A Beauty Looking for Trouble

After Chu Zeming finished speaking, the Immortal Residence in his palm seemed to stiffen.

It had existed for so long. Countless people had begged it and cursed at it in hopes of forming a contract with it, but Chu Zeming was the only one who had threatened to toss it into a manure pit... The Immortal Residence found it a little hard to believe that this oddball would actually dare do such a thing, but when it sensed the young man in black truly pressing it toward that disgusting pile of spirit beast dung, it immediately felt awful.

Its little corners really... really were about to touch the dung!

So disgusting!

If the Immortal Residence could move, it would surely have gone pale with fright and scrambled to flee.

Unfortunately, it could not move.

Then Chu Zeming felt the Immortal Residence tremble slightly. A force came from the treasure in his hand, tugging at him and refusing to let go.

Chu Zeming stopped, drew the Immortal Residence back, and raised a brow with a smile. "A contract?"

The Immortal Residence spun in circles without pause. Powerful spiritual energy rippled from its body as its consciousness took the initiative to entwine with Chu Zeming's divine sense.

Chu Zeming set down a barrier and contracted the Immortal Residence on the spot inside the stinking beast stable.

His consciousness connected with the Immortal Residence, and the tiny residence in his palm abruptly vanished. Feeling the little cube that had suddenly appeared in his sea of consciousness, Chu Zeming felt incomparably pleased.

After straightening his clothes, Chu Zeming strolled out of the beast stable and softly hummed, "If you'd done this from the start, there wouldn't have been so much trouble. I'm not some bad person. You won't regret following me."

Since its existence began, the Immortal Residence had never followed such a weak master.

It felt somewhat wronged, but it could not say so.

After all, the manure pit really stank. If it went in, it would be the greatest humiliation of its life.

After returning to his room at the relay station, Chu Zeming changed clothes and took a comfortable bath before returning to the entrance of the Divine Wood Secret Realm. Having contracted the Immortal Residence, he had suddenly gained a powerful trump card to preserve his life, and his mood became excellent.

Chu Zeming was happy, and Xiao Hei was happy too.

It even unusually took the initiative to return to Chu Zeming's spirit beast sea of consciousness, intending to persuade this newly joined companion.

Cultivators gathered at the entrance to the Divine Wood Realm. Every sect had its own designated area, where they had set up Spirit Gathering Arrays and stocked recovery pills and other supplies, waiting for their sect's disciples to emerge. All of it had been prepared for disciples injured within the Divine Wood Realm.

The larger the sect, the grander the display it laid out. That was the foundation of its strength.

The Nine-Clear Haoran Sect had such supplies too—but compared to the resources of the other sects, theirs looked rather shabby.

Before Chu Zeming had even approached where his junior brothers were stationed, he saw a group of people gathered before them. Then a spoiled, haughty female voice rang out from the crowd.

"I heard five people from your sect made it into the top two hundred and fifty this time? Tsk... Joining your sect is simply a waste of their talent."

Chu Zeming's expression darkened.

When he drew closer, he saw a girl in pink standing before seven or eight men with powerful auras.

She was squatting on the ground, using a jade flute to disdainfully pick through her sect's healing medicines. Bottles lay scattered crookedly all over the ground. As she examined them, she said with contempt, "A third-rate sect is still a third-rate sect. You actually have the nerve to put out this little? The healing medicine our sect gives outer disciples' servants is better than these. How about it... Why don't you all come to our sect? You'd definitely be treated better than you are in your own sect."

Several disciples were furious but dared not speak.

Suddenly, a cold, deep voice sounded from outside the crowd. "Why could I hear a dog barking from so far away? How irritating."

The five junior brothers looked up and saw their handsome eldest senior brother walking over from outside the crowd with a dark expression.

They cried out in delighted surprise, "Eldest Senior Brother!"

Chu Zeming glanced at them and said indifferently, "What? When I'm not around, any random thing can take a bite out of you?"

The five junior brothers looked slightly embarrassed. They moved behind Chu Zeming and said in small voices, "Senior Brother, she... she isn't some random thing. Her name is Yan Xin. She is the Guiyuan Sect Master's daughter..."

"Who are you calling a thing?!" Yan Xin rose to her feet and pointed her jade flute at Chu Zeming. Her pretty, adorable face had turned bright red with anger. "You called me a dog just now? Apologize to me immediately!"

Chu Zeming did not even look at Yan Xin. He brushed aside her jade flute, lifted the hem of his black robe, and crouched down. As he set the healing medicines and spirit stones on the ground upright again, he said coldly and expressionlessly, "The Guiyuan Sect has always had a good reputation. You are the greatest blemish on your sect."

Yan Xin became even angrier.

She wanted to call for the attendants behind her to tie up and beat this sharp-tongued man, but recalling her father's warning not to cause trouble when she left, she forcibly suppressed the fury in her heart. She put away her jade flute, leisurely stepped forward, then seemingly carelessly kicked over the porcelain bottles of pills Chu Zeming had just arranged. One of the bottles shattered outright.

Yan Xin feigned surprise. "Oh my, sorry... I didn't see it. But it's only such a little stuff. Surely this young master is generous enough that he won't make me compensate him?"

After saying that, she made a face at Chu Zeming, then lifted her foot to leave.

Caught off guard, her hand was seized.

When she turned around, she saw Chu Zeming's thoroughly unpleasant face. "You think you're very cute? I never said I don't hit women."

Yan Xin's wrist hurt a little from his grip. She struggled as she shouted, "Let go of me, let go! I'm warning you, don't go too far!"

She was only fifteen.

She had been spoiled by her father since childhood and doted on by the elders and senior brothers in her sect as though she were held in their palms. It was her first time suffering such a grievance—how could she endure it? Did this man not know how to cherish a flower? She turned toward the people behind her and angrily shouted, "What are you all staring at? He's bullying me! Do you want me to complain to Father after we return and have him punish you?"

The six attendants behind her exchanged looks, and their figures flickered.

The next instant, Chu Zeming felt his hand go empty.

Yan Xin had been effortlessly rescued by them.

These people appeared utterly ordinary, yet each was a Nascent Soul powerhouse or above. They shielded Yan Xin behind them and said in low voices, "We ask this fellow Daoist to forgive our young miss for her youth and ignorance, and to show mercy."

Chu Zeming withdrew his hand. His gaze fell on the shattered pills from his own sect, and he said slowly, "Then you need to compensate us."

Yan Xin was rubbing her wrist. Hearing Chu Zeming's words, her eyes went round. "For this, you want us to compensate you? Any bottle I casually take out would be worth more than all this trash on the ground. You want to use trash to swindle my top-grade pills? You certainly dream beautifully!"

Seeing their spoiled young miss start arguing with someone again, the attendants felt helpless as well.

The leader among them stepped forward, took a bottle of medicine from his robes, and handed it to Chu Zeming. He apologized, "I'm truly sorry. This bottle of medicinal powder is a superior healing holy medicine. Sprinkle a little on any injury that spiritual energy cannot repair, and it will recover. Would this serve as compensation?"

Yet the moment he finished speaking, the medicine in his hand was knocked to the ground.

White powder scattered everywhere.

Yan Xin glared with her almond-shaped eyes, fury blazing on her lovely face. "Am I the master, or are you the master? If I say no compensation, then there will be no compensation! He called me a dog and even squeezed my wrist until it swelled. My father has never even hit me. He should be the one apologizing to me! None of you are allowed to apologize to him!"

Hearing this, Chu Zeming looked at Yan Xin and suddenly smiled.

"Is that so? It swelled?"

Yan Xin froze.

When this man smiled, he was... rather good-looking.

"Of course it swelled." As she spoke, Yan Xin pushed up half her sleeve and held out her hand for Chu Zeming to see. The next instant, the icy touch of a sword sheath landed on her hand and struck it hard.

"Ah! That hurts!" Yan Xin snatched her hand back, stared at the increasingly red and swollen skin, and nearly cried from the pain.

Chu Zeming put away the Luminous Glaze Sword and smiled. "Fine. No need to compensate us. You may leave."

"Thank you, Young Master!" Seeing this, several attendants hurriedly carried off their young miss and fled.

This minor flesh wound would be fine after applying some medicine later. If they kept wrangling like this, they feared the matter truly could not be settled peacefully.

The cursing Yan Xin was carried away by the attendants. Only then did the people from the surrounding sects who had been watching the show disperse. It was merely a small sect; if they suffered a loss, then they suffered a loss.

Chu Zeming crouched down and once more arranged the scattered bottles on the ground. Looking at the shattered ointment, his heart ached. To a giant like the Guiyuan Sect, it was nothing, but these were all things Qin Elder had carefully selected and deliberately sought out before they came.

"Senior Brother, what are you doing? Why was there a crowd around here just now?" Yue Lian, who never cultivated and only admired flowers and the moon, had returned. Upon returning, he saw the young man in black crouching on the ground, staring mournfully at the shattered porcelain bottle.

A senior brother beside him explained, "Junior Brother, while you were gone, an unreasonable woman came looking for trouble and kicked our medicine to pieces."

Yue Lian crouched down, thought for a moment, and said, "If it broke, then it broke. Throw this away. I have some."

After speaking, Yue Lian fumbled around in his robes for a while and pulled out a bottle of Spiritual Marrow that radiated dense spiritual energy. Even the sealed jade bottle could not contain its terrifyingly rich spiritual aura. Everyone nearby had their gaze drawn to this tiny bottle.

This was Spiritual Marrow.

It did not possess such terrifying healing effects as bringing the dead back to life or regrowing flesh on white bones, but it was not far off.

With it, as long as a person still had one breath left and their divine sense had not perished, they could be brought back from death itself!

Yue Lian glanced at the Spiritual Marrow, remembered that there were still three people in the secret realm, and felt that one bottle might not be enough. So he searched around again—then pulled out a second bottle, and a third.

Everyone from the surrounding sects:!!!!

Fuck.

Could someone tell them how a small sect could casually produce two or three bottles of Spiritual Marrow?

Looking at the three bottles of Spiritual Marrow placed amid that pile of shabby spirit medicines, everyone's eyes reddened and their hearts bled—this stuff should be enshrined, enshrined! Do not leave it on the ground, please!