novelraw Chapter 603 - 602 Bargaining in the City Lord’s Mansion
Chapter 603 - 602 Bargaining in the City Lord’s Mansion
[Sub Quest: Hu Zhile’s Obsession]
[Task 3: Successfully construct a disposable array according to the instructions. Hu Zhile has successfully been enveloped with a protective layer. Reward: Disposable Lucky Talisman +1 (fifteen minutes) has been issued]
[Task 4: Create a Resurrection Talisman within ten days. Reward: Resurrection Talisman production doubles]
"Finally, I can temporarily alleviate the crisis." Jiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, watching the countdown pop up for the task, and instinctively glanced at the Bronze Compass: Today’s fortune is average, a good day for mining.
Since mining is favored, wearing the Lucky Talisman should increase the chances of digging up Life Stones.
The key is that once you dig them up, you have to refine and purify the ores, and leave enough time for the Treasure Forging Workshop to produce the Resurrection Talisman. If it takes too long, the ten million Spirit Stones in the account may not be enough to speed up the process.
So, time is of the essence!
Enduring a bit of hardship, fatigue, and monotony now doesn’t matter; once a talisman is crafted, and the reward turns into two Resurrection Talismans, everything will be worth it.
The main quest for upgrading the courtyard relies on the passage of time to be completed, conveniently allowing more time and energy to be focused on the side quests.
Jiang Yuan instructed Yun Shu to stay home and accompany Hu Zhile, since it wouldn’t affect her talisman painting, while he turned to the Ancient Teleportation Array to directly reach the World Tree, ascending to the third layer of the mine to start mining diligently.
Meanwhile, Bai Yunqi and Xie Chenyuan were already seated firmly in the upper seats of the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Two Daoist friends... no, I mean, two benefactors. To be honest, ever since my young daughter contracted a mysterious illness and disappears every full moon night, I have exhausted all means but found no trace. Could you tell me where you found my daughter?"
Gongxi Yanchang, upon hearing that someone had returned his missing daughter, hurried back in surprise and joy.
His wife had already invited the two into the inner hall for hospitality; he was eager to understand the entire process and uncover the reason for his daughter’s disappearance.
Bai Yunqi did not directly answer the question, instead he asked back: "Do the City Lord and Madam know the root of your daughter’s so-called mysterious illness?"
"You may laugh, in the past three years we’ve sought out prestigious physicians, tried countless Elixirs and Earth Treasures, yet there has been no improvement." The City Lord’s wife, her eyes slightly reddened, sighed and said, "If our benefactors know the root cause, please let us know a little; we would be eternally grateful!"
Not knowing is just right!
Bai Yunqi thought, if not for the Venerable Family sending me the Flood Dragon Bloodline to consume and refine, I wouldn’t have sensed what that thing was.
Now, True Dragons in the Wilderness are hard to find, and finding a cultivator who can discern the remnants of a Flood Dragon is only possible with great fortune.
Someone like the Venerable Family who can see through its origins and history is even rarer; it deserves a good explanation from the beginning.
"Your daughter is not actually ill; she possesses dual souls. Apart from her own soul, there is also a remnant soul of a Flood Dragon coexisting within her." He fanned himself leisurely and revealed the truth in a single sentence, leaving the City Lord couple utterly shocked.
The couple exchanged a glance, both clearly stunned and confused. Was something as legendary as this, which they had never seen in person, happening to their daughter?
"Is it... so?" Gongxi Yanchang, reacting more quickly, sought confirmation from his wife: "Do you remember what that Shen family’s Demon Beast suddenly said when it lunged at Jin’Er?"
At that time, the situation was chaotic, and he vaguely recalled something about a dragon?
The City Lord’s wife recalled carefully, and a look of sudden realization appeared on her face as she softly said: "I recall that beast said: ’If I devour this thing, I can transform into a dragon and become a Divine Beast!’"
In the chaos, they thought the beast was spouting nonsense, but could it have been true?
Is there really a remnant soul of a Flood Dragon within their daughter’s body? How should they deal with this!
"Dare I ask, Daoist Bai, are all of my daughter’s peculiarities related to the remnant soul of the Flood Dragon?" she hurriedly pursued, "If she has dual souls, how could none of the renowned physicians we consulted over the years notice it? Surely they couldn’t all be incompetent?"
Bai Yunqi waved his hand and said, "It’s not a matter of their medical skills; the primary issue is that your daughter’s condition is rather unique.
Most cultivators with dual souls have two complete souls sharing one body, both possessing normal intelligence and ample soul power, detectable by skilled physicians.
Your daughter should be normal, but when she was still a fetus, she was targeted by a Flood Dragon that had failed to reincarnate, leaving only remnants, trying to merge with her body and be reborn by possession.
However, after failing to cross the Tribulation, that Flood Dragon lost its intelligence and became a remnant soul driven purely by survival instinct, lurking within your daughter.
As long as it does not actively manifest, even the most skilled physicians find it hard to detect any trace of its existence. Yet when the remnant soul manifests, it takes control of the body, causing your daughter to disappear under your very noses, making it impossible for even the most advanced medical practice to help, no?"
Initially, the City Lord and his wife had about eighty percent trust in them, but this revelation instantaneously secured their full confidence.
"So it was that time..." The City Lord’s wife sighed with some exasperation, looking at her husband with slight reproach.
Gongxi Yanchang regretted deeply; for the sake of competing for a fortune back then, he took his wife, who was three months pregnant, to explore the Secret Realm together.
Little did they know the Secret Realm was fraught with peril, especially the Flood Dragon Tomb, which they barely escaped from. Not only did they fail to seize the Key Fragment, but they also planted such a huge bomb inside their unborn daughter!
"Since it is an incomplete spirit not easily detected, how can it suppress my daughter’s complete soul? Shouldn’t it be my daughter’s soul gradually engulfing and refining it?"
Faced with the meticulous inquiries of the City Lord and his wife, Xie Chenyuan couldn’t help but sigh with admiration at how unfathomable Senior Jiang truly was!
The honorable City Lord naturally wouldn’t be fooled by a few words. They were determined to understand the ins and outs before cooperating with Brother Bai to devour the remnants of the Flood Dragon. Fortunately, Senior Jiang tirelessly explained the situation of the dual souls in detail, allowing him to respond fluently and credibly now.
"If it were following the normal cultivation speed, your daughter’s soul power would naturally grow with her strength and could absorb and refine the remnant soul for her own use.
However, since you dearly love your daughter and frequently supply her with various rare treasures, coupled with her exceptional cultivation talent, she has swiftly advanced through several realms. Such rapid cultivation has resulted in her soul power lacking the time to settle and mature, far inferior to her own strength.
The remnant soul, finding itself like a fish in water, absorbed a large amount of spiritual power unrestrained and awakened, in turn attempting to devour your daughter’s soul to possess and control her body. But because it is incomplete, it can only trouble her around the time of the full moon when the energy of the moon is at its peak."
Bai Yunqi patiently explained, "Every full moon, the remnant soul uses the power of the moon to deploy a cultivation technique, taking her body to the Empty Valley Stream, trying to devour the spirit of a giant snake in an attempt to first transform her body into a snake and then into a Flood Dragon."
While explaining the reasons, Gongxi Jin, trapped inside a capture net, slowly woke up.
She sat in the net with a blank expression, her gaze vacant. Suddenly, a circular red line appeared on her smooth, fair arm, and then a thin layer of skin fell off.
There was not much blood, but seeing a piece of flesh fall away for no apparent reason was quite unsettling.
The young girl, however, seemed unable to feel pain, staring blankly void of reaction, letting the wound on her arm trickle blood slowly.
"Ah! Transform into a snake?!" the City Lord’s Wife exclaimed in shock; the fallen flesh looked just like scales shed from snake skin!
Her heart ached terribly, and she hurriedly took out some spirit medicine powder from her storage bag, intending to stop the child’s bleeding. However, Xie Chenyuan stopped her, "Madam, better to temporarily bandage it with a silk cloth. The powder contains spiritual power, which could be absorbed by the Flood Dragon’s remnant soul, making it difficult to subdue later."
The most crucial task of his journey was to protect and assist Bai Yunqi in devouring and refining the remnant of the Flood Dragon, wary of any adverse situations.
"Can the two of you subdue it?" The City Lord’s Wife caught the key point, looking at her husband with a face full of joy.
Gongxi Yanchang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they can resolve the problem with their youngest daughter, it would be merely a matter of paying more; the treasure vault in the City Lord’s Mansion was full of treasures, they could afford it!
"Though fraught with challenges, since we’ve encountered each other, saving the young girl would be a virtuous deed accumulating merit," Bai Yunqi said slowly. "However..."
The other party hurried to catch the conversation, "As long as you benefactors can save our young girl, there will be generous rewards!"
When speaking of rewards, Xie Chenyuan, with a clear division of labor, smiled and stood up, inadvertently revealing the Cloud Concealment Sect’s waist token.
He took out a simple drawing from his storage bag and handed it over, "We are looking for the lost key fragments of the Shen Clan. As far as I know, the City Lord’s Mansion was also involved in the raid; if the remaining two fragments can be traded, we can possibly take the risk to try."
Seeing the imprinted fragments, Gongxi Yanchang couldn’t help but twitch his mouth.
Damn it, no wonder they couldn’t find any trace of Old Shen Six; it turns out they got there first and snatched a third of the key!
Over a decade ago, a significant treasure emerged in the deep mountains of Carefree City, drawing the covetous attention of various sects and noble families. Rumors had it that it was the relic mansion of an Ascended Immortal, within which might lie heavenly level cultivation techniques. As the City Lord of Carefree City, naturally, he hoped to strike first given his proximity.
However, after the treasure surfaced, the valley became shrouded in a layer of barrier, preventing those with lower realms from entering. To seize the opportunity, Gongxi Yanchang ventured into it with his pregnant wife.
Unexpectedly, once they teleported in, there was no Immortal Cave Mansion but a vast, barren, and dangerous island!
With countless rare treasures but also ferocious demon beasts guarding them, the couple barely reached near the center of the island and almost perished in the Jiao Long Tomb they stumbled into.
Ultimately, the ancestor of the Shen Clan gained the favor of the secret realm, granting them the key to enter the secret realm.
For this, Gongxi Yanchang held a grudge and sought every opportunity to take back the key.
When Old Shen Six rushed out to their beloved daughter, he seized the chance to incite and join forces with various noble families to wipe out the Shen Family as quickly as possible. Finally finding the key, he realized that the cunning old man divided the key into three fragments for separate safekeeping.
The last piece was likely in the hands of the fleeing Old Shen Six, prompting Gongxi Yanchang to issue a bounty order, swearing to reclaim ownership of the secret realm.
Unexpectedly, after such a long time with no news, the last fragment fell into the hands of the Cloud Concealment Sect!
If it were an ordinary loose cultivator, he might have chosen to intimidate them with a harsher stance, but this was one of the top ten ancient sects, the most mysterious Cloud Concealment Sect; how could he afford to offend them?
"I’m afraid... it’s a bit difficult," feeling reluctant, he tried to bargain. "The Shen family aroused public wrath and was wiped out entirely. These two tiny fragments are quite hard to find!"
Bai Yunqi continued to fan himself slowly.
He knew that dealing with such wealthy and powerful individuals required a mix of truth and deception to gain any advantage. Smiling faintly, he said, "No matter, we are not in a rush.
The City Lord only needs to put in some effort to find them as quickly as possible. Currently, the remnant soul’s power is weak, and the speed of devouring your daughter’s soul is slow. Delaying it for a year or so shouldn’t pose too big an issue, at most damaging her spiritual intelligence slightly but not threatening her life."
Remember, subduing the Flood Dragon’s remnant soul needs to occur around the full moon within those two to three days; otherwise, if the remnant soul sinks into the sea of consciousness, forcibly dragging it out would cause innocent casualties."