Free Web NovelChapter 378: Chapter 301: 5-Element Perfection and a New Pill Theory
In the main hall, when Fang Qingyuan saw Chu Hongshang making no effort to hide her feelings, he knew she simply couldn’t be bothered to put on an act in front of him and Lechuan.
Just moments ago, in front of Nangong Zhi, Chu Hongshang had been like a different person. This wasn’t a matter of playing favorites so much as it was about treating people according to their station.
After receiving the Blood Phoenix Tail Feather, Chu Hongshang admired it for a long moment before instructing Chu Shen to negotiate with Lechuan. She then took the feather and eagerly hurried into the rear hall, apparently to begin the refinement process.
After Chu Hongshang left, Fang Qingyuan felt an inexplicable void in his heart. He didn’t know why he was feeling this way.
’I’m not the type to get weak in the knees over a pretty face,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’Even if Chu Hongshang is beautiful, she shouldn’t be affecting me this way.’
’Could it be that a high-level, perfect being like Chu Hongshang naturally awakens a male’s possessive instincts?’
Fang Qingyuan couldn’t make sense of it. Fortunately, the longing slowly subsided after she left. Otherwise, he would have worried he’d fallen under some kind of spell.
The moment Chu Hongshang left, Chu Shen’s expression turned into a forced smile. The Blood Phoenix Tail Feather was already in Chu Hongshang’s hands; now, he could only hope Lechuan wouldn’t demand an arm and a leg and take the Nanchu Sect to the cleaners.
Thus, the two old men, with a combined age of over six hundred years, began to haggle right there in the main hall.
Half a day later, with a pained heart, Chu Shen ordered his disciples to retrieve spiritual materials, some Elixir Pills, and other cultivation supplies from the treasury. He then sat down to chat with Lechuan.
"We’re planning to move a sect to the territory between the Nanchu Sect and the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. To be frank with you, Brother Le, that new Sect Leader of the Southern Border, Di Qing, is a real piece of work. He’s even more arrogant than Zhao E Lian was. Zhao E Lian may have been greedy and vicious, but at least he was a smooth operator. This Di Qing, on the other hand..."
Chu Shen vented his frustrations to Lechuan. This was the sort of thing he could only discuss with someone like Lechuan; as fellow sect leaders, they likely shared similar experiences.
Lechuan’s expression didn’t change as he listened to Chu Shen’s complaints about Di Qing. He wasn’t on good terms with Di Qing either.
"Di Qing’s uncle is Di Yuanpu, a Mid-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator who also has an Early-stage Nascent Soul Giant Crocodile Companion Beast. His position within the sect is quite influential. Di Qing has always been arrogant and difficult to deal with."
Chu Shen wholeheartedly agreed with Lechuan. Seizing the opportunity, he laid out his plan:
"We currently share a border with the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, and their flying beasts are constantly crossing into our territory, sometimes even causing incidents. Every time we try to negotiate, they’re completely dismissive. On occasion, I’ve gone over personally to reason with them, but I can’t even get a meeting with Di Qing. They send out a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator with a Golden Core Companion Beast to ’entertain’ me. Are they not deliberately looking down on the Nanchu Sect?"
Fang Qingyuan stood quietly to the side, listening to the two sect leaders converse. This was a topic in which he had no place to speak.
The Nanchu Sect’s status within Qi Yun had been declining ever since Chu Zhen’s death. In the past, when Lechuan and Zhao E Lian were the sect leaders, something like this would never have occurred.
This outcome was partly due to Di Qing’s disposition, but Chu Zhen’s death was also a critical factor.
Furthermore, the circumstances of Chu Zhen’s death were hardly honorable. After he orchestrated the killing of Gao Guangsheng, he was imprisoned by the enraged leadership of Qi Yun. Because he had used a forbidden item like the Demon Saber, the Great Zhou Academy also pressured Qi Yun, publicly condemning the sect.
As Chu Zhen’s life was nearing its end, Qi Yun, hoping to keep the scandal in-house, simply let him die of old age in prison. They resisted the Great Zhou Academy’s pressure and publicly claimed that Chu Zhen had committed suicide out of guilt, refusing to hand him over. In the end, the matter simply faded away.
Although Chu Zhen was dead, the aftershocks were only just beginning to ripple outward. This caused the various Nascent Soul Clans that had once been on good terms with the Chu Family to gradually distance themselves.
After all, fratricide within a sect—especially ambushing and killing a fellow Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator—was a major taboo.
As he listened to Chu Shen and Lechuan’s idle conversation, all sorts of secrets he would never have normally heard began to reach Fang Qingyuan’s ears.
This was how one’s knowledge and horizons expanded, little by little. If he hadn’t taken Lechuan as his master, he would never have found himself in such a position.
A short while later, once the Nanchu Sect had delivered the materials and supplies, Lechuan took his leave with Fang Qingyuan. Chu Shen made an attempt to have them stay, but seeing that Lechuan was genuinely eager to return, he relented.
「...」
On the way back, Lechuan was clearly in high spirits. The artifact he controlled sped through the sky at an altitude of ten thousand meters as he began to analyze the situation with Fang Qingyuan.
"That Nangong Zhi is the lord of Qi Yun’s Qinan City and a direct descendant of the Divinity Transformation Ancestor, Nangong Wood. In terms of lineage, his is far superior to Chu Hongshang’s. Especially now, with Chu Zhen dead and the other Nascent Soul Clans keeping their distance from the Chu Family, Nangong Zhi’s frequent visits to the Nanchu Sect have earned him a great deal of criticism."
Lechuan chuckled as he gossiped about the affairs of Nascent Soul Cultivators, so Fang Qingyuan played along and asked:
"Is Nangong Zhi that fond of Chu Hongshang? Then why won’t she accept him?"
"Who can ever say for sure when it comes to matters of the heart? As far as I know, Chu Hongshang is over seven hundred years old, and Nangong Zhi is over eight hundred. Neither of them has ever been in a relationship; they’ve spent all their centuries cultivating. In that respect, they probably have less experience than a Qi Cultivation Cultivator."
Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan couldn’t resist asking:
"What about you, Master? Why haven’t you found a dao companion?"
"Why are you bringing me into this? You’re still young. This is not something you should be prying into."
Lechuan abruptly changed the subject. Seeing the look on his face, Fang Qingyuan knew that his master had a story of his own—and not one with a happy ending. He tactfully decided not to press the issue.
