"Mm."
Su Min didn't deny it. It was obvious the woman before her had come with a request. And truthfully, she needed a strong hand herself. Though this one had been awakened earlier than planned, the reappearance of her residence meant that contingencies had already been put in place for such an awakening.
Still, annoyance was annoyance. Su Min had her own troubles to face—chief among them was the need for a Gold Core beast core to refine her Golden Spirit Pill.
In the current situation, there was only one Gold Core beast available—and that was tied to a side quest. The game had always made a clear distinction between random events and side quests, like the one involving the twin fire-earth elders.
At this stage in the game, there were only two side quests: one concerning the fire and earth elders, and the other involving a Gold Core-stage beast that was due to emerge soon. That beast wasn't anything special—just a typical Gold Core demon beast, far from a royal breed or anything with a profound bloodline. Its combat strength wasn't overwhelming, but even so, Su Min wasn't confident she could take it down alone.
Now that she had a potential helper, the situation looked far better.
"You know the rules of alchemy, right?"
"I do. I owe you a favor. I provide the materials. And I won't ask how many pills come out of a single batch."
The woman's voice was cold, but her words made the onlookers' eyelids twitch. What kind of one-sided terms were these?! Even Prince Yong faction members were stunned. Su Min had never made such demands of them—but then again, if she couldn't handle something, they'd just be cannon fodder anyway.
"This isn't the place to negotiate. Let's move."
Su Min glanced at the crowd before turning to her companions.
"You all head back first. I'll find you later."
With that, her flame wings unfurled, and she shot into the sky like a meteor. At the Foundation Establishment stage, she no longer had to hoard her energy. Even the most basic Vermilion Bird fusion could be used for travel. The woman followed without hesitation, and in the blink of an eye, the two stood atop a lonely mountain peak.
"Netherworld Soul Pill—third-tier high-grade. Before you sealed yourself, didn't you have someone refine it for you?"
Su Min scanned the recipe, slightly puzzled. Third-tier alchemists were exceedingly rare in this era—but in the woman's time, there should've been plenty.
Why come to her now?
"Herbs are different from pills. Raw materials are easier to preserve. Pills… deteriorate."
The woman's tone was flat.
"You saw that half-degraded Foundation Establishment Pill, didn't you? I need this pill for my Golden Core breakthrough—but once I reach that stage, I can't easily seal myself again."
"Ah. Fair point."
Su Min nodded.
"But I can't guarantee success yet. The highest-tier pill I've refined so far is the Foundation Establishment Pill. If you're willing to let me use your materials for practice, I don't mind."
"..."
"Of course, you could always find someone else—though as far as I know, no one in this world can refine it now. Or you could re-seal yourself and wait a few centuries to see if anyone capable appears. But then you'd probably miss the Golden Core Path."
"Just tell me what you want."
The woman's eyebrow twitched. She could feel Su Min's vitality and soul strength—with her level, refining this pill wouldn't take long. Yet here she was, trying to extort her. And the worst part?
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
She couldn't even refuse. She had prepared new sealing materials—but she couldn't afford to waste them. So she braced herself for Su Min's real demand.
"Help me kill a Golden Core demonic beast."
"!!!"
The woman's eyes widened. The gap between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core was massive. And this girl had the audacity to suggest it?
"What kind of beast? If it has ancient bloodline traits or special talents, even the two of us together would be walking to our deaths. I'm preparing for the Golden Core Path—I won't recklessly attempt a breakthrough."
"Just an ordinary one. No ancient bloodline, no special talents. I need its core—barely Golden Core level, really."
"…Fine. But if it does turn out to have some bloodline or talent, I'm running."
"Phew."
Su Min exhaled in relief.
The beast's emergence was only a few years away.
With this woman's help, it was manageable.
"Deal. I'm Su Min. And you?"
"Xie Yingying."
"Then it's settled. You're biologically in your twenties, right? Give me about ten years to refine this pill for you."
Xie Yingying might not have infinite lifespan like her, but she was young enough to have plenty of years left. That made things much simpler.
"Acceptable. I'll use this time to reach peak Foundation Establishment before sealing myself again."
Since she was already awake, she might as well adjust her condition before re-entering hibernation. So Xie Yingying had no objections to Su Min's timeline.
"By the way, that guy you killed? He was the son of this land's ruler. His father's irrelevant—but his mother is probably that old demon hag from the Hehuan Sect."
Su Min didn't know the Demon Queen's real name, but in the game, this was what she'd been called.
"That disgusting creature? I defeated her once before. Later, with my clan's help, I sealed myself here. I heard she reached Golden Core and couldn't seal herself again."
To Su Min's surprise, Xie Yingying knew the Demon Queen—and there seemed to be some history between them.
"She only survived by severing her cultivation and foundation. Probably hasn't fully recovered yet."
Su Min smirked. Apart from her trump card, the demoness had discarded everything else. But Su Min had a countermeasure for that. Next time they met, her chances of winning would exceed 90%.
"Hmph."
Xie Yingying snorted. So what if they'd killed him? The idiot had brought it on himself by yanking her out of sealing. Her estate had inner and outer chambers—the outer ones were filled with things she didn't care about. But if anyone dared trespass into her inner sanctum?
She'd annihilate them.
"I'm heading back to my base now. You coming?"
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You can visit Auxiliary Volume for more information, there are chapter for "Rank and General Information" and "Picture". I really suggest that you should read and watch both of the chapters, along with it comments, or the "paragraph comments" especially on "Picture" chapter. There I will attach the "Image" of Su Min and Xie Yingying. Make you more easy to imagine how the look like.