"A grudge?" Su Xuan asked helplessly. "What happened?"

How could the Third Elder, an alchemist, have an enemy?

"It's like this..." The Third Elder took a deep breath and murmured, "The Nine Cauldrons Sect originally had a vice-sect leader, who was the sect leader's own younger brother. He was incredibly talented at alchemy, but he was also quite petty. One time, I pointed out several flaws in his pill refining, and he tried to have me expelled. His older brother, of course, refused. I was the Nine Cauldrons Sect's star attraction, after all. The sect leader tried to talk some sense into him, but his brother ended up turning on him over it. He left the Nine Cauldrons Sect, went to a mountain a hundred miles away, and founded his own sect. He called it the Ten Cauldrons Sect, one more than the Nine Cauldrons Sect..."

Upon hearing this, Su Xuan rubbed his forehead in distress. What kind of nonsense was this? It sounded like a childish spat.

"When he left, he took one of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's finest Pill Furnaces, one that could rival Ancestor Meng's Furnace of Longevity," the Third Elder continued. "If you could find him and borrow his furnace, you'd be able to refine your supreme-grade pills."

"Yes, yes," Xiao Yun chimed in from the side. "His name is Fu Yong, the Sect Leader of the Ten Cauldrons Sect."

"Uhm..." Su Xuan pondered for a moment before asking the Third Elder, "What if, instead of borrowing the Pill Furnace, I just deliberately lower the pill's quality? Would that work?"

"Of course not," the Third Elder raised his hand, looking slightly annoyed. "If you have the ability to make supreme-grade pills, why downgrade? Aren't you afraid that would result in insufficient medicinal strength, failing to save the person? Do you want all your efforts to be for nothing?"

"You have a point..."

Su Xuan nodded. If the pills' medicinal strength was insufficient, his trip to this world in the mountains would have been in vain. He then asked, "Third Elder, before I came to see you, I heard that the Nine Cauldrons Sect was a prestigious sect in the world of alchemy. Don't you have any other furnaces in reserve capable of refining supreme-grade pills?"

"No, only the one Fu Yong took," the Third Elder said, shaking his head. "To be frank, given the Nine Cauldrons Sect's current level of alchemy, no one can refine supreme-grade pills anyway, so there's no use preparing such a furnace! Besides, a furnace capable of producing supreme-grade pills isn't something you can just find lying around!"

"So my only option is to find this Fu Yong?"

"The simplest and fastest way is to find Fu Yong," the Third Elder stated. "Unless you can somehow find another top-tier furnace."

"I can't."

"Things would be much simpler if you were really from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain," the Third Elder said suddenly.

"The Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain has such furnaces?" Su Xuan asked.

"Of course," the Third Elder said. "It's said they have more than a dozen such Pill Furnaces. Their foundation is truly profound."

"Well, to be honest with you, I'm not really from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain," Su Xuan shrugged.

How was I supposed to know the place I fabricated actually existed?

The Third Elder had long suspected that Su Xuan was not from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain. Otherwise, why would he go to such great lengths to save someone from the world below?

"Let's go tomorrow morning!" The Third Elder's gaze fell on the doorway as he spoke. "It's already getting late. Come find me tomorrow morning, and I'll accompany you to the Ten Cauldrons Sect to see Fu Yong. I will find a way to get him to lend you the furnace, even if I have to swallow my pride."

"Third Elder, you are a man of true honor!" Su Xuan said gratefully.

"Let's just call it fellow practitioners helping each other out," the Third Elder pursed his lips. "Besides, you're a Heavenly-ranked Alchemist. I'll be counting on you for guidance in the future."

These words came from his heart. But if he knew Su Xuan had secretly read his hidden manual on the Dao of alchemy, one wonders if he would still be so willing to say them.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then!"

Su Xuan bade the Third Elder farewell and left the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Before leaving, he also gave the Third Elder some treasures he had obtained from the Yu Xian Sect trials. After a brief refusal, the Third Elder accepted them with a laugh.

"Young Master Su, long time no see!"

Just as Su Xuan stepped out of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's main gate, a voice called out to him from a carriage waiting outside. A slender, jade-like hand lifted the window curtain, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face.

It was Ning Wan, the daughter of Ning Zhendao, the lord of Hua Shui City. Of course, the current Ning Zhendao was an imposter who had killed the real one and taken his place—a fact Ning Wan herself had told Su Xuan.

"What do you want?" Su Xuan was somewhat wary of this sweet-looking but calculating young woman.

"Can't I simply say hello, Young Master?" Ning Wan's smile was sickeningly sweet. "That said, I do have something to discuss. Would you care to come up for a chat?"

"Get in your carriage?"

"Are you scared?"

"As long as you aren't."

Su Xuan stepped into Ning Wan's carriage and sat across from her. "What is it?"

"Someone from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain has arrived," Ning Wan said, her tone deliberately dramatic and ominous. "A *real* one. His name is Feng Zhengyuan. He was just passing through Hua Shui City to rest when he heard your story. He heard you were from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain, but he's never heard of anyone like you there. So, he went to my father and offered to 'clean house' for his sect... which means killing you!"

"Today is not my lucky day." Having just narrowly failed to produce a supreme-grade pill, Su Xuan rubbed his face. He showed no signs of panic, however; his expression remained calm.

CLIP-CLOP-CLOP!

At that moment, the sound of approaching horse hooves reached the carriage.

"That should be Yuan Dafeng coming for you. You can decide what to do," Ning Wan said, gesturing for him to leave.

"Thanks for the information," Su Xuan said, rising to exit the carriage.

"Take this." Ning Wan suddenly pressed something into Su Xuan's hand. "While Feng Zhengyuan was resting at the City Lord's Mansion, I had a maid steal this from him. It looks like an identity token. I hope it helps."

"Thanks."

Su Xuan took the token and stepped out of the carriage. As he looked up, he saw Yuan Dafeng riding toward him from a distance on a tall horse.

At that same moment, a system prompt sounded in his mind.

*Ding! An ownership-bound item has been detected.*

*Ding! The previous bond has been automatically severed. Re-binding to host.*

He subtly curled his lips. Just like that, I'm now a real member of the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain.

"Young Master Su, I presume?" Yuan Dafeng had reined in his horse before him. "Where is your sworn brother, Lu Dachun?"

"He had urgent business and had to return to the Immortal Mountain," Su Xuan improvised smoothly.

"Very well. Please come with me," Yuan Dafeng said, pointing toward the City Lord's Mansion with his riding crop. "A guest is waiting for you there, also from the Smooth Wind Immortal Mountain. I'm sure you two must be acquainted."

"No problem."

Without the slightest resistance, Su Xuan mounted his white horse and followed Yuan Dafeng toward the City Lord's Mansion.

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