"Wow! What the hell! Bro Bei wins! And he wins with efficiency! Awesome! Oh God, this feels great!"
Xia Hanjiang and the others began to celebrate.
Ever since the arrival of Chen Xiaobei, the warden was trampled to death and 75 of them regained their freedom! After that, Yin Shaohua and Yin Wuhuan died, exacting retribution for all of them!
In less than a day, these 75 men experienced both ends of emotional extremes, from hell to heaven. And the end resuly was sweeter than any dream they ever had.
All these were made possible only because of Chen Xiaobei.
Form today onwards, come what may, they would never ever betray him.
"That's incredible. Chen Xiaobei, who are you, really?" Liu Xuanxin was in state of bewilderment. Her eyes searched Chen Xiaobei, her head full of unanswered questions.
This young man was a mystery. Every time she thought she had him figured out, the fog would thicken, and she would find herself more mystified than before.
"I hereby declare that from today onwards, Penglai Faction is officially dissolved! If you don't wish to die, get out of my sight now!"
Chen Xiaobei announced at the top of his voice, and with an authoratative voice, he was very much like the king of the world.
"Let go! It's over! Our faction is defunct! If we don't leave, we'll all be dead!"
"Come on!"
"Bring me with you! Let's go together!"
The 2,000 Penglai disciples scattered like ants on a hot stove, running for their lives.
The ones who were crippled had to beg their friends to help them.
In less than a minute, most of them had fled the scene. Only a few more stubborn ones remained.
These men, about a dozen of them, were Penglai Faction's core elders. They were closely related to the Yin family, and were still in a delusional state.
"You punk! Don't get all cocky now! Our faction leader is not dead! When he comes, we'll make sure he'll beat the shit out of you!"
"Yeah! Our faction leader is an Ethereal cultivation elite! With just one slap, he can kill you a hundred times over!"
"As long as our faction leaader is still alive, Penglai Faction will remain standing! The ones who would be over soon are you and your retarded friends!"
"That's right! When our faction leader arrives, you will be six feet under! Just you wait!"
The men were all headstrong. Not only had they refused to leave, but they even had the audacity to threaten Chen Xiaobei and the others.
Liu Xuanxin and the others felt worry begin to stir inside them. The one who had just died was Yin Wuhuan. The official leader of Penglai Faction was Yin Wuqiu!
"Xiaobei! Let's go! Even if you are able to kill Yin Wuqiu, the rest of us will be used as hostages, and you will then have your hands tied!" Liu Xuanxin spoke into Chen Xiaobei's ear.
Liu Xuanxin was very smart, and did not allow the temporary victory to muddle her brain.
Even though Chen Xiaobei had displayed strength comparable to that of Yin Wuqiu, there were still a lot of men remaining in Penglai Faction. And many of them were strong core disciples.
Even if Penglai Faction could get back on its feet, and even if Chen Xiaobei was able to defeat Yin Wuqiu, Liu Xuanxin and the others would still be captured by Penglai's disciple remnants and used as ransom to force Chen Xiaobei's hands.
Liu Xuanxin's analysis was completely sound and logical.
Except, she was wrong. She would never know that the person who killed Yin Wuwiu was not Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei had already taken care of Penglai's big boss.
"Faction leader! Look! Our faction leader is here!"
"Faction leader! Thank goodness you're here! This punk killed the co-faction leader! Kill him!"
"Faction leader! Kill this idiot! Tear his limbs piece by piece and feed his rotten carcass to the dogs!"
The still stubborn dozen shouted in delight, as if they had just spotted their ticket out alive.
"We're doomed." Liu Xuanxin and the others were distraught.
Only Chen Xiaobei was as calm as a millpond. He made no moves and said nothing.
Zing! Zing! Zing!
Yin Wuqiu's raised his arms, his sleeves clinging to his arm as a myriad of Primal Wind Energy shot out of them! This was close to the effects of True Kang Skill except it was way more powerful.
Such overwhelming attacks could easily wipe out everyone, including Chen Xiaobei.
But!
This lethal force was not aimed at Chen Xiaobei but at the dozens of stubborn elders!
"That… That… That…"
The Penglai men were at a loss. They were still in a daze when the Primal Wind Energy decapitated them.
Their heads fell to the ground with an ominous thud, sending fresh blood spattering uncontrollably. When faced with people that held absolute power, the weaker ones were like dust, wiped off in a single swipe.
"What just happened?"
Liu Xuanxin and the others were bewildered.
The formidable big boss that they were so afraid of, Yin Wujiu, had killed his own men instead of them?
It made no sense!
What happened next was even more nonsensical.
Bam!
Yin Wuqiu turned towards them, positioned himself before the 75 victims locked up and abused in his dungeon, and lowered himself to the ground, knees bent and head dropped to the ground!
"Heavens! Is… this Yin Wuqiu?"
None of them trusted their own eyes.
How could the leader of Penglai Faction, the Ethereal Cultivation elite, bow down before them?
This was as implausible as the sun rising form the North!
"Everyone, please don't panic. Yin Wuqiu is my dog. I allowed him to appear a little bit later so he could finish off those stubborn elders. It's better to nip it in the bud so that there's no chance of them retaliating in the future!" Chen Xiaobei reassured them. "Right now, Penglai Faction has officially collapsed. They will never be able to rise from the ashes! Now that Yin Wuqiu is here, all of you will decide whether or not to kill him!"
None of them expected this surprised outcome.
Liu Xuanxin found herself speechless, her impression of him once again thrown off balance.
He was not just a puzzle. He was a black hole! There was no way she could ever hope to understand him completely in this lifetime!
"Kill Yin Wuqiu! Chop him up and feed him to the dogs!"
"Brothers! Pick up your weapons and follow me!"
The 75 men began to stir uncomfortably. After the many years of enduring harsh torture, this was the moment for them to vent to vent their frustrations.
"Everyone, please hold on!" Qi Changsheng, the so called advisor spoke up. "Let's not kill Yin Wuqiu!"
"What? Brother Qi? What the hell? Why are you siding with the enemy?" his comrades questioned.
"The smart ones will see the benefits of this decision and only the fools will do what their hearts desire!" Qi Changsheng said, "We won't gain anything substantial by killing Yin Wuqiu in the name of revenge! It's pointless to kill him! Bro Bei will lose his Ethereal Cultivation dog! That's an actual loss! If you think of it that way, it's pretty obvious that keeping him alive is the wiser option! Of course, even I cannot deny that Yin Wuqiu deserves to die! He deserves to die ten thousand times over for the kind of crimes he committed. But I urge you not to kill him! Let him live as Bro Bei's dog, let him die for Bro Bei!"
What Qi Changsheng said seemed to make sense.
Out of selfishness, they could choose to kill Yin Wuqiu but they would not gain anything from it, and would perhaps even induce a loss at the end of the day.
If they were to act out of loyalty towards Chen Xiaobei, they should allow Yin Wuqiu to live out his life as a slave to Chen Xiaobei. That would be the most rational choice.
Chen Xiaobei's eyes lit up at this. He could surely use a man like him! He would not have thought of saying something like that. Thank god for Qi Changsheng who helped solve Chen Xiaobei's problem.
"Let's not kill him! Let him live to serve Bro Bei!"
"Yeah! Let's not kill him! Our strengths are limited, and we can't do much to help Bro Bei. Keeping this strong dog could be beneficial to him!"
"Bro Bei! We won't kill him! Don't make things difficult for him! Let him show you some devotion. That's more important!"
The men had completely changed their minds. It seemed that now, Chen Xiaobei stood at an irreplaceable position in their hearts!
These men would not just stop at giving up a chance for revenge, but they would also be willing to put down their hearts desire for the sake of Chen Xiaobei!
"Alright! Since everyone has decided, then I'll let him live!" Chen Xiaobei nodded. To be able to keep an Ethereal Cultivation dog was an incredible achievement!
"Bro Bei! Let me bring you to the treasury! Everything in there belongs to you!" Yin Wuqiu said.
Not killing Yin Wuqiu was the right decision!
"Alright!" Chen Xiaobei's heart did a little dance.
He had already had his eyes set on the treasury since he found out about it. Now that the problems had been taken care of, it was the season to harvest!
Everyone followed Yin Wuqiu to the Penglai treasury.
It was hidden deep underground, and the passage there was like a maze that was secured with all sorts of deviations and magical enhancements. If Yin Wuqiu had not led them there, they would have never been able to locate it.
Finally, they arrived at the door of the treasury.
Just like what Yin Wuqiu said, there was no keyhole. In its place stood a Talisman Rune.
Yin Wuqiu walked up to the door and placed his palm on it. There was a massive surge of energy very much like tides parting.
He was removing the Defensive Magical Formation on the door.
Crack!
Once the formation was broken, the door was unlocked. Yin Wuqiu pushed the thick, stone door open with one arm! Everyone was shocked when they saw what was inside the vault.
The treasury was a vast hall, and was at least 100 times bigger than the Zhuang family's treasury.
The tens of thousands of wooden shelves that lined the dark pathways were stocked to the brim with all kinds of rare resources.
Yin Shaohua had peviously told them that this place held the abundant resources that Penglai Faction had collected over a period of hundreds of years. He was not exaggerating!
Herbal medicines. Those were the first thing Chen Xiaobei spotted. They came in all shapes, colors and sizes, and every one of them well-aged. There were also more than a hundred types of Spiritual-tier herbs among them!
Amongst them, Chen Xiaobei discovered herbs that could be used to concoct Skybreaking Cultivation Pills and Heavenly Dog Biscuits!
Even though the recipies were incomplete, to be able to get even a portion of it was already considered a sizeable yield.
Let us not forget how long, and how many Spiritual Stones it took Chen Xiaobei to collect a similar amount of herbal medicines.
This harvest was sizeable, and was of great value!
Chen Xiaobei's eyes then wandered over to the collection of weapons and armor.
Swords, guns, knives, axes, armor; name it and they had it all. What's more, they had all been crafted beautifully and were of excellent quality.
The weapons in the Zhuang Family's treasury paled in comparison.
If these weapons were equipped and given to Xia Hanjiang and the others, their combat power could be greatly boosted.
As his eyes wandered across the room, Chen Xiaobei spotted the heap of martial arts manuals.
These things did not appeal much to Chen Xiaobei.
His martial art skills had come from the Three Realms Red Envelope group. And the skill that he was currently training was the powerful Scripture of Heaven and Earth. That was why Chen Xiaobei did not care too much about ordinary earthly martial arts manuals. But Xia Hanjiang and the others could barely hold down their excitement when they saw those manuals, looking at them as if it were printed in gold.
Even Liu Xuanxin was bursting with delight. Any martial arts manuals here were superior to all that Xuanjian faction had.
Chen Xiaobei was perceptive enough to let them collect whichever manuals they liked.
They were so excited they practically flew to the racks to make their selection.
Even Liu Xuanxin could not hold back. She wanted to pick out a few manuals as well.
Only Chen Xiaobei and Yin Wuqiu continued further into the treasury.
The deeper they went, the more invaluable the things were.
The first thing that caught Chen Xiaobei's eye were pieces of top-notch jade stones.
Jade stones contained Spiritual Qis, a good ingredient for crafting Talisman Rune for Magical Formation. When Chen Xiaobei setup the Thunder Pool Formation, a lot of jade stones had to be used to craft the Talisman Rune.
There were about a dozen jade stones before him, and they were of much better quality than the ones that he previously used. Seemingly, Penglai Faction had spent a great deal of time and effort to collect all these jade stones.
With these jade stones, the next time Chen Xiaobei would not have to worry about not having enough components the next time he setup a Magical Formation. On top of that, the effects of the Magical Formation would be amplified as well.
After the jade stones, Chen Xiaobei saw some unusual looking pieces of metal.
"What are these?" he asked.
"Well, all these are crafting materials that we've accumulated over hundreds of years. Some of them were formed naturally, while some were acquired through a refining process. All of them were Spiritual-tier items regardless!
"They are all Spiritual Items?!" Chen Xiaobei's eyes sparkled. "Spiritual Items can be acquired through refining too?!"
"Yes." Yin Wuqiu nodded as he picked up a golden piece of metal. "Take this Heavenly Fire Gold Essence for example. We need 500 pounds of stainless steel to produce one gram of it! That being said, this piece of Heavenly Fire Gold Essence was crafted with 50,000 gross tons of stainless steel!"
"50,000 tons?!" Chen Xiaobei was very surprised to hear that. The amount of resources and manpower that Penglai Faction had spent on crafting this piece of metal was beyond astounding!
After they walked past these metals, they reached the end of the treasury, where a wooden rack stood.
Considering its location, the things on it were the most valuable in the entire treasury!
Chen Xiaobei and Yin Wuqiu walked over to the shelves. He could see that there was an ancient round bronze plate with a diameter of ten centimeters placed high up on one of the shelves. There were sacred inscriptions of Sanskrit engraved on it. Seemingly it was a sacred Buddhist relic from the West.
"What is that thing over there? Isn't that a Spiritual Item?"
Chen Xiaobei picked up the bronze plate and tried to build a Spiritual Connection with it. However, he could not sense any Spiritual Attributes coming from it. He also remembered that the Yin Family reinforced the security of this place after they acquired something extremely valuable. When Chen Xiaobei picked up the bronze plate, he suspected that this must have been the priceless item that the Yin Family tried to protect.
Could Chen Xiaobei have been wrong about it?
"This is a sacred Buddhist relic from the West. It is called Heart Cleansing Ancient Plate. The Sanskrit inscriptions on the plate is actually a Heart Cleansing Spell! According to legend, many powerful monks considered this relic to be more valuable than their lives! They would chant this spell every day to cast away any demonic presence around them!"
"Cast away demonic presence? This item certainly looks like one of those Pure Yang Items! Within it, I can feel an aura that can ward off evil spirits! It is also slightly warmer than a Pure Yang Spiritual Item. I think this is the power of Buddha himself, right?"
"You are right."
"My question is that, since there are a lot of Pure Yang Items out there that allow you to ward off evil spirits, what made you choose this Heart Cleansing Ancient Plate?"
"That is because this ancient plate is finding one of the treasures that is buried in the West!"
"Treasure? What do you mean by that?"
Immediately, Chen Xiaobei realized the reason the Yin Family considered it as a priceless piece of treasure.
"I heard that it has something to do with an elite ancient faction of the Black Desert!"
"Jingjue Ancient Faction? Could it be that? Is it by any chance connected to the Jingjue Ancient town?"
"According to history, the Ancient Western Region had 36 kingdoms of different sizes. Amongst them, was the most powerful kingdom… Jingjue Ancient Town! All the other kingdoms are pretty much insignificant! The reason why Jingjue Faction was so powerful was because they have a demigod queen sitting at the throne! She led elite troops to rob the other 36 kingdoms of their resources. After hundreds of thousands of years, the amount of resources that they had gathered is unimaginable!"
"That's the reason why every country, faction, powerful family, and other elite forces have been trying to get their hands on the treasure since the very beginning! All of them wanted to enter the Black Desert to look for this Jingjue Ancient Faction! If any of them managed to find the treasure, they would become extremely powerful!"
Yin Wuqiu tried to explain everything to Chen Xiaobei as detailed as possible. Seemingly, he had done his fair share of research.
"Western region, Black Desert, Jingjue Ancient Faction…"
Chen Xiaobei squinted his eyes. He suspected that another matter was to be blamed for this incident. In five days time, he was supposed to travel to Black Desert with Zhuo Qunfeng from Qunlun Faction. Though Zhuo Qunfeng and his team did not discuss their plans in detail, Chen Xiaobei could roughly guess that they were looking for Jingjue Faction as well.
This was pleasant coincidence to Chen Xiaobei. Not only could he help Luo Puti look for her parents but also search for the treasure that Yin Wuqiu had just mentioned.
"Alright! Let's pack up! We should get ready to leave now!"
Chen Xiaobei then stored the Heart Cleansing Ancient Plate, crafting metals, top-tier jade stones, and some other items into his Infinite Space Ring.
"Bro Bei… There's no need to rush! I still have something to show you!"
Yin Wiqiu walked to the wall and knocked on a few bricks.
"What are you doing?"
Looking at Yin Wuqiu, Chen Xiaobei was feeling curious.
Soon after that, Chen Xiaobei was shocked by what he saw.
Buzz…
Swoosh…
A hidden door was unlocked before him and a large amount of Spiritual Stones poured out from it.
"There are 50,000 Spiritual Stones here. Bro Bei, please take them all."
After he ate the Heavenly Dog Biscuit that Chen Xiaobei gave him, his life now completely belonged to Chen Xiaobei. There was no reason for him to keep all those Spiritual Stones for himself.
"Damn! I almost forgot about all those Spiritual Stones! How can a treasure vault exist without Spiritual Stones inside it?!"
With a wide Cheshire Cat grin, Chen Xiaobei quickly stored all 50,000 Spiritual Stones inside his Infinite Space Ring. All of them were lower-grade Spiritual Stones. To Chen Xiaobei, it was nothing impressive. However, Spiritual Stones were still an important resource for any elite. No one would say no to them.
Until now, Chen Xiaobei had a total of 1,500 medium-grade Spiritual Stones, 57,000 lower-grade Spiritual Stones, where 7,000 of them were being in their Spiritual Qi state, and were stored inside the Green Jade Gourd. Other than that, Chen Xiaobei still had a silver-tier beast core, a bronze-tier beast core, and 51 blacksteel-tier beast cores! To sum it up, he still had a 3,000 year old Ginseng Fruit to help him with his cultivation.
"I still have a couple of days left before traveling to the Black Desert. I think I should take this time to increase my cultivation! My current lifespan is 2,070 years. If I consume that Ginseng Fruit, my lifespan will increase to 5,070 years. If I use the Dark Power though, my lifespan will then decrease by 5,000 years, leaving me with 70 years! Using the Sunlight Cache to speed up my training would give me an additional 100 years of lifespan every minute!"
"That being said, I don't even have enough lifespan to use the Sunlight Cache! I will have to train at normal speed! Every hour, I would be able to increase combat power by 100! I might need all my given days to finish consuming the beast cores! Shit! I really need more lifespan to spend! The Old Leader writes too damn slowly! Look like I'll need to rush the other three million words out of him for me to get another Ginseng Fruit!"
While leaving the vault and thinking hard at the same time, Chen Xiaobei kept all these items in his Infinite Space Ring. The herbs, martial arts manuals, and weapons were the kind of resource that he sorely needed to strengthen his faction, especially the herbs. Chen Xiaobei could use these herbs to craft different types of pills.
"Maybe I should teach Old Leader to make his own Hundred Herbs Potion. With that, he would be able to work resting! Hehehe…"
Ring!
Suddenly, Chen Xiaobei's cellphone rang.
It was Gu Congwen.
Clearly, he had called Chen Xiaobei to trade with him.
"Hello, Manager Gu. How can I help you?"
"Since both of us know each other, let me get straight to the point! Do you still have more paintings that you want to sell? There will be a huge auction coming up soon. I believe that you can earn a lot by selling your paintings there!"
"I don't have any paintings with me anymore but I do have a favour that I need from you!"
"Mr. Chen, what do you need? I'm at your service!" Gu Congwen had great respect for Chen Xiaobei and was thankful to him. He would do everything in his power to help.
"I want you to buy me some Beast Cores worth about 1,500 medium-grade Spiritual Stones. Buy as many as you can!" Chen Xiaobei said.
"Beast Cores? Why does Mr. Chen need so many?"
"For cultivating!" Chen Xiaobei answered.
"Huh? Mr. Chen, you're kidding right? The same amount of Spiritual Stones can produce the same results for cultivation. Why don't you just use the stones to cultivate? What's the point of buying the Beast Cores?"
"Just buy them. You don't have to worry about anything else. In exchange for that, I can promise you one thing! In the future, if I ever want to sell any paintings, I will let you have them. You'll be the one who takes all the brokerage!"
To most people, there was no difference whether one used Spiritual Stones or Beast Cores to cultivate. The effects were the same.
For example, a single medium-grade Spiritual Stone could increase health or combat power by 100. A Beast Core worth one medium-grade Spiritual Stone could also do exactly the same!
Though this may true to most people, these two were as different as black and white to Chen Xiaobei.
With the dark powers of the Blood Descendants, a Beast Core could increase both Chen Xiaobei's health and combat power which was twice the effectiveness of using Spiritual Stones to cultivate.
Chen Xiaobei had decided that he was going to spend 5,000 years of his lifespan by using his Dark Powers to absorb the Beast Cores. He could only use the dark powers one more time. So, the more Beast Cores he had, the better as he did not know when he was going to be able to employ the Dark Powers again.
"Alright! That's settled then!" Gu Congwen was so excited about Chen Xiaobei's promise that he said no more about using the Spiritual Stones for cultivation. "When do you need them? I will go get them ready now!"
"If you can get everything ready by tomorrow, then I will come get them by then!"
"No problem! You must trust the greatest finesse of Northern Wilderness Chamber of Commerce!" Gu Congwen said confidently.
"Alright. That would be it then. See you tomorrow!"
"Mr. Chen, why don't you take that painting with you as well. We'll need a masterpiece to hype up the upcoming auction!"
"I'm afraid not this time. I don't have anything at hand right now. I will give it to you when I do have one!"
"Alright." Gu Congwen sounded very disappointed but he piqued up, "Then I'll be waiting for Mr. Chen's next masterpiece!"
After he hung up, Chen Xiaobei felt at a loss.
He had paintings. Especially drafts like the one he gifted to Dong Xiaowu. In fact, he even had the original copy of ' A Ride that Carries Victory'!
But Chen Xiaobei understood that scarce items were extremely valuable. He would never sell any more of those.
As for the original painting, Chen Xiaobei had not even taken a look at it yet.
If the draft could have such an effect on the people, then the original painting would probably blow them away ten times over!
Chen Xiaobei did not want such a masterpiece to be seen so simply. He would just keep it for now. He might have some use for it in the future.
Finally, the issue with Penglai Faction had come to an end.
Chen Xiaobei brought Liu Xuanxin and the others back to Paradise Island, where Focker had arranged a private jet for them to return to China.
Once everyone had settled in, Bei Xuan faction was bustling again. It finally looked like a faction, unlike the time before this when there were only a handful of people.
Once everything was sorted out, Chen Xiaobei gathered Xia Hanjiang, Qi Changsheng and eleven other True Nirvana Cultivation subordinates, and gave each of them a third of the Skybreaking Cultivation Pill, so that they could break through to Celestial Cultivation immediately.
Including Xiahou Linyuan, eight of them were already Celestial Cultivation elites.
Bei Xuan Faction now had another 19 Celestial Cultivation elites.
That included Yue Changkong, Su Dongruo, Zhuang Bihuang, Gordon, Green Dragon Enigmatic Ninja, Kitagana Heiya, and Six-Eared Macaque. Together, they had a total of 26 Celestial Cultivation elites.
To top it off, Bei Xuan Faction also had the Ethereal Cultivation Yin Wuqiu.
Just by looking at these numbers, Bei Xuan Faction had now risen to the level of top-tier Ancient Faction!
Except for pinnacle ancient factions lead by demigods, Bei Xuan Faction did not have to fear for threats from any other external forces!
One Skybreaking Cultivation Pill could be broken into 3 small pieces and four Skybreaking Cultivation Pills could be broken into 12 small pieces.
Chen Xiaobei had given away 11 pills, so there was only one left. By then, everyone knew what Chen Xiaobei was going to do with the last one!
"Goddess, this is for you. After you take this, you can break through to Ethereal Cultivation." Chen Xiaobei handed the last third of the Skybreaking Cultivation Pill to Liu Xuanxin.
"I don't want it." Liu Xuanxin shook her head.
"Huh? Why not?" Chen Xaiobei frowned. "You saw with your own eyes that everyone has broken through. Don't tell me you think that I'm trying to drug you so I can take advantage of you?"
"Oh please… it's not that! This pill is too precious. I haven't done anything to deserve this. I won't feel at peace if I take it."
"Silly woman! What is there to feel uneasy about? The trip to Penglai Island had earned me items worth more than a thousand of these pills! If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have had a chance like this. Take it. You deserve it."
"No." Liu Xuanxin shook her head, stubborn as a mule. "You did it all by yourself. You did it with your own strength. I did not give anything to you."
"I'm giving it you, so just take it! Whether you did anything or not, whether my earnings were my own doing – these are not important! You are my friend! That reason alone is enough!"
Chen Xiaobei grabbed Liu Xuanxin's hand and pushed the Skybreaking Cultivation Pill into her palm.
"You…" Liu Xuanxin was caught by surprise. Her little heart thumped violently inside her chest. Chen Xiaobei's domineering behaviour had beguiled her and she did not know how to refuse him.
Even more so, to a cultivator, a breakthrough was harder than building a stairway to heaven, and even Liu Xuanxin would have found it difficult to resist the temptation of the Skybreaking Cultivation Pill.
"That right! That's a good girl!" Chen Xiaobei grinned as he released her small, soft hands.
When her heart had finally calmed down, she said, "I'll take the pill. But consider that I now owe you a favour! When you need a favour, I'll be sure to return it!"
"I need it now!" Chen Xiaobei winked.
"What… What do you need?"
Liu Xuanxin looked at Chen Xiaobei cautiously.
"Don't think too much!" Chen Xiaobei laughed. "It's very simple. Take off your scarf, then we're even!"
"My scarf?" Liu Xuanxin reached a hand to her earlobe.
"Oh! I can finally see your beautiful face!"
Chen Xiaobei rubbed his hands gleefully.
"Who says I'm going to show you my face? You men only judge a book by its cover! The more you want to see, the more I will refuse you!"
Liu Xuanxin tucked her hair behind her ears.
She was not going to remove the scarf.
"Ermm…"
It was said that gorgeous ladies could do whatever they want. Since she refused to take off her veil, there was nothing Chen Xiaobei could do about it. Right after that, Liu Xuanxin took her leave and did not give Chen Xiaobei any chance to continue talking to her.
Seeing that Liu Xuanxin took her leave, he did not go after her. He knew that sooner or later she would become his woman. Chen Xiaobei had already made an appointment with Gu Congwen, which was today. He had to travel back to Northern Wilderness Starfield no matter what.
First, Chen Xiaobei took out the Returning Bracelet given by Wang Cai. He then set the retuning point at Bei Xuan Faction. By doing so, he could return to the space that he created or Bei Xuan Faction whenever he wanted to.
After that, he took out his first Returning Bracelet and teleported to Northern Wilderness Starfield.
At Silver Plume Planet.
Chen Xiaobei was on his way to Northern Wilderness Chamber of Commerce. The deal went by smoothly. In the end, he managed to purchase beast cores that were worth 1,500 medium-grade Spiritual Stones. With all these beast cores, Chen Xiaobei could increase his combat power and health to 150,000.
Yes!
You read it right!
As long as Chen Xiaobei managed to consume all these beast cores, his combat power and health would soar to greater heights! One thing that he had to pay attention to was the fact that he had to make sure he completely digested all the beast cores before he could actually increase his combat power and health. On the other hand, it was still not enough for him to absorb the essence of the beast cores. He would need a hell of a long time to make sure all the beast cores completely disappeared from his body.
According to his past experience, he would need around one hour to increase combat power and health by 100. If he wanted to increase to a total of 150,000, he would need 1,500 hours to complete the process. That was equivalent to 62.5 days! Combined with all the beast cores that he currently owned, he would need at least 70 days to digest everything.
To Chen Xiaobei, that was too time-consuming. After all, the trip to Black Desert was just right around corner but his cultivation had not improved much for quite some time. It was only normal that he was frustrated about it. If he had enough lifespan to use the Sunlight Cache, he would only take 70 minutes to complete his training. One could imagine how desperate Chen Xiaobei was in acquiring more lifespan.
However, there was simply no way for Chen Xiaobei to acquire more lifespan right now. He would have to wait for the right time to get more of it. While waiting for Old Leader to write three million words, Chen Xiaobei had to squeeze as much time as possible to increase his cultivation.
"Mr. Chen. As a friend, I would like to give you a piece of advice before you complete the deal. Actually, you don't have to buy so many beast cores in one go! I don't think you can use all of them in such a short period of time anyway. It's better for you to save some Spiritual Stones for yourself in case you need them later in your life!"
"I have my reasons. I really have to buy all of them in one go. Don't worry. I still have some Spiritual Stones with me. It will not affect my daily life."
As he could only use the Dark Power for one more time, it was ideal for him to absorb as many beast cores as possible. He could store them inside his body and wait for them to be slowly digested. As for the Dark Power, he would have to wait for a very long time before he could use it again.
Considering that he had just acquired 50,000 lower-grade Spiritual Stones from Penglai Faction, he could almost buy everything he needed to carry on with his life.
"Alright! Since you still have some Spiritual Stones with you, Mr. Chen, I won't worry about you anymore!"
Gu Congwen nodded his head and marked down the trade in his account book.
"Elder Gu. I want to ask you something! How come there are so many soldiers on the street?"
"Haven't you heard about it? A person called Lu Yiju was found dead on 1st Street. I heard he was the bastard son of Lu Family. The general of Silver Plume City is assigned to investigate this case! The Lu Family had just announced that they will look the murderer no matter how long it takes!"
"Lu Yiju… How's the investigation going on so far? Are they really going to investigate till they find the murderer?"
"It seems like they have just reached an impasse in the investigation. The murderer did not leave any traces behind. All those investigators do not know where and when to even begin. I guess they would have to eventually let this case go."
"I see… I have nothing else that I want to ask. I think I will take my leave now…"
Chen Xiaobei then left the Chamber of Commerce. The thing that Lu Yiju had just told Chen Xiaobei could be considered as a reminder. There were still many issues waiting for Chen Xiaobei to solve at the Northern Wilderness Starfield!
First, Chen Xiaobei had managed to offend the young master of Lu Family, Lu Changwei, during the auction. Right after the auction, Chen Xiaobei travelled back to earth and Lu Changwei could not locate him. However, Chen Xiaobei realized that Lu Changwei would eventually cross paths with him and make him pay for what he did to him.
Second, in order to protect Ju Niao, Chen Xiaobei crippled the faction leader of the Black Dragon Faction. Coincidently, this faction was a backup faction of Lu Family. To make matters worse, Ju Niao had not called Chen Xiaobei recently. That would mean Lu Family did not have the time to investigate this matter. Still, trouble would ultimately come knocking at Chen Xiaobei's door.
Third, the investigation about the destruction of Atlantis was still ongoing. Chen Xiaobei had no idea at all about the progress of their investigation.
Amongst these three matters, the third matter was the most dire to Chen Xiaobei. After all, Chen Xiaobei did leave traces behind at Atlantis. Things could take a worse turn if the investigation was extended to the Japan region.
"I should leave the first two matters behind first. I will not make any move if my enemies remain idle! As for the third matter, I will have to figure out a way to update myself. If not, I could end up dead even before I find out anything!"
Immediately, Chen Xiaobei walked to the inner city's huge gate. At Silver Plume City, the nobles and the ordinary civilians were separated by a huge wall. The nobles lived inside the inner city and the ordinary civilians lived in the outer city. The ordinary civillians were forbidden to step foot inside the inner city. Just like what Chen Xiaobei had expected, he was stopped by guards before he could enter the inner city. Judging by their looks, both the guards were nobles that came from the inner city.
"You there! Kid! Stop right there! You will be breaking the law if you take one more step!" said one of the guards.
"Of course, if you are tired of living, feel free to take another step! According to the law, we are allowed to kill any intruders!" said the other.
However, Chen Xiaobei chose to ignore their warnings and took another step forward.
"Motherf*cker! It seems like this kid has lost his will to live! Are the laws of Silver Plume City a joke to you?!"
Soon after that, both of the guards picked up their long spears and prepared to capture Chen Xiaobei.
"Open up your blind eyes widely and look at this! I wonder who's the one tired of living!"
With a calmed look, Chen Xiaobei took out a platinum token.
He took out the platinum token and on it was the name 'Wenren'.
"My goodness! Are you the Wenren Family's honourable guest?"
The guards were so frightened they looked like they had just seen a ghost.
"Probably not an honourable guest, but Wenren Jinghao gave this to me personally. If you don't believe me, you can go ask him." Chen Xiaobei shrugged.
"Huh!" The guards gasped sharply. "No! No! No! How could we not believe you? Please… come in! Please come in!"
"I thought you said that I'm tired of living?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"We were ignorant! We spoke without thinking! We are stupid! Please don't hold it against us. Please sir, forgive us!"
The guards trembled.
The Wenren family were the second most powerful family in Silver Plume City after the Dong Family. Even the family members of Wenren Family had to show their utmost repect to this honourable guest. With that being said, the two guards of Silver Plume City did not even have the right to carry Chen Xiaobei's shoes.
Offending Chen Xiaobei would be a death sentence to them.
"I'm glad that the two of you know that you are at fault! I might come in and out of the inner city quite frequently in the future. I hope this won't happen again! Understood?"
Chen Xiaobei could not be bothered to get involved with these nobodies.
"Understood! Understood!" The guards nodded fast, almost too eagerly. They would never dare make the same mistake again.
It was upon entering the inner city that Chen Xiaobei really saw what an actual noble area was like!
From the streets to the buildings, all the facilities in here shone in a much more lavish and flamboyant light than the outer city!
Even the people walking on the street had a different air about them; a natural opulence. Even their garments were beautiful and plush!
The people of the most prosperous dynasty in China also failed in comparison to the citizens living in this superior environment with superior resources and a worry-free life.
The Silver Plume's laws were very stringent. Those who entered the inner city without authorization would be sentenced to death, no questions asked.
Once inside the city, the person was considered approved by the first-class nobles. As things worked in that manner, no one shot Chen Xiaobei any strange looks as he walked his way down the street even though he was an outsider.
There were only the occasional curious glance given by random souls in an attempt to appraise Chen Xiaobei's identity.
Being able to set foot into the inner city at such a young age! That was unprecedented in the history of Silver Plume City!
Having asked for directions from a passer-by, Chen Xiaobei arrived at the Wenren's Mansion.
Wenren Jinghao was an imperial commissioner who had returned from the Temple specifically to investigate the incident in Atlantis. This was undoubtedly the best method to keep track of the progress of the investigation.
Chen Xiaobei walked up to the door and knocked. A security guard walked out and asked politely, "May I know who you're looking for and what is the purpose fo your visit?"
The security guard was also a Silver Plume citizen.
It seemed that there were castes even among the Silver Plume nobles. It was customary that the lower-ranking Silver Plume citizen had to serve the higher-ranking Silver Plume Citizens!
But this security guard was much more well behaved than the other two at the gate, and did not take on immediately humiliating Chen Xiaobei.
This spoke of the Wenren family's ethical behaviour – they prohibited their employees from pulling ranks!
Chen Xiaobei had always preferred coaxing but not coercion. If the other person's attitude was right, and was fair, then Chen Xiaobei would never make things difficult for them in reciprocation.
"My name is Chen Zhufeng. Mr. Wenren Jinghao has sent for me to give Ms. Wenren a treat."
Chen Xiaobei took out the platinum token and said, "This is the pass. You can check it."
"Mr. Chen! Are you the Mr. Chen?" The security guard asked, astonished.
"Why? Do I know you?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"I know who you are! Lady Wen and Ms. Qing'er have been talking about you lately!" the security guard said. "There's no need check it. Please… please come in!"
"Alright, you lead the way sir."
Chen Xiaobei nodded. His mind drifted away as he wondered what that drop-dead gorgeous Ms. Wenren had to say about him.
The security guard led him into the mansion.
It was noon and the sun was beating down brightly. Wenren Muyue and Wenren Qing'er were in the garden chatting away.
"Lady Wenren! Look who's here!" The security guard shouted from afar.
Wenren Muyue turned around, seeing Chen Xiaobei and then smiled. "Mr. Chen! Why are you here?"
"Wow! My idol Mr. Chen is here! Welcome! Welcome!"
Qing'er was a spirited young girl who held nothing back and frequently spoke her mind.
"Huh?" Chen Xiaobei looked surprised. He had only had that one encounter with this young girl, and her compliment surprised him so much that he knew not how to respond.
"Qing'er! Behave yourself!" Wenren Muyue reprimanded. "I told her about what happened at the paediatric hospital. Since then, she has made you her idol!"
"Oh, no wonder. I was wondering when in the world did I acquire a random fangirl!" Chen Xiaobei chuckled amusingly.
"Don't just stand there! Let's have a chat in the living room! I want to entertain my idol properly!" Qing'er said excitedly.
The three of them made their way to the living room.
Wenren Muyue sat Chen Xiaobei down while Qing'er busied herself preparing some fruits and tea. She was the one who was especially enthusiastic.
"Is there any special reason for your sudden visit?"
Wenren Muyue sat with her ankles crossed and her legs leaning to one side, her slender waist and back was straight and upright, and her voice gentle but melodious – the posture of a poised lady.
"Well, I may leave Silver Plume for a while and I was worried that your illness might suddenly manifest, so I came here today to check up on you!"
Chen Xiaobei's gaze fell on Wuren Muyue's sweet, delicate face.
This woman was the carbon copy of a faerie princesses in fairytale movies, so beautiful she was flawless.
Unfortunately, her complexion was poor. The illness that had ravaged her body had caused it to deteriorate, accelerating its expiry to a rapid countdown of just six months!
Wenren Muyue was left with only six, short months!
It was confirmed. The Netherspirit Battlescouter's Book of Life and Death recorderd that Wenren Muyue only had six months left to live!
She would need a miracle to recover from that!
Normal doctors or even the expert Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors of the Temple did not have the capacity or power to do it.
As there was nothing more to lose, there was nothing wrong for Chen Xiaobei to try.
Chen Xiaobei had already made the first diagnosis: Wenren Muyue was suffering from some sort of severe pathogenic virus that caused her body to have acute attacks of extreme cold.
Chen Xiaobei's purpose for coming today was to find out about the investigation on Atlanta, but also to treat Wenren Muyue's illness. Only then would he feel at peace enough to leave Silver Plume Planet in his search for the Black Dessert.
If anything bad did happen to Atlantis or Wenren Muyue, Chen Xiaobei would then be not able to take it well!
"Mr. Chen, why are you staring at me for so long this time?"
Wenren Muyue's cheeks turned pink, feeling a little shy as she was being scanned from head to toe by Chen Xiaobei.
"That's because I'm looking to determine the cause of your illness!" Chen Xiaobei said. "I may have identified the extreme pathogenic illness in your body but I'm not confident I can dispel it just yet. I'm thinking that I could at least try to relieve its symptoms so that you won't have any attacks anymore!"
"Re… Really?" Wenren Muyue sounded hopeful at the prospect.
She had already accepted the fact that she had only six months left to live, but the idea of being able to live out the rest of her months without the excruciating pain and attacks that wore her down was extremely appealing. The people around her did not have to worry about her, and she could spend what little was left of her life untroubled.
As long as Chen Xiaobei could get the extreme pathogenic cold attacks under control, it was good enough for Wenren Muyue being able to die peacefully. To her this was already a pretty good ending.
"There is a chance," Chen Xiaobei said. "I will prescribe you some medicine. Once you've taken it, I'll check your vital energy. There shouldn't be any problems!"
"Alright! Thank you so much, Mr. Chen!" Wenren Muyue smiled.
Qing'er pouted, and was visibly displeased. "Idol! Your medical skills are supposed to incredible! How can you just suppress the illness, but not just get rid of it completely? Think of a way, please… I beg you!"
"That's because the extreme pathogenic cold that Muyue is suffering from is very strange. Not only are there traces of poison in her system, but also traces of a curse!" Chen Xiaobei explained. "Curses are divided into 3 types: spiritual curses, shaman curses, and magical curses. For now, I have not been able to accurately identify which one she is affected by. Medicine won't be able to solve any of these curses either. Don't take my suspicions for it, but I'm leaning more towards a magical curse!"
"Magical curse? Why?" Wenren Muyue and Qing'er asked together.
"Because I have a holy item on me. If it is a spiritual curse or a shamanic curse, then it can be broken easily. But since I met Muyue, her condition did not get better! This means that the magical curse that was inflicted on her may not even contain any demonic presence!"
"Huh…" Wenren Muyu and Qing'er did not really understand what Chen Xiaobei was saying.
The Seven Treasury Fragrant Pouch on Chen Xiaobei's chest was holding the Cleansing Bodhi that Duobao Rulai had given to him. This holy item was supposed to make sure the bearer would not be affected by anything that was unclean like poisons and disease!
If Wenren Muyue's sickness was caused by a spirit curse or a shamanic curse, her vital energy should have shown some improvement since she met Chen Xiaobei. But nothing seemed to have changed!
Magical curses originated from Western witchcraft, and were divided into two different kinds. Black magic and white magic.
Chen Xiaobei was still unfamiliar with the arts from the West and that was why he was uncertain, therefore unable to provide an exact method of cure.
The best option available right now was to only apply symptomatic treatment to prevent the attacks from cropping up. When he returned from the Black Desert, he would devote his time to research and hopefully find a way to help change Wenren Muyue's fate.
Chen Xiaobei wrote a prescription on a piece of paper and sent Qing'er to fetch the medicine.
The Wenren family happened to own a huge treasury that was well stocked with herbal medicines, so Chen Xiaobei did not have to worry about that.
When Qing'er returned with the herbs, Chen Xiaobei taught her how to prepare the medicine.
After that, all they had to do was wait for the medicine to be ready.
"Oh, right. How is Uncle Wenren recently? Is he very busy?" Chen Xiaobei brought up the topic casually. His manner may have been breezy but he was actually ready to launch into interrogation mode about Atlantis.
"Yeah! Father had to attend to some intractable problems recently. There was not a day or night he did not spend in the Governor's house for meetings. I haven't heard from him for a few days already!" Wenren Muyue answered.
"Is it about Atlantis?" Chen Xiaobei asked directly.
"Er…" Wenren Muyue looked down and hesitated. She did not really want to talk about it.
"If it's inconvenient to talk about it, just pretend I didn't ask. I heard my friend talking about it, so I curious about it."
Weren Muyue chewed on her lip. "Not that it's not convenient. The thing is, this matter doesn't seem like a secret anymore."
Chen Xiaobei did not express his opinion but waited for Wenren Muyue to continue.
"I have never talked about it with my father, but I've heard that they had some difficulties. The portal to earth was destroyed so the people could not travel! Also, the South Temple Starfied's elders are still unconscious. It is proving to be a very difficult investigation! It's almost impossible to find the culprit!"
Chen Xiaobei breathed a sigh of relief.
This matter had been bothering Chen Xiaobei like a bad itch. If the Temple had looked into Japan and followed its lead, there was a chance they would find out that it was Chen Xiaobei's doing.
If the Temple launched a retaliation, Chen Xiaobei and the whole of Bei Xuan Faction would have to face the biggest disaster they would ever experience.
Luckily, the investigation could not continue at the moment. At least, during this short period of time, Chen Xiaobei had nothing to worry about.
"When will the portal be fixed?" Chen Xiaobei asked. "I don't have any other intentions. I'm just curious, that's all. I'm wondering how the Northern Wilderness soldiers from earth are going to go back once their service ends?"
"I'm not sure either. The shortest time would be about three to five years. The longest would be about 10 years to rebuild a large-scale portal. It takes a long time and requires a lot of manpower. We will also need a lot of building materials. The hardest part of the reconstruction is finding a Talisman Crafter. Crafting a talisman is the most time consuming of all."
"Oh, is that so?" Chen Xiaobei nodded. He had nothing to worry about at all.
Before the rebuilding of the portal would be completed, Chen Xiaobei was confident that he could establish his place in Northern Wilderness Starfield. By then, the whole Bei Xuan Faction would have been moved away. Even if the Temple found out the truth, they would not be able to do anything.
Now that this was no longer a problem, Chen Xiaobei could finally relax.
When the medication was ready, Wenren Muyue drank it. Chen Xiaobei then checked her vital energy and even made an exception to check her pulse.
He confirmed that if she took the medication once every three days, the extreme pathogenic cold attacks would not rear its head.
Wenren Muyue was so happy at this news that she kept thanking Chen Xiaobei and even begged Chen Xiaobei to stay for dinner.
But Chen Xiaobei had to refuse her.
Chen Xiaobei was no longer that guy who would forget everything when he saw a beautiful woman. He had more important things to attend to – to expand his cultivation!
There was not a soul in the 2nd Regiment base camp. Ning Yuchen and the others were still stationed in Zachara Grand Canyon.
Chen Xiaobei returned to his room and took out all of the Beast Cores he had with him.
"I must absorb all of these Beast Cores today so that it can be stored as energy inside by body, which will be absorbed gradually!"
Chen Xiaobei also took out another item from the Infinite Space Ring.
It was a flesh-colored fruit, shaped like a newborn child with its legs crossed, perfectly formed limbs and facial features.
If it were not for the stem and two leaves on the top, one might have mistook it for a real baby.
That's right!
It was the Ginseng Fruit that Chen Xiaobei had received from Grand Deity Zhen Yuan in exchange for an online novel!
"Thanks to that Monkey King stealing the Ginseng Fruits, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing got a taste of it. Today, I'm going to have to try it as well!"
Chen Xiaobei licked his lips and bit into it.
"Wow! It tastes really really good!" Chen Xiaobei could not help himself and shouted excitedly.
Nothing he had eaten so far could compare to the taste of the Ginseng fruit.
That magical feeling of pure 'foodgasm' was indescribable. After the first bite, he could not stop eating.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
It was so crisp and juicy. Before Chen Xiaobei could fully appreciate its deliciousness, the whole Ginseng Fruit had already disappeared down his throat!
At least he was a little better than Zhu Bajie; at least Chen Xiaobei managed to taste the the true flavour of it in its entirety.
"Alright! Next, let's take a look at my lifespan!"
Chen Xiaobei accessed his Netherspirit Battlescouter.
Ding!
[Cultivation: Early phase of Celestial Cultivation; Lifespan: 5070 years; Health: 100,500; combat power, 80,100]
"Haha! My lifespan has increased! I can use the dark powers now!"
Chen Xiaobei immediately incited the Dark Neutron inside his heart and began to stir up the Dark Powers within!
"Rise!" Chen Xiaobei cried. His Celestial powers then raised the Beast Cores into the air.
"Burst!" Chen Xiaobei called out again, and the Beast Cores that were hovering in the air began to crack open, releasing its Beast Essence.
Chen Xiaobei took in a deep breath and sucked in all of the Beast Essence into his body.
The Beast Cores Gu Congwen had bought for him, combined with the ones he already had, could increase his combat power by 162,000.
Of course, it would not increase all at once. The absorption would take quite a while.
Without using the Sunlight Cache, it would take about seven to eight days. It felt like decades to Chen Xiaoebi.
"I cannot waste a second! I need to get back and head to Black Desert in three days!"
Chen Xiaobei crossed his legs and began to cultivate.
He used the Scripture of Heaven and Earth, of course. That way, the Beast Essences became like Spiritual Qi and it would enhance his cultivation slowly.
Of course, using the Dark Powers to absorb the Beast Essences would double the effect!
It took him a full 72 hours.
Chen Xiaobei had absorbed a portion of the Beast Cores, and his combat power and health had increased by 7,200 points.
After a rough calculation of his combat power, Chen Xiaobei decided to round up the numbers and continued to cultivate for another 3 hours.
After three hours…
"Phew." Chen Xiaobei breathed out a mouthful of filthy Qi, and opened his eyes. He felt refreshed and rejuvenated.
"Let me check my progress!" Chen Xiaobei was very eager.
Ding!
[Cultivation: Early phase of Celestial Cultivation. Lifespan: 70 years; Health: 100,800; combat power, 87,600]
"F*ck! I only have 70 years left!" Chen Xiaobei felt sour. The supposedly super abundant and inexhaustible years that he had only three days and three hours ago had dwindled just like that. This was all thanks to the idiot Primordial Lord of Heaven who had changed the rules. How frustrating!
"Luckily, there are no changes to my cultivation rate! It's already twice the efficiency of using Spiritual Stones. I've already gotten the best part of the bargain."
But Chen Xiaobei did waste time dwelling on the issue. Even though so much of his life was used up, he had gotten twice the result with half the effort.
Storing so much life was useless anyway. He might as well turn them into cultivation, which was much more practical.
All in all, the 5,000 years was worth spending!
"87,600 combat power. With the Primordial Witch King Combat Enhancement Training Manual, I could wield 113,880 combat power!" Chen Xiaobei calculated. "But because of the limitation of my health, it is reduced to 108,000 combat power! I have to figure out a better and faster way to increase my health! I'm missing out on so much combat power because of the limitation! That's not worth it at all! Hmm, I did get a lot of Spiritual Items from the Penglai Faction treasury though. If I use Xiao'er's Special Ability, my health can be increased very quickly. But the problem is that every time I use it, I will fall into deep sleep. I need to return to Bei Xuan Faction tomorrow. There's no time to sleep! I don't have enough life to use the Daylight Cache. If I had enough, then this would not have been a problem! I better send a text to Old Leader and tell him to hurry up and upload more chapters already! F*ck, he's simply too slow!"
Back in Bei Xuan Faction.
Luo Puti was already waiting for him. Once Chen Xiaobei arrived, she dragged him to the airport without so much as a hello.
"My darling wife, why are you in such a rush? I didn't even have time to catch my breath!"
It looked like Chen Xiaobei would only get his rest when they got on the plane.
"Are you really asking that question?! Today is the day we agreed to meet Kunlun Faction's Zhuo Qunfeng! If we're late, they'll leave without us! We have also prepared nothing!" Luo Puti said, the look on her face could have frozen hell over.
Chen Xiaobei looked at her. She was wearing a denim set and a pair of canvas shoes. She really was not prepared for the desert.
"Don't worry. They won't leave without us." Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "At least Zhuo Qunfeng won't!"
"Excuse me, he's the young master of a top-tier ancient faction. Do you really think that he would just sit there patiently, waiting for us to arrive?"
"Is the young master's fists as big as mine?!"
"…" Luo Puti was speechless.
The last time Zhuo Qunfeng put on the 'young master' attitude in front of Chen Xiaobei, he was taught a very painful lesson.
The other expedition members might leave but Zhuo Qunfeng would definitely not.
"You are overthinking it. When it's comes to your parents, your IQ reverts back to zero. From now on, don't think too much. Listen to me, and I promise that everything will go smoothly!" Chen Xiaobei said.
"You're the one with zero IQ! Humph!"
Luo Puti turned away and ignored him all the way to the airport.
She knew that when it came to her parents, she would lose her cool and her common sense. She would often act on impulse and even make stupid decisions.
Her silence proved that she accepted Chen Xiaobei's words and was ready to completely rely on Chen Xiaobei and listen to him.
This was an incredibly difficult concession for an ice queen.
Xijiang Airport.
When they exited the pathway, they saw that everything was as Chen Xiaobei had predicted.
Zhuo Qunfeng was waiting for them with a beautiful woman next to him. He dared not leave without them.
On top of that, Zhao Qunfeng's grandfather had reminded him over and over again to foster a good relationship Chen Xiaobei. How could Zhuo Qunfeng let an opportunity like that go to waste?
"Mr. Chen! Ms. Luo! Welcome to Xijiang!" Zhuo Qunfeng greeted them warmly, "Let me introduce to you to our Kunlun Faction Fifth Elder's granddaughter, Wang Mengyu. We've been friends since we were children!"
"How are you?" Luo Puti put out a hand politely, doing her best to appear friendly.
"Humph!"
Wang Mengyu looked sideways at Luo Puti and ignored her outstretched arm. Seemingly, they were treating each other like enemies.
Chen Xiaobei narrowed his eyes, preparing to counterattack on the sly.
If he was the one who had been given the cold shoulder, he would not have given a rat's ass; but because the person who was being so rudely snubbed was Luo Puti, Chen Xiaobei miffed.
Zhuo Qunfeng was discerning enough and attempted to salvage the situation, "My Shi Mei has been staying in the mountains for too long, and she has abandoned some of the etiquettes of the outside world. I hope Mr. Chen and Ms. Luo would not take this to heart."
"Oh, is that so? I thought it was because her self-esteem was so low, she was too shy to shake hands with my wife!" Chen Xiaobei curled his lips.
Even though Zhuo Qunfeng's excuse was believable enough, even a fool could tell that Wang Mengyu's refusal to shake Luo Puti's hand was not because she had no regard for worldly customs but because she was deliberately being hostile.
Chen Xiaobei was the type of person who could tolerate inveigling but not intimidation. The woman's belligerence would only tick Chen Xiaobei off.
"What did you just say? I am the granddaughter of the Kunlun Faction's Fifth Elder! You can never, in your entire lifetime, hope to gain the position, authority, wealth and resources such as mine! Why should I feel inferior to you?"
Wang Mengyu was not going to go down without a fight, spilling out all the anger that had welled up in her.
"Well, because you are not as beautiful as my wife."
Chen Xiaobei shrugged his shoulders.
"You… I…" Wang Mengyu was dumbstruck. All she could do was glare at Luo Puti, trying to find a flaw on her face that she could throw back at Chen Xiaobei.
But even through a woman's eyes, Luo Puti was perfect. Wang Mengyu could see nothing wrong with her.
Full score for her beauty, full score for her temperament and a definite full score for her body.
Especially today, in the skin-tight jeans that clung to the delicious curves and dips of her long slender legs. Almost all the men around her were staring at her.
Wang Mengyu turned beet red with humiliation, grinding her teeth with an intense loathing of Luo Puti. How could such a beautiful woman exist? It was so infuriating!
"Hmph!" Wang Mengyu stamped her feet and walked away furiously.
"What's her problem? What did we ever do to her? Why is she acting like we're her enemies?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"Sigh, this silly girl is head over heels for one of our elder Shixiongs. Because you were late, elder Shixiong and the others left her behind to me because her cultivation was the lowest." Zhuo Qunfeng said. "Fifth Shimei is angry that she could not go with elder Shixiong. Please don't mind her, Mr. Chen."
"Oh, I understand now." Chen Xiaobei nodded. "As long as she doesn't bother my wife, I won't mind."
"Yes, yes, yes. I will talk to her later." Zhuo Qunfeng nodded.
The truth was, Zhuo Qunfeng had already warned Wang Mengyu earlier not to rub Chen Xiaobei the wrong way.
But this little miss was too proud. She was used to being spoiled by her Shi Xiongs and Shi Dis, who would always give in to her. To her, Chen Xiaobei was only an ordinary mortal being, not someone she would bother to respect.
"Who are the others travelling with us?"
Chen Xiaobei jumped to the next topic.
Zhuo Qunfeng said, "There are sixteen of us from Kunlun faction. Other than the children and grandchildren of the faction leader and the five core elders, there are also another 10 core disciples. There will also be 16 other people from Xingxiu Faction who will be joining us too!"
"Xingxiu Faction? Oh, why are there people from other factions?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"Why are you still associating yourself with that cult?"
Luo Puti furrowed her brows. She clearly had prejudice about Xingxiu Faction.
As the chief inspector of the Six Door Organisation, Luo Puti knew more about Jianghu than Chen Xiaobei.
"Oh, Ms. Luo Puti is right. The Xingxiu Faction is a cult, but we have to take them with us on this trip. I'm sure Ms. Luo has studied my grandfather's manuscript. You should know that there are a lot of extremely poisonous snakes and insects in the desert!"
"Yes, there are also poisonous springs and plants."
Luo Puti nodded.
"Right! That is exactly why we invited the Xingxiu Faction to join us! The Xingxiu Faction's art of poison is unparalleled in Jianghu. They have been able to create antidotes for many unusual poisons that modern medical science would be unable to treat!" Zhao Qunfeng said.
"Oh, it makes sense now. I was a little too overzealous. A balance of yin and yang, good and evil replying on each other. Allowing them to come along will definitely be helpful to us!"
Luo Puti nodded.
Chen Xiaobei, on the other hand, made no comment. In this world, as long as it was on the topic of real poison, there was nothing Chen Xiaobei could solve.
"Thank you for understanding, Ms. Luo." Zhuo Qunfeng then changed the subject. "The others left about half a day earlier than us. We have to hurry and try to catch up before night falls!"
Unlike the movies, this expedition team were not going into the desert while riding camels. That desert animal was weak in comparison to the cultivators.
Going on foot was the fastest way to travel, at least for them.
"Alright. We came completely unprepared, so we'll just go with your plan." Luo Puti answered.
Again, Chen Xiaobei did not express any opinion and followed behind.
Once they left the airport, they drove to the edge of the desert, and immediately began their journey.
Zhuo Qunfeng had told them that the core disciples were the ones carrying the essentials like water, food, tents and sleeping bags. Once they caught up with them, they would have all the supplies they need.
Because Chen Xiaobei and Luo Puti did not kit themselves out, they were just going to eat off whatever Zhuo Qunfeng had brought.
At the beginning of their journey into the desert, it was almost effortless. They even travelled faster than an airplane!
Of course, even though they were quick, they had to stop every once in a while to determine the direction in which they were heading.
One part of the boundless desert did not look any different from the other. Everything looked the same! If they deviated by even the slightest, they could go completely off course!
Additionally, the GPS signal was unstable, disappearing and reappearing without a warning. That was why most of the time, they had to do the navigating manually, and this proved to be very difficult.
Luckily, even though Luo Puti had come unprepared, she had scoured over Zhuo Qunfeng's grandfather's manuscript the entire week.
She was even better than Zhuo Qunfeng at directions, and was a great help to him throughout the journey.
Except for the navigating, everything else went smoothly.
Of course, they were still only in the periphery of the Xijiang desert. The real danger lied at the border Black Desert.
As for the Black Desert itself, no one really knew what it was like.
Even Zhuo Qunfeng's grandfather was only able to go as far as the edge of the Black Desert. He had never really set foot inside it.
Thanks to Luo Puti's assistance, their journey was much more smooth sailing. They were able to catch up with the others by nightfall.
16 tents were set up around a large bonfire, where young men sat enjoying their meal and each other's company.
As Zhuo Qunfeng and his group drew near, everyone's eyes turned to them.
"Elder Shixiong! You're so mean! You started dinner without us!" Wang Mengyu called out as she ran over to an attractive-looking young man.
The young man seemed to not have heard her, and like the rest of his comrades, he was silent. They were all staring at the one person…
Any normal man would have reacted the same way.
The group of men staring at Luo Puti were bewitched and could not tear their eyes away.
Even the female disciple from Xingxiu Faction was gawping at her.
Once again, Wang Mengyu felt deeply embarrassed.
Acting cute, fluttering her eyelids or looking adorable… no matter how hard she tried, she always seemed to be a step behind the modest and reserved Luo Puti.
Chen Xiaobei was also irritated. He grabbed Luo Puti's dainty hand, claiming her as his own before the perverted wolves pounced on her.
When the gawping group saw this, they blushed red with embarrassment, and looked at Chen Xiaobei with awe, jealousy and hatred. These emotions rose in them like a blazing fire in order to burn Chen Xiaobei alive!
The term femme fatale really was quite true.
That simple act of holding her hand made Chen Xiaobei their enemy.
Luo Puti muttered under her breath as she tried to pull her hand away, "Let go. Don't you know that you're courting hatred?"
Chen Xiaobei's grip on her only tightened.
"If I'm afraid of these men hating me, I don't deserve to call you my wife."
Luo Puti whimpered. Chen Xiaobei's manly presence overwhelmed her, and for reasons unknown, she did not feel like letting go of his hands anymore.
"Qunfeng! Is this your friend? Why don't you introduce us?" asked the first man standing in front.
"Alright!" Zhuo Qunfeng looked at the young man and said, "This is Kunlun Faction's elder Shixiong, the young master of the faction, Zhou Xiaokun! My two friends here are Luo Puti, a Six Doors Organization chief inspector, and Chen Xiaobei, the winner of this Heroes of War Martial Art Competition!"
"Six Doors Organization? Oh, is that the organisation that's working for the government?" Zhou Xiaokun said, "Ms. Luo, working there won't do you any good. You should join our Kunlun Faction. We can give you a brighter future."
"There's no need for that. I'm very happy with my current job." Luo Puti shook her head; a hint of irritation audible in her voice.
To the secular factions, Six Door Organization was the highest institution that managed Jianghu's affairs but to top-tier ancient factions like Kunlun, they were an organisation not even worth mentioning.
"Ms. Luo, allow me to introduce myself!" A young man, dressed pompously, with ear piercings and dyed silver hair walked towards them, "I am the young master of Xingxiu Faction, Ding Ding'ao! You can call me Master Ao!"
Luo Puti's face grew cold. Her already strong disdain for dissenting factions like Xingxiu worsened to disgust by this idiot's flabergasting introduction.
However, for the sake of the unity of the expedition group, Luo Puti bit her tongue, held her breath and said a polite, "Nice to meet you!"
Ding Dignao smiled. "To be frank with you, Six Doors Organisation has no future! Even if you are chief inspector, your cultivation is still no match to any of our Xingxiu faction's disciples! Why slog for other people when you can focus on your own cultivation? What do you think?"
Brows furrowed, Luo Puti said, "I may think of leaving in the future, but not right now. Can we please talk about something else?"
"Of course! Let's change the topic!" Zhou Xiaokun said, "Being with a man is like choosing a job. With the right person, your future will be bright, and prosperous! With the wrong person, your future will be a dark, unhappy place. He might even drag you down with him!"
All at the same time, all eyes fell on Chen Xiaobei.
It was painfully obvious that Zhou Xiaokun was throwing aspersions at Chen Xiaobei, belittling him.
"That is very true indeed!" Ding Ding'ao followed along with the mocking, and was even more blatant. "He's just some nobody who won some competition! He's not right for a woman of unmatched beauty like Ms. Luo! That's like putting a rose on a pile of manure!"
Chen Xiaobei said nothing. It was Luo Puti's turn to be annoyed.
"My boyfriend and I are together because of how we feel about each other, not for some stupid future. That's reserved only for materialistic people!" Luo Puti said sternly, "In fact, he and I have been through many life and death experiences together. Whenever he's in trouble, I will jump right in, much less think about how he's going to drag me down! If you want to target him, then we will both leave!"
Chen Xiaobei was touched to hear this.
This was the first time Luo Puti admitted that he was her boyfriend!
She even threatened to leave the expedition group for his sake! It seemed that Luo Puti really did care for him!
For a person with an icy personality like her to say something like this and to make such a noble decision was extraordinary. Chen Xiaobei felt like he was cloud nine.
"Ms. Luo, please don't misunderstand! We are not targeting anyone! Let's not talk about it anymore! No one else here is allowed to talk about it!" Zhou Xiaokun quickly changed his tone.
Even Ding Ding'ao seemed to have a change of mind. "You two have been on the road for the whole day. You must be thirsty. There's water here, dried meat and Mantou buns. Come! Come!"
The two idiots did not expect Luo Puti to bite back.
The two of them, the young master of Kunlun and the young master of Xingxiu, had used this method many a time to cuckold other men.
After all, women nowadays had become very materialistic. Most women thought of men as disposable pleasures, rather than meaningful pursuits. Not many of them were able to resist their cajoling.
Not only did they fail to seduce Luo Puti away from Chen Xiaobei, but their scheme also backfired.
In order to calm Luo Puti down, they had to revoke their words.
The tension in the air finally dissipated.
But Chen Xiaobei and Luo Puti did not go over. Instead, Zhuo Qunfeng brought the water and food over to them.
"I did not expect that to happen. I am simply the grandson of the fourth elder, and there are a lot of things that are out of my control. I hope you can forgive me for that."
"Don't worry. We know how to differentiate between right and wrong. We won't take our anger out on you." Chen Xiaobei replied.
"That's great! That's very good!" Zhuo Qunfeng was relieved to hear that Chen Xiaobei did not blame him for what had happened.
"Where is our tent? Bring it over. Better to set it now so that we can rest." Chen Xiaobei said.
"Alright!" Zhuo Qunfeng ran off and returned with the tent and sleeping bags. "Because we are not travelling with camels, we can only carry a limited number of things. We are sharing tents. I'm afraid the both of you will have to squeeze into one tent!"
"Oh…" Luo Puti looked reluctant.
Chen Xiaobei, on the other hand, chuckled. "Don't worry. I always hug my wife to sleep, anyway."
"Haha! I envy Mr. Chen's luck with women!" Zhuo Qunfeng smiled. "Well, I won't keep you. We will be leaving at six o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. So, don't tire yourself out doing 'exercise'. Try to get an early rest!"
"Don't worry. Even if we do exercise, we won't let it hold us up!" Chen Xiaobei grinned. "Darling wife! Don't just sit there. Let's start our exercise! Hehehe!"
"I'm not going to do that with you! The reason why I called you my boyfriend in front of everyone just now was only because I wanted to protect you! Do you really think I consider you my boyfriend?!" said Luo Puti in a cold manner.
"My wife! Your mind is getting dirtier and dirtier! The 'exercise' that I mentioned just now is talking about setting up the camp! What kind of 'exercise' did you think I was talking about? Hehehe…" replied Chen Xiaobei with a grin.
"I…"
Taken aback, Luo Puti's face turned into a red tomato when she realized that Chen Xiaobei had just pulled her leg. She then turned her head around and refused to talk to Chen Xiaobei anymore. In the end, Chen Xiaobei had to setup the camp all by himself. Fortunately, this was just an easy task for him. He managed to complete it within a short period of time.
"My honey… Come and get some rest! We still have to wake up early in the morning tomorrow!"
"Dream on! I'm not going to sleep with you!"
"Look at you! There must be dirty thoughts going through your mind again! I'm just going to lie here with you to have a good night sleep without even touching you!"
"There's no way I'm going to believe what you just said!"
"Damn… This is not the first time we slept together. Why are you so shy? Have you forgotten about the incident at Village Chen? How about that time when you got drunk? And the time when you were poisoned… And…"
"Okay! Enough! I will sleep with you… Are you happy now?"
Luo Puti's face was as red as a tomato. Though she refused to admit that she was Chen Xiaobei's woman, they had actually been through a lot of complicated hardships together.
Let's take a look at all those times when Chen Xiaobei had the opportunity to sleep with Luo Puti. He could have easily had sex with her if he allowed his desires take over, but he managed to fight off any temptation whatsoever. Judging from that, Chen Xiaobei was actually a man that stuck to his principles. And, Luo Puti had just mentioned to everyone that they were a couple. If they chose not to sleep together, others would definitely get suspicious of their supposed relationship.
In the end, Luo Puti had no other option but to enter the tent unwillingly. After a whole day of travelling, Luo Puti fell asleep soon after she meditated and lay down in the tent. As for Chen Xiaobei, he would not do anything dirty to Luo Puti since he had given her his promise. Instead of sleeping, Chen Xiaobei made use of all the time that he had to carry on with his training. Now that his body was stored with a good amount of resources, his combat power and health would increase steadily whenever he sat down to cultivate himself.
That was why each second and minute mattered dearly to him. No one could see what was going inside the tent right after Chen Xiaobei zipped it up. He could carry on training without the others finding out about it. Though the tent was zipped up, Chen Xiaobei could still hear noises from the outside.
The people from Kunlun Faction and Xingxiu Faction were all young men. Considering that this was their first time coming to this desert, it was no wonder that they were filled with excitement. None of them had any intention to rest until later that night. What they did not know was that something evil was brewing behind their excitement.
"Master Zhou, I don't think I can wait any longer!"
From afar, Ding Ding'ao could be seen grinning and he had a fanatical look on him.
"Can't wait to do what?" asked Zhou Xiaokun.
Clearly, he knew what Ding Ding'ao was talking about.
"Look at that legendary beauty! Do you really think that you can resist your inner desire to have some good times with her?"
"So what if I can't resist the inner desire? She is taken!"
"You'd better show your true colors! You don't have to act like all gentlemanly in front of me! Remember how many times we had sex with all those pretty women in America? Remember how many times we cuckolded those elites' wives and girlfriends? Why do you even care if she is taken or not?!"
"You are right. Do you now realize that Luo Puti is different from all those women? This woman puts up a cold front but her heart is actually warm! She will not give up on the man that she loves! The talk that we had with her just now is the best proof that we will never get her heart!"
"If she is not willing to give up the man that she loves, we shall do her the favour!"
Ding Ding'ao lifted up his hand and did a throat-slicing gesture.
Clearly, Xingxiu Faction was evil by nature and this man Ding Ding'ao no good either. In order to take advantage of Luo Puti, he was willing to kill an innocent man like Chen Xiaobei.
"It's easy to squash that ant! But I think Luo Puti would definitely put up a fight with us if she finds out that we are the murderers! In the end, we still can't do whatever we want to her!" said Zhou Kunshen while shaking his head.
"Then, we should ask someone to kill him for us!"
"Who are you planning to ask? We can only ask someone that we trust to do this dirty work for us! By that time, what if Luo Puti wants us to carry out the justice? What are we going to do to the people that helps us? Are we really going to kill the person? I don't think so, right?"
"Of course not! It's really hard to nurture someone that we can trust! Letting the person that we trust to get executed from killing that kid is definitely not a good idea! Do you really think that I'm an idiot?"
"I'm not saying that you are an idiot! You are the one who said it's better to ask someone to do the dirty work for us!"
"Heh…Have you forgotten about the forte of Xingxiu Faction?!"
Ding Ding'ao raised his eyebrows and took a little metal box from his sleeve.
"Poison! Poisonous insect!"
Zhou Kunshen was basking in joy when he saw the poisonous insect.
"That's right! This is a Crimson Wolf Spider! I have invested in a lot of poisonous items to grow it! After tamed, it will only obey orders that come from me alone! One bite and the kid will surely die!"
"Great! This is really great! Once that kid dies, Luo Puti will be single again, and we can take that opportunity to get close to her! Hahaha!"
"This is my idea, and besides, I'm the one who brought out this spider! So, it's only right that to let me have a taste of her first!"
"I'm willing to let you do it first! But I might be the one that wins her heart first! What if she likes me more than you? By that time, please don't blame me for not respecting you. I will give her to you after I'm bored of her!"
"Hmph! When it comes to wooing girls, I, Ding Ding'ao am the best! Just wait there to collect my old toy after I'm done with her!"
It was very clear that the two of them treated Luo Puti like a toy. They would never get serious with her.
"We'll talk about that later! Now, we need to deal with that kid first!"
"This is a must! Let me do it now!"
Immediately, Ding Ding'ao opened the metal box. A coin-sized spider emerged. Its entire abdomen was red and there were spikes all over its legs. The pair of poisonous crimson fangs that grew out its mouth could be clearly seen as well.
"Kill that man in the tent! Do not harm that woman!"
Without wasting any time, Ding Ding'ao gave the spider a firm and clear order.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Right after he dropped the order, the spider scooted to the tent as fast as possible.
At the same time, Chen Xiaobei was still working on his training and Luo Puti was in deep sleep.
The Crimson Wolf Spider's speed and agility was extremely fast. Without anyone noticing, it had already snuck into Chen Xiaobei's tent.
Phissh!
Phissh!
Like a pair of scissors, the spider used its fangs to cut a two centimeter opening across the tent.
"You little piece of shit… Do you want to die here?"
At that moment, Chen Xiaobei was actually still not asleep and he did not get into the zone as well because he needed to get up early the next morning. The very instant he heard something breaking into the tent, he acted upon it immediately.
"F*ck! I can't believe you know how to speak in my language!" said the Crimson Wolf Spider, taken aback.
"Damn! I didn't know you actually know how to swear! It seems like you've been tamed by someone!"
"Cut the pep talk! I'm here to kill you!"
The Crimson Wolf Spider showed off both of his fangs and prepared to launch an attack at Chen Xiaobei.
"Do you really think you can kill me?" asked Chen Xiaobei with a grin.
There was still a possibility for the little spider to steal a chance to kill Chen Xiaobei if he was asleep. But since he was awake now, there was no way that it could kill him.
"Of course I can kill you! I'm born to kill! I can unleash attacks as fast as an elite with a pinnacle phase of True Nirvana stage! Killing you is as easy as a piece of cake!"
Chen Xiaobei almost laughed out loud after hearing the little spider's threats.
"Alright. Since I'm going to be killed by you, at least tell me who sent you here to kill me. At the very least, I can die a good death!"
"Don't you dare even try to lure me into saying something that I will never reveal! I'm the most loyal venomous insect in this world!"
"Oh damnit. I didn't know that you could be that loyal!"
"Of course! My loyalty to master is not to be questioned!"
"Really?"
Chen Xiaobei then put his hands into his pocket and took something out from it.
"Come here! My hand is here! I dare you to bite it!"
"Heh! Seems like you are have prepared yourself to be killed by me! Don't blame me for killing you!"
The spider exerted strength to all eight of its legs and launched at Chen Xiaobei with pinnacle-phase-True-Nirvana speed. Immediately, Chen Xiaobei opened up his palm and revealed to the little spider, the item he just took out from his pocket.
"Oh my god…"
The Crimson Wolf Spider let out a fearful scream and screeched to a halt, half a centimetre in front of Chen Xiaobei's palm. It then kneeled on the ground and started shaking in fear. It was as if he had just seen something extremely terrifying.
"Erm… Bro Bei… What are you doing… I want to continue sleeping…"
A golden beetle pranced around in Chen Xiaobei's palm. Seemingly, it wanted to carry one with its beauty sleep.
The thing that Chen Xiaobei took out from its pocket was none other than Xiao'er! Though it was still in an infancy stage, it could be considered as the king of insects. No other insects were allowed to challenge its authority.
"Can you stop sleeping?! I'm about to be killed by someone! Wake up!"
"What?! Who dare kill my Bro Bei?! I'm going to bite it to death!"
Xiao'er let out a thunderous roar and spun around to look at the Crimson Wolf Spider.
"Are you the one that tried to kill my Bro Bei?!"
"No… I wouldn't dare to do so… This is a huge misunderstanding…" The spider mumbered in a trembling voice.
"Yo! Aren't you the one that said you'd be killing me right here right now? I've literally just offered my hand in front of you! Why did you back off from it?! Aren't you slapping your own face now?"
"I…"
Left speechless, the Crimson Wolf Spider felt regretful of what he had just said.
"Tell me! Who sent you here?!" Xiao'er shouted.
"It's Ding Ding'ao! That's his evil plan. I'm just a pathetic insect that he takes advantage of!"
The Crimson Blood Spider immediately pushed all the blame to Ding Ding'ao without any hesitation.
Blarrggh!
"You were the one who said that you're the most loyal insect in this world! What happened to that loyalty?! How could you betray your master without thinking about it? What a funny little insect you are!"
"I… Bro… I was just acting tough just now… I thought that I could kill you… Thus the speech… I'm honestly terrified of you now… Have mercy… Please spare my life…"
Chen Xiaobei actually found this entire incident hilarious. He knew that this little spider was a coward but he did not expect that it was that fun to tease with. What shocked Chen Xiaobei the most was Xiao'er's powerful presence. Xiao'er barerly had to do anything and yet the Crimson Wolf Spider was so fearful of it that it was forced to take a step back. To the rest of the insects in this world, Xiao'er was God-like to them. Its presence was powerful enough to make them bow down and worship it.
"I can choose to spare your life, but you have to listen to my orders from today onwards!" said Chen Xiaobei.
"Okay! Okay! Okay! No problem! I am now your slave! I will do anything at all that you ask of me!"
Actually, the Crimson Wolf Spider was tamed by a mere mortal being. It wasn't a requirement to build a Spiritual Connection with its master to stay loyal. That was why the spider could choose to betray Ding Ding'ao anytime it wanted to. The difference with the Spiritual Beast that Chen Xiaobei had was that all of them would never betray Chen Xiaobei no matter what.
"Alright, what I would like you to do is to bite Ding Ding'ao!" said Chen Xiaobei with an evil smile.
"What?! Are you serious… I don't dare to bite Ding Ding'ao… Can I bite Zhou Xiaokun instead?"
"Wait what? Zhou Xiaokun is in this as well?!"
"Erm…Yes… Zhou Xiaokun and Ding Ding'ao are plotting together to kill you!"
Crimson Wolf Spider suddenly realized that it revealed such a vital information to Chen Xiaobei.
"If that's so, I'll change my mind now. I want you to give them a bite each! After that, you are allowed to become my ally. It's all up to you now!"
"This…"
The Crimson Wolf Spider did not know what to do anymore.
Biting Zhou Xiaokun and Ding Ding'ao each was actually an extremely difficult task.
"Stop giving excuses! The reason why Bro Bei is asking you to do this is because he has high expectations on you! You better appreciate this golden opportunity!" Xiao'er fumed.
"I will go! Right now!"
Clearly, it did not dare disobey Xiao'er.
Moments later, the little spider rushed out from the tent and returned to where it came from.
"Master Ao, it should be about time, right?" Zhou Xiaokun asked anxiously.
"Don't worry. We'll be hearing Luo Puti's screams very soon!" Ding Ding'ao said confidently. "My Crimson Wolf Spider has never failed!"
"Really? Not once?" Zhou Xiaokun exclaimed.
"Of course not!" Ding Ding'ao said. "As long as it is a sneak attack, even a man stronger than dickbag Chen would be hurt by us!"
"Wow!" Zhou Xiaokun licked his lips and said, "Could you make me one after this is over?"
"Nope, that's not possible." Ding Ding'ao shook his head. "It's not that I'm being stingy but the Crimson Wolf Spider needs time to adapt since they are little spiderlings. That's why they are so loyal to their owners. If I were to give you one, you might get bitten and die!"
"Oh, never mind then." Zhou Xiaokun gulped. "I don't have the patience to take care of poisonous insects. I guess I can only envy you in silence for having such a faithful and useful killing tool!"
"Of course! My Crimson Wolf Spider is the most faithful!" Ding Ding'ao puffed his chest proudly. "Look! Here it comes!"
A red silhouette scuttled close to the ground and then pranced onto Ding Ding'ao's hand.
"Did it work?" Ding Ding'ao held his spider up. "One leg for no, and two legs for yes."
"What one leg and two legs?" Zhou Xiaokun threw his associate a confused look.
The spider raised both of its forelegs.
"It was a success! It raised two legs! That means that dumb guy is dead! Haha!"
"Aw! This little thing is actually pretty smart! It even understands instructions!" Zhou Xiaokun examined the Crimson Wolf Spider up close. "Little one, good job! You did a wonderful job killing that idiot, Chen!"
Crimson Wolf Spider danced on Ding Ding'ao's hand.
"Aw, the more I look at it, the cuter it gets! Let me play with him!" Zhou Xiaokun extended his arm and said playfully, "Come here, crawl onto my palm!"
The spider jumped onto his hand.
"He won't bite me, right?"
Zhou Xiaokun suddenly grew nervous.
"Of course not!" Ding Ding'ao said proudly. "I raised this little guy myself. It will bite whoever I want it to bite. It won't bite unless I instruct it to!"
"Oh, then there's nothing to worry about." Zhou Xiaokun reeled his arm back in. "Hey little one! Raise your hands! Raise both of them!"
"Raise your ass! I will bite you to death!" The wolf spider thought to itself agitatedly, and jumped with all of its might towards Zhou Xiaokun.
"Huh?!" Zhou Xiaokun tried to dodge in panic but because the distance was way too close, he could not elude the spider, which eventually landed on his lips.
The attack happened in a fleeting moment. The wolf spider wasted no time and immediately bit into the lips it was standing on.
"Arrrrgh! Owww!" Zhou Xiaokun howled. "Ding Ding'ao! How dare you do this to me? Arrgh!"
Zhou Xiaokun collapsed onto the ground, his body convulsing, and his eyes rolled back into his head as white foam began was bubbling from his mouth. In a few seconds, he was going to die.
Ding Ding'ao deeply inhaled an icy breath of air. "How did this happen? Why would my spider give a deathly bite to someone on its own? Something is not right!"
Crimson Wolf Spider was raised by Ding Ding'ao since it was a spiderling, and its loyalty to its owner was something Ding Ding'ao had always been proud of.
Never in a million years had he expected his beloved pet to do this!
That was something he could not afford to think of at the moment, as he needed to save his friend. Ding Ding'ao brooded as he scrambled to look for an antidote.
Should he leave Zhou Xiaokun to just die like this, Ding Ding'ao was as good as dead. Kunlun Faction would hunt him down and literally massacre him. This really wasn't something to joke about!
Luckily, the Xingxiu Faction possesed nearly all kinds of antidotes for venomous insect bites. There was still a chance of survival if the antidote was given on time!
Ding Ding'ao took out a small black jade bottle, uncorked it and poured its contents into Zhou Xiaokun's mouth.
Because Crimson Wolf Spider's main purpose was used for killing, there were very few antidotes out there.
In fact, there was only a measely amount in the jade bottle.
Ding Ding'ao's hands were shaking so badly that he emptied the entire bottle.
To him, the cost of the entire bottle was nothing, as saving Zhou Xiaokun was more important than anything else for that matter. If the young master of Kunlun Faction died, he would have to pay with his life!
The antidote worked very quickly. Soon, the spasms stopped and color returned to Zhou Xiaokun's face.
"Phew, I've used up all the antidote, but at least Master Zhou is alive." Ding Ding'ao exhaled.
Suddenly!
"OWWWWW!" Ding Ding'ao screamed. Something had bitten his buttocks!
"What the f*ck! Crimson! You… How dare you bite me?!"
As Ding Ding'ao had been taught the Art of Poison since he was a child, he had a very holistic understanding of poison in general.
The pain in his buttocks and his body reaction indicated that it was Crimson Wolf Spider that had bitten him.
The venom was spreading very quickly. Within seconds, Ding Ding'ao began to shudder uncontrollably.
Luckily, because Ding Ding'ao had cultivated the Art of Poison and come into contact with many types of poison prior to this, his body's immunity to poison was much higher than most people's. He did not collapse immediately, but because the venom disseminated fast within his bloodstream, he could not stop the attack over his body. It was only a matter of time.
"An..ti… dote…" Ding Ding'ao could not be bothered to encapture his Crimson Wolf Spider. His hands were scrambling to reach for the jade bottle.
But there was nothing inside.
"Antidote… Without the antidote, I'll die!"
His sweat dripped profusely like rain.
Suddenly, at the corner of his eyes, Ding Ding'ao spotted remnants of the powder at the corner of Zhou Xiaokun's lips.
He reached out to touch the powder but because there was only so little left, he might have dropped some if he used his bare hands. What was he going to do then?
Ding Ding'ao's will and determination gave him an idea.
He took off his pants and sat on Zhou Xiaokun's lips.
"Ahhh…" Ding Ding'ao sighed with relief.
His wound had made direct contact with the antidote, and the pain reduced immediately.
"What the hell! Look at what Master Zhou and Master Ao are doing here! God, this hurts my eyes!"
The whole expedition team, including Chen Xiaobei and Luo Puti had gathered around the two young masters.