There is Still Such A Good Thing? - Chapter 18

Wen Juanzhi said: “The bell-flower clusters bloom for a hundred years, uninterrupted. They are rare to see in thousands of years.”

Wu Lingchan sighed: “So they really can bloom.”

Wen Juanzhi explained: “The autumn-mortality elemental herb needs light at its roots, fears water in its leaves, has stems as hard as iron, and flowers as sharp as blades. Furthermore, it is lethal. You must slice the flower to prepare the medicine.”

Wu Lingchan cursed: “Why does it not just grow into the sky?”

Wen Juanzhi: ” ”

Chi Fuhan was eating a pastry and rolled his eyes: “Do you need to be so nitpicky? Your Golden Core is shattered, and you cannot dismantle your cultivation to rebuild it. The method to reshape it must be against the laws of nature. This is just the beginning, what number is this? Oh, it is only the fifth herb, and there is a whole row behind it.”

Wen Juanzhi lifted the scroll to show him the densely packed list of medicinal herbs that followed.

Wu Lingchan rested his chin on his hands and said lazily: “Where there is a will, there is a way. It is just a few dozen herbs, what is difficult about that? I must find them all.”

Chi Fuhan nearly dropped his pastry.

Anyone who saw such a long list of prescriptions, where every herb was worth a fortune and extremely difficult to find, would have started to retreat in fear.

Wu Kunkun may be young, but his spirit was remarkably resilient.

No wonder Chen Jun was so indulgent toward him.

“Cough.” Chi Fuhan pulled the scroll toward him and circled several items with his brush. “My family has these few. If you want them, I will give them to you.”

Wu Lingchan said “Hmm?”, but instead of the ecstatic gratitude Chi Fuhan expected, he looked Chi Fuhan up and down with a strange expression.

Chi Fuhan thought his hidden agenda of using the boy to see Chen Jun had been discovered, so he pretended to be calm: “What? I am giving them to you for free and you are still picky?”

Wu Lingchan said: “I am not picky. I have decided to make you my second protector. Pledge your allegiance to me.”

Chi Fuhan: “?”

Chi Fuhan had never seen anyone require a pledge of allegiance that also cost two spiritual herbs: “Take it or leave it.”

“I want it, I want it, I want it. No need for formalities, just thank me.”

Chi Fuhan: “Get lost!”

Wen Juanzhi also took the brush and scribbled on the list, but he only crudely drew a mark for five herbs before putting the brush down.

Chi Fuhan took a look and was amused: “Your Wen family is wealthy, and you only have these five? My family has six.”

Wen Juanzhi looked at him in confusion: “Except for these five, my family has all of them.”

Wu Lingchan: “?”

Chi Fuhan: ” ”

Hmph.

Wu Lingchan had not expected the Wen family to be so wealthy and hurriedly asked: “How many spiritual stones do these cost in total?”

“The Demon Ruins calculate by crystals,” Wen Juanzhi calculated, “One hundred thousand crystals, equivalent to the Immortal Alliance’s three…”

Wu Lingchan: “A mere thirty thousand?”

Wen Juanzhi: “Three million.”

Wu Lingchan: ” ”

Chi Fuhan clicked his tongue in wonder: “You medical cultivators are truly unscrupulous merchants.”

Wen Juanzhi nodded to accept the compliment.

Wen Juanzhi could not yet make decisions for the Wen family and could not give away dozens of priceless herbs like Chi Fuhan. He tapped on his abacus for a long time, gave the Young Lord a discount, and charged only seventy thousand and seventeen crystals.

Wu Lingchan made a grand vow to obtain the crystals to buy the medicine.

Before the two left, Wu Lingchan handed over the small portrait scroll he had drawn earlier. It was only palm-sized when unfolded and took two bamboo rods to hold.

Chi Fuhan looked at him eerily: “Do you really not know that in the Demon Ruins, gifting someone your own portrait…”

Before he could finish, he unfolded the small portrait.

The portrait was drawn extremely sloppily, two strokes to finish, simple lines, and distorted features. One could vaguely distinguish from the red maple leaves in the corner, the little person’s red robes, and the golden dots that it was Wu Lingchan wearing his clinking accessories.

Chi Fuhan: “?”

Wu Lingchan: “What?”

“It is nothing.”

Gifting such a hideous portrait to someone likely meant there was a grudge.

Wu Lingchan snapped his fingers and walked in a circle with his hands open.

The little person on Chi Fuhan’s paper seemed to come alive, jumping twice on the paper.

Wu Lingchan said: “This portrait was drawn with Mobao’s ink. If you have news about the other five spiritual herbs, use this to notify me.”

As he spoke, the ink-drawn little person was also chattering away.

Chi Fuhan’s lips twitched: “The Xuanxiang vessel, ranked first on the weapon list, has ink worth a fortune, and you used it to draw such a little person for communication?”

Xuanxiang remained expressionless and did not make a sound.

“What is wrong with this little person?” Wu Lingchan took out another scroll. “This is a drawing of you. Is it good-looking?”

Chi Fuhan glanced at it.

Features were flying everywhere, eyes were crossed, and it looked like it did not have much brain power.

With his drawing as a comparison, the one Wu Lingchan drew of himself was simply celestial in beauty.

Chi Fuhan sneered and flicked his sleeves, departing.

Wen Juanzhi also took his wise portrait and politely took his leave.

After the two left, Wu Lingchan sat cross-legged on the daybed, turning the Xuanxiang space upside down, and only managed to find a few hundred spiritual stones.

Qingyang asked: “Is it not enough?”

Wu Lingchan shook his legs: “It is enough for us three to take a giant kite to the Wen family, only to be scolded ‘Where did this poor wretch come from, get lost’ at the door, and then have enough for the miserable round-trip fare.”

Qingyang: ” ”

In the Immortal Alliance, Wu Lingchan had almost never been short of money. Either someone glared at him while slamming money at him, or if he saw something he liked, he would just go up and take it by force.

Where could he go to get some money?

Wait.

Chen She is clearly the Demon Lord, why bother going out of his way to waste time?

Wu Lingchan did as he thought, hurriedly climbing up to change into a beautiful outfit, and said to Qingyang: “You play by yourself, I am going out for a while.”

Qingyang hurriedly asked: “Where are you going? I will also…”

“Find Chen She.”

Qingyang said: “I will play by myself.”

Wu Lingchan tied his cloak and walked through the long corridor, past the dazzling red maple forest that stretched across the mountains, the wind blowing his ink-colored hair as he happily ran into the white snow.

The doors and windows of Pihan Terrace were wide open, with the swirling goose-feather snow acting as a window view. Chen She sat before the desk playing chess, like a painting.

He had great interest today and even clipped a sprig of red plum to put in a vase, which was quite fitting for the occasion.

Hearing familiar footsteps, Chen She did not stop his movements, and his lips curved into a faint arc.

Wu Lingchan swept in like a gust of wind. Before he even sat down, he said casually: “Go to Two-Three.”

The Four-Directional Egret was driven by intention. Chen She had already suspended a chess piece in mid-air, preparing to place it at “Three-Five,” but the piece turned around and landed precisely at “Two-Three.”

Bang, bang, bang.

The black chess pieces formed by spiritual power were defeated, shattering into dust.

Chen She: ” ”

Chen She laughed, not angry, flicked his sleeves to clear the debris, and set up a new game.

Wu Lingchan did not stand on ceremony and sat across from him, legs folded, legs shaking, the gold accessories at his waist clinking: “How boring it is for Chen Jun to play chess alone. I will accompany you.”

Chen She paused, his tone softening: “Should you not be recuperating in Danjiu Palace?”

“I am almost recovered.” Wu Lingchan propped his chin up and looked at Chen She with a smile. “Chi Fuhan and the others came to play with me today. Wen Juanzhi took my pulse and said my cultivation has hope of recovery.”

“Mm, that is a good thing.”

Wu Lingchan was always someone who spoke his mind, and he had not even played two pieces with Chen She before he revealed his true purpose: “I am the Young Lord, do I not have many crystals I can use?”

Chen She said indifferently: “How much do you need?”

“Seventy thousand.”

Chen She laughed softly.

Wu Lingchan was never one to read others’ expressions, but at this moment, he could strangely see the words “a mere seventy thousand” writ large on Chen She’s face.

Wu Lingchan seized the opportunity to curry favor, playing chess with Chen Jun, and shattering the black chess pieces into powder with a few quick moves.

Chen She: ” ”

In less than half a quarter of an hour, the endgame was broken by Wu Lingchan in a few moves. Chen She lost interest and gestured with his hand.

The medicine being heated by fire stones nearby poured into a bowl out of thin air and floated in front of Wu Lingchan.

Wu Lingchan’s face fell instantly, and he wanted to run.

Kunfu often used spiritual power or pills to heal, but Wu Lingchan’s Golden Core had been shattered too many times. While he looked full of vitality, if he took pills, the ferocious medicinal power would pierce his meridians like a sieve, and he would have to spend his time watering flowers to survive.

To prevent Wu Lingchan from exploding, the herbs could not be refined and had to be boiled into a soup.

Wu Lingchan disliked the smell of medicine and frowned into two points.

Chen She said: “Drink it, and I will take you to get the crystals.”

“I will drink half.” Wu Lingchan really loathed the smell, thinking it tasted like chewing on roots and sucking the juice, fishy and uncomfortable. He bargained: “Just give me fifty thousand crystals.”

Chen She: ” ”

Chen She said indifferently: “Wu Kunkun.”

Wu Lingchan pouted, muttering: “Understood.”

He held the medicine bowl and finished it in five gulps, one gulp for ten thousand.

Only then did Chen She stand up: “Follow me.”

Wu Lingchan’s eyes lit up and he hurriedly followed.

In all four seasons, Pihan Terrace was quiet, with only the sound of falling snow, but now it was accompanied by the sound of happy footsteps. Wu Lingchan circled around Chen She, chattering away.

“Why is it always snowing in Pihan Terrace?

“Only mortals need to drink medicine. Taking pills will be fine for me, can I stop drinking it later?

“Do I need to return the crystals after using them?”

Chen She pretended to be deaf and dumb to the first two questions, but answered the last one: “Hmm? Do you want to return them?”

Wu Lingchan wondered why he would want to return them or not.

If you borrow money and do not return it, isn’t that stealing?

Wu Lingchan hurriedly expressed to Chen Jun that he was an honest and trustworthy genius: “Of course I will return them, how can I take advantage of you? The Young Lord cannot do such things.”

Chen She paused.

The sharp icicles hanging from the eaves of the long corridor chattered, and a gust of wind blew, causing several ice chunks to fall to the ground with a clatter.

Wu Lingchan was startled.

Chen She did not look at him, and said indifferently: “We are here.”

Wu Lingchan turned to look.

The rear hall of Pihan Terrace was very strange. The long path leading to the left stretched on, with vague hints of bamboo, while the right side was covered in frost, the hall almost completely covered by ice.

When he pushed the door open, icicles poured down with a clatter, and cold mist rolled up from the ground like waves.

Wu Lingchan jumped in the cold.

The great door opened completely. The rear hall of Pihan Terrace looked unremarkable, and Wu Lingchan had not bothered to look at it as he passed by, but inside it was resplendent.

The four walls were divided into four seasons. The spring wall was covered with lush vines, countless species of spiritual herbs covered dozens of feet, summer wall bloomed with lotus flowers, and inside the buds were spiritual fruits, unclaimed magical artifacts, and spiritual weapons. The autumn and winter sides were not yet lit, and one could only see red maples and snow.

The surrounding spiritual power was fragrant, and looking up, one could see the starry sky.

No.

Wu Lingchan looked up and circled around for a long time, only to discover that what was overhead was not stars, but countless crystals.

Wu Lingchan: ” ”

He had previously thought that the thousand-year nectar given to him by Jiang Zhengliu was too extravagant, but it turned out there was someone even more wealthy!

He was not afraid of more lice, and Wu Lingchan pointed to the spring wall, looking eagerly: “Wen Juanzhi said I still lack five herbs. If they are in here, can I borrow them too?”

“Mm, you can.”

Wu Lingchan was instantly overjoyed, pulling Wen Juanzhi’s portrait from his sleeve and activating the ink on it.

Soon, the little Wen Juanzhi in the portrait hopped up, and a voice came from it: “Young Lord Kunkun?”

“Mm-hmm.” Wu Lingchan controlled a trail of ink to support the portrait and ran to the spring wall to identify the herbs: “Are there any needed herbs here?”

When Wen Juanzhi saw the things on it, he gasped: “Where are you, these things…”

“Oh, stop worrying, hurry up and identify them.”

Wu Lingchan was making a ruckus, the sound of one person chattering away filling the entire treasure pavilion.

Chen She did not find him annoying. He walked alone to the center of the hall, stroked the jade platform where he stood, and took out a storage ring.

That gold ring was clearly a size smaller than usual, looking like it was meant for a pinky finger, and the tiny Mustard Seed array engraved on it had the character “Kun” on it.

Wu Lingchan was very lucky and found four spiritual herbs in less than a quarter of an hour.

He asked excitedly: “Just these four herbs, I have tied them with red ropes to mark them. Can I come here to get them when Wen Gu refines the pill for me?”

“Mm, sure.”

Whatever Wu Lingchan said, Chen She agreed readily, so decisively that even the confident genius Wu was a bit suspicious.

Being this good to me?

Chen She tossed the storage ring to him: “There are crystals inside.”

Wu Lingchan explored inside suspiciously. The storage ring seemed to have no owner and entered extremely smoothly, and he was immediately shocked by the pile of crystals.

“So many! Thank you!”

Chen She asked: “Thank whom?”

Wu Lingchan chirped loudly and complimented him: “The generous Chen Jun!”

Chen She: ” ”

“Go back.”

“Mm!”

“Remember to return them.”

“…Oh.”

After Wu Lingchan left, Pihan Terrace returned to silence.

Chen She sat before the desk, staring at the chessboard engraved with the character “Chen.” His eyebrows lowered, his slender fingers pinching a chess piece, and he did not play for a long time.

Suddenly, Chen She said for no reason: “Are children’s tempers this big?”

Xun Ye, who was guarding outside the window: “?”

Ah? Asking me?

Fuyu was not there, so Xun Ye had to climb into the room, observing Chen Jun’s expression. Not knowing how to answer, he could only answer with what Chen Jun liked to hear.

“Maybe he is not angry, the Young Lord is not someone who hides his emotions.”

Chen She laughed: “You might as well just say he is heartless.”

Xun Ye breathed a sigh of relief: “Being heartless also has its advantages. I think the Young Lord was likely bewitched by Lord Jufu. What good things could he have said to the Young Lord about you? It couldn’t be anything other than adding fuel to the fire to scare the Young Lord.”

“Scare?” Chen She mocked himself, “He wishes he could teach Wu Kunkun step-by-step how to kill me.”

Xun Ye laughed: “The Young Lord only has Qi-refining cultivation, and even after recovery, it will only be Golden Core. Even if Lord Jufu wants to teach him, he will likely only end up dying of anger himself.”

Chen She lowered his eyelashes, seemingly staring at his palm, and chuckled lightly.

“Do you think my father, who rarely comes out to see anyone, would do nothing?”

Xun Ye carefully recalled Lord Jufu’s actions and could not help but worry.

Indeed, Lord Jufu’s talisman arrays and curses were peerless, even if his cultivation was restricted, how could he possibly do nothing with his temper?

Chen She said indifferently: “Take that Lapis Lazuli Jade Marrow.”

Xun Ye nodded.

Lapis Lazuli Jade Marrow was extremely rare. Made by extracting spiritual power with fire, it could be used to create magical artifacts, and most importantly, it could protect the soul. Once recognized by its master, it could prevent the owner from ever being eroded by curses again.

The jade marrow was as transparent as glazed glass. Chen She pinched it gently with his five fingers, and the jade, which was as hard as dark iron, sank in, allowing him to mold it into any shape.

Xun Ye watched from the side.

Jade marrow has a spirit, and the artifact made from it must be peerless. Chen Jun is so solemn and even used his life-bound spiritual power to extract its spirit, he must want to mold it into something majestic, powerful…

Uh.

A fox?

The jade marrow was molded into shape, and a little milk-white fox sat on the desk in an endearing manner. Chen She plucked a red maple leaf from the void and tossed it away. The fox instantly turned fiery red and began to gather spiritual power.

Xun Ye’s lips twitched.

Fine, one look and it was meant to coax someone.

Chen She’s fingertips gently stroked the formed jade marrow, his expression calm.

He really wanted to know, if Wu Lingchan knew he possessed the means to easily kill the foster brother who imprisoned his father and usurped the throne…

Would he kill him?

Xun Ye was also looking at the fox, but his eyes accidentally glanced upward and he paused slightly.

On Chen She’s wrist, a thin black line spread through his blood vessels, and with the change of angle, it vaguely expanded into strange talisman marks all around.

Xun Ye’s eyelids twitched gently.

Black-line talisman marks, why do they look so much like a Pine-Heart Contract for controlling life and death?

In just half a day, only the “autumn-mortality elemental herb,” which insisted on growing into the sky, was left among the spiritual herbs needed to recover the Golden Core, with all others accounted for.

Wu Lingchan was finally able to get a good night’s sleep.

However, he had only just fallen into a deep sleep when he started dreaming again.

But this time, it was a lucid dream.

In a vast expanse of white, Lord Jufu appeared in his dream for some reason, standing tall in black robes with white hair hanging to the ground, without the complex shackles he had yesterday.

Wu Lingchan did not dare to recognize him at first.

Lord Jufu narrowed his eyes and beckoned: “My child, come here.”

Wu Lingchan paused and tried to walk over: “Father? Why are you here?”

Lord Jufu said: “Father is everywhere.”

Wu Lingchan: ” ”

“Yesterday, I was afraid Chen She would kill you directly, so I did not tell you a few things.” Lord Jufu was still in his usual unserious manner, bending over and patting Wu Lingchan’s head: “Tsk, why are you so short? You look nothing like me. The Immortal Alliance’s environment is truly not suitable for raising people.”

Wu Lingchan pushed his hand away irritably: “What words are so miraculous, you say that and my life will be forfeit.”

Lord Jufu smiled and said: “Repeat after me.”

He started to spout a long string of complex, cumbersome, spell-like things.

Wu Lingchan could barely understand ordinary Kunfu, let alone a spell.

But strangely, this string of spells seemed to be firmly branded into his sea of consciousness. As Lord Jufu spoke faster and faster, the meaning of the spell in his mind became clearer and clearer.

Pine-Heart Contract.

What is this?

Wu Lingchan was full of confusion and instinctively took a few steps back.

Lord Jufu finally finished reciting the long spell, stretched out his long arm to grab Wu Lingchan’s arm, and said with a smile: “My child, have you memorized it? This spell can control Chen She’s life and death, and you are the only one in the world who can activate it.”

Wu Lingchan was stunned, thinking he had misheard: “I kill Chen She, me?”

Upon hearing “the only one in the world who can activate it,” Wu Lingchan felt a sense of repulsion for the first time. He did not want this honor of being able to kill people.

Jingle.

The sound of the Four-Nether Gold Bell seemed to come from afar, the tone turning into a phantom chain that wrapped around Wu Lingchan’s wrist, pulling him backward with all its might.

Even with only a faint shred of spiritual power residing in Wu Lingchan’s sea of consciousness, Lord Jufu waved his hand to shake off the strongest protective formation in the world.

He grabbed Wu Lingchan’s wrist and smiled: “Take back Kunfu and hold it in your own hands, and you will not have to swallow your pride or look at others’ faces for a mere one hundred thousand crystals. My child, use this spell to kill Chen She. Kunfu and Pihan Terrace will all be yours.”

The Four-Nether Gold Bell rang even more violently, with more and more chains wrapping around Wu Lingchan’s wrist.

Wu Lingchan’s soul felt pain as it was torn between Lord Jufu and the Four-Nether Gold Bell, but he did not notice.

After a long while, he suddenly said in a low voice: “I do not want it.”

Lord Jufu’s expression sank: “Wu Kunkun.”

Wu Lingchan met his eyes without fear, his eyes clear: “This is not the path I want, so I will not take it.”

“The path you want is to wag your tail and beg for mercy behind Chen She, and live a life of cowering?” Lord Jufu said. “You have been taught soft-heartedness by those fools in the Immortal Alliance, but he is a true demon, and he harbors malicious intentions toward you. One day, he will kill you first.”

Wu Lingchan said: “I will not betray the direction of my heart because of a few words. No matter whether the path I walk in the future leads to life or death, as long as it is chosen by me, it is correct.”

As for everything else, what does it have to do with me?

Lord Jufu was momentarily choked.

The Four-Nether Gold Bell wrapped around Wu Lingchan’s waist, fishing him out of the deepest part of his sea of consciousness like a fish.

Lord Jufu stood alone in the white expanse and laughed softly for no reason.

“As expected of my child.”

But ultimately, he was too young.

Lord Jufu stared at the red silhouette getting further and further away and said indifferently: “Since you refuse, Father will give you a hand.”

Jingle.

When the Four-Nether Gold Bell rang for the seventeenth time, Wu Lingchan opened his eyes abruptly. He felt as if he had suffocated in his dream, his eyes seeing shards of black and white snowflakes, gasping for air with great difficulty.

Qingyang knelt by the footstool, sweating from anxiety: “Young Lord! I called you, but you would not wake up, and only squeezing this bell worked. Are you alright? Your face is so pale?”

Wu Lingchan, still shaken, shook his head: “My father came in a dream and said a bunch of nonsense, chattering away, and it was so noisy that my head hurts. I did not quite understand it.”

Qingyang: ” ”

It seems Lord Jufu has not yet passed away.

Wu Lingchan, foolish as he might be, noticed something strange.

Yesterday when he went to the Tonglan Palace, not only did his father lift the curse, but to avoid being discovered by Chen She, he also placed a shred of spiritual sense into his sea of consciousness.

The pile of nonsense spells he muttered, it seemed to be called the Pine-Heart Contract.

What exactly is it?

He said it could kill Chen She, but how could he, with his Golden Core cultivation, kill someone at the Void Refinement stage?

His father must be muddled.

Wu Lingchan pondered, wondering if it was a language barrier or if there were just too many tricks in the Demon Ruins. He had been schemed against by various people all day until he was dizzy; he was just not accustomed to the local customs.

Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, Qingyang suddenly exclaimed: “Young Lord, on your body…”

Wu Lingchan followed the sound and looked, only to see a red line appearing on his wrist, and then countless talisman marks grew rapidly, spreading to his fingertips in an instant.

Wu Lingchan clearly did not recognize these talisman marks, but a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Pine-Heart Contract.

Wu Lingchan: “?”

Wu Lingchan was incredulous, feeling he had been deceived beyond belief: “Did you not say that ‘I am the only one in the world who can activate it’?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Pine-Heart Contract was suddenly activated. Wu Lingchan did not even have time to stop it. He had only been awake for less than half a quarter of an hour when he plunged down again.

He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.