The Demon Lord and I: Frenemies - Chapter 24

An empty palm, a suddenly quiet conversation, and a very familiar salted fish. Several days had passed, yet Chu Zaishuang’s style remained unchanged, not the slightest bit different.

Though she spoke the truth, her companions were all left speechless.

After a moment, Fei Wanghuai smiled and was the first to break the awkwardness: “Shuang’er has always been carefree, and she follows her heart in cultivation. That’s not a bad thing.”

Su Hongli said, “Indeed.”

Li Jingjie added, “Sometimes I think you two spoil her too much.”

Especially Fei Wanghuai-every time he heard her say she wasn’t cultivating, he actually seemed quite pleased.

The group began to stroll around Floating Street, picking out what they needed.

The street was bustling, no less lively than the Training Ground, and was one of the busiest places in the Lotus Flower Sect. Elixirs, magical artifacts, materials-everything a cultivator might need could basically be found here.

Jade Lotus Seeds were the currency of the Lotus Flower Sect; one Jade Lotus Seed could be exchanged for a Heart-Clearing Pill. Most disciples earned Jade Lotus Seeds through tasks and then exchanged them for elixirs within the sect-this was their daily routine.

Of course, some shops on Floating Street supported bartering; it was also possible to trade Heart-Clearing Pills or other items directly.

Chu Zaishuang and Su Hongli bought a small pill furnace together, preparing to refine the Spirit Heart Flowers they had brought back from the small town. Since they hadn’t cultivated many Twin Spirit Heart Flowers yet, they planned to buy some tools for planting spiritual herbs and stood in front of a shop to pick them out.

Fei Wanghuai had no interest in any of the shops. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chu Zaishuang playing with a small shovel, indifferent to everything else. Confirming that she was still just a child who liked playing in the dirt, he felt reassured.

Li Jingjie was dazzled by all the goods. He bought some food and supplies for the Heavenly Treasure Weasel, then looked enviously at the magical artifact shops. “It’s a pity I’m going to Dragon Tiger Peak. From now on, all my Jade Lotus Seeds will be spent on this little guy. I won’t have any money left to buy myself magical artifacts.”

The Heavenly Treasure Weasel hugged its spirit beast food, standing on Li Jingjie’s shoulder, happily munching away.

“The magical artifacts here aren’t that great anyway,” Chu Zaishuang consoled him. “If there were any truly special ones, they’d be snatched up as soon as they appeared. They wouldn’t stay in the shops for long, and the mediocre ones aren’t worth wearing.”

“Have you ever used a good magical artifact?” Li Jingjie asked curiously. “Lu Hewei used to show off his jade pendant every day, saying it was some kind of protective treasure. Was that thing really powerful?”

Chu Zaishuang shook her head. “My cultivation isn’t high enough. You need to be at least Three Leaves Mid Stage to use magical artifacts, and every use consumes your own spiritual energy. I’ve seen my parents use them, but I can’t.”

Fei Wanghuai explained, “Each person can only wield a limited number of magical artifacts. Having too many is actually a burden; your own strength is what matters most. Lu Hewei was at Three Leaves Late Stage-so even if he wore a High-Grade Magical Artifact, at the end of the day, he could only use it at the level of a Three Leaves Late Stage cultivator. At most, it just gives him a bit more spiritual energy for defense.”

Li Jingjie suddenly understood. “No wonder he got smacked away by the Wind Howl Giant Beast. I always wondered-he bragged about that jade pendant for so long, why didn’t it help?”

After making a round of Floating Street, only Fei Wanghuai bought nothing. Today, he just wanted to check on Chu Zaishuang’s cultivation progress. Now that his wish was fulfilled, he suggested they head back.

Li Jingjie, hearing this, said helplessly, “Wanghuai, don’t be such a killjoy. We finally got out for once, and you want to leave so soon?”

Fei Wanghuai smiled. “I have cultivation tasks to do. I just came to see you all, so I’ll head back to Lone Star Mountain first.”

Li Jingjie wailed, “Do you have to work so hard? Can’t you take even one day off?”

Su Hongli thought for a moment and suggested, “Why don’t we all go cultivate at Tongtian Tower? That way, nothing gets delayed.”

Tongtian Tower was a famous cultivation site in the Lotus Flower Sect. Unlike the Training Ground, which required actual combat, it mainly helped disciples with Gathering Qi and Condensing Essence. There was no need for swordplay or spellcasting-just staying inside the tower and climbing upward would allow one to absorb spiritual energy.

The four of them specialized in different areas, but going to Tongtian Tower to gain spiritual energy was always a good idea.

“Good point! I haven’t been to Tongtian Tower yet!”

Chu Zaishuang heard the three of them decide and said, “?”

She was stunned, eyes wide. “Wait, how did a shopping trip turn into cultivation?”

Fei Wanghuai must be contagious-his drive to cultivate had instantly infected the whole group.

*

Tongtian Tower soared into the clouds, its design ancient and dignified. At the tip of the tower glimmered a point of red light, especially striking against the blue sky, casting rippling waves of rosy light.

It was said that the red glow was residue from the Flower Mirror. The source of all beings’ power had shattered after the great war; the larger fragments were pieced together to form the new Flower Realm, but remnants were still scattered throughout the world. Because of this, Tongtian Tower’s Qi Gathering effect far surpassed other places. Countless ancient scripts faintly appeared on the stone walls inside the tower-these were arts that had flowed out from the Flower Mirror. Cultivators had transcribed them into the Library Pavilion, which was why there was now an endless array of Five Elements Arts.

The Library Pavilion stood right beside Tongtian Tower. It was much quieter here than on Floating Street, though high-level cultivators could often be seen coming and going.

Li Jingjie stood before the solemn tower, unconsciously lowering his voice. “It looks so grand.”

Fei Wanghuai looked up at the fragment of the Flower Mirror atop the tower, lost in thought for a moment. He had once cultivated beside a Flower Mirror shard. In theory, the Qi Gathering here made no distinction between immortals and demons. Perhaps cultivating here was more suitable for him than anywhere else in the Lotus Flower Sect.

“I don’t want to go.” Chu Zaishuang, seeing Tongtian Tower clearly, hesitated and turned to run away.

Su Hongli hurried to stop her, hugging Chu Zaishuang and soothing her, “It’s alright. If you don’t want to cultivate, you can just lie inside. They say even that can increase your cultivation.”
This was the most suitable cultivation method for her-she usually liked to sprawl on the ground, motionless.

“…No, you can cultivate, just not here.”

Unfortunately, her voice was too soft, and her companion didn’t hear her. It happened to be drowned out by someone else’s words.

“Hey, are you all going into the tower? How many of you in total?” Not far away, a male cultivator in white approached. He wore a leather belt at his waist, looking like a senior disciple of the sect. He asked, “We’re about to leave. Do you want to buy our spots? Since you’re new disciples, we can give you a discount.”

“Buy spots?”

“Yes. The higher you go in the Tongtian Tower, the richer the spiritual energy. Each floor requires you to solve a puzzle to advance. If you rely only on yourself, it’s really slow. But you can buy a spot and continue from someone else’s floor. Even if you can’t solve the puzzles on the higher floors, you can stay on the current floor and absorb spiritual energy. It’s a sure profit.” The male cultivator pointed to a stone stele nearby. “My companion and I have both reached the ninety-third floor. You can check the Tongtian Ranking. That’s not a low floor.”

The Tongtian Ranking recorded the highest floors reached by cultivators, but only for disciples below the Transformation Realm. The tower had a total of 200 floors. On the ranking, the second place was none other than the famous Chu Bingxiao, who had once climbed to the 126th floor-significantly higher than the third place at 101 floors.

Li Jingjie pointed at the prominent name on the ranking, exclaiming, “Isn’t that Senior Brother Chu?”

The male cultivator was surprised. “Chu Bingxiao is really famous-even new disciples know him.”

Chu Zaishuang rarely appeared in the Lotus Flower Sect, but Chu Bingxiao was quite active within the sect. His name was well-known among disciples below the Transformation Realm. Even if some hadn’t seen him, they had certainly heard of his deeds.

Su Hongli explained, “Senior Brother Chu is this year’s teaching senior.”

The male cultivator nodded. “I see.”

“First place is the one hundred seventy-fourth floor.” Fei Wanghuai looked to the left, wanting to know the name of the top ranker, but found that above Chu Bingxiao, the space was blank. He asked in confusion, “Why isn’t the first place’s name displayed?”

“No one knows. They say the first place has always been blank, only the floor number is shown. Everyone just calls them the Nameless One. The Nameless One’s record has stood for many years. It was like this when I joined, and no one has broken it since. Only the lower rankings change.” The male cultivator continued to persuade, “Now the tenth place is at ninety-six floors. Buying our spot is a good deal.”

The Nameless One and Chu Bingxiao had a clear lead on the ranking. Starting from the third place, the floor numbers were much closer together-the fourth and fifth places were both at 100 floors, gradually decreasing to the tenth place at 96 floors. Below the top ten, there were no records on the stone stele; they wouldn’t appear on the Tongtian Ranking.

Su Hongli asked, “But if you can buy and sell spots, wouldn’t people just keep climbing higher this way?”

“The puzzles in the tower aren’t that simple. You can’t just go to the higher floors as you wish.” The male cultivator smiled and revealed a round crystal in his palm, inside which orange spiritual energy flickered. “Before entering the tower, you need to take a Mirror Stone to record your spiritual energy and floor number. If you sell your Mirror Stone to someone else, the spiritual energy will be contaminated. The next person’s progress won’t be recorded on the ranking, and at midnight, the Mirror Stone’s spiritual energy will be cleared.”

“So, if you want to break records, you have to rely on your own strength and finish climbing within a day. If you buy my Mirror Stone, you can only absorb spiritual energy on the ninety-third floor, but you won’t get the record for reaching it. Even if you keep climbing, it won’t be recorded.”

After this detailed explanation, their doubts were finally resolved. The only question left was whether the spiritual energy on the ninety-third floor was worth the price the male cultivator was asking.

Fei Wanghuai said gently, “Since it’s our first time, why not try climbing ourselves? Just buying someone else’s Mirror Stone isn’t very meaningful.”

Li Jingjie agreed, “Yes, yes! We mainly want to work hard ourselves-it’s definitely not because we’re poor!”

Su Hongli said, “Sorry for taking up your time.”

“No problem. If you want to climb on your own, just get a new Mirror Stone at the entrance.” The male cultivator wasn’t annoyed, bid them farewell, and went to find others to sell his Mirror Stone.

At the entrance of the Tongtian Tower, everyone received their Mirror Stones, infused them with spiritual energy, and prepared to start climbing.

Fei Wanghuai handed the round crystal to Chu Zaishuang. “This is yours.”

Chu Zaishuang hesitated for a moment but eventually accepted it and followed them into the tower.

Inside, the tower was spacious. In the very center, a stream of red spiritual energy like a river of stars cascaded down from above, interspersed with tiny sparkling lights, resembling a waterfall from the heavens. This was the effect of the Flower Mirror’s remnants at the tower’s peak. Its power permeated the entire tower, like a giant pillar reaching the sky, or the heavens pouring down dew.

A spiral stone staircase wound upward around the red spiritual energy. Each full circle brought them up one floor, where they would encounter a Meditation Slate. The Meditation Slate was carved with dense patterns, countless twisted ancient characters swirling across it-part text, part painting, all to be comprehended.

Su Hongli frowned. “Is this a spiritual herb sequence? The answer is Huhe Grass?”

“What spiritual herb? Isn’t it a Spirit Beast?” Li Jingjie asked doubtfully. “Shiya Beast.”

Fei Wanghuai stared intently at the Meditation Slate, his dark eyes flashing as if he realized something. “Does everyone see something different?”

Chu Zaishuang said, “This is a Meditation Slate. Different people see different questions, and even the same person sees something different each time. As long as you have the answer in your mind, a single thought will be sensed, and the Mirror Stone will let you pass.”

“It’s true, I can go through now.” Su Hongli walked forward holding her Mirror Stone. She stood on the second floor, gathering Qi, and said, “The spiritual energy seems to have increased a bit.”

The higher the floor, the richer the spiritual energy. As long as you could climb high enough, just sitting there to rest would slightly improve your cultivation.

The four of them planned to climb as high as they could in one go, then quietly focus on Gathering Qi and Condensing Essence.
The stone steps grew ever steeper, and the content on the Meditation Slate increased as well. At first, their climbing speed was quick, but after the fiftieth level, their progress noticeably slowed down, with Li Jingjie and Su Hongli pausing from time to time to think. If they couldn’t solve the problems themselves, the Mirror Stone would remain inert, and a barrier of spiritual energy would block the way for those who hadn’t answered the questions.

Fei Wanghuai stopped to wait for the others. He stole a glance at Chu Zaishuang and found her humming a tune and hopping up and down the steps, moving back and forth to pass the time while waiting for her companions.

Although answering the questions required no cultivation, relying only on comprehending the Meditation Slate’s answers, the required knowledge was vast as the sea-ordinary people shouldn’t be able to proceed so quickly.

Chess was at least her hobby, but the Meditation Slate’s questions were related to spiritual energy. How did she know all this?

“You two are really fast. Don’t you need to think at all?” Li Jingjie reached the fifty-sixth level and asked in confusion, “There’s so much obscure content here, none of it taught in the Lecture Hall.”

Fei Wanghuai replied, “Once you figure out the patterns, it all becomes much easier.”

Some of the riddles relied on observation, not rote memorization, and tested logical thinking and judgment even more.

At the sixty-seventh level, Fei Wanghuai, who had been unstoppable so far, stood before the bluestone slab and, for the first time, fell into deep thought, unable to pass immediately.

Before he could come up with an answer, a breeze swept past him. Looking up, he saw Chu Zaishuang hopping up the steps, completely unimpeded by the spiritual energy barrier.

Perhaps his gaze was too intense, for she shrank her neck as if sensing something, hesitated, and looked back at him with a flustered expression. Realizing he hadn’t caught up, she obediently hopped down the steps and walked back to his side, pretending nothing had happened.

But it was too late-the truth was already exposed.

She solved the problems faster than he did!

She could actually be faster than him!

Fei Wanghuai was incredulous. He could accept that she was better at chess-it was just a pastime, after all-but he couldn’t accept being slower than her at climbing the tower. The Tongtian Tower was a Training Ground, and although her cultivation was lower than his, her speed was astonishing.

A wave of tension spread through him. He quickly solved the problem and continued upward, inexplicably turning it into a competition, secretly comparing their times and watching her pace.

Chu Zaishuang climbed quietly, her movements unhurried, but she never lingered long at any Meditation Slate. It was as if she could skim through the questions and move on with confidence.

Fei Wanghuai kept close behind, though he was occasionally stumped.

Seventieth level.

Seventy-second level.

Then the seventy-fourth.

At the seventy-fifth level, Fei Wanghuai stopped again, watching as Chu Zaishuang hesitated at the edge of the steps, her expression showing she had solved the problem but was too timid to climb higher, seemingly worried he would retaliate and not daring to jump up for a long while.

He gripped his Silver Fan tightly, his knuckles turning white, but his face was all smiles: “Why don’t we have a contest today and see who can climb higher?”

He couldn’t beat her in speed, but he didn’t believe he’d lose in difficulty.

“Seriously? You want to compete again?” Chu Zaishuang hesitated, having already sensed his sulking-because he was slower at solving the problems, he insisted on chasing after her, clearly igniting an inexplicable competitive spirit.

“Isn’t it boring to just climb the tower like this? A little competition makes it more exciting.”

“…Can we not always be the ones seeking excitement?”

She had just finished speaking when she suddenly remembered that he was half human, half Mei, and loved excitement-it was in his nature. She clicked her tongue in complicated resignation.

Fei Wanghuai raised an eyebrow when she didn’t answer, lowering his voice: “Are you afraid to compete?”

Chu Zaishuang spread her hands: “No, let’s be reasonable-what do I gain from this?”

“How is there no benefit?”

She argued confidently: “If I lose, I’ll be upset. If I win, you’ll be petty and make me upset anyway. No matter how I look at it, I’m at a loss!”

He replied in a faint tone, “You seem pretty sure you’ll win.”

The two suddenly stopped. Li Jingjie and Su Hongli finished their questions and came over, just in time to hear their competitive banter.

“You two want to compete?” Li Jingjie hesitated. “Wanghuai, that’s a bit unfair-you’re already at the Four Leaves Mid Stage.”

Chu Zaishuang bristled at this and immediately retorted, chin raised, “No, I’m the one who doesn’t want to bully the weak.”

Fei Wanghuai saw her arrogance and, instead of being angry, laughed: “You think you’re the strong one? In what way?”

She most wanted to be his elder and take advantage of him.

Su Hongli said, “But Zaishuang really is fast. I haven’t seen her stop once-it’s like she’s climbed this before.”

Even for the same person, the Meditation Slate gave different questions each time, but Chu Zaishuang seemed to have read them all, moving upward without hesitation, as if she had browsed the entire question bank.

“I have climbed it before.”

Su Hongli was surprised. “How high did you get?”

Chu Zaishuang paused, glanced at Fei Wanghuai, crossed her arms, and said, “I wanted to get along with you all, but all I got was disdain and distance. I’m done pretending-time to lay my cards on the table. I am the Nameless One.”

Fei Wanghuai was baffled by her nonsense, frowning: “What?”

“One hundred seventy-four levels. I’m the top of the Tongtian Ranking-the Nameless One!”

“???”