Chapter Thirty-Three: Fate

Smoke rose from the mountains. There was incense burning around Emperor Yuanwu. But unlike the incense that ordinary people used during worship, the incense that Yuanwu was burning in the pot was Sangharama incense.

After cleansing and transformation over time, this kind of incense gathered large amounts of spirit energy that was useful to the wounds of cultivators. It had become a holy item that could not be bought with money. The incense that Yuanwu used right now was pure white, the white jade Sangharama incense. Even for the members of the prestigious families, they would have only seen this in books.

When one smelled just a wisp of the smoke from this white Sangharama incense, they would feel pleasure all over their bodies. But shrouded in the smoke of such an incense, every once in a while, Yuanwu would cough and spit out some blood foam.

Xu Fu stood silently by his side. All the furnishings in this camp were very simple, and there were not many guards and attendants present. But he believed as long as he stood here, no one in the world would be able to assassinate Yuanwu right now.

However, looking at the bloody foam that Yuanwu had spat out, his eyes were full of worry. This white Sangharama incense was the best spirit medicine to heal lung injuries, able to remove the silt in the body that even vital energy could not remove. But even this spirit medicine was of little use in healing Yuanwu’s wounds.

In the view of many people who had never cultivated or just started to cultivate, the higher the cultivation, the stronger the healing ability. But cultivators like him knew the truth was the very opposite.

It was more difficult for cultivators with high cultivation to be wounded, but if they were, it was much more difficult for them to recover than weaker cultivators. It was like how a piece of weak clay could be easily squeezed back together after cracking, but when the hardest gems in the world were cracked open, they could not be merged back together. When a cultivator who was very strong wanted to remove the serious injuries in their bodies, they needed the support of stunning amounts of spirit energy.

“Even using the spirit medicines you gathered from overseas, it is unable to remove the injuries. The tearing of the lungs are like lightning bolts, that affect the movement of energy. It is troublesome for the internal energies to not be in harmony. In order to remove this, I fear that I will need the spirit lotus seeds that she raised using Changling’s spirit veins and star light.” Yuanwu looked at the bloody foam on the ground in front of him with a calm expression.

Hearing his words, Xu Fu’s slightly knitted brows relaxed, however, Yuanwu’s next words caused his brows to unconsciously furrow again.

“But she spent more than a decade on the spirit lotuses, even letting it affect her cultivation progress. She never told me the meaning in raising these spirit lotuses. If not for Baili Suxue getting into the imperial palace, compelling her to use these spirit lotus seeds, even I did not know their abilities. It is unknown if she is willing to give me these spirit lotus seeds.”

Xu Fu frowned but did not speak, just listened silently.

Yuanwu picked up one dossier, quickly read it, and then picked up another one.

These days, he had been waiting here for Ding Ning’s envoy, silently healing and did not leave these tents. But through many of the dossiers that were quickly delivered to him, he knew the movements of Ding Ning and the others very well.

“Many years ago, the first time I saw her when she came from Jiaodong Commandery, I knew that she was the kind of person unwilling to live under anyone. Wang Jingmeng thought too well of her, so using this, I won against him.”

“I wait here for Wang Jingmeng and the others. Naturally, she will be displeased. If I want to get the spirit lotus seeds, it will be even more difficult.”

“If Jiaodong Commandery is lost, perhaps the relationship between us will ease. She knows Wang Jingmeng better than I do. For a person like Wang Jingmeng, after getting Jiaodong Commandery, creating another Ba Mountain Sword Field is just a matter of time.”

“The relation between us, it is not what I do, and what I do not do for her. It was fated from the moment I saw her when she first came to Changling. It lies in her.”

Yuanwu finished reading and then he stood up. He turned to Xu Fu who was silent. “I have said so much, I want you to not persuade me against trading with Wang Jingmeng and the others.”

Xu Fu did not immediately answer. He slowly looked up at the flowing clouds in the sky.

There many things and people in the world fated from the start?

“If she had given the true Jiaodong Commandery to this Lonely One from the start, would I have just barely reached realm eight before the Deer Mountain Conference?” Yuanwu said with scorn.

His expression was calm and did not change. But previously, he had been using “I” when talking with Xu Fu, but now used “this Lonely One”. This meant that he was not talking with his confidant, but this was an imperial order.

Xu Fu nodded and said, “Yes.”

When he nodded, a beam of energy came out of his body, splitting into dozens and flying into the air. Many flowing lights appeared in the air in the surrounding forest, like the light was being twisted.

For those who were coming from afar, this pointed out the location, like a gate was opened.

A cold and dark presence quickly moved underground. When a hundred paces from Yuanwu, it was stopped by a warm and yang presence that Xu Fu gave off. Then without warning, a ball of black energy appeared.

The back energy quickly contracted, and turned into Qian Mu’s figure.

“Yan Ying’s student, you really want to kill this Lonely One.”

Yuanwu looked coolly at Qian Mu in front of him. He looked at the other’s bright black eyes and shook his head. “But you will never be able to kill this Lonely One.”

“Someone will kill you for me.”

Qian Mu clenched his fists, his fingernails biting into the flesh. He did not feel pain, just numbness. Strangely, his face had no emotion as he looked deeply at Yuanwu and spoke.

Yuanwu smiled mockingly. He did not care about playing such childish games with a child. He said, hands behind his back, “What did he have you bring me to trade for Eldest Miss Shang?”

Qian Mu said simply, “The elixir of Life from the Wuzhi ancestral mountains.”

After he said this, a black gravestone appeared in the air in front of him. Then, like it was weightless, it slid towards Yuanwu and Xu Fu.

Hearing these simple words, sensing the flavor of energy contained in the gravestone, the expressions of Yuanwu and Xu Fu changed. A roar like hundreds of beasts were howling sounded in the air around the mountain.