A flicker of dark light passed through Ye Lanshan's eyes as she exerted force with her hand, throwing him to the ground.
"Who are you? How dare you hit me? Don't you know this is my turf?" He scrambled up from the ground, his expression arrogant as he pointed a finger at her nose.
"You say this Medicine Valley is your turf?" Ye Lanshan spoke slowly, a chill sweeping through the air, yet the middle-aged man before her seemed to feel nothing at all.
He puffed up with pride. "That's right. My father is an eighth-grade alchemist. Even the valley master has to show him some respect. How dare you speak to me like that? I'd say you've got a death wish. But I'm a generous guy—if you kneel and kowtow ten times to me, I'll let you tag along with me, eat well, and live well."
His lecherous eyes roved over her face, his mind full of fantasies about pinning this ethereal beauty beneath him.
"A figure like my master is not someone you can defile. You're not even worthy of licking her shoes. Making her kneel? Dream on!" Cangzhu trembled with rage, forgetting his fear as he jumped out and shouted loudly.
"You! I haven't even blamed you for sneaking outsiders in yet. Don't you know the rules of Medicine Valley? Just bringing them in is enough to get you in trouble, and you dare to talk back to me? If blame falls, even these outsiders won't escape punishment." The man, seeing that Ye Lanshan was about to agree, was furious that Cangzhu had jumped in to stir things up again.
"Heh, then I'd like to ask: what is the punishment for bringing outsiders in?" Ye Lanshan's cool voice drifted out, enchanting the middle-aged man's heart.
His greasy face scrunched up as he chuckled. "You don't need to worry about that. Just know that if you stick with me, I'll keep you safe, and he won't face any punishment either."
"Oh, you really think you have that much power to spare him from all consequences?" Her tone was clearly skeptical.
"Of course! Don't you know who I am? My father is the eighth-grade alchemist Luo Yongwu. With him around, who would dare to blame anyone?" The man started boasting again at the mention of his father.
"So, how about it? Want to consider following me?" As he spoke, his greasy hands were already reaching for Ye Lanshan's face.
Disgust flashed in Ye Lanshan's eyes. A flame ignited at her fingertips and shot straight at him, followed by a scream of agony.
But Cangzhu's face turned pale. He gently tugged at Ye Lanshan's sleeve. "Master, he's already been punished. Why don't we let him go?"
"If we let him go this time, he'll just come after us again. It's better to finish this cleanly." Ye Lanshan always adhered to the principle of uprooting the weeds, so naturally, she wouldn't let him go back to cry to his father.
Cangzhu clutched tightly at Ye Lanshan's sleeve. Though he had experienced the coldness of the world, he had never seen someone slowly fade from life up close like this.
The heart-wrenching struggle—even though this man had insulted him many times, watching the scene, Cangzhu still felt a pang of pity. He was just a child of a few years old, having never seen death before. "Master, since he's already been punished, he definitely won't dare again. Why don't we just let him go?"
The screams continued until he had no strength left, consumed entirely by the flames. He had thought of resisting, but his strength was too weak to fight back.
"Master." Cangzhu suppressed the nausea in his heart and hugged Ye Lanshan tightly, as if that alone could give him a sense of security.
"If you don't kill him, he will kill you. The strong prey on the weak, and the fittest survive—that's how this world works. You have to adapt. Besides, how can you seek revenge without killing? If you can't even stand watching me kill, you might as well give up on revenge altogether."
Ye Lanshan grabbed him with one hand and pulled him to face her.
"Master, I understand." Though Cangzhu's face was still pale, the sick feeling was gone. He hung his head, his expression unreadable.
"I never thought I'd return to this place after all these years." Yun Di pushed open the door of the Medicine Madness Courtyard, and seeing the familiar furnishings, tears silently moistened the corners of his eyes.
"But the name 'Medicine Madness Courtyard' is too strange. It's not as good as the old name. If Uncle comes back, he'll definitely be fuming over it." He caressed everything in the courtyard, reminiscing about his childhood days.
"This was where your uncle once lived?" Ye Lanshan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Sikong Kuang had such a refined side.
"Yes, there's even a jar of medicinal wine buried under this tree. I wonder if it's been dug up after all this time." He walked to an osmanthus tree, picked up a shovel, and dug away the soil. Sure enough, a jar of wine sat quietly there, a faint aroma of spirits wafting out.
Ye Lanshan looked at the wine and teased, "Looks like we're in for a treat today."
But Yun Di shook his head. "This wine is blended with hundreds of herbs and has aged for so long. Its potency is extraordinary. Let's wait for Uncle to drink it together."
"Fine. Once we take back the Sikong family, we'll bring your uncle back and share this jar of wine."
"Master, is your fire also an unusual flame?" Cangzhu had recovered from the shadow of the recent death, his face rosy and his eyes bright.
"Yes, it is indeed an unusual flame." Ye Lanshan was satisfied with his current state—sharp, alert, and promising.
"Starting tonight, I'll teach you the path of cultivation." Ye Lanshan pushed open the door of the room and spoke calmly to Cangzhu, who stood behind her.
"Cultivation? Master, what is the path of cultivation?" Clearly, Cangzhu was hearing this term for the first time, finding it fresh and even a bit thrilling, as if he had stumbled upon knowledge others didn't possess.
"Cultivation is a system similar to mystic cultivation. At the highest level, you can achieve a lifespan as long as heaven's, and by then, you'll be invincible under the sky."
As Ye Lanshan spoke of this, she recalled that before arriving on this continent, she had been cultivating, awaiting the arrival of heavenly tribulation. She had already reached the Mahayana stage, just a step away from the Tribulation stage, when she inexplicably ended up here.
"I see." Cangzhu murmured, half-understanding.
"Sit cross-legged, close your eyes, begin to meditate, relax your breathing, and guide the energy into your dantian..."
Under the moonlight, Ye Lanshan had Cangzhu sit cross-legged beneath the osmanthus tree and began teaching him the methods of cultivation.
Truly worthy of a Star Source constitution—the power of the stars surged into his body without her even needing to guide it.
Qi Refining, first level. In just one night, he had reached the first level of Qi Refining.
For an ordinary person, it would take at least ten days of cultivation to reach that stage.
Such an astonishing speed made even Ye Lanshan a bit envious.
"Here, take this book and read it slowly. Ask me if you don't understand anything." Ye Lanshan pulled a talisman manual from her spatial storage and handed it to Cangzhu.