Qin Ran asked, "I heard the sect leader say that we need to go to Zhican Valley to purchase supplies in a few days. Is that true?"
Feng Feiyan said to Qin Ran, "Elder, this matter is usually decided by the Chief Alchemist Elder. I don't know the details." She looked very knowledgeable and spoke gently, "I just go along each time to accurately record the Spirit Stones spent and the pills purchased."
"Oh!" Qin Ran nodded to show he understood, "So this matter was decided by Jian Senior Brother."
Seeing how he was easily misled by her, Feng Feiyan's eyes unintentionally showed some smugness.
But who knew, the next moment, Qin Ran suddenly put his hand on the table, closing some of the distance between them. Caught off guard, she felt a pressure upon her.
She heard Qin Ran ask, "So is the timing of your purchasing trips random, whenever Jian Senior Brother says to go you just go; or is there a fixed schedule, like going once a month, once every six months, once a year?"
Although Qin Ran still had that delicate face, still had a smile in his eyes, his voice was still gentle, but for some reason, Feng Feiyan didn't feel like refusing his questions.
She hesitated for a long time before answering, "Elder, we need to resupply every three months."
"Mm..." Qin Ran nodded with a smile and continued asking, "What time of the month do you usually go - beginning, middle or end?"
Feng Feiyan didn't dare look at Qin Ran again. She lowered her head, still answering, "The middle of the month."
"The middle is the fifteenth of each month?"
"No."
"What day is it then?"
"The twentieth."
Feng Feiyan had lowered her head now, her expression no longer visible. Qin Ran leaned on the table, getting even closer, now able to smell Feng Feiyan's warmth. He asked, "What needs to be purchased this time? Herbs? Pills? Which herbs, which pills?"
"I really don't know about this." Feng Feiyan felt like a huge boulder was pressing down on her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.
"Do you know if this purchasing trip is different from usual?"
Feng Feiyan lowered her head even more, hunching her back, allowing Qin Ran to see her ample chest. She shook her head, her voice almost crying, "Mm."
Looking at this woman, Qin Ran finally dropped his smile. He stood up, no longer pressuring her, just saying, "Give me a few copies of the previous purchasing records."
When Qin Ran smiled, Feng Feiyan felt endless pressure, but when he stopped smiling, she suddenly felt the heavy pressure disappear.
She let out a big sigh of relief, hurriedly got up, and rummaged through the file cabinet nearby. She then carried over five stacks of records and handed them to Qin Ran, head still lowered, not daring to look at him. She said softly, "These are the records from last March and all of last year."
Qin Ran took the records, a gentle smile appearing on his delicate face again, like a weak scholar in green robes standing under a willow by the river.
"Thank you," he nodded.
Feng Feiyan squeezed out a smile.
Qin Ran took the records and walked back to his seat.
In the process, he noticed Ke Yue and Shi Yuan's serious and solemn expressions, as well as the shock written all over Yan Yi's face. This further confirmed his suspicions - out of the five people in charge of the Alchemy Hall, including Jian Yuanjie, amazingly one of them was not a mole!
Wearing a smile, he took a deep look at Yan Yi before returning to his seat and carefully reading through the records.
He didn't know what kind of mindset Jian Yuanjie had when he kept Yan Yi around.
He also didn't know what kind of mindset Yan Yi had, working in the Alchemy Hall.
It would be very interesting if Yan Yi was sent by the sect leader to investigate the moles in the Alchemy Hall, because in the entire Alchemy Hall, he was probably the only one who wasn't a mole.
Of course, on further thought, Jian Yuanjie's reasoning could still be guessed at. The person the sect leader sent over, I'll keep around, but give him a meaningless job... managing pill refining in a sect without any pill refiners...
Thinking this, Qin Ran wanted to laugh again.
But as he continued looking through the records, the smile faded from his face.
Qin Ran understood pills, herbs, and math. So he could understand these records and the significance behind them.
Thus he knew exactly what kind of garbage pills Jian Yuanjie had been feeding the Dao Sword Sect disciples all these years. He knew exactly how many Spirit Stones Jian Yuanjie had embezzled over the years... Jian Yuanjie's bag must be incredibly fat!
Most importantly, the only one who really needed spiritual herbs and medicines was Dan Peak... himself. In other words, all these years, Jian Yuanjie had embezzled countless Spirit Stones under the guise of helping him purchase herbs!
The more Qin Ran read through the records, the more complicated his emotions became. On one hand, he felt sorrow and indignation for the nation and people, worried for all the Dao Sword Sect disciples and the future of the Dao Sword Sect.
On the other hand, his intestines were twisting with regret that he hadn't ransacked Jian Yuanjie's bag back then!!!
Because not only had Jian Yuanjie unconscionably embezzled the pill funds of Dao Sword Sect disciples all these years, he had also gained greatly from harming the disciples... Jian Yuanjie's bag must be incredibly fat from all the kickbacks over the years!!
While Qin Ran was investigating corruption in the Dao Sword Sect, his heavily reminded Dan Peak had still slipped up.
What happened was this:
The shadow stealth technique Li Shiyin wanted to learn from Feng Shizhan was something Feng Shizhan had learned from the dragon Ao Yi. This technique allowed one to turn black and enter a dark form. Then they could blend into the darkness, burrow into shadows, enter silhouettes, and become impervious to harm. It was similar to Qin Ran's Dreamlike Illusion.
Qin Ran's Dreamlike Illusion turned himself into water. Feng Shizhan's shadow stealth turned himself into darkness.
Certainly shadow stealth was a good technique, but the problem was that Feng Shizhan hadn't learned it yet... At least he didn't have good control of it...
Under Li Shiyin's urging, he forcibly executed it, losing control of the technique.
The darkness spread...
With the cat tree as the center, the darkness spread outwards in a circle, not only turning Feng Shizhan and the cat tree into dark forms, but also Li Shiyin, half the creek, half of Sword Washing Lake near the cat tree, the trees by Sword Washing Lake, and even the little demon willow Liu Xiaoji.
Oh right, on that side, their dining table had also been dragged into the darkness by Feng Shizhan.
Turning these things dark wasn't that big of a deal in itself, they just had to change back quickly.
But the problem was...
Feng Shizhan had lost control. Turning so many things dark caused massive depletion of his magic power and soul force.
In other words, not only had Feng Shizhan lost control of the technique, for now he couldn't change the things he had turned dark back!
Moreover, Feng Shizhan had fallen into slumber due to overdrawing his magic.
Leaving only Li Shiyin running around in that patch of darkness, unable to regain her human form no matter how she tried. She cried out loudly for help but her voice didn't carry out.
"Qiqi, save me..."
"Master, save me..."
"Tushan Youyou, save me..."
She yelled until her throat was hoarse, but no one heard.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
Explosive Plot Song Gua crossed over into another world, bringing along a whole crew of his doppelgangers—all of them mischief-makers. This was a world where everyone could choose a class. Song Gua became a "Bondweaver," capable of borrowing power, while his doppelgangers took on a wide variety of classes, covering just about everything. The number of doppelgangers grew day by day, each one a talented individual with a charming way of speaking. Under Song Gua's brilliant leadership, they would "greet" each other daily and engage in friendly "sparring," pulling off one major scheme after another on Earth. Sometimes they were bandits—stealing bosses, plundering mines, snatching resources. Sometimes they were saviors—descending like divine warriors to face world bosses threatening to massacre cities. Sometimes they even went undercover, infiltrating various major factions to stir up trouble from within, keeping their enemies constantly on edge. To prevent their doppelganger abilities from being exposed, Song Gua made them wear masks with mahjong tile patterns and don Taoist robes in various colors. "Remember, in front of outsiders, call me 'The Dice.'" "Got it! Boss!" "Not 'Boss'—it's 'The Dice.' Think about the vibe, pay attention to the vibe." "Yes! Boss!" "For crying out loud..." From then on, whenever they appeared, they would have their own theme song playing: ~Hey~ paying respects at the mountain stronghold at night~ whose arm is draped over whose shoulder~ gather your courage and follow along...
o a martial world and obtained a system that allowed him to draw one entry per year. Unfortunately, all he drew were useless white-tier entries. The probability for high-quality entries was extremely low, with the highest-tier mythic entry having a mere 0.001% chance! To increase the probability, he had to improve his martial realm, but he lacked the innate talent for cultivation. At the age of eighteen, Chen Yi fell into the hands of a gang and was forced into hard labor. Just as his life seemed destined for a bleak end, on his 18th entry draw, he actually pulled a mythic entry—Simulator! In the simulation, he could also draw one entry every year that passed, and upon ending the simulation, he would inherit all entries and his martial realm! In his first simulation, Chen Yi struggled desperately just to survive, knowing that living one more year meant one more entry draw! Finally, with hair turned white, he drew the entry he had longed for—Low-Grade Innate Talent! "Hahaha! Don't bully the old and poor! Time to cultivate and inherit my cultivation base!" ... From then on, Chen Yi continuously simulated and drew entries, his martial realm soaring higher and higher! Epic, legendary, and even mythic entries were gathered into his collection one after another! "What demon race or devil race? What dark turmoil? I don't know anything about that. They just charged at me screaming 'How can you possibly ascend to immortality?!' and got stuck to my fists, unable to be shaken off. Blind spots, speed bumps... go talk to my simulator. We're all struggling to survive out here. I'm trying so hard, so how are they still alive?"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
