The Journey of Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 1053 - 575: Making Things Difficult

Qingluan sent Jin Manyi off and returned to see Ning Xiaoxian’s expression. Curiously, she said, "Elder, wasn’t Miss Jin here to cause trouble?"

Ning Xiaoxian smiled and said, "No, she was here to give me a man."

Qingluan widened her eyes in surprise, "You still need a man?" Seeing Ning Xiaoxian’s expression suddenly darken, she realized she had misspoken. She hurriedly coughed and said, "I’ll go find Qi Zai." She ran off in a flash.

How could she not need? The master’s Primordial Spirit had been gone for over half a year, who knows where it had wandered off to. Why not take her along on such a publicly funded travel opportunity? She thought bitterly as she entered the God Demon Prison.

Dim lighting outlined the handsome, chiseled profile of the room’s owner. Even in sleep, Changtian’s tightly pressed lips and indifferent face seemed as if to keep others a thousand miles away, though with his eyes closed, his usual awe diminished greatly. She stared at him in a daze for a long time, her fingers suddenly itching with an irresistible urge.

Just one touch. Just one will do.

She edged closer to him, knelt on the Black Stone Chair, and extended her fingers to caress Changtian’s face, so lightly as if afraid of waking him. The temperature beneath her fingers was a bit chilly; this was one thing she disliked about him, but luckily his skin was still smooth and elastic.

See, nothing happened. Then why would he say he shouldn’t be touched during seclusion? Is he afraid she’d do something inappropriate to him, and purposely said it like that? Tch, Changtian really is too much, assuming she’d, really, really know her too well.

She pouted, her fingertip lightly sliding over his slanted eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and prominent nose, then poking at his cheek sternly, "Lying to me again!" Usually, doing this would be a provocation and he’d deal harshly with her, but today...

She grinned widely as she extended her claw and pinched the muscles on his cheek, pulling them outward until his handsome face was entirely deformed, only then did she let go. Even a handsome man couldn’t withstand such a pull!

Ah, she’d wanted to do this for so long. Hmm, very elastic. Mimicking Changtian’s usual moves, she pinched his firm jaw and lifted it up, "Beauty, come on, give me a smile."

The term "beauty" can be used for both men and women.

"..." Naturally, Changtian still showed no expression, ignoring everything, while the surroundings were silent. Even after being pulled so hard, his face was still like white jade, not turning red at all.

"Thick-skinned!" She murmured, sighing, "Alright, then I’ll smile at you!"

Under the light, Changtian’s face appeared somewhat pale, even the color of his lips lighter than usual. She only then remembered that he used to absorb moonlight with the Moonlight Cup every night, and now, with half a year gone, even though his body was asleep, the God Demon Prison still drained Divine Power every day.

She felt a bit distressed, lifted the Moonlight Cup, and stayed under the moonlight for three hours.

When she leisurely walked back, the cup was already filled with fresh dew. She held it in her mouth, and selfishly transferred it to him sip by sip through her lips.

The body beneath her hand was like a sleeping beast, with a dormant but powerful strength.

She reached down, feeling the distinct eight-pack abs, a smile curling her brows and eyes.

Further down, hmm—Is this a mermaid line? The scientific name for a mermaid line is the "internal and external oblique muscles" in males, always considered a benchmark of masculinity and sensuality for men. To have such a pronounced mermaid line while sitting around like this all day, truly would make many otaku envious.

Further down, uh, should she go further down?

But she was curious.

Luckily, she didn’t have to wrestle with the question, because Changtian’s body suddenly moved.

Ning Xiaoxian was startled, quickly raising her head, almost knocking into his chin, "I didn’t mean to..."

She closed her mouth after saying a few words.

It turned out that he was still asleep, his eyes shut, not at all awake. It was just the Dragon Binding Rope on his shoulder habitually contracting, causing his body to tremble slightly.

"Ha... scared me to death!" She let out a long breath, patting her wildly beating heart.

The strange atmosphere nearby had disappeared, and she collected her thoughts, helped him tidy up his clothes again, muttered a few sentences, and found herself a bit tired.

Outside, the night must have grown as dark as ink. She yawned unladylike and lay down in his arms, instantly enveloped in his familiar, reassuring scent with each breath.

"Not back yet, this isn’t bad either." She rested her head in the nook of his neck, sighed contently, and then fell into a deep sleep.

#####

On the third day, Bai Yujing. She still arrived in the private box before removing her mask.

The thirteenth floor’s highlight today was still "Miracles," all items presented had either proven uses or were plainly marked as "unknown" Miracles. Buying from here was very much like gambling on stones in Yun Mian; both luck and eyesight were indispensable. However, with thousands of eyes watching, hoping to snag a cheap treasure was real; considering that the appraisers of Heavenly Residence weren’t fooling around, most people ended up paying hard cash and didn’t entertain the idea of spotting a bargain.

The auction stage presented a lot called "Earth Core" at the moment. The reason for its formation was unknown, but it could react to external stimuli like a living being; a precious item desired by Puppet Masters, serving as the central core for the highest-level Puppet Beasts and Mechanical Men. Generally, the central cores of Puppet Beasts were made with souls of captured humans or demons by Puppet Masters, but biological souls were unstable, not as reliable as the "Earth Core." The auctioneer’s final remark left her stunned: This thing took three thousand years to incubate, another three thousand to mature, and in three more thousand years, it could become a living being breaking out on its own, thus also known as "Stone Embryo"!

She blinked, remembering that wasn’t Sun Monkey born like this? Father Sky, Earth Mother, naturally born and reared, nothing more than that; this world is truly wondrous.

Yet she was sure that neither the previous hall previews nor the catalog in her hand showed anything about "Earth Core," so why were people below bidding so eagerly, so fluently, as if they’d come prepared?

Had she remembered wrong? But even if she lacked confidence in her memory, she should have faith in her Insight Heart Method!

With a change in expression, she called over a servant, "Why was this ’Earth Core’ not in the previews?"

The servant respectfully said, "This treasure was brought by a customer just yesterday for auction. The rule at the Bai Yujing sale is, things brought in for auction today can only be put on stage the next day at the earliest."

"You sure remember clearly." Ning Xiaoxian frowned, shaking the catalog in her hand, "Even so, why isn’t there any introduction of ’Earth Core’ here?"

The servant shook his head, "All auction items are included therein, please peruse it carefully."

Ning Xiaoxian smirked coldly, "Do you think my memory is flawed? Many of the items being auctioned right now weren’t in this catalog at all!"

The servant was momentarily shocked, taking the catalogue from Ning Xiaoxian and after a brief check, his expression changed dramatically, "Please wait a moment." He opened the box door and shook the bell-rope outside.

A dozen breaths later, a round-faced maid entered, "What’s the matter?"

The servant pointed to the catalog on the table, "Why was an outdated catalog given to the guest? None of the newly added lots from recent days are included."

The maid let out a long, "Oh," bowed to Ning Xiaoxian, and said, "Apologies for my oversight, I’ll replace this immediately." She held the catalog and was about to leave.

Ning Xiaoxian had been watching her with narrowed eyes, suddenly spoke up, "Stop! Who allowed you to take it away?"

This maid had just reached the door, about to open it, when Jiu Mo flashed to block her, delivering two back-handed slaps to her cheeks with a soft, "When a guest speaks, you dare treat it as wind by your ears?"

The maid’s delicate face turned red and swollen immediately, she was both embarrassed and hurt, clutching her cheeks and sobbing. Ning Xiaoxian ignored her, turned, and asked the servant, "Whose subordinate is she?"

The servant was stunned, stammered a couple of times, and under Ning Xiaoxian’s gradually colder gaze, coughed and said, "She is under the First-class Steward Juan Niang. Box seven thirty-two was originally under Juan Niang’s charge, so..."

She said flatly, "I wasn’t informed or instructed, so Juan Niang’s maid was left here to trip me up and cause trouble, is that right?" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to visit qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is the greatest motivation for me. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)