He looked up and took in the room — the furnishings arranged with impeccable taste, elegant yet richly adorned, like the boudoir of an unmarried noble lady. Amid the opulence, there was a touch of girlish charm and coquettishness.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Qiao Baishi would never have believed this was the room of a middle-aged female elder.
"Qiao Baishi? Hee hee, have I been out of the loop lately? Has our Tiangui Kingdom produced yet another young prodigy in the world of alchemy?"
At over thirty, being called a young prodigy was perhaps a bit of a stretch, but not entirely unreasonable.
Qiao Baishi clasped his hands together and chuckled. "I wouldn't dare claim such an honor. On the contrary, Elder Ning — the nation's unmatched beauty, legendary as the immortal who never ages. Though I've always lived in the remote Eastern Kingdom, I've admired your reputation for a long time."
The so-called "immortal who never ages" was, naturally, pure flattery.
But these four words were flattery done with style — fresh, original, and utterly unique.
Sure enough, the moment the words left his lips, Elder Ning's face lit up with undisguised delight. A smile bloomed across her ageless features, radiant as spring.
"Immortal who never ages? Who said that? I've never heard that before!" Her exquisitely sculpted brows arched playfully, and her naturally alluring eyes shimmered with liquid light, as though they might drip with charm at any moment.
"Oh? Elder Ning hasn't heard? That's no surprise — you're a woman of extraordinary refinement, above petty fame and fortune, indifferent to what the outside world says about you."
Another volley of flattery landed, and the smile on Elder Ning's face grew even harder to conceal.
"Hee hee hee hee..." Elder Ning laughed openly. "Qiao Baishi, was it? You're a real character. You just said you're from the Eastern Kingdom?"
"Yes, indeed."
"The Eastern Kingdom is very far from here. What brought you all the way to Tiangui Kingdom?"
"If I said I came here purely because of your reputation, you probably wouldn't believe me, would you? You may not know this, but in the noble circles of our Eastern Kingdom, privately, everyone keeps a portrait sketch of you. Collecting your portraits is considered a mark of prestige. I've always wanted one myself, but I'm afraid my pockets aren't deep enough to compete with those great nobles. What a shame. Still, being granted a personal audience with you, Elder — when I go back, that'll be quite the story to tell."
Qiao Baishi scratched his head with an air of endearing innocence, letting out a sheepish chuckle.
Truth be told, the one thing women can never resist is a man's lie. And Qiao Baishi's lies had reached a level more convincing than the truth itself, leaving Elder Ning with no choice but to believe them.
Elder Ning was vain by nature and extraordinarily narcissistic. On top of that, she did possess genuinely striking looks, and with her skillful grooming, at over forty she looked no different from a woman in her twenties. This was her pride and joy.
She had originally intended to keep a stern face and assess this outsider's intentions. But Qiao Baishi's flattery had her laughing so hard she could barely breathe, let alone maintain her composure.
She forced herself to stop laughing and patted her chest. "Alright, Qiao Baishi, I admit it — I'm starting to like you. You said you've come because of the Wish Tower?"
"That's right," Qiao Baishi said without a shred of denial. "I've come to fulfill Elder Ning's wish."
"What?" Elder Ning's composure completely shattered. She sprang to her feet and, barefoot, walked right up to Qiao Baishi. "You can fulfill my wish? Do you even know what I wished for?"
"Of course! You wished to preserve your youth — to maintain your ageless appearance for the next thirty years."
"You... you really have a way to do that?" Elder Ning's eyes went wide, blazing with eager anticipation. Her face flickered between hope and fear, as though she were terrified Qiao Baishi might give her a negative answer.
"If I didn't have a way, would I dare show up at your door?" Qiao Baishi smiled.
"But why me?"
Qiao Baishi waved his hand dismissively. "There's no 'why' to it. We have a saying in the Eastern Kingdom: women are responsible for being beautiful, and men are responsible for earning money to support the family. Women are born to pursue beauty — it's a woman's nature, a woman's calling. And men, in turn, must do everything in their power to safeguard a woman's beauty. That is a man's sacred duty."
"Oh, stop it!" Elder Ning had never heard such novel words before. Her heart was absolutely singing, and she was bursting with curiosity about Qiao Baishi, though her lips put on a show of playful reproach. "Don't be so forward — you make it sound like we're a married couple."
"Heh heh, my mistake. But then again, helping to fulfill Elder Ning's wish — wouldn't that be the greatest desire of every man under heaven?"
Elder Ning couldn't keep the grin off her face. She abandoned all pretense of ladylike reserve, her heart swelling with joy. She was practically dancing on the spot.
"Mm-hmm, Qiao Baishi, I must say — I like you more and more. I've decided, whether or not you can actually grant my wish, I'm going to hire you as my assistant. And what's more, I'll do my best to secure you a Fifth-Rank Noble title. You are just too entertaining!"
On the Wish Scroll, Elder Ning had promised to arrange a Sixth-Rank Noble title and hire him as a personal attendant.
But now, from her own lips, "attendant" had been upgraded to "assistant," and the Sixth-Rank Noble title had been promoted to Fifth-Rank — a clear measure of just how thoroughly Qiao Baishi had won her over.
Qiao Baishi seized the opening with a sigh. "Elder Ning, to be perfectly honest, this endeavor should have been a hundred percent certain of success. But one of my partners has run into an unexpected problem. Right now, I have a prescription for a face-preserving elixir — the Evergreen Pill — but I'm missing the final medicinal catalyst."
"What kind of problem?" Elder Ning asked, a note of alarm entering her voice.