became. She even received an invitation from the Mingdan Pavilion, inviting her to participate in the Alchemist Tournament.
Song Yao had heard of this Alchemist Tournament. Held once every five years, winning first place was the highest honor for a pill cultivator in the Tianshu Realm.
Every renowned pill cultivator alive today had participated in it.
Seeing the invitation, the Seventh Elder said with immense pride, “Your master won first place three times back in the day. The Mingdan Pavilion even wanted me to be an honorary elder.”
Song Yao gave him face and gasped in awe, “Then why didn't you go?”
The Nine Saints Hall was relatively open-minded. As long as it didn't involve their core interests, they didn't stop their disciples or elders from taking outside side jobs.
And the Mingdan Pavilion was the largest elixir store in the Tianshu Realm, with most of the pills on the market originating from there.
If he had become an honorary elder there, he would be absolutely filthy rich.
The Seventh Elder shook his head and sighed. “The Mingdan Pavilion is not a good place for me. If I joined them, I wouldn't be allowed to do what you do—privately refining pills to aid the poor, or selling them at low prices to those in need.”
Song Yao understood.
The Mingdan Pavilion was a business, run entirely by merchants.
They didn't care about sentiment, only money.
Their pill prices were outrageously high, and if someone refined pills and gave them away for free outside, it would disrupt their market.
It was understandable.
She casually set the tournament invitation aside. The Seventh Elder smiled and said, “Your Eldest Senior Brother is going too. Why don't you go and try? Isn't our Little Wood aiming to become a great pill cultivator?”
Knowing he was joking, Song Yao put down her rice bowl and muttered unhappily, “Go for what? To ruin your reputation, Master?”
She only knew how to refine this one single type of pill.
And the side effects were massive.
If she went, she would likely be kicked out in disgrace.
Besides, she heard there were several rounds of competition, and one of them involved refining a designated pill.
She got dizzy just looking at a pill formula. She couldn't display such a glaring weakness in front of outsiders.
Fearing she would stop eating, the Seventh Elder quickly stuffed the rice bowl back into her hands and stopped teasing her. “How could that be? Our Little Wood created her own pill formula and refined a pill of this grade in such a short time. Just based on this alone, the Mingdan Pavilion would be begging to recruit you.”
He wasn't just placating her. Ordinary pills usually had only one or two effects, and they relied heavily on specific herbs.
This child had used the simplest herbs to refine a multi-purpose pill. To the Mingdan Pavilion, she was practically a gold mine.
Only then did Song Yao cheer up. He Yu strolled over from the side and said with a smile, “Even if you don't participate in the Alchemist Tournament, you can come along with me to watch the fun. There will be many senior pill cultivators there; you might learn a lot.”
Song Yao found that reasonable. “When is it?”
He Yu: “Around the New Year.”
Song Yao waved her hand. “We'll see when the time comes.”
The New Year would be after Chen Qingqiu and Ye Chang'an's wedding. Once Chen Qingqiu fled her marriage, the Tianshu Realm would likely be thrown into complete chaos again.
She didn't even know if she would be able to go to the Alchemist Tournament by then.
In the days that followed, aside from being dragged to class by Ning Zhou and Jiang Jin, Song Yao spent her time holed up on the main peak researching pills, which she then fed to those afflicted by dark poison.
Without finding their Fifth Junior Sister and the antidote, the sect could only find ways to keep the poison from flaring up.
Fortunately, Wen Yu had previously sent two people who understood dark poison to keep an eye on things. Coupled with the fact that the poison in their bodies wasn't severe, no lives had been lost yet.
Relying on her status as a personal disciple, Song Yao swaggered in and brazenly used them to test her pills.
It actually showed some effect.
After the patients shivered like salted fish for half an hour, the toxins spreading through their meridians visibly receded by a significant margin.
Unfortunately, it only treated the symptoms and not the root cause. It wouldn't be long before the toxins began to spread again.
Song Yao felt as if she had discovered a new world. After persistently testing her medicine for a while, she constantly adjusted the formula, and the detoxifying efficacy of the Qi-Replenishing Pill enhanced at a visible rate.
The patients had even shivered themselves awake twice.
...
Song Yao spent her days dealing with the elixir cauldron, living a rather fulfilling and comfortable life.
However, the atmosphere within the sect grew increasingly oppressive.
On the eve of Chen Qingqiu and Ye Chang'an's grand wedding, several elders summoned Song Yao and Jiang Jin to the discussion hall.
The Great Elder's face was filled with worry. “For this trip to the Beiyao Sect and the Taiqing Pavilion to witness the ceremony, the Twelfth Elder will accompany you. Zhu Zhao will also be present then.”
He let out a long sigh. “However, now that news of the Hall Master's absence has spread, the Beiyao Sect and the Taiqing Pavilion will certainly seize the opportunity to test us and confirm whether the Hall Master is truly in closed-door cultivation due to severe injuries. During this trip, they are highly likely to find an excuse to make trouble. You must be extremely cautious with your words and actions out there, and absolutely prioritize your own safety.”
The Seventh Elder paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, extremely anxious. “What is the meaning of sending two children? How about we go instead?”
“No.”
The Third Elder shook his head. “The invitation explicitly requested the presence of the Hall Master and the personal disciples. Having the Twelfth Elder accompany them is already pushing the boundaries of propriety.”
Song Yao, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease and even felt a faint trace of excitement.
Once Chen Qingqiu fled her marriage, how could they possibly have the time or energy to trouble the people of the Nine Saints Hall?
They would likely have their hands full with their own mess.
She patted the Seventh Elder on the shoulder. “Don't be afraid, Master. It's just attending a wedding feast. It won't kill us.”
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