Luan Feixue looked at the dragon woman and was somewhat hesitant. Yasenia commented. "I told you that I would help you to a certain extent, right? However, don't expect me to save you from any danger you encounter. For example, if you decide to go and take revenge and you fail, leading to a situation where you would end up dead, I won't save you."
Yasenia clearly set a bottom line first. She didn't mind helping this girl for a while because she was helping her hide her existence. Our dragoness was just offering some help as payment. Still, that didn't make her a guardian of some sort. At most, she would be a teacher and help her in situations involving strong cultivators. For the rest, Luan Feixue would need to depend on herself.
When she heard Yasenia's words, Luan Feixue nodded a bit sadly. They were sitting so close and intimately, but it seemed that the real distance between them was much further apart than she thought. 'I guess it makes sense. Yasenia probably has a few thousand years behind her. Such an ancient cultivator would not bond with anyone so quickly.'
With that in mind, Feixue looked at Yasenia and spoke firmly. "I want to join a sect to gain strength! There are a few immortal sects not too far away from here, and my talent is not bad. If I join, I will eventually gain the strength necessary to take my revenge."
The dragoness blinked and nodded. "Great. You'll travel by yourself, though. I am not your mount, and won't act as such." She poked her cheek with a smirk. "The other day was special, to celebrate our recent connection. If you want to experience that again, you'll need to become stronger than me and make me submit to you~."
With the seductive gestures, a vivid image appeared for a second in Feixue's mind, creating a healthy blush that painted her cheeks and ears. She protested, her voice cracking from nervousness. "W-Who wants to mount you!? You don't need to worry about that."
The dragoness giggled and stood up from the bed. "Then~." Her body transformed into a ray of light, diving into Feixue's Beast Pocket. After she dove inside, her voice sounded in the woman's head. "Let's set off~! First of all, you'll need to earn some money and buy resources for the journey. You will need quite a few if you want to practice the Body and Soul paths properly."
Yasenia and the other girls had already investigated the mortal path for Body and Soul. They came up with quite a few tips and tricks that could make it a more straightforward process. Of course, in exchange, they would need tons of high-level resources. Their methods were good but expensive.
After hearing that the Dragon was going to start teaching her, Feixue's dark eyes glowed with expectation. "I am ready! What do I need to buy?"
The dragoness commented. "First of all, forget about your Spiritual Path. I want you to catch up on your Soul and Body paths. Once you have all three paths at the peak of the Third Realm, you will start your advancement toward the Fourth Realm."
Luan Feixue nodded seriously. "Okay. I'll listen to Big Sister."
Yasenia smiled, satisfied. "Great! Also, call me Teacher or Master when I am teaching you things. Big Sister is too casual. How much money do you have?"
Luan Feixue frowned. "So annoying. Can't I call you in one way only? Changing back and forth will make my mind a mess."
Feixue couldn't see it, but she somehow sensed at a spiritual level that Yasenia was rolling her eyes at her. "Whatever. Then decide on one way to call me and stick to it."
'An important moment arrived.' Luan Feixue thought. 'What do I call her from now on? Is "Teacher" okay? Hm… that makes me feel as if I am creating a barrier between us on purpose. On the contrary, Big Sister is cuddly and intimate. I can probably act pampered if I call her as such.' A bit of scheming appeared in her eyes. 'If I call her Big Sister and I am in trouble, she won't stay arms-crossed, right? Yasenia is not a ruthless Dragon…'
If Yasenia heard those words, she would probably laugh at Feixue's naive thinking. Eventually, Feixue muttered. "I'll call you Big Sister Yasenia, then."
The dragoness didn't mind either way, so she accepted it without much thought. "Go ahead." She followed with her previous words. "Now, I want you to get the ingredients for two Spirit-Ranked pills. That pill is something my family created to help people enter the Body and Soul paths easily, as long as they have the talent for it. If you are untalented, then that's that. No one can help you."
Luan Feixue frowned. "Isn't that unfair? If some people can enter the three paths and others can't, they are at a disadvantage."
The dragoness snorted. "Fairness? If you want fairness, I will leave right now. Isn't it a bit unfair that you have me as a free teacher compared to others who can't even cultivate?"
Feixue coughed. "T-That's different."
The dragoness sighed. "Enough. Don't be like that. You should accept that you have an unfair advantage and then make use of it. This world is not kind enough for you to give up power just because of an absurd concept like fairness."
When she heard her words, the young woman couldn't help but mutter. "You think like a Dragon even in this regard."
"Either way. I want you to buy a [50 Year Old Ginseng], [Lotus Of Budding Light], [Mortal Ghost Petal Flower], [Burning Spirit Core], [Freezing Spirit Core], and a few auxiliary herbs like [Silver Angelica Root], [Sunbathed..."
After listing around 30 ingredients, Luan Feixue nodded. "I've noted them down. Let's go to the alchemy shop in this town and see if they have them. If not, we can only search around for them."
The dragoness shrugged. "They are for you, so the faster you get them, the quicker you can start cultivating. Until then, you'll need to do it the normal way."
Luan Feixue chuckled. "What if I start the paths before I gather the materials?"
The dragoness answered without batting an eye. "Even better. The pills are to help you enter and develop the first levels. So, taking it after Breakthrough is as good as taking them to break through."
Those words made Feixue nod a few times. "It seems that you come from a family of alchemists? Can you concoct them yourselves, or will you hire an alchemist to do so?"
The dragoness commented. "While I am not talented in the Alchemy Path, I can defend myself. Unless you ask me to refine a Quasi-Transcendence Pill or anything above that, I have confidence in being able to concoct them with a fairly high success rate."
"Quasi—?" Luan Feixue gulped. "So, that means you can concoct Heaven-Ranked pills?"
Yasenia tilted her head. "Naturally. If I weren't that confident, would I tell you to waste money to buy herbs? Money is very important! We need to waste sparingly and try to rob other people whenever we can!"
Feixue almost tripped while walking down the street. "W-What do you mean by rob!?"
Her sudden shout caught the attention of people around her, making Feixue cough and smile awkwardly. "S-Sorry, I was remembering a book and couldn't help but react."
After receiving a few weird looks, everyone ignored her. The dragoness answered with a chuckle. "Next time, try shouting it by the side of a few law enforcers. I want to see what happens."
Feixue answered with her teeth clenched. "One day, I'll get back at you for every single teasing moment you've done to me!"
"Fufufu~. I'll be waiting. Until then, you'll be my victim."
Luan Feixue swore that she would one day get back at her, even if it was the last thing she did!
It didn't take long until they arrived at the alchemy shop. Once inside, Yasenia swept the place with her spiritual sense and noticed that they had almost everything they needed. 'Only [Burning Spirit Core] and [Freezing Spirit Core] are missing in this place. Well, we should come across locations for those two in the future… hm?'
The dragoness glanced at the woman wearing luxurious clothes with a raised eyebrow. The dragoness whispered. 'Feixue, she is buying the last stalk of [50 Year Old Ginseng]. Try to get it from her.'
Luan Feixue nodded.
Meanwhile, the girl who was buying herbs suddenly heard someone call her. "U-Um, excuse me. I need that piece of ginseng quite urgently. Would you be willing to sell it to me at a higher than market price?"
The woman in luxurious clothes turned to look with a frown and saw a scrawny girl with tattered clothing. She blinked twice and looked around, trying to see if someone else was talking. The girl coughed. "It was me who spoke, Miss."
"You?" The girl scanned her up and down and asked with a frown. "Have you entered the wrong shop, homeless woman? This is not a place where you can buy and sell things for just a few taels. We use Spirit Stones here."
The girl's face stiffened, and taking that as a sign of surprise, the woman waved her hand as if she was shooing her away. "Go, go. Today I am in a good mood, so I won't involve myself with you."
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper glanced at the new arrival with a frown. Naturally, he also thought that the scrawny woman in tattered clothing couldn't afford anything. "Please, leave the establishment. You are scaring my other clients with your appearance."
Luan Feixue's eyes widened while Yasenia laughed mercilessly in her soul. Feixue's face turned red and she asked the Dragon with a shrill scream. 'Did you expect something like this to happen!?'
"Of course. Look at yourself. You look like a homeless wet dog. Quite pitiful and cute~. Hahahaha."
If she could strangle the goddess-like being in her Beast Pocket, she would! Feixue sighed and waved her hand, summoning a large Spirit Stone from her ring. "Excuse me for my appearance. I've been on long travels for a while and forgot to change before coming here. I hope that with this, Miss and Mister can pay this little one attention. I really need the ginseng."
The two people who were about to complete the transaction froze when they saw the large Spirit Stone. The woman stuttered. "L-L-Low-Grade Spirit Stone!? How could a homeless person like you have one of those!?"
The Spirit Stone she had in her hand was valued at 10,000 of those the luxurious woman was using to buy. To say that with that stone, she could buy the entire shop was not an exaggeration. After all, the most expensive plant in the shop was valued at around 4 Mortal-Grade Spirit Stones.
The rich-looking girl looked at the woman again, and a hint of greed appeared in her eyes. "Sure. I'll trade you the ginseng with that Spirit Stone. If you accept, the ginseng is all yours. Otherwise, forget about it."
Luan Feixue almost punched her face. 'Who in Heaven's name are you trying to scam!?' Thankfully, she controlled her anger, even if the resulting smile appeared crooked as a result.
"M-Miss, let's be reasonable, yes?"
The miss sneered. "Oh, so it is not that urgent. Shopkeeper, I am buying this ginseng."
Luan Feixue's forehead bulged with a few throbbing veins. 'Oh. So that's how you want to play. Okay. Okay. Okay.'