Chapter 109: As Many as You Want

Hearing that their master would be summoned to come retrieve them, the two were instantly like schoolboys from a former life hearing that their parents were about to be called in: first they froze, then they were filled with regret and remorse.

With a slight twist of Yan Shu’s fingers, the lightning flood dragon changed from lashing to coiling, and in an instant the two of them were bound together. She arched a brow. “What? You don’t want to?”

Trapped by the lightning flood dragon, they seemed to have escaped the whipping, as though Yan Shu had already spared them. But when they were being lashed, it was the force of thunder combined with the pain of torn flesh. Though mixed together, at least it came blow by blow. Now, by contrast, the injury was singular, but continuous.

At Yan Shu’s words, how could the two dare say they did not want to? They nodded frantically.

“We do, we do! We only beg Aunt-Master Yan to withdraw your divine power and spare us this once. Your flood dragon is truly too formidable. If it keeps electrocuting me like this, my cultivation is going to fall.”

“That’s right, Aunt-Master Yan. We are willing to invite our master over to apologize to you. We only ask that you put away the flood dragon. Cultivation is not easy; please spare us just this once!”

Everyone present was stunned. Not only could Yan Shu turn a lightning whip into a lightning flood dragon, but her thunder force could actually cause people to lose cultivation?

What kind of terrifying power was that?

After sweating blood and tears in cultivation for decades, if one sparred with her and lost cultivation over it, there would be nowhere to reason it out from.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shuoran immediately recalled the whip he had taken and instinctively stepped back half a pace.

Sun Changfeng’s expression also changed. He regretted it a little; when the rumors had first spread, he should have defended Yan Shu’s reputation instead of letting her get dragged into this.

Yan Shu herself was also somewhat startled. Could her thunder force really make people lose cultivation? The original host’s memories had never mentioned such a thing.

Ah, right. Neither the original host nor she had ever fought anyone before today. Back then, the original host had only buried herself in cultivation, occasionally sparring with a few senior brothers. Their cultivation was far higher than hers, so naturally they could not withstand her whip.

Yan Shu kept a calm face, but inwardly she was laughing herself silly.

Ha ha!

So her thunder force could reduce people’s cultivation. If that spread, who the hell would still dare come challenge her?!

Her heart was in high spirits, though it showed not at all on her face. She merely lifted her eyelids and said coolly, “Only now are you afraid? Weren’t you quite spirited when you were insulting me just now?”

“I was blind and failed to recognize a true master. I thought that with your status, you would not lower yourself to quarrel with small fry like us!”

“We were wrong, Aunt-Master Yan. I’m nothing more than an unremarkable single-spirit-root cultivator with no special talent. I’m already over three hundred years old, and my life’s path may well end at Golden Core. If my cultivation falls, my lifespan will fall with it too. Please, please spare my life.”

That much was true. A Golden Core cultivator’s lifespan was only a little over five hundred years, and he had already passed the halfway mark before reaching mid-Golden Core. If he fell back to early Golden Core and had no other chance fortuitous encounter, he might not live long enough to reach anything beyond it in this lifetime.

Yan Shu found them disgusting, but she was not so cold-blooded as to take their lives in full view of everyone.

She still appreciated Xiao Jihan’s style more. If someone had to be killed, he would simply change identities and do it in secret, so no one could trace it back.

Thus, her fingers moved ever so slightly, and the thunder power on the lightning flood dragon immediately lessened by a great deal, though she still left a portion behind to ensure they could savor that delicious agony.

She suddenly felt the pleasures of Heaven’s Dao.

The thunder power had diminished greatly, and the two men finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Shu turned and glanced at Xiao Jihan, sending him a private transmission. Since you have evidence to prove your innocence, should we make a bigger scene? It would save some grasshoppers from hopping around all day.

Xiao Jihan looked at Yan Shu, who had already turned away, and slightly lowered his eyes.

From beginning to end, she had never doubted him. Indeed, he had only said a few vague words, and she had already believed that he could clear himself of the accusation, as though she had never once considered what would happen if he could not.

It was clearly a situation where all the world pointed at him, yet he seemed to taste a trace of sweetness.

He did not know where her feelings for him had begun. Whether it was because of the guilt and bond tied to his essence blood, or because of this face of his, it no longer mattered.

Xiao Jihan glanced at Yuwen Che, who stood among the crowd smiling at Yan Shu, his gaze turning slightly darker.

He had not received much in his life, but once he did receive something, once he confirmed it belonged to him, he would never let go.

He withdrew his gaze and sent back, “All right.”

At that single word, Yan Shu was completely at ease. She waved a hand, and the lightning dragon loosened its grip slightly on the two men, saying, “Contact your masters now. If they are not available, then contact whoever brought you to Brahma Heaven City this time. Have them come and collect you.”

How could the two dare complain now? They hurriedly took out their Mystic Spirit Mirrors and, wailing miserably, went to contact their sect.

Yan Shu then turned to the crowd again. “Weren’t you all calling yourselves righteous heroes just now? Now is your chance to prove whether you are truly righteous or merely confused. In any case, I still have to wait for their sects to come and retrieve them. Since we are all idle, why not invite your fellow disciples as well and let everyone have some fun together?”

“For everyone who comes today to join the excitement, one Spirit-Gathering Herb will be given as a gift.”

The words caused an immediate uproar.

A Spirit-Gathering Herb was a main ingredient for refining Spirit-Gathering Pills, and Spirit-Gathering Pills could greatly increase one’s spiritual power for ten days. Back when Qiu Shuoran had taken a hit from Yan Shu and his cultivation had regressed, it had been only by relying on a fifth-tier Spirit-Gathering Pill that he had barely recovered.

Someone cried out in disbelief, “Aunt-Master Yan must be joking, surely? If we summon everyone from the sect, there will be at least a hundred people. Where would Aunt-Master Yan get so many Spirit-Gathering Herbs?”

Yan Shu gave the speaker a faint look, then flicked her sleeve. Countless Spirit-Gathering Herbs instantly materialized in the air.

“My heavens, they really are Spirit-Gathering Herbs! There are at least a hundred here!”

“Spirit-Gathering Herbs may not be some unparalleled treasure, and every major sect’s medicine gardens do cultivate them, but with this many, they must be worth quite a lot of spirit stones, right?”

“The spirit stones are one thing; the key is the quantity. With so many Spirit-Gathering Herbs, Aunt-Master Yan is truly extravagant!”

Yan Shu did not think this was extravagance at all. The status of Spirit-Gathering Herbs was much like eggs in the modern world: nothing rare or precious. What was valuable was the chef, or in this case, the alchemist.

A fried egg at home was worth only a couple of dollars, but if a five-star chef made it, even a single egg could be turned into something you could not afford to eat.

Spirit-Gathering Herbs were not fussy about their growing conditions. They were the first spirit plant Yan Shu had grown in the Nine-Soil Earth. Inside the Nine-Soil Earth, one day equaled one month. Such ten-year Spirit-Gathering Herbs, she could have as many as she wanted.

Yan Shu understood this very clearly. This was just like organizing a promotional event in her past life to draw a crowd. Of course she had to hand out some eggs to the elders and some little gifts to the participants.

As the saying goes: we had no fate to begin with; it’s all thanks to my spending.

With a graceful sweep of her hand, part of the Spirit-Gathering Herbs flew out to the crowd, and even Yuwen Che received one.

Yuwen Che looked at the Spirit-Gathering Herb in his hand, then at Yan Shu, who stood there with a faintly haughty air. A thin smile curved his lips as he said, “Many thanks for Junior Sister Yan’s gift. I will notify the disciples of the sect at once to come over.”

At that, Yan Shu looked toward him and gave a slight nod.

“Then thank you, Senior Brother Yuwen.”