On the way to the top of Jade Yao Peak, Xu Xingyao woke up several times. Every time he opened his eyes and saw Chen Yu, the first thing he said was:
"You beast!"
Once he said that,
Thump!
Ren Shaohua slapped him straight across the forehead, knocking him out again.
"Xu Xingyao's pretty formidable. It's safer to keep him unconscious."
So said Ren Shaohua.
Although carrying someone up a mountain after a fierce battle was exhausting, however bitter and tiring it might be, it was still better than bringing along a ticking time bomb.
About an hour later, the group reached the Penultimate Summit of Jade Yao Peak.
They spotted Elder Zheng's residence.
Like Elder Sun's, Elder Zheng's residence was a Thatched Cottage.
When they arrived with Xu Xingyao, Elder Zheng was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion by the cliff in front of the wooden hut, meditating and cultivating.
"Greetings, Elder Zheng. We have brought Xu Xingyao, the Heavenly Flame Peak disciple whose loan has long been overdue." Ren Shaohua cupped his hands and bowed respectfully toward Elder Zheng's back.
After speaking,
he waited a while.
Elder Zheng, seated cross-legged on the meditation cushion, let out a long breath of stale air.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Then turned his head.
First, he glanced at Xu Xingyao, who lay unconscious on the ground with his hands bound. Then he looked at the Heavenly Union Association members, whose slightly disheveled robes made it clear they had been through a fierce battle. A trace of disappointment flashed deep in his eyes before he nodded.
"Mm."
"Well done."
With that, Elder Zheng raised his hand, sending a strand of spiritual power into Xu Xingyao's body.
A moment later, Xu Xingyao groggily woke up.
When he opened his eyes,
he saw Chen Yu.
Instinctively, he wanted to blurt out those same words.
But before he could speak, he noticed Elder Zheng in front of him. His expression changed, and he hastily said, "Elder Zheng! I still have one final month left on my loan. Please give me a little more time. In a month, I'll definitely pay it all back!"
"Oh?" Elder Zheng raised an eyebrow at him. "How many contribution points do you have right now?"
"I..."
Xu Xingyao stammered.
Elder Zheng formed a hand seal, and Xu Xingyao's token immediately flew into his hand.
He took a look,
then smiled.
"With these seventy-three contribution points?" Elder Zheng shook his head. "Xu Xingyao, you owe me a total of 2,470 contribution points. How do you intend to scrape together the remaining 2,400 in a month?"
"..."
Xu Xingyao had no answer.
In truth, turning the tables and killing the Heavenly Union Association members had been his last path to survival. But now, that final path had been cut off too.
"Please spare my life, Elder!"
Xu Xingyao begged for mercy, but Elder Zheng waved his hand.
"There's no need to waste any more words. If you can't repay your debt, you must be liquidated. I told you that rule when you first took out the loan." As he spoke, Elder Zheng took a brown pill the size of a soybean from inside his robes and casually tossed it. The pill shot straight into Xu Xingyao's mouth, and despair immediately spread across his face.
The moment the pill appeared, Chen Yu smelled an extremely familiar fragrance.
He remembered almost at once.
It was the same scent I smelled on the front slopes of Little Bamboo Peak!
What was that pill?
Chen Yu looked at Xu Xingyao. After swallowing the pill, Xu Xingyao's despair quickly eased, and a contented smile slowly appeared on his face.
A little while later, Xu Xingyao stood up, smiling as he cupped his hands toward Elder Zheng.
"This disciple is unable to repay his debt and is willing to become spirit essence to compensate you, Elder!"
Elder Zheng did not reply.
He merely formed a hand seal.
White light erupted from Xu Xingyao's entire body. He slowly rose into the air, then exploded with a thunderous bang!
His flesh and blood transformed into energy, finally condensing into an exceptionally lustrous piece of spirit essence.
His bones fell to the ground.
Looking at the spirit essence, Elder Zheng finally smiled.
"What fine supreme spirit essence!"
Although Chen Yu had witnessed scenes like this many times already, seeing it again still left his heart pounding with fright.
After putting away the spirit essence, Elder Zheng looked at the five Heavenly Union Association members before him and waved his hand again. A strand of spiritual power flew into the air, then split into five portions that sank into each person's waist token.
Chen Yu lowered his head to take a look and found that his contribution points had increased by ten.
"Thank you, Elder."
Everyone cupped their hands.
"Mm." Elder Zheng waved his hand. "Go on. Throw the remains into the Mass Burial Grounds."
"Yes."
Ren Shaohua nodded.
He formed a hand seal,
lifting Xu Xingyao's bones into the air.
Then he turned and led the way.
At this point, their mission was considered complete.
As they left Jade Yao Peak, Chen Yu curiously asked Ren Shaohua beside him, "Senior Brother Ren, what was that pill Elder Zheng fed Xu Xingyao before refining him into spirit essence?"
"It was a Bliss Pill." Ren Shaohua smiled as he explained, "Once swallowed, it affects a person's mind. Just like Xu Xingyao earlier-he clearly knew being refined into spirit essence wasn't a good thing, but after taking the Bliss Pill, he thought it was, and was delighted about it."
"Why do that? Couldn't he just refine him directly into spirit essence?" Chen Yu asked.
"He could," Ren Shaohua explained. "But if he refined him directly, anyone below the third level of Qi Refining would most likely fail to produce anything, while those above the third level would most likely yield only low-grade spirit essence. Only after taking a Bliss Pill or smelling Bliss Incense can they reliably produce spirit essence, perhaps even high-grade or supreme spirit essence."
Hearing this, Chen Yu immediately understood everything.
No wonder Little Bamboo Peak was always filled with that fragrance. It was to marinate the nominal disciples in the scent so they could reliably be refined into spirit essence.
But Ah Zhen seemed to have inhaled Bliss Incense before being refined into spirit essence too. Why did he only yield low-grade spirit essence in the end?
It probably had something to do with Ah Zhen's mysterious identity.
Chen Yu also recalled the key he had obtained when inheriting Ah Zhen's belongings. He still did not know what it was for or what it opened...
"Senior Brother Ren, we'll head back to dress our wounds first, so we won't be going to the Mass Burial Grounds with you."
Two of them said this when they reached a fork at the foot of Jade Yao Peak.
They had suffered some injuries during the fight with Xu Xingyao.
Ren Shaohua nodded.
"All right."
Then Ren Shaohua looked at Chen Yu and said, "Junior Brother Chen,
if you don't feel like making the trip to the Mass Burial Grounds, you can leave first too."
That was exactly what Chen Yu wanted.
He certainly intended to visit Little Bamboo Peak as well. After all, the Immortal Ruins refreshed their treasures every day. Not checking would be a waste, but if he went with the senior brothers, he might not get a chance to enter the Immortal Ruins.
So,
Chen Yu nodded.
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
"No need to be so polite, Junior Brother." Ren Shaohua smiled, then reminded him, "The contribution points for completing the mission will be credited directly to your Identity Token. There's no need to collect them in person. The next time you visit the Heavenly Union Association on Purple Bamboo Peak, you can go straight into the Records Room."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother." Chen Yu cupped his hands.
"Mm."
Ren Shaohua nodded with a smile.
After that,
Chen Yu parted ways with them...