Chapter 491: I Will Never Make Another Spirit-Slaying Jar Again!

As the sun shone down on Silver Sword Peak, spirit birds were perched peacefully in the warm, cozy shade of the trees. Then two people suddenly descended onto the peak, startling the birds away.

It was Di Nufeng, the peak master of Silver Sword Peak, and Chu Liang, the deputy peak master and the peak's eldest senior brother landed. They had returned home.

However, the moment they got back, Chu Liang said in surprise, "What's going on here?"

He walked to his small wooden cabin and saw two tables set up in front of the door. There was a row of people standing there, holding their breath as they watched something.

Lin Bei, Shang Ziliang, Lackey A, Lackey B, Xiaoyu'er, and Liu Xiaoyu...

Chu Liang's entire work team was there, watching the two people seated at the two tables.

One of the two people was Yuan Zhuo from the Hall of Conservation, with his honest-looking squarish face and determined gaze. The other was Little Chu Yi. The small child needed to sit on an extra cushion so that he reached the right height to use the table properly. His snowy little face was all serious.

One was big, and the other small, but both boys had a towering pile of books stacked on the table in front of them. They each held a book in their hands, flipping through them so furiously that the sound of the turning pages merged into a continuous rustle.

Seeing Chu Liang return, Shang Ziliang stepped toward him and said, "You're finally back. It's the day to verify our accounts with the sect, but we don't know how to do it, and you were nowhere to be found. Fortunately, Senior Brother Yuan said we could let Chu Yi give it a try..."

He spoke very quietly, afraid of disturbing Yuan Zhuo and Chu Yi.

"Oh, that's right," Chu Liang muttered, smacking his forehead.

He had been busy with other matters these past few days, so he had forgotten about the scheduled date for reconciling accounts[1] with Mount Shu.

Red Cotton Peak was not solely his. Twenty percent of the shares belonged to the Mount Shu Sect and ten percent belonged to Taotie City, so it was necessary to reconcile their accounts regularly. There had been a myriad of financial transactions due to the many merchants and all the promotional events for the grand opening of the shopping district.

The sheer volume of transactional information meant that even seasoned accountants might take several days to sort through it. Yet, judging from the current situation, it seemed Yuan Zhuo and Chu Yi were nearly done.

Chu Liang was well aware of how amazing Yuan Zhuo was. Yuan Zhuo was considered to have the most formidable mind in the Mount Shu Sect. Even Chu Liang felt inferior to him when it came to memorization.

So, that was not what surprised Chu Liang.

I had no idea that Little Chu Yi's this amazing. He's actually keeping pace with Senior Brother Yuan.

I've truly found a treasure.

After a long while, Little Chu Yi finally closed the last account book in his hand. He stretched up to place it on top of the pile that was large enough to bury him.

Then he pulled his hands into his sleeves and let out a long breath. "All done."

"Yay!" Xiaoyu'er suddenly cheered. "Little Yi won!"

"

Hmm?

" Chu Liang was stunned. "Was it a competition?"

Xiaoyu'er blinked. "Weren't they competing to see who could flip through the pages faster?"

Behind her, Liu Xiaoyu quickly covered her younger sister's mouth and pulled her away in embarrassment. "All you understood was that they were flipping pages..."

Next to them, Di Nufeng was shocked too. "Wasn't that the case?"

Seeing the teacher-disciple duo return, Little Chu Yi jumped off the stool and walked over to them.

He greeted them respectfully with a bow. "Big Sis Feng, Big Bro Chu Liang."

At this moment, Yuan Zhuo put down the last account book in his hand.

He walked over, cupped his hands together, and bowed respectfully in greeting. "Peak Master Feng, Junior Brother Chu."

Chu Liang looked at Little Chu Yi's actions and then at Yuan Zhuo's, suddenly feeling they were quite similar.

He took a closer look at Chu Yi.

This little guy has only spent two days in the Hall of Conservation. Yet, why do I feel like the more I look at him, the more I think that his little head has become... a little squarish?

He couldn't help but feel a bit afraid for the child.

I let you learn from Senior Brother Yuan, but I didn't mean for you to learn everything...

After looking Chu Yi over several times, Chu Liang cupped his hands together and bowed respectfully in greeting. "Thank you for your hard work, Senior Brother Yuan."

"It wasn't hard," Yuan Zhuo replied calmly. "Chu Yi is a very talented child. He's so young, but he's exceptionally gifted. I hope you can foster him well."

"Don't worry." Di Nufeng chuckled. "As long as this child stays with us on Silver Sword Peak, nothing will go wrong."

Yuan Zhuo looked at her like he had something to say, but he held back. He then continued, "We're done checking the ledgers. There are no major issues. I'll go back and report to my esteemed teacher."

He turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, he turned back.

Yuan Zhuo said earnestly to Chu Liang, "You have to make sure the child learns good things."

Chu Liang's gaze was just as sincere and determined. "I know."

"Influences are very important."

"I am the sturdiest barrier."

After that rather cryptic conversation, Yuan Zhuo finally felt at ease and left.

None of the lines they said mentioned Di Nufeng, yet every line was about Di Nufeng.

...

That night, Chu Liang went to the Bombax River again.

He had been staying at the Imperial Supervisory Bureau these past two days, so he had not had the time to slay the wine-jar monsters.

When he got to the river, it was just as he had expected. Yet another one had gone missing.

However, he was no longer surprised.

If one's missing, so be it.

During this period, the Intoxicating Spirit Flowers had been growing very well on Silver Sword Peak. The second batch of Intoxicating Spirit Flower Leaves was ready for harvest.

The Fragrance of Enlightenment was still exclusively supplied to the disciples of the Mount Shu Sect, but it was no longer as scarce in supply as before. Disciples of other immortal sects had even begun to buy the Fragrance of Enlightenment at high prices from the disciples of the Mount Shu Sect.

Yet, Chu Liang did not stop those scalpers. After all, the point of selling the Fragrance of Enlightenment was to benefit his fellow disciples, so as long as they were benefiting from the sales, it didn't really matter to him.

Strictly speaking, the Fragrance of Enlightenment did not belong to him anyway. It were a gift from nature!

He just lightly snapped his fingers a few times, and the wine-jar monsters in the river exploded one by one, dissipating in the water.

Now that he had unlocked the fourth level of the Secret Reservoir in the Colorful Doll, his fifth-realm foundational already encompassed four elements: metal, wood, water, and fire. The quality of his foundational qi increased dramatically.

His foundational qi contained such explosive power that if even just a little bit of it overflowed and seeped out of him, it would be enough to kill small ghastly creatures like the wine-jar monsters.

Chu Liang walked up and down the riverbank to ensure that he hadn't missed any wine-jar monsters. Satisfied he had gotten all of them, he finally returned to Mount Shu to sleep.

I'll surely have a good dream tonight.

...

Xuan Yinzi has been suffering from severe insomnia lately.

As an Eminent One at the seventh and a half realm, he naturally did not need sleep to recover from mental fatigue. Nonetheless, he was stuck in this sealed underground cave, so going into hibernation could conserve his strength and slow down the loss of his qi and blood. Therefore, aside from making Spirit-Slaying Jars, Xuan Yinzi would spend most of his time asleep to save his qi and blood.

However, he recently noticed that his mental state was losing stability, making it increasingly difficult for him to go into hibernation. It was all because of the Spirit-Slaying Jars... They were truly messing with his mental state.

If this method doesn't work, then none of you should return. If none come back, I will naturally lose hope.

Yet, every time Xuan Yinzi was about to give up hope, a Spirit-Slaying Jar would suddenly return. It would replenish his qi and blood a little, filling him with enthusiasm to make more jars. Then there would be another period when none of the jars returned.

After several days like that, Xuan Yinzi would feel disheartened. Sometimes, he truly felt that this method was not working and didn't want to waste his blood essence on making more Spirit-Slaying Jars. That was when another jar would float back into the cave.

Initially, Xuan Yinzi would be overjoyed at this small return, but now he only felt anguish.

This monster, who had once been capable of shaking up the whole world, felt rather aggrieved.

Either it works, or it doesn't. What does it mean if it keeps stringing me along like this?

Xuan Yinzi made up his mind.

I will never make another Spirit-Slaying Jar again! I'll think of another way tomorrow!

Yet, right then, another full Spirit-Slaying Jar appeared at the cave's entrance...

Xuan Yinzi's weathered face tensed up.

I guess... I'll make them for just a few more days?

1. To check that the numbers for the transactions are correct and the balances match up. ☜