Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

Chapter 250: Chapter 246: A Person Must Always Have a Dream...

Demon Refining Platform, Washing Room.

Song Ciwan listened to the stewards’ discussion, and a stir of emotion grew in her heart.

Back when Song Ciwan had just awakened her Innate Wisdom and was still living as a mortal in Su Yang City, she had already known of Chi Hua Fairy.

At that time, Chi Hua Fairy was an Immortal who rescued people from suffering. During the demon scourge in Su Yang City, she had streaked across the sky above the city wreathed in fiery light, drawing gasps of awe from everyone and planting a small seed in Song Ciwan’s heart.

Chi Hua Fairy was part of Song Ciwan’s first glimpse into the magnificent splendor of this Mythical Realm.

Later, after they experienced the Deceitful Realm in Wealth Village together, Song Ciwan realized that even Chi Hua Fairy had her own moments of powerlessness when faced with the world’s strangeness.

However, Chi Hua Fairy came from an extraordinary background. She was a bona fide scion of a cultivation dynasty. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, she could pull out the ultimate move: calling for her Ancestor!

Her Ancestor, the Beichen Sword Immortal, could slay a Dragon Maiden with a single sword strike, effortlessly repel a Great Demon from Giant Deer Country, and even stand against the Hengshui Dragon King. A figure like that was more than enough to ensure Chi Hua Fairy could do whatever she pleased throughout the Great Zhou without consequence.

Later, when Chi Hua Fairy broke through to the Late-stage Qi Refining, she even made a brief appearance on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List. Her claim to fame was slaying a Core Formation Stage Mountain Spider Demon Ghost while only at Late-stage Qi Refining. On the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List, Chi Hua Fairy was ranked ninety-eighth.

And yet, with a background like that, Chi Hua Fairy had actually gone missing?

The news had been released by Qionghua Pavilion. By this point, it had probably spread so far and wide that everyone knew.

Qionghua Pavilion was one of the three great Upper Sects of Cangling County. Given its standing, it was highly unlikely they would fabricate such news.

Song Ciwan heard the stewards continue, "Qionghua Pavilion said that anyone who provides information on Chi Hua Fairy will, once the information is confirmed to be true, directly receive a spot for Spiritual Cleansing in the Bright Moon Grotto Heaven."

"That’s not all! If someone can provide Chi Hua Fairy’s exact location and help rescue her, they can even choose an inherited Secret Technique from Qionghua Pavilion’s Dharma Transmission Hall!"

"An inherited Secret Technique is nothing! If someone can bring Chi Hua Fairy directly back to Qionghua Pavilion, they’ll even be rewarded with a Spiritual Artifact!"

...

The stewards chattered on, their words punctuated by clicks of amazement.

In this world, the grades of treasures ranged from the most basic Magical Artifacts, to Magical Treasures, then to Spiritual Artifacts, and finally, Spiritual Treasures—

The allure of a Spiritual Treasure needs no further explanation.

When Illusory Nether City previously opened, rumors of a Spiritual Treasure stirred the hearts of countless Cultivators both inside and outside the city. In the end, if the City God hadn’t taken away the Red Lantern—the suspected Spiritual Treasure—who knows how many more battles would have been fought over it.

But let’s not talk about Spiritual Treasures; those were far too remote. Let’s just talk about the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map in Song Ciwan’s possession.

This item began as merely an Upper Grade Magical Artifact, close to being Top Grade. Later, after being refined by Earth Vein Primordial Qi, it broke through its limitations and became a Magical Treasure. After that, the Magical Treasure developed spirituality, and Princess Chunshui, from within the scroll, secretly slipped out of the painting and into the Mortal World to cause disaster...

At that time, the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map was actually still only at the level of a Magical Treasure.

However, because it had developed spirituality, it had broken past the limits of an ordinary Magical Treasure and gained the potential to continue evolving into a Spiritual Artifact.

And the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map, merely a Quasi-Spiritual Artifact, was enough to attract the covetous gaze of Ye Sheng, the esteemed disciple of Ye Lingguan.

After Song Ciwan took it, countless Cultivators flocked to chase and seize it. Back then, Song Ciwan, in her guise as Lu Bell of the Black Heart Demon Saber, killed so many people that she nearly wore the blade of her Black Armor Saber bare.

If not for Song Ciwan’s Fetal Transformation and Shape-shifting technique being so exquisite, allowing her to switch identities at will and make the persona of Lu Bell vanish without a trace, who knows when the turmoil caused by the Lankao Spring and Autumn Map would have subsided.

And now, here, Qionghua Pavilion was directly offering a Spiritual Artifact as a reward!

Even if it was just a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, it was enough to drive countless people mad.

The stewards in the Washing Room chattered on. One of them began to look anxious and excited, as if he were already imagining himself rescuing Chi Hua Fairy. He couldn’t help but ask urgently, "Rescue Chi Hua Fairy, get a Spiritual Artifact as a reward... so does Qionghua Pavilion only handle the rewarding part? Do they care about what happens after the reward is given?"

The question sounded strange at first, with a peculiar undertone. But what was even stranger was that someone actually agreed with this odd line of thinking.

Someone else chimed in, "Exactly, exactly! If they just reward you with a Spiritual Artifact and wash their hands of it afterward, with our strength... *cough*, what kind of strength would the person who got the reward need to protect that Spiritual Artifact? Shouldn’t Qionghua Pavilion offer some other measures besides just the Spiritual Artifact?"

This person’s words immediately drew a chorus of agreement and deep thought. The other stewards chimed in, "That’s right. There should be other measures. Otherwise, the Spiritual Artifact isn’t a reward, it’s a death sentence!"

The stewards talked and sighed, each of them sinking into deep worry.

They had actually moved away from the many Demon-Washing Servants as they spoke. The ordinary servants were all focused on Washing Demons, and none could hear their conversation.

But Song Ciwan’s hearing was outstanding and her Spiritual Sense was astonishing, so she heard every word.

Hearing this, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of absurdity, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

As the saying goes, those caught up in the moment are often blind to the obvious. These stewards were so engrossed in their discussion, so deeply empathizing with the hypothetical winner, that they had all overlooked one question: what kind of Cultivation would a person who could rescue Chi Hua Fairy and return her to Qionghua Pavilion even have?

Someone who could rescue Chi Hua Fairy wouldn’t have trouble protecting a mere Spiritual Artifact. As for most low-level Cultivators, they really should just treat Qionghua Pavilion’s reward as something to look at and nothing more.

’Thinking about it is useless. It either leads to pointless worries or makes you a laughingstock. Of course, it might also just be a way to add a little fun to their lives.’

Song Ciwan had heard enough, but then she heard another steward ask, "Chi Hua Fairy is missing, but how can Qionghua Pavilion be so sure she’s trapped somewhere and not just... you know..."

The steward made a gesture for "dead."

He didn’t dare say the word aloud, but everyone understood his meaning.

Another steward immediately explained, "A True Disciple of a Major Sect always has a Soul Lamp left behind in the Sect. As long as the person is alive, the Soul Lamp won’t go out. But if they’re gone, the Soul Lamp will just... PUFF... extinguish on its own!"

"Oh, right, so that’s how it is..."

And so, the stewards’ topic of conversation gradually shifted. From worrying about the Spiritual Artifact, to guessing where Chi Hua Fairy might be trapped, and then to the various advantages of being a True Disciple of a Major Sect, the stewards grew more and more animated.

Song Ciwan often eavesdropped. Most of the time, what she heard was nonsense, but occasionally she would catch some useful information. Some of it was true, some false; some was exaggerated, and some was factual.

The way these stewards chatted was no different from the idle gossip of commoners in the marketplace.

Still, it had a certain slice-of-life charm, which was interesting in its own way.