Longzang

Chapter 57 This Calamity Was Destined

After leaving Xu Henshui's residence, Zhang Sheng parted ways with Ji Liuli and left in haste. Zhang Sheng felt guilty about this matter and really did not want to stay with Ji Liuli any longer.

After they parted ways, Ji Liuli climbed a secluded mountain peak and arrived at a small courtyard at the summit, where the gate opened by itself.

A young Taoist priest sat in the courtyard. He looked youthful and was even younger than Ji Liuli. He held an ancient book in his hands. When Ji Liuli entered the courtyard, he put the book down and asked, "Have you gotten into trouble again?"

"of course not!"

The young Taoist priest was slightly surprised: "No one has come to me to complain for three months! Has something gone wrong with your cultivation?"

Ji Liuli said, "I have been refining Wei Yuan's foundation during this period, but the more I refine it, the more confused I become. I have consulted the classics but have no answers. I can only ask the patriarch for guidance."

The young Taoist priest became interested: "Wei Yuan? Is that the little gold-devouring beast from the Azure Sky Palace? What's wrong with his foundation? Let me see it."

Ji Liuli said, "He is revising the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting; this is his visualization diagram."

The young Taoist priest's smile froze as he looked at the jade toad, which was dozens of feet tall and whose single eye could contain the entire courtyard. The jade toad also looked at him and even blinked.

After a moment, the young Taoist said, "You, Xuan Yue, managed to keep it a secret for so long!"

The young Taoist priest carefully examined Wei Yuan's visualization diagram, and then said, "This is indeed a bit tricky. What kind of medicine are you using to cleanse him now?"

"This is the formula for refining medicine." Ji Liuli recited more than a dozen medicine names.

The young Taoist priest shook his head upon hearing this, saying, "The medicine is too weak! Your prescription is like watering a field with a ladle; how long would it take you to water such a large area? You need to use a strong medicine."

The young Taoist pondered for a moment before saying, "I will give you four prescriptions, corresponding to muscle, blood, jade bones, and spirit refinement respectively. Use my prescriptions to cleanse his foundation. Once his muscle is refined, the Peiyuan Pill will no longer be effective, and Tianqing Palace will have to change the pills. In fact, with Wei Yuan's foundation, the cleansing effect is not that great anymore, but it's good to cause some trouble for Tianqing Palace."

Upon receiving the prescription, Ji Liuli's expression immediately changed: "Ancestor, how can Tianqing Palace afford these medicinal herbs right now?"

"Let them owe us the money, as long as Zhang Sheng writes a written agreement, we don't need to burn the sea!"

"Even if Zhang Sheng is willing to lend it, I don't have that much money to cover it."

The young Taoist priest said calmly, "A few million taels of immortal silver is just loose change. I'll cover it for you. Let's turn the gold-devouring little beast into a gold-devouring behemoth. I want to see how that old bastard Xuan Yue will survive! If he dares to mention 'reason' again when he sees me next time, I'll throw the IOU in his face!"

Ji Liuli was overjoyed: "Thank you, Ancestor! Ancestor is truly wonderful!"

The young Taoist snorted and said, "You! With all these skills of mine, you could easily learn a little bit and still worry about this little bit of money? All you know is fighting and killing, you don't even know how to subdue the enemy without fighting..."

Before he could even begin his long lecture, Ji Liuli had vanished without a trace. The young Taoist stomped his feet in anger, but there was nothing he could do.

However, as he recalled the visualization, something felt off. He frowned and said, "Making it so big seems deliberate. Could it be... to welcome something?"

At the foot of the mountain, Ji Liuli tiptoed away. She naturally knew that this amount of immortal silver would be an insurmountable problem for others, but it was nothing to True Lord Yan Shi, the master of the Heavenly Mystery Palace. He could easily earn millions by simply transferring his fortune to any True Lord; his efficiency in robbing money was no less than that of the Creation Temple.

She just likes fighting and killing.

Yan Shi Zhenjun said that changing one's luck could also lead to death, but she still preferred to fight and kill herself. In the mission hall, Zhang Sheng had been wandering around for almost half an hour, but he hadn't seen the mission list from the Heavenly Crafts Hall, and he was very disappointed.

The price of Peiyuan Pills has increased by another 50% this month. Those old bastards at the Creation Temple are utterly inhuman.

Zhang Sheng calculated the time; Wei Yuan's pills would be gone in two days. He sighed, flew towards the Azure Sky Palace, and headed towards the residence of True Immortal Burning Sea. Although his master was also in a difficult situation, as a True Immortal, he should have more solutions.

The gate to the residence of the Burning Sea Immortal was open, and faint voices could be heard from inside, seemingly engaged in a heated argument. Zhang Sheng instinctively held his breath and waited outside the inner courtyard gate, intending to go find his master after the people inside had left.

The two people in the courtyard were talking in hushed tones, but for some reason they couldn't reach an agreement, and suddenly their voices started to rise.

A pleasant female voice rang out: "Hey Wang, don't push your luck! You already owe me a lot of money, and it'll only get more in the future. If you really anger me, I'll give you a Nine Outs and Thirteen Returns combo, and you'll never recover in this lifetime!"

Master Fenhai said, "Yunying, we are all accomplished cultivators, why get so angry?"

"Look at your study! Is there anything valuable left? What happened to those firefish in the pond? You've sold off all your pitiful possessions, you're practically tearing down the two pillars at the entrance. Oh, and you dare to put this broken jade toad in the center of the treasure shelf? Is it even worth ten taels of silver? And you call that successful cultivation?"

Master Fenhai smiled wryly: "As an elder, I have to protect the younger generation, right? Otherwise, what am I supposed to do?"

"Junior, humph, all you know is junior! You're so good at feeling sorry for people, why didn't you feel sorry for your old lady back then?"

"Back then, I really had no other choice..."

"Nonsense! You broke your promise back then, clearly agreeing to something but then going back on your word and running away without a word, leaving me all alone on the mountain! Now you have the nerve to say there's nothing you can do?"

Master Fenhai said in a humble tone, "I was indeed wrong about what happened back then, but so many years have passed, your anger should have subsided a bit by now."

"Fine, let's not talk about what happened back then, let's just talk about now. You'll need my help in the future, why should I help you? Because you're shameless?"

Master Fenhai sighed and said, "Then tell me. I will do my best as long as it is within my power."

"Alright! I won't make things difficult for you. Now come back with me and heat up the water in the small lake behind my palace. I want to take a bath. Your Daoist name is Burning Sea, so boiling up a lake shouldn't be too much trouble for you, right? As long as you come and heat up my bathwater once a month from now on, I won't charge you interest. Otherwise, you'll be charged nine times out of 13!"

After a moment of silence, Master Fenhai sighed and said, "No matter what, I'm the one who wronged you. Let's go."

The real people moved with lightning speed; two figures rose into the air and disappeared in an instant.

The two immortals were so engrossed in their emotions that they didn't notice Zhang Sheng outside the courtyard. Zhang Sheng knew a little about the old story and knew that he had no way of getting involved in such matters.

It seems that even Master is at his wit's end. Even a True Person cannot independently sustain the growth resources of more than five hundred Dao Foundations.

Zhang Sheng sighed inwardly and was about to leave when he suddenly recalled something the Jurchen woman had said. "Jade toad? What jade toad?"
Zhang Sheng pushed open the door and entered the courtyard, heading straight for the study. He saw that the treasure shelf facing him was now empty; most of the treasures that used to be there were gone. Master Fenhai had always liked to display his beloved treasures on this shelf, and it seemed he had indeed sold off most of his wealth.

But Zhang Sheng's gaze sharpened, and he spotted a low-quality jade toad in the very center of the treasure shelf. This shelf originally held three small swords, but they had been moved to the next shelf.

Zhang Sheng left the study expressionlessly, slamming the door shut behind him. He had initially felt some sympathy for his master's plight, but now…

This calamity is a consequence of the old man's lack of harmony!
(End of this chapter)