A Small Request from the Author
Please don’t forget to support the book “Power Stones.” It’s just one click, but it already gives me enough motivation. Thank you for your attention and enjoy your reading.
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“Lady Zhang Mei…”
“Hm?”
“You know, I’m not bad myself, and I agreed to help you, but…”
“What?”
“I’m tired…”
Xie Qing pursed his lips, channeling his Qi to maintain the optimal level of fire and temperature for his alchemical flame. He was at Zhang Mei’s estate and had come here at the woman’s request to help her with pills.
As it turned out, Zhang Mei also engaged in pill refining and could be considered quite successful in this area, although she was a few levels below Liu Yang. Nevertheless, she was still highly sought after.
At first, Xie Qing didn’t mind helping her, considering she was a friend of his beloved and Master, but… well, who would have thought he would be exploited?
“You know, this is child labor exploitation…” the man complained, though he continued to maintain the fire.
“Child labor? You’re already 28, you’re an adult,” Zhang Mei replied nonchalantly, tossing new ingredients into the cauldron.
“But when it’s not convenient for you, I’m a child, right?” Xie Qing pursed his lips and, seeing the woman nod, was left speechless and blurted out, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re very shameless?”
In response to Xie Qing’s question, Zhang Mei merely glanced at him and returned to her work. The man couldn’t complain, as he had agreed to this dirty work himself, so he continued to help until he exhausted all his Qi.
Sitting in the lotus position, he began to absorb the Qi around him to recover. Sweat appeared on his forehead due to the heat in the room. And one can only imagine how hot it was if a cultivator of his level felt the heat.
Zhang Mei looked at the exhausted Xie Qing and felt a pang of guilt. In truth, she was a bit excited because Xie Qing’s fire was extremely rare and helped her purify the pills to near perfection.
So she thought hard about what to give him.
“Maybe some pill? Xu Mei recently asked me to come up with a pill that increases the chances of pregnancy…” Zhang Mei suddenly remembered and her face froze in realization, “Wait, so that’s why… damn, so they already?!”
The woman was left speechless. She suddenly felt danger—mostly because Xu Mei would surpass her and become a mother while she hadn’t even found a lover yet.
“Hmph, cunning woman! No wonder she’s been glowing lately! So that’s what it is…”
Zhang Mei turned away sullenly, returning to the cauldron. She opened the lid and pulled out a clean white pill with no black spots.
Her eyes shone brightly at the sight.
“Perfect purity! Damn!”
Even with her restraint, Zhang Mei couldn’t hold back a cry. A bright, satisfied smile appeared on her beautiful face, which was so charming that it could easily captivate men’s hearts.
Xie Qing woke up at that moment and raised an eyebrow, seeing Zhang Mei’s smile.
“Is it going to snow tomorrow?”
***
“Done!”
Zhang Mei plopped down in her chair, holding a vial with ten clean pills. These pills helped heal even the most serious wounds, and considering their purity, they could be sold at a very high price, no less than 100 million spiritual stones.
“Thank you for your help. Your fire is truly amazing,” Zhang Mei said with a faint smile, addressing the exhausted Xie Qing.
“No problem… and the reward?” he muttered hoarsely, sitting down in the neighboring chair and letting out a long sigh. He drank a cup of water and then licked his dry lips, “I’m as tired as a dog. The alchemical flame consumes my Qi in twenty minutes. It’s absurd.”
“That’s natural,” Zhang Mei replied, twirling a lock of hair between her index finger and thumb. She brushed her hair aside, adding, “Alchemy is an extremely labor-intensive process that requires knowledge, strength, and concentration. Therefore, any alchemist in the world is worth their weight in gold.”
Xie Qing nodded briefly. Even when he practiced alchemy under a pseudonym, he had many clients, and even if some had to wait a long time, no one complained, considering the quality of his pills was always high.
“I can’t even imagine how many orders you have, Lady Zhang Mei,” the man asked curiously, turning his gaze to Zhang Mei, who happened to be looking at him.
“H-huh?” The woman blushed, meeting his gaze, and then, hesitating a bit, touched her index finger to her lips and thoughtfully muttered, “Let me count… I complete between one hundred to five hundred orders a day, so it’s quite difficult to calculate the exact number, you know… well, over twenty thousand a month is certain…”
“T-twenty thousand? Seriously…”
Xie Qing couldn’t hold back a shocked cry. Twenty thousand orders a month, and that’s not even the final number. He looked at Zhang Mei in horror, who simply tilted her head to the side in confusion, which looked quite cute and innocent.
“Listen… maybe you’re not really human? That could explain why you complete so many orders in such a short time and still don’t have a relationship…” Xie Qing muttered, rubbing his forehead.
“…I’ll wring your neck, bastard.”
Zhang Mei snapped at Xie Qing’s joke and growled, grabbing his cheek and pulling him towards her.
“Ow… sowwy…” Xie Qing said in a muffled voice.
“Hmph!”
Although the woman looked displeased, she let go of his cheek, which had turned red, and averted her gaze, pouting in offense.
“It’s not my fault that all the men around me are such cowards…” she whispered softly.
“Cowards? Listen, ma’am, climbing into bed with you is like sticking your head into a tiger’s mouth… ow!”
“Bastard!”
And he still doesn’t learn from his mistakes… sigh.
Nevertheless, despite the clear displeasure in Zhang Mei’s eyes, one could see that she was quite amused. As if her youthful energy had returned.
***
“You’re mine for two months. I got permission from your Master.”
One fine day, while Xie Qing was training in the garden, Zhang Mei visited him and suddenly blurted this out, catching him off guard.
“What do you mean ‘yours for two months’? Excuse me, I don’t provide gigolo services…” Xie Qing replied with clear confusion, stopping his sword training.
“Are you serious?” Zhang Mei narrowed her eyes and coldly continued, “Stop fooling around. I need your help with making pills. And your ‘services’… hmm… save them for your girls, they’ll need it.”
“Come on, you don’t get jokes?”
Xie Qing rolled his eyes but didn’t outright refuse. Anyway, he was bored at the estate, Xu Mei was busy meditating as she had recently gained enlightenment, and most of his women were working diligently.
During this period, the Righteous Dao had undergone many changes, and there were many matters to attend to. For example, the Xie family was trying to negotiate a move to the capital to raise their status.
Since Xie Qing was a layman in management matters, his mother mainly took care of everything, while he mostly provided reputation and money.
“And this time, will there be a reward?” Xie Qing asked with shining eyes and rubbed his hands, “Maybe some rare pill?”
“Pill? Maybe I should give you something for your libido?” Zhang Mei asked, squinting slyly.
“Huh? No, thanks, I don’t have a problem with that. Want me to prove it?” Xie Qing replied nonchalantly, sheathing his sword.
“Uh… n-no, no need…” Zhang Mei said, blushing. She regained her composure after seeing the faint smile on the young man’s face. Clearing her throat falsely, she continued, “Anyway, let’s go. I don’t have time for your jokes.”
“Yes, yes…”
Xie Qing wearily raised his hands in surrender. This woman was so sensitive.
And so, after twelve hours of diligent work on the pill, they finally managed to create it.
“Finally!” Zhang Mei exclaimed excitedly, retrieving the pill from the cauldron, which was as crystal clear as the previous samples. “Finally, I can boast to Liu Yang that I’m slowly catching up to her!”
“Thanks to me, of course,” Xie Qing replied, scrunching his lips and wearily rubbing his brows. “By the way, why do you bother with pills? I heard there’s a much higher demand for formations.”
“Creating pills is my hobby, that’s why,” Zhang Mei dismissed his question. “Cultivation is your hobby too, right? Most of your time is spent in bed.”
“Wow, so you can joke too.”
Xie Qing rolled his eyes. The more he interacted with this woman, the more tired he became. He sat in the lotus position and closed his eyes, immersing himself in cultivation.
Therefore, he didn’t notice the strange look that Zhang Mei was giving him. And it seemed that her previously cold face was no longer as cold. As if the ice had begun to thaw little by little.
“A reward, yes… what reward should I give…” Zhang Mei pondered, her gaze becoming stranger and stranger.
