49: Chapter 0049 Great Harvest

Outside the elegant courtyard, the bright moon hung high, and a small bridge spanned over flowing water.

Inside the elegant courtyard, the candlelight flickered, casting the shadows of a man and a woman.

On the bed.

Chen Yuanyu sat with her legs apart in a delicate posture; her eyes were red, yet she stubbornly tilted her face up. Gu Huan stood before her, their eyes meeting.

He pondered for a moment.

He shook his head.

“You are not qualified to be my woman.”

“I am. Once I reach Foundation Establishment, I will be qualified.”

“But you are only at the eighth level of Qi Refining and don't even have a foundation establishment pill. When will you ever reach Foundation Establishment?”

“I am still young and can Cultivate. If I don't have a foundation establishment pill, I will manage the Chen family to earn Spirit Stones. Sooner or later, there will be a day when I can afford one.”

Her mind was pure.

How stubborn.

“But once I leave, you might not be able to find me.”

“Then I will tread through every corner of the East Ruins; there will eventually be a day when I find you.”

Gu Huan fell silent.

He felt a massive headache.

He only wanted to stay low in the Hehuan Sect and Cultivate quietly; he had no interest in romance with a young girl in the prime of her youth.

Although there had been a saying in the cultivation world since ancient times about 'only envying the mandarin ducks, not the immortals,' Gu Huan believed it was a cultivation scam specifically designed to deceive Cultivators with a 'romance brain'.

“You wouldn't be afraid, would you?”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid that I’ll like you!”

“What is there to be afraid of? If you dare to come to my door, I’ll dare to devour you completely. Don't think too well of me. Have you heard of the Hehuan Sect?”

Upon hearing this.

Chen Yuanyu's expression finally changed.

The Hehuan Sect was the largest Demonic Path sect near Qingyuan Mountain, and its Cultivate atmosphere was utterly terrible.

Whether they were male or female Disciples, they all loved to use Plucking on Cauldrons to increase their cultivation, harming countless innocent Cultivators.

“You are from the Hehuan Sect?”

“That's right. A girl as beautiful and naturally talented as you is the most popular. Out of ten who enter, nine die inside, and the one who comes out is a madwoman whom even a dog would despise, let alone a person.”

He reached out to stroke Chen Yuanyu's cheek.

The latter's delicate body trembled as she hurriedly slapped his hand away, clearly frightened out of her wits.

Gu Huan found it amusing in his heart; had he known the Hehuan Sect could be so intimidating, he should have brought it up earlier to make her back off.

“Listen to me clearly.”

“No matter what Realm you reach in the future, remember to take a detour if you encounter people from the Hehuan Sect. Once you stray into the wrong path, even the gods cannot save you. While alive, you'll suffer from Plucking, and after death, you'll be refined into a Yin Corpse.”

The intimidation was effective.

Chen Yuanyu shrank into a corner, shivering.

Gu Huan smiled slightly, patted his Storage Pouch, and took out a square box, placing it on the bed in front of her.

“This is your foundation establishment pill. Now that it has been returned to its original owner, the debt of gratitude is also cleared. Cultivate well and never come looking for me, or else you will regret it.”

Whoosh!

A flash of blood-red light flickered, blowing out the candle in the room.

Chen Yuanyu was startled; she tightly closed her eyes and hugged her knees, even her breathing coming to a halt.

After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes. The room was pitch black, with only the square box sitting quietly in front of her.

Click!

Thud!

Chen Yuanyu opened the box and then gently closed it. The foundation establishment pill was still there, but Gu Huan was nowhere to be found.

“Clearly he doesn't care for women, yet he deliberately pretended to be a Hehuan Sect Disciple to scare me. Is he that afraid of being involved with me? You're afraid of trouble, but I'm not. We will definitely meet again!”

...

The next morning.

A Yiye Flying Boat sailed high in the sky.

Gu Huan left the Chen family of Qingyuan Mountain and flew toward the Hehuan Sect without stopping for a moment.

It had to be said that Chen Yuanyu had really been a big help. Although the Yiye Flying Boat had limited capacity, only enough for one or two people, it excelled in being agile and light. Its flight speed was not much slower than Qian Siyue's small flying boat.

However, it had a weakness: it consumed Spirit Stones incredibly fast, spending money like water.

Inside the flying boat.

Gu Huan sat quietly, taking stock of his gains.

He had spent twelve thousand Spirit Stones to buy the foundation establishment pill, which could be described as losing his entire fortune.

Fortunately, his Foundation Establishment was successful in the end, ensuring that this massive expenditure of Spirit Stones did not go to waste.

One must know.

A foundation establishment pill increases the chance of Foundation Establishment by about thirty percent. Raising one's own cultivation Realm can also increase the chance.

For instance, when Gu Huan reached Foundation Establishment, he was at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, which brought about a ten percent increase, plus the twenty percent chance after the reversal of the demonic killing pill.

Altogether.

Gu Huan's chance of Foundation Establishment reached sixty percent. Combined with the effects of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Art, a successful Breakthrough in one go was only logical.

“This is Fellow Daoist Wang's Storage Pouch.”

“Eh! The skull of a Cold Ice Snake? How did it end up in his hands?”

The fifteenth item in the auction was precisely the skull of a Cold Ice Snake, which contained the soul of a Late Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast.

Gu Huan had been tempted at the time, but unfortunately, he had no extra Spirit Stones and could only watch as the item fell into the hands of the Cultivator in private room eighteen.

Who could have thought.

Things would take such a turn.

It turned out that Wang Sanshun and the Scarred Man had successfully bid for this item, and after some twists and turns, it had fallen into his hands.

First, they sold Gu Huan the Heavenly Demon Soul Refining Art, and now they even sent over a Yao Beast soul to help with his Cultivate. These two were simply his lucky stars!

What a pity!

They did too many wicked deeds and suffered retribution early.

“The Storage Pouches of the two combined only contain five hundred Spirit Stones. However, there are quite a lot of miscellaneous resources, which should be sellable for fifteen hundred Spirit Stones. The total income is about two thousand Spirit Stones.”

Gu Huan organized things a bit.

Then he checked the Storage Pouches of Lin Jinpeng and the others.

They were Cultivators of the Lin family who had received news and set up an ambush by the Qingyuan River in advance, planning to capture Chen Yuanyu to blackmail the Chen family.

Because of a misunderstanding, they not only mistook Gu Huan for Chen Yuanyu but also tried to snatch the foundation establishment pill. How could he tolerate that?

He killed them all in anger.

And confiscated their Storage Pouches.

Unfortunately, the harvest was mediocre. Some Lin family Cultivators didn't even have a Storage Pouch.

Only the leader and Lin Jinpeng were relatively wealthy. The former was at the tenth level of Qi Refining with a total income of one hundred Spirit Stones, while the latter was the son of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, possessing over five hundred Spirit Stones, plus two High Grade Magical Artifacts and a small amount of basic Medicinal Pills.

Counting the other clan members.

The total income was about fifteen hundred Spirit Stones.

On the Chen family's side, there were only three thousand Spirit Stones recorded; maintaining the Great Clan Protection Array had basically exhausted their Spirit Stones.

Next came Lin Yunhu's Storage Pouch. As a genuine Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he had a Top Grade Magical Artifact, the Yellow Earth Hammer, which was as heavy as a thousand jun when activated and had extremely strong destructive power.

Besides that.

There were another two thousand Spirit Stones and a small amount of rare resources, bringing the total income to about thirty-five hundred.

The overall income was about ten thousand Spirit Stones.

The Cold Ice Snake skull, the Yellow Earth Hammer, and the Heavenly Demon Soul Refining Art were not included in the statistics.

Otherwise, the gains this time would be even more staggering.

...

...

Suddenly, a violent explosive roar came from ahead.

Gu Huan's expression tightened, and his Foundation Establishment Divine Sense immediately spread out. Sensing the commotion ahead, he couldn't help but gasp.

What met his eyes.

The green grasslands were covered with the wreckage of flying boats.

Gu Huan could recognize the intact parts at a glance; it was precisely Qian Siyue's small flying boat. As for the unfamiliar parts, they belonged to the other flying boat that had been chasing them.

“Both flying boats are severely damaged. Could it be that a violent collision occurred?”

“And it was a head-on collision?”

Gu Huan was completely baffled.

Qian Siyue was clearly piloting the flying boat to escape, so why would she turn the boat around and ram into the one behind her? Wasn't that seeking her own death?”

Boom!

The explosive roar sounded again.

Gu Huan also heard the terrified screams of a woman.

“Get lost!”

“Don't come over here!”

The Yiye Flying Boat had already approached the wreckage, and the situation below was clear at a glance.

The young girl's face was covered in tear stains and grime, and her blue glazed skirt was torn to shreds, revealing some of her fair and snowy skin. She held a Flame Explosion Talisman in her hand, staring ahead in terror.

That was... Yun Zheng?

...