Chapter 352 - 177: Treasure (Part 2)
Qin Mengyao noticed his thoughts and merely shook her head, saying, "Given to you means it’s yours. Even if it wasn’t in your hands this time, it wouldn’t care about this thing. It might just give it away after transforming and traveling."
Chu Xuan nodded, "Even so, if there’s an opportunity later, I should compensate it a bit."
Successfully obtaining the Yin Fire, Chu Xuan was rather happy. Qin Mengyao also successfully skinned the frog and prepared to craft an Ice Soul Magical Robe, in a great mood.
Next, the two returned to the path, releasing the tiny fish to continue to lead the way.
Qin Mengyao held onto Chu Xuan’s arm, starting to flirt with him again.
"Junior Brother, you once said that women only affect the speed at which you draw your sword. I can’t agree with that."
"Maybe other women are like that, but I won’t be."
"Senior Sister can become your scabbard, won’t affect your sword drawing speed, going in and out without hindrance~"
Chu Xuan, speechless, "Senior Sister, can you not say such ambiguous things?"
"Did I? Oh right, call me Mengyao, change between the two names occasionally, it keeps things interesting." Qin Mengyao said seriously.
"You’re full of nonsense." Chu Xuan couldn’t help but knock his Senior Sister’s head.
Qin Mengyao was stunned, "I am your Senior Sister, how can you be so disrespectful? You used to respect and cherish me."
Upon speaking, she began to pout and whine, insisting on Chu Xuan comforting her.
Chu Xuan was both amused and irritated, initially intending to soothe her according to her wishes, but suddenly realized such acts were akin to being in love.
He immediately composed himself, merely patting her head, considered as an act of comfort.
This made Qin Mengyao secretly resentful: It’s all those two women’s fault!
She had already made plans, once they left this battlefield, she would cook the rice with Chu Xuan.
Later on, they would take their child to visit their master. Surely the elderly would be delighted?
Indeed they would! By then, watching grandchildren and enjoying his twilight years would be a blessing, wouldn’t it?
The more Qin Mengyao thought about it, the happier and more content she became, almost unable to conceal her laughter.
Of course, the three other women on the side, seeing her secretly delighted expression, held cold smiles, resentment, and jealousy. The only commonality was the desire to pull her away from Chu Xuan immediately.
...
The ensuing journey was not smooth sailing, especially since Chu Xuan would occasionally deviate from the course in search of clues about the Polar Yang Flame.
This eerie place impeded the Divine Sense investigation, extending only a limited range, forcing them to venture into dangerous places, seeking flames wherever they were, being attacked several times in the process.
This ancient battlefield also hosted shadow monsters, sometimes humanoid, sometimes beast-shaped, or extremely distorted, each emanating a sinister and terrifying aura.
They were born from the resentment and fragmented souls of the deceased, combined with various dark negative emotions sedimented in the battlefield, harboring an extreme hatred for all living things, even capable of deploying rare and archaic divine techniques.
Such as Universe in the Sleeve, Law of Heaven and Earth, Samadhi True Flame, Summon Wind and Rain, Move Mountains and Overturn Seas, Soul Photography... They were exceptionally difficult to deal with.
Their power varied significantly; some could be easily swept aside, while others forced Chu Xuan and Qin Mengyao to flee even when teamed up, like the one using Law of Heaven and Earth.
The Immortal Sword worked on them, yet the parts cut would quickly fill up again; the Six Souls Banner’s brilliance could refine them, but it was too vast! Absorbing Chu Xuan to a husk wouldn’t fully refine it.
Its casual palm strike would blanket the sky; without prior dodging, escaping its scope was impossible. It casually stomped a foot, shaking the entire ancient battlefield thrice.
Moreover, Chu Xuan worried about causing so much commotion it might alert enemies, unfavorable for his plan to seize the Jade Pure Bottle, opting to avoid confrontation.
Occasionally, demonic creatures would parasitize inside shadow monsters, this proved even more terrifying, each possessing remarkable intellect, equipped with mind-altering techniques, fortunately subdued by Chu Xuan’s relic, otherwise even fleeing would be troublesome.
...
After such tense and thrilling journey lasting more than half a day, Chu Xuan finally found another suitable Polar Yang Flame—Tai Hao Radiant Blaze.
Like the Nine Nether Cold Fire only birthed beneath the nether realm of the underworld, virtually extinct in the human realm.
This flame only emerged on the solar star, and with environmental shifts, even with the ability to travel across outer space directly to the solar star, collecting it remained uncertain.
Seeing this Tai Hao Radiant Blaze, Chu Xuan was overjoyed; there was only one flame of this kind, having burned in the ancient battlefield for so many years, surprisingly developing sentience, morphing into a dragon-shaped fire spirit.
Such a celestial spiritual object was naturally challenging to capture; it could spew fire, traverse the heavens, and its speed was astonishingly fast.
Chu Xuan enlisted his Senior Sister to hold the line for him, with the Small Jade Bottle and Six Souls Banner ready at hand, using both hands for the divine techniques [Take Sun and Moon, Narrow Thousand Mountains], capturing the spirit; also employing [Shift the Stars and Change the Dipper] to change position for approaching, [Heaven and Earth Manipulation] to remotely restrain and control.
It took a serious amount of effort, pursuing left and right, finally forcing the Tai Hao Flame Dragon into the capture range of the Small Jade Bottle, coercively capturing it inside.
Of course, there was also Chu Xuan’s intention to capture it alive, unwilling to damage its sentience. Otherwise, with Qin Mengyao’s aid, her all-destroying Seven Killing Sword Intent was a perfect nemesis for such sentient beings.
Seeing Chu Xuan finally succeed, appearing delighted, Qin Mengyao approached with a smile, "How’s that? Satisfied now?"
Chu Xuan nodded, "Indeed an unexpected harvest. Once I refine these two spiritual fires within to form ’Jade Capital Flame Pill,’ I’ll see if I can preserve the sentience of the dragon-shaped fire spirit."
"If possible, in future battles, I won’t need to divert attention to control it; releasing this fire alone would automatically confront the enemy."
Qin Mengyao nodded, "Care to celebrate with a leg rub?"
Originally enthusiastic, Chu Xuan suddenly felt a headache, "Senior Sister, can you not mention your legs in every sentence?"
Qin Mengyao hesitantly said, "You can touch other places, Senior Sister’s already yours after all."
With that, she grabbed Chu Xuan’s hand and pressed it against her chest.
Chu Xuan instinctively wanted to withdraw his hand, but he underestimated Qin Mengyao’s determination this time; failing to pull it away, he firmly pressed on the soft spot.
Chu Xuan’s face reddened slightly, quickly applying true strength, rebuking verbally: "Misbehaving!"
Qin Mengyao merely released her hand, cheeks flushed, sporting a triumphant mischievous smile.
Chu Xuan shook his head, "Let’s return to the safe path quickly, lest we encounter those shadow attacks again."
Qin Mengyao naturally nodded repeatedly, but this time on the way back, when she wanted to hold Chu Xuan’s arm again, he wouldn’t allow it, wary of her mischief.
So, Qin Mengyao had to swear solemnly, paired with a few crystalline, pitiable tears, eventually softening Chu Xuan’s heart, permitting her to tuck his arm between her peaks.
Yet, on the way back, they faced another attack, having to change direction to return to the path.
The environment here was exceedingly variable, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy, occasionally shrouded by mist, obscuring vision, blocking Divine Sense.
Fortunately, the little fish considerably assisted; whenever lost, whichever way it faced signaled the path direction.
However, this time, while passing by a green stone cave mansion on the mountain peak through the mist, Chu Xuan suddenly froze.
He felt a strange sense of familiarity, deep-seated memories beginning to stir, as if some recollection was about to surface.
Qin Mengyao was somewhat inquisitive, "What is it, do you want to explore inside?"
Chu Xuan did not respond, generally anything capable of evoking his memory implied significant events, perhaps during the Celestial Evil Period he discovered some critical matter here?
Hesitant for a moment, Chu Xuan nodded, "I don’t know if there’s danger, stay outside, I’ll go in first to check."