The Demon Lord and I: Frenemies - Chapter 16

As they chatted idly, the dense spiritual energy around them hung like mist, but was suddenly interrupted by a deep ravine.

The boundless sea of Spirit Heart Flowers was severed here, with massive rocks and sheer cliffs blocking either side-it was a dead end.

“No wonder the spiritual energy is so abundant; this place is full of Spirit Heart Flowers.” Su Hongli carefully made her way through the flower sea, afraid to step on a blossom and damage its core, struggling to find a place to set her feet. “If we could take all these back, we could refine so many pills. Too bad our storage bags are already full.”

The entire path was bursting with flowers, perhaps too far from the town for anyone to have discovered it before.

“We can come back and harvest more next time.” Chu Zaishuang looked around in all directions, but found no other way out, disappointed. “But isn’t there a Minor Paradise here? I thought there would be an entrance.”

There was no cave entrance anywhere-they had come up empty-handed.

Su Hongli consoled her, “If there really was a Minor Paradise, someone would have found it. I’ve heard there are special treasures made just to search for secret realms. It’s hard for us to stumble upon one by chance.”

Some cultivators create magical tools specifically for exploring undiscovered secret realms, much faster than searching with the naked eye.

“We’ve gained plenty tonight. Once we’re back at Lotus Peak Mountain, we can start refining pills.” Su Hongli tidied up her storage bag. “I can help you refine the flowers you picked into Heart-Clearing Pills.”

“Great!” Chu Zaishuang replied cheerfully. “I’ve never seen pill refining before-let me watch when you do it.”

The two crossed the sea of flowers and reached the edge of the cliff. The rocks looked as if they had been split open suddenly, and on the surface was a smooth slope, leading straight down into the deep ravine. It didn’t seem to be the work of nature.

Chu Zaishuang walked along the ravine for a while, peering into its depths. In the darkness of night, she couldn’t see the bottom. She reached out, feeling for any wind, but sensed none. Staring at the broken rocks and chasms before her, she fell into thought.

“What’s wrong?” Su Hongli asked. “You suddenly stopped talking.”

“There used to be a Minor Paradise here, but someone shattered it with a spell.” Chu Zaishuang pointed at the split rocks. “These boulders were clearly cut by something. This deep ravine was probably made by someone too-maybe they destroyed the entrance on purpose.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Su Hongli was stunned. “What a pity-all the treasures in the Minor Paradise would be ruined.”

If a cultivator’s Minor Paradise entrance was destroyed, any leftover spells and treasures would vanish too, leaving nothing for those who came after.

“I don’t know.” Chu Zaishuang tilted her head. “Maybe what we think is precious means nothing to them.”

The spiritual energy in the town was too thin for any cultivator to be born here; it could only be outsiders. The traces of a cultivator’s demise here suggested someone had lost a magical duel and was buried on the spot, their body turning into surging spiritual energy.

If the person who destroyed the Minor Paradise was the one who fought them, then they must have been stronger-perhaps they really didn’t care about the treasures.

Su Hongli frowned. “How deep must the hatred be to destroy the secret realm formed after someone’s death?”

It takes time for a Minor Paradise to form after a cultivator’s demise. To wait for the secret realm to appear and then destroy it was like cutting off a mortal’s descendants-not just killing, but wiping out the entire line.

“Exactly. So petty, making us come here for nothing.” Chu Zaishuang sighed. “Ah, another wasted effort today.”

“It’s fine. We have Spirit Heart Flowers, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.”

They glanced at the sky, preparing to head back and return to the inn before dawn.

Chu Zaishuang followed the ravine outward, hoping to skirt the flower sea and leave, when suddenly Xiao Shi called out to her.

[Wait! The spiritual energy is densest here!]

She stopped at once and checked her feet.

[Right below you-it seems to be inside the ravine!]

“Hongli, wait a moment. I want to go down and take a look.” Following Xiao Shi’s instructions, Chu Zaishuang walked to the edge of the ravine, preparing to slide down and investigate.

“But this is a sheer cliff,” Su Hongli exclaimed. “We can’t fly on swords-how will you get back up?”

“You hold this end for me. I’ll hang down and take a look, then climb back up with the rope.”

Chu Zaishuang wedged her Sleeve Arrow into the rock, then wrapped the Cloud Brocade Rope around a tree trunk several times, asking Su Hongli to hold it steady. As a child, she’d followed her brother running all over the mountains, long used to climbing trees and sliding down slopes. She stepped off the edge and swung out, drifting down lightly like a feather caught in the wind.

Su Hongli was extremely nervous, gripping the rope tightly. Before long, she heard Chu Zaishuang call out.

“Alright, you can pull me up now!”

The Cloud Brocade Rope was sturdy enough to bear a person’s weight. With a swish, the rope began to retract, the force lifting Chu Zaishuang upward, and with Su Hongli pulling hard, she was smoothly hauled back up onto the cliff.
Chu Zaishuang stepped onto solid ground, retracted the Sleeve Arrow and Cloud Brocade Rope, and finally revealed the flower buds in her hand: “It was too dark down there, I couldn’t see clearly, so I just dug them up directly.”

“What is this…”

On a handful of black soil sat two tender green seedlings, with several delicate and graceful blossoms. Only a few specks of dust clung to them, probably picked up when they were hoisted up.

The flowers resembled Spirit Heart Flowers, but instead of five petals, they had six. The spiritual energy condensed in each blossom was not just yellow or green, but both, making them far more colorful than ordinary Spirit Heart Flowers.

“Spirit Heart Flower?” Su Hongli, who was quite knowledgeable about spiritual herbs, gazed at the flower buds, uncharacteristically confused. “How strange. The leaves look like Spirit Heart Flowers, but the buds are different. I’ve never seen this before.”

Chu Zaishuang said, “There was a small hole in the cliff. The two of them were hiding there, so I brought them back.”

“Can I try something?” Su Hongli hesitated. “To see what it is.”

“How will you try?”

Su Hongli plucked a petal, placed it in her mouth, and chewed it carefully. “To test its medicinal properties.”

“You’re tasting its medicinal properties!” Chu Zaishuang’s eyes widened. “What if it’s poisonous!?”

“It’s fine, I’ve refined Detoxification Pills. I shouldn’t die.”

“…Do all Alchemists test medicine with their lives?”

Seeing Su Hongli eat the flower to test it, Chu Zaishuang was momentarily stunned, secretly thinking to herself, “No wonder the Medicine Elder always speaks in riddles and seems muddle-headed. Turns out all powerful Alchemists are like this.”

Xiao Shi: [Are you trying to say they all took the wrong medicine?]

Alchemists chew on spiritual herbs for no reason-if they weren’t sick, they’d make themselves sick. Sooner or later, their brains would be muddled by poison.

“It really is similar to the Spirit Heart Flower, but it contains much more spiritual energy. Maybe it can be used to refine a higher-grade pill!” Su Hongli took a deep breath, feeling the spiritual energy spread through her body, and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

Chu Zaishuang said weakly, “Let’s not talk about higher-grade pills for now. I’m just glad you didn’t need to take a Detoxification Pill.”

Su Hongli said, “Just this one petal is worth more than a whole furnace of Spirit Heart Flowers. If I can develop a new pill recipe, it should surpass the Heart-Clearing Pill!”

“But developing a new pill recipe requires a lot of materials, right?” Chu Zaishuang asked doubtfully. “We only have two spiritual herbs right now.”

“I can cultivate more spiritual herbs, it’ll just take some time. Eventually, I’ll be able to come up with a new recipe. Now we just have to wait until we return to the sect.” Su Hongli, usually quiet and reserved, became instantly excited when it came to spiritual herbs.

Chu Zaishuang was silent for a few seconds, then said softly, “Hongli, when you return to Lotus Peak Mountain, don’t tell anyone about this. Even if you develop a new recipe, don’t take it outside.”

“Oh, of course, you picked them after all.” Su Hongli quickly came back to herself, afraid of being misunderstood, and said awkwardly, “I’m just glad you let me study them. Any new spiritual herbs or pills can be yours. I’ve just never seen this before…”

Chu Zaishuang shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. You can cultivate and refine pills, and you can keep the spiritual herbs and pills. Just don’t spread the word, at least not yet.”

Su Hongli was puzzled.

“The Heart-Clearing Pill is one of the most widely used pills in the Qionglian Twelve Islands. Do you know where its recipe comes from?”

“It should be Qiandu Island. I heard they have vast fields of Spirit Heart Flowers, managed by the Island Lord, Lu Hengzhou…” Su Hongli suddenly understood. “He’s Lu Hewei’s father?”

“Yes. By now, you should have guessed that the reason Lu Hewei targets you isn’t because of your background,” Chu Zaishuang said. “The Heart-Clearing Pill brings huge profits to Qiandu Island. If there’s a higher-grade pill, your situation will become even more complicated.”

Although Chu Chenyue and Su Tingyun are quite reputable, there are other Island Lords among the Qionglian Twelve Islands. The various powers keep each other in check, creating the current appearance of peace. After the Flower Realm shattered, the world has been calm for a long time, but undercurrents still flow.

As the saying goes, ‘a man’s wealth is his own ruin by attracting others’ greed.’ Until everything settles, the fewer people who know, the better.

Su Hongli’s two long braids hung down as she said dejectedly, “I just wanted to grow spiritual herbs, that’s why I joined the Lotus Flower Sect. I didn’t expect so many troubles.”

“It’s alright. We can secretly cultivate them for now. When your cultivation is higher and you have a master, you’ll be able to grow them openly!” Chu Zaishuang encouraged her. “I’ll just wait for you to become powerful, then I’ll cling to your thigh!”

Su Hongli is currently of little influence, but once she grows, she might be able to announce the recipe like the Medicine Elder.

Su Hongli laughed, “My Primordial Spirit Flower is very ordinary. I think you have more potential than me.”

“No, no, I’m useless. You just have to work hard, and I’ll rely on you in the future.”
“Relying on Senior Brother Chu is more reliable than relying on me,” Su Hongli whispered, “or Fei Wanghuai.”

Chu Zaishuang waved her hand. “It’s fine, I don’t mind having more backers. You can count as one too.”

Hearing her relaxed tone, Su Hongli teased, “So I’m just your backup spirit herb, just some leftover scraps for alchemy, not the one you care about most.”

Chu Zaishuang nodded. “That’s right. You’re all just seedlings I’m raising freely. When the time comes, whoever grows best will be the King of Hundred Herbs.”

“?”

So this is the legendary method of casting a wide net for more backers?

The two named the spirit herb on the cliff Twin Spirit Heart Flower, cleared some space in their storage bags, and took it away with soil and roots. Only then did they hurry back to the inn.

*

At the hour of Mao, daylight broke, revealing a faint layer of morning light. At the inn entrance, Chu Bingxiao was leading the team and taking attendance. Chu Zaishuang and Su Hongli returned to the group just in time for assembly.

Fei Wanghuai saw them return, noticed the mud on Chu Zaishuang’s shoes, and raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t come back last night?”

“Hongli and I went into the woods. There were lots of Spirit Heart Flowers there,” Chu Zaishuang blinked. “I got to know many flowers and herbs.”

Wasn’t this just a child playing in the mud, and for a whole night at that.

Fei Wanghuai had little interest in spirit herbs, secretly sighing at her lack of enthusiasm for cultivation but wide-ranging interests-she had to touch and look at everything.

Su Hongli was only at Three Leaves Mid Stage, so following her wouldn’t make Chu Zaishuang stronger. He didn’t think much of it and listened to Chu Bingxiao.

“There was originally a Giant Fire Scorpion in the nearby woods. Recently, for some reason, it came out, destroyed quite a few local houses, and injured two strong men,” Chu Bingxiao said. “We’re here to subdue the Giant Fire Scorpion. The townsfolk have roughly marked its range. We’ll split up and search for it. It’s naturally afraid of light and will hide during the day.”

Li Jingjie pondered, “Since it’s a Giant Fire Scorpion, is it a Four Leaves Spirit Beast?”

Spirit Beasts have neither immortal nor demonic energy, and compared to cultivators of the same level, they’re somewhat stronger. A Giant Fire Scorpion at Four Leaves Initial Stage is about as strong as a cultivator at Four Leaves Mid Stage, usually a rank higher.

“Does it really take so many people for a Giant Fire Scorpion?” Lu Hewei curled his lip. “Isn’t that just a matter of Senior Brother Chu swinging his sword?”

Chu Bingxiao was now at Four Leaves Mid Stage, and with his solid Gathering Qi and Condensing Essence, it was said he could defeat those at Four Leaves Late Stage, standing out among his peers. Precisely because he could handle it easily, he brought the new disciples along for the task, to avoid unnecessary trouble or danger.

“Since it’s a Lecture Hall assignment, it won’t be difficult. It’s just to teach us the process.”

“Yeah, once we become disciples, there’ll be plenty more chances.”

Though everyone said so, when Chu Bingxiao led them to the collapsed ruins, they all rushed into the woods. After all, whoever hunted the Giant Fire Scorpion could claim its materials and exchange them for resources back at the sect.

[Should we go too? I can sense where it is.] Xiao Shi, seeing the others dash into the forest, was swept up in the excitement. [Maybe we can be the first to find it!]

“Forget it. Aren’t you tired after last night?” Chu Zaishuang glanced at the house collapsed by the Giant Fire Scorpion, found a smooth beam, and lay down on it. “I can’t take another step.”

She had walked to the town during the day, then trekked out at night to pick flowers. Honestly, she was already exhausted and could barely hold on.

A gentle breeze blew, sunlight soft. Chu Zaishuang closed her eyes and lay flat, instantly relaxing, lazily basking in the sun.

Fei Wanghuai had been about to search for the Giant Fire Scorpion, but seeing her lying so comfortably, he was surprised. “What are you doing?”

Chu Zaishuang replied calmly, “I’m cultivating.”

At her words, Fei Wanghuai’s heart skipped a beat. He tossed thoughts of the Giant Fire Scorpion aside and strode over, watching her intently. “What kind of cultivation is this?”

After just one night apart, she was suddenly determined to cultivate, which naturally made him wary.

He saw Chu Zaishuang lying peacefully, her breath steady-not at all like the usual meditation methods. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out which school she was following.

“I’m thinking, if I were a fish that had come ashore, how would I cultivate?”

“?”

At this, Fei Wanghuai knew he was being tricked. Her nonsense made him laugh in exasperation. “Even a fish on land would flop around a bit, not just lie still.”

He’d fallen for her antics, actually believing she was cultivating. Other than her infuriating techniques, she couldn’t seem to master any other methods!

“Alright then, I’m thinking, if I were a salted fish on land, how would I cultivate?”

“…”