Clearfrost Buddha Lingzhi

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The Northern Wasteland Secret Realm slowly opened beneath everyone's expectant gazes.

Immediately afterward, countless cultivators flew into the secret realm.

Chu Zeming emerged from his cultivation. The sensation of being watched while cultivating had been exceptionally strong. Sensing something, he glanced at a patch of bushes not far from the tree. Then he withdrew his gaze and, pretending he had noticed nothing, patted Yue Lian, who was dozing beside him. "Let's go. Time to go in and snatch some treasures."

Then he flew into the secret realm.

The moment he entered, an ancient, boundless aura rushed toward him. Chu Zeming did not linger at the entrance and flew straight toward the depths of the secret realm.

After the two left, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator appeared where Chu Zeming had been looking.

Dressed in black, he gave off an eerie, gloomy air. He glanced in the direction Chu Zeming had gone, swept his sleeve, and continued after him.

Chu Zeming did not know how long he flew for. Only when he felt it was about enough did he stop. By then, no other cultivators remained nearby. Broken walls and crumbling ruins surrounded them. This had once been an ancient palace complex, though no one knew why it had been destroyed. Among the ruins, many towering trees had grown.

Chu Zeming stood atop the raised roots of one such giant tree, quietly staring ahead—

"Come out."

As his words fell, the gloomy man in black emerged from nothingness.

Chu Zeming knew this man.

He was the demonic cultivator from before—the one who had set his sights on Xiao Hei, tried to take him by force, fought Chu Zeming, and planted demonic qi in him.

Seeing that there was not the slightest abnormality in Chu Zeming's body, the demonic cultivator let out a gloomy, grating laugh. "You actually dissolved the demonic qi. What a pity. It seems taking your body won't be so easy after all."

Chu Zeming wasted no words. He shoved Yue Lian a little farther away and fixed his eyes tightly on the demonic cultivator. With a thought, the Luminous Glaze Sword appeared in his hand.

The demonic cultivator also knew Chu Zeming was difficult to deal with. Slowly spreading his hands, he summoned two short rods wreathed in dense black qi.

He had taken a liking to Chu Zeming's Xiao Hei.

That young snake had four heads and looked incomparably imposing. Since Chu Zeming would not give him up, he could only seize him by force. Besides, the body he currently occupied was nearly unusable. Taking possession of Chu Zeming's body would be an excellent choice.

Two dark figures in black robes tangled in battle through the air, terrifying sword pressure colliding with spilling demonic qi.

A battle between Nascent Soul Realm cultivators caused an enormous commotion. The spiritual qi within a hundred li became chaotic and frenzied.

Occasionally, cultivators searching the secret realm for treasure passed by. After sneaking a couple of looks, they chose to leave.

Outside, they might have lent a hand upon discovering a demonic cultivator. But inside the secret realm, they scarcely had time to seek treasures and fight over treasures—who had the spare energy to meddle in someone else's business?

—Hang high what had nothing to do with oneself; better a fellow cultivator dead than oneself poor.

But Chu Zeming had not expected anyone to help him.

He controlled his sword with qi, blocking another fatal strike from the demonic cultivator before swiftly retreating.

Watching Chu Zeming get beaten back step by step, the demonic cultivator panted and gave a strange, rasping laugh. "Did you really think I couldn't beat you last time? I merely wanted to wear down your strength, making it easier for me to take possession of you!"

With that, he closed his eyes and sent his divine sense directly at Chu Zeming.

Chu Zeming's body was weak now, and his soul was not firmly fused with his body—this was the best time to take possession. Once he devoured Chu Zeming's divine sense and destroyed his Nascent Soul, he could move into this body and replace him—

Feeling an unfamiliar, wicked divine sense invade his sea of consciousness and rampage through it, Chu Zeming suddenly smiled.

With a thought, a tiny figure dragging wide white robes appeared in the vast, empty world of his sea of consciousness. Eight doors revolved ceaselessly around the little figure.

The demonic cultivator froze at once—what was this little figure?

"Since you came in, don't leave. I'll send you to spar with the Blood Sea Freak!"

The demonic cultivator's heart jolted. Before he could understand why this cultivator's sea of consciousness contained such a thing, an intense sense of danger urged him to flee at once. Yet before he could withdraw his divine sense, a massive door glowing with soft white light descended from the heavens. Amid his boundless terror, a tremendous suction force surged from within it—

The demonic cultivator's divine sense began to struggle. At the same time, his physical body twisted into a savage, distorted expression. But he soon could not resist. As his divine sense was dragged bit by bit into the Spirit Mirror Platform, his awareness began to blur, and his gaze gradually turned numb.

When the final wisp of divine sense was "bitten" into the door, the Spirit Mirror Platform's mirror spirit raised its head. The massive stone door slowly descended, landing beside it and returning to its original sixth position.

When it was all over.

Chu Zeming opened his eyes again, his black pupils dazzlingly bright.

The Spirit Mirror Platform was not only for trials.

Without a Teleportation Jade Token enhanced by formations, the Spirit Mirror Platform was a massive prison. Once someone entered, they could forget about coming out without his permission!

Whether righteous cultivator or evil cultivator.

Whether divine sense or flesh.

Having lost his consciousness, the demonic cultivator sat where he was, his eyes hollow.

This body had not originally belonged to the demonic cultivator either. Who knew which unfortunate cultivator he had seized it from? It had long been worn down and ruined by him. Now, only an empty shell remained. Once this body's vitality ran dry, it would die in the Northern Wasteland Secret Realm.

After ending the battle, Chu Zeming sat down to regulate his breathing for a short while. Then he rose and returned to Yue Lian's side. "Lead the way."

Yue Lian pursed his lips. "Lead what way?"

Chu Zeming raised a brow. "Naturally, the way to treasure. I know your luck is good—you can pick up treasures just by wandering around. You're the most suitable person to lead."

"My luck isn't... luck. It's intuition." After a pause, Yue Lian lowered his voice and added, "The intuition of a great power."

Chu Zeming fell silent.

"What's the difference?"

"...Fine, there isn't one."

In the end, Yue Lian was forced to become a treasure-hunting rat.

Yet as he watched Chu Zeming cheerfully stuff spirit fruits and secret treasures into his storage space by the armful, the corners of Yue Lian's lips curved up as well.

As long as he was happy.

Yue Lian truly was impressive. Every time he searched for treasure, he found something. Though these items could not compare to truly rare secret treasures like the Remnant Sword Immortal Residence, they were far from ordinary cabbages. Chu Zeming was very poor now. After leaving the sect, even his sole income of spirit stones had been cut off. Thus, he was madly gathering spirit fruits and heavenly materials and earthly treasures, intending to sell them for some spirit stones once they got out.

After finding another two Clearfrost Buddha Lingzhi, Chu Zeming frowned at Yue Lian. "The treasures in here... you really don't want even one of them?"

They had been inside for several days, and Chu Zeming's harvest had been abundant.

Yue Lian had empty sleeves and a clean breeze.

Chu Zeming was not a perfectly good person. One could even say he was somewhat hard-hearted. But after taking so much from someone else, his conscience truly could not bear it.

Yue Lian thought for a moment before saying seriously, "No. There is still one treasure here that I really want."

Chu Zeming said, "Do you need my help?"

Yue Lian nodded. "I do."

Chu Zeming put away the Clearfrost Buddha Lingzhi and looked at Yue Lian earnestly. "No matter how dangerous it is, I can help you."

Yue Lian looked at Chu Zeming with emotion, his eyes thirty percent shy, twenty percent sincere, and fifty percent idiotic. "The treasure I want is you."

Chu Zeming: "..."

For his brain to short-circuit to this extent, he truly was something else.

For the sake of all the benefits he had received from him, Chu Zeming did not hit Yue Lian this time. He merely looked at him with an utterly speechless expression. "Do you know that you're really corny?"

"Corny..." What was that?

Yue Lian looked blankly at Chu Zeming. Yet Chu Zeming simply lowered his head and began digging, with no intention of explaining it to him.

Yue Lian crouched down and watched Chu Zeming dig. Seeing his black hair hang lightly around his handsome face as he carefully and earnestly excavated the spiritual herb, Yue Lian's heart could not help but flutter. After thinking for a moment, he pulled another fragrant pink handkerchief from his robes. "Senior Brother, you must be tired from digging. Here, wipe your sweat."

Chu Zeming's hand jerked, nearly snapping the Buddha Lingzhi he had half-dug out.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Zeming looked at Yue Lian with extreme seriousness. "...Go stand farther away. My favorability toward you is a little high right now. Don't make it suddenly drop again."

Yue Lian asked in delighted surprise, "Really? How high is a little high?"

"Pretty high. Nine."

Yue Lian put away his handkerchief, leaned closer to Chu Zeming, and asked in a low voice, "Then is the highest ten?"

"The highest is one hundred."

Yue Lian: "..."

Looking at Chu Zeming's calm, beautiful face, Yue Lian stubbornly pressed on. "Then what was it before?"

Chu Zeming gave a dry laugh. "Before, it was negative nine hundred and ninety-nine. You might not understand that, so I'll give you a simple example—it means I wanted to beat you to death whenever I saw you."

Yue Lian was shocked. "How could it be so low? That can't be right. Everyone clearly loves me."

Chu Zeming was speechless.

Yue Lian truly was narcissistic beyond measure.

After frowning in thought for a while, Yue Lian looked at Chu Zeming seriously. "I think you're lying to me. Your feelings toward me are especially different. You like hitting me, which means you actually like me. Otherwise, why don't you hit other people and only hit me?"

Little Azure Dragon nodded in agreement.

Chu Zeming: ...

His fists clenched. They could bore straight through the earth's core.

Yue Lian was still unwilling to accept reality, arguing with Chu Zeming about the "fact" that the two were mutually attracted, when Chu Zeming suddenly sensed more than a dozen divine senses hurrying toward them.

Some strong, some weak—two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, along with several Heart-Movement Stage and Jindan Stage cultivators...

Chu Zeming raised his eyes toward the direction the divine senses came from. More than a dozen disciples in green robes instantly landed before them. Their gazes paused for a moment on the empty soil by Chu Zeming's feet. Then every one of them summoned a magical artifact. "Where is the Clearfrost Buddha Lingzhi? Hand it over!"