Chapter 133: Chapter 129: Will a Divine Dragon Hatch from the Stone Egg?
At this moment, Du Youqian’s Heart Lake was a seemingly placid surface.
But should anyone try to pry into his memories, that calm lake surface would part, revealing the sharp Sword Intent hidden beneath to counterattack.
According to Du Youqian’s estimation, even a Core Formation Ancestor, if caught off guard, would likely suffer a small setback.
Although it was only a small setback... this was actually an astounding achievement.
Normally, a Core Formation Ancestor could kill a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator as easily as an ordinary person swatting a mosquito.
And a mosquito, even trying its hardest, could at most leave a few bites, causing no real substantial harm.
But Du Youqian, who had cultivated the "Heart Lake Sword Technique," could... under specific conditions, genuinely harm a Core Formation Ancestor.
"Broken Water." This was the name of the Sword Intent Du Youqian had comprehended.
Unstoppable, unbreakable, it could even cut through water.
Right now, this strand of Sword Intent was still very faint, in a nascent state.
But Du Youqian believed that as his comprehension of Sword Intent continued to deepen, sooner or later, he would be able to cut a Core Formation Ancestor in two, even as a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator!
’Uh, even if I can’t do it in this lifetime,’
’maybe in the next, or the one after that, I’ll be able to.’
"Brother Fei!"
"Come in," Du Youqian said indifferently.
’As for what he calls me, I can’t correct him. Whatever. I’m tired.’
’Since I can’t humanely euthanize Gu Xiaofang, I’ll just have to endure it.’
’On second thought, "Brother Fei" isn’t actually so bad.’
’It’s better than "Sister Fei," anyway.’
Gu Xiaofang pushed the door open gleefully, his face flushed with excitement, making his sharp-nosed, hollow-cheeked features look even more monkey-like.
"Brother Fei! I’ve come to report. I spent several months on it, but I’ve finally gathered all the information you wanted on Miss Fang Hua. I even found out what color her undergarments are... MMMMMMMMM!!"
Gu Xiaofang’s eyes went wide as he frantically pointed at his own mouth.
After a good long while, the large hand formed of Magical Power finally moved away, allowing him to speak again.
"HUFF... HUFF. Brother Fei, what was that for? Why’d you cover my mouth?"
"It’s nothing. Hand over the Jade Scroll. You can get lost now," Du Youqian said, his face devoid of expression.
Gu Xiaofang tossed over the Jade Scroll inscribed with the information and said indignantly, "I worked my tail off for months, lost a ton of weight, and nearly ground my iron rod into a needle to get this exhaustive report. And not only do you not have a reward for me, Brother Fei, you even covered my mouth? AHHH~~~~ OOF!"
The transparent hand formed of Magical Power had grabbed one of his ankles and tossed him out.
The door shut automatically, and then a Storage Treasure Pouch landed on him.
"What was that all about? Did I say something wrong? Seriously! Brother Fei is getting more and more vicious and impatient!" Gu Xiaofang grumbled resentfully, but his expression turned to one of delight when he saw what was inside the Storage Treasure Pouch.
As for the stupid things he occasionally blurted out... if saying them helped him maintain his good relationship with Brother Fei, then he was fine with it.
It was just as Brother Fei had once said during a casual chat—sometimes, you have to have a little entertainment value.
Playing the clown occasionally to make Brother Fei laugh was worth it.
Even though his aptitude was poor and his strength was lacking,
he and Brother Fei were friends.
Brother Fei needed clever subordinates, like Luo Jinyu. He also needed an adorably foolish friend who could handle private matters like settling his parents, and who would dare to block a Flying Sword for him at a critical moment.
A friend like himself.
~~~~~~~~
Only after Gu Xiaofang had gone far away did Du Youqian begin to carefully examine the information.
For the most part, neither Fairy Shu nor Fang Hua had lied.
Fang Hua was indeed an abandoned infant, found by a Hundred Flowers Sect disciple while on Garrison duty in a Mortal City. Seeing that she possessed a Spirit Root, was beautiful, and had a well-proportioned body, the disciple thought she might be suitable for cultivating a Superior Charm Skill and thus brought her back.
At first, she wasn’t given much importance. But after she happened to display a terrifying talent for both Cultivation and the Sword Dao during her youth, she became the apple of Shuyue Hua’s eye.
As for how exactly she displayed this talent, Shuyue Hua issued a gag order, and no one dared to speak of it.
What attribute and Grade Fang Hua’s Spirit Root was, only she and Shuyue Hua knew.
The Hundred Flowers Sect was not a Sword Cultivation Sect to begin with, and it had no outstanding Swordsmanship Inheritances.
Shuyue Hua had even expended a great deal of social capital to specifically seek out an excellent Cultivation Technique and Sword Formulas for her to cultivate.
Like Du Youqian, her Cultivation Technique, Sword Formulas, and the Flying Sword she used were all from the Orthodox Profound Sects.
A Demon Child who wasn’t like a Demon Child.
According to the intelligence, Fang Hua had indeed always been a simple-minded Kun Cultivator with a very simple social life, dedicated wholeheartedly to the Sword Dao.
This was the conclusion reached after Gu Xiaofang made a great "sacrifice," losing a ton of weight and flitting like a social butterfly among dozens of Hundred Flowers Sect disciples to gather numerous fragmented details.
Some things just can’t be hidden, not even with the acting skills of an Oscar-winning actress.
’Otherwise, you might fool one or two people, but could you really keep up the act 24/7 and fool the entire Hundred Flowers Sect?’
Du Youqian crushed the Jade Scroll. ’Looks like I won’t have to waste my Divine Sense keeping a constant watch on her anymore. I was being too wary of her.’
’Shuyue Hua gifting her to me was likely purely to build a good relationship. She couldn’t possibly expect such a simple-minded Sword Cultivator to bring back any valuable intelligence.’
’Alternatively, Shuyue Hua’s move might have carried a sliver of hope that by being close to me, an Upper Sect Guardian Envoy, Fang Hua could receive some rewards and go further on her path of the Dao.’
After all, a Major Sect Guardian Envoy like Du Youqian might not possess more resources like Spiritual Jade or Elixirs than the Sect Leader of the Hundred Flowers Sect.
However, the Magic, Secret Techniques, Sword Formulas, Cultivation Techniques, and even the breadth of knowledge he possessed... were not necessarily inferior to those of the Hundred Flowers Sect’s leader.
Any little scrap that leaked from between his fingers would be enough of a resource to allow Fang Hua’s cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds.
Shaking his head, Du Youqian put the matter to the back of his mind for now.
He took out a palm-sized Jade Box. Opening it revealed a viscous nutrient solution inside.
Soaking in the nutrient solution was the Stone Egg he had obtained after slaying the Fox Demon Zombie.
He carefully probed the Stone Egg with his Divine Sense, then sighed.
The faint Life Force was still just as faint; it hadn’t improved.
He then poured out the nutrient solution from the Jade Box—a concoction that had cost over a thousand Spirit Stones to prepare—and took out the precious medicinal herbs and minerals that Luo Jinyu had acquired.
After some thought, he changed the formula and began to carefully mix a new batch.
This was the most helpless he had felt in any attempt since he began learning Alchemy.
He didn’t know what kind of creature was inside the Stone Egg and could only blindly guess it was some kind of Demon Beast.
He then had to concoct a suitable nutrient solution that it could absorb to promote its growth and development, helping it hatch from its "egg" state sooner.
It was truly a hopeless endeavor.
All he could do was keep burning money, trying again and again.
If he hadn’t discovered that his own Alchemy skills were also slowly but steadily improving with each new concoction, he would have given up long ago.
’Even with a lot of money, you can’t just burn through it like this!’
Every time he felt like giving up, he would think back to three lifetimes ago, to the protagonists he’d read about in web novels.
They’d casually stroll through a Marketplace, pick up a random egg from a stall, and it would be a Dragon Egg. They’d enter a Secret Realm and land right next to a Phoenix Egg.
’I worked my ass off to kill a Fox Demon Zombie and get the egg of a powerful Demon Beast. That’s not asking for too much, is it?’
’A Dragon Egg?’
’Alright, I’m probably not that lucky.’
’No point thinking about a Phoenix either.’
’A Black Tortoise? Forget a Black Tortoise, even a big turtle would be fine.’
’The Four Great Divine Beasts are impossible... but a Bi Fang should be possible, right?’
’Or a Qiongqi? A Zouyu? A Luwu? A Cheng Huang?’
’I wouldn’t even complain if it was just a Horse Belly.’
Reason was reason, but people couldn’t help but have their own yearnings and fantasies.
Du Youqian was no exception.
He naturally hadn’t forgotten about his Divination Art, but after performing Divination several times, the readings were all strained and unnatural. The Divination had clearly failed.
This was actually a good sign.
Du Youqian’s current Divination skill was around the Middle and Upper Grades of Tier One.
With the enhancement from "Knowing the Celestial Mandate," his Divinations on Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators should be almost guaranteed to succeed.
The fact that his Divinations on the Stone Egg always failed could only mean one thing: the being inside the egg was of a status so high that his current level of Divination Art was powerless against it.
’So, if I were to make a bold guess... could this Stone Egg hatch a Demon Beast that could reach the Golden Core realm when mature?’
At that thought, the anticipation and yearning were enough to offset the heartache of his Storage Treasure Pouch growing ever emptier.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The white clouds drifted, and time flew by.
Du Youqian didn’t feel like much time had passed.
’Today was a repeat of yesterday, and tomorrow... tomorrow would likely be no different.’
But when he stopped to think about it, he realized he had already been at the Guardian Envoy’s station for two years.
His Cultivation was not far from the Foundation Establishment Third Layer.
During these two years, most of the Holy Blood Sect Garrisons throughout the Wu Kingdom had made some sort of gesture.
Some had come to pay their respects in person, while others had sent local specialties.
Even those whose Garrison posts were in poor, remote areas with nothing to offer had at least written a letter, presenting a basketful of free compliments.
But there were also a few who, whether out of ignorance of social niceties or because they looked down on him as the Guardian Envoy, had not even sent a single letter.
Du Youqian was not a petty person. He would absolutely not hold a grudge over such a small matter. Really. If you don’t believe him, just look at his sincere face.
’However, in the upcoming triennial major assessment, these people’s evaluations will certainly be rather poor.’
’If you don’t even come to report your work to the Guardian Envoy, it must mean you’ve done nothing for the past few years.’
’And if you’ve done nothing, you still want an excellent evaluation?’
’Take your "abysmal" rating and scram back to the Holy Blood Sect to report on your duties.’
Actually, it wasn’t that Du Youqian didn’t understand. Some of the other Guardians were already at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and some were even at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
Looking down on a Guardian Envoy like him, whose Cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, and being unwilling to bow their heads to him, seemed understandable... my ass.
In short, if Du Youqian wanted to carry out his Garrison duty smoothly for the next twenty to thirty years without any trouble, dealing with the local powers—the Chongzhen Sect and the Hundred Flowers Sect—was a must.
Dealing with the other Guardians under his command was also a must.
Now that those two sects had made their stances clear, what he had to do was deal with the few disobedient Guardians under him—kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
