Chapter 28: CH 24

Chi Muyao didn't know how long he took exactly to stabilise the spirit contract, but when he opened his eyes again it was dawn. However, to him it was all just the blink of an eye.

He saw the little deer resting curled up not far from him. It wasn't sleeping, probably still sad.

He walked over with the intention of comforting it, only to discover it was even stronger than he had imagined, and very friendly towards him too. That was probably because his body gave off the familiar scent of its mother.

He stroked the little deer comfortingly and said, "You wait in this secluded realm first. I need to go outside and check if my friends are alright, then I'll come back to keep you company, alright?"

The little deer made a sound he knew to be acknowledgement.

He stood up and walked outside. Upon leaving the cave residence, he saw Qiuqiu circling the lotus pond. It seemed to be observing the fish within.

With a wave of his hand, Qiuqiu quickly came and landed on his shoulder.

When he walked to the boundary of the secluded realm, Chi Muyao touched the antlers on his forehead, feeling they were a bit ostentatious. It would be difficult for him to conceal the matter of the little deer if he was asked about them, so he circulated his cultivation to try and put the antlers away and actually succeeded.

Sure enough, voluntary spirit contracts were easier to control than forced ones.

The first thing he did after exiting the secluded realm was rush to the place where Xi Huai's group was previously fighting. However, he discovered that no one was there when he arrived.

He couldn't find anyone around using his divine sense either.

And when he looked at the two Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf corpses nearby, he discovered that someone had already processed and stripped the carcasses of all useful parts. Even the fur wasn't left behind.

Heaven-level spirit beasts are rare, and many things on them can be used.

Since the bodies were just left there, those disciples who were unscathed due to not participating in the conflict were sure to come scrabble over the spoils.

Come to think of it, would even those pampered and sheltered Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples personally rush forward to process a heaven-grade spirit beast carcass?

Probably, depending on the rarity of the spirit beast.

There were many treasures to be found in the body of a heaven grade spirit beast, the most valuable of which was probably the devil core.

Chi Muyao had little time after killing the alpha wolf so he only had the alpha wolf's devil core in his possession. The other two bodies had most likely been divided up long ago.

He didn't mind that. He was more worried about whether Xi Huai was alright.

Chi Muyao ran through the forest and found the cave Yi Qianxi and the others had taken shelter in.

When he released the signal flare, Yi Qianxi quickly emerged from the hole. She latched onto his sleeve and cried, "Shidi! Where in the world did you go these past five days?!"

"Five days?" Chi Muyao was surprised.

"Yeah, five days!"

"I didn't know, sorry. I'll explain everything to you later. Can you tell me if everyone is safe first?"

Yi Qianxi gestured widely with her arm. "See? They're all fine."

"That's good. Do...do you know if Xi Huai's group is alright?"

She shook her head. "That I don't know. Things have been a mess these past few days."

"What do you mean?"

Yi Qianxi sighed. "You never came back that night, so I was worried. I planned on going out of the cave to search for you. Xi Zihe and Han Qingyuan were nice enough to agree to accompany me outside. So we left the other two disciples here and went out as a group."

"I tracked your spiritual energy to a giant pool of blood, which scared the bejeezus out of me. But when I walked over I found the corpse of a Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf, and an alpha at that! Your spiritual energy trail ended there. I was so scared because I thought you had been eaten, so I opened its stomach to check just in case there were body parts in there. I was relieved there wasn't."

"Then, since I couldn't find your spiritual energy trail anymore and there was an alpha wolf carcass in front of me I...I couldn't resist processing the body. Even three bamboo tubes this big weren't enough, see? We couldn't even fit any of the Jilingshou afterwards. The Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf's pelt is quite nice. We'll be able to make some good stuff once we get back."

Chi Muyao couldn't help laugh after hearing all that. It turned out that the alpha wolf had been taken by his own shijie. Seemed like he turned a profit after all.

If his shijie was the one who processed the corpse, then she wouldn't even let one usable morsel go to waste.

Yi Qianxi scolded him. "Now you're laughing? I was about to die of worry! Just what happened to you?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was the one who killed the alpha wolf?"

"Yeah, I would." Yi Qianxi nodded. "I saw the formation. And the damage to its eye was probably also your handiwork."

"En. Then I hid in a secluded place to...recuperate in a way?"

Yi Qianxi looked Chi Muyao over again, to make sure he wasn't seriously injured anywhere before continuing, "That Golden Core stage disciple from the Nuan Yan Pavilion really is a piece of work. He pretends to be so high and mighty all day yet does nothing when it really matters. After confirming that the surroundings were safe, he only left his secluded realm after three days, saying he was going to rescue Yu Yanshu. What use would he be at that time? If there were bodies, they would already be cold by the time he arrived.”

"As a result, he arrived only to find the disciples of other Sects processing and fighting over the spirit beast corpses. He stopped them all and said that the spirit beast was slain by his Yu-shidi, so the corpses should be left to their Nuan Yan Pavilion's disposal. He even took back some of the parts that those disciples had already processed."

"How shameless can he be? He was nowhere to be seen when it was time to fight the Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolves, but now that they're dead he's acting like he's the boss, even letting a bunch of Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples split the loot... Who knows if they'll really allocate some to Yu-shixiong. Besides, the ones who really killed the wolves were those three from the Qing Ze Sect, right? Yu-shixiong only went to help."

Chi Muyao nodded at her words. After a moment of silence he brought up other things. "Shijie, why don't you only keep the parts you want most of the alpha wolf and give the rest away? Empty out those bamboo tubes."

Yi Shaoxi quickly scooped up the bamboo tubes and frantically shook her head. "Why would I do that! I don't wanna! That's a heaven-grade spirit beast! Just think of how excited my dad and Shifu will be when we bring it back!"

"Give it away in exchange for some empty bamboo tubes."

"But why, ah?"

"We need to hunt Jilingshou and rank in the first few spots."”

"Huh?"

"Just trust me, okay? It's not convenient to explain everything right now."

Yi Qianxi held the bamboo tubes tightly, extremely reluctant. She stared at Chi Muyao for a long time. Knowing he wasn't joking, her eyes became red-rimmed with frustration.

Her unwillingness to part with the parts was real. She wasn't willing to give up on them even under threat of torture.

How could Jilingshou measure up to a Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf?

It! Was! Impossible!

However, Yi Qianxi still went inside the cave and made deals with the others.

Yi Qianxi had helped them, and exchanging bamboo tubes for usable parts of the Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf was far from a bad deal for them. They readily agreed to the exchange.

In the end, Yi Qianxi was able to get three empty bamboo tubes by emptying the contents of one. She was left with two bamboo tubes filled with Golden-eyed Heavenly Wolf parts.

Chi Muyao didn't say anything. He took her to find the Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples.

Yi Qianxi was still grumbling under her breath on the way there. "What's the point of finding them when we've already agreed to part ways?"

"We have to do this for the care they showed us before, if nothing else. They won't be able to say anything more if we act considerately."

So Yi Qianxi could only follow reluctantly.

Finally, the six of them found the team led by the Golden Core stage disciple. The team hadn't assembled yet and some people were still missing.

It was kind of funny to think about. Some of the disciples hiding probably thought Xi Huai's group was doomed, so they hid so well that they didn't even know it was already safe outside. In fact, they hid so well that even their comrades couldn't find them!

Xi Zihe and Han Qingyuan's group met up with the team.

Chi Muyao took Yi Qianxi to bid the Golden Core stage disciple farewell.

"Cough. En." The Golden Core stage disciple was somewhat embarrassed. He knew how shamelessly they had acted back then to save their own skins. It was natural for the Yu Chong School disciples to not want to travel with them any longer.

Perhaps going their separate ways was better than stewing in embarrassment together.

"Then we bid you farewell." Chi Muyao bowed, along with Yi Qianxi, before going to find Yu Yanshu.

Yu Yanshu was severely injured and unconscious even now.

The Nuan Yan Pavilion disciple had situated him in a cave. Someone had already fed him a life-sustaining pill and circulated energy to speed up healing.

He believed that the people here would try their best to save Yu Yanshu, because they would be to blame if he passed away. Especially due to Yu Yanshu's high status. They would definitely all be held responsible.

Chi Muyao walked up to Yu Yanshu and held his wrist, continuously pouring in Yumian True Essence to help heal Yu Yanshu's internal injuries. He got up and left where there were only a few minor injuries left.

He left no traces. This way, he could help Yu Yanshu without exposing anything.

Chi Muyao left with Yi Qianxi.

Yi Qianxi was still unhappy. She deliberately walked slower and kicked rocks along the way, not giving him a single glance.

Chi Muyao didn't blame Yi Qianxi. He understood why she was unhappy. Deliberately circling the area a few times, he then took her inside the secluded realm.

She was surprised by the sudden change of scenery. She glanced at the endless sea of plum blossoms around the lotus pond inside before looking back outside the secluded realm. Then she turned to Chi Muyao, puzzled.

He let out a breath of relief and said, "It's probably safe for me to explain here. I couldn't say this outside in case someone overheard.”

As he spoke, he willed the deer antlers on his forehead to reappear.

Yi Qianxi was dumbfounded at the sight. She looked around, her eyes suddenly reddening. "What in the world happened?"

She already had a sneaking suspicion.

Chi Muyao told her everything leading up to his spirit contract with the Colourless Yunni Deer.

Yi Qianxi was inconsolable afterwards, crying her heart out before going to take a peek at the little deer.

To Yu Chong School disciples like them, the loss of a Colourless Yunni Deer was the most devastating news of all. Their very souls would ache with a profound sadness.

Chi Muyao got down to one knee beside Yi Qianxi and ruffled her hair. "Shijie, we need to hunt Jilingshou because I remember Yunfei Jade being one of the treasures we can exchange it for. The larger deer didn't tell me to remain in the Array. Instead, it chose to form a spirit contract with me to protect it. We must ensure that the little deer can have a good living environment by taking it away from here. For its sake, we need to obtain that Yunfei Jade."

Yunfei Jade contained an endless stream of spiritual energy. It was one of the World Treasures.

It was usually used to craft a lotus platform for cultivators to mediate on and help them absorb denser quantities of spiritual energy.

However, they weren't going after the Yunfei Jade for that purpose. Instead, they wanted it to make a nest for the little deer.

He continued, "Shijie, hunting spirit beasts is our strength. The only reason we didn't fight for spoils before was to avoid making the Nuan Yan Pavilion unhappy. After all, their Sect has always been looking after us."

"But things are different now. We need the Yunfei Jade. The multiple disruptions during this expedition is to our benefit. It makes it easy for us to turn the tide now. After all, we can definitely counterattack by playing to our strengths."

”Just look at how they treated us before. If we continue to act demure, people will only look down at us more. I know you have your own pride too. So let the two of us work hard together. This time, we'll let them know that we refrained from competing before not because we lack the ability to do so."

Yi Qianxi nodded with clenched fists. "Got it. I'll definitely work hard."

Saying that, she quickly wiped away her tears and kneeled down before the little deer to pray. Afterwards, she headed out of the secluded realm. "Shidi, let's go."

"Okay!" Chi Muyao immediately hid his antlers again and followed after her.

This shijie of his could be very unreliable at times, but he trusted her absolutely when it came to dealing with spirit beasts.

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Actually, he felt like Yi Qianxi was a better candidate for the spirit contract.

She had better qualifications than him and a genuine love for animals. Unlike him, who half-heartedly straddled the He Huan Sect and Yu Chong School.

But time was of the essence back then and he was the only one available.

This was an example of a saying the cultivation world had always believed in—Right place, right time.

After leaving the Nuan Yan Pavilion team, Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi were free to do as they wished.

Because of Qiuqiu's special ability, he never used it in battle. Yi Qianxi's red fox was enough.

Even if the two of them were of the Yu Chong School, they would still sustain injuries when dealing with Jilingshou. Fortunately, Chi Muyao had a healing ability that worked the instant they were injured. Thus, the duo continued their grind.

Every hunt was a war of attrition, one that they could fortunately win.

Five days later, they already had some gains for their effort.

While moving about, they encountered Xi Zihe and Han Qingyuan again and exchanged a few brief words. Chi Muyao found out that Yu Yanshu had already woken up, albeit with some residual injuries that restricted him to recovering in the cave. But luckily there were no major problems.

Chi Muyao could finally breathe a sigh of relief at the news.

That evening, Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi heard the sounds of battle while searching for Jilingshou.

He originally wanted to take his shijie and leave, but a violent flame attack instantly revealed that Xi Huai's group was involved.

After a moment of surprise, Chi Muyao said to Yi Qianxi, "Shijie, you hide with Tutu first."

"Huh? Why do I need to hide just because people are exchanging spells?" People exchanging spells was a common sight in the cultivation world. There shouldn't be anything to fear since everyone in the Array at the moment were cultivators of the same level. There was only a need to hide when seniors of Golden Core stage or above were involved.

He nodded. "You do. I suspect Xi Huai's gone berserk."

Yi Qianxi still had her doubts, but she had Tutu dig a hole that she then took refuge in.

She's always listened to Chi Muyao after all.

After making sure Yi Qianxi was safe, Chi Muyao rushed over and, as expected, saw Xi Huai going out of control.

Xi Huai had been seriously injured and his self-consciousness weakened. It was at these times he was vulnerable to being controlled by the Hui and going into a state of madness.

He should have been rescued by Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen before, but he started to go crazy since his injuries weren't completely healed after all.

By the time Chi Muyao rushed over, Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen were reluctantly fighting Xi Huai. They seemed to want to stop Xi Huai's rampage.

Unfortunately none of their spiritual artefacts or attacks had any effect. Instead, Xi Huai had them on their knees.

Xi Huai couldn't tell enemy from friend after losing control. All he knew was Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen were in his way, thus his indiscriminate attacks.

The other two were already injured and not as nimble as they usually were, so naturally they couldn't tame the berserk Xi Huai.

Song Weiyue had blood in the corner of his mouth. He sighed as he watched Xi Huai decimate the restraint-type spiritual artefact. "How's he still fighting with those injuries?"

Zong Sichen laid on the ground. He no longer had any energy to care about how dirty he was. In fact, he didn't even have the energy to speak.

Song Weiyue leaned back against a stone wall and asked while clutching his chest, "You dead?"

"No..." Zong Sichen finally spoke. Even that brief reply took its toll on him. "But soon I will be."

Song Weiyue very despondently leaned against the wall. "It's one thing if he goes berserk on a normal day, but injured like this? If he really goes over to those renowned righteous sects in this state, they'll slaughter him with ease... Fuck. It's better if we kill him first."

Zong Sichen: "..."

Song Weiyue asked again, "Zong Sichen, you dead now?"

“The Young Sect Master completely incinerated my brush. Why don't you kill me first..."

"Pei... Now's not the time to chat."

At this moment, Xi Huai advanced on the two of them. Song Weiyue gripped his hammer, unable to harden his heart in the end.

Whatever. Worst case I'll die here.

They tried their best, after all.

Then, he saw the Xi Huai heading towards him suddenly vanish, replaced by peach blossoms, white butterflies and fluorescent lights.

His eyes widened as he scanned his surroundings for any trace of Xi Huai. There were none to be found.

He Huan Sect's illusion spell... That A-Jiu spirited Xi Huai away?

Stranger yet, two silver lights circled around them after the illusion spell disappeared. Their bodies didn't hurt as much as before, but they weren't completely healed either.

At least they weren't in danger of dying.

Perhaps strangest of all, Zong Sichen's brush rematerialised as good as new, giving Zong Sichen the will to live on.

Song Weiyue weakly asked, "Does the He Huan Sect have this kind of healing spell?"

"Perhaps it's some sort of healing type spiritual artefact.”

"Not too shabby, actually... Let's ask him where he bought it once the Young Sect Master catches him."

Chi Muyao carried Xi Huai on his back to an extremely remote mountain stream. Since Jilingshou, the main target for this secret realm expedition, lived in forests, rarely anyone came into the mountains.

For safety's sake, Chi Muyao set up the He Huan Sect illusion maze when he entered, which would prevent anyone from getting close to their surroundings.

Luckily, he found a cave residence.

A cultivator should've stayed within this cave residence at one point. Inside was a stone bed and various belongings, all quite ancient looking. The cultivator probably sought refuge here during a storm of sorts.

Chi Muyao only set Xi Huai down on the stone bed after tidying up and placing a quilt down.

Too heavy...

Even an immortal cultivator like him felt that Xi Huai was overly tall and broad. Carrying him was quite the expenditure in energy.

The most difficult part for him was how long Xi Huai's legs were. He struggled to lift both of them up, but Xi Huai's legs still dragged about on the floor. He could only stop and readjust the two of them's positions.

Even though he had the He Huan Sect's sprinting technique, it was only really sprinting when you were alone. Carrying another person along was a whole other story.

The most apparent thing when carrying Xi Huai was his body temperature. Even through the enchanted vestment, Chi Muyao could feel the boiling temperature of Xi Huai's chest.

While he might be popular in winter, Xi Huai was way too hot to be around in summer.

Xi Huai lay comatose on the stone bed. His eyes were shut and injuries still littered his handsome visage. His usual unrestrained arrogance was nowhere to be seen, replaced by quiet stillness.

Chi Muyao continuously transferred Yumian True Essence into Xi Huai's body, only relaxing when he was sure Xi Huai was recovering.

After treating Xi Huai, he helped clean the traces of blood off him. However, Xi Huai still showed no signs of waking.

Chi Muyao leaned in for a closer look. This was his first time seeing Xi Huai in such well lit surroundings. A single look was enough to make his heart tremble. He quickly averted his gaze.

His heart continued to beat wildly. He held his cheeks and relentlessly scrubbed them in an effort to calm down.

He touched the top of Xi Huai's head to make sure the injury there had already healed.

Then he pulled open Xi Huai's lapels to inspect the wounds on his body. From what he saw while surveying the battlefield, Xi Huai seemed to have hurt his arm. That's why Chi Muyao tugged Xi Huai's shirt down for a look.

After making sure the injury was taken care of, Chi Muyao took one last look at Xi Huai and suddenly flushed.

He...He had tugged his shirt...

Chi Muyao swallowed dryly at the sight of Xi Huai's well-defined pecs and chest. He couldn't help but take a long, long look at them.

Nice.

However, in the end he scrambled to put Xi Huai's shirt back on. Coughing lightly to cover for his own embarrassment, Chi Muyao stuffed his previous thoughts back into the box they came from.

His finger brushed against Xi Huai's Myriad Treasure Bell. After looking inside for a while, he took out a jade bottle and sniffed the contents before looking at the bottle itself.

He remembered that Xi Huai once said he had an ointment that quickly healed any injuries it was applied on. This should be the one.

Chi Muyao scooped up quite a bit from inside the bottle and placed it into the medicine box on his person, setting up the pretence that Xi Huai's injuries were healed due to medicine.

Song Weiyue and Zong Sichen couldn't open Xi Huai's Myriad Treasure Bell, so they could only use what was on them to treat Xi Huai.

They'd probably already fed him plenty of pills and applied all sorts of ointments.

However, what they had in storage couldn't compare to what a Young Sect Master would have. The treasures Xi Huai had in his Myriad Treasure Bell were of better quality.

Xi Huai still didn't wake after a while. Chi Muyao was a bit puzzled. He held Xi Huai's hand to inspect and discovered something amiss.

The Hui Dragon Flames in Xi Huai's body were running amok. Looking at how Xi Huai was frowning, he was probably being tormented right now.

Chi Muyao was a bit panicked. He wanted to stabilise Xi Huai, but there was nothing his healing ability could do about the Hui Dragon Flames.

After a moment's hesitation, he got up onto the stone bed.

He'll help Xi Huai...syphon just a bit...

Chi Muyao was a bit embarrassed, so he tapped the centre of Xi Huai's forehead.

Sealing Xi Huai's sense of hearing, smell, vision, and spiritual energy.

The him from before wouldn't be able to do such a thing, but thanks to the spirit contract, he could now do many things. Even temporarily controlling Xi Huai.

After a moment of thought, Chi Muyao untied the red ribbon around his neck and used it on Xi Huai's wrists to restrain them.

He felt much more assured now. This should save him from being too embarrassed to continue later.

Chi Muyao sacrificed spiritual energy with two fingers to get Xi Huai erect. Pressing forward, he soon ran into a difficult spot.

Without the cover of darkness, he saw every embarrassing detail with utmost clarity. He blankly stared at Xi Huai's erection and swallowed dryly in apprehension. He suddenly felt proud that he was able to endure that for three years.

He really wasn't a crybaby. He just didn't realise how difficult his cultivation conditions were.

By taking on iron-like suffering, he cultivated to the Foundation Building stage.

Chi Muyao made himself press on regardless, sliding inch by inch onto that huge cock.

Now he was trying this again after a long time, he discovered it was just as hard as the first time he tried cultivating.

Yet before he could acclimate himself, he saw Xi Huai's eyes snap open.

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