novelraw Chapter 125 : Emotional “Debt” and the “Cost” That Cannot Be Priced
Chapter 125 : Emotional “Debt” and the “Cost” That Cannot Be Priced
Chapter 125: Emotional “Debt” and the “Cost” That Cannot Be Priced
By the bedside, Chu Feng sat quietly, twirling a glaring strand of white hair between his fingers.
He had already been sitting there for a full day and night.
Outside the door of the recuperation chamber, all the heads of the Group’s Pill Department, Medicine Department, and Medical Department—along with several renowned healers from affiliated sects hired at great expense—stood with their heads bowed, each looking as though they had just lost their parents.
“President Chu……”
The head of the Pill Department, an elderly man with graying hair, walked in trembling, holding a thick scroll of beast-hide reports in his hands.
“We’ve exhausted every possible method.”
The old man’s voice trembled, beads of sweat rolling down from his forehead.
“All spiritual medicines in the storerooms over eight hundred years old have been used. The soul-warming 'Calming Spirit Incense' has never been interrupted since the war began.”
“But…… but……”
The old man hesitated for a long time, not daring to voice that conclusion.
Chu Feng did not turn around. His voice was so calm that not a trace of emotion could be heard: “Say it.”
“The Cold CPO she…… what she burned was her life origin, the very foundation of her soul!”
The old man hardened his heart, shut his eyes, and shouted it out.
“It’s like a candle being burned from both ends, until even the wax oil is gone! This isn’t something herbs, metals, or stones can replenish! This is a sign of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man—an incurable disease!”
Incurable disease.
Those two words were like two icy steel needles, stabbing straight into Chu Feng’s ears.
His expression did not change. Only the fingers twirling that strand of white hair paused ever so slightly.
“There’s no other way?”
“Unless…… we can find the legendary immortal treasure.”
The old man’s voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz, as though he feared being overheard.
“Ancient texts like the 'Records of Strange Tales' once recorded that in the Eastern Wasteland’s Extreme Baleful Lands, there exists a forbidden zone called the 'Ten Thousand Souls Cavern'. In its deepest depths, yin and yang converge, deathly aura and vitality intertwine, and it may give birth to a divine object known as the 'Nine-Orifice Soul-Nurturing Jade'.”
Chu Feng turned around, a glimmer of hope flashing through his eyes: “Go on in detail.”
“This jade is neither metal nor stone. It is condensed from the essence of heaven-and-earth souls. If obtained and held in the mouth, it can regenerate the soul and reshape the origin. It’s just that……”
“Just what?”
Chu Feng’s voice grew somewhat urgent.
“It’s just that the Ten Thousand Souls Cavern is a scar left behind by an ancient demonic war. Those who enter face ten deaths and no life! Let alone cultivators like us—even Nascent Soul Ancestors who enter would have their minds torn apart by countless remnant souls, turning into walking corpses! Since time immemorial, there’s never been a single person who came out alive!”
After saying this, the old man prostrated himself on the ground, his forehead nearly touching the floor.
Chu Feng fell silent.
His mind began to operate at high speed, calculating all possibilities and risk coefficients. Yet every time he tried to analyze things rationally, the scene from earlier that day surfaced before his eyes—beneath a sky filled with lightning, that woman burning her life to refine a divine pill, black hair turning into white snow with resolute determination.
That scene was like an indelible brand, carved deep into his soul.
Just then, a commotion arose outside the hall.
It was Zhao Wuji escorting a captured elder from Heavenheart Holy Land past the hall. That elder happened to hear the conversation inside and couldn’t help but let out a sneer.
“Nine-Orifice Soul-Nurturing Jade? Ten Thousand Souls Cavern? Heh, you people really don’t know the meaning of death!”
Though his cultivation had been sealed, the contempt in the elder’s tone was undiminished.
“Let alone you lot—even if our Saint Lord of Heavenheart Holy Land personally arrived, he’d have to detour around the Ten Thousand Souls Cavern! You mud-legged nobodies dare covet such a divine object? It’s nothing but a fool’s dream!”
Zhao Wuji kicked the back of the elder’s knee and shouted angrily: “Insolence! How dare you show disrespect to our President!”
Chu Feng slowly stood up and walked out.
He looked at the elder’s disdainful face, and a gentle smile suddenly appeared on his own.
“Oh? So you’re quite familiar with the Ten Thousand Souls Cavern?”
The elder felt a chill under Chu Feng’s gaze, yet he still craned his neck stubbornly: “Naturally! Our Holy Land’s archives are vast beyond measure—how could they compare to you nouveau riche?”
“Very good.”
Chu Feng nodded and instructed Zhao Wuji: “Director Zhao, this elder is a rare professional talent. Guard him well. Arrange a private room for him, serve him good wine and fine food daily—don’t let him go hungry.”
“Huh?”
Zhao Wuji was stunned. This treatment was better than what their own people received.
“Also,” Chu Feng added, “assign someone to accompany him in conversation twenty-four hours a day. Focus mainly on discussing the Ten Thousand Souls Cavern’s terrain, history, and various legends. Remember—make sure he 'willingly' shares everything he knows.”
Chu Feng deliberately stressed the words “willingly”.
Zhao Wuji, having roamed the Demonic Path for many years, instantly understood. A lewd “I get it” smile appeared on his face: “President, rest assured. I’ll make him talk better than he sings.”
“What are you trying to do? I’m telling you, even if I die, I won’t……”
The elder hadn’t finished speaking when Zhao Wuji slapped him across the face.
“Die? Who said anything about letting you die? Our Ascension Group is the most humanitarian of all.”
Zhao Wuji’s smile grew even brighter. “It’s just that there are many ways to live. Some are comfortable, and some…… not so comfortable.”
The elder’s face instantly turned pale. As he was dragged away, he kept shouting: “You demons! I won’t say anything! I won’t say a thing……”
His voice faded into the distance.
After handling this matter, Chu Feng turned around and saw Murong Xue standing not far away, holding a bowl of plain congee, looking at him with a complicated expression.
“The Ten Thousand Souls Cavern—you’re really going?”
She asked softly, worry seeping into her voice.
Chu Feng did not answer directly, instead asking, “If you were a company’s boss, and your most core asset was about to be scrapped, and the only way to repair it required you to risk your life by going somewhere—would you go, or not?”
Murong Xue frowned. “She isn’t an asset. She’s a person!”
“Exactly.”
Chu Feng looked at her, his gaze more serious than ever. “That’s why this account is even harder to settle.”
Leaving behind those words that left Murong Xue utterly baffled, he strode straight toward the Group’s council hall.
“President!”
Behind him came the trembling voice of the Pill Department elder: “The Ten Thousand Souls Cavern is truly too dangerous. Why don’t we think of another way……”
Chu Feng did not stop walking: “There’s no time left.”
His voice drifted in the air, carrying an unquestionable resolve.
Some debts must be repaid.
And before repaying them, he first had to go make money.
Make a huge sum of money.
After all, going to a place like the Ten Thousand Souls Cavern wasn’t something that could succeed on sheer hot-blooded passion alone.
He needed equipment. He needed manpower. He needed all kinds of life-saving measures.
All of that required money.
A lot of money.