Chapter 10: Midnight Lotus

Chapter 10: Midnight Lotus

Entrance at the Kun position.

The moment the formation barrier shattered, Bai Li snapped open his fan with a "whoosh" and stepped back defensively, casting a wary glance toward Shang Yunduo, startling the other rogue cultivators who were about to rush in.

As for Shang Yunduo himself, like a beast jolted awake from a dream, he opened his eyes, looking both dazed and alert as he glared at the potential danger, quickly grabbing his sword.

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other from across five or six rogue cultivators, the atmosphere awkward.

Bai Li couldn't believe it—he had actually fallen asleep? In a place like this? Was he carefree or simply not taking him seriously?

Shang Yunduo himself was equally surprised—he had actually fallen asleep?

He had only intended to lean against the tree and rest his eyes, but he was just too sleepy!

In the six months since he'd transmigrated here, he had gone hungry, been injured, and had crashed miserably while learning to fly on a sword, but never had he been this sleepy.

It wasn't his fault, though—he had been sleep-deprived since he was a kid. Even after transmigrating into the book, he still couldn't get enough rest. Now, with the sky dark, the surroundings quiet, and two junior disciples sitting nearby, while the only potential opponent was busy breaking the formation and couldn't bother him for now, he had... understandably taken a short nap, at most less than two hours.

It was Bai Li who recovered from the awkwardness faster, grinning and waving his fan. "The formation's down, Fellow Daoist Shang. Please!"

Shang Yunduo replied, "You opened the door, so you go first."

He wasn't about to go first; he'd be the last one in.

Bai Li didn't stand on ceremony either. Since the formation barriers had been broken simultaneously, it was uncertain which entrance was closest to the Midnight Lotus. He needed to quickly coordinate with Yuqiu and Tang Huan, seize the Midnight Lotus, and be done with it.

As soon as he entered, the others followed. The Eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivators aiming for the Midnight Lotus stepped on their flying swords and rushed in, even faster than Bai Li.

Seeing this, Bai Li no longer waited to see what Shang Yunduo was up to. He sped off at full speed toward the Midnight Lotus.

"Senior Brother?"

Shang Yunduo replied, "You two go ahead. I'll cover the rear."

Yan Jia and Wang Ming couldn't figure out what needed covering in the rear, but since Shang Yunduo said so, he must have his reasons.

Without further hesitation, they followed the earlier plan and headed straight for the pool to catch the Cold Toad.

Once everyone had entered, Shang Yunduo also stepped onto his flying sword and followed, but instead of heading toward the pool, he veered deeper into the hillside.

No wonder this place could grow Midnight Lotuses—as soon as he entered, he felt the rich spiritual energy.

Soon, he heard the sounds of magical tools clashing and spiritual energy scattering wildly from the pool. Shang Yunduo shook his head and flew to the foot of the mountain to start gathering herbs.

Aside from the spiritual plants he already had in his storage pouch, he didn't recognize any others. He didn't bother pulling out his plant guidebook to check one by one either. He simply picked anything that looked rich in spiritual energy, and if he didn't recognize it, he didn't mind missing it. He grouped similar-looking plants together to avoid mixing up their medicinal properties.

After gathering all the nearby spiritual herbs, he also spotted a patch of fruit. Shang Yunduo picked one, sniffed it—sweet—and stashed it away!

He pulled out a food container to store them in, to avoid contaminating the taste with any plant juice or roots.

Then he found another type of fruit.

What a familiar, reassuring feeling of scrapping for junk all over the map!

As he picked, Shang Yunduo had another thought: since this place was so remote and rich in spiritual energy, why not just settle here?

At this thought, Shang Yunduo's eyes lit up.

The land here looked fertile. If spiritual plants could grow so well, he could probably plant some rice, wheat, and vegetables. If that didn't work, he could go to the nearest town and buy enough food and supplies for half a year or even a year. Once he learned all the techniques the original Shang Yunduo left in the storage pouch and raised his cultivation to the Eighth or Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, he could leave.

This place was isolated—he could practice his swordsmanship and spells without anyone seeing.

The more he thought, the better the idea seemed. Shang Yunduo looked around, now paying attention to the pool area.

Hadn't the fight ended yet?

They should take the Midnight Lotus and leave quickly, leaving this place to him.

He suppressed his spiritual energy, continuing to pick herbs while quietly creeping closer to the pool. He hid behind a large rock, peeking left and right to see if anyone had noticed him, then cautiously poked his head out.

The series of pools was surrounded by lush vegetation and some water plants, making Shang Yunduo wonder if this area turned into a lake during the rainy season.

He searched through the grass but saw neither frogs nor toads.

The battle around the pool where the Midnight Lotus grew had clearly tipped in someone's favor.

Zhang Yan was holding off Bai Li and Daoist Yuqiu two-on-one. Zhang Yu and Huang Gun were locked in a fierce fight but were gradually approaching the Midnight Lotus. The other Eighth-layer cultivators not directly in the fray were still locked in mutual interference, sending waves crashing and rocking the water surface, leaving the Midnight Lotus in the middle looking fragile and pitiful.

That's not right, Shang Yunduo thought in surprise. Where were Niu Chengdian, Li Wuzi, Yuezhang Fairy, and Tang Huan?

He looked at the Midnight Lotus, still swaying in the water and yet to be claimed by anyone, and a rush of excitement surged in his chest—if he used a Haste Talisman, could he snatch it and run before anyone could stop him?

Before the adrenaline high had even faded, a middle-aged male cultivator at the Eighth Layer broke through the encirclement and reached for the Midnight Lotus. "HAHA! It's mine now!"

"Come back!" Zhang Yu's white ribbon coiled like a snake and yanked the man's foot, pulling him back two steps.

Huang Gun also charged forward.

Zhang Yan's bracelet broke apart, wooden beads swelling to the size of balls and shooting blazing fire at the opponent, coordinating with his sister. Bai Li and Daoist Yuqiu gave chase, when suddenly a wooden vine shot up from the water—it was Yuqiu's vine staff, which he had stuck into the water, blocking Zhang Yan again.

"You wood cultivator, are you ever going to stop?!" Zhang Yan bellowed in fury.

Daoist Yuqiu just smiled. Bai Li, beside him, leaped forward by stepping on the vine staff. They had agreed he and that blockhead Yuqiu would catch the Cold Toad and Fire Toad, while Tang Huan would grab the Midnight Lotus. But for some reason, the Cold Toad and Fire Toad were nowhere to be found, and Tang Huan was late, so the two of them had to take matters into their own hands.

Three steps away from the Midnight Lotus, a flash of sword light appeared. Huang Gun and another female sword cultivator at the Eighth Layer rushed toward the center of the pool faster, and the Zhang siblings also took the chance to overtake him.

Bai Li stopped in time. Forget it—being a formation cultivator, he really wasn't cut out for direct combat. He'd wait for Tang Huan to arrive and try to steal it again.

Zhang Yan was furious. These two shit-stirrers ruined his plans and couldn't even pick the lotus themselves! What the hell were they butting in for? Now some eighth-layer rando was going to steal the prize.

The female cultivator rejoiced and, without daring to linger a second, grabbed the Midnight Lotus and turned to leave.

"Stop!"

"Hand it over!"

The others who hadn't been eager to jump in saw that the Midnight Lotus had actually been taken by an eighth-layer cultivator and started to stir restlessly. Even the sixth-layer cultivators, who had backed away earlier, took a few steps forward.

Shang Yunduo, seeing the chaos, shrank back and hid behind the rock.

When he looked again, the Midnight Lotus had changed hands several times. Now even his nominal junior disciple, Wang Ming, was on the move, the large banner in his hand was about to come swinging down, when suddenly someone shouted, "This isn't the Midnight Lotus!"

"What?!"

"This is not the Midnight Lotus!" The person who had just snatched the Midnight Lotus kept exclaiming in surprise, and as he spoke, someone else took the flower from his hand. "You!" He was furious and about to curse, but then thought better of it—whatever, whoever wants this fake can have it!

Sure enough, in an instant, the "Midnight Lotus" changed hands several more times, ending up in the grasp of a fire-element rogue cultivator, the flower now looking wilted.

"Not real?" That person stared at the lotus in his hand, examining it from all sides. All those who had snatched the flower fell silent.

After holding it, they could clearly feel that there was no trace of the spiritual energy characteristic of a rare spiritual plant.

"I'm an Alchemy Cultivator, let me take a look!" Someone stepped forward from the crowd, and a few other Alchemy Cultivators also moved closer.

"This is..." one muttered in disbelief, checking it again. How could it have no spiritual energy at all?

Another said, "Seems like just an ordinary lotus?"

"..."

They exchanged glances.

Whether it was an ordinary lotus or not, it certainly wasn't the Midnight Lotus.

The fire-element rogue cultivator was so angry that a burst of flame erupted from his hand, burning the flower to ashes. "Fine! Fine! You dare mess with me?!"

Behind the rock, Shang Yunduo was utterly stunned.

What was going on?

Not the Midnight Lotus?!

"If it's not the Midnight Lotus, why was it hanging in the water?" someone unwilling to believe pointed at the female Sword Cultivator who had picked the flower. "Did you secretly swap it out?!"

The female Sword Cultivator had gained nothing and had even taken an undeserved slap. Fuming, she snapped, "Why don't you dig up the root and see for yourself?"

Immediately, someone flew into the pond to dig out the lotus root.

This time, all the Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivators stood still, watching from the water's edge. Soon, the "Midnight Lotus" was completely uprooted—a short section of white lotus root, lotus leaves and stems devoid of spiritual energy, and even the leaves didn't seem to be black.

They had been deceived.

All of them had been fooled.

"Where's that guy who said there was a Midnight Lotus?! Show yourself!" The rogue cultivator who had finally grabbed the "Midnight Lotus" roared in fury.

The Zhang siblings, Bai Li, and Daoist Yuqiu all pointed their weapons at Huang Gun.

Huang Gun was just as bewildered. "How would I know?! If I knew it was fake, why would I have fought for it?"

Zhang Yu didn't believe him at all. "You expect us to believe you didn't know just because you say so?"

Huang Gun: "They said it was the Midnight Lotus, so I believed it! I don't even recognize it!"

Zhang Yu: "You don't recognize the Midnight Lotus, but don't you recognize an ordinary lotus either?"

Huang Gun: "There was a restriction so far away, how could I see clearly?! Didn't you all fail to notice it either?!"

The others' faces darkened even more at his words.

There was an impenetrable restriction outside, so they had instinctively assumed that inside must be Spiritual Plants, never thinking that such a pond could contain an ordinary lotus.

Now, not only was there no Midnight Lotus, but the accompanying Cold Toad and Fire Toad were also out of the question, making all their hard work these past days completely pointless!

"Where's that Niu guy?!" Zhang Yu roared.

"No wonder he wasn't around."

Shang Yunduo had long been searching for Niu Chengdian in the crowd but hadn't found him.

"Could he have deliberately lured us in?"

Everyone exchanged glances again.

It wasn't entirely a loss—the place was indeed rich in spiritual energy, with Spiritual Plants and Spirit Insects. Those at the Sixth or Seventh Layer of Qi Refining who immediately gave up competing for treasures had already found something.

Thinking about it this way, these low-level rogue cultivators who weren't strong enough to vie for the Midnight Lotus and had diligently searched for spiritual plants might be the biggest winners of this trip?

"..."

The mood was... incredibly awkward.

A few Sixth Layer Qi Refining cultivators immediately clutched their storage pouches.

Noticing their movements, the gloomy-faced Eighth and Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivators immediately turned their eyes on them.

"..."

The nearest Sixth Layer cultivators were so scared they wanted to run.

Yan Jia stood behind Wang Ming, swallowing hard. Damn it—what the hell is going on?!

Would they be robbed? Should they run? Where was Senior Brother Shang? Wait...

He blinked and sent a voice transmission to Wang Ming, "Senior Brother, I think I saw Senior Brother Shang."

"Where?!" Wang Ming, gripping the Shuo Wind Banner with a heavy heart, suddenly became excited.

Yan Jia: "Behind the fifth rock after the tree, opposite the pond, diagonally ahead."

Wang Ming looked forward, forward, and further forward in the direction he indicated?

Where? He snuck a look over there but couldn't find it for a long time.

Yan Jia: "Really! My cultivation technique is extremely sensitive to fire qi... He just poked his head out."

Wang Ming thought his eyes were going blurry, but he vaguely saw a small shadow move behind a very distant rock.

"..."

"He's hiding way over there!"

Yan Jia: "What should we do?"

"...Stay put for now." Wang Ming couldn't figure out what his senior brother was up to. Could those missing Ninth Layer cultivators have something to do with Senior Brother? Or had Senior Brother already guessed that this Midnight Lotus wasn't real?

A Sixth Layer Qi Refining cultivator couldn't take the pressure and made a move. As he tried to run, someone yanked him down with a whip. He tightly clutched his storage pouch, and in a flash, recalled something and blurted out, "I saw that rogue cultivator, Niu, heading toward the mountains!"

Author's note:

Junior brother: I don't get it, but senior brother must have a reason for doing this!

Yunduo:? (Embarrassed) This admiration filter is really...

——————

Some readers guessed the lotus was bait.