novelapdf Chapter 109 A Bold Gamble Under the Lamp
Chapter 109 A Bold Gamble Under the Lamp
Chapter 109 A Bold Gamble Under the Lamp
Following the greasy-looking Steward Liu through the magnificent front hall of Hailing Pavilion, Gu An kept his head down the entire time. His gray Daoist robe, which exuded a faint fishy stench, clashed in stark contrast with the exquisite spirit wood carvings around him. However, he paid no attention to the disdainful looks from the passing stewards and maids, silently memorizing the route and the distribution of restrictions along the way.
After passing through several high-level array light curtains that not only isolated divine sense but also blocked the five senses, the noisy atmosphere of the marketplace suddenly disappeared.
Instead, there is a rich, pure spiritual energy that makes one's pores open.
"arrive."
Liu Fu stopped in front of a stone door covered with moss, took out a specially made jade talisman from his waist, and gently pressed it into the groove of the stone door.
"Zha zha zha————"
The heavy stone door slowly opened under the guidance of the array's spiritual light, and a cold wind carrying the scent of damp earth and a special fragrance of grass and trees rushed in.
Gu An subconsciously took a deep breath.
With just that one bite, his meridians, which had become somewhat dry due to long-term consumption of inferior pills and suppression of dragon energy, trembled slightly, as if a long-awaited rain had fallen. The concentration of spiritual energy here was more than five times higher than outside! It was even stronger than the cultivation caves of the inner disciples of the Green Wood Sect.
"This is the third basement level of the Sea Spirit Pavilion, also known as our 'Special Grade Spirit Field' for cultivating rare spiritual plants."
Liu Fu abandoned his arrogant demeanor from outside, lowered his voice, and appeared quite cautious. "Every spiritual herb here is priceless, some are even prepared for those Golden Core Ancestors. Fellow Daoist Gu, I acknowledge your skills, but I must first establish the rules. Here, just focus on your work, listen and observe less. If you harbor any improper thoughts—the killing power of this formation is no joke."
"Don't worry, sir." Gu An's voice was hoarse as he bowed slightly. "I only want money, I don't want to die."
"He's a sensible person."
Liu Fu nodded in satisfaction and led Gu An through the stone gate.
What comes into view is not a vast open-air spirit field, but a series of independent stone chambers separated by small spirit-gathering arrays. Each stone chamber is inlaid with a "Yang Yuan Stone" that simulates sunlight or a "Yue Yin Pearl" that simulates moonlight, adjusting the environment according to the habits of the spirit plants.
The two walked until they reached a stone chamber at the deepest part of the room.
The array fluctuations here are significantly stronger than those outside, and there are even two second-tier high-grade "Spirit Sealing Talismans" pasted at the entrance.
"This is it."
Liu Fu sighed, his fat face jiggling as he looked quite troubled. "This batch of stuff has really worn me out. If I can't save it, I'm afraid I'll lose my job as the person in charge."
With that, he released the restraints and pushed open the door to enter.
The stone chamber was not as lush and vibrant as I had imagined; instead, it felt rather empty and desolate.
In the center was a pool of spirit soil, roughly ten feet square, filled with dark red "Crimson Blood Mud." Sparsely growing among the mud were a dozen or so weed-like, withered-yellow plants.
The leaves of these plants are long and thin, curled like whiskers, and the veins that should have been golden are now dull and lifeless, as if they might die at any moment.
But Gu An's pupils contracted slightly.
Because the moment he stepped into the stone chamber, the dragon soul essence deep within his dantian, which had been suppressed, surprisingly emitted a trace of hunger.
It wasn't anger, it wasn't restlessness, but a pure, devouring desire.
"This is—" Gu Anqiang suppressed the strange feeling in his body and asked, pretending not to recognize it.
"Dragon's Beard Grass".
Liu Fu pointed to the withered grass with a worried expression, "And these are Golden-Veined Dragon Beard Grasses that are over five hundred years old." This kind of spiritual grass is very delicate; it can only grow by being watered with spiritual water that contains a trace of dragon's aura. A few days ago, the spiritual plant master in charge of taking care of it accidentally messed up the ratio of spiritual water, causing these ancestors to damage their foundations and they were on the verge of dying.
"The aura of a dragon?"
Gu An walked to the edge of the spirit field and squatted down.
He didn't rush to make a move, but instead stretched out his withered, claw-like hand, hovering it above a dragon beard grass.
The talent of "[Plant Affinity]" is quietly activated.
Buzz—
A faint, intermittent thought traveled from his fingertips into his mind. It was the lament of this spiritual herb.
It wasn't sick; rather, as Liu Fu said, the spiritual water he had previously used contained too many impurities, causing its roots to be blocked by the foul air and unable to absorb nutrients, leaving it in a state of "suffocation."
This is an almost unsolvable predicament for ordinary plant cultivators. Trying to unblock these delicate root systems is extremely risky, as the slightest mistake could cause the plant to completely collapse.
But for Gu An—
The spiritual power of the Azure Dragon Wood within his body is a fusion of water and wood energy. Furthermore, due to the presence of that trace of dragon soul, it possesses a natural ability to suppress and be compatible with spiritual herbs that have dragon attributes.
"Can he be saved?" Liu Fu nervously rubbed his hands together; this was his last straw.
Gu An remained silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew his hand, a hint of "Just as I thought" appearing on his half-festering face.
The solemnity.
"Disaster."
He uttered a single word, and just as Liu Fu's face instantly fell, he slowly added, "But I can try. However, I'll need some special auxiliary materials."
"What kind of auxiliary materials? Just ask for anything that Hailing Pavilion has!" Liu Fu said as if he had grasped at a straw.
"Extremely Yin water, used to neutralize the dryness at the roots. And—" Gu An's gaze casually swept over a shelf in the corner of the stone chamber, where various bottles and jars were displayed, "I need some high-level demon beast blood, preferably water-attribute, to use as a medicinal catalyst to reactivate its vitality."
"That's easy!" Liu Fu waved his hand. "As long as you can save him, I'll do anything for you, even if you want the stars in the sky, let alone demonic beast blood!"
Gu An nodded and said no more.
He took out a set of silver needles from his pocket and began to pretend to "acupuncture" the dragon whisker grass. In reality, he secretly mobilized the mutated spiritual power in his body, letting it seep into the roots of the spiritual grass little by little through the silver needles, carefully absorbing the turbid energy that blocked the meridians.
As time went by, the yellowing on the leaves of the once dying dragon beard grass actually faded slightly, and the dim golden line regained its faint glow.
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"
Liu Fu, who had been standing silently by, was so excited at the sight that he almost jumped up. "Fellow Daoist Gu—no, Master Gu! Your skill is simply made for this Dragon Beard Grass!"
Little did he know that Gu An wasn't saving the grass at all; he was clearly using the guise of saving the grass to secretly filter and purify the impure spiritual energy within his body by taking advantage of the unique medicinal properties of the Dragon Beard Grass.
After this series of actions, not only did the grass come back to life, but Gu An also felt much better about his swollen and painful meridians.
"call----"
Gu An wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feigning exhaustion, and slumped to the ground. "Luckily. This plant has stabilized, but it will take at least another half a month of painstaking work to fully recover."
"Half a month? That's plenty of time! Absolutely enough time!"
Liu Fu pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his brow. The fat on his face finally relaxed, and he looked at Gu An as if he were looking at a living god of wealth. "As long as I can deliver the goods before the first day of next month, my head will be safe."
Gu An leaned against the wall and asked casually, "The manager seems so nervous. Is this buyer—someone with a powerful background?"
Perhaps it was because he was in a good mood after the crisis was over, or perhaps he felt that Gu An, this "shady cultivator with a bad face" with no background, couldn't cause any trouble, so Liu Fu didn't keep quiet as before.
He glanced at the tightly closed stone door, leaned closer, and lowered his voice, saying, "It's more than just big. This is something personally ordered by that little ancestor in the city lord's mansion."
"The City Lord's Mansion?" Gu An's eyelids twitched slightly, and his heart clenched.
"That's right." Liu Fu pointed mysteriously to the top of his head. "I heard that the young master is currently in seclusion, cultivating an extremely powerful secret technique called something like—'Dragon Transformation Technique.' This Dragon Beard Grass is a key auxiliary medicine used to purify bloodlines and stabilize dragon energy during the dragon transformation ceremony after emerging from seclusion."
"Bloodline Purification - Dragon Transformation Ceremony - "
Gu An repeated these words in a low voice, his nails digging deeply into his palms as he concealed his hands in his sleeves.
"Yes," Liu Fu said, oblivious to Gu An's unease, continuing, "Our young master is a prodigy, said to possess a faint trace of ancient dragon blood. If he can successfully awaken it this time with the help of Dragon Beard Grass and several other rare and precious herbs, then our Everlasting City will have a true Son of Heaven!"
"At that time, not only will the Chaotic Star Sea have to give our young master some face, but even those prestigious sects will have to show him respect."
Liu Fu continued to boast about the young master's wisdom and prowess, and envisioned a bright future.
But Gu An felt as if the air around him had frozen in that instant, and a bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, making his blood almost freeze.
The Dragon Transformation Technique.
Purify the bloodline.
Stabilize the dragon's energy.
These words were like heavy hammer blows, pounding hard on his heart.
That young master, merely because he possessed a trace of dragon bloodline, needed to use this five-hundred-year-old Golden Dragon Beard Grass to purify it.
What if—he discovers that there is a person here who possesses the true dragon essence originating from the ancient Nine Dragons Demon-Suppressing Cauldron?
Gu An was well aware of the cruelty of the cultivation world.
For those who cultivate the "Dragon Transformation Technique," they are not just individuals, but rather walking, priceless, and maddening "human-shaped medicine"!
If that young master finds out, being skinned alive or tortured would be the least of his worries. He would probably be directly refined into pills, and even his soul would be devoured completely!
"The Ominous Phenomenon of the Dragon's Roar —"
Gu An suddenly remembered the wanted poster that was plastered all over the streets and alleys.
It turned out to be the case.
It turns out that the young master wasn't just looking to catch a troublemaker; he was searching for "medicine"! He was looking for the person who had triggered the dragon's roar and might possess a treasure imbued with dragon energy, to be the final and most crucial ingredient in his dragon transformation ritual!
And now, I, the "main ingredient," have foolishly wandered right under their noses, helping them take care of the side dishes that are used as "side dishes"!
This is utterly absurd and terrifying.
"Master Gu? Master Gu?"
Liu Fu's calls pulled Gu An back from his extreme terror.
"Ah—I'm here."
Gu An snapped back to reality, forcibly controlling the trembling of his facial muscles, and forced a stiff smile. "I was a bit too exhausted just now, and my mind wandered."
"I understand, I understand. This dragon whisker grass is indeed mentally taxing." Liu Fu didn't suspect anything. Instead, he asked with concern, "Just tell me what kind of restorative pills you need. As long as you can take good care of this grass, everything else is negotiable."
"Thank you, steward."
Gu An lowered his head, concealing the fleeting turmoil in his eyes.
After the panic comes extreme calm.
This is an instinct he honed through countless brushes with death.
run?
It's too late to run now.
A place like Hailing Pavilion is easy to enter, but getting out isn't so simple. Especially since he had just displayed his "special skill" and Liu Fu had used him as a lifeline, if he suddenly wanted to leave now, even a pig would think something was wrong.
Once suspicion is aroused, a slight investigation will reveal that the fluctuations of dragon energy within one's body cannot be hidden from the divine sense of a Golden Core stage expert.
Moreover, the outer city is now teeming with informants searching for "Dragon Roarers".
"The darkest place is under the lamp —"
Gu An silently repeated these three words in his heart.
The most dangerous place is often the safest place.
Who would have thought that the mysterious person who was wanted throughout the city and caused strange phenomena in the heavens and earth would be a lowly flower farmer with a face full of sores, working as a servant in a large merchant guild like Hailing Pavilion?
Moreover, the spiritual environment here is extremely beneficial for suppressing the backlash of the dragon energy within his body.
More importantly————
Gu An's gaze swept over the shelf in the corner of the stone chamber, where various rare spiritual liquids used to cultivate spiritual herbs were displayed.
One of the white jade bottles, radiating a chilling aura, was clearly labeled "Cold Marrow Spirit Milk".
That's a top-grade spiritual material, even better than "Cold Marrow Liquid"! Even diluted and used to irrigate Dragon Beard Grass, it would be a life-saving medicine that Gu An had been dreaming of right now.
"Since you want to eat me—"
Gu An slowly raised his head, and in his murky, lifeless eyes, a gambler's light, almost crazed, gleamed.
"Then don't blame me for eating your 'side dishes' first."
He looked at Liu Fu, his voice regaining its characteristic hoarseness and indifference.
"Manager, restoring this dragon beard grass is a delicate task. I think we should stay in this stone chamber for the next few days and take care of it day and night to prevent any mishaps."
"This—" Liu Fu was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, "I couldn't be happier! Master Gu is so dedicated, I will definitely report this to the Pavilion Master and award you a great merit!"
"No need to record the credit."
Gu An waved his hand, his gaze falling on the white jade bottle. "However, the consumption of this spiritual liquid might be a bit high, so please approve a larger quantity, steward. After all, the young master's affairs cannot be taken lightly."
"No problem! Plenty!"
Liu Fu patted his chest and assured them that he had no idea he was putting a hungry rat into his own rice jar.
The stone gate slowly closed.
With the reopening of the array's restrictions, the stone chamber returned to a deathly silence.
Gu An stood before the spiritual field, looking at the few dragon whisker grasses swaying in the spiritual light, a sinister sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
He sat down cross-legged and reached out to grab the white jade bottle filled with "Frosty Marrow Spirit Milk".
"A dragon transformation ceremony?"
Gu An uncorked the bottle, tilted his head back, and poured the priceless spiritual liquid into his mouth.
"Let's see who has transformed whom."
.