Chapter 235: Chapter 233: 9-Turn White Jade Lotus
Pang Weiran turned and roared at his son. With a look of annoyance, Pangqi turned and stalked off again. "All you do all day is lecture me, but you go soft on some outsider. Hmph!" he muttered as he walked away.
Pang Weiran’s face turned livid with anger at his son. This wasn’t an act; he was genuinely furious. ’Having a son late in life, one can’t help but spoil them rotten,’ he thought. ’But I never imagined it would come to this... The saying "to spare the rod is to spoil the child" really is true.’
"My apologies. Alas, you’ve all seen it. My son is a disgrace. It is not the wish of my Thousand Kills Sect to cause trouble for you." Pang Weiran said with a sigh, then looked at Qin Li. "I’ve heard the Qin Family has recently developed many new elixirs. I am not a greedy man. Just give me any one of your Pill Formulas—even the one for the Jade Dew Pill will do. If you do, I will immediately remove the Restriction on this young lady and allow you to leave. From that point forward, we’ll stay out of each other’s way!"
As he spoke, a proud look appeared on Pang Weiran’s face. "My Thousand Kills Sect, since ancient times, may not have been a supreme power, but we are by no means a weak, minor sect that anyone can bully! So... think it over."
With that, he ordered his men, "Bring our distinguished guests from the Qin Family food and wine. Serve them well! And right, prepare some of our finest local specialties for them to sample!"
"Yes, Sect Leader!" a disciple of the Thousand Kills Sect responded. Pang Weiran gave Qin Li one last, deep look, then turned and departed.
The Thousand Kills Sect disciple also left to prepare the food and wine, leaving the members of the Qin Family alone in the vast reception hall. It was obvious Pang Weiran held them in no regard whatsoever. The only ones he was wary of were the Lin Family and the Thousand Mechanism Sect.
Even Qin Haiyang couldn’t suppress his anger. "What’s the meaning of this, just leaving us here?" he said, his voice like ice. "Is this house arrest?"
Qin Haijiang, who was sitting with his eyes closed in meditation, said calmly, "The surrounding area is filled with powerful experts lying in ambush. They’re probably hoping we’ll try to force our way out."
Qinling Mountain looked at Linghu Feiyue and asked, "Miss, what kind of Restriction did they place on you?"
Linghu Feiyue said in a low voice, "I don’t know what they gave me to eat, but I feel weak all over. I can’t muster even a shred of strength."
"Won’t our Antitoxic Pills work?" Qin Li asked, looking at Qinling Mountain.
Qinling Mountain shook his head slightly. "Child, you don’t understand. When it comes to substances like these, every major power has its own specialties. If we were to experiment rashly, not only would we fail to neutralize the poison, but we could very well put her in even greater danger!"
Qin Li suddenly recalled the white lotus inside his Spatial Ring. ’That thing should count as a Divine Object,’ he thought. ’I wonder if it can undo the Restriction on the Little Fox.’ With that thought, Qin Li’s Divine Sense entered the ring. He used his formidable Spiritual Power to form a blade and carefully sliced off a small, palm-sized leaf. As he took it out, a surging wave of Spiritual Power began to slowly emanate from the jade-like leaf.
Because it was no longer attached to the stem, its anchor was gone, so the Spiritual Power in the leaf began to slowly diffuse. Otherwise, the Spiritual Power of the entire lotus was perfectly contained within itself!
GASP!
The moment Qin Li took out the leaf, the eyes of the three Qin Family ancestors—Qin Haiyang, Qin Haijiang, and Qin Haihe—lit up, and they all sucked in a sharp breath.
Qinling Mountain reacted a moment later. He stared dubiously at the leaf in Qin Li’s hand, then turned to Qin Haiyang. "Father, this... can this be the legendary Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus?"
The moment Qin Li had taken out the leaf, Qin Haiyang had casually thrown up a barrier. His expression was incredibly solemn as he stared at the leaf in Qin Li’s hand. He nodded and said, "If the records from the texts of Ancient Times are correct, then this... this should be the legendary Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus!"
"May I have a look?" Qin Haijiang asked from the side.
’I knew this thing was special,’ Qin Li thought, ’but judging by the looks on the ancestors’ faces, it must be even more incredible than I imagined!’
Qin Li casually handed it over. But Qin Haijiang shot him a fierce glare, as if to rebuke him for treating a divine treasure so wastefully. He accepted the leaf with the utmost care, his expression as reverent as a pilgrim’s!
His hands trembled slightly as he took it. He turned it over and over, examining it from every angle. The other old men crowded around, their heads close together. After studying it for a long while, they finally reached a conclusion: this was, without a doubt, a leaf from the Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus!
Qinling Mountain looked at Qin Li, his face a mask of disbelief. After a long moment, he sighed. "Young man, just how many more secrets are you hiding?"
"Is it that great?" Qin Li asked.
"’Great?’" Qin Haihe looked at him as if he were a hopeless case. "It’s a Divine Grade treasure! No... even calling it Divine Grade doesn’t do it justice!"
"So, can it cure Feiyue’s poison?" Shangguan Shiyu couldn’t resist asking.
The old men were brought back to the matter at hand. Qin Haiyang’s expression was firm as he declared, "Yes, of course it can. If a legendary treasure like this can’t act as an antidote, then I’m afraid nothing in this world can!"
Qin Li took the leaf back from Qin Haijiang and handed it to Linghu Feiyue. He then asked Qin Haiyang, "She can just eat it directly?"
Qin Haiyang’s expression was one of pure agony, the corners of his mouth twitching. ’Such a spendthrift!’ he thought. He quickly said, "Just a tiny bite! Squeeze out a single drop of juice, that’s..."
Before he could finish, he saw Qin Li walk right up to Linghu Feiyue with the palm-sized leaf. "Open your mouth!" he commanded.
Even someone as naive as the Little Fox could tell from the old men’s solemn, regretful, and pained expressions just how precious the palm-sized, jade-like leaf was. She instinctively shook her head.
Qin Li grabbed Linghu Feiyue’s chin. "This is no time to be indecisive!" he said sternly. "Hurry up and eat. Otherwise, you’ll just be dragging us down!"
Startled by Qin Li’s fierce demeanor, the Little Fox instinctively opened her mouth. Qin Li promptly stuffed the entire leaf of the Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus into it.
It was as if you could hear the sound of hearts shattering in the room. Qin Haijiang’s mouth twitched violently as he muttered to himself, "Prodigal child, utterly prodigal!"
Qin Haihe remained expressionless, but his heart was bleeding.
As Qin Li’s direct great-ancestor, Qin Haiyang was far more direct with his reaction. He cursed under his breath, "You wasteful little brat!"
Qinling Mountain said nothing, but the rims of his eyes turned red. A peerless Divine Grade treasure... devoured by a little girl like a cow chewing on a peony!
The old men all turned their gazes toward Qin Li, a single thought sprouting in their minds: ’When we get back, we absolutely have to interrogate this kid and find out just how many more secrets he’s hiding!’
Qin Li felt his skin crawl under the old men’s unnerving stares. ’As soon as this is over,’ he mused, ’I’m grabbing Shiyu and the Little Fox and getting out of here. We’ll head back to the Mortal Realm and find Leng Yao to do some Alchemy.’
For Qin Li now finally understood just what a terrifyingly vast fortune the Ancient Pill Formula in his possession represented.
When the Little Fox first started eating the leaf, she was still a bit reluctant. While not strictly a carnivore, she was definitely no vegetarian, and she had no fondness for eating flowers and plants.
But with the very first bite, an intensely sweet and fragrant flavor exploded in her mouth. The Little Fox could swear on her ancestors’ names that in her thousand years of life growing in the forest, she had never tasted anything so delicious!
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH... Seeing the covetous green glint in the old men’s eyes, the Little Fox chewed faster and faster, swallowing it all down in a flash. She let out an accidental burp, then, with an incredibly cute expression, whispered to Qinling Mountain, "It’s all gone."
Qinling Mountain’s eyes rolled back in his head; he nearly fainted from exasperation. ’It’s gone, so be it! Why did you have to remind me?’ he thought. ’Aren’t you just rubbing salt in the wound?’
Shangguan Shiyu watched Linghu Feiyue with a curious expression. ’Is it really that good?’ she wondered. Suddenly, a voice transmission from Qin Li sounded in her ear: ’My dearest wife, no need to be jealous. Your husband has plenty more where that came from. You can eat your fill! To be honest, I had no idea it was so tasty...’
Shangguan Shiyu gave Qin Li a sweet smile. Just then, a tremendous surge of energy erupted from the Little Fox’s body!
Everyone, including Qin Li, was utterly stunned. He never imagined a single, palm-sized leaf could have such a miraculous effect. ’How ridiculous,’ he thought. ’I only ever thought the flower itself was the treasure and paid no attention to the leaves at all!’
As her power was restored in an instant, the Little Fox’s own perception was clearer than anyone’s. Not only had her strength fully returned, but she also felt a new, indescribable sensation within her body. It felt as if... she were faintly on the verge of a breakthrough!
Qin Li then turned to Qinling Mountain and asked, "This Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus... just how miraculous is it?"
Qinling Mountain took a deep breath. "This is not the place for a long discussion, so I’ll give you the short version. It’s called the Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus because each ’turn’ takes ten thousand years! After nine turns, it blossoms and bears fruit. After that, it buds again and blooms once every ten years. The very first flower to bloom is said in legends to have an unbelievably magical effect. Consuming it can completely transform a person’s constitution, granting them..."
As Qinling Mountain spoke, he suddenly stared at Qin Li, his eyes filled with disbelief. He had just realized something: his own great-great-grandson possessed god-like talent at such a young age and was shrouded from head to toe in mystery. If he weren’t absolutely certain that Qin Li was a descendant of the Qin Family, he would find it hard to believe that the heavens would bless the Qin Family so greatly!
Qin Li just chuckled and said nothing, but these ancestors of the Qin Family were all as shrewd as they were old. How could they not understand what had happened to their young descendant?
Even for men of their mental fortitude and power, they couldn’t help but be overcome with envy. If he weren’t one of their own descendants, they’d probably be jealous enough to eat him alive!
Just then, members of the Thousand Kills Sect brought in food and wine. But Qin Li and the others were in no mood to dine, especially when they were being disrespected to such an extent that not even a single Elder had been sent to accompany them.
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I just glanced at the review section, and someone actually thinks I have a stockpile of Chapters. LOL, if I did, I would’ve mass-released them already... I swear on anything, I absolutely don’t!
Every one of the 15,000 characters I write each day is written on that day! You can doubt my work, but you can’t doubt my integrity.
If I had a stockpile, would I need to post an author’s note every time just to say how tired I am? I’m not faking it, I’m really exhausted! (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com for more Chapters and to support the author and official publication!)
