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"You're alive?! That's great!" Qin Shu excitedly grabbed the little snake and lifted it up.

At this moment, Xie Shiyuan distinctly felt as if someone had gripped the throat of his fate. Instinctively, he coiled his tail and wrapped himself around Qin Shu's wrist.

Seeing him move with her own eyes, Qin Shu finally breathed a true sigh of relief. "That's great, that's great! You're really not dead!"

The concern in her tone took on a different meaning in Xie Shiyuan's ears.

He had hatched alone from his egg with no parents and no one to care about whether he lived or died. This was the first time anyone had shown such care for him.

His heart was somewhat pleased, and he couldn't help but flick his forked tongue.

"Are you hungry? If you're hungry, just nod your head," Qin Shu asked.

Xie Shiyuan was a powerful demon who had long since transcended the need for food—why would he feel hunger?

He shook his head. To Qin Shu, however, his response made her eyes light up. "You can actually understand human speech! You're a spirit beast! That's amazing!"

"Such a childish human child," Xie Shiyuan inwardly mocked.

Qin Shu then pulled a zhiling fruit out of her storage pouch and said to Xie Shiyuan, "I'll give you this fruit to eat, but promise not to bite me, okay?"

Xie Shiyuan glanced at the low-grade spiritual fruit, something he wouldn't normally even spare a look at. His pupils briefly narrowed into slits.

Seeing his hesitation, Qin Shu pursed her lips with a serious expression.

Xie Shiyuan shot her a glance before letting his head droop back onto her arm.

She exuded a faint aura of spiritual energy. Though he wasn't sure what kind of spiritual constitution she had, it slightly aided in his recovery. He decided to keep her around for now.

Qin Shu, however, interpreted the look in his eyes as disdain. Wrinkling her nose, she took a bite of the zhiling fruit herself and muttered, "You refuse even when I offer it to you! Yet you ate so eagerly when you were unconscious!"

Xie Shiyuan: "..."

This little brat dared to mention taking advantage of him?! If she weren't still useful, he would have swallowed her whole by now.

When the small black snake coiled back up on her wrist and closed his eyes again, clearly unwilling to engage with her, Qin Shu grew annoyed. She grabbed his tail and pulled him off her wrist.

Xie Shiyuan had just fallen asleep when she disturbed him again. Though his heart meridian was slowly healing, his injuries were severe. Most of his meridians were still broken, leaving him incredibly weak.

He needed rest! He needed time to heal!

The moment he opened his eyes, her voice rang in his ears: "Don't cling to me. Sleep on your own!"

Xie Shiyuan was seething with anger. Once more, he draped himself over her wrist. Just as she reached to pull him off again, he emitted a faint dark glow. The next moment, a black snake-shaped tattoo appeared on her white wrist, wild and untamed.

Qin Shu huffed in frustration but had no choice but to let him stay.

The next day marked the day Qin Shu had arranged to meet He Xin.

She rose from her meditation mat, freshened up, and left with her storage pouch in hand.

At the agreed meeting spot, He Xin had not yet arrived. Qin Shu waited for less than fifteen minutes before He Xin came running over.

"Qin Shu! I've successfully initiated Qi Condensation!" He Xin, still catching her breath, eagerly shared the good news.

"Congratulations, congratulations! Only eight days in, and you've done it. That's amazing," Qin Shu said sincerely.

If it weren't for the mishap during her transmigration, which left her in her current state, her body's original aptitude wouldn't have allowed her to initiate Qi Condensation even in a month.

He Xin's aptitude far surpassed her own. According to her memory, He Xin was a dual fire-wood spiritual root cultivator, destined for alchemy.

If her root values for both elements were higher than eighty, she might have already been an inner disciple.

He Xin beamed with joy. "Yes! I only managed it this morning, which is why I'm late. Don't be mad. I'll treat you to something delicious later."

Qin Shu winked at her. "I'm just happy for you. How could I be mad? Let's get going. I'm curious to see what a cultivators' market looks like. I wonder how it compares to Fan Yin City."

As Qin Shu took a step to leave, He Xin quickly grabbed her. "Where are you going?"

"Down the mountain, of course," Qin Shu said, puzzled.

He Xin covered her mouth as she laughed. "The immortal mountain is enormous. If you just walk, who knows when you'll get there?"

"Then how do we go?" Qin Shu asked.

"Follow me. I asked around. The sect has a teleportation array that leads to Chijin City. It only costs two low-grade spirit stones."

Two low-grade spirit stones...

Qin Shu winced. She had only ten stones in total, and the trip would cost a fifth of her wealth.

Seeing her expression, He Xin chuckled. She leaned in and whispered, "Qin Shu, I asked Senior Sister Shu Yin. She said we can earn spirit stones by sorting medicinal herbs in the sect's fields. It's tedious and pays little, but the older disciples don't like doing it. We can take advantage of that!"

Qin Shu listened to her excited explanation and realized their thoughts aligned. Still, if they'd thought of it, surely others would too.

They'd better seize the chance to earn some spirit stones before everyone else caught on.

Soon, the two arrived at the teleportation array.

Each batch could accommodate ten disciples. As the last group departed, they had to wait for others to gather.

Just then, a celestial horse-drawn carriage flew overhead toward the main peak.

Qin Shu overheard someone exclaim, "Isn't that the carriage from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion? What's it doing here at our sect? Could it mean there's a major change in the cultivation world?"

"Check your jade slip!"

Qin Shu watched as the disciples pulled out their jade slips, scrolling through them with a speed reminiscent of modern-day smartphone users.

"I see it! Someone from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion says their master has deduced the whereabouts of Demon Lord Xie Shiyuan."

The name Xie Shiyuan made Qin Shu's pupils contract. She recognized it immediately.

Demon Lord Xie Shiyuan was the main antagonist in the original story. The book described how eight major sects, including the Falling Clouds Sect, Moon Veil Sect, Xuantian Gate, and others, had attacked him during his tribulation.

They failed, earning his eternal enmity.

After recovering, Xie Shiyuan returned to the Heavenly Palace and led his demonic forces to invade the Eastern Continent, home to the eight sects.

The Eastern Continent fell into chaos, with countless deaths and widespread devastation.

Ultimately, the female protagonist, Qin Mian, used her mastery of swordsmanship and her Heartless Sword to strike Xie Shiyuan, gravely wounding him once more.

That one strike also made Xie Shiyuan fall in love with her, prompting him to abandon his grudge against the sects.

Qin Shu had stopped reading the book at that point. The idea of a mighty Demon Lord turning into a lovesick fool over a single sword strike felt absurd.

The author had clearly sacrificed Xie Shiyuan's character intelligence to glorify the heroine. Was this Demon Lord some sort of masochist?

The black snake coiled around Qin Shu's wrist twitched his nose, feeling an itch that made him want to sneeze. Who was gossiping about him now?