Looking around at the new sceneries and buildings she had not seen other places in the sect before, Sofie grabbed them hem of Yang Meng's clothes and asked.

"Hm… From the looks of it, we are in the alchemist section of the sect. The important places here are the pill hall, also know as the hall of alchemy and the spirit garden, where spirit herbs and fruits are grown."

"So, we are going to the spirit garden!?"

Hearing what Yang Meng said, Sofie's eyes started s.h.i.+ning as she imagined the spirit garden filled with all sorts of spirit fruits. Ready for her to eat. Even though she still hadn't seen a spirit fruit, they should at least taste great with how precious they are!

Getting more and more lost in her own thoughts, Sofie suddenly thought of something.

The moon garden and spirit garden sounded quite similar. Maybe they were connected to each other?

Fiercely grabbing hold of the hem of Yang Meng's clothes, Sofie started pulling anxiously.

"What is it?"

Having felt the powerful tug when Sofie pulled on the hem of his clothes, Yang Meng turned and asked Sofie in a calm tone.

"I-is the spirit garden and moon garden related with each other!?"

Fidgeting with her fingers, Sofie anxiously looked up at Yang Meng as she waited for an answer.

"No… And there is nothing with the garden in it, that is related to the moon garden…"

Seeing the anxious look on Sofie's face, Yang Meng sighed inwardly as he really wondered if his friend had even bothered to read the instruction books about the sect in the gathering hall. Most of the things she asked about were written in there… Maybe he should give it to her when they came back?

Having found a way to not constantly have to answer Sofie's question, Yang Meng smiled a little. Even though he did indeed enjoy answering her questions and show off his knowledge… Sofie just asked way too many questions. Yesterday when they had eaten dinner, Sofie had even asked whether the elders would be teaching them about cultivation or not…

How the heck did such a question even come to mind? Did she imagine that the elders just lazed about doing nothing all day…? The only reason they had not seen any elders yet was because teaching only started when they reached the qi condensation realm. Before that, they could not even be considered proper cultivators.

Looking up at Yang Meng's constantly changing expression going from smiling to anxious, then worried and finally back to smiling again after a few seconds, Sofie decided to keep quiet as the group made their way to the spirit garden.

…

Bushes several meters high suddenly appeared in front of the group of four. The only place with a small opening had an old man sitting down in front of it drinking what looked like tea. This was the spirit garden.

Compared to the moon garden, the spirit garden was surrounded entirely by bushes stretching several meters into the air. The small entrance stood out in its own way as well, with several different coloured flowers blooming only close to the entrance itself. Making it easy to spot.

The disciple going in and out of the spirit garden were not many and at most three or five pa.s.sed through during the time it took for them to walk the remaining few hundred meters to the entrance of the spirit garden. Compared to how busy the moon garden was, the spirit garden was relatively calm.

…

Entering the spirit garden, Sofie curiously looked back at the old man drinking tea in front of the entrance.

In the start when they neared the entrance, the old man had looked up at them for a moment before looking away and focusing on his tea once again, Sofie had thought he might stop them at the entrance or something, but nothing ended up happening.

Sofie really had no idea whether she should feel happy that nothing happened to them or she should feel sad that they got ignored by the old man.

"Hah… We are here. Let's go to the market and get the low mortal-grade spirit fruit."

"Market?"

Tilting her head to the side with a confused look, Sofie stared blankly at Yue Wan upon hearing about a market all of a sudden. Not really understanding where a market came from when they had just entered the spirit garden…

"Ah, Sofie doesn't know about the market in the spirit garden yet…"

Lending a helping hand, Yang Meng voiced Sofie's question for her.

"Is that so? Want me to explain it or do you want to just observe it yourself?"

"Explain!"

Hearing Yue Wan talking about observing herself instead of getting an explanation, Sofie quickly chose the explanation.

Sofie knew very well, that if she observed and tried to figure out things herself, she might not find out what the market in the spirit garden is about for the next few weeks.

"Okay then, the market in the spirit garden is a place where disciples from the sect can trade spirit pills, spirit herbs, spirt fruits and stuff with each other!"

"""…"""

Both Sofie and Yang Meng stared blankly into the air for a moment, while Xiao Yao shook her head for a moment.

"Maybe we should let Yang Meng give Sofie the explanation of the market…"

"F-fine…"

Maybe having realized that her earlier explanation was not so good, Yue Wan gave in to Xiao Yao and didn't disagree with letting Yang Meng explain… Even though the look she gave Yang Meng at the moment was enough to sent chills down his spine.

"Guess I don't have a say in this…"

Mumbling something to himself, Yang Meng only sighed to himself as he started explaining about the market.

"The market in the spirit garden is a place where disciples from the alchemy profession gather to sell the spirit pill they created and a place for them to buy more spirit fruits or spirit herbs to continue their alchemy. Other than that, disciples who are not alchemist also come here to sell spirit herbs and fruits they found in the moon garden here as they often get a better price than the normal mission reward in the mission hall. You can think of the market in the spirit garden as a place for disciples to gather together and sell things they created through alchemy or got from going to the underground forest in the moon garden."

"O-okay…"

Hearing the lengthy explanation, Sofie blankly stared out into the air trying to comprehend what she just heard.

Spirit stuff from moon garden… Sold in market. Alchemist sell spirt stuff they made in the market as well… I think…

A little confused, Sofie nodded to herself. "I-I think I got it!"

"BUT THAT WAS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I SAID! IT WAS JUST DRAWN OUT!"

Clearly not pleased with Yang Meng's explanation being a blatant copy of what she just said. Only with a few more fancy words added into the mix.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, let's get going!"

Grabbing hold of Sofie, who stared towards Yue Wan currently fuming in anger, with a confused gaze. Not knowing what part of what Yang Meng said was a copy, it clearly sounded way smarter when Yang Meng was talking than when Yue Wan was talking! So, Yang Meng had to be the one who was right!

Concluding that the one who sounded the smartest is the right one, Sofie ignored the angry Yue Wan and followed Yang Meng.

…

"Pft… Hahaha! W-well, we will be waiting at the market Yue Wan~!"

Breaking into laughter as soon as Sofie and Yang Meng had disappeared, Xiao Yao quickly ran after them. Leaving behind a depressed Yue Wan.

How did things even turn out like this?! J-just wait, s-soon Sofie will be mine! Xiao Yao as well…! Ah, that girl over there looks cute as well. Maybe her too… and the one standing at the entrance as well… and…

Recovering from her depressed state of mind, a creepy smile slowly spread across Yue Wan's lips. Scaring the surrounding disciples around her away.