The journey to the provincial capital was arduous, taking a full five days by carriage.

Qin Zhou and Chen San were fine, but Qin Haishan was truly aching all over. Upon reaching the provincial capital, Qin Haishan remarked, “Once our elixir business takes off, we should buy ourselves a mount.”

“Master, what is a mount?”

“It’s a spirit beast. Look, those things flying in the sky—those are them.”

Standing outside the city walls, the group could glimpse enormous shadows drifting high above.

“Those are flying beasts, used by immortals. I hear they can travel a hundred or even a thousand li in a single day.”

“But they fly so high—aren’t they afraid?” Chen San marveled.

“Of course they are. That’s why we’ll buy ground-dwelling spirit beasts as mounts. They’re slower, but we can enjoy the scenery. What do you think, son?”

“Hmm.”

Huh what? Qin Haishan turned back, about to speak, but saw Qin Zhou standing there, his gaze fixed firmly on the distance.

Following his line of sight, beneath the bridge over the moat outside the city walls, a simple tea stall had been set up under a canopy. A sign bearing the character for “tea” hung from a pole, swaying and fluttering in the wind.

“Son, would you like some tea?” Qin Haishan couldn’t help asking.

“No.” Qin Zhou looked again, but the figure he’d glimpsed sitting on a wooden stool, sipping tea from a cup, was gone.

He must have imagined it.

“Let’s go into the city.”

The provincial capital and Ping City felt like two different worlds. The provincial capital resembled the Grade A ancient city tourist attractions Qin Zhou had visited before, yet unlike those sites, every blade of grass, every tree, every brick and tile here was not the product of modern craftsmanship.

The city walls, built of blue bricks, stood tall and imposing. Like colossal guardian lions, they brooked no trespass from outsiders.

If one listened closely, a faint overflow of spiritual energy could be sensed emanating from the walls.

The guards stationed at the city gates were no ordinary men either. Each possessed extraordinary cultivation, though Qin Zhou couldn’t yet gauge the depth of their power.

As they approached the city gates, the crowd grew denser.

They noticed that even the immortals riding their mounts through the skies voluntarily descended. They gathered at the gates, entrusted their mounts to the gate guards, and only then entered the city.

Seeing this, Qin Haishan explained, “Most of these mounts and spirit pets are massive in size. To avoid disrupting order within the city, the mounts are managed uniformly by the city guard.”

Ah, I see.

But this had little to do with them.

The three intended to pass through the gate discreetly, yet before they could move on, they found themselves being frequently glanced at.

It was the cultivators currently handing over their spirit mounts to the guards.

“Young Master, they seem to be looking at us,” Chen San murmured, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Mhm. Ignore them.”

Qin Zhou saw nothing particularly noteworthy about himself that would warrant extra attention from those cultivators.

Just as they were about to enter the city, a deep, resonant beastly roar halted Qin Zhou in his tracks—

“Woo!!”

The roar, which Qin Zhou considered enormous, boomed behind him. Turning, he locked eyes with a ‘giant beast’ roughly three meters in size.

The beast was a quadruped, likely a type of lion. Its limbs were lean and powerful, its earth-yellow body slender and elongated. Its front paws were slightly crossed as it surveyed Qin Zhou from above, its bright green eyes radiating an intimidating presence.

No mistake—it wasn’t Chen San beside him, nor Qin Haishan.

This ‘beast’ had set its sights on him.

The beast’s sudden movement startled the guard squad, who instantly drew swords from their waists, aiming them uniformly at the creature. Should it rampage and attack, the guards would undoubtedly execute it on the spot.

Surrounded by the guards, the beast seemed to grasp their intent, its face twisting into a ferocious grimace.

The youth holding the beast’s reins was equally bewildered, a hint of panic visible on his face. Clearly, he had never encountered such a situation before.

Just as tensions reached a breaking point, a voice cut through the air.

“Gentlemen, my earth lion means no harm. It’s merely a bit hungry.” A young nobleman in white robes suddenly stepped into view, causing the reins-holding youth to relax visibly and cry out, “Young Master!”

Qin Zhou’s eyes darkened at the sight of the white attire.

Sure enough, the moment he appeared, the colossal beast instantly grew docile. Its towering frame lowered by half, all four limbs pressed to the ground, it approached the young nobleman, bowing its head and rubbing against him.

The young nobleman, observing this, gave a helpless smile to those present. “The Earth Lion Beast has a keen sense of smell. I suspect this gentleman carries something that he finds particularly appetizing. My sincere apologies for the disturbance.”

As he spoke, the young nobleman reached into a pouch at his waist, extracting a pill resembling a spiritual elixir. He placed it in his palm and offered it to the Earth Lion Beast.

Yet despite being its favorite treat, the beast showed little interest this time.

“Woo.” The earth lion beast shot two more resentful glances at Qin Zhou, its mouth emitting a hungry whine.

“Earth.” The young man frowned, his tone now tinged with warning.

Finally, the earth lion reluctantly swallowed the pill from the young man’s hand.

Seeing its aggression subside, the guards promptly placed the beast in a cage and transported it to the city’s centralized mount management facility.

As Qin Zhou and his companions prepared to leave, someone called out from behind them—

“Friend, please wait.”

Qin Zhou turned.

The white-robed youth had approached. Handsome and dressed in fine attire, he spoke with extreme politeness and a smile, easily winning favor.

“My name is Zhou. I deal in medicinal pills here in the provincial capital. My earth lion beast offended you earlier. To express my apologies, allow me to treat you to a simple meal.”

Zhou. And in the elixir trade.

Qin Haishan suddenly recalled something and tentatively asked, “Snowflake Pavilion… is that yours…?”

The young servant beside the young master immediately answered, “Snowflake Pavilion is run by my young master.”

Qin Haishan was startled. “So you’re the owner of Snowflake Pavilion.”

“You know me, sir?”

“The Snowflake Pavilion is renowned far and wide.”

Qin Zhou said these words with considerable surprise.

He had known that a young master who rode a mount out in public couldn’t be an ordinary person. He hadn’t expected him to be the owner of the Snowflake Pavilion.

Back in Ping City, he had heard his father mention that the provincial capital had two major alchemy merchants.

The Snowflake Pavilion was one of them.

As one of the major pill merchants in the provincial capital, Snowflake Pavilion was backed by the various pill sects of the lower realms.

This trip to the provincial capital might even lead to connections with Snowflake Pavilion through the Yaoyue Sect. Yet, unexpectedly, before even entering the provincial capital, he had encountered the owner of Snowflake Pavilion.

“You flatter me. From your accents, you don’t sound like natives of the provincial capital?”

The other man was courteous, so Qin’s father naturally returned the smile. “My surname is Qin. I’m from Ping City, though I often travel to the provincial capital for small business deals. Like Snowflake Pavilion, we also deal in elixirs.”

The white-robed young master looked surprised. “So we’re in the same line of work. Then this gentleman must be an alchemist.”

His conversation steered directly toward Qin Zhou.

“This is my son,” Qin Haishan smiled, not confirming the young master’s assumption. “He’s never been to the provincial capital, so I brought him along to broaden his horizons.”

The white-robed young master merely smiled at this, yet his gaze lingered on Qin Zhou.

He didn’t believe Qin Zhou wasn’t a pill master.

His Earth Lion Beast was usually fed with the finest pills and herbs. Unless it had sensed something exceptional with its keen sense of smell, it would never have lost its composure in public like that.

But what exactly did this seemingly young man carry that made the Earth Lion Beast drool so persistently?

“I’m practically a local here in the provincial capital. Since we’ve crossed paths, it must be fate. Today, I’ll be your host. Let’s head to the restaurant and sit down. We can talk as we walk.”

This was the second time the young man in white had offered to treat them to a meal.

As for Qin Zhou, he didn’t seem to have any reason to refuse.

He had originally intended to establish connections with the provincial capital’s alchemy merchants through the Yaoyue Sect. Doing it earlier now wasn’t a problem.

But just then—

“I was wondering where my guests had gone. I’ve been waiting half a day, only to find they’ve been intercepted.” A voice emerged, its tone laced with hidden edge and a hint of mockery.

Qin Zhou turned first.

The same white robes, the same long hair held back by a crown. But the hairpin in the youth’s hair behind him shone with exceptional brilliance.

“What are you staring at?” The white-clad youth shot him a glance. “I told you to wait for me at the city gate. Why did you run off with someone? You’re new here—aren’t you afraid of being kidnapped and sold?”

For no apparent reason, a ripple stirred in Qin Zhou’s heart. A pleasure he hadn’t even considered spread through him. “What are you doing here?”

“Why are you undermining me?” Wen Jue was speechless. “Can’t I be here?”

Qin Zhou shook his head.

“Then say it again.” Wen Jue crossed his arms, frowning in displeasure.

“I didn’t see you at the city gate, so I chatted with some others.” Qin Zhou replied without undermining him.

Wen Jue snorted coldly, reluctantly placated.

He lifted his eyes again to appraise the youth before him, also clad in white.

Similarly, the Snowflake Pavilion proprietor was sizing up this suddenly appearing gentleman in white.

It wasn’t exactly a fashion clash, but identical white robes inevitably invited comparison.

With just one glance, the Snowflake Pavilion proprietor recognized the other’s extraordinary nature.

From head to toe, he wore nothing ordinary. His moon-white robes, far from monotonous, seemed embroidered with faint, subtle golden cloud patterns on each layer. A jade pendant with tassels hung from his slender waist. His long boots ended precisely at his calves, accentuating the straight, lean lines of his legs.

The jade hairpin adorning his hair was a treasure so precious that even the Snowflake Pavilion owner couldn’t name it. A single glance revealed it was crafted by a master artisan.

Though his face was concealed by a fox spirit mask, every movement was like a work of art.

Such a person…

Even the Snowflake Pavilion owner felt ashamed by comparison.

Naturally, this made Qin Zhou and his companions seem all the more extraordinary.

“Since you have friends to entertain you, I shan’t spoil your enjoyment. If the opportunity arises, perhaps next time we might…” The Snowflake Pavilion master was a man of discernment.

“Qin Zhou,” Qin Zhou stated his name.

The Snowflake Pavilion master smiled faintly. “Next time, I shall treat Young Master Qin to a meal.”

With those few simple words, the Snowflake Pavilion Master departed with her attendant.

After walking several steps away, they faintly heard the attendant ask—

“Master, who were those people? Were they truly worthy of you personally extending an invitation?”

The Snowflake Pavilion Master smiled. “The Earth Lion Beast was the one who acted discourteously first. One must not speak rashly.”

“Oh.”

“High-minded,” Wen Jue remarked. “They’re just after the pills in your waist pouch.”

Wen Jue turned back, frowning. “Why not store those pills in a Cosmos Bag? Carrying them like this around your waist is practically inviting thieves on the street. Possessing such treasures invites trouble—if someone steals them, you’ll have nowhere to cry about it.”

Qin Zhou hadn’t considered that any spirit beast could detect his pills, so he sighed helplessly, “I don’t have a Cosmos Bag.”

Wen Jue: “…”

Wen Jue hadn’t considered that possibility.

Qin Zhou actually had one, but he couldn’t bring it.

The contents of his Cosmos Bag were too conspicuous. Rather than carrying it on his person, it was safer to store it in the village. There, protected by Wen Jue’s barrier, it would be secure.

“The Snowflake Pavilion Master’s interest in the pills is beneficial to us,” Qin Zhou stated.

“Then you should go after him now. There’s still time.” Wen Jue’s expression darkened. “Or are you suggesting this sovereign should chase after him instead?”

Hearing this, Chen San and Qin Haishan both instinctively took a small step back.

Qin Zhou: “I won’t chase him. Business shouldn’t involve chasing after customers.”

Only then did Wen Jue’s expression ease slightly.

Lord Wen truly was as unpredictable as the weather, yet equally easy to appease.

“Since you intend to entertain me, what do you plan to treat me to?” Qin Zhou inquired.

“What would you like to eat? This one can afford anything.” Wen Jue tilted his head back, his expression defiantly arrogant.

Qin Zhou smiled faintly. “Then let’s go.”

Wen Jue tilted his head. “What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing.” Qin Zhou pressed his lips together and started walking toward the city.

Uncertain, Wen Jue pulled the fan from his waistband and fanned himself before striding to catch up.

Trailing a few steps behind, Chen San and Qin Haishan exchanged glances.

What about them?

Well… the senior didn’t say he’d invite them either.

“Father, you and Chen San return to the shop first.” Qin Zhou’s voice came from ahead.

Qin Haishan, Chen San: “…”

Right then. So the son/young master hadn’t planned on them following either.