Chapter 48: I

A ginseng fruit, when smelled, can extend one's life by three hundred and sixty years; eating one can extend it by forty-seven thousand years.

The two bottles of white liquor Tang An exchanged for using merit in the system were a massive profit.

However, if she were to brag about this bargain, she wouldn't be able to get such a good deal again.

Having been scammed by that old geezer just now, now was the perfect time for Tang An to scam him back.

"I can let you drink it, but you have to show some sincerity."

The ginseng fruit tree thought for a moment, "How many bottles do you have left?"

"It depends on your sincerity. If your sincerity is great, I have as many bottles as you want."

The ginseng fruit tree thought again and shook its ginseng fruit leaves.

"One leaf for ten bottles, how about that?"

Tang An had only heard of ginseng fruit; she didn't know the efficacy of the leaves. "What use are the leaves?"

Zhenyuanzi stroked his beard and smiled, "One leaf, one Bodhi; one leaf, one life force."

"Whether it's a mortal or an immortal, no matter how severely injured, as long as there is still one breath left, a single leaf can bring them back to life."

"Even if they're crippled? Can they recover as good as new?"

"Naturally, as long as there is still one breath."

Tang An's eyes lit up. What a treasure!

It would be especially useful for Nezha; with his suicidal fighting style, only ginseng fruit leaves could save him and restore him in time.

Trading ten bottles of white liquor for one leaf was a huge profit!

She finally understood the thrill Mom felt when selling goods to the camel-traders.

"Oh my." Business is business; you can't let them know you have too much stock, or they'll haggle. "I only have a hundred bottles here; I can only trade ten leaves. I'm so reluctant~"

As Tang An spoke, she pulled another bottle of white liquor from her Universe Bag and opened it; the aroma was rich and pungent.

"Hiss~" The ginseng fruit tree was practically drooling.

"If you trade ten leaves for me, I'll give you one extra." It couldn't wait to drink the liquor.

"Two extra."

"You little girl, why are you raising the price while sitting down?"

"I learned it all from you."

The ginseng fruit tree was rendered speechless by her retort, and being eager for the liquor, it said, "Fine, fine. Seeing as you have a friendship with Zhenyuanzi, two extra it is. Trade them to me quickly."

"Deal!"

Tang An snapped her fingers in satisfaction, trading one hundred bottles of white liquor for twelve ginseng fruit leaves.

The ginseng fruit tree got the liquor and was happily drunk, not bothering to argue with Tang An over those one or two leaves.

With this, the two tribulations for Tang An and her four disciples were passed, and Tang An had completed her transaction.

At night.

Tang An and her four disciples stayed here; the food and lodging were excellent, so they planned to rest for a few days before leaving.

"Come here, come here."

Tang An beckoned, and the four of them gathered around a stone table in the courtyard.

"Twelve leaves, three for each of us."

Tang An distributed the twelve Bodhi leaves to Nezha, Sun Wukong, and Yang Jian respectively.

Clearly, the three of them never expected Tang An to take out such precious items to share with them, let alone give them three leaves each.

It would be a lie to say they weren't touched or moved.

"Master." Sun Wukong spoke first, grinning as he pushed the leaves back toward Tang An. "My old Sun has a body of copper and bones of iron; I don't need these, I don't need these. Master, you should keep them for your own protection."

Yang Jian also pushed them back, "We have all attained sainthood in the flesh; there is no level of battle that can leave us severely injured anymore. These things are more useful to you than to us."

Nezha simply pushed the leaves back into Tang An's hand and clasped her fist, making her hold the three leaves tight. "When would I ever need these things? You just keep them."

Tang An looked at the three of them refusing her gesture and glared at them unhappily.

"Am I the master, or are you the masters?"

As she spoke, Tang An distributed the nine leaves to them again.

Just as the three of them were about to speak, Tang An manually pinched the mouths of Yang Jian and Nezha, who were closest to her, effectively silencing them.

Sun Wukong, seeing this, quickly covered his own mouth, fearing Tang An would pinch him too.

"I gave them to you, so keep them well. It's not like I don't have any more."

"Besides, with the three of you protecting me, who could possibly hurt me?"

She didn't allow the three to refuse, finished distributing the leaves, and turned away gracefully to return to her room.

They were all her disciples; she couldn't favor one over the others.

With three leaves, Nezha now had three chances to recover from severe injuries.

Presumably, even if he fought recklessly in the future, there wouldn't be any major problems.

At worst, she could have Sun Wukong flip a somersault cloud back to trade with the ginseng fruit tree a few more times; by then, they would all have plenty of life-saving talismans.

Three days later, at the entrance of Wuzhuang Temple.

For the past few days, Nezha, Sun Wukong, and Yang Jian had been meditating and practicing here, adjusting their states and preparing for the next tribulation.

"Big Brother, you are close to White Bone Mountain; have you ever heard of the Killing God Bai Qi?"

Zhenyuanzi stroked his beard, knowing that this was the tribulation Tang An and her group were about to face.

"Use words, not force." This was Zhenyuanzi's advice to Tang An; the meaning was clear: it was best not to come into conflict with them.

"Fine." Tang An knew that these high-level immortals always liked to play the mysterious card. It was either "the Buddha says it cannot be spoken" or "heavenly secrets must not be leaked."

Regardless of whether they knew the heavenly secrets or not, they had to walk the road ahead. They had to pass the tribulation ahead.

Alas, it was clearly a trap, yet they had to jump into it. Being a worker is just a bitter fate.

"Take care, Big Brother. We are leaving now."

"Take care, take care." Sun Wukong also bowed.

Zhenyuanzi stroked his beard with satisfaction, "You two, take care as well."

Bidding farewell to Great Immortal Zhenyuan, the four disciples, one dog, and one fox once again embarked on the journey to the West.

After leaving Longevity Mountain, the further west they went, the heavier the pitch-black Yin Qi became.

By the time they reached the foot of Longevity Mountain, even without opening her Truth-Seeing Eyes, Tang An could see the black clouds pressing down on the mountain, making one feel stifled and breathless with oppression.

"Is it very cold?" The three of them, Nezha and the others, felt no discomfort.

But Tang An was only a mortal; the Yin Qi was too dense for her small body to withstand.

If not for the protection of her Indestructible Body, Tang An might have been eroded into a living corpse by the Yin Qi.

Tang An nodded, shivering; she felt the temperature must have been around minus fifteen degrees Celsius.

If not for Nezha keeping her warm the whole time, she would have frozen stiff.

"Hold onto my arm." Nezha snapped his fingers, and a cluster of Samadhi True Fire appeared on his fingertip.

The moment Tang An's hand touched Nezha's arm, the Yin Qi on her body was instantly shattered, and she felt warm again.

"It has to be you; I've finally come back to life." Tang An breathed heavily; she had been so uncomfortable just a moment ago.

No, her small body, while not dying, was still too weak. She wouldn't die, but she would suffer.

Hmm, it was still a lack of magic treasures, a result of insufficient firepower.

Tang An searched her Universe Bag and found the string of Buddhist beads she had scammed from Wenshu. The beads were specifically effective against Yin evil, and after putting them on, she felt much more energetic.

"See, scammed more good things, always useful in critical moments."

"Master." Sun Wukong was a bit anxious, "How are we going to deal with the monsters on White Bone Mountain?"

"Or should we just sneak past? And not clean up this mess for those people in the Underworld?"