Chapter 87: Extortion

At this moment, Shen Baiyu had no mind to dwell on such things. Only after she returned the merged soul to Mu Shihai's body did the tension she had been holding so tightly finally ease a little.

Then, when she saw Mu Shihai still lying unconscious before her, her heart sank once more, though her gaze was touched with a faint gentleness.

What she wanted was to grow old together with her senior brother, not merely to steal a few decades.

So she would never allow such a thing to happen.

As long as Mu Shihai's soul could be restored, all troubles would naturally be resolved.

With that thought, Shen Baiyu had no better solution, but there was one person who could surely solve her present predicament: her master, the Moonless Matriarch of Celestial Terrace Mountain.

At parting, Shen Baiyu said to Xuan Yangzi, "Your master's old entanglements are settled today."

Just as Lingxuzi had once said, though all this had nothing to do with him, it had all been caused by him.

Although Shen Baiyu had never taken revenge on the Jade Void Temple, resentment toward Lingxuzi was inevitable. If not for his meddling, how could she have been severed from her senior brother by life and death? Yet now, since Lingxuzi had in a critical moment brought her hope again, and since today she was reunited with her senior brother, that hatred, buried for centuries, would at last dissolve into nothing.

Watching Shen Baiyu's figure recede into the distance, Xuan Yangzi finally let out a long breath and thought to himself that at last he had sent that she-devil away. She was moody and impossible to deal with.

"Daoist priest, that talisman was something I kept for saving my life at a critical moment. This time I really took a loss, losing both the bride and the troops besides," Yi An said with a mournful face, his words laden with meaning.

The expression that had just eased on Xuan Yangzi's face instantly stiffened. This brat was obviously trying to squeeze more out of him. Still, the price and return on this occasion were indeed far out of proportion.

Thinking of a long-term arrangement, Xuan Yangzi decided to compensate him a little. If he remained unmoved, then next time something like this happened, he would not be able to ask for this fellow's help.

After all, bringing Yi An along had clearly proven effective this time.

What troubled him most, however, was that the value of that talisman could not be measured in money.

At the thought of that, Xuan Yangzi grew even more vexed. What, exactly, should he use to make it up to this brat? No matter how he pondered it, he could not think of a good answer.

Xuan Yangzi chuckled. "My young friend, this old daoist does not have it easy either. Ever since my revered master ascended, the Jade Void Temple has gone from bad to worse. Even the spiritual herbs cultivated within the temple are leftovers from my master's time; each one used is one fewer. In other words, every plant is precious."

"Guarding this enormous inheritance, I live frugally day after day. Every step I take is like walking on thin ice. Still, I'm not a miser, and I certainly won't let you suffer a loss. How about this: I will take out another five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng. What do you think?"

Yi An glanced at him and said nothing. He was being treated like a beggar.

Who did not know, yet he did not? This old daoist was terribly devious, always crying poverty. He might fool outsiders, but under Yi An's sharp eyes he showed his true colors at once. The Jade Void Temple was practically full of treasures everywhere, and this old daoist was not being honest.

Xuan Yangzi, however, had no idea that Yi An had already branded him as dishonest.

Seeing Yi An's dissatisfied expression, Xuan Yangzi could not help grinding his teeth inwardly and said helplessly, "I'll add two more, but no more than that."

"Three."

Yi An roughly estimated that four five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng roots would probably be enough to help him complete the condensation of true essence in the Return-to-Origin realm.

"Not one more." Xuan Yangzi's face darkened at once.

"Come on, Daoist priest, I was just joking. Two it is, then." Yi An gave a harmless smile. Having probed out Xuan Yangzi's bottom line, he did not press further.

This was called taking from the rich to aid the poor.

He felt no shame in taking advantage of Xuan Yangzi. From the start, this old daoist had harbored ill intentions and clearly meant to use him as a shield. If not for his own great fortune, he might already have met his end here today.

After some bargaining, the two finally settled the matter: three five-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng roots, along with Xuan Yangzi's help in refining the elixirs.

Xuan Yangzi looked on and grew a little disoriented, feeling that the brat's final smile had something suspicious about it...

Soon after, the two returned to the Jade Void Temple. As agreed earlier, Xuan Yangzi, as though cutting flesh from his own body, reluctantly produced the three old mountain ginseng roots and helped Yi An refine them.

All of it took only a few hours.

When Yi An received the refined herbs, he froze for a moment and asked darkly, "This... counts as refining?"

Strictly speaking, after Xuan Yangzi's refinement, the mountain ginseng could only be called herbal pellets, not even low-grade spiritual pills.

Yi An could not help suspecting that this had been done on purpose.

"If you don't want them, give them back to me. These few pellets are just right for my disciple's current use," Xuan Yangzi said in a deep voice, barely suppressing the urge to snatch them back.

"No, no, these will do. They'll work if I make do with them," Yi An said with an awkward laugh, choosing not to press the issue.

Over the next several days, Yi An remained temporarily at the Jade Void Temple. The pure vital energy here was greatly beneficial to cultivation, and with those inferior pills refined by Xuan Yangzi, his progress over those days was astonishing. His cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and he actually condensed most of the true essence of the Return-to-Origin realm. In a few more months at most, he would be able to fully stabilize that true essence and begin his assault on the Spirit-Exit realm.

At present, he was like a foot already at the threshold, eager to go further yet still blocked outside the door.

If a few more pills could assist him, everything would be different.

Yi An did not rush for results. He quickly calmed himself. Improving one's cultivation through pills might be effective, but it was not stable. Still, in the end, it greatly shortened the time he had to remain in the Return-to-Origin realm, and the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.

While Yi An was wavering between gain and loss, Xuan Yangzi wore an expression of astonishment and disbelief.

What surprised him was not Yi An's rate of improvement, but that he could not believe Yi An had truly taken the pellets he had refined.

Could it be... that, without him realizing it, his alchemy had already improved by leaps and bounds?

Fortunately, Yi An did not know what he was thinking, or no one could say what expression he would have made.

The truth was plain: Yi An's talent was unmatched, and even by taking a few pills casually, even inferior ones, he could still achieve remarkable improvement.