novelraw Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20 : Chapter 20
Chapter 20
There were many people in the Black Market who sold information, but none had ever risen as quickly as Baixiaosheng.
When it came to trading information, two things mattered: rarity and accuracy.
Baixiaosheng’s information was both rare and accurate.
No matter how difficult a piece of news was to dig out, he could obtain it, and he was never wrong.
Naturally, his prices were just as exorbitant.
Even so, the reputation he had accumulated over the past few months was still not enough to make countless cultivators believe an unproven claim about the Blood-Rust Blade.
At the beginning, most people merely watched from the sidelines.
A Blood-Rust Blade that contained an unsurpassed Dao Canon sounded too sweet.
Was it a genuine treasure, or bait for fishing?
The reason the news later stirred such a massive storm was because there was further confirmation.
Some busybody found Xiangli Qi, the Little Divination King of Sitting-Forgetting Island, and asked him to divine the matter of the Blood-Rust Blade. Xiangli Qi spent a long time calculating and could not calculate the Blood-Rust Blade at all.
So he took a detour—he divined Baixiaosheng instead.
Xiangli Qi cast seven divinations.
Every result showed that Baixiaosheng had never released false information.
From the side, this confirmed the news about the Blood-Rust Blade.
“Someone leaked Xiangli Qi’s divination results, and only then did the news about the Blood-Rust Blade become sought after,” Luo Pinglan said.
“He was set up?” Shuang Wenlü asked.
“Yes,” Luo Pinglan replied.
Xiangli Qi had only calculated that divination because, while chatting with an old friend, he had been inspired on a whim.
It should not have been spread at all.
Baixiaosheng had schemed against Xiangli Qi, using him as a stepping stone.
Afterward, Xiangli Qi grew furious and intended to cause trouble for Baixiaosheng.
Before he could act, however, Ning Xianmian seized him and brought him back, imprisoning him on Sitting-Forgetting Island.
Ning Xianmian’s exact words had been, “When you remember that you are a disciple of Sitting-Forgetting Island, then you may go out again.”
Those words nearly frightened Xiangli Qi’s little disciple to death.
The disciple desperately bared his heart, swearing that he had never once forgotten his sect.
Shuang Wenlü listened with laughter in his eyes.
“That will wake him up.”
Ning Xianmian’s words meant exactly what they said.
Sitting-Forgetting Island excelled at divination, and divination was about heavenly secrets.
Once a person knew more than others, they were prone to arrogance.
Once they became arrogant, they were prone to losing measure.
Since ancient times, when those skilled at divination failed to end well, it was usually because they had lost measure themselves.
To know all heavenly secrets was not as good as sitting down and forgetting them.
Xiangli Qi’s talent was extraordinary.
Otherwise, he would not have earned the title Little Divination King.
But it was not a good thing for his cultivation.
Ning Xianmian had likely wanted to discipline him for a long time.
The reason Luo Pinglan knew such detail was also because Xiangli Qi had confessed it—at the time, he had been unconvinced and resentful toward Baixiaosheng, and he had collected a great deal of information.
After being frightened like that by Ning Xianmian, Xiangli Qi’s accumulated pride over the years had likely scattered completely.
It was time for him to turn around.
Luo Pinglan acknowledged it, then asked, “Grand Martial Uncle, should we warn the disciples?” Someone was clearly plotting behind this matter.
If they were dragged in, they would likely suffer a great loss.
“No need.” Shuang Wenlü’s expression was indifferent.
“This is a tribulation, and it is also a heart-devil trial. The Dao must be cultivated by oneself. Pinglan, in your position, do not walk the same old road.”
Luo Pinglan’s expression tightened.
Shuang Wenlü had not said whose old road it was, yet she already understood. After agreeing, she did not raise the matter again.
Shuang Wenlü ended the communication.
The rogue cultivators who had entered Cai Suhong’s Mystic Realm earlier all knew to withdraw at a critical moment.
They gave up the rare treasure and left Suizhou.
The earth’s qi incident had just made all the cultivators take a painful fall.
If they still could not see the situation clearly and insisted on plunging in headfirst, then they could only bear the consequences themselves.
Shuang Wenlü could save them once, but he could not save them for a lifetime.
Although he was the Sword Sovereign of the Sword Pavilion, he had never expected every Sword Pavilion disciple to safely reach the end.
That was not something he could accomplish.
Each living being’s Dao could only be walked by themselves.
Shuang Wenlü’s gaze stretched into the distance, and his finger suddenly flicked.
…
Outside the Prefect of Suizhou’s residence, Cai Suhong looked shaken with lingering fear.
She had nearly been coaxed into staying by that old man.
When Qiu Shufeng learned that Dang Kang had accepted the Prefect’s order, his eyes lit up.
The light was subtle and restrained, yet it made one feel as if bathed in spring breeze—relaxed and content, like soaking in a hot spring while sipping light wine amid heavy snow in the depths of winter.
Within that hazy, intoxicating warmth, Cai Suhong had become sworn friends with Qiu Shufeng despite their age difference.
She had nearly sold herself off without realizing it.
If she had not known he was an ordinary mortal with no cultivation, she would have suspected that he had used a bewitching technique on her.
Fortunately, she still had her Mystic Realm System, which remained clear-headed.
Qiu Shufeng also coveted her innate divine ability.
Dang Kang.
When it appeared, the world would have abundant harvests.
Cai Suhong fled in panic, leaving Qiu Shufeng a tuft of mane.
Her mane looked ordinary, but it was as hard as steel.
When plucked, it emitted the sound of “Dang Kang.” Wherever that sound carried, this year would be abundant. Each strand could be used once.
The Mystic Realm System was furious.
“You cultivated for nothing! You are older than he is. How did you get fooled by him?”
“How was I fooled? Did he not give compensation?” Cai Suhong protested.
As she spoke, she began sighing with admiration again.
“He really is generous!”
“But you still cannot stay! If you stayed, what would you do afterward? How would you set up Mystic Realms?”
“I know, I know. I came out, did I not? And your Mystic Realm profits… who knows how long we will have to endure—”
While the two argued noisily, the Mystic Realm System suddenly felt a movement from the sword aura inside its space.
The boss had assigned it a task.
Cai Suhong sensed the system’s sudden silence and was about to ask what happened when she heard the Mystic Realm System say, “Do you still want returns like the first time?”
“Of course,” Cai Suhong said. “Do you have a way?”
The Mystic Realm System said, “We can try. But I do not guarantee it will be higher than the first time, and I cannot be sure how many times it will work.”
Cai Suhong’s eyes lit up.
“That is fine. We will try!”
So what if it was lower? Her gains from the first time were higher than all the later times combined.
“All right,” the Mystic Realm System said.
“But let us be clear first—you must listen to me in certain places. This type of Mystic Realm is special. If we are careless, it will fail.”
“Fine!” Cai Suhong agreed readily.
The Mystic Realm System finally breathed easier.
It did not have the ability to build a Mystic Realm like the first time, much less dig up events from such a remote past. But it had the foundation, and the sword aura within its space could help it pile up a high platform.
The Mystic Realm System looked at that sword aura, then glanced at the gate of the Prefect’s residence they had just left, smiling smugly.
That farming system that wanted to pry at its wall still wanted to compete with it? Hah.
“Let us go. We are heading to Gannan City!”
Cai Suhong’s Mystic Realm was soon constructed.
Although she was not the main force behind it, the Mystic Realm System could not directly alter things like it did last time.
If it did, Cai Suhong would definitely grow suspicious.
Therefore, although this Mystic Realm still used an environment from a remote past as its foundation, Cai Suhong put in a great deal of effort on top of that foundation, shaping it to look more like a true Mystic Realm.
She could not expect everyone who entered to rationalize everything for her the way people had the first time.
Cai Suhong was extremely satisfied with her results, but on the surface she still had to pretend to be cautious—Lang Qingyun was right beside her.
Her meeting with Lang Qingyun had been an accident.
Suizhou had been chaotic recently.
Cai Suhong was enthusiastically arranging Mystic Realms, and in her carelessness she attracted attention.
Several Demonic Cultivators had begun watching her and set a trap.
Fortunately, Lang Qingyun happened to be nearby and helped her.
Otherwise, she might truly have capsized in the gutter.
So Cai Suhong invited Lang Qingyun into the Mystic Realm with her.
Although her Mystic Realm was fake, those who entered would not leave empty-handed.
Gratitude toward Lang Qingyun was one reason.
Another reason was that the Mystic Realm System had told her that each run’s gains were tied not only to how complete the Mystic Realm was, but also to who entered it.
The first Mystic Realm’s gains had been high not only because the Mystic Realm itself was special, but also because Shuang Wenlü and Lang Qingyun had entered by accident.
“You cannot get the other one back,” the Mystic Realm System urged, “but is there not a ready-made one right in front of you?”
Under the Mystic Realm System’s efforts, Cai Suhong successfully established the goal of binding Lang Qingyun into her Mystic Realms in the future.
Having finally carried out the boss' directive, the Mystic Realm System let out a breath.
Still, it was not entirely fooling Cai Suhong.
Although Lang Qingyun had not cultivated for long, the Rule Fragment hidden on him was special.
If he entered a Mystic Realm, he would indeed be more useful than ordinary cultivators.
This time, after entering the Mystic Realm, it was not like the last time when everyone scattered.
The others were unfamiliar with them.
After clasping fists in greeting, they separated on their own.
Cai Suhong and Lang Qingyun had old acquaintance, so they moved together.
Green fields stretched beneath a long wind.
The two stood on a narrow dirt path.
This Mystic Realm was also extremely real, as though it was not a tiny world opened up separately, but a slice of heaven and earth cut directly from the world.
“Do you hear something ahead?” Lang Qingyun said.
Cai Suhong pretended to listen.
She had already examined every inch of this Mystic Realm long ago.
“There is indeed. Shall we go take a look?”
The two concealed their forms and moved toward the source of the sound.
Ahead, two people stood on the dirt path, facing each other, one before the other.
One of them had a weathered face and graying hair.
He held a long saber in his hand, and behind him lay a corpse.
The other was a young man.
“I have seen him before,” Lang Qingyun said, staring at the young man in astonishment.
How was that possible? Cai Suhong was shocked as well.
The foundation of this Mystic Realm had been dug from a scene who knew how many ages ago.
Because of the Mystic Realm System’s limitations, these two figures had not been altered. Where could Lang Qingyun have seen this person?
“In the last Mystic Realm,” Lang Qingyun added.
“I saw him in a teahouse.”