When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 23.2

Chapter 23.2

As soon as Fu Guzhou saw the plants, he was so excited he wanted to pluck them all.

If a fire cultivator could never refuse a heterodox flame, then a wind cultivator could never refuse a spirit plant grown under such naturally formed astral winds.

After bringing him to the spot, Wenren Qian did not approach further. Fu Guzhou naturally took matters into his own hands.

The most formidable thing here was the astral wind. As an expert at controlling wind, Fu Guzhou wasn’t afraid of it and easily plucked the first plant.

Having successfully plucked the plant, Fu Guzhou waved to Wenren Qian from a distance, looking a bit silly.

Wenren Qian “tsked” and said slowly, “If the Immortal Venerable waves a few more times, This Seat might have to fish you out from the bottom of this cliff.”

“Oh.” Fu Guzhou silently withdrew his overexcited hand.

Thinking the other had been discouraged, Wenren Qian frowned slightly, feeling that Fu Guzhou—who was still a “child”—was quite troublesome. Just as he was about to offer a casual word of comfort, he saw Fu Guzhou happily resume his harvesting, with no sign of being discouraged at all.

Wenren Qian, who had only been frowning slightly, now knit his brows even tighter.

Fu Guzhou, the person in question, lacked any sensitivity in this regard. He only took Wenren Qian’s words as a kind reminder. Right now, his thoughts were much more practical, concerning his missing natal spirit sword.

Since his natal spirit sword was gone, Fu Guzhou wanted to find a suitable piece of wood or fine iron here to forge a new one. After all, the “Dao Companion Sword” belonged to his companion; it wasn’t right for him to keep using it every day.

Fu Guzhou had this idea, but suitable sword-forging materials aren’t as common as cabbages. Don’t look at how he was penniless in those years; the most valuable thing on him was that sword. It was supposedly forged from Deep-Sea Cold Crystal. It was precisely because the natal spirit sword was so extraordinary that the Fu Guzhou of that time spent almost all his spirit stones on its maintenance. In short, Fu Guzhou was nearly drained dry by his natal sword.

By rights, he had long wanted to find a substitute sword, but when he truly set his mind to looking for materials, nothing seemed up to par. He always felt that no matter how such materials were forged, they could not fulfill the role of his natal sword.

Knowing that a good sword is hard to come by, Fu Guzhou stopped forcing it. After all, this kind of thing truly wasn’t something one could find just by wanting it.

After dealing with the white mist miasma, the Nether Ghost Flame Flowers, and other giants of Wujian, there really wasn’t much left that was too dangerous for the two of them.

Fu Guzhou was like a poor boy who had never seen the world, scavenging on a massive scale. Whenever he saw something good, he packed it up regardless of whether he could use it. In Fu Guzhou’s words, he could give them to friends and family; even if he didn’t, they could exchange them for money so their Dao companion ceremony could be held more grandly.

These words made Wenren Qian laugh. “Immortal Venerable, how can you be so sure the two of us haven’t held a ceremony already? After all, we are so ‘perfectly in tune’.”

This time, even Fu Guzhou could hear the deeper meaning.

He felt a bit bashful. “Didn’t I lose my memory? I asked the disciples under the sect if I had a Dao companion, and they said they didn’t know. That must mean a ceremony hasn’t been held yet. But you don’t have to worry. I think my past self didn’t hold a ceremony likely due to the relationship between the Immortal Sects and your Demon Realm. After all, the Demon Realm is powerful now; as one of the representatives of the Immortal Sects, becoming Dao companions with a Demon Sovereign so abruptly would easily cause panic.”

If initially Wenren Qian felt annoyed when Fu Guzhou called him his Dao companion, now he could not only accept the title calmly but even found it interesting, often investigating how the other’s logic remained so consistent.

For instance, at this moment, Wenren Qian raised another question: “If for all those years the Immortal Venerable didn’t dare to hold a ceremony with This Seat, why are you so confident now that we can?”

“Naturally, it’s because the Immortal Sects are no longer as weak as before. If five hundred years ago I was the only one they could produce, now there are many rising stars. Even if something truly happens, the Immortal Sects won’t be so passive.”

Wenren Qian smiled. “The Immortal Venerable truly is confident.”

Fu Guzhou knew the “confidence” Wenren Qian spoke of referred to him saying he was the only one five hundred years ago. He felt a bit embarrassed but quickly steadied himself. “I actually hope that was just my arrogance. Before, the Immortal Sects had many people far more excellent than me, yet they all perished because of the Changyuan Secret Realm. The strength of a cultivator simply cannot compete with the laws of heaven and earth.”

Speaking of this, Fu Guzhou’s mood dropped significantly, but only for a brief moment.

“Wenren Qian, when we go back, let’s hold our Dao companion ceremony.”

“Is the Immortal Venerable not afraid?”

“Afraid? Afraid of what?”

“Before the Changyuan Secret Realm, there were indeed unions between human and demon cultivators. However, since ancient times, the binding of humans and demons has been unblessed; otherwise, why would half-demons be in such an awkward position? Setting aside ancient concepts, after the Changyuan Secret Realm, the strength of human cultivators was greatly reduced while the demons seized the opportunity, plundering massive resources and slaughtering countless humans.

With ancient concepts before us and grudges behind us under such new and old hatreds. Immortal Venerable, if you act rashly, you might be struck from the registers of the Immortal Sects. Even so, do you still want to be with This Seat?” Wenren Qian half-squinted his eyes, speaking with a half-smile.

Fu Guzhou was stunned. He truly hadn’t thought that far. Although he had considered the potential impact of his actions, he never expected it to be so severe.

He pursed his lips, not offering a response immediately.

Wenren Qian wasn’t surprised by this. After all, he was just a teenager; could one really expect a youth to go up against the entire Immortal Sect world?

“Great Demon Sovereign, can you beat the other Demon Emperors?” Fu Guzhou asked suddenly.

Wenren Qian was surprised by the direction of the conversation but still gave a fair answer: “It’s hard to say. However, in the Demon Realm, aside from that fool Xuanyin, no one else will actively provoke This Seat.”

Fu Guzhou was quite satisfied with this answer. “Then it’s fine. We’ll hold the ceremony first. If they come to crash the party, we’ll just suppress them with force. To prevent them from acting under the banner of ‘slaying demons,’ I’ll just follow the Great Demon Sovereign back to the Demon Realm. After all, being the ‘number one combatant’ of the Immortal Sects looks very tiring. If anything happens, I’m surely the first one to be thrown out. My strength is greatly reduced now; I can’t handle that kind of danger.”

Fu Guzhou’s words could almost be called playful—the impulsive talk of a youth. Who would take it seriously? But if Wenren Qian truly were Fu Guzhou’s Dao companion, he would likely be mostly happy. No one can refuse such complete favoritism.

“Fu Guzhou, how do you know your pre-amnesia self didn’t have prejudices against the Demon Race?”

“What need is there for prejudice? Natural selection; the cultivation world has always emphasized that the strong are respected. Humans mostly use demon beast bones for forging and use demons to temper their own Dao methods, so it’s only natural that a powerful demon race would slaughter humans. Truly speaking, there are too many grudges. I can’t say humans are all good or demons are all bad, but I know we are all just trying to survive. After all, in such a situation, human cultivators might act even more ruthlessly than demons.”

A problem had appeared, yet instead of blaming others, he reflected on himself. Wenren Qian truly found it hard to imagine that the later Qingchen Immortal Venerable—who was so cold and detached that nothing touched his heart—had once been like this.

Seeing Wenren Qian fall silent, Fu Guzhou looked at him with an innocent and somewhat helpless gaze. “Wenren Qian, did I say something wrong?”

“No. It’s just that This Seat discovered that since I said the Immortal Venerable isn’t very clever, the Immortal Venerable has been rushing to prove his lack of cleverness.”

Fu Guzhou: “?”

He was being super serious, okay?

“You certainly know how to put yourself in others’ shoes. Do you think your enemies will do the same?”

“But my Dao companion is already a demon. I can’t very well pretend to be very prejudiced against demons, can I?” Fu Guzhou whispered.

“That answer was very stupid. However, This Seat is quite satisfied with it. Next time the two of us fight, This Seat will consider being a bit gentler.”

Fu Guzhou acted spoiled. “How about being a bit gentler right now? Great Demon Sovereign, you are a great man; please don’t be petty with a minor character like me.”

Wenren Qian glanced at Fu Guzhou and gave a cold refusal. “No. Who told This Seat not to be a great man, but a petty one with a heavy heart for revenge?”

“Don’t. Wenren Qian, Wenren… let’s make up. I’m super well-behaved…”

“Shut up.” Wenren Qian realized he actually had a momentary impulse to waver. He frowned and interrupted: “Speak again and I’ll throw you down.”

Fu Guzhou glanced at the bottomless abyss nearby and shut his mouth.

That aggrieved look of being bullied and daring to be angry but not speak was actually quite cute.

“Good boy.” After Fu Guzhou obeyed, Wenren Qian patted Fu Guzhou’s head in a good mood.

Fu Guzhou sighed. “I’m so well-behaved, yet I don’t see your hand softening.”

“Perhaps it’s because the Immortal Venerable didn’t soften his hand back then either.”

This hit Fu Guzhou’s weak spot. He said weakly: “Then… what would happen if I had softened my hand?”

“Then the Immortal Venerable would likely have become a dead soul beneath This Seat’s sword.”

Fu Guzhou sighed again. “Then it’s truly wrong to soften one’s hand and wrong not to. Exactly what should I do so the Great Demon Sovereign won’t be angry?”

That appearance truly had the simple charm of a small age with a big problem.

Wenren Qian was amused. “Just be a bit more well-behaved. This Seat is actually not a particularly cruel person.”

Fu Guzhou couldn’t agree with that point. After all, from the very first moment they met, Fu Guzhou had a deep awareness of Wenren Qian’s cruelty.

Although the past events hadn’t been wiped clean yet, Fu Guzhou felt it was coming soon. After all, he could clearly feel his companion was becoming easier to talk to. Perhaps before long, those few “holes” [stabs] could be avoided. After all, his companion loved him so much.

Fu Guzhou planned to put on another performance: going to see the door.

Only someone whose life is hanging by a thread can see the door. Given Wenren Qian’s character, he naturally wouldn’t let himself fall into such an awkward position. While Fu Guzhou feared pain, he didn’t want his companion to take on the task. After thinking it over, he was the most suitable candidate. After all, despite his current liveliness, his previous injuries hadn’t fully healed; adding injury to injury—it sounded painful, but to get out, Fu Guzhou felt he could do it.

Originally, there should have been no disagreement. Fu Guzhou was ready for self-sacrifice. Watching Wenren Qian set up a spirit-gathering array for him, he even marveled at how considerate his companion was. But when he saw Wenren Qian casually take his sword and look ready to give his own wrist a slice, Fu Guzhou immediately panicked. “Wenren Qian, what are you doing?”

“Seeing if one can truly see the door in that state.” Even though Wenren Qian felt the question was idiotic, he still answered.

“How about I do it?”

Wenren Qian raised an eyebrow. “Is the Immortal Venerable no longer afraid of pain?”

Fu Guzhou was a bit nervous. “I’m… not very afraid.”

Wenren Qian nodded. “If the Immortal Venerable spoke without a tremor in his voice, This Seat might believe it.”

Fu Guzhou was startled. Did his voice have a tremor? Seeing the faint, flickering smile on the other’s lips, Fu Guzhou understood: he was being teased.

Fu Guzhou became righteously indignant again, waving his hand grandly. “Those are just physiological reactions; ignore them. I’m very experienced at this.”

Wenren Qian looked closely at Fu Guzhou, making him nervous. Then the man spoke unhurriedly: “This Seat wouldn’t mind the Immortal Venerable putting in some effort, but with the Immortal Venerable’s scrawny little body, you’d likely faint before This Seat even finds the door. If you aren’t careful, you might just drop dead. Thus, it is more reliable for This Seat to do it himself.”

Fu Guzhou felt insulted. “I have experience too.”

“Oh? The experience of waking up to find yourself blind.”

Fu Guzhou’s face was one of shame and indignation.

Fine. He had been poked in a sore spot.

“This time I definitely won’t faint,” Fu Guzhou said confidently after quickly adjusting his state.

He was incredibly confident. Today was different from the past; he now had the body of someone at the Exalted stage as a foundation. How could he possibly just faint?

Facing the person who was actively trying to take a few sword strikes on himself, the corners of Wenren Qian’s mouth curled up. “The Immortal Venerable is indeed interesting. It’s rare for This Seat to be willing to sacrifice himself; the Immortal Venerable should just accept it. Yet here you are, competing to shed some blood. If the Immortal Venerable is so impatient, why not first make up for those two sword stabs you owe This Seat?”

As he spoke, the previously gentle Wenren Qian suddenly drew his sword. The blood-red bone sword arrived carrying an aura of slaughter. This wasn’t a sword for bloodletting; it was clearly a sword for killing.

Fu Guzhou quickly closed his eyes, yet he didn’t dodge at all.

The sword tip stopped at the tip of Fu Guzhou’s nose. The cold sensation felt as though it were about to fall on him. Fu Guzhou belatedly opened his mouth.

Wenren Qian thought he was going to say something important, but unexpectedly, Fu Guzhou said with complete sincerity: “Don’t hit the face, okay?”

“So the Immortal Venerable wants to die beautifully?”

To those extremely mocking words, Fu Guzhou actually gave a light nod, saying quite bashfully: “A bloody face is so scary.”

Fu Guzhou didn’t know exactly what happened; he only heard the word “Fool.” When he opened his eyes again, the sword that had been pressed against his face had been retracted.

“Do you really want to do something to my face that much?” Fu Guzhou said with a bitter face. “But it would be hard to reach the state of ‘one breath left’ just from a wound on the face, right?”

Fu Guzhou tried hard to prove he wasn’t just doing this out of vanity, but Wenren Qian was no longer paying him any mind.

To be honest, the reason Wenren Qian was willing to be the “door-seer” himself this time wasn’t because he had some spirit of self-sacrifice. That would be too stupid. He was doing this entirely because he did not trust Fu Guzhou. This was yet another test—to see if Fu Guzhou had truly lost his memory or was faking it. If it were real, after they got out, Wenren Qian would consider sparing the Fu Guzhou who had no memory of that period. If it were fake, even with only one breath left, Wenren Qian had cards to turn the tables.

Of course, besides this reason, it was also because Wenren Qian liked to keep the initiative in his own hands, and Fu Guzhou’s body truly didn’t look like it could withstand much tossing. He was a human cultivator, after all; his physical endurance could not be compared to a demon cultivator. Thus, Wenren Qian was naturally more suited to be the one to see the door.

Despite all these considerations, Wenren Qian never expected to encounter resistance.

The seventeen-year-old Fu Guzhou was indeed easy to fool, yet in many moments, he held onto some inexplicable persistence. While Wenren Qian was frowning in thought, he felt his sleeve being gently pulled.

He looked down and saw Fu Guzhou squatting beside him, speaking with a bit of caution: “Wenren Qian, are you angry?”

Wenren Qian frowned. He wasn’t angry; he just felt that he, for considering Fu Guzhou’s thoughts, was somewhat out of sorts.

This was a very bad beginning.

He frowned and spoke words that were nearly hurtful: “Fu Guzhou, I will settle the matters of that year myself. There is no need for you to act as if you feel guilty about something now.”

Fu Guzhou shook his head. “I admit that because of what happened, I feel some guilt. But even without the events of five hundred years ago, in the face of danger…”

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