Although this Golden Core Ceremony was President Song's main event, it was hard to say how many of the guests had actually come for Shi Yu.
Many prominent clans and sects maintained good ties with the Alchemist Association and naturally had some acquaintance with President Song, so meeting him wasn't out of the question. However, when it came to Shi Yu, the sought-after young prodigy of Lingtai Prefecture, catching even a glimpse of her was exceedingly difficult.
This was because she rarely appeared in public and showed no desire to flaunt her talents. She spent most of her time behind closed doors in her cave dwelling. Even when formal visits or invitations were submitted, she declined them all under the pretense of secluded cultivation, leaving those who wished to curry favor or make connections completely without options.
No one could really blame Shi Yu, either. With so many invitations, accepting one while rejecting another would inevitably draw criticism. Rejecting them all meant she favored no one and offended no one.
Now, taking advantage of President Song's Golden Core Ceremony, those eager to make her acquaintance were certainly not about to let this opportunity slip by.
The moment Shi Yu made her appearance, a crowd rushed forward to surround her.
However, before anyone could get close, the striking young man beside her raised his brow. A pair of slit pupils cast a chilly glare outward, emanating a terrifying aura that made everyone's hearts tremble and brought their footsteps to a sudden halt.
Shi Yu looked around and smiled politely. “Everyone, why don't we head inside and take our seats before chatting? Let's not crowd here and block the path for those behind us.”
Since she cultivated all four paths—artifacts, alchemy, arrays, and talismans—she was not against making friends and expanding her network. It was just that her nature was somewhat lazy and averse to trouble, so she disliked getting bogged down in social pleasantries. But now that people had approached her in good faith, she naturally treated them with sincere courtesy.
Hearing her words, the surrounding crowd smiled, nodded in agreement, and scattered.
Shi Yu glanced sideways at Qingzhou with curved eyes. “Let's go.”
Qingzhou nodded, holding the congratulatory gift Shi Yu had prepared well in advance with great care, and led her to join the queue to present their gift.
The sheer number of visiting cultivators was immense, stretching the gift-presenting line into a considerable queue.
Every so often, loud announcements of the gifts echoed from ahead.
“Welcoming Sect Leader Qu He of the Xun Sword Sect! Sect Leader Qu presents a spiritual sword from the Xun Sword Sect's Sword Pool—the Yuzi Sword—to show his respects!”
“Welcoming Valley Master Xiao Fengyue of Beast Taming Valley! Valley Master Xiao presents a specialty of Beast Taming Valley—a Thunder Roc—to show her respects!”
...
These gifts were exceptionally valuable within Lingtai Prefecture, showing that the attending guests had put significant thought and care into their preparations.
After listening for a while, a familiar name was announced.
“Welcoming Ancestor Zhou Changfeng of the Zhou Clan of Guangyuan City! Ancestor Zhou presents a fine piece of Heavenly Fire Dark Crystal to show his respects!”
Shi Yu looked over from a distance, and indeed, the group walking at the front was none other than the Zhou family.
At their head was old Master Zhou, the ancestor of the Zhou family. After taking the Lesser Longevity Pill earlier, the lingering aura of decay on him had been completely swept away. Now, he appeared remarkably vigorous, with a radiant complexion and an aura far stronger than before. Evidently, his cultivation over the past two years had been smooth, and with a few fortunate encounters, he had already broken through to the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Behind Old Man Zhou followed Father Zhou, along with Zhou Yang and his two siblings.
Not having seen them in a long time, Shi Yu was just about to call out a greeting when a sneering laugh rang out from ahead: “I wondered what grand gift the Zhou family brought. It's merely a piece of Heavenly Fire Dark Crystal. Low-class people really can't produce anything presentable.”
“You!” Zhou Yue's eyebrows flared in anger, and she stepped forward to confront him, but Father Zhou held her back.
Father Zhou looked at the speaker and said calmly, “Patriarch Wei, why speak such words?”
Shi Yu shifted her gaze and saw a burly saber cultivator with a broad saber hanging at his waist. As the two sides confronted each other, a faint smell of gunpowder began to fill the air.
She mused to herself, This Wei family is likely a force at odds with the Zhou family. Seeing the expressions of disgust and apprehension on Zhou Yang and his siblings' faces, there was probably no small amount of enmity between the two families.
Shi Yu's guess was spot on. Back when Old Man Zhou's lifespan was nearing its end, several factions had seized the opportunity to encroach upon the Zhou family's assets, driving the Zhou family to the brink of ruin—with this Wei family leading the charge.
With deep-seated animosity accumulated over time, Shi Yu could tell that Patriarch Wei harbored ill intent and likely sought to deliberately provoke a quarrel.
Patriarch Wei narrowed his eyes; that was indeed his intention. By insulting them verbally, if he could provoke the hot-headed Zhou family juniors into striking first, the Zhou family would be thrown out of the venue in an instant. And if they managed to swallow their pride and endure it... he lost nothing either way. Why not do it?
Just as he was about to voice a few more mocking remarks, a cheerful young female voice drifted over from not far away: “This piece of Heavenly Fire Dark Crystal is of supreme quality and exceedingly rare. Using it to nourish fire Qi is perfect for alchemists like us. Master Zhou has truly put thought into this.”
Patriarch Wei frowned and turned toward the person coming to their defense. Seeing only an unfamiliar young girl—unaware of which family's junior she might be—he snorted coldly and opened his mouth to berate her. But just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw all the surrounding cultivators bowing to her in greeting.
“Miss Shi.”
“Miss Shi, your reputation precedes you!”
Miss Shi? Could this girl be the one who shone so brilliantly at the Alchemy Exchange Competition? Patriarch Wei's face instantly shifted, and he quickly put on a warm, eager smile, preparing to step forward and greet her.
However, the "destitute" members of the Zhou family beat him to it, calling out: “Little Yu!”
The three Zhou siblings froze in surprise upon seeing Shi Yu, then ran over in excitement.
“Brother Zhou, Sister Zhou, and Zhou Shuo.” Shi Yu looked at the three of them, her eyes softening. “Long time no see.”
Hearing them address each other with such intimacy, the onlookers secretly exchanged glances, reevaluating this minor Zhou family from a small town. More or less, intentions to forge ties with them began to bloom in everyone's minds.
They couldn't help but feel curious and envious—how had this obscure little family gained Shi Yu's favor and developed such a close relationship with her?
“Little Yu, are... are you alright?” Zhou Yue took Shi Yu's hand and inspected her from top to bottom before letting out a breath of relief. “You have no idea! When we heard the rumors that you had vanished in the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, I—ahem, Zhou Shuo had a huge crying spell!”
Zhou Shuo stood nearby, his face flushed red and his eyes darting around. “Nonsense! You were clearly the one wailing the loudest!”
Zhou Yue kicked him, then turned back to Shi Yu with a soft smile. Her lips twitched downward, and her eyes finally grew red.
Behind the three siblings, Old Man Zhou and Father Zhou also walked over quickly.
Shi Yu gently patted the back of Zhou Yue's hand to comfort her, then looked at the two elder men. “Old Master Zhou, Uncle Zhou.”
Both men looked deeply moved, with countless words of gratitude trapped in their throats, unsure where to begin. Before they could speak, Shi Yu smiled gently. “I understand everything both seniors wish to say.”
With that, she raised her eyes and looked at the gift brought by the Zhou family. That piece of Heavenly Fire Dark Crystal was indeed of exquisite quality. Heavenly Fire Dark Crystals were generally not exceedingly rare, but one of such extraordinary caliber was virtually impossible to buy with money. Most importantly, Heavenly Fire Dark Crystals had a wide range of uses for alchemists.
The Zhou family had truly put genuine heart into this gift.
Shi Yu raised her voice slightly and chuckled. “The Association President has been busy testing new pill recipes recently and was just complaining about lacking adequate fire aura. How fortuitous! Master Zhou's gift is timely assistance indeed.”
Her words weren't much of an exaggeration—President Song's testing of new pill recipes was common knowledge. Using President Song's name was convenient, and he surely wouldn't mind her dropping his title.
Yet Shi Yu didn't realize that standing here herself, her own name was perhaps even more effective than President Song's.
In Lingtai Prefecture, President Song had originally been the sole person capable of concocting Tier-4 pills. Now that Shi Yu was added to the mix, her individual worth was in no way inferior to any Golden Core power in Lingtai Prefecture.
Upon hearing her words, the surrounding crowd immediately understood that she was subtly backing the Zhou family, and they all chimed in to agree.
“Indeed, indeed! This Heavenly Fire Dark Crystal is truly an impeccably timed gift.”
“If we had been able to find one of such high quality, we would have presented one as well. The Zhou family has truly shown great care!”
...
Meanwhile, Patriarch Wei, who was at odds with the Zhou family, had no idea they possessed such a relationship with Shi Yu. His heart was filled with bitter regret. He berated himself for offending the Zhou family right under Shi Yu's eyes. Even if she didn't pursue the matter, others would surely take offense on her behalf.
Not daring to walk away in embarrassment either, he could only stand awkwardly in place. He knew that after today, the Zhou family's standing would change drastically—just look at how many people were already eager to step forward and strike up a conversation with them!
Rate on N.U.
