Chapter 1951: Life and Death

King Dai had been intimidated by Meng Chan for so long that he dared not utter a single word under her glare.

Meng Chan glared at him frostily, saying, “Keep whatever happened today to yourself if you wish to live. You should know what will happen if others learn about it.”

King Dai shuddered, especially when he remembered how Zu An had floated above the Meng manor like a demonic god releasing a slaughter. If anyone tried to sully Zu An’s reputation, there were countless people who would be more than willing to step in and end them. In any event, if he had been in the same position as Zu An, he wouldn’t have let the other side go either. Having thought things through, his anger dissipated without a trace, and he murmured, “I understand.”

Meng Chan sighed, but she chose not to say a word. She slowly staggered out of the prison while holding onto the railings for support. She hadn't intended to let her husband know about what happened, but who could have thought that dumb fellow would be so sensitive about such a thing? Had she known, she would have rested a few more days before heading over. In the end, she'd only come over today because she was worried he would do something silly out of despair.

She bit her lips as she recalled the events that had transpired the previous night. Despite that fellow’s refined appearance, as soon as he took off his clothes, he was no different from an ox. Even now, she shuddered whenever she remembered the feeling of being rammed all the way down to her soul.

That night was more fun than anything I've enjoyed over the last decade… Argh! Meng Chan, what in the world are you thinking? Where’s your sense of shame?

…

As he watched her totter out of the prison, King Dai was conflicted. Now that he thought about it, when he saw her earlier, her face had been particularly red. She looked more seductive than usual.

She couldn’t even close her legs. Is that Zu guy that formidable? Not only is he ridiculously strong as a cultivator, he even induces despair even in that aspect.

King Dai sighed in resignation. He should have felt angered and humiliated, but Zu An was so strong that he couldn’t muster the courage to exact vengeance. On the contrary, he felt liberated, as he had still been conflicted as to how he could convince Chan’er to offer herself. Now that Meng Chan had done so on her own accord, he could put his worries aside. At the very least, he would be able to survive this ordeal.

There are plenty of trees in the forest anyway; I’ll just find another wife. In the future, I must make sure not to find such an ambitious wife. It’ll be best to have a gentle and virtuous one…

…

Meanwhile, at a courtyard at the top of Mount Yuquan, Zu An held onto a half-burned candle with a bizarre expression on his face. After falling for the Worries Be Gone, the first thing he had done after waking up in the morning was to take the candle away. He hadn’t been disadvantaged in any way the previous night, but he wouldn’t have gone along with it under normal circumstances. It was just that his little brother went amok as soon as it came under the influence of Worries Be Gone.

He had dealt with similar medicine in the past, but none had ever been as potent as Worries Be Gone. His fighting prowess was on par with that of an earth immortal even though he had yet to reach that rank, so ordinary poison shouldn’t have affected him, not to mention the fact that his Primordial Origin Sutra granted him poison immunity. That made him curious about the Worries Be Gone Rosemary, which continued to affect him even now.

It was a pity King Dai Manor didn’t have any Worries Be Gone left. He had asked Meng Chan about it the previous night. She had replied that she was worried a normal dosage wouldn’t work due to his high cultivation level, so she'd put everything they had left in King Dai Manor into this candle.

“I wonder if the Gourmet System can analyze the components of the medicine…” Zu An muttered, although he wasn’t planning to use the medicine to take advantage of women; there was no need to, anyway, since women were more than happy to throw themselves at him given his current standing. He was just curious about the principles behind the medicine, thinking it could be useful to his future pill refinement.

Zu An stared at the candle hesitantly, and in the end, he took a bite of it. Fortunately, the Gourmet System recognized Worries Be Gone as food, and it quickly broke down the ingredients for him. “Northern Sea Fiend’s kraken fluid, Whitemoon Worries Be Gone Grass, Flying Snow Rosemary…”

“Northern Sea Fiend?” Zu An murmured, astonished.

It really is fate. The main ingredients might be rare to others, but they're well within my reach.

During his time in the Fiend races' Imperial Tomb with Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, he had encountered a massive octopus monster in the deep sea and collected quite a bit of its tentacles and fluid.

It’s no wonder this medicine went out of circulation. The Northern Sea Fiends are too powerful for ordinary people to deal with, not to mention that they're practically extinct. Just this is enough to pose trouble.

Zu An vaguely recalled reading about the Whitemoon Worries Be Gone Grass and Flying Snow Rosemary from the Baopu Sutra. Those herbs could indeed dispel one’s woes and knock one out, but they shouldn’t have been so potent as to make one forget about activities that had transpired the previous night. Those herbs had to have some kind of chemical reaction with the Northern Sea Fiend’s tentacle fluid.

“Brother-in-law, why are you eating a candle?” a voice suddenly called out while Zu An was in a daze.

Zu An looked up and saw Chu Youzhao and Murong Qinghe standing by the doorway, staring at him in surprise. His face turned red as he replied, “I’m testing out a medicine.”

“Medicine?” The two young women stared at him in bewilderment. They couldn’t imagine how a candle could possibly be a medicine.

Zu An stowed away the candle and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Little sister Qinghe was embarrassed, but I told her there was no need to hold back since you aren’t an outsider, so I brought her here to expand her meridians,” Chu Youzhao said.

“I’ll be counting on you, big brother Zu,” Murong Qinghe said. She was embarrassed, but she knew the benefits of expanding her meridians for her cultivation, not to mention that big brother Chu had been persuading her into it.

Zu An had initially wanted to say that he could already refine Marrow Cleansing Pills, so there was no need to do such a thing anymore. However, he was worried Murong Qinghe would misunderstand and assume he was reluctant to help her. Thinking that it was just a small favor, he accepted her request.

“You get busy first. I’ll go argue with Second… Cough cough, I mean, I’ll have a chat with her,” Chu Youzhao said; she waved her hand before running out excitedly.

Murong Qinghe was startled. She had wanted Chu Youzhao to stay with her, but she was worried that big brother Zu would be offended if she made such a request, so she kept her mouth shut.

Noticing her nervousness, Zu An said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch your body.”

That made Murong Qinghe feel bad. She said, “Big brother Zu, you don’t have to worry about me.” She knew expanding one’s meridians was extremely dangerous. It would be even riskier if Zu An had to refrain from touching her body.

Zu An first had her sit cross-legged on the bed before settling behind her. He raised his finger and sent whiffs of invisible ki into her body. Now that he could refine Marrow Cleansing Pills, he figured he could just help her expand her meridians a little. As Murong Qinghe was blessed with much wider meridians than Chu Youzhao, there was no need for him to proceed as carefully as he had done before.

Murong Qinghe let out a harrumph. A numbing sensation filled her body, followed by a sharp aching pain from the expansion. She finally understood why Youzhao and big brother Chu had squealed so loudly back then. She thought that it would be embarrassing to squeal in front of big brother Zu, so she clenched her jaws and held on.

“Don’t hold it in. That causes your meridians to further contract, and that may lead to problems,” Zu An said.

Murong Qinghe was alarmed. Not daring to hold it in anymore, she started out with soft groans, but as the pain worsened, she began squealing uncontrollably. Her face soon turned bright red.

It’s so embarrassing! It feels as if I’m screaming because of something else instead. The sweat is also making my clothes a little translucent…

She had grown up in the military, and she usually hung out with soldiers who had no filter in their speech. Naturally, she had heard about the sorts of depraved acts that happened in alleys and brothels. She glanced at Zu An and was impressed to see that his expression was unchanging like an unwavering mountain. She thought, Big brother Zu is a true gentleman. I was still worried about it earlier, but it seems I was being too judgmental.

She couldn’t have known that after having expelled his lust the previous night, Zu An was currently in his ‘sage mode’.

Two hours later, Zu An called Youzhao over to support Murong Qinghe on the way back. Chu Youzhao was startled when she saw how drenched Murong Qinghe was, as if she had just been fished out of the water. She asked, “What happened?”

“She’s fine. She has outstanding talent, and she’s good at withstanding pain too. Thus, I expanded her meridians more than usual. Bring her to one of the rooms off to the side to rest,” Zu An said.

“All right,” Chu Youzhao said as she carefully supported Murong Qinghe out of the room.

Murong Qinghe slumped onto Chu Youzhao as if she had no bones. She kept exhaling warm air, which made Youzhao's heart skip a beat as she wondered if Zu An had done something odd to Qinghe.

After sending the two of them off, Zu An began refining pills. It was a pity that the Nine Cauldron he had previously obtained had been confiscated in a secret dungeon, but fortunately, there was no lack of pill refinement spots in the mountain behind the academy. In the earlier years of the academy, the libationer had drawn forth earth flames from within the mountain to construct a pill refinement spot. Anyone looking to refine pills could use the facility, but they had to have made prior contributions to the academy.

Zu An was now the libationer, so he was entitled to use the facility. He spent the subsequent time refining pills while chatting with the disciples of the old libationer. There were many commonalities between what they had learned and the Baopu Sutra’s seven skills of cultivation. Over the next half a month, he gradually became more well-versed in the Baopu Sutra.

At the same time, he also refined a batch of Marrow Cleansing Pills and Ki Condensation Pills, only to swiftly encounter a major problem: He had run out of money! He finally understood why Shen Xuzi was so poor.

…

Meanwhile, in the Bi Manor, the clan leader Bi Qi was livid. He stared at his son and snapped, “I told you to bring your little sister back. Where is she?”

Bi Ziang replied, “She appears to be out of the palace. She probably went to the mountain behind the academy. It doesn’t seem as if she’s bothered about it at all.”

Bi Qi was stunned. He said, “Wait for her outside the academy and drag her back the moment she comes out. This matter concerns the survival of our Bi clan.”