12: Nine-Turn Blood Flower, Choose Again

"He's quite an unexpected fellow!"

Back in the tree hollow, Ye Chen murmured softly.

"Currently, it seems this person is just a bit greedy, but that's only human nature!"

"If I can connect with him and catch the Empress's eye, things might be easier for me at the Academy later."

He sat down nearby and thought carefully.

Suddenly!

A thick scent of blood surged!

"Hmm? The smell of blood? Why is there such a strong smell of blood here...?"

Ye Chen sniffed, his brow raised.

The tree hollow was only about thirty square meters, so he could scan the entire space with a single glance.

Yet, he couldn't find where the problem was!

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, the heaven swallowing pagoda hanging around his neck glowed faintly, then flew towards a certain spot.

"Boom!"

It crashed into it, and a small Formation emerged, revealing the item within.

It was an extremely vibrant, alluring blood-red flower.

"Kid! It's an emperor medicine!"

"You're in luck!"

A vicissitudes voice came from within the heaven swallowing pagoda.

"Fairy Sister... you said this is an emperor medicine?"

Ye Chen swallowed, his voice trembling.

Emperor!

Anything with the character 'Emperor' in its name was an extremely precious existence throughout the Five Domains and Two Heavens, and here, there was actually... an emperor medicine!

"That's right! It's an emperor medicine! This tree is rooted in Emperor Mountain, absorbing the Emperor Qi from here. This nine revolutions blood flower is parasitic on its body, cultivated through various secret methods, and has already transformed into an emperor medicine..."

"You can pick it now! With it, you can definitely complete your Great Nirvana and ignite your Divine Fire!"

The heaven swallowing pagoda shook, forcefully impacting the small Formation.

"Stop!"

"No! Fairy Sister... you can't do this, this should be Elder Huang's property! We can't take it!"

Ye Chen quickly spoke to stop her.

He had a good relationship with Huang Wuji, so he couldn't take someone else's belongings without permission.

"Foolish!"

"Kid! This is your Opportunity!"

"Some things, if you don't fight for them, they'll be gone... He's a quasi-Emperor, even if he refines this, it's impossible for him to become a Great Emperor... at most, it'll increase his Lifespan!"

"And you only need to take three petals! You don't need to take the whole plant!"

"Of course, if you want to take it all, you can!"

The voice from within the heaven swallowing pagoda said.

Ye Chen was tempted!

Greed appeared in his eyes, and an uncontrollable thought arose.

"No! Still no! I can't do this!"

"I stayed here tonight... If I take it, Elder Huang will surely know! How will he view me then?"

Ye Chen shook his head.

Compared to a few petals, he cared more about his friendship with a quasi-Emperor expert!

"Kid! Why are you so stubborn... Think about it, with this, you can achieve Great Nirvana, you can ignite your Divine Fire!"

"Thus, you can pass the assessment this year and be promoted to Core Disciple!"

"Only Core Disciples can participate in the Grand Competition! If you don't participate, you won't get a ranking, you won't get recognition, so how can you marry your Miss Jiang?"

"With nothing to your name, why would the Jiang Family let their Saintess be with a commoner like you?"

The heaven swallowing pagoda said.

An Inner Sect Disciple of the Academy would not be recognized by the world.

At the very least, one had to be a Core Disciple!

Only Core Disciples would catch the eye of an Elder and become an Elder's Disciple.

"Taking it makes all the difference. You can use this to become a Personal Disciple of the Ten Great Elders, and contend for the position of True Disciple of the Academy!"

"Only then! Can you take Miss Jiang away, and gain the Jiang Family's approval!"

"You have no background, you can only steal and snatch!"

"As for that old man... Heh heh, if you don't admit it, he can't do anything to you! You can even say it was that kid who was drinking with you just now who took it!"

"After all, he was the only one on Emperor Mountain all night!"

The heaven swallowing pagoda said.

Born a commoner, to rise against the heavens, one must break the rules, steal, and snatch!

This was stealing fate, stealing Opportunity, stealing the Dao, stealing the future... Ye Chen fell silent!

...Rumble!

Seeing his silence, the heaven swallowing pagoda directly tore open the Formation.

"Elder Huang! I'm sorry!"

"If I ever rise to prominence and become a Great Emperor, I will surely return an entire emperor medicine to you!"

Ye Chen whispered.

As the Formation tore open, the entire tree hollow was enveloped in a brilliant blood-red light!

He carefully picked three petals, and under the moonlight, left Emperor Mountain.

Not long after he left, a figure emerged from the darkness and entered the tree hollow.

"It was indeed hidden here!"

Looking at the nine revolutions blood flower with only six petals remaining, and feeling the surging blood Qi, Qin Wushang was very tempted.

This was definitely a good item!

"Take the whole plant? Or just a part?"

Looking at the nine revolutions blood flower, Qin Wushang was a bit conflicted.

[Ding! Choice triggered...]

[Choice One: Loot everything, steal the remaining nine revolutions blood flower and everything else in the tree hollow.]

[Plot: You steal the entire nine revolutions blood flower and everything in the tree hollow, return to the treehouse, and happily refine it...]

[Huang Wuji finishes dealing with the Huang Family matters, rushes back in a hurry, discovers the nine revolutions blood flower has been stolen, realizes the truth, finds you, and from within your body, detects the unrefined medicinal power...]

[You take the blame for Ye Chen, offend Huang Wuji, are almost beaten to death with a single palm, and are forcibly saved by Dean Meng Changdao...]

[Ye Chen knows you took all the blame, feels no guilt, but rather a sense of relief, understands your character, treats you as a villain, and gives up any thoughts of deep friendship with you.]

[Reward: Divine Grade Movement Technique, Ghost Shadow Traceless Steps; Divine Grade Treasure, Illusory Moon Mask.]

[Choice Two: Honor among thieves, your strength can only refine one petal, so steal only what is useful to you.]

[Plot: You steal one petal of the nine revolutions blood flower, wary of Huang Wuji, you hide the item in the System space, not rushing to refine it.]

[Huang Wuji returns, discovers the nine revolutions blood flower has been stolen, is furious, immediately assumes it was you, comes to your wooden house to investigate, but finds no evidence...]

[He finds Ye Chen. Ye Chen originally intended to follow the heaven swallowing pagoda's spirit and point all blame at you.]

[But feeling guilty, he admits to stealing three petals, but Huang Wuji says four petals are missing.]

[Ye Chen mistakenly believes the heaven swallowing pagoda secretly ate one petal, so he changes his story again, saying he stole four petals.]

[Huang Wuji is somewhat disappointed in him and says that he originally intended to share the nine revolutions blood flower petals with Ye Chen when he asked him to stay. Since he took them privately, the matter is dropped...]

[After parting with Huang Wuji, Ye Chen returns to his residence, begins to interrogate the heaven swallowing pagoda's spirit, and quarrels with the heaven swallowing pagoda's spirit, causing a rift between them.]

[The Empress returns, discovers the nine revolutions blood flower, and asks Huang Wuji for two petals to give you for refining.]

[Reward: Divine Grade Movement Technique, Soaring Heaven Step; one barrel of great dao spirit fluid.]

[Please choose!]

"I choose Two!"

After careful consideration, Qin Wushang chose the second option.

He himself definitely couldn't refine the entire nine revolutions blood flower, given his current strength.

Moreover, the plot deduction showed that the second option was more beneficial to him!

Anyway, Chu Yuehua would get him two petals later!

No loss!

Qin Wushang's finger carefully landed on a petal, then his thought moved.

"Buzz!"

The System space precisely collected one petal. He didn't touch anything else, leaving no trace.

Dawn was breaking!

Huang Wuji returned, covered in blood. Before entering the tree hollow, he saw the tree hollow filled with blood-red light!

"How could this be... did it mature early?"

He flashed back into the tree hollow, his face greatly changed.

"Petals!!!"

Huang Wuji roared, looking at the nine revolutions blood flower with only five petals remaining, his heart bleeding.

This was the fruit of his two thousand years of effort!

He tremblingly picked the item, examined it carefully, then put it into his Storage Ring.

He sniffed carefully, his brow raised.

"There's young Ye's spiritual power fluctuation... there's the smell of wine, and that kid's scent..."

"Judging by young Ye's character, he's not that kind of person. Could it be that new kid?"