Chapter 787

·

·

·

Main Character:

Shen Yao

Lian Tang City is surrounded by mountain forests and trees, and there are very many exotic beasts and exotic plants hidden inside.

The carriage traveled along the road; at first Shen Yao was still somewhat excited, after all she had gone out very few times, and right now was a perfect opportunity she simply had to look at carefully.

As it turned out, the scenery and buildings were all exactly the same, and Shen Yao suddenly lost interest, half-lying in the carriage, so that even Lu Yan could not cultivate properly.

Lu Yan: ……

Lu Yan's tolerance for Shen Yao kept dropping as Shen Yao became more and more unbridled; sometimes Lu Yan really wanted to have a proper talk with Shen Yao, but Shen Yao simply would not cooperate, and on top of that Shen Yao's identity was special, so Lu Yan could only choose to let it be.

Bringing the pastries and beverages to Shen Yao, Lu Yan raised a hand to prop up Shen Yao leaning in his arms, "Eat something first; we are making a journey today and will not stop the carriage."

There is no village ahead and no store behind. Not wanting to sleep in the wilderness at night, they have to push at full speed to enter the city.

Shen Yao pursed her lips, "You speak so absolutely," they had long since left the Lian Tang City area, and the surrounding terrain was not unchanging either.

What if something delays them on the road? Then they can only lodge in the wild.

But the wilderness is dangerous right now; would there be an unexpected outcome, like some hero rescuing a beauty?

System: ……

The System felt its own Host's thoughts were too terrifying; could it be she has read too many storybooks?

Halfway along, the carriage suddenly encountered a heavy rain, and Lu Yan could only find a place to stop; because of this delay, by the time the rain stopped they could no longer make the journey.

"Young Master, there is a broken temple up ahead."

Lu Yan lifted the carriage curtain, "Let's go there; we'll make do for tonight."

Shen Yao's heart stirred with excitement; here it comes, here it comes — a broken temple by the road in the wild ridges at this hour is precisely a high-incident spot for trouble.

The carriage stopped at the broken temple entrance; Shen Yao got down and looked up to see the temple's half-plaque that looked ready to fall but not quite falling.

The characters on it had been worn completely clean; Shen Yao could only recognize the last character 'temple', and thought to herself this place has been abandoned for quite a long time; if there really are any mountain spirits or wild monsters (exotic beasts and plants) hidden here, they have surely all become fully fledged.

Lu Yan had already had people sweep clean the open space in the broken temple's front hall, spread dry straw brought back from the back courtyard underneath, and cover the top with the cloth they brought.

When Shen Yao, leaning on Lu Yan's hand, entered the hall she could still see traces left on the ground — they should be bonfire ashes left by past travelers; compared to the wilderness and dense forest not far away, the broken temple is still easier to settle in.

Lu Yan had already arranged for people to set up pots and start a fire; they had brought quite a lot of things, and by the time Shen Yao sat in a corner holding a white porcelain bowl slowly drinking congee, the sun overhead had long since set, and the clear radiance of moonlight had already sprinkled onto the ground.

The light congee in the white porcelain bowl had already been drunk up by Shen Yao; the Blazing Lion in her arms continued lying there, its little belly round and plump; the Black Feather Snake and Gale Wolf were crouching in the corner.

Lu Yan was leading people outside to patrol and incidentally set up a simple defensive array, to guard against sudden accidents they might not be able to handle in the broken temple.

The System followed alongside Lu Yan to join the fun, occasionally saying a sentence to chat with the Host; the content was also about the situation around the broken temple, summed up in one sentence: Kamilla, the Host can completely handle it.

Shen Yao: ……

'If people do not offend me, I do not offend people'; fighting and killing and such are not Shen Yao's character setting — that is all Lu Yan's job.

System: ……

'Host, our mission' the System persuaded earnestly.

Shen Yao's face was calm, 'Does it involve a life-and-death crisis?'

The System was stifled for a long while, then hemmed and hawed, '……Not that difficult either.'

Just a tiny obstacle on the road ahead.

Shen Yao knew the System liked to exaggerate, and did not know from when it had picked up this bad habit; by the time Shen Yao noticed it could no longer be corrected.

Lowering her eyes to look at the Blazing Lion in her arms, pinching her fingers to rub the Blazing Lion's little belly, Shen Yao simply stood up and went out the door, standing at the broken temple entrance gazing toward the avenue not far away.

The light was dim; only the vague outlines on both sides of the avenue could be seen; occasionally roars and cries drifted out — animals staying in the distant mountain forests.

Lu Yan had already returned with his men; seeing Shen Yao not resting, he hurriedly took off the cloak from his own body and draped it over her, "It's cold."

Although Lu Yan knew symbiotic creatures would not catch cold, Shen Yao's daily behavior still made him treat her as a fragile role needing care and attention.

Shen Yao peacefully enjoyed the care from Lu Yan; the Blazing Lion in her arms was completely blocked by the cloak, its little claws scratching everywhere.

Shen Yao lightly patted the Blazing Lion's little body, turned around, and entered the temple with Lu Yan.

"We make the journey tomorrow; we will reach Yi Shui in the afternoon. There, many water elements gather," the Black Feather Snake obtained the Mutated Water Spirit Pearl, improving its constitution and abilities, and in such a place it can operate even more freely.

"We have to stay in Yi Shui for a period of time?" Shen Yao glanced at the Black Feather Snake coiled into a ball; its dark, lustrous skin looked like a black obsidian bracelet.

Lu Yan nodded, "Incidentally, buy some more spirit resources the Black Feather Snake consumes daily."

Yi Shui City, because of a Yi Shui river that runs through the city, and because many water-type exotic beasts live in the Yi Shui, some exotic beasts can communicate with humans and will even sell items they do not need but are useful to humans for trade.

The most common are various clam-type exotic beasts; they sell pearls they do not need, in exchange for human gold, silver, jewelry and spirit jade, used to buy the spirit resources they need for cultivation.

Lu Yan had once passed by Yi Shui City before; he did not stay in the city, but he did conduct a spirit jade trade with a black fish exotic beast on the banks of the Yi Shui.

Recalling himself at that time, Lu Yan still felt a bit like it was a dream; returning to Yi Shui this time, he did not know whether he would still be able to encounter that black fish.

"This Young Master, take a look, take a look; all our goods are genuine treasures, most suitable for the young lady beside you, can defend and guard, good quality and cheap price……"

Lu Yan looked at the black fish that kept two whiskers, its fish mouth opening and closing as it spoke; he was silent for a long while before taking out a Black Fish Token the size of a finger from his ring.

The black fish, about to continue its coaxing: ……

So it was the unlucky fellow who had been coaxed before; tsk, it had thought it was a premium customer.

The black fish changed its face in a second; gone was the previous eagerness, only a pair of dead fish eyes looking at Lu Yan and Shen Yao, showing an attitude of 'buy it or not'.

Shen Yao was very surprised by this; by now they had already settled into Yi Shui City.

After resting one night in the broken temple before, Shen Yao had thought she might run into some storybook plot; as it turned out it was just an utterly ordinary night.

After arriving in Yi Shui City, Lu Yan began purchasing spirit resources for the Black Feather Snake; with nothing else to do at the moment, Lu Yan led Shen Yao to stroll around Yi Shui, and happened to run into the black fish Lu Yan had traded with before selling its wares.

They were all pearls and gemstones that women like, plus a few beautiful coral bracelets.

Shen Yao half-crouched down and flipped through them; only then did she notice a feeble energy fluctuation covering the pearls — not reaching the 'can defend and withstand' the black fish claimed, one could only say it was better than nothing.

Lu Yan didn't waste words with Black Fish, only saying he needed water-system spirit resources, and also, "News of Qingchuan, still at the original price."

Black Fish immediately moved his fish mouth, "Raise the price by thirty percent, including the latest news and insider info of Qingchuan."

Shen Yao was surprised, "You know even this?" Yi Shui was very far from Qingchuan.

Black Fish touched his fish whiskers, "Who am I? In the whole of Yi Shui, I'm the best at gathering information."

He, Black Forty-Seven, was a renowned number one fish in Yi Shui; setting up a stall to sell things was just a side business, his main business was all kinds of information.

Lu Yan also didn't know who the big shot behind Black Fish was, but he knew this black fish had real ability; the information he sold was eight or nine times out of ten accurate.

"Deal."

Lu Yan agreed readily, then took out a deposit from his ring and handed it to the other party.

Black Fish's dead fish eyes became lively; while packing up his small stall, he didn't forget to hand the pearls placed on the surface to Shen Yao as a free gift.

Shen Yao: ……

Shen Yao didn't mind either; after all, it was free, so she took it and put it in her ring.

The two followed behind Black Fish until they walked into a small shed set up there; Black Fish hopped and hugged out a seashell.

"Here, everything you want is in here, spirit resources," Black Fish spread his fish fins, speaking not tactfully at all.

Lu Yan didn't mind either; the two of them had always traded like this before.

Another bag of spirit resources, heavier than before, was handed by Lu Yan to Black Fish, while facing Black Fish, Lu Yan used the Black Fish Token taken out earlier to open the seashell.

Inside the seashell were placed strip-shaped jade slips one by one; the content was hidden inside the jade slips; to obtain the information, one needed to smash the jade slips.

Shen Yao: …… So it's this troublesome? She thought one just pasted the jade slip on the forehead.

Complaining in her heart was really inconvenient, but looking at Lu Yan who seemed to have no resistance at all, hmm, this plane should have some problems.

Strange and weird branching, who knows just where the fantasy went.

After Lu Yan finished reading the content in the jade slips, he handed them to Shen Yao; he stood up and nodded at Black Fish, "Transaction complete; recently I'm all in Yi Shui City; if there's still news of Qingchuan, we can continue trading."

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.

Lu Yan going to Qingchuan to find resources for the Gale Wolf, the difficulty was no less than the previous contract with the Blazing Lion; things like Shen Yao casually entering and exiting a secret realm and then finding a Mutated Water Spirit Pearl were basically unattainable; three contract beasts were all Lu Yan's partners; Lu Yan ought to be responsible for their cultivation.

Black Fish waved his fish fins, indicating he knew all this, but given the distance from Qingchuan to Yi Shui, there shouldn't be new news in a short time; he let Lu Yan calm his mindset; moreover, the content just sold was already not little; Lu Yan wasn't going to kill, burn, and destroy cities; it was enough for him to use.

Lu Yan: ……

What Black Fish said made sense, but Lu Yan still preferred to plan before acting.

Hugging the re-closed seashell, the two rapidly returned to the inn.

Lu Yan gave Shen Yao extra spirit jade and gold and silver, while he locked himself in the room, spending the whole process digesting this bought-back Qingchuan news.

Shen Yao: ……

Shen Yao hugging the Blazing Lion, leading the Gale Wolf (as for the Black Feather Snake, was seizing time to cultivate) plus other Lu Mansion servants together went out to stroll the street.

The shops in Yi Shui City mostly sold things all related to Yi Shui.

Shen Yao bought here and there, a bit bored; in the end, she went again to the Yi Shui riverside and traded with those strange beasts.

A whole bag of spirit jade given by Lu Yan was about to be spent clean by Shen Yao; replacing them were the various pearls and water treasures in Shen Yao's hands.

'Host, go to the frontmost shop, there's a treasure!'

The system activated the detection function, rapidly discovering there was a leak here to pick up.

Shen Yao was also curious about treasure hunting; following the system's indicated position, she walked forward a bit, finally discovering the stall owner was a white fish, and what the system called a treasure was a stone.

Stone?

'That's not a stone at all! Inside it contains ice element energy!'

The content detected by the system wouldn't be wrong, and this thing was very suitable for the Black Feather Snake to swallow and digest, able to raise a large chunk of the Black Feather Snake's capability.

Shen Yao spent spirit jade to buy it, then also bought some other small items at the stall, causing the jingling spirit jade to all be swapped into messy things.

Returning to the inn satisfied, Lu Yan still hadn't come out of the room.

Shen Yao: ……

Raising her hand, she knocked on the room door; not waiting for Lu Yan to speak, Shen Yao directly pushed the door and entered.

Lu Yan was sitting at the table turning over the jade slip contents knocked out from the seashell; seeing Shen Yao enter, he also didn't say anything.

A pretty clean palm was extended over; Lu Yan saw the stone on top of the palm.

The stone was an irregular shape, pure white color mixed with a bit of ice blue; faint energy radiated outward from within.

"Inside this, there's something?" Lu Yan picked up the stone to look, then with one hand used force to pinch it open.

Unexpectedly, the stone didn't shatter; only a few light-colored traces appeared.

Hm?

Shen Yao propping her chin with one hand sat down; she tilted her head examining Lu Yan, very much anticipating his reaction after discovery.

Lu Yan didn't disappoint Shen Yao's anticipation; after looking at the stone for a while, he directly picked up the Black Hand Bracelet lying to the side.

Black Feather Snake: ……??

Originally digesting the spirit resources Lu Yan bought back, the Black Feather Snake was a bit dumbfounded.

"Try it; the thing inside is beneficial to you."

The Black Feather Snake's pair of beautiful ruby eyes shone; its snake tongue was hissed out.

Opening its mouth, it swallowed the stone into its mouth, but in a moment it was spat out again by the Black Feather Snake.

The original white faded mostly; the rest was all that ice blue color.

Hm?

The Black Feather Snake still wanted to continue gnawing; it was stopped by Lu Yan, who picked it up in his hand to examine, disregarding the filth.

Shen Yao switched to another wrist to continue propping her chin, until Lu Yan read out the stone's name, "Ice Crystal."

"It's a Mutated Ice Crystal; the ice element inside is pure, and its effect complements the Mutated Water Spirit Pearl," very suitable for the Black Feather Snake to swallow and digest.

One could say the Black Feather Snake didn't come to Yi Shui in vain; the spirit resources were each stronger than the last, all treasures that couldn't be bought even with money.

Ice Crystal, as the name implies, is the pure ice element slowly forming into a crystal.

Ice Crystals are not common, and often appear in environments of ice and snow.

This Mutated Ice Crystal evolved from crystal, and furthermore underwent a long period of evolution; that outer shell of the Ice Crystal is all residual energy left after the crystal degenerated, not easily broken open.

Shen Yao's ability to discover the Mutated Ice Crystal was thanks to the system, bored out of its mind, conducting a detection; afterward, although she also found other leaks, none were as substantial as the Mutated Ice Crystal.

Digesting this Mutated Ice Crystal requires time, but after being swallowed by the Black Feather Snake, other people also had no channel to snatch it.

She also took a bag of Spirit Jade from Lu Yan's hand, and Shen Yao shook her head happily; sure enough, doing business like hers was quite good, a steady profit with no loss.