Mist City

The city Mu Yu headed to was named Mist City. Indeed, True God Sword Shadow Dust Gales' statues were seen everywhere one went. At the top of the city ceiling was a huge version of him. The statue depicted him with standing on his flying sword, hands behind his back, peering into the distance.

Mu Yu:No wonder why he scored Secular World Sect's maiden.

There most surprising part about the city was the majority of the cultivators were in their twenties and Golden Core Realm cultivators, numerous of whom were at the fifth layer. Aware his cultivation was nothing worth bragging about, Mu Yu kept his cultivation under wraps, though it was hard to maintain a low profile while carrying Tian Ran around – mainly owing to her tattered clothing. Nevertheless, he grew out of caring about opinions of strangers long ago.

Mu Yu asked for a room at an inn and set Tian Ran down. He asked the waiter to fetch a bucket of water so that he could dump Xiaoshuai in it to wash off the burnt scent and black stains. Xiaoshuai enjoyed paddling around, much to Mu Yu's chagrin; imagine the water splashing all over the ground. Mu Yu left Xiaoshuai be and attended to Tian Ran, though he didn't do much besides melancholically watch her sleep.

Xiaoshuai leapt out of the water, creating another mess and landed on Tian Ran. "She's fine. The pressure from the formation just knocked her out. She'll wake up eventually."

"How did you turn white? Wait, you're not an ugly duck?!"

Xiaoshuai had a round head, a pair of ears, pink nose, sapphire eyes and resembled a kitten with a fluffy rodent tail, short and fidgety.

"I told you it was because the lightning zapped me," responded Xiaoshuai, wagging his tail. "I'm hungry."

"You never ate anything when you were an egg."

"I had to watch you all eating when I was in my egg. Now that I can finally eat, I want grilled chicken drumsticks!"

Xiaoshuai picked up the eating knack from none other than the mischievous twins. Mu Yu sighed and realised he was feeling hungry, too. Assuming it was safe to leave Tian Ran there, he went downstairs with Xiaoshuai.

The duo found a table by the window and ordered a large plate of grilled thighs and grilled chicken drumsticks. Feng Haochen gave Mu Yu quite the stash of spirit stones for their journey, so expenses weren't an issue for the meantime. Admittedly, Mu Yu wanted to try living the life of a rich kid for a change, as well.

Shoving food into his already-full mouth, Xiaoshuai commented, "Now I know why you all like to eat so much. This stuff is amazing."

"Learn to show reservation."

As part of his rich-kid trial, Mu Yu opted for drumsticks to put on refined airs instead of ripping into his food with his hands. After struggling to pick them up because of their weight, though, out went the chopsticks and back to his roots he went. Being refined was useless if it wasn't filling, after all.

While he enjoyed his meal, Mu Yu tuned in to the conversation between two cultivators next door. Collecting information was a basic tenet of survival in foreign places. He acquired a basic idea from one table and eavesdropped on another duo's conversation. He gathered the hottest news in the city at the moment was an alchemy test of some sort.

In the alchemy realm, Qi Condensation Realm cultivators could produce rank one pills. For every realm up one went, they could subsequently produce pills of one level higher. One had to reach Spirit Severing Realm to produce rank six pills. In saying that, reaching Primordial Infant Realm didn't guarantee one could become a Fourth Rank alchemist. For one to be classified a full-fledged alchemist, they needed to be able to produce rank four pills, meet a certain list of criteria in addition to passing Pill Cauldron Sect's examination. For the record, the values of pills were also rank dependent.

Aforementioned examination was conducted once annually, but not at fixed locations. Coincidentally, this year's exam was held at Mist City in a few days' time. Although Mu Yu and his fellow pupils were never taught alchemy, and were told they lacked the aptitude for it, Mu Yu was curious about the subject.

Three individuals strutted into the inn and instantly became the subject of whispers in the inn. With a straight face, one among the trio called, "General Manager, we want three rooms."

"Right away."

The trio made their way to the counter. The straight-faced youth was adorned in a white daoist robe, embellished with back clouds on the back and a pill cauldron on one chest. Behind him was an elder donning a purple robe with golden seams. He also sported the same emblem on his chest. He had a calabash attached to his green walking stick. Next to the youth was a youth roughly Mu Yu's age. He looked relaxed but was also a Golden Core Realm Fifth Layer cultivator. He dressed exactly as the stoic youth did, except it looked a tad out of place on him.

The three were undoubtedly alchemists based off their uniforms.

The elder was evidently famous in the alchemists' circle. Everyone present recognised him as Yao Yuji, the alchemist who produced a rank five pill when he was only a Primordial Infant Realm cultivator. Rumour had it he was in charge of the upcoming Rank Five alchemist exams and rightfully so as he was finally a Body Severing Realm cultivator.

"Big deal. What's so hard about rolling a ball? I can tell if they taste good or not with a single glance," remarked Xiaoshuai.

Mu Yu:Pills have taste now?

"Would you happen to have finished eating? Can we have your table?"