Chapter 17: How Does One Choose?
Those alchemical potions not only had unknown effects but were also old medicines produced as early as ’82, and it was uncertain whether they had degraded. Luxianbei didn’t dare to consume them.
So, she summoned the little dog that was called forth by the White Wolf Spirit Seal.
Although Zhang Hainan insisted it was a White Wolf, Luxianbei decided to call it White Puppy.
Just like how a dog can be named “Kitty.”
It was also part of the same series as Bai Xiaohua, which was really great!
“Come on, little dog, drink this!” Luxianbei said expressionlessly, grabbing the White Puppy’s scruff and lifting it up, with one hand holding the potion bottle to its mouth.
As a summoned entity of the Spirit Seal ability, the White Puppy was entirely composed of spirit energy. Similar to the urban legend of evil spirits, except it lacked a core, it could almost be considered a kind of urban legend.
Testing the potion on it was just perfect!
“AwAwAw——!”
As the potion bottle approached, the White Puppy howled as if sensing danger, writhing its pure white body, and flailing its limbs desperately.
Help, someone wants to k*ll the dog!
“Don’t be afraid! It’s dairy products!”
Even if it was poisoned, it would only explode.
d*ath is just physical, but as long as the Spirit Seal is still there, you will live on in spirit, Luxianbei thought.
“I am your master. How could I harm you?”
Thus, under Luxianbei’s coaxing and deceit, the White Puppy opened its mouth and cautiously licked the potion at the bottle’s mouth.
After a moment of waiting and nothing happening, Luxianbei picked up another potion.
“See? I told you it’s fine, right? Come on, your master loves you. Try this pill.”
Luxianbei poured out a black pill from the bottle and pushed it to the White Puppy’s mouth.
The White Puppy stared with its clear and innocent big eyes, tilting its head to look at Luxianbei.
As if asking her, “What’s this again?”
“Milky… oh, no, dogs can’t eat chocolate…” Luxianbei murmured softly, then quickly changed her tone, “Dog food, it’s dog food!”
Hearing this, the White Puppy leaned forward, sniffed the pill with its twitching nose, then “awoo,” swallowed it.
“Good job, little one! You need to eat well to grow up, so eat this!”
While speaking, Luxianbei picked up the third potion…
“…”
Watching Luxianbei’s series of actions, Zhang Hainan’s expression twitched.
He wasn’t sure if the White Wolf Spirit Seal’s summon was a dog, but… Luxianbei was definitely a dog!
————
In the end, the White Puppy still exploded.
If it weren’t for Zhang Hainan’s quick reaction, managing to contain the shockwave that melded some of the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power, the roof of Moon Cave would have been blown into the sky.
However, the White Puppy exploding wasn’t because the potions were toxic, but rather because the effects were too potent.
It was “love” from Luxianbei that caused it to burst…
Initially, when Zhang Hainan had Luxianbei drink those alchemical potions, she refused.
After testing them on the White Puppy, she finally tried two bottles herself.
Once she tried, she couldn’t stop.
From being passive to being proactive, and then unable to stop at all, the astonishing change in attitude took less than three minutes.
Although those potions did bring about side effects that made her body uncomfortable for a short time, each one contained abundant spirit energy.
Abundant spirit energy meant that regardless of what the original potion’s effect was, there would be some healing effect.
Most importantly, many of those alchemical potions were indeed expired…
Trading three to five bottles for one disaster was such a profit!
Thus, the alchemical potions that Zhang Hainan had treasured for decades were reduced by more than half in just a matter of ten minutes.
Having eaten her fill, Luxianbei slumped in her chair, rubbing her slightly protruding belly, mumbling, “Old man, can I have some more? Look, I still have injuries!”
In the midst of speaking, she raised her little hand to show Zhang Hainan the bite mark on her thumb, slightly oozing bl**d.
That expression was like a monkey that had just snuck a taste of an elixir and was arrogantly planning to ask for another jar.
That was your own bite from earlier, don’t think I didn’t see… Zhang Hainan facepalmed and said in a serious tone, “There’s none left.”
“But I saw there were still quite a few on that shelf?”
“Those are toxic,” Zhang Hainan said with a dark face.
“Fine.” Luxianbei rolled her eyes.
If you don’t give it, then don’t. Why act like you’re scaring a child, that if they eat too much, they’ll grow worms in their stomach?
“Can I take a few bottles with me? You don’t mind, right? Since the potions in these bottles are all gone.”
Zhang Hainan frowned, facepalmed, and sighed in a triple whammy.
“Take them, take them! Just take care of them and hurry up and go with this old man to Zixiao Terrace.”
Looking at the bottles in Luxianbei’s hand that were full of disasters, he felt an inexplicable sense of seeing his own mischievous child playing with urine and mud.
Troublesome, wanting to scold, but also feeling it’s dirty.
What’s a good girl like her doing with such dirty things? Who did she learn this from?
————
Zhenwu Mountain is a land of outstanding people and has the Dachunyang Palace, a spiritual energy cultivation sect that has existed for nearly a thousand years, which has given birth to many powerful spirit ability users throughout history.
Although among these many powerful spirit ability users, there are only a few monstrous figures like Qing Ji and Zhang Hainan.
However, elders like Qing Xiazi and Bi Xuzi, who can stand alone, are as numerous as stars.
Those spirit ability users often have decent spirit energy items with them.
However, spirit energy items each have their own temperament; those users, during their limited lifetimes, often fail to find suitable successors for their items, thus leaving them on Zixiao Terrace to await worthy recipients.
At the same time, these spirit energy items, before finding new owners, become a part of the vast solidified spells that compose Zixiao Terrace, enhancing its power.
This is the last contribution that those predecessors could make for future generations before peacefully passing away.
In fact, when the founding master of Dachunyang Palace built Zixiao Terrace, it was merely intended to summon thunder and rain, improving the harsh weather around Zhenwu Mountain.
It was already difficult to defeat urban legends from dozens of kilometers away.
Let alone now, with this terrifying ability of precise strikes radiating over half a hemisphere.
However, the sage knew that one person’s strength was limited, so the Zixiao Terrace built back then could only be considered a semi-finished product.
A near-perfect semi-finished product.
Now, nearly a thousand years have passed since that sage ascended, and Zixiao Terrace has gradually accumulated an astonishing number of spirit energy items, “growing” to a staggering degree, like a sword suspended high, intimidating the small fries.
Even so, it remains a semi-finished product and has not yet reached its limit.
In a certain sense, spirit ability users, with their numbers being far fewer than urban legends, can contend with them, relying on this passing down of fire.
————
“I understand, I understand!”
Listening to Zhang Hainan narrate the history of Zixiao Terrace, Luxianbei finally couldn’t help but interject, “It’s like a game that originally only had a few gigabytes in size but added dozens of gigabytes of optimization mods, making the gaming experience stunning, yet it hasn’t reached its limits, right?”
“It sounds like a feeling of ‘one whale fall nourishes all life’? It’s quite admirable!”
Although she was quite selfish, every time she heard such selfless acts from others, she’d feel respect.
“But what about those spirit energy items you mentioned?” Luxianbei asked, puzzled.
Standing in front of Zixiao Terrace, looking out, there were only thirty-six stone pillars engraved with intricate spells, standing like monuments under the night sky.
It was impossible to tell where such a large number of spirit energy items could be hidden.
Zhang Hainan didn’t answer Luxianbei’s question but simply smiled meaningfully at her. He then soared forward, landing steadily on the central platform of Zixiao Terrace, and activated the spirit patterns.
Opening the treasure stored within Zixiao Terrace, revealing a miracle accumulated over dozens of generations, required only some inconspicuous “little techniques,” unlike the need for at least one host and thirty-six assistants when entering Yangyi’s God Realm or carrying out ultra-long-distance strikes.
As the illusory figure representing the authority of the Five Qi Heavenly Monarch emerged, Zhang Hainan infused spirit energy into Zixiao Terrace.
Suddenly, the earth shook.
Underneath, it felt like some colossal machinery was starting up, producing a series of rumblings.
Amid the roar, the thirty-six stone pillars surrounding the platform erupted with dazzling lightning, which extended downwards and drew totems representing the thirty-six generals of the Thunder Department on the pillars.
Under the flickering light, the totems appeared to come alive, pulsating as if given life.
Then…
The spiraling down lightning finally fell upon the pitch-black, deep Zixiao Terrace, which resembled a massive piece of black jade.
The overwhelming thunder suddenly spread, silencing all other noises and making the world fall silent.
In the next moment, as if under an illusion, Luxianbei heard the sound of water.
Like the sound of waves crashing against rocks.
Thus, the “ocean” truly appeared.
Accompanied by thunder and the sound of waves, ripples spread across the pitch-black Zixiao Terrace, radiating out from the central platform, illuminating the entire vast platform, turning it into an “ocean.”
The lightning and azure waves miraculously merged together.
Those surging, toweringly electrified arcs, were the ocean’s waves, while the spirit energy items stored in Zixiao Terrace were the schools of fish.
Those astonishing numbers of spirit energy items sped through the lightning, appearing chaotic, but ultimately outlining a painfully intricate spell.
In fact, the vast amount of spirit energy items stored in Zixiao Terrace might be the main reason why Dachunyang Palace became the primary corrosion target of Yangyi.
Gazing at those spirit energy items, Luxianbei’s eyes sparkled with fervent light.
With so many spirit energy items, if it weren’t for something special like Pink Fluffy Rabbit, with other enemies, just smashing them one by one would surely k*ll the opponents, right?
When will I reach such a scale in the “Royal Treasury” in Huacheng? Luxianbei thought.
Just as she was staring blankly at the activated Zixiao Terrace, lost in thought, Zhang Hainan summoned the【Sword Gall and Lute Heart】.
Red and blue streams of light rose from his palm, intertwining like two fish, then suddenly collided above his head, transforming into a dazzling, colorful sphere of light.
The vibrant glow pulsed like a heartbeat.
In an instant, a buzzing sound resonated, echoing above Zixiao Terrace, as if a long sword was being unsheathed or a string was being plucked.
Amid that buzzing sound, Zhang Hainan’s voice penetrated Luxianbei’s ears.
“Luxianbei, focus, something is coming!”
Luxianbei, “???”
What is this? Don’t say such strange things! What is coming? Old man, please clarify!
A flurry of question marks surfaced in Luxianbei’s mind.
Before she could figure out what was coming, a streak of light, under Zhang Hainan’s control, shot from【Sword Gall and Lute Heart】 and hit her between the eyebrows.
It felt like someone pushed her forehead forcefully with a finger, causing her head to tilt back. Her powdery long hair was lifted in the surge of spirit energy, billowing behind her.
Her vision blurred, and her consciousness became scattered.
For a moment, Luxianbei felt her soul, like a fragile piece of glass, shattered by that streak of light, turning into countless shards, drifting into that “ocean,” blending into the currents, ultimately swallowed by the approaching schools of fish.
Her vision spun, countless images swirling in front of her, and it was as if thousands of people were speaking at once in her ears.
Dizzy and gasping heavily.
When Luxianbei finally adjusted slightly and focused forward, she fell into a daze.
It seemed that the Zixiao Terrace had been magnified countless times during her brief moment of mental fog, with countless phantoms emerging from the lightning, some chanting poems, others repeatedly introducing certain spirit energy items, and others loudly recounting past events… each doing their own thing, almost filling the entire observation area.
Most of those phantoms had vague and simple outlines, but it was still possible to roughly discern their images: ruggedly dressed ethnic minorities, old scholars in scholarly robes, armored women, a milu deer in a Zhongshan suit, and a fat cat licking its own b*tt… variously different.
For a moment, Luxianbei felt as if she were standing in a bustling market, where the people came from different eras.
At this moment, Zhang Hainan’s voice once again rang in her ears.
“Take your time, no rush, I’ll be waiting for you below Zixiao Terrace.”
Hearing this, Luxianbei cast her gaze around those phantoms, swallowed hard, timidly asking them, “Um, hello everyone, may I ask if there are any…”
Before she could finish her sentence, those phantoms all turned to look at her. Feeling the weight of countless gazes upon her, her voice faltered.
First, there was a heavy silence that made one’s heart shiver, followed by a loud buzzing sound, as if she had poked a hornet’s nest, and the air around her erupted with a clamor.
“…The emerald drapes parting in the city of Qing, the dragon sword breaking the case under the dual moonlight…”
“Five Elements Sun and Moon Hammer, 3,672 pounds, want to know? Back in the day, I, your grandpa, struck a blow that shattered that demon’s skull…”
“Name? Gender? Age? How many houses does your family own? Do you have a car…”
“…”
Luxianbei, “…”
d*mn, weren’t we just picking a suitable spirit energy item?
Why does it feel like I’ve wandered into a dating corner in the park?
How does one choose?
