Longevity starts with dual cultivation

Chapter 231 Zhao Wanyi: I don’t mind

The magnificent carriage moved slowly along the wide street.

"...Fellow Daoist Ling, since you are doing business, why can't you be more low-key and cautious? Those robbery gangs are ruthless and will eat you without leaving any bones. Once you are targeted by them, it will be difficult to escape!"

Inside the carriage, Zhao Wanyi changed into an elegant sitting posture, looked up and down at Ling Changqing with her beautiful black and white eyes, and asked softly.

According to reports from her subordinates, she had already learned about the actions of this foreign Jindan Zhenren two days ago.

As for today's invitation, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea. She didn't want to pay attention to this matter at first. The family's current difficult situation was enough to give her a headache.

However, after seeing Ling Changqing's appearance, the eldest daughter of the Zhao family was inexplicably conflicted and hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to intervene.

As the eldest daughter of the Zhao family, she had to be treated with respect by those robbery gangs; after all, this was the Zhao family's territory.

Ling Changqing remained calm: "Of course I know that some guys in the market have bad intentions, but they want to attack me, and it seems that they are still a little reckless."

Zhao Wanyi was slightly stunned, and after thinking for a while, she said, "It seems that you have someone to rely on, but those robbery gangs are cunning and cruel. If we fight head-on, even I dare not say that I can protect myself. Fellow Daoist, you..."

In her opinion, Ling Changqing's cultivation was only at the middle stage of the Golden Core. How could he possibly deal with the sneak attacks and sieges from so many robbery gangs?

"Well... I can't explain it right now, you'll know it later!"

Ling Changqing said vaguely.

Of course he wouldn't reveal his true colors when they met for the first time. Although this Zhao Wanyi didn't show any ill intentions, it was hard to say whether they could become friends.

Zhao Wanyi nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more.

She really couldn't see what special qualities this beautiful young man in feathered clothes had, but that didn't stop her from acting according to her intuition.

A moment later, they arrived at Tianweifang Restaurant.

There are five levels of white jade steps, and maids in colorful clothes are welcoming guests with bright smiles. Rows of guards stand like javelins. They are basically monks in the Qi training stage.

This is the largest restaurant in the market town. It has always only received cultivators at the foundation-building level and above. The various spiritual wines, delicacies from land and sea that it provides are naturally extraordinary.

Those independent cultivators who do not have sufficient financial resources simply do not have the confidence to come here to spend money.

Zhao Wanyi and Ling Changqing got out of the carriage together and walked up the stairs. The restaurant owner and stewards lined up at the door to greet them with respectful expressions.

According to Zhao Wanyi, this restaurant belongs to the family business, so when the eldest lady comes, the people below naturally dare not neglect her.

The two of them went directly to the private room on the top floor, where a sumptuous banquet had already been prepared. Whether it was wine or various delicacies from land and sea, they were all rare and exquisite.

Ling Changqing took a glance and realized that this young lady was indeed sincere. At least the Ling family couldn't put together such a banquet at the moment.

The main reason is that some fourth-level and quasi-fourth-level ingredients are difficult to buy, and spirit stones are not the solution to the problem.

Zhao Wanyi invited Ling Changqing to take a seat with a reserved look, raised her white wrist slightly, and began to pour wine for him.

Ling Changqing remained calm and used the secret method of Tianji to observe silently. He found that the luck of this young lady seemed to be a little low, and there was a hint of evil in her. It must be that she has been having bad luck recently.

"Fellow Daoist Ling, this is the finest wine, Five Elements Red Dust Drink, which is treasured in our family's storehouse. You may want to try it!"

Zhao Wanyi smiled slightly and raised her glass to invite him.

Ling Changqing nodded slightly, raised the ice jade wine glass, clinked it lightly with hers, and then drank it all in one gulp.

As the wine enters the mouth, a refreshing and slightly cool feeling spreads from the throat to the internal organs. A cool and fragrant aroma of the wine fills the whole body, which raises the level of cultivation by one level.

"This wine is good!"

Ling Changqing said with satisfaction that he was certainly a connoisseur of good things. The value of just this cup of spiritual wine was equivalent to two foundation-building pills.

Zhao Wanyi smiled and said, "Since Fellow Daoist Ling likes it, I'll give you another jar. Don't think it's too little. My annual quota for this thing is only two jars!"

Ling Changqing did not shirk his responsibility: "Thank you, fellow Daoist. If you have any requests for me, please let me know and I will see if I can help you."

No family's resources come out of nowhere. This young lady is willing to look at me differently, and it is obvious that she has some purpose in mind.

Since the other party had never shown any ill will towards him, Ling Changqing didn't mind chatting with her. Perhaps he could gain a long-term partner.

Zhao Wanyi thought for a moment, put down her wine glass and said softly, "My brother is quite straightforward, so I won't beat around the bush.

Among the resources you purchased these days, there are many kinds of herbs, and you also bought some alchemy books, so you... should be a third-level alchemist, right?"

"Well, I purchased these because I really want to go back and start refining pills."

Ling Changqing said that there was nothing to hide and it could also increase his weight in the eyes of the other party.

Zhao Wanyi's beautiful eyes lit up: "Then can you help me refine some medicinal resources for the family? The reward and everything are easy to discuss."

Ling Changqing looked surprised: "Where is your own alchemist? Even if you don't have an alchemist, it shouldn't be difficult to buy some ready-made resources in the market, right?"

Since it is a Nascent Soul force with a long history, there should be at least a third-level alchemist in the family. If you are lucky, there may be more than one, and there will be even more second-level alchemists.

Zhao Wanyi's smile looked a little bitter. After hesitating for a moment, she continued:

"To be honest, the third-level alchemist in our family was poached by the Qin family some time ago..."

"Dig it away?"

Ling Changqing's expression hesitated slightly. Such an important talent should be treated with the utmost favor by the family. How could he be poached by an outsider?
Zhao Wanyi pursed her lips and whispered, "It stands to reason that family disgrace should not be made public, but the family is already like this now, so I don't care about this anymore..."

After hearing her story, Ling Changqing understood the whole story.

The grudge between the Qin family and the Zhao family has a long history. To be precise, these two Yuanying forces were actually one family more than 700 years ago.

Back then, a bastard of the Zhao family had a rebellious mind. Relying on the contributions he had made to the family and his cultivation level of the late Nascent Soul stage, he planned to collude with foreign enemies to kill the heir to the family head of that generation and take over the family himself.

As a result, the plan failed. The guy was so angry that he beat his own father and announced that he would betray the family and would never enter the Zhao family again.

Since he had been operating within the family for many years, he had won over a group of clan members. In addition, the Zhao family's enemies took the opportunity to intervene and interfere, thus splitting up this senior Nascent Soul family.

With the support of his enemies, the illegitimate son of the Zhao family set up his own faction with the clansmen who supported him, seized 30% of the Zhao family's territory and industry, and annexed some small forces nearby. He then changed his surname to Qin, and the current Qin family was formed.

The severely damaged Zhao family couldn't do anything to the Qin family for the time being and could only choose to endure temporarily, but the relationship between the two families would never improve.

Over the past seven hundred years, countless wars of varying sizes had broken out between the Qin and Zhao families. Both sides had suffered losses, but neither side had the ability to destroy the other.

"... Before our Zhao family split, there were six Yuanying Zhenjuns in the family, and the seventh Yuanying Zhenjun is about to be born. There is every chance that the family's status and influence will be further improved..."

Zhao Wanyi sighed. That civil strife not only made the Zhao family pay a heavy price, but also interrupted the family's growing fortunes, and it has never recovered to this day.

By now, one of the Zhao family's Nascent Soul ancestors is about to reach the end of his life, and Zhao Wanyi, who has the greatest hope of promotion, has no idea whether she can successfully overcome this hurdle.

At this critical moment, the only third-level alchemist of the Zhao family was actually instigated by the Qin family. When that guy ran away, he not only took away all his apprentices, but also swept away a large number of rare spiritual medicines and herbs in the medicine garden, which was a double blow to the Zhao family.

The Qin family now has the upper hand, and the entire family is sharpening their knives, waiting for the Zhao family's Nascent Soul ancestor to die and pass away, so that they can start a war and swallow up the Zhao family's foundation in one fell swoop.

"...If you are really a casual cultivator, I would like to hire you as the family's alchemist. Unfortunately, you probably won't agree."

Zhao Wanyi smiled helplessly. She had no other choice now. Otherwise, why would she expose her weaknesses to a cultivator she had just met?
Of course, when she was with this young man, Zhao Wanyi always felt inexplicably at ease and did not feel the slightest bit wary or suspicious of him.

She didn't know that it was the influence of fate that made her so friendly to Ling Changqing and instinctively want to get close to him.

Ling Changqing knew this very well. Gong Ling could change his appearance and body shape to conceal his luck and strange phenomena. Even if a great god was in person, he would not be able to see any clues.

However, the subtle influence of supreme destiny on the surrounding environment and others is impossible to conceal.

"Okay, Sister Meng, since you have shown me such hospitality, I will help you refine a batch of pills. Not to mention the extra ones, anything below the quasi-fourth level will be fine."

After a moment of silence, Ling Changqing finally spoke.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, little brother!"

Zhao Wanyi looked delighted, her beautiful eyes sparkling.

She didn't doubt Ling Changqing's words at all. After all, it would soon become clear whether it would work or not.

Ling Changqing said nothing more, lowered his head and began to eat heartily. Such a table full of delicacies from land and sea was very expensive and must not be wasted.

Zhao Wanyi watched the boy's actions with a smile on her face, and she felt inexplicably relieved. It seemed that as long as he was there, even the difficulties the family was facing were nothing.

What she didn't notice was that her luck had quietly changed, becoming brighter and more concentrated than before, and this trend continued.

After eating and drinking, the two of them went downstairs together, got back into the carriage and left.

The Zhao family's headquarters was a bit far from the market area, so after leaving the market, the beautiful woman beside Zhao Wanyi summoned a gorgeous Tianzhou ship, boarded the ship with the maids and guards, and then took off into the air.

After traveling at full speed for more than an hour, the Tianzhou ship slowed down, gradually lowered its altitude, and finally landed on a huge flat square.

When Ling Changqing walked out of the Tianzhou ship, what he saw were the magnificent jade archways and giant pillars. Not far away were palaces and buildings of various styles.

Looking into the distance, you can see majestic and towering mountains rising and falling, with clouds and mist rising up and the air filled with spiritual energy, just like a fairyland on earth.

“What a great place!”

Ling Changqing praised secretly.

The Feng Shui of this area is actually quite good, and it has a complete fourth-grade superior spiritual vein. It is no problem to support more than a dozen Yuanying Zhenjuns to practice in seclusion here at the same time.

If the Zhao family had not encountered a drastic change back then, and had developed smoothly to the present, it would probably have had no less than ten Nascent Soul True Lords in charge.

"Brother, let's go!"

Zhao Wanyi beside him said softly, "Go see mother first, then we'll go and make the elixir together."

Her mother is the current head of the Zhao family and one of the two Yuanying Zhenjuns who rule the family.

Ling Changqing agreed and followed her to the family meeting hall.

It didn't take long before they climbed the broad white jade steps, passed rows of stern-looking guards and Taoist puppets holding halberds, and finally the two of them walked into the grand and majestic main gate.

There was total silence inside the empty hall. Only the graceful figure sitting on the high platform stood still, like a beautiful statue.

There were no other elders or maids guarding around; they must have been dismissed by the head of the family in advance.

"Mother, I'm back, and I brought back a third-level alchemist!"

Zhao Wanyi pulled Ling Changqing forward and saluted, speaking in a cheerful tone.

Ling Changqing looked up and found that the woman's face was covered with an exquisite bronze mask, revealing only a pair of bright eyes.

The aura she exuded was that of the late Nascent Soul stage, but it was somewhat unstable, probably because she had just broken through not long ago.

"Young man, you seem to be a little unusual?"

After a few breaths, a magnetic and pleasant voice sounded in the hall.

Ling Changqing remained calm: "I am just a casual cultivator passing by here. I was treated by the young lady, so I decided to come and help. I will leave after I am done."

"Mother, I..."

Zhao Wanyi looked nervous, and as soon as she spoke, the patriarch waved her hand to stop her:
"Forget it, Wanyi, just take him to the Dan Palace. There is no need to say anything extra. As long as you can solve the family's urgent need, I will not hesitate to reward you handsomely!"

"Yes, mother."

Zhao Wanyi said no more and turned away with Ling Changqing.

The hall became quiet again.

After a long while, the patriarch sighed and said softly:
"This girl went out for a while, and her luck improved a lot after she came back. Could it be because of that guy?"

A cold and soft voice came quietly: "Even you, my mother, can't see his true colors, so he is definitely not a simple person!"

Soon, a slender and beautiful figure walked out slowly from behind the black jade screen.

She was wearing a snow-white dress, with bright eyes and white teeth. Her snow-white face was delicate and bright like a painting, and her ups and downs of figure were fully revealed. It was another Zhao Wanyi.

In other words, this person is the real Zhao Wanyi, and the previous one was actually her twin sister.

The patriarch on the high platform looked at his daughter and said softly:

"Although I can't see through it, I can confirm that this guy has no intention of coveting my Zhao family's foundation."

Not being able to see the problem means there is a big problem.

The head of the family could not see through Ling Changqing, but he was very familiar with his own daughter. Naturally, the changes in her fate could not be hidden from the head of the family.

Zhao Wanyi smiled and said, "If that's the case, my sister has really found a treasure this time. If he can really solve the family's medicinal pill supply problem, why not... let my sister follow him?"

The head of the family was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said, "But you are the designated heir to the family. If your sister gets this great opportunity, won't you be outshined in the future?"

Zhao Wanyi smiled and said, "It's nothing, right? I don't mind."

The head of the family snorted, "It's hard to say. If your sister reaches the Nascent Soul stage first, you may regret it in the future, and it may not be conducive to the stability of the family!
And I think that little brother...may also be able to advance to the Nascent Soul True Lord realm in the future. What will you do then?"

Zhao Wanyi thought about it and said with some embarrassment: "After all, this is an opportunity brought back by Wanqing. If I lose face and fight with her for it, won't we even lose our sisterhood in the future?"

(End of this chapter)