It seemed Zhai Bairong intended to remain in the rented alchemy room indefinitely.
By Nie Shiyun’s count, excluding the three days spent at his place, Zhai Bairong had been working day and night in that room for at least ten days. Although Nie Shiyun wanted to advise him to balance work and rest, he understood that Zhai Bairong’s current obsession was born from being stuck at a cultivation bottleneck for too long. With nothing else to do, Nie Shiyun knew that if he were in the same position, he wouldn't be able to sit idle either. Thus, he said nothing.
After seeing Zhai Bairong off, Nie Shiyun returned to his house.
The empty teapot and cups still sat on the low table. Nie Shiyun lightly traced his finger across the surface, lost in thought for a long time.
In the following days, as promised, Nie Shiyun set aside a dedicated shelf for various medicinal pills. The variety wasn't extensive yet; he planned to gauge customer demand before informing Zhai Bairong.
Although Nie Shiyun didn't go out much himself, the shop had many regular customers. Coupled with the group of loose-lipped beast cubs who came to play every few days, word quickly spread that the "Yun" Family Artifact Shop was now also in the business of selling pills.
While the first step is always the hardest, Nie Shiyun had already built a reputation in one field. Even when customers learned that the new pill business was on a consignment basis, they instinctively trusted the quality. Within a few days, the business was on the right track.
Though Zhai Bairong couldn't refine high-level pills yet, the remnant soul of the Exotic Fire gave him an incredibly high success rate within his current range. Over ninety percent of his attempts resulted in successful pills, and of those, eighty percent were either Top-grade or Extreme-grade. Such a feat was unimaginable for an ordinary alchemist.
Comparing the feedback from feeding Top-grade and Extreme-grade pills into his spatial realm, it was clear that the Extreme-grade pills provided a significantly greater boost. Nie Shiyun had originally thought about selling some of the higher-quality pills for a premium, but seeing this, he decisively kept all the Extreme-grade pills for himself.
As he watched the area of the spatial realm visibly expand and the flow of time within it slow down further, Nie Shiyun realized that pills were indeed far more effective than simply feeding the realm raw spirit herbs. He felt a slight pang of regret for all the herbs he had tossed in directly before, but then he considered the time and effort required for alchemy. Realizing they couldn't be compared so simply, he let the thought go.
In the days that followed, Zhai Bairong visited roughly once every seven days. Each time, he adjusted the types of pills he refined based on Nie Shiyun’s reports. However, after the Willow Sword was repaired, he occasionally ventured out to forage for rare spirit herbs. If he went too deep, he couldn't return promptly, and sometimes ten days would pass between visits.
Since that ambiguous kiss, their already delicate relationship had become even harder to define. Although Zhai Bairong had said, "Even if I were to start another relationship, I shouldn't choose you," leaving Nie Shiyun to wonder if he simply didn't meet the man's standards or if it was just a defensive excuse, the reality was different.
Whenever Nie Shiyun initiated close proximity or physical contact that bordered on intimacy, Zhai Bairong did not sternly reject him. Yet, there was no further progress beyond that. This state of keeping each other at arm's length while remaining close—a relationship separated by a thin layer of window paper—continued for quite some time.
Nie Shiyun knew Zhai Bairong was conflicted and did not push him or cross the line. The shackles imposed by the original plot were not so easily broken.
However, if asked whether he felt any genuine affection for Zhai Bairong at this moment, the answer was naturally yes.
And if asked whether he harbored the intent to completely remove Zhai Bairong as an asset from Duan Mingyu’s side, ideally ensuring they could never reconcile—or better yet, turning him into an ally—Nie Shiyun could not deny that either.
He felt that he also needed some time to sort out his own mindset.
Amidst this back-and-forth of testing the waters and retreating, the harsh heat of midsummer faded, and Fanhua City welcomed the deep autumn.
Having been away from home for a year, Nie Shiyun took the time to write a letter to his family.
Every member of a sect or clan had a Soul Fire stored within the organization. As long as the Soul Fire remained lit, it meant the cultivator was safe. For cultivators, a single session of meditation could last months or even years; unless something major happened, they generally didn't notify their families while traveling. However, Nie Shiyun wasn't used to this detached lifestyle. He sincerely wrote about how he had come to Fanhua City and successfully opened an artifact shop, stating that barring any accidents, he would likely stay for a few more years. He told everyone at Yunqing Pavilion not to worry.
Nie Shiyun went to the courier station to mail the letter. Although the courier system in the cultivation world was hundreds of times more efficient than in the mortal realm—ensuring letters wouldn't take months—it still took at least seven to ten days for a delivery. From a place as distant as Fanhua City to Yunqing Pavilion, it might even take fifteen days.
The cultivation world did have means of instantaneous communication, namely Communication Crystals. These were sold in pairs; each party held one, and once the message was delivered, the crystal became useless. They were essentially money-burning tools and were rarely used unless for urgent matters.
Nie Shiyun was in no hurry and used the traditional courier station, as it was merely a casual letter about his life.
Naturally, he didn't mention meeting Zhai Bairong, only briefly describing his daily affairs. To his surprise, he received a reply twenty days later. Upon inquiring at the station, he discovered that Nie Li had been so overjoyed to receive his son’s greetings that he had paid for an express reply.
Nie Shiyun smiled helplessly, thinking there was no need for such haste, but his heart felt warm nonetheless.
Back at the shop, he opened the envelope and read. Half the letter consisted of Nie Li praising his diligence, marveling that he could open an artifact shop in the territory of demon cultivators. He claimed that if this continued, Nie Shiyun might even surpass Yunqing Pavilion in the future. The barrage of unreserved praise made even the thick-skinned Nie Shiyun feel a bit embarrassed.
Nie Li told Nie Shiyun not to rush back. The situation in the Central Plains was currently very chaotic. The conflict between Lingfeng Mountain and Soul-Summoning Valley had turned into a war of attrition. Chiyan Cliff and various rogue and demonic cultivators were meddling from the sidelines, leaving the northeast in a state of total disorder. Because Lingfeng Mountain had raised the banner of "righteousness against evil," the Melody Pavilion, as one of the four great righteous sects, had been forced to send some disciples—though they were all from the outer sect. Meanwhile, the Moon-Reflecting Sect maintained the haughty air of the oldest established sect, offering only a perfunctory response by stating that their disciple, Duan Mingyu, was already on-site, which they considered sufficient support.
Staying in this remote corner, Nie Shiyun had indeed been out of the loop regarding sect news for a long time. In his memory of the original novel, this war of attrition dragged on for six or seven years. In the end, neither side suffered significant losses; the whole affair was mostly just a nuisance. It merely provided Duan Mingyu and his harem with numerous opportunities for intimacy and a wealth of spirit stones and spoils collected from defeated foes.
Since those two were now thoroughly tied to Duan Mingyu, Nie Shiyun didn't care how intimate they were—whether they took turns or had a threesome, it had nothing to do with him. Now that things had reached this stage, his only hope was that Duan Mingyu wouldn't meddle by trying to contact Zhai Bairong.
After summarizing the state of the various sects, Nie Li mentioned that Yunqing Pavilion remained neutral, safely tucked away on their mountain and minding their own business, so there was no need for concern. Additionally, his junior sister, Qi Xuan'er, had steadily reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, which was quite impressive. Qi Miaohan, who had just finished a year of solitary confinement, had come by a few days ago to celebrate. She was stunned to find the entire cultivation world in such an uproar after her release.
Nie Li wrote vividly, and familiar faces surfaced in Nie Shiyun’s mind. Nie Li’s gratified smile, Qi Xuan'er’s happy yet slightly bashful demeanor, and Qi Miaohan’s boisterous way of dragging her sister off to celebrate—the thoughts made Nie Shiyun chuckle. He folded the letter carefully and stored it in his storage ring.
Little did he know that not long after the letter arrived, the person would follow.
"Nie Shiyun! You made me look everywhere for you!"
Nie Shiyun was sitting behind the counter, measuring a small, iridescent pearl. The sudden roar nearly made his hand slip and drop the pearl to the floor.
In both his past and present lives combined, Nie Shiyun only knew one young woman with such a loud voice.
***
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Transmigrated into a Total Shou Novel as a Cannon Fodder, but Ended Up 1v1-ing the Male Lead | Chapter 23 | A Sudden Visitor | Novela.app | Novela.app
