Chapter 38: Separation

Four Sages Academy

Dongfang Xiaotian, covered in dirt and dust, searched the ruins for three days, digging up formation flags nonstop.

He also kept an eye out to see if Xiao Yuanqing was hiding somewhere in the ruins. If he found him, he’d make sure Xiao Yuanqing paid back his debt.

After all, those were third-grade spirit talismans! He’d thrown out hundreds of them like water, and his own reserves had been completely emptied. He had to get someone to pay him back, right?

Talismans!

In the end, not only did he not find Xiao Yuanqing, but he also emptied all eighty-one Spirit Refining Formations, yet didn’t even earn back the spirit talismans he spent fighting Xiao Yuanqing.

That was his own foundation! More than half of it just gone…

Dongfang Xiaotian let out a helpless sigh. With the little bit Beichen Yue gave him, he barely managed to make a profit of just over a hundred spirit stones.

But he’d spent three days digging up formation flags! Three days! He still hadn’t made back even half of his losses.

Of course, Dongfang Xiaotian hadn’t walked away from the ruins completely empty-handed, aside from the formation flags.

During this journey, Dongfang Xiaotian had also collected quite a few spoils from evil cultivators and from Li Yuze.

But when he checked over everything, aside from some useless junk, all he found was a pile of **—the highest grade, too. Couldn’t say it was entirely worthless, but it was practically useless.

Sure enough, things like finding top-tier magic treasures or fragments of god-level cultivation techniques when looting corpses—those only ever happened to other people.

Those evil cultivators were just like the ones Dongfang Xiaotian had encountered before, with no idea how to save up anything.

Whenever they got their hands on a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, they’d use it to boost their strength, afraid they might die at any moment in the future.

Unable to earn any decent spirit stones in that ruin, Brother Dongfang could only return to Four Sages Academy with an extremely dejected mood.

He’d better focus on cultivating Jiang Li to rule the world, and let Jiang Li take care of him in his old age.

His little junior brother was much more reliable than looting corpses.

But as soon as he returned to the sect, he witnessed Beichen Yue and Tushan Bingxian holding hands lovingly.

Although he didn’t want to disturb them, it seemed they were talking about him, so Dongfang Xiaotian couldn’t help but go over and greet them.

Dongfang Xiaotian, looking utterly exhausted, approached and said, “I was only gone three days and you two are already this close?”

“Sir Dongfang, did you find anything?” Beichen Yue asked symbolically, as if checking whether Dongfang Xiaotian had found Xiao Yuanqing.

But from the look of Dongfang Xiaotian’s disappointed face, the answer was obvious.

Dongfang Xiaotian could only force a bitter smile and shake his head. He’d lost out—he hadn’t even recovered his costs.

Seeing Dongfang Xiaotian’s gloomy mood, Beichen Yue’s own spirits dropped a little as well. The bond between Sir Dongfang and Sir Xiao was really something…

Dongfang Xiaotian: Alas, my spirit stones.

Beichen Yue consoled him, “Don’t worry. Sir Xiao will surely come back.”

Dongfang Xiaotian nodded determinedly, “Yeah, I’ll definitely find him.”

Tushan Bingxian, on the other hand, was more focused on Dongfang Xiaotian’s dirt-covered robes. “Say, did you go rolling with wild boars or something?”

“I went digging up formation flags.”

Dongfang Xiaotian sighed, pulling out a formation flag and waving it in front of Tushan Bingxian.

“When the giant Blood Refining Formation was activated, I memorized all the Formation Eye positions, so I dug a few up to earn some spirit stones… Otherwise, how could I support little junior brother?”

“I’m your junior sister too. How come I never see you working this hard to support me?” Tushan Bingxian’s beautiful eyes stared at Dongfang Xiaotian unhappily.

Dongfang Xiaotian couldn’t help but retort, “You’re from a great clan—why are you always eyeing my measly little fortune?”

“Measly little fortune?” Beichen Yue couldn’t help but glance at Dongfang Xiaotian. That hand that could casually pull out a whole stack of third-grade spirit talismans—how was that ‘measly’?

“Let’s not talk about this,”

Dongfang Xiaotian hurriedly changed the subject, afraid his second junior sister would covet his small treasury again.

Looking at the group already prepared with their carriage, he asked, “Miss Beichen, are you all heading back?”

With his innate eye technique, Dongfang Xiaotian could sense a girl in the carriage whose spiritual energy was very similar to Xiao Yuanqing’s—at the eighth level of Qi Refining. That was probably Xiao Yuanxiang.

Beichen Yue nodded, “Mm. Thanks to Sir Dongfang, we gained quite a lot on this trip south.”

“As long as you gained something, that’s good.”

Dongfang Xiaotian didn’t intend to keep them. After a polite remark, he said, “Then I guess everything’s wrapped up. If you’re in a hurry to return, Miss Beichen, I won’t keep you.”

“Before we leave, I have a few questions.”

Beichen Yue hesitated, then asked, “Sir Dongfang, are you really not going to inform Four Sages Academy or the City Lord’s Manor about the fact that the Blood Pill is actually a Blood Pill?”

After everything that happened, Beichen Yue could now tell that the Shen Dai Ruins produced these Blood Pill, which could greatly and smoothly help people increase their cultivation and break through bottlenecks with no side effects.

These were in fact Blood Pills, refined by an ancient Blood Refining Formation.

For such an evil and harmful formation, Beichen Yue’s attitude was naturally to report it to the authorities or to the local powers—sooner rather than later. The Shen Dai Ruins ought to be completely sealed off.

“Good legal awareness.”

Dongfang Xiaotian looked at her innocent face as he patted the dust off his clothes and said, “But would you dare to bet? Bet that none of the people you tell would turn out like Li Shiwu—abusing the truth once they know it?”

“I didn’t think it through.”

Beichen Yue immediately admitted her mistake.

Come to think of it, even though the Shen Dai Ruins was only a second-grade ruin and its products were only suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators, the problem was that the Blood Pill’s effects were just too good.

Not only could it raise one’s cultivation a bit, it could even help people break through bottlenecks, replacing all sorts of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

Combined with what that [Sage] had said, this ruin was basically a factory for mass-producing Golden Core cultivators.

Clearly, as long as you had enough Blood Pills, you could directly ascend to the Golden Core stage.

In the more prosperous northern states, Golden Core cultivators might not be anything special.

But here in Lingtian City, which only had three Golden Core cultivators and one Golden Core guardian beast, the temptation was simply too great.

Precisely because of that, Beichen Yue’s admiration for Dongfang Xiaotian grew even deeper.

So Dongfang Xiaotian dug up formation flags for this? Truly worthy of the title ‘Sir Dongfang’—he thought of everything, leaving no loopholes.

But to think Sir Dongfang’s first solution was actually this… As expected, Sir Dongfang truly…

“Next question,” Beichen Yue asked curiously, “Why did the Azure Dragon Sword break? Isn’t that an Imperial Weapon?”

An Imperial Weapon, to put it simply, was a grade-seven spirit artifact.

The forging techniques had long been lost, but its power far exceeded grade-six artifacts—so much so that even Emperors coveted them. It was considered one of the strongest known spirit artifacts.

Beichen Yue was extremely curious—Dongfang family’s heirloom Imperial Weapon was renowned for its toughness. How could it possibly break?

“Too rigid, easy to break. That’s all.” Dongfang Xiaotian answered simply, not elaborating further.

“Understood.”

Beichen Yue nodded. Whenever Sir Dongfang gave a brief answer, it meant he didn’t want to discuss the matter any further.

“Eh, you’re back?”

At that moment, Chun’er, who’d been waiting a while for Beichen Yue, saw she hadn’t gotten into the carriage and came out to check. To her surprise, she ran straight into Dongfang Xiaotian.

She looked him up and down, surprised, “Did you get into a fight with wild boars or something? How come you’re covered in mud?”

“Do you people have some kind of misunderstanding about wild boars? Wild boars are very clean animals, you know.”

Dongfang Xiaotian couldn’t help but complain, then said, “I’m back, just here to see you off.”

“Oh.”

Chun’er nodded and said, “All the compensation we owed you has already been delivered to your manor. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to Ice Ling Immortal Palace with the young miss.”

Beichen Yue glanced at Chun’er, then sighed with a bit of reluctance.

“It’s getting late. I shouldn’t linger here any longer. The sooner we bring Xiao Yuanxiang back to Ice Ling Immortal Palace, the safer she’ll be.”

“Mm. See you if fate allows.” Tushan Bingxian also nodded and said, “If there’s nothing urgent, don’t come here again.”

Beichen Yue frowned, but didn’t argue with Tushan Bingxian. Instead, she pulled a bolt of golden silk from her sleeve, packed it into a box, and handed it to Dongfang Xiaotian.

Under the wide-eyed stares of Chun’er and Tushan Bingxian, Beichen Yue fixed her gaze on Dongfang Xiaotian. The blush on her face—whether from the setting sun or embarrassment—was hard to tell.

“Sir, I wasn’t able to protect you as promised on this trip. Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t take anything from this box.”

Beichen Yue said, “But my family ordered it, and I couldn’t refuse. So I shamelessly took one item, and as for the other—I’ll wait until I can repay your kindness. Or, when you’re looking for a worthy match, you can use this item to find me.”

Dongfang Xiaotian didn’t know what Beichen Yue had taken out, but it was obvious what she put in—a marriage contract.

“Oh.”

Under Chun’er and Tushan Bingxian’s disbelieving gazes, Dongfang Xiaotian accepted the box. Although it was just another verbal promise, a free favor was still a favor.

But he couldn’t help but look at Chun’er and complain, “Say, isn’t this girl supposed to be very loyal? Why is she always being advertised?”

“?”

Beichen Yue, Chun’er, and Tushan Bingxian were all stunned for a moment.

But Beichen Yue quickly caught on. She instantly remembered what she’d said back in the ruins—offering to let Chun’er become his concubine.

But this was clearly her own marriage contract!

“Mm, if Sir prefers Chun’er, you can come find me.”

Beichen Yue smiled, but the smile seemed a bit odd. As soon as she said that, she turned around abruptly.

“Chun’er, let’s go! Don’t pay any attention to this fool!”

Whether the flush on Beichen Yue’s face was from anger or the glow of sunset was unclear, but she took Chun’er and boarded the sedan chair, leaving without looking back.

“What? She’s even calling me names now?”

Dongfang Xiaotian watched the departing group, then looked to his junior sister for an answer. “She’s the one always trying to sell off her personal maid, isn’t she!”

“Seeing how dense you are, I feel much more at ease.”

Tushan Bingxian held back a laugh and left directly.