Qinghe was deeply moved by what he saw.

A warm palm enveloped her hand. She didn't turn around, but a smile appeared on her lips.

The mountain spirits broke free from the wall, spontaneously forming several rows, spiraling upwards, and flying upwards.

The group followed closely behind and left the underwater space.

When they emerged, everything in the valley had changed. The vegetation was lush and green, more vibrant than before. The valley was no longer filled with the chirping of cicadas, but with the songs of orioles and the dance of swallows, insects, flowers, and birds, and the spiritual energy of the fairy valley.

Thousands of flowers bloom, covering the mountains and fields. Mountain spirits dance and play freely among the flowers, undisturbed by anyone in the world.

Among the many mountain spirits, Qinghe discovered the one that had been purified.

It silently watched its companions laugh, neither joining them nor making any other move, simply standing there watching.

After a long while, it spread its wings, flew into the air, circled for a while, and then flew into the distance.

"Where will it go?" Qinghe asked.

Qi Rong: "Let it go where it belongs."

"Where should it go?"

Qi Rong paused for a moment, then said, "Where there is no greed, that is where it should go."

A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling Qinghe's hair. She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, murmuring, "Where is there no greed?"

No one answered her.

A floral fragrance wafted by, and Qinghe bent down to gently inhale the scent; the crisp fragrance was intoxicating.

The flower bud was about to bloom. She reached out and touched it, and the petals opened. A silver cicada was inside, its wings trembling slightly, as if it had just woken up.

"It's a cicada."

Qinghe was taken aback, then suddenly smiled. She looked at the mountain spirits playing and frolicking in the distance, and seemed to understand something.

The cicadas in the flower stamens gradually awaken, and their endless chirping echoes throughout the flower fields.

That was a gift from the mountain spirits to them.

...

Inn.

"So Brother Liu is traveling with us, also heading to Tianqi Academy."

Li Jiang and Liu Yuntai sat facing each other, chatting casually.

"To be honest, because of my father's condition, he needs the Lu Yuan Pill to heal and nourish his body. Only Senior Zhuge Hongming, the head of Tianqi Academy, can refine this Lu Yuan Pill. So, this time I came out not only to get the Tian Chan, but also to get the complete Lu Yuan Pill."

Chi Haoyu, standing beside him, secretly tugged at his clothes and whispered, "Cousin, can we not go with them?"

Liu Yuntai: "Why?"

Chi Haoyu glanced at Zhuge Changdeng, who was staring at him fiercely. Feeling timid but unable to say it outright, he could only say, "Have you forgotten that when we left, my aunt specifically instructed us not to trust all outsiders? It's safer for us to go by ourselves."

Liu Yuntai didn't care much. After spending the past two days together, he knew that Li Jiang and the others were not evil people. Moreover, their goal was not to obtain the Lu Yuan Dan, so there was no conflict of interest between them.

"Does Young Master Liu drink alcohol?"

Li Jiang picked up the wine pot to pour wine for Liu Yuntai, but he stopped her, saying, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Brother Li, but I don't usually drink a drop of alcohol, and if I do, I get drunk after just one cup."

"Wouldn't a man miss out on a lot of fun if he didn't drink? The wine at this inn is alright, why don't we give it a try?"

Looking at the full wine glass, Liu Yuntai hesitated, "No...no need, this is too much. If I get drunk, Brother Li will laugh at me."

Li Jiang replied, "I won't laugh at you, but she will."

Liu Yuntai turned his head and saw a hearty girl at the end of the table drinking wine like water, one pot after another. She drank three pots in a row before stopping. When she saw that the pots were empty, she raised her hand to beckon the waiter to order a few more pots of wine, but the person opposite her stopped her.

"Drinking is bad for your health, so please don't drink so much." His tone was as doting as the first warmth of spring after a cold winter.

Upon hearing this, the girl pursed her lips, seemingly very unwilling, but ultimately she still put her hand down.

Seeing this, Liu Yuntai smiled slightly and muttered to himself, "A beautiful woman with fine wine, Brother Li is right, I'm afraid I'm really going to be laughed at."

He picked up the wine and drank it all in one gulp, but the spiciness of the wine irritated his throat.

Seeing that he really couldn't drink, Li Jiang laughed and said, "How can you attract girls if you're so uninhibited?"

Liu Yuntai suppressed a cough, and the blush on his face made people think he was shy.

After he returned to normal, he said, "I believe in fate in these matters. When fate comes, you can't stop it; when fate hasn't come, I won't force it."

"Everything depends on fate, but you might miss a lot of opportunities," Li Jiang said leisurely as she sipped her wine.

Meanwhile, Mu Dong and Shen Xun were playing a drinking game.

"Five of a kind, six of a kind, seven of a kind... You lost, you lost, drink up!"

Mu Dong complained as he drank, "Little brat, you're so good at drinking games, I've already drunk eight cups..."

Shen Xun glanced at him arrogantly, "When your grandpa was roaming the world, you were still jumping around in some rock. If you want to beat me, you'll have to train for another hundred years."

"Grandpa? I didn't know you were this old." Mu Dong pouted and then played a drinking game with him.

A melodious tune drifted from the hall downstairs; it was the sound of a pipa.

Qinghe leaned against the railing and looked down. The person playing the music was a beautiful woman, dressed in a light pink gauze dress, holding a pipa and half-concealing her face.

"I suddenly remembered the first time I saw you, it was in a brothel."

When Qinghe suddenly brought up this matter, Qi Rong paused and subconsciously asked, "Wasn't it in my gambling den?"

Qinghe turned around and gave him a cool look.

Qi Rong coughed lightly, "I'm not at the brothel to listen to music with girls, but for something else."

"Oh, something else."

Fearing she might misunderstand, Qi Rong added, "Because of the pill, I previously asked someone to look for information about the Lu Yuan Pill."

"Oh, discussing news in a brothel."

Qi Rong: "Well, that's just his problem. He likes places of entertainment, which I don't."

Qing smiled coolly, "Why are you so nervous? I'm not blaming you."

Qi Rong wiped the sweat from her palms. "That's good..."

The pipa music continued downstairs, and the girl playing it sang a mournful tune, which was completely out of place with the lively atmosphere in the inn.

Some people couldn't stand it and shouted, "What kind of music is this! It's so annoying with its wailing and wailing, give me a different one!"

"Yes, let's change to something more cheerful!"

The girl playing the music was a little flustered when she was suddenly interrupted.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper stepped forward to mediate, "Gentlemen, please don't be impatient. This is the young lady's first time performing, so she's a little shy. Let me persuade her to change the song. Please be patient."

The shopkeeper turned his head, his fawning expression instantly turning cold. "Hurry up and get another one, don't keep the young masters waiting!"

The girl said somewhat anxiously, "But, but I don't know how..."

"You can't? If you can't, why are you out here busking? Get out, get out, you're wasting my time!"

"What about the wages?"

"You've only sung for half a day, why should I pay you? I'm already being lenient by not blaming you for angering my customer! Get out of here!"

He shoved the girl, determined to drive her out no matter how much she cried and complained.

"Wait a minute."

A woman's voice came from the second floor, and everyone looked up.