Chapter 58 – Return Trip

“So as long as I eat the Ice Grass, I will regain my cultivation?” After a long, diligent analysis, Cao Zirui finally extracted the key points from Fang Yang’s rambling and came to a conclusion.

Fang Yang nodded vigorously. He also knew that his narrative ability was lacking, but there was nothing he could do. He was so happy that it made him somewhat incoherent.

Most of the day in the Floating Island Secret Realm had been wasted either escaping or resting, and the one hour left was reserved for rushing to the exit.

Although the entrance to the Floating Island Secret Realm transported people to random locations, the exit did not. It would appear at the center of the island at the end of the day, and would only be open for a short while. All of the cultivators on the island would go there in advance, because if they missed this opportunity, they really would have to wait for another ten years.

The four of them were currently near the eastern coastline of the floating island. The island had been split in two by the sudden earthquake, and the terrain had inevitably changed. If they wanted to reach the exit in time, they had no time to search for treasures elsewhere.

Fang Yang had thought that his bag of Yuanling Grass would be his only bounty from this journey. But he had never imagined that in a twist of fate, while others might not have gained much after searching all night, he would pick up such a valuable herb just by going to the river to wash his face.

And it wasn’t some other rare species that was of no use to him. It was exactly the Ice Grass he needed most, which could help him regain his cultivation lost to the Blazing Sun Flower.

He still remembered Administrator Zhang’s words. Although the man hadn’t spoken a specific number, Fang Yang remembered the ten fingers he’d waved. And Administrator Zhang had sworn that he, Useless Shixiong, and Hao-dage wouldn’t be able to afford it, because Ice Grass was more expensive than an Earth-grade magic weapon. 

And yet, he had picked it up so easily. If Fang Yang hadn’t experienced it himself, he wouldn’t have believed that such luck existed.

He had no doubts about the origin of this Ice Grass, nor did he know that it grew on the seabed rather than by the river in a crevice between rocks. It was also in such an obvious place, but had never been picked by anyone.

This jackpot was practically tailor-made for him, with the winning conditions set based on how he placed his bets.

Such was his happiness that he didn’t contemplate this string of unreasonable occurrences at all. And after Cao Zirui listened to Fang Yang’s narration and realized the preciousness of the Ice Grass, he frowned and remained silent.

Although he hadn’t been the one to discover it, he’d been next to Fang Yang when he spotted the herb. In fact, he had also noticed the spiritual energy emitting from the Ice Grass, but had been just one step slower than Fang Yang.

It had been so conspicuous. Why hadn’t anyone noticed it?

It could be assumed that no one else had passed by this remote location. But Fang Yang’s shixiong, Feng Ye, had clearly been to the river not long ago. How could he be so slow-witted that he didn’t even notice such obvious spiritual energy?

Cao Zirui felt that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t tell what it was. He couldn’t help but look up at Feng Ye, who was standing a short distance away from him and Fang Yang. The other man was whispering together with Hao Chen, that disciple from Tiangong Pavilion.

He only looked at him in secret for a short moment, but while Feng Ye was talking to Hao Chen, he glanced at Cao Zirui out of the corner of his eye.

Cao Zirui was a little embarrassed to be caught peeping. Facing such a situation, Hao Chen had thick skin that was immune to all poisons, but although Cao Zirui’s icy face was no match for Hao Chen’s defenses, it was equally effective here. He wore no obvious expression despite his embarrassment, and his face remained unchanged, like a tranquil iceberg.

Feng Ye briefly cut off his conversation with Hao Chen to turn his head and smile at Cao Zirui, who was watching him.

Seeing this smile, Hao Chen immediately moved from facing Fang Yang and Cao Zirui at an angle to facing them with his back, completely blocking Feng Ye and Cao Zirui from looking at each other.

Feng Ye: “……”

Cao Zirui: “……”

The thoughts of the two were surprisingly consistent. But after a brief stretch of speechlessness, Cao Zirui had a sudden realization. He recalled the scene when he had just woken up. Since they were a daoist couple, it was inappropriate for him to stare at one of them in front of their significant other.

With this in mind, Cao Zirui withdrew his gaze. Although Feng Ye was a very strong swordsman, his cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refining. He shouldn’t be able to attain something like Ice Grass, right?

He temporarily set aside his suspicions. Coincidentally, Fang Yang also snapped out of his excitement and back to the present. And in an unexpected move, he held the Ice Grass in front of Cao Zirui.

Cao Zirui stared at the Ice Grass before him in surprise. Although the meaning of Fang Yang’s action was clear, he was still a little unsure: “This….?”

“You saw it too, so you get a share. We each get half!” Fang Yang said as a matter of course.

Cao Zirui pursed his lips and didn’t speak for a while.

The two people talking nearby also turned to look over. Hao Chen shook his head with a sigh: “Foolish boy.”

Feng Ye smiled again, with a hint of hope that this kid would live up to his expectations.

If Fang Yang was a narrow-minded person who only knew how to monopolize treasures and was unwilling to share them with others, he wouldn’t have made a special trip to pick up this herb.

When Hao Chen was done lamenting, he couldn’t help saying to Feng Ye: “But he’s still not as foolish as you.”

At least when Fang Yang was good to others, the other party knew they had received a favor and must repay it one day in the future.

But when Feng Ye was good to that naive boy, he knew nothing and thought it was just his own good luck. He had no idea that this pie that had fallen from the sky had been thrown down to him by his shixiong, who had specially climbed up to the clouds and aimed it at him.

Feng Ye didn’t comment on Hao Chen’s evaluation. He just replied lightly: “A few more fools isn’t a bad thing.”

Having said this, he walked toward the other two. 

After standing there for a time, Cao Zirui finally remembered to respond, and took the Ice Grass from Fang Yang with some solemnity.

Although the two had been very close when they discovered the Ice Grass, one had seen it before the other. Since Fang Yang had been the first to discover it, the herb belonged to him, and Cao Zirui would not fight him for it.

In fact, from the perspective of value alone, judging from the various magical tools and elixirs he had taken out in an endless stream, the valuable Ice Grass really wasn’t that rare for him.

Now that he knew what kind of poison he had been infected with, he could naturally find a way to detoxify himself once he was out of the Floating Island Secret Realm.

But the same thing held completely different values for different people. The Ice Grass was not particularly precious to him, but it definitely was to Fang Yang. It was perhaps the most precious thing on his body.

Although the pills he’d given Fang Yang were worth one thousand spirit stones each, that was still just a drop in the bucket, not something worth mentioning. Fang Yang, however, was giving half of his only treasure to him.

He knew that he could never match this level of thoughtfulness.

He wasn’t sure he could accept such a huge favor, but then he changed his mind. He and Fang Yang had been through life and death together, and Cao Zirui was able to trust him with his life during their escape. They were no different from blood brothers. To be concerned about money and value would make him look petty.

So he openly accepted the Ice Grass, but didn’t take it completely, remaining in a position where he and Fang Yang were holding onto it at the same time. With a hint of a smile, he said: “Okay. Half each.”

Fang Yang’s eyes widened in surprise. He called out to Feng Ye, who was walking over: “Look, he just smiled!”

It was like he was inviting him to watch an acrobatics show.

Cao Zirui immediately stopped smiling, and all Feng Ye saw was a stoic, icy face.

Fang Yang was somewhat unwilling to let his Useless Shixiong miss seeing such a fantastical sight, so he did his utmost to make Cao Zirui smile again: “Make that expression again, do it again!”

With a blank expression, Cao Zirui remained unmoved.

“Just smile a little and I’ll lend you all the storybooks in my collection.” Fang Yang tempted him with benefits.

Storybooks? His master was strict with him, so Cao Zirui wasn’t as free as the junior disciples, who were allowed to roam freely at the foot of the mountain. He had never read such books that were only meant for entertainment. 

At this moment, he couldn’t help feeling a little curious.

Fang Yang was paying close attention to his expression. Seeing that there was a way forward, he continued his efforts: “They’re very good. My shixiong likes them too.”

Feng Ye: “……” Here we go again. Every time Fang Yang recommended his books to others, he would use Feng Ye as an example, even though he clearly didn’t enjoy reading them.

Cao Zirui’s gaze drifted over the two of them. Since both of them liked to read them, they must be very good. He was somewhat moved.

Fang Yang continued: “I have lots and lots of books, including three volumes of ‘Legend of Li Aotian’s Cultivation’ and the five part series ‘The Quest For Immortality.’ If you smile, I’ll lend them all to you.”

Cao Zirui’s defenses were crumbling. He pursed his lips, hesitant.

Feng Ye and Fang Yang stood side by side, staring at him as they awaited his answer. Although Feng Ye hadn’t said a word, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to see what this iceberg looked like when he smiled.

The two people, one tall and one short, currently looked like street thugs trying to trick an innocent young man from a good family into smiling.

Though this “innocent young man” was the one with the highest cultivation level here. Even though he had fallen to the ninth level of Qi Refining, he was still leagues above these wastes.

After a long stalemate, Cao Zirui ultimately couldn’t bring himself to do it. With his mind made up, he simply turned away and rejected all of these sugar-coated attacks.

Feng Ye and Fang Yang let out twin sighs of disappointment, and Hao Chen, who had been left to the side, took advantage of the opportunity to cut in.

He inserted his mini fan between the shoulders of Feng Ye and Fang Yang to separate them, then took the position between them. While unobtrusively pushing Fang Yang toward Cao Zirui, he waved his fan and said to Feng Ye: “If Fellow Daoist Feng Ye wants to see someone smile, why not come to me?”

“I’ll smile however you want~” Hao Chen fluttered his eyelashes suggestively as he spoke, and the high trailing end of his sentence once again turned a normal sentence into something deviant.

Feng Ye: “……”

He imitated Cao Zirui by turning away (out of sight, out of mind), and declined: “N-no need.”

Hao Chen followed him when Feng Ye turned around, with Feng Ye turning in place and Hao Chen turning in a circle with Feng Ye as the center.

He walked around Feng Ye again, displaying his signature frivolous smile and completely disregarding the other’s wishes: “How about this?”

Feng Ye: “……”

He took a step forward in an attempt to escape this vicious circle. Hao Chen chased right after them, both of them walking faster and faster.

Although neither of them were young anymore, they played a childish game of chase.

Fang Yang and Cao Zirui stood in the center of the circle the two men had formed. Fang Yang watched them running in circles and said in a condescending tone: “Here they go again.”

Cao Zirui: “…..Do they do this often? It’s so…..childish.”

Fang Yang nodded affirmatively and provided an example: “They used to have broom fights when they swept the floors of the sect!”

Cao Zirui looked at the two of them in surprise. One couldn’t judge a person by appearances…..whether it was Feng Ye with his eye-catching swordsmanship or the elegant and handsome disciple of Tiangong Pavilion, their personalities were surprisingly immature in private.

So immature that the two younger ones couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

The chase didn’t last long, cut short by Feng Ye when he finally realized what he was doing.

He stopped the smiling Hao Chen from moving closer to him, looking up at the sky as he suggested: “It’s getting late. Let’s head back.”

It went without saying where he was referring to.

It was time to head toward the exit of the Floating Island Secret Realm.

The three of them nodded, packed up their things, and prepared to set off.

Their journey to the secret realm was finally drawing to a close.

However…..it wasn’t over yet.

Hiding in the bushes with a bell in his hand, Lu Chengye watched them from afar and uttered a hateful “Tsk.”

---

T/N: Lu Chengye, have you not realized that you’re the very definition of a low-IQ cannon fodder?? This only ends one way!

---

Consider donating via Kofi here.

Chapter 57 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 59