Chapter 111: A Bountiful Harvest
Chapter 111: A Bountiful Harvest
After hearing Caretaker Zhu’s description of the Minor Youth Restoration, Ding Songyan’s first thought was, Devastating. A devastating poison that only works on old monsters!
If Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan were to take it, he would first grow five years younger, then lose every year of lifespan he had gained through cultivation breakthroughs and longevity items. In the end, a natural lifespan of around one hundred paired with an actual age of nearly three hundred would leave him not only dead on the spot, but possibly reduced to bones in an instant.
More importantly, the Minor Youth Restoration was not a poison. Immunities to all toxins, or arts that converted poisons into something else, would have no effect on it whatsoever. Even Ding Songyan himself would fall victim if he took it without immediately using the Bringing All Things Into Unity aspect of his Presence-Absence Myriad Forms Qi to neutralize the pill’s effects the moment it went down.
The only problem is how to trick—no, persuade—the Demon Sovereign into taking the Minor Youth Restoration... Ding Songyan couldn’t come up with anything and could only sigh in regret.
Caretaker Zhu looked over at Xie Fengchao and the others and smiled warmly.
"Divide these five pills among yourselves. I’ll leave that to you."
He had the pill-refining attendant set the tray on the wooden table.
Before Zheng Zhuxi could offer a word of modesty, Xie Fengchao spoke up with a smile, "Miss Zheng, you deserve the most credit this time. If you don’t pick first, none of us would dare touch them."
After everything they had been through together, this Young Master Xie felt that "Heroine Zheng" sounded too formal—yet he wasn’t familiar enough to simply call her by name, or to say "young miss" either.
Zheng Zhuxi glanced sidelong at Ding Songyan. He gave an almost imperceptible nod, and she said, "Then I won’t stand on ceremony."
In her heart, there was no question that Junior Brother Ding had contributed the most to this pursuit of the Three Fiends. The legend of a corpse every ten steps seemed to stem from her sword hitting its mark every time, each move deadly and precise, but 70-80% of the credit really belonged to Junior Brother Ding’s perceptive judgment and the way he had matched her every step.
Without him, the group would likely never have escaped the wyrm’s pursuit.
Without much hesitation, Zheng Zhuxi picked up the light-green xun grass pill.
She rarely took pride in her looks or bearing, preferring to devote herself to the martial path and acts of chivalry. But few young women didn’t care about their appearance, and she was still young, far from the age where extending her lifespan needed to be a concern. The choice was obvious.
Besides, the xun grass pill would also extend her lifespan by five years.
Holding the xun grass pill, Zheng Zhuxi didn’t take it right away. She planned to ask her junior brother what he wanted first. If he also had his eye on the xun grass pill, they could swap.
Once Zheng Zhuxi had made her choice, Xie Fengchao turned to Ding Songyan with a grin.
"Second Ding, you go next. To keep up with us at your level of aperture refinement—your grit is admirable, your spirit commendable. The rest of us can’t match it."
Ding Songyan had assumed he’d be last or second-to-last and was already thinking about making a trade afterward. He hadn’t expected Xie Fengchao to call on him this soon.
This guy really does have the spirit of a true hero... Ding Songyan said with a laugh,
"Don’t be so condescending, Fifth Xie. With that kind of perception, you’d better give up wandering the jianghu. You still haven’t noticed that I’ve already entered the Great Proliferation Realm? Didn’t you wonder why my movement technique was so exceptional when I was sprinting ahead with my senior sister on my back?"
As he spoke, Ding Songyan, whose skin had long since been hammered to considerable thickness, picked up one of the pale-blue Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pills without a shred of modesty.
He had already spent roughly three years of lifespan each on the aperture refinement Chapters of the Celestial Stars Scripture and the Candlelit Nocturne Sutra. The corresponding Great Proliferation Chapters had yet to be practiced, and he estimated those would cost another three years each, with the Dharma Realm Chapters the same. Between those two arts, he was looking at spending eighteen years of lifespan in total.
The Great Dream of Three Thousand Years and Mirror Lake Divine Reflection he planned to practice wouldn’t necessarily cost as much, but six or seven years per art was a safe bet.
With the Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pill, Ding Songyan would net a loss of just over ten years of lifespan overall. That was acceptable.
He made up his mind then and there: unless a martial art was truly exceptional, he would never spend his lifespan training it. Using Bringing All Things Into Unity and Manifesting the Way and Its Virtue to deconstruct, analyze, synthesize, rebuild, and evolve—then absorbing it all into himself—that was the right path.
"Right... I did wonder why you could run so fast. I assumed you just had a gift for movement techniques." Xie Fengchao suddenly felt both annoyed and amused. "Second Ding, when I challenged you to a sparring match, you were already in the early Great Proliferation Realm, weren’t you? Why did you claim you’d only reached greater mastery of aperture refinement?"
Ding Songyan struck first, snorting, "I didn’t want to spar with you, so I understated my level on purpose. How was I to know you’d be so shameless as to insist on challenging someone you thought was still in aperture refinement?"
"..." Xie Fengchao flushed slightly.
He straightened his bamboo cap, cleared his throat lightly, and turned to Pan Yunzhou and Xing Chang.
"You two, one of you carried me on a desperate sprint, the other held off Cao Yue so I could use my signature hidden weapon. I don’t know which of you should pick first."
"Young Master Xie, your contribution was second only to Senior Sister Zheng’s. You should pick first," Pan Yunzhou said sincerely.
Xie Fengchao shook his head with a smile.
"Lifespan-extending items are precious, but if I miss out today, my family can still find ways to obtain them."
His meaning was clear: coming from a powerful clan, he had no shortage of channels for obtaining pills. The others ought to take what they needed first.
Xing Chang turned to Pan Yunzhou.
"Brother Pan also killed a Xiaoyang. You pick first."
"Then I’ll follow Senior Sister Zheng’s example and not stand on ceremony." After a moment’s consideration, Pan Yunzhou picked up the apricot-yellow Minor Youth Restoration.
"What do you want that for?" Xie Fengchao was quite surprised.
Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi said nothing. One of them knew exactly why Pan Yunzhou had made that choice; the other had a vague inkling.
Pan Yunzhou let out a slow breath.
"For me, if I fail to become a Grandmaster before forty, getting five more years of youth to try again matters far more than living twenty years longer. And if I do reach the Dharma Realm, those twenty years will come back anyway."
Reaching the perfected Great Proliferation Realm extended one’s lifespan by around twenty years. Taking the Minor Youth Restoration later would certainly erase that gain.
"Admirable ambition," Xie Fengchao said no more and turned to Xing Chang with a smile. "Brother Xing Chang, which one do you want?"
The corners of Xing Chang’s navel curved upward slightly, his voice carrying a smile.
"I’m also the second child in my family. Call me Second Xing, just like you call him Second Ding."
Without hesitation, he took the remaining Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pill.
"Perfect. With the Essence-Restoring Pill, when I go all out, I can burn my essence in addition to exhausting my true qi. If I ever face a genuine third-rank Form Transfigured fighter like Flame Spear Li Rui, it wouldn’t be hopeless." Xie Fengchao pocketed the dark-red pill.
With the rewards distributed, Ding Songyan looked toward Caretaker Zhu and asked in a casual tone, "Where are He Luo’s belongings? My senior sister and I would like to take a look. There might be other leads."
Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes moved briefly to Ding Songyan, but she didn’t contradict him.
"Constable Chief Xue took everything to the county office." Caretaker Zhu suspected nothing.
Ding Songyan didn’t press further. He watched as Xing Chang casually popped the Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pill into his gaping navel.
Uh, does that navel lead to the stomach or the intestines... He fell into a contemplative silence.
When the eyes on Xing Chang’s chest brightened and his bronze skin gained a sheen in an instant, Ding Songyan confirmed that the companion pills Caretaker Zhu had refined were the genuine article.
Just then, Zheng Zhuxi leaned close to his ear and said quietly, "If you want the xun grass pill, we can swap."
"What would I do with the xun grass pill?" Ding Songyan replied with amusement. "What matters most to me is extending my lifespan."
A beautiful complexion to attract people of my own sex?
Zheng Zhuxi’s mind was set at ease. Not wanting to delay any further, she swallowed the light-green xun grass pill then and there.
Within just a few breaths, Ding Songyan noticed his senior sister’s skin becoming increasingly smooth and fair, so soft it seemed it could be blown apart, and considerably more alluring than before.
In complexion alone, she now surpassed Su Qingli and Ji Hanyi by a fair measure.
As Ding Songyan looked away, he popped the Grass-and-Wood Longevity Pill into his mouth.
It half-dissolved on his tongue and slid down his throat carrying a faint chill and the clean fragrance of grass and wood, then worked its way into his body.
Ding Songyan felt his essence fill considerably, his vitality surging with renewed force. Somewhere beyond perception, his lifespan seemed to have grown by a good measure.
Xie Fengchao rose as he said, "Everyone rest and recover for now. We’ll meet again later."
Xing Chang’s severed neck swayed, which counted as a nod.
"I need to return to the barracks. Although we’re on leave these days, going absent from Dingjiang Prefecture will still earn me some punishment."
If you hadn’t said so, I’d have forgotten you were still bound by military law. I almost started thinking Cavalry Commander was just a title... Grumbling inwardly, Ding Songyan bid farewell and headed back to the county office in the northern part of the city with Zheng Zhuxi and Pan Yunzhou.
Once only the two of them were making their way to the marshal’s office, Zheng Zhuxi said quietly, "Why did you ask about He Luo’s belongings?"
"I want to look at the Great Dream of Three Thousand Years manual." Ding Songyan didn’t hide it from her.
Zheng Zhuxi gave a light nod and didn’t ask why.
The moment they met Yi Qincang, the marshal broke into a hearty laugh.
"I never imagined you’d actually pull it off. Ah, to be young! Bold enough to dream about it, bold enough to act on it!"
Zheng Zhuxi offered a few words of modesty, then relayed Ding Songyan’s request to Xie Fengchao and the others that the details of the Brightnight Sect disciples’ significant role not be spread around, lest it draw the Demon Sovereign’s retribution.
"Of course." Marshal Yi glanced at the two of them. "The bounty on the Three Fiends of Xiao City is substantial. I need to report it to the county magistrate, then to the prefecture office, and only once both have approved it can I pay you."
"County magistrate" was an honorific title for the head of the county.
"But we didn’t bring back the Three Fiends’ heads," Zheng Zhuxi said, a little bewildered.
"You recovered the ten-thousand-year luan tree flower. Even if the Three Fiends aren’t dead, they’re almost certainly crippled." Yi Qincang smiled at Zheng Zhuxi. "My dear girl, I’ll ask you directly: did you kill the Three Fiends?"
"All of them." Zheng Zhuxi’s answer was unequivocal.
Yi Qincang immediately said in a low, firm voice, "Good. Then I believe you, and the imperial court believes you!
"What manner of person your mother is, what manner of person you are, we have seen it all. You would never lie about something like this."
Zheng Zhuxi was momentarily stunned. Thoughts came rushing through her mind.
She felt moved to be trusted like this, and at the same time a reflection on her recent conduct welled up within her.
One must know how to adapt, but never stray from one’s own path. You could deceive the wicked, but toward everyone else, you had to remain open and sincere, true to your word!
"Thank you, Uncle Yi." Zheng Zhuxi shifted her tone. "Uncle Yi, we handled the matter of He Luo. By custom, our Brightnight Sect is entitled to copy any martial arts manuals found on him. I was wondering if there might be something of that sort?"
"He Luo came from the Huangliang Sect. He had the Great Proliferation Chapter of Great Dream of Three Thousand Years on him, but not the aperture forging or viscera installation methods. If you’d also like to copy the body tempering, qi cultivation, and aperture refinement Chapters, you can request them from the prefecture office, they have copies there already." Yi Qincang was quite forthcoming with this information.
The Huangliang Sect was based in Qisong Prefecture at the southern tip of Ning Province. It was not a top-tier faction and was roughly comparable to the Brightnight Sect in scale, but the nature of their cultivation arts led them to operate with far greater secrecy and a lower profile.
"Thank you, Uncle Yi." Zheng Zhuxi led Ding Songyan from the county office to the prefecture office, and they finally assembled all the Chapters of Great Dream of Three Thousand Years up to the Dharma Realm and borrowed them out, though the aperture forging, meridian condensation, and viscera installation methods were not among them.
Books in hand, Ding Songyan walked alongside his senior sister, who kept drawing stares from passersby, in an unusually cheerful mood, chatting about the details of what had transpired.
As they turned into Baoping Lane, he remembered something and asked thoughtfully, "Senior Sister, where are the Two-Faced currently active? Which kingdom and province?"
Zheng Zhuxi shook her head slowly.
"Toward the end of the Wei dynasty and the founding of Great Zhao, the Two-Faced committed countless atrocities and plunged the land into even greater chaos. After our dynasty was established, they were hunted down one by one and brought to justice. Most were killed. As for those who had not yet committed crimes, the Founding Emperor, moved by heaven’s love of life, had them confined within a small city at the foot of Mount Dique and kept from contact with other peoples, lest more grow second faces.
"When the Hundred Species rebelled and the dynasty retreated south, the Two-Faced seized the opportunity to escape from that city at the foot of Mount Dique. Since then they have vanished into the populace. Only the occasional individual has ever been found; the rest are unaccounted for."
Wh... Ding Songyan’s brow twitched as he listened.
Evil such as Two-Faced are still out there hiding among ordinary people...
From now on, I’ll have to check everyone with Candle-Star Pupils first...