Shadow Wags His Tail at Grace

"It's... it's all my fault, really. I shouldn't have given you a broken cauldron, or those useless dregs." Leo Bo said. "This mess I'm in... I brought it on myself!"

"Honestly," Grace glanced at him, "with your looks, ruined or not, it makes no difference. The only change is you used to look like a plain corn bun, and now you look like a corn bun with burnt crust."

Leo Bo's face twitched a few times, but he forced a smile and said, "Yeah, yeah! I was ugly to begin with, this is practically a makeover!"

"You need a favor from me, don't you?" Grace asked, half-smiling.

"Well..." Leo Bo said carefully, "I don't know what level your cultivation is now, but it must be above the fourth rank. You probably don't need that pill anymore... So, how about you name a price and sell it to me?"

Grace pulled out the reward pill from her sleeve. "You mean this one?"

Leo Bo nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! That's the one!"

"Not for sale!"

"It's not like you have any use for it..."

"Who says I don't?" Grace raised an eyebrow.

"What use could it possibly have?"

Grace's eyes flicked around, spotting Shadow, the black armored guard dog, lying in the corner of the yard. With a casual toss, she called out, "Shadow, it's yours!"

Shadow was incredibly agile—he leapt up and caught the pill perfectly, munched it down, and swallowed.

Then he wagged his tail at Grace, nonstop.

"You..." Leo Bo was so frustrated he couldn't breathe, pointing at her, "You—you—you..."

Grace flashed him a sweet smile and said, "It's getting late, I need to head home for dinner! See you tomorrow, Dr. Leo!"

With that, she left the courtyard, escorted home by Shadow wagging his tail.

Leo Bo felt like he was about to cough up blood, shooting a murderous glare at Shadow.

Shadow completely ignored him, acting all aloof, and strutted back to his doghouse.

......

Everyone has this kind of curiosity.

When you make something yourself, you can't help but wonder who ends up using it. You just want to take a peek.

That's exactly why Grace placed a seal on her Elixir Bottle.

But it was that very seal that ended up saving three hundred lives.

That night, while she was fast asleep, Grace suddenly sensed her seal being tampered with.

She shot up out of bed, checked the time—it was deep into the night.

Who would be messing with her seal at this hour?

Something's up!

The pills were still in the Spirit Alliance, not yet delivered to the military camp.

And the Spirit Alliance has strict rules: once a pill is sealed, it's not allowed to be opened again.

She quickly dressed, slipped out of the mansion alone, and dashed straight to the Spirit Alliance, leaping over rooftops and taking the shortest route.

Her speed was absolutely astonishing.

From the moment she sensed her seal was disturbed to the moment she reached the Spirit Alliance, it was less than fifteen minutes!

The gates of the Spirit Alliance were tightly shut.

Grace quietly flew inside.

Just as she landed, a dark shadow suddenly lunged at her.

"Shh! Shadow, it's me!" Grace whispered to the shadow.

That shadow was none other than Shadow.

He recognized Grace, stopped his attack, and wagged his tail before heading back to his den.

Grace headed straight for the Pill Storage Room.

The Pill Storage Room was the most important room in the Spirit Alliance, built half-underground with no windows and only a big iron door.

The iron door was tightly shut, but a sliver of light seeped out through the crack.

Someone was inside—and they were touching her pills.

She hid in the shadows and watched. After a while, the door opened.

A person carrying a lantern stepped out.