Chapter 318 - 209: Lantern Festival 3

Chapter 318: Chapter 209: Lantern Festival 3

Xie Yuan said with a smile,

"If even Miss Qin says they’re treasures, then they must be real treasures.

"Pick one."

"Huh?"

Situ Qin looked surprised and pointed at herself.

"You want me to take one?"

"As long as you don’t mind them, feel free to choose. Just consider it a souvenir I brought back for you from the West Desert."

Xie Yuan said with a chuckle.

’He’d always been the one receiving things from Situ Qin and had never given her anything in return. Now that he’d had such a bountiful harvest from the ruins, it was only natural to give something back.’

’Otherwise, what kind of friendship is it if you only take and never give?’

’Situ Qin’s heart stirred. These were all rare Treasure Materials, each one greatly beneficial for one’s cultivation. While they weren’t so precious as to make her green with envy, she had been training hard recently and using up her supplies quickly. She was just running low on this Qi-replenishing Mountain King Ginseng and had even sent someone out to buy more just in the last couple of days.’

’But these things are also very useful for Master Xie. He risked so much to get them, and he still wants to give one to me...’

Situ Qin was at once happy and reluctant to accept. Just as she was about to refuse, she heard Xie Yuan imitate her voice in a high-pitched tone,

"I told you to take it, so just take it! If you keep this up, I’m gonna get mad, grrr!"

Situ Qin burst out laughing and chided him,

"Stop with the snide remarks, it sounds awful! Fine, fine. Since Master Xie is being so generous, I won’t be polite! I happen to need this Mountain King Ginseng right now."

She took a stalk of Mountain King Ginseng—the smallest one.

’Xie Yuan had guessed she would take the ginseng, since her main focus was Inner Power, and Mountain King Ginseng was a Qi Replenishing Holy Medicine.’

But seeing her carefully pick out the smallest one, Xie Yuan shook his head and said,

"Take all the Mountain King Ginseng."

"No! It’s not like I don’t have any. You need to practice your Inner Power, too!"

"Hmm, alright. Then take half of the Blood Lingzhi..."

"Don’t. I have an even bigger one in my storehouse that I haven’t gotten around to eating yet. If you want it, you can take it with you."

"...Fine."

’Xie Yuan sighed. It really was hard to give a useful gift to a rich girl. At least she took one thing, so he could consider it a proper exchange.’

’But compared to the jade Buddha pendant that could block an attack from the Third Transformation Realm—and more than once—this Treasure Medicine was really nothing.’

Seeing that she wouldn’t take anything else, Xie Yuan had to give up. He then took the opportunity to ask her for advice on the best way to consume these Treasure Medicines and Spiritual Materials.

"For a blood-replenishing Holy Artifact like Blood Lingzhi, it’s best to use a mild, neutral medicinal liquid as a base and boil it down before consuming. You can even just chew on it directly, if you can stand it. As for the Mountain King Ginseng, I have a great recipe for that...

"...The others are more or less the same."

Situ Qin explained each one, and Xie Yuan nodded repeatedly.

’He had never eaten anything this good before, so of course, he had to ask the experienced rich girl for clear instructions.’

Xie Yuan had given a treasure, and Situ Qin had received a gift. Both of them felt a little happier.

’Now he could go back and prepare the medicines according to Situ Qin’s recipes. He would cultivate in peace, digest his gains, and after a few months of hard training, his strength would surely soar. He might even touch the threshold of the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm! At the very least, it would greatly shorten the time needed for his breakthrough!’

It was a new year now. Based on his previous progress, if he had just continued his training by the book, he likely wouldn’t have broken through to the next realm until late autumn or even the end of the year.

Although advancing one realm per year was already an astonishing speed within the major realm of Qi and Blood Transformation, if an Inner Sect Disciple were to cultivate this quickly, it would be enough to cause a stir throughout the entire Cloud Mountain Sword Sect.

’But Xie Yuan, naturally, wanted to be even faster if he could.’

But now, things were different. With his gains from the Slaughter Tower, combined with Situ Qin’s recipes and guidance, his progress would definitely surge once he got back.

’However, as for the question of whether to go back or not... he could think about that later.’

While Xie Yuan was pondering, Situ Qin happened to ask,

"Alright, I’ve shared in your harvest. So what happened after that? You keep spacing out while we’re talking today!"

She asked with a mix of playful annoyance and concern, her eyes fixed on Xie Yuan with curiosity.

Xie Yuan let out a breath, took a sip of tea, and began to speak slowly,

"Later, I was disguised as Zhang Mountain when I inexplicably left the tower. The Western Regions had suffered a major defeat, so the Grandmasters were naturally in a standoff. As it turned out, that Ming King didn’t have a single good thing to say and started spouting off..."

Xie Yuan relayed the words Ming King had used to incite the other Grandmasters. Whether it was intentional or not, his goal was clearly to stir up trouble where there was none, and if there already was trouble, to make things worse with a lucky shot—like casting a line just to see what he might catch.

As it turned out, that blow landed squarely and precisely on Xie Yuan’s head.

Xie Yuan didn’t know if the other sects were suspicious, but if the higher-ups of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect had grown doubtful, it likely started from that moment.

When he returned to the Sword Sect, everything seemed fine at first. But when that cunning bastard Li Xingtuo assigned them to the Nineteenth-tier Stone Platform, it spoke volumes.

Xie Yuan told Situ Qin that he had comprehended Sword Intent and accidentally stayed a few extra days, which made Situ Qin click her tongue in amazement.

"You stayed a ’few extra days’? Enough to make the entire sect treat you like the main event?"

"It wasn’t that long. Who knew they’d make such a huge fuss? Even the Grandmasters. It was only nine days."

Xie Yuan said with a hint of complaint.

’It was really just that the other disciples were too weak and the Grandmasters were too easily impressed. If every Sword Sect disciple could stay there for ten days or half a month, why would he have attracted any attention?’

Situ Qin was stunned for a moment, her exquisitely beautiful face looking utterly adorable. The first thing she focused on was very much in line with her character,

"Nine days? Master Xie, weren’t you hungry?"

"Well, I was engrossed in the Sword Dao, so I had no mind for food. But after I got back, I’d lost so much weight I looked two sizes smaller. My appetite scared the head chef so much he even reported it to the Sect Leader."

Situ Qin giggled, then looked at him in disbelief.

"Nine days... I’ve heard that Sword Peak is wreathed in Sword Qi, and ordinary disciples can’t even last an hour there. Only those with top-tier strength and talent can stay for any length of time. I heard that in the past, many Sword Sect disciples liked to compete over who could climb higher and stay longer, and a lot of them got injured. Your nine days... I bet there aren’t many disciples in the sect who could last longer than you, right?"