The path to immortality through martial arts begins with being forced into marriage!

A sword aura suddenly flashed, slicing across the Poison Rock Lizard's thick neck with perfect precision!

puff!

With a muffled thud, the massive body of the Poison Rock Lizard suddenly froze as it charged forward. Its ferocious head separated from its body in an instant, accompanied by a spray of hot, bloody blood, and crashed to the ground!

The headless corpse lurched forward a few more steps due to inertia before collapsing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The expected pain did not come. The girl opened her eyes, still shaken, and saw a figure standing in front of her with a sword.

"This junior, Su Wan, is extremely grateful to you, senior, for saving my life!"

Su Wan snapped out of her daze, quickly got up from the ground, and bowed respectfully, afraid that she might have slighted her benefactor.

Cui Yi put the "Qieman" away and looked at the girl, who resembled a frightened rabbit, with a flicker in his eyes.

He originally didn't want to get involved.

But the way the girl was running away reminded him of Mu Yangyan's experience.

If someone had given him a hand back then, would the outcome have been different?

Once he came to his senses, Cui Yi flicked his finger and stored the enormous corpse of the Poison Rock Lizard into the space of the Floating Pagoda.

"You need to take good care of the injury on your shoulder."

"The poisonous rock lizard is venomous. If it is not treated in time, it may damage its bones and bones."

Su Wan then noticed that a large piece of her clothing had been corroded away from her shoulder at some point.

Instead of becoming filthy from the bloodstains, her shoulders accentuated the snow-whiteness of her skin.

"what……"

Su Wan gasped softly, her cheeks instantly flushing red, and she subconsciously turned to the side to try and cover herself.

But the movement aggravated her wound, causing her to gasp slightly in pain.

"I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of you, senior."

She dared not look at Cui Yi again and quickly took out another white jade medicine bottle from her storage bag.

What comes out is a paste that exudes a refreshing medicinal fragrance.

Her fingertips trembled slightly, but she still steadily and quickly applied the ointment evenly to the wound on her shoulder. As the medicine continued to take effect, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but she forced herself not to groan.

"May I ask your honorable name, senior? I will repay your life-saving grace in the future!"

Su Wan stood up and solemnly clasped her hands in a salute to Cui Yi.

In the world of cultivation, those who have reached the highest level are the most important. No matter how young Cui Yi's voice and appearance may seem, his cultivation level is still what it is.

"No need to be so polite, I just happened to be passing by."

"You don't seem well-suited for combat. Why did you venture into the wasteland alone?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wan smiled sheepishly, "Replying to Senior, I came here to find some herbs, I didn't expect to disturb this beast."

"Looking for medicine?"

"Are you an alchemist?"

Su Wan nodded, then said with a hint of pride, "I learned some of the family's techniques. I've come here to gather the ingredients for refining the Cleansing Heart and Purifying Dust Pill."

After a moment's thought, Cui Yi remembered that this was a second-grade pill, which had the effect of calming the mind and helping to dispel inner demons and distracting thoughts. It was usually used by cultivators when breaking through to a higher realm.

This pill is exceptionally effective among second-grade pills, but it is also quite difficult to refine, making it very valuable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The young girl in front of them was so young yet she could refine second-grade pills; her skills were remarkable.

"Ordinary alchemists don't need to prepare their own medicinal herbs when refining pills for others, but you..."

"It doesn't seem like it's about to break through."

Su Wan coughed twice to ease the awkwardness: "No, I didn't make it for someone else, nor am I going to use it myself. I'm going to use it in a competition."

"Oh?"

Cui Yi instantly became interested in the competition.

A competition for alchemists is a rare sight; at least, I've never heard of it before.

Su Wan's voice became excited, "The Northern Border City is about to host an alchemy competition, a grand event presided over by the Pill Tower!"

"If one can stand out at the tournament, there's a chance to be noticed by the Pill Tower, and even a possibility of joining the Pill Tower!"

"If you don't know about the competition, you probably don't know about the Dan Tower either."

"Dan Tower is the Dan Tower Association, which is the core of Northern City. All mission assignments are determined by Dan Tower."

"The president of the Pill Tower is a seventh-grade alchemist, which is the highest-ranking alchemist in the entire world!"

"By becoming a certified alchemist of the Pill Tower, one can obtain a stable supply of resources, inherit pill formulas, and receive the protection of the Pill Tower!"

"No more risking our lives for a single herb!"

"However, participating in the alchemy competition requires bringing your own medicinal herbs to refine specific pills. The prices of those herbs in the markets of Northern Border City have been driven too high, and the spirit stones I've saved up for so long are far from enough. I have no choice but to find them myself..."

Su Wan's voice grew softer as she spoke, clearly aware that her trip had been too reckless.

But the longing in her eyes did not diminish at all; on the contrary, it increased with a desire to join the Danta.

Cui Yi remained silent for a moment; he could understand this predicament regarding resources.

Cultivating immortality is inherently defying the heavens; who hasn't risked their life for a sliver of opportunity?

If he hadn't brought the Floating Pagoda with him during his transmigration, he would probably still be half-dead and barely surviving in Cui Family Village.

They might even be silenced by those two bastards from the Cui clan.

Do I need to register for the competition?

"what?"

Su Wan's mouth dropped open, and she exclaimed in surprise and delight, "Senior, could it be that you are also an alchemist?"

Cui Yi nodded noncommittally, and after snapping his fingers with his right hand, a flame suddenly shot up.

Danhuo (丹火) is a symbol of alchemists.

Sensing the intensity of the pill fire in Cui Yi's hand, Su Wan's already open mouth gaped open even wider.

"Senior, you're a fourth-grade alchemist?!"

?

A big question mark instantly popped into Cui Yi's mind.

He himself had never undergone any systematic training; at most, he had refined a lot of first-grade pills for the two women to use during their cultivation at the Blood Robe Sect.

Apart from that, he had never even refined a single second-grade pill.

As for Su Wan's claim that she is a fourth-grade alchemist, that is pure nonsense!

However, upon further reflection, he realized that it might be related to the strength of his spiritual soul, since alchemy tests more than just true qi.

"Senior, if you wish to register, you can go directly to the outer hall of the Pill Tower now."

"However, you need to verify your alchemist status when registering, and you must be able to consistently refine first-grade pills. You also need to pay one hundred low-grade spirit stones as registration and material costs."

"The alchemy competition starts tomorrow, and according to past practice, registration will probably close around 10 p.m. today."

"It just so happens that I've finished preparing my last elixir. If you'd like to register now, I can guide you!"

Looking into Su Wan's expectant eyes, Cui Yi instantly guessed that this woman wanted to recruit him as her bodyguard.

But he saw through it but didn't say anything, since he did need someone to guide him anyway.

He knew very little about the Northern City, and bringing a guide along wasn't a burden for him.