Chapter 162: 156. Enemy Becomes Concubine (1/2)

156. Enemy Becomes Concubine (1/2)

Listening to these pleas from Jiuji, Chen An remained as unmoved as ever.

Let her go?

Letting her go was impossible.

It would be impossible in this lifetime.

Unless his cultivation was high enough to easily suppress Jiuji's Spirit Severing parents, it was impossible to let the fox return to the mountain and needlessly increase the risk of being retaliated against by Jiuji calling for reinforcements.

"Young Master, I am kneeling before you."

"I really don't want to be imprisoned in this pitch-black cave anymore; I will break down, I can't take it anymore."

"Young Master, whatever you need, you can ask me, as long as you let me go."

Jiuji's voice grew increasingly humble, her graceful and alluring body nearly prostrate at Chen An's feet.

Having been pampered since childhood, she had never been this humble before.

But in order to regain her freedom, she had completely discarded her dignity at this moment and would do anything.

In any case, it was just her and Chen An in the cave; no third person would know.

Facing Jiuji's humble pleas, Chen An ruthlessly shook his head and refused: "Those not of my kind must have a different heart; furthermore, we have a feud, so how could I possibly let you go?"

"Young Master, I can swear to the Dao; if I ever retaliate against you in the future, may I be struck by lightning and never be reincarnated!"

Jiuji made a vicious oath, looking as if she had staked everything on it.

Unfortunately, Chen An did not believe in this sort of thing and did not respond to Jiuji.

Seeing Jiuji's disheveled and wretched appearance with a face covered in dust, he silently took out a Cleaning Talisman and used it on her to clean her body.

Afterward, he also took out several Night Pearls and embedded them into the cave wall, making the cave bright.

Jiuji had not seen light for too long; with the cave suddenly becoming so bright, she couldn't help but feel it was a bit dazzling, instinctively raising her slender, jade-like hands to cover her eyes.

However, she soon adapted to the light emitted by the Night Pearls and slowly opened her beautiful eyes.

Chen An turned back to look at her and said: "No matter how you beg me, it's useless. It is impossible for me to let you go and needlessly increase my own risks; you had better give up on that idea."

Jiuji despaired, her entire face ashen.

"Are you hungry?"

Chen An looked at Jiuji and asked softly.

It was not out of concern for her body, but out of fear that she would starve to death, thereby triggering the effect of Severing Tail to Escape.

"Not hungry."

Jiuji shook her head and said.

That was what she said, but both the weakness in her voice and the paleness of her complexion betrayed her current physical condition.

Chen An guessed her intentions to some extent; it was nothing more than wanting to starve herself to death to trigger Severing Tail to Escape.

However, a Golden Core Mid-stage cultivator is not so easily starved to death.

Just by absorbing the Spirit Qi in the air, one could survive for several years without a drop of water.

Only, this point might not apply to the current Jiuji.

Because at this moment, she had a pair of Sea Tower Stone shackles on her beautiful ankles.

And Sea Tower Stone absorbs the Spirit Power within a living being's body.

This caused the Spirit Qi she breathed into her body to be instantly absorbed and exhausted by the Sea Tower Stone the moment it was refined into Spirit Power.

Under these circumstances.

Even though she was a great Golden Core Mid-stage cultivator, if she continued to go without food or drink like this, she would likely only last two or three months at most before being starved to death.

Chen An was well aware of this.

Therefore, he didn't care whether Jiuji was hungry or not at this moment; he directly hoisted her up from the ground and made her stand against the cave wall facing him.

Then, he said to her: "Absorb it. I will let you absorb my vital energy, but you may only absorb a sliver."

"I'm not hungry."

Jiuji shook her head in refusal, unwilling to absorb it.

Chen An couldn't be bothered to waste words with her; he directly mobilized the energy within his body, condensed it into a thread, and slowly let it drift out from his Heavenly Gate.

In an instant, a sweet, fragrant scent of vital energy that Jiuji found irresistible permeated the entire cave.

So fragrant!

It really was so fragrant!

Jiuji couldn't help but swallow her saliva; her fragrant mouth was constantly secreting saliva, her soul-captivating beautiful eyes became filled with confusion, and her exquisite, fox-like face was covered in a desire to consume it.

However, in the end, her reason for survival still overcame her desire to consume; she looked as if she would rather die than submit, keeping her red and alluring cherry lips tightly shut.

Yet, her current situation was that she was imprisoned in a cave by Chen An.

To put it bluntly, she was no different from Chen An's slave.

Therefore, her personal wishes were not important.

In fact, if she resisted Chen An excessively, it might even bring physical pain upon herself.

And next, Chen An indeed did exactly that.

Seeing that Jiuji refused to absorb it, he directly and roughly pinched her mouth open, forcibly shoved the sliver of vital energy hovering on his finger into her mouth, and forced her to swallow it.

"Ngh!"

Jiuji struggled for a moment, but was ultimately forced to swallow it; her eyes instantly turned red from grievance and became moist, making her look pitiful.

Could a dignified great Golden Core Mid-stage cultivator be so easily moved to tears by grievance?

Chen An was not sure if Jiuji was faking it or if it was real.

But he defaulted to assuming it was fake.

After feeding Jiuji a wisp of vital energy so that she would neither starve to death nor damage her own body too much, Chen An quickly left the cave.

He walked out to the cave entrance, took out his Flying Sword, and flew toward the Market.

More than a quarter of an hour later.

The Market.

Lu Clan Firm.

As soon as Chen An walked in, Manager Lu inside greeted him with a face full of enthusiasm, as if he had just seen the God of Wealth.

"Alchemist Chen, come, come, please, this way. I will have someone brew a pot of good tea for you."

"No need, Manager Lu, I am in a hurry."

"Is Alchemist Chen here to buy pill formulas for Third-tier Pills again this time?"

"Yes, and I'd like to sell some pills while I'm at it."

As Chen An spoke, he moved his mind, took out the Third-tier Pills he had refined over these past few days from his Storage Ring, and placed them on the counter in front of him.

Manager Lu did not waste words and began to inspect the goods immediately.

A moment later.

Manager Lu smiled and said to Chen An, "Alchemist Chen, the quality of these pills today is even better than last time, but the quantity is half as much. Let's round it off to one hundred High-grade Spirit Stones, how about that?"

"Hmm, that's fine."

Chen An nodded; this price met his psychological expectations.

Afterward, he said, "Manager Lu, please exchange these one hundred High-grade Spirit Stones for Third-tier Pill formulas for me."

Upon hearing this, the expression on Manager Lu's face became even more enthusiastic, and he said, "Alright, Alchemist Chen, please wait a moment, I will go exchange them for you right now."

Before long.

Manager Lu returned with several Third-tier Pill formulas and handed them to Chen An respectfully.

Chen An took them, glanced over them, and feeling that there were no issues, he put them into his Storage Ring.

Ever since he had claimed Jiuji's Storage Ring as his own, he preferred using the Storage Ring over a Storage Bag.

"Manager Lu, why is there a pile of books in this counter?"

Chen An looked at the books in the counter to the side; at first, he thought they were Dharma Spells, but after looking closely, he discovered they were storybooks, so he couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Manager Lu smiled and explained, "These are storybooks written by some scholars in the mortal world. I saw that many cultivators like to read them, so I specifically sent people to the mortal world to purchase a batch to use as free gifts for customers who spend money at the firm."

"So that's how it is."

Chen An nodded and walked over curiously to flip through them.

*The Monk of the Lamp*, *Plum in the Golden Vase*, *The Tale of the Silver Lotus*, *Temple Fox*, *Demon Fox Goes to Hell*, *The Cultivation of the Fox Immortal*, *Record of the Qiongming Fairy*...

"Interesting, almost half of them are related to fox demons. It seems these scholars in the mortal world really like to fantasize about fox demons."

Chen An smiled and said.

Manager Lu laughed along, "After all, every fox demon is described as having beauty that could topple kingdoms, and they are both pure and seductive; they are the objects of every man's erotic dreams."

Chen An: "Aren't these scholars afraid of being drained dry by the fox demons?"

Manager Lu: "Alchemist Chen, to die under the peony flower is still a romantic death."

Chen An agreed with this statement.

He continued to flip through these storybooks for a while, but not seeing anything he wanted, he asked, "Manager Lu, do you have any more decent books here? I plan to take a few back for my wife and daughter at home to pass the time."

Manager Lu shook his head and smiled, "Then I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you, Alchemist Chen. Too few people like to read decent books, so the firm basically doesn't sell them."

"However, if you turn left when you go out and walk for about two or three miles, you will see a bookstore. There are books there suitable for your wife and daughter to read."

After finishing, Manager Lu said with a smile, "Alchemist Chen, although the books in that counter aren't decent, to be honest, they are written quite seductively. Most of the fairies inside are described as very wanton, and many male cultivators find them addictive."

"Especially those few about fox demons; not only do male cultivators love reading them, but even female cultivators love them too. The love, hate, and grudges inside are written exceptionally well. Many female cultivators, after finishing them, cannot help but find themselves a Dao companion, longing to obtain the love found in the books."

"Alchemist Chen, if you want, you can take a few back to enjoy."

Since they were free anyway, it would be a waste not to take them.

Chen An was a bit interested in fox demons now, so he took two copies of each of those storybooks about fox demons and put them into his Storage Ring.

The reason he took two of each was that, besides wanting to read them himself, he also wanted to take them to Jiuji, who was imprisoned in the cave, to read.

For one, he felt that keeping Jiuji imprisoned in the cave like a jail, without finding her something to pass the time, would easily drive her crazy.

For another, he thought about using these books to make Jiuji develop a longing for love, to see if he could slowly conquer her later and turn her into his own woman. In this way, while reducing one enemy, he could also gain an extra concubine; it was simply perfect.

"Taking only books about fox demons, it seems Alchemist Chen also has a taste for fox demons."

Manager Lu teased with a smile.

Although Chen An was not decent at home, he was a decent person outside.

Being teased like this by Manager Lu, he immediately showed disdain and said, "Humans and demons are on different paths, yet these scholars who are human actually fantasize every day about getting involved with the demon race. I must properly criticize them."

Manager Lu smiled and said nothing after hearing this.

However, soon after, he looked at Chen An with a smile and said:

"Speaking of which, Alchemist Chen is truly a distinguished guest of our Lu Clan Firm."

"Every time you come, you not only sell us a large amount of high-quality pills but also spend lavishly here, letting our Lu Clan Firm profit twice."

"This lavish display makes me want to marry my daughter to you."

"It's a pity that my daughter is already married; otherwise, I would definitely have her wash up and send her to your house tonight."

When he said this last sentence, Manager Lu's tone could not help but become somewhat regretful.

At this moment, a charming female voice rang out from outside the door: "Manager Lu, those words are wrong. Even if she is married, she can still have a lover. Besides, there are plenty of men nowadays who like this sort of thing; perhaps Alchemist Chen likes it too."

Chen An looked in the direction of the voice. What met his eyes was a young married woman in skimpy clothing. Her figure was very tempting, but her appearance was somewhat lacking.

This was a young woman who sold Spirit Cake opposite the Lu Clan Firm.

She had a husband who hunted outside all year round and a daughter who was just over ten years old.

Chen An had once bought a few boxes of Spirit Cake from that young woman and had exchanged a few words with her.

At that time, the young woman had frequently cast flirtatious glances at Chen An to seduce him, hinting that both she and her daughter were available.

Chen An had ignored her at the time and kept his distance.

And right now, he wanted to ignore her even more.

"Go away, go away, you shameless woman, don't come over here peddling your own wares and singing your own praises."

As soon as Shopkeeper Lu saw this young woman, he immediately looked as if he had seen a ghost, his face instantly becoming impatient.

The young woman walked in all the same, her voice chiding as she walked: "Shopkeeper Lu, that's not what you said about me when we were in bed; how come you don't recognize me once you've put your clothes on during the day?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting!"

Shopkeeper Lu's eyebrows shot up, and he gave the young woman a subtle look, hinting that there were outsiders present and for her to mind the occasion.

The young woman glanced at Chen An nearby and only then realized she had spoken out of turn.

Chen An ignored this pair of adulterers and left the firm as if he hadn't heard their conversation.

He didn't rush home after stepping out.

Instead, he followed the route Shopkeeper Lu had just given him, turning left toward that proper bookstore over there, thinking of buying some proper books for his wife and daughter at home to use for their amusement.

After Chen An left.

Shopkeeper Lu took out a bag of Spirit Stones and placed it in front of the young woman, warning her in a low voice: "Don't come wandering around here during the day anymore; if your husband finds out, we'll both be in serious trouble!"

"Heh, what a coward."

The young woman mocked Shopkeeper Lu, then picked up the bag of Spirit Stones he had placed on the table.

After putting the bag of Spirit Stones into her Storage Bag, the young woman suddenly became somewhat worried:

"Shopkeeper Lu, my husband sent me a voice transmission last night saying that in half a month he is going to follow you Lu Family people to hunt that python demon. I heard him say that the python demon has already shed its skin and transformed into a flood dragon, becoming a Golden Core Ninth Layer great demon. Will my husband be in danger if he goes along?"

This young woman might have been cheating, but she was still concerned about her husband and worried for his safety.

Shopkeeper Lu said: "Rest assured, our Lu Family head pulled strings to invite a Deacon from the Heaven and Earth Sect to come out of seclusion. That Deacon's cultivation is at the Golden Core Ninth Layer Great Perfection; dealing with a mere python demon is not a problem at all."

Upon hearing this, the young woman breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Then I can rest easy."

After saying this, she took advantage of the fact that there were no customers in the firm and, with a flirtatious smile, ducked under the counter in front of Shopkeeper Lu.

Shopkeeper Lu was startled by her bold, unchaste move and instinctively wanted to stop her, but seeing that there was no one else around, he ultimately chose to take the risk and enjoy it.

On the other side.

Chen An carefully selected a pile of reading material for his wife and daughter in the bookstore.

Feeling that he had bought enough, he flew toward the cave on his sword.

He wanted to deliver those improper books about fox demons he had gotten for free at the Lu Clan Firm to Jiuji, who was a fox demon.

PS: Failed to reach ten thousand words again today, probably eight thousand characters; I'll send red packets in the group at twelve o'clock.

By the way, since the regular group is full, I've created a new full-subscription group. You can join the group via the introduction in the book or at the end of each chapter; everyone remember to join.

Once there are more people in the subscription group, I will send the red packets there.