37: Section 37

“The bellyband of Yang Guifei, who hanged herself on the old locust tree at Mazhaipo, if buried in your ancestral grave, will guarantee three generations of imperial concubines!”

“……”

Thanks to Brother Ximen Qing for the 500 reward. Brothers, just keep reading every day, that’s the greatest support for your little brother! There’s one more chapter coming!

Chapter 44: Tree Old Man’s Birthday, Encountering Xiao Qing Again

“Walking through the long market, you felt your horizons broaden, never imagining that such a wonderful place could exist in the world.”

“Moreover, you discovered that it wasn't only Demons here; there were also some monks, Daoists, or Mortals who came here to trade or buy things.”

“Judging by their familiar demeanor, it seemed they weren’t first-timers, and everyone’s face clearly showed the word ‘shrewd’.”

“Dou Qianli then explained to you.”

“These Cultivators of Buddhism and Dao, as well as those ordinary people, all received invitations sent out by Tree Old Man through their Destiny, which is how they were able to come to this convergence point of the Yin and Yang realms.”

“Tree Old Man?”

“You heard this name for the first time and didn’t know what it represented.”

“Dou Qianli saw that you didn’t know Tree Old Man, so he began to explain to you.”

“Tree Old Man is the master of this Yin Yang Market; he controls everything here.”

“Two days later is Tree Old Man’s birthday. We need to make a dish that he will never forget to achieve my goal.”

“Upon hearing Dou Qianli’s words, you immediately asked him what goal he wanted to achieve.”

“Dou Qianli didn’t hide it from you when he saw your reaction.”

“My purpose in bringing you here is to borrow something from Tree Old Man.”

“Of course, if it doesn’t succeed in the end, I won’t blame you, and we’ll consider ourselves even.”

“Upon hearing Dou Qianli’s words, although you didn’t know what the item was, you vaguely felt it was very important, otherwise Dou Qianli wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths.”

“After arriving at an inn called ‘Half-Step More,’ Dou Qianli settled you there, telling you to try to stay in as much as possible.”

“He, on the other hand, went to other places to find ingredients for Tree Old Man’s dish.”

“You watched Dou Qianli leave, wondering what kind of ingredients he would be looking for.”

“Looking at the Demons outside the inn, you were a bit scared to go out, so you had no choice but to wait for Dou Qianli to return in your room.”

“Dou Qianli was gone for a whole day. Fortunately, you didn’t feel hungry here, but rather felt as if you were in a dream.”

“When he returned, he brought back many different kinds of ingredients, but without exception, none of them were for human consumption.”

“They were a piece of green wood still with leaves, a jar of glowing honey, three star-shining candied fruits, various colorful mushrooms you’d never seen before, an old mountain ginseng as thick as a baby’s arm…”

“The total variety of ingredients added up to about thirty types, piled on the ground, presenting a spectacular sight.”

“Looking at so many types of food, you asked Dou Qianli what exactly he planned to make.”

“Dou Qianli also said he didn’t know, as he only knew that Tree Old Man liked plant-based foods, and the specific food pairing required you to figure it out yourself.”

“You had no choice but to accept Dou Qianli’s irresponsible words and could only try hard to figure out how to combine these foods in the room.”

“Moreover, that Tree Old Man was not an ordinary Mortal; some poisonous mushrooms, which might be deadly to Mortals, could very likely be a great tonic for Tree Old Man.”

“In such a short time, you simply couldn’t come up with any suitable dishes. In the end, you could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive, putting all the ingredients into the pot in sequence according to their food properties for cooking. In this way, the food naturally conformed to the principle of Five Elements mutual generation, and the resulting soup had a unique flavor.”

“Because this soup gathered a variety of rare ingredients, you named this pot of soup ‘Essence Delicacy Stew’.”

“Dou Qianli was very happy looking at the Essence Delicacy Stew in the pot.”

“Whether I can borrow the dragon suppressing nail from Tree Old Man depends entirely on this time!”

“dragon suppressing nail?”

“You didn’t know what this dragon suppressing nail was, but seeing Dou Qianli so excited, it must be an extremely precious treasure.”

“Now that the food for Tree Old Man tomorrow had been figured out, Dou Qianli didn’t want to hide it from you anymore.”

“This dragon suppressing nail is a supreme treasure that Tree Old Man stole from an emperor’s tomb. It can suppress earth veins and manage Feng Shui.”

“When I underwent Heavenly Tribulation years ago, the Qi of tribulation entered my body, and I could only remain half-human, half-rat for the rest of my life.”

“As long as I obtain this dragon suppressing nail, all the Qi of tribulation in my body can be drawn into the earth veins, and all my internal ailments will disappear.”

“You suddenly understood after hearing Dou Qianli’s words.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Then I wish Lord Dou success here!”

“Hopefully.”

…

“On the day of Tree Old Man’s birthday, the entire Yin Yang Market was bustling, with many new faces you had never seen before.”

“Before going to see Tree Old Man, Dou Qianli took you to meet a friend of his.”

“That was a woman dressed in green.”

“The woman as a whole was like a finely carved piece of green jade, her slightly upturned eyebrows always carrying a hint of playfulness and allure.”

“You had never seen such a captivating woman; she seemed capable of drawing your soul away.”

“Guo Lin’s image appeared in your mind, and you immediately turned your head away, not daring to look at her.”

“The woman in green was somewhat surprised by your reaction, not expecting you to easily resist her charm.”

…

At this moment.

Su Mo, outside the scene, became agitated.

Xiao Qing!

It was actually Xiao Qing?

He never expected to see Xiao Qing here.

If that was the case, didn't it mean that in the real world, Xiao Qing and Bai Suzhen were currently Cultivating somewhere?

Thinking of the alluring and soul-stirring scene of Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing from before, Su Mo’s body felt a burst of heat.

However, this could only be thought of in his mind.

In reality, those two were worlds apart.

And since Xiao Qing had appeared, would his simulated self in this simulation still meet Bai Suzhen?

Su Mo was somewhat expectant.

He continued to look at the holographic image of the simulation.

“Xiao Qing suddenly placed an arm on your shoulder; she wanted to test if her charm had diminished.”

“Your body felt a surge of numbness at this moment, and you quickly looked at Dou Qianli, asking him for help.”

“Dou Qianli also spoke up to smooth things over.”

“Xiao Qing, let’s go to the banquet first.”

“This matter today is very important to me.”

“Hmm, alright…”

“Xiao Qing looked at you with some disappointment after hearing Dou Qianli say that; clearly, you hadn’t shown the reaction she had hoped for.”

“However, this also sparked a hint of interest in you, making her want to see if you could truly ignore her charm.”

“You held the earthenware pot containing the Essence Delicacy Stew and followed Dou Qianli and Xiao Qing into the banquet hall for Tree Old Man’s birthday.”

“Around you were full of Demons, with a small number of rogue Daoists, rogue monks, and Mortals mixed among them.”

“These people were also holding various rare treasures, clearly hoping to use this opportunity to get acquainted with Tree Old Man.”

“If they could be favored by Tree Old Man, they would immediately rise to prominence.”

“After waiting for some time, the tree roots at the very front of the banquet hall suddenly began to swell outwards with tree knots.”

“Soon, an old man’s face formed by tree knots appeared in the center front of the banquet hall.”

“Immediately after, a slit opened in the tree knot’s mouth.”

“Thank you all for coming to celebrate this old man’s birthday. Seeing you all, my heart is greatly comforted.”

“You heard Tree Old Man’s voice and felt it was no different from an ordinary old man’s voice.”

“And after Tree Old Man finished speaking, the hall erupted in thunderous shouts.”

“Tree Old Man’s longevity is as boundless as the heavens, may he live forever!”

“Tree Old Man’s longevity is as boundless as the heavens, may he live forever!”

…

Looking at Tree Old Man, who was being blessed and cheered by the crowd in the image, Su Mo also felt that his decision to confront Tree Old Man directly back then was indeed quite courageous.

If he had continued the simulation properly back then,

Perhaps he really would have achieved Immortal Ascension and become a Buddha.

Of course,

If he hadn't been afraid of delaying work, he wouldn't have chosen such a suicidal option.

Subsequently,

Su Mo calmed his mind and continued to look at the image, to see what would happen next…

I wrote ten thousand words today, brothers, honestly, I’m a bit tired. I’ll resume two normal updates tomorrow…

Chapter 45: Presenting Treasures, Xiao Qing’s Temptation

“After the acclamations, it was time for presenting treasures.”

“Netherworld Pendant, Eloquence Elixir, leftover Meng Po Soup, cut-up souls, and so on…”

“The treasures these people presented to Tree Old Man broadened your horizons; you hadn’t even heard of some of them.”

“When it was Dou Qianli’s turn, he immediately rushed forward and directly presented the pot of Essence Delicacy Stew that you had made.”

“The moment the lid was opened, the aroma spread throughout the entire hall, and everyone immediately became intoxicated.”

“Even Xiao Qing looked at you sideways, not expecting you to be able to make such delicious soup.”

“Tree Old Man slurped down the entire pot of soup, his wrinkled face blooming like a chrysanthemum.”

“Dou Qianli, you put effort into this; I like it very much.”

“I already know your purpose. Here, take this dragon suppressing nail!”

“Take it!”

“A long nail appeared in front of Tree Old Man and flew into Dou Qianli’s hand.”

“The nail was about three feet three inches long, entirely dark, gleaming with a dim, eerie light, and its tip was triangular, extremely sharp.”

“An lifelike Dragon was carved in intaglio on the body of the nail, its body winding from the tail to the tip.”

“Dou Qianli was overjoyed.”

“Thank you, Tree Old Man!”

“After Dou Qianli finished speaking, Tree Old Man’s gaze turned towards you, and you could see it was a greedy look.”

“Since you have already obtained the dragon suppressing nail, why not give this chef to me, to cook for me day and night.”

“Dou Qianli’s expression changed drastically; he hadn’t expected Tree Old Man to set his eyes on you.”

“You were also very flustered in your heart; if you were forcibly kept in this Yin Yang Market by Tree Old Man, you would never be able to return, nor would you ever see Guo Lin again.”

“You anxiously looked at Dou Qianli.”

“Dou Qianli, on the other hand, slowly handed the dragon suppressing nail in his hand to Tree Old Man.”

“Tree Old Man, this person is my friend; I cannot do something that would harm a friend like this.”