Chapter 225 - 224: Cultivation World: A Familiar Scene Reappears

What Chu Liangyu didn’t know was that in the Cultivation World, no one ever remained to chat calmly after discovering they were talking to a Demon Cultivator. The unspoken rule was to attack first and ask questions later.

Whenever there was an incident, or a mortal village suffered a disaster, most people’s first reaction was to blame the Demon Cultivators.

Even if an investigation later proved it wasn’t the work of Demon Cultivators, they wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

While Demon Cultivators were no saints, they didn’t like being misunderstood and would naturally try to argue their case.

The problem was, from an eighty-year-old elder down to a three-year-old child, no one would believe them.

Since that was the case, they stopped bothering to explain. They simply gave up and leaned into the accusations, making the rumors a reality.

Watching the situation spiral further and further off-course, Chu Liangyu’s feelings grew increasingly complicated.

"Since the City Lord says he wants to befriend me, could you perhaps return my Spirit Stones?"

Chu Liangyu didn’t actually believe the City Lord wanted to be friends, so she was deliberately testing him.

Unexpectedly, the City Lord actually seemed to hesitate. After a moment, he said, "Fellow Daoist, it’s not that I won’t give them to you, but we truly need Spirit Stones for our cultivation. Otherwise, the gap between us and the Righteous Cultivators will only grow larger."

"It is indeed wrong to rob a friend of their Spirit Stones. How about this? I’ll treat it as a loan. And I’ll give half of the Spirit Stones back to you."

Chu Liangyu watched him quietly, then sighed.

’Looks like I’ve really run into a Demon Cultivator who’s wired a bit differently this time.’ She had no interest in needlessly escalating the conflict.

"In that case, we’ll do as the City Lord says. But..." Chu Liangyu paused before continuing, "Could the City Lord help me find a map of the Cultivation World? I have other business to attend to, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to return to the City Lord Mansion with you."

"A small matter."

The City Lord glanced at a subordinate beside him, who immediately took a map from his storage bag and handed it to Chu Liangyu.

"But are you sure you won’t be our guest?"

"I’ll visit when I have the chance, but I have too much on my plate right now. It’s just not convenient."

A look of pity crossed the City Lord’s face, but he didn’t press the matter. He simply handed back the storage bag he had taken from Chu Liangyu.

Chu Liangyu accepted it without a glance, then smiled and offered her thanks.

The Peach Wood Sword appeared in her hand. With a quick hand seal, the sword’s body expanded several times in size. Chu Liangyu stepped onto it, gave the City Lord a final nod, and then departed from the Flying Boat using Sword Flight.

"What a peculiar Righteous Cultivator. She didn’t even check the storage bag to see if the amount of Spirit Stones was correct."

Despite his words, his face was filled with satisfaction. He was clearly pleased by her trust.

Aboard her Flying Sword, Chu Liangyu extended her Divine Sense into the storage bag. A single glance left her stunned.

He had said he would return half of the Spirit Stones, but the storage bag contained two-thirds of them. The City Lord had only taken a small fraction.

Slightly surprised, Chu Liangyu’s opinion of the City Lord improved somewhat.

’For him to do this means he truly saw it as just borrowing the Spirit Stones. Once he’s solved his pressing problem, he’ll probably return the rest.’

Soon, Chu Liangyu put the matter out of her mind.

Once she was out of the Flying Boat’s sight, she slowed her Sword Flight, and her route became more and more remote.

Some of this was intentional on Chu Liangyu’s part, but most of it wasn’t.

Asking the City Lord for a map was part of her own plan. She was looking for the Polar Spring, and to reach the sealed lands of the Demon Realm, she would certainly need a map.

She needed to have a firm grasp of the situation herself. Though the Heavenly Dao had promised to help, she couldn’t rely on it for everything.

Chu Liangyu had read about the Polar Spring in books. It wasn’t hard to find—it was located in the Demon King’s personal garden—but obtaining it would be another matter entirely.

None of that mattered to her. Chu Liangyu just hoped that the hard-won Polar Spring could truly help restore Chi Yizhong’s sight.

"Stop! Hand over all your Spirit Stones!"

A group of people arrived via Sword Flight, immediately surrounding Chu Liangyu.

At this familiar sight, Chu Liangyu’s eyes lit up.

’After flying for so long, the actors I’ve been waiting for have finally arrived!’

This time, she didn’t cooperate meekly. Instead, she put on an impatient expression. "What Spirit Stones? They were all taken long ago. Besides, even if I had any, why would I give them to you?"

As soon as the group heard that, they knew she still had some Spirit Stones on her; not all of them had been taken.

"Heh... then don’t blame us for what comes next."

All sorts of attacks flew toward Chu Liangyu. At first, she put up a decent counterattack, but as time went on, her Spiritual Power was nearly depleted.

To make the group attack her with more vigor, Chu Liangyu deliberately pulled out Top Grade Spiritual Stones to replenish her Spiritual Power.

The moment the group saw this, their eyes went red with greed. Their assault grew even more ferocious, desperate to snatch the Top Grade Spiritual Stones away from her.

SPURT...

Ultimately, there were too many of them. Unable to hold them off any longer, Chu Liangyu was injured and coughed up blood. The Peach Wood Sword in her hand snapped in two.

Her back against a large tree, she watched warily as the figures drew closer.

One of them held something in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, a white powder drifted toward her.

After inhaling the powder, Chu Liangyu felt her head grow groggy, but not enough to make her lose consciousness.

Still, she pretended she couldn’t hold on any longer and slid limply down the tree trunk.

"Damn, she was a tough one. Can’t believe she lasted that long."

One of them spat on the ground, his heart full of impatience.

"Hurry up and grab her storage bag so we can leave."

"But... she’s so beautiful. Wouldn’t it be a shame not to take her with us?"

One of them glanced regretfully at Chu Liangyu on the ground, obviously reluctant to leave her.

"She’s one of the Lord’s people. If you’ve got a death wish, go right ahead and have your fun."

Their group’s cultivation was low. They weren’t like the previous group that at least followed a City Lord. If they offended the Demon Lord, they wouldn’t just die—their ashes might not even remain.

The man realized this as well, but he was still unwilling to give up. After a moment’s thought, he said, "How about we sell her to Lan Yue Pavilion?"

’As long as we cover our tracks, no one will ever know it was us.’

Besides, with a Female Cultivator this beautiful, they could make a fortune.

"That’s... actually a good idea."

The others didn’t hesitate long before agreeing, though some were still apprehensive. "We can do that, but we can’t go ourselves. We’ll have to find a runner to deliver her."

As the group discussed animatedly, Chu Liangyu, still feigning unconsciousness, took in every word.

’I thought they were going to assault me directly, but I didn’t expect Li Jingxuan’s reputation to be such a powerful deterrent in their minds.’

’Still, this works out for the best.’

Lan Yue Pavilion might have a poetic name, but it was just a high-class brothel.

It was located on the border between the Demon Realm and the Cultivation World, an entertainment venue specially created for Cultivators.

But that wasn’t what Chu Liangyu was focused on. The most important thing was that this was a necessary stop on the route to the Demon Realm.

’Li Jingxuan will definitely come once he sees the Jade Spirit Grass.’ Chu Liangyu was in no hurry.

It was just that while completing her mission, she also wanted to obtain the Polar Spring as quickly as possible.