A sweet female voice spoke up, "Are you feeling better?"

Zhang Jingmo mumbled and his uncomfortable eyes finally saw the person in front of him clearly. He pretended to be frightened and said, "Who are you?"

The woman was wearing a green long dress, her delicate features showing a hesitant expression. Her thin lips parted slightly, seeming to be very worried about Zhang Jingmo. She said, "I am Tianwan."

Zhang Jingmo was stunned for two seconds before asking, "...Where am I?"

Tianwan said gently, "You are in Kuchan Valley."

Zhang Jingmo seemed to be completely dumbfounded. After a moment, he said, "Did you kidnap me?"

Tianwan said with difficulty, "Senior Zhang, I'm really sorry. I also tried to persuade my senior brother not to do this, but he never listens to my advice and still forcibly brought you here."

If someone who didn't know Tianwan saw her like this, they would probably imagine a knowledgeable, gentle and elegant woman. But others might not know, how could Zhang Jingmo not know?

In terms of vicious temperament and ruthlessness, if Tianwan was ranked second in Kuchan Valley, no one dared to claim first place.

Zhang Jingmo already had his suspicions. Now seeing Tianwan, his guess was confirmed. To put it bluntly, he had dug a hole for himself to jump into. If he hadn't tricked Tianfeng, Tianfeng's brothers and sisters wouldn't have tried every means to kidnap him from the Lingxu Sect and bring him here.

Tsk, how unlucky.

Zhang Jingmo put on an angry appearance, but began to have other thoughts in his heart.

Seeing that Zhang Jingmo refused to speak and had an angry look, Tianwan continued to persuade him softly, as if wanting to influence Zhang Jingmo with her gentle side...

She was just getting into it when she saw a person with a tall and straight figure walk in from outside the door. That person was wearing a raven-green jade brocade robe, with a phoenix belt around his waist identical to Tianfeng's. There were no excessive decorations on his body, but he still appeared imposing. His appearance was also somewhat similar to Tianfeng's. At first glance, one could guess this person's identity.

Sure enough, his first sentence was: "Is Qingyuan awake?"

Zhang Jingmo said bluntly, "I can't accept the Valley Master addressing me as Qingyuan."

Tianlu smiled, "Is Qingyuan angry?"

Zhang Jingmo really couldn't stand Tianlu's overly familiar manner. The number of people in the Lingxu Sect who called him Qingyuan could be counted on one hand. Since when was it Tianlu's turn to call him that? He didn't hide his emotions and even deliberately showed a look of disgust, "What exactly do you want?"

Tianlu said, "Didn't I already tell Qingyuan before? I invited Qingyuan here just to refine an elixir." As he spoke, he sat down right beside Zhang Jingmo, appearing extremely close.

Zhang Jingmo had never liked physical contact with others. Seeing Tianlu sit beside him, he reflexively shrank back. Tianlu saw this and laughed again, "Is Qingyuan afraid of me?"

Zhang Jingmo said, "I also told you, the Heavenly Core Yellow Spring Pill is just a legend. I have neither the formula nor the ingredients. How do you expect me to refine it?"

Tianlu still looked at Zhang Jingmo gently. His gaze was somewhat similar to Tianwan's. He said, "I naturally won't make things difficult for Qingyuan on purpose. I have already prepared the formula and medicinal ingredients. We're just waiting for Qingyuan to take action."

Zhang Jingmo gritted his teeth and said, "There are so many alchemists in the world. Why did you have to find me?"

Tianlu said, "It's naturally because Qingyuan has long been renowned..."

Zhang Jingmo thought to himself, what bullshit about being renowned for a long time. Wasn't it just because his cultivation was low and easy to bully? He already knew that this Tianlu was not a good person, and now he was even more certain. Fortunately, he had a vague premonition before, so in recent years he had never kept Zhu Yan by his side. If Tianlu found out that his precious younger brother's death was his doing, wouldn't he suck out his soul alive?

Tianlu didn't know what Zhang Jingmo was thinking. Seeing his furrowed brows, he comforted again, "Qingyuan can think it over carefully. I, Tianlu, am not someone who forces others to do difficult things."

After saying that, he got up and left the room, leaving Zhang Jingmo and Tianwan alone.

Tianwan sighed softly and said, "Elder Zhang, don't be angry with my brother. It's all my fault. My brother is just too worried about our younger brother Tianfeng... Tianfeng is also a pitiful one. While traveling outside, he was harmed by a vicious Daoist."

Zhang Jingmo thought to himself, "The vicious Daoist is sitting right in front of you."

At this point, tears began to flow from Tianwan's eyes. She was already beautiful, and with these tears, she appeared even more pitiful, making people feel compassion for her upon seeing her.

Zhang Jingmo cooperatively showed a sympathetic look.

Tianwan said, "My younger brother Tianfeng is also a person with a fiery temper. When he encountered that devil cultivator who refined ghost devices, he went ahead alone without regard for anything else... Who knew..." Her tears flowed even more fiercely, as if she was recalling that tragic scene again.

Zhang Jingmo let out a heavy sigh, then said in an even more solemn tone, "I also hate devil cultivators. Your brother was a good man." Without your brother's help, I wouldn't have been able to seize that Zhu Yan.

Seeing Zhang Jingmo's expression soften slightly, Tianwan wiped the tears from her face and pretended to be strong, saying, "Fortunately, our Kuchan Valley has a life-saving magic treasure that preserved a trace of my younger brother's primordial spirit, preventing his soul from scattering. My elder brother Tianlu has been running around for this matter, and after much difficulty, he found the recipe for the Heavenly Core Yellow Spring Pill..."

Zhang Jingmo nodded.

Seeing Zhang Jingmo's response, Tianwan continued, "We searched everywhere but couldn't find a suitable alchemist. However, a few days ago, we heard that a disciple of the Lingxu Sect had won first place, and that's how we learned about Elder Zhang's news..."

'So that's how it is,' Zhang Jingmo thought, wanting to let out a long sigh at the coincidence. He had been wondering why in the previous 120-plus lifetimes, even though he had also scammed Tianfeng, he had never seen these siblings come to him. It turned out that the key was with Lu Guijiu.

Lu Guijiu's victory had caused a stir in the cultivation world, and Zhang Jingmo was also affected by this, unexpectedly entering the sights of the troublesome Kuchan Valley siblings.

He thought to himself, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Tianwan continued, "Elder Zhang is an important figure in the Lingxu Sect. We didn't want to invite you here in this manner, but if we didn't use this method, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to invite Elder Zhang..."

Zhang Jingmo angrily said, "But you can't just kidnap me directly like this."

Tianwan said, "Once Elder Zhang refines the medicine, I will have my senior brother send you back to the Lingxu Sect immediately." She was good at pushing all the responsibility onto Tianlu.

Zhang Jingmo opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but felt it would be superfluous, so he put on an angry appearance, as if he didn't want to talk to Tianwan anymore.

Tianwan bowed to Zhang Jingmo, wiped the tears from her face, and walked out of the cave with a sorrowful expression.

As soon as she left, the sorrowful expression on her face turned into icy coldness. Without looking back, she said coldly to the guarding disciple, "You know what to say, right?"

The guarding disciple lowered his head and acknowledged, not daring to look at Tianwan.

Tianwan exited the cave and saw Tianlu waiting not far away. Seeing Tianwan come out, Tianlu asked expressionlessly, "How was it?"

Tianwan snorted and said, "He's also soft-hearted."

Tianlu said coldly, "It's best if he's soft-hearted. I'm just afraid he won't be swayed by either soft or hard tactics."

Tianwan said, "There's no one in this world who can't be swayed by either soft or hard tactics. Didn't they say he dotes on that disciple of the Lingxu Sect named Lu-something the most? If he refuses to comply, we'll just kidnap his disciple too. I want to see how hard-hearted he can be."

Hearing this, Tianlu laughed and said, "You're even more ruthless than me."

Tianwan sighed, "If I'm not ruthless, how could I have reached this position... The person who plotted against Tianfeng still hasn't been found. If I find out who did it..." A cold expression appeared on her face.

Tianlu said, "Alright, the most urgent task now is to save Tianfeng. Once he's alive, we won't have to worry about not being able to find the murderer, right?"

Tianwan naturally understood. After discussing some more matters with Tianlu, she turned to leave.

Tianlu looked at Tianwan's back thoughtfully and suddenly spoke, "What if... that Zhang Jingmo falls in love with you..."

Tianwan's figure paused, and she chuckled coquettishly, "Falls in love with me? As if there aren't enough people who love me already."

Tianlu nodded, "That's... also true."