Chapter 57: This Person Knows All His Preferences

Chapter 57: This Person Knows All His Preferences

Both of them were stunned—who'd ever heard of a pill exploding?

But that wasn't all. Once the pills burst, the two instantly felt like bugs were crawling all over them. Those poisonous bugs had somehow burrowed into their bodies.

They crawled around inside them, gnawing on their hearts, livers, spleens, and lungs.

One of them couldn't take it. He screamed and started slashing his own arms with his sword.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

The other reacted fast, circulating his spiritual power to force the pill powder out of his system, all while staring at his teammate, who was slicing himself into a bloody mess.

The cultivator's eyes were blazing with fury. "This is clearly the work of an Evil Cultivator!"

Shen Lian raised an eyebrow. "Fine then. I've got proper cultivator tricks too. Want a demo?"

The second those words left his mouth, Shen Lian casually tossed out two magic treasures.

The cultivator's eyes went wide. "How does a Void Insight Stage disciple like you have two high-grade magic treasures?"

The treasures materialized behind Shen Lian, instantly forming a golden sword wrapped in thick flames. One became two, two became three, three became five, six, seven, eight—all of them charging straight at the cultivator.

Shen Lian raised an eyebrow, watching the golden sword go toe-to-toe with the cultivator.

As for why he had so many treasures? Well, obviously, because he was an Alchemy Cultivator.

Sure, Shen Lian's pills were low-grade at first, but he made up for it with sheer volume—plus all kinds of unheard-of pills.

Pills that tasted like Northern Capital roast duck, stink pills, heavenly bliss drifting pills—they grabbed everyone's attention in no time.

Shen Lian signed a contract with an auction house. All he had to do was refine pills daily and drop them off, and spirit crystals would pour into his account.

His storage ring wasn't full of much else—just money and a bunch of magic treasures.

Meanwhile, the two cultivators fighting Cang Huai were breaking out in a cold sweat. They realized this guy seemed to be deliberately toying with them—not ending the fight fast, but not letting them escape either.

Cang Huai's gaze flickered toward Shen Lian, barely noticeable.

He found Shen Lian looking right back at him. "Cang Huai, I'll help you."

Cang Huai met those beautiful eyes, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"No need."

With that, he casually swung his sword, and the two cultivators' heads rolled.

Cang Huai sheathed his sword and strolled back to Shen Lian's side.

Shen Lian looked at Cang Huai. "You okay? Here, take this."

He opened his palm to reveal pills that could quickly restore spiritual power and heal wounds.

Cang Huai didn't refuse. He nodded and tucked them away.

Shen Lian grabbed the wrists of the four Feiyun Sect cultivators. The spatial marks on them actually held quite a few stolen treasures.

Shen Lian swept them all into his own space, watching their points climb even higher.

His eyes curved into a smile. He was about to turn and grin at Cang Huai. "Let's go."

But when he turned, he found Cang Huai's gaze already on him.

Cang Huai didn't seem to expect Shen Lian to turn around either. His thin lips pressed together, and he looked away.

Shen Lian's heart skipped a beat, but he brushed it off.

"Let's keep searching."

"Alright."

Shen Lian hadn't expected to be this lucky—he was finding rare medicinal plants with almost no effort.

At first, Shen Lian figured he was just lucky, but soon he couldn't help frowning.

"Don't you think I'm being a little too lucky?"

Before he came in, Yan Yiqing had told him that rare Spirit Plants were hard to find even in small secret realms.

But this trip had been way too smooth.

A whole day went by.

A plant every few steps, never coming up empty-handed, and never running into any major demonic beasts—everything just happened to be within his skill level.

"Maybe you're just lucky," Cang Huai said casually, raising his sword to block a branch about to smack Shen Lian in the face.

Shen Lian was caught off guard. He hadn't expected Cang Huai, who seemed so cold, to be this attentive.

Shen Lian quickly looked away.

To change the subject, he said, "By the way, you don't seem to be looking for anything specific?"

Don't cultivators usually enter secret realms looking for something?

But for the whole week, Cang Huai had just been tagging along while he searched for spirit plants.

Cang Huai said softly, "I only came in to train."

Shen Lian nodded thoughtfully. "Don't worry. Once we get out, I'll make sure to give you pills of equal value."

Cang Huai's gaze swept across Shen Lian's face like a dragonfly skimming water. "Alright."

When night fell, Shen Lian spotted a rabbit-like demonic beast and immediately got hungry.

Before he could even say a word, Cang Huai, as if reading his mind, caught the rabbit beast and brought it over.

That weird feeling crept back into Shen Lian's chest.

The whole trip, Cang Huai had been quiet and reserved, yet incredibly attentive to him.

During fights, he'd always keep an eye on Shen Lian. When anything came up, he'd instinctively shield Shen Lian behind him.

Cang Huai also seemed to know Shen Lian's habits inside and out.

Like how he liked to light lamps at night.

Cang Huai disappeared, then reappeared in front of him, holding a few butterflies that gave off a soft glow.

Also, sometimes he’d pick up this weird sense of familiarity from Cang Huai.

But the more that happened, the more on guard Shen Lian was.

What Shen Lian didn’t know was that someone else was hunting for them, too.

Back when they killed those Feiyun Sect disciples.

One of those disciples, right before he died, sent a vision back to the sect.

It clearly showed Shen Lian casually chucking out two high-grade treasures.

In an instant, the eyes of the Feiyun Sect’s Void Insight Stage disciples lit right up.

Alchemy Cultivators were usually rolling in dough, let alone some guy at the Void Insight Stage who could just toss out two treasures like that.

And on top of that, the dying Feiyun Sect disciple had gritted his teeth and said, "He’s got a ton of treasures in his storage! Don’t let him get away, senior brothers!"

Why even bother hunting for Spirit Plants when they could just go straight for this Alchemy Cultivator?

So, when Shen Lian and Cang Huai were resting at midnight, they suddenly snapped their eyes open.

The two exchanged a look, and Cang Huai muttered, "Sorry."

Then he just wrapped an arm around Shen Lian and vanished from the house in a flash.

Shen Lian instinctively braced against his chest, but when he turned his head, he saw a dense swarm of cultivators filling the sky, like a plague of locusts.

Shen Lian’s face darkened, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Are they all Feiyun Sect?"

Cang Huai said, "Some sect cultivators can send a final vision back through special means before they die. These are probably Feiyun Sect guys out for revenge."

The moment he finished speaking, a man with pitch-black eyes among the Feiyun Sect members looked over and shouted, "They’re heading north!"

In an instant, all the Feiyun Sect cultivators turned their eyes toward Shen Lian and Cang Huai.

The moment they were spotted, Cang Huai and Shen Lian were surrounded.

"You two little punks from the Zichen Sect actually dared to kill our Feiyun Sect people? You got a death wish? Stop right there!"

Their faces were cold and full of ill intent.

The Feiyun Sect was notorious, ranked in the top five, but their reputation was anything but clean.

The group’s eyes locked onto Shen Lian. "Especially you, you Alchemy Cultivator—how many treasures you got on you? Hand ’em all over."