Chapter 8

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

The one who saved Bai Lianhua from having to deal with this frustration with Wen Fu is that demonic cultivator from last time.

This time Bai Lianhua learned that his name is Gu You . He doesn’t need the reconnected system to noisily remind him that this guy is also quite the character in the original direction of the world.

In any case, he is undeniably a strong henchman for Wen Fu uniting the demonic cultivators and jeopardising the cultivation realm.

Therefore Bai Lianhua is depressed. His first transmigration has become like a gust of wind. It temporarily blew Wen Fu off his predestined path and yet after all the twists and turns he still falls back into demonic cultivation and comes to meet all the people he should have met.

Gu You is receiving marginally better treatment than last time. At least he’s in Wen Fu’s residence, able to sit in the main hall to discuss things.

——Of course, there’s no tea… you’re joking. The cultivable qi tea in Wen Fu’s residence is from the same plants that Bai Lianhua planted next to his residence. It is only after Bai Lianhua died and his cultivation amount dissipated, and Wen Fu had been forced to leave the Forest of Mists, before he incidentally discovered some seeds for them in his storage bag. He’s planted them in his residence as if trying to recall someone through the objects. They’re nurtured personally by Wen Fu, no matter how insane Wen Fu gets he will not be willing to take those out for others to ruin.

What Gu You is talking about with Wen Fu is still the ancient era concealed realm.

“There’s only half a month to the concealed realm opening. Are you or are you not going, Wen Fu?”

“If you go, we’ll divvy up the benefits.”

In terms of strength, Gu You is not bad himself. Though he’s not as good as Wen Fu, he’s pretty capable normally too. Though ancient era concealed realms are unlike normal opportunities. There’s lethal danger in there. Even at their cultivation rank, it’s still unsafe to be alone. Careful preparation by grouping together with other strong ones is the way to go.

Wen Fu is also well-known for his honour among demonic cultivators. While they can’t help but mock his pretentious nobility and hypocrisy behind his back, but when they need to work together on something, he’s the first person on their minds. Since the guy is someone who means what he says and will definitely complete what he promises. Partnering up with him means they don’t have to worry about being stabbed from the back by their companions.

Another point is that their past demonic cultivators are pretty much useless. In the whole cultivation realm, people only hear about the righteous cultivators leaving behind concealed realms for their successors to train in, but there’s never anything about a demonic cultivation ancestor leaving behind anything for them. So whenever demonic cultivators like them want to get something from the concealed realms, sometimes they even need to use methods from the righteous cultivators.

And Wen Fu, originally a righteous cultivator, is especially remarkable for this. It is shocking how broad his knowledge is. He is more like a chosen one than those supposed geniuses in the righteous path. If it’s related to righteous cultivation, then Wen Fu will know how to deal with it.

——What Gu You would never learn is that during the century Wen Fu spent with Bai Lianhua, he’s seen countless jade tablets ascended elders left behind and learned about countless untold secrets of righteous cultivation in Bai Lianhua’s residence. Plus with his own talents and the support of Bai Lianhua’s alchemical pills, it can be said that if Wen Fu really did do as Bai Lianhua hoped, to never have swayed from the righteous path, what lies before him would certainly have been a bright path headed right for ascension.

Unlike him directly rejecting the last time, Wen Fu agrees to go with Gu You after a slight pause. He also made his conditions clear, which is that a large majority of all the bounties of nature they get from the concealed realm, especially the plants, must be his. In exchange, he can concede the same amount when divvying up the weapons.

Gu You is stunned, “wait, didn’t you hate these materials because you hated alchemical cultivators earlier?” Unless it’s necessary, he never collected them actively.

Plus often it is only alchemical cultivators or toolsmith cultivators who would request so. Not that for a normal cultivator these resources are unimportant, but divine weapons and tools are just as important for them…

“I still hate them now, but I need them, for something.” Wen Fu’s head tilts slightly and his gaze casually sweeps across the room.

Gu You follows his gaze to also see Bai Lianhua who has been quiet the whole way pretending he didn’t exist, and comes to a realisation… Yo, so it was for him?

It does make sense. The little cultivator is only Zhuji, so he’s probably got a bad cultivation base, and needs Wen Fu’s help. To raise their cultivation base and cultivation amount requires auxiliary methods and ingredients.

Tch tch tch, what a scary thing love is. The normal Wen Fu is suddenly as if taken over by someone.

Before, when he saw Wen Fu not avoiding this little cultivator when they’re talking it was a bit shocking already. Now it seems his surprise has been premature. To be able to plan for them like this Wen Fu is actually going to fall.

Eh, what a mess.

Good for him, though. He’s neither good at alchemy nor toolsmithing. He doesn’t particularly want any of those ingredients. He would have packed them up to sell even if he got them, so it’s not in conflict with Wen Fu’s conditions. Personally, he’s more interested in those divine weapons and tools in the concealed realm. In a sense, he’s quite compatible with Wen Fu, able to take advantage of each other’s situation.

Gu You calculated a bit, and says pleasantly, “sure, then it’s a promise. See you at the Qiyun peak tomorrow.”

He did want to go immediately, but when he considers that he might have to take his time parting with his ‘home-grown white lotus,’ Gu You is generous enough to set the departure at tomorrow.

After Gu You left, Wen Fu turns to face Bai Lianhua, “you’ve heard it. I’ll be leaving for a while.”

Bai Lianhua looks downwards, quiet, pretending he’s not trying to escape, nor is at all excited or thrilled for this——He’s really afraid that if he raises his head to look at Wen Fu then his inner thoughts would be exposed… Compared to this grand actor, his level is child’s play.

Yet it didn’t help he didn’t raise his head. Wen Fu has already guessed his thoughts, and pauses before continuing, “but I’ll do my best with the protection and the barrier in the residence. You don’t have to waste time trying to leave. I think you’re smart enough to know how strong a spell circle gets when a Dacheng cultivator is serious… If you have time, you might as well cultivate.”

“I did agree to prolong our life, but that’s when there’s no more possible path to take. Before that, if you can naturally break through your cultivation rank and increase the limit of your longevity, that would be best. It’s also why I am willing to collect all these divine natural bounties for you. Since you’re an alchemical alchemist, you should know how best to make them shine.”

“I’ve looked through your body and your cultivation rank is unchanged from upper Zhuji level just before you passed away. Yet your biological state is similar to when I first met you. This meant that you can still live for more than a century. If you could raise your rank to Jiedan, then we will have more time.”

After all, once he used his age complementation body to prolong Bai Lianhua’s life, that would mean he would never be able to see Bai Lianhua again… He’s greedy in both wanting Bai Lianhua to live and to see him every day. For this purpose, how ever much time he can prolong Bai Lianhua’s life by using normal methods would be a plus.

Bai Lianhua bites his lips. He can see Wen Fu really is considering for him sincerely, and so chases away all the ridiculous thoughts in his mind, and speaks for the first time in these few days, “I am grateful for your consideration, but you know clearly what my cultivation base is.”

Not that he has no mind of his own to advance, but this is the limit of his body in this world. His cultivation rank has been set dead inside Zhuji by the system in the beginning. No matter how diligent they are, and what great materials they use, he’ll never enter Jiedan.

——Every time he’s entering a world he does so as a soul. Only in the single moment of entry into the world would the image the system has set for him in that world materialise gradually.

And a body produced by the system means the parameters of the body are obviously all set by the system. It’s not something that can change with human effort. Even that saying the cultivators throw around about how they’re going against the heavens and changing the course of fate is inapplicable to him.

In fact, he knew Wen Fu’s previously expending his fundamental cultivation power to cleanse his veins is useless and therefore felt it was wasteful. Yet Wen Fu is stubborn and not allowing him to refuse this time.

Wen Fu’s expression grows cold, “all the more reason for you to improve given your bad cultivation base.”

Bai Lianhua can’t respond. They might talk about improving the cultivation base, but if only it were possible to improve it.

“Wen Fu, back then in the Forest of Mists, how serious I was about cultivating every day, and how much pills I ate, how much cultivable plants I ruined in the Forest, you know about that too…”

Wen Fu interrupts him without hesitation, “what’s in the Forest of Mists didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean what’s in ancient era concealed realms wouldn’t work. Bai Lianhua, I’m no longer that cultivator that had nothing to offer then. The me right now is able to get better resources. How would we know if we don’t try?”

He gets close to Bai Lianhua, planting a kiss on the corner of his lips, “nobody would want to die. You don’t have to test me over and over, or speak words you don’t mean. I told you, as long as you gave me genuine affection, with me here, I’ll never let you fall to the predicament you were in the last time.”

Bai Lianhua thinks he might have been blind for a moment. How could he have thought… that Wen Fu felt a bit like the imposing male protagonist in all those campy teenager dramas?

…

Until after Wen Fu has left for several days, when Bai Lianhua recalls it, he can still seem to feel the heat on the corner of his lips.

——What in the world. When Wen Fu first kissed him, he never felt odd like that? He only had shock then.

So that he doesn’t have to face his own embarrassment, Bai Lianhua pulls the system over for a complaint.

“I think Wen Fu is currently already forming a obsession over whether I die. To be honest, perhaps even the fact I lied to him is not as important to him as this… Say, system, why don’t you have mercy on me and improve my cultivation base. Then I could prolong my life by cultivating myself. Besides me not being so limited in terms of fighting capacity, but at least we’ll be able to disperse the inner devil in Wen Fu, right?”

“Plus if I have a golden finger, when I see Wen Fu growing awry, then I could just smack that bear of the child unconscious, tie him up and start educating him without hesitation. The five disciplines and four graces , the eight honours and eight shames all together , playing in a loop like Tripitaka reciting mantras, to teach him never to do evil. Through the months and years until his ears react reflexively to it and puke, then he will succumb. He will turn himself into a great exemplary righteous cultivation idol, then we won’t have to waste so much time… That’s right, system, weren’t you always disapproving of me wasting time on our antagonist?”

System “???”

It freezes up for a second, before finally organising its language and says, “that thought pattern if quite innovative coming from you, host, as expected of someone chosen by me… But first, this is a double white system doing double white missions. Which two whites? Come on, host, say it with me – white lotus and white moonlight.”

“Not considering white moonlights for now, but for white lotuses, since when have you heard of white lotuses being prideful and imposing, and making the ground quake when they tap their foot? If they’re seriously able to be so grand and be so pivotal, then they’re no longer the soft and caring little white lotus, but they’ve become a carnivorous rafflesia .”

“This is clearly not what we stand for. We’re not going to be a rafflesia, not going to… rafflesia sounds so terrible, you know, not at all beautiful and pleasing and poetic like white lotus.”

Bai Lianhua “…” Quick question, why does it have to be a flower? Why am I unable to be detached from all these flowery representations?

The problem is, while it’s all flowers, I don’t think rafflesia sound bad. I’m willing to be a rafflesia, super willing!

“And the last part, about wasting time… How can you say that we’re wasting time? This is clearly a necessary process in completing your white moonlight mission. Host, don’t worry, after you’ve completed the preceding missions and started this ultimate white moonlight mission, I will never hurry you along again. Please go boldly forward as you wish. In fact, from this system’s perspective, it would be best if you were able to stay until the antagonist’s life ends in every mission world. This will ensure the definite success of the mission.”

Bai Lianhua… Bai Lianhua doesn’t want to say anything. That plastic friendship that formed from his sympathy to the system from Wen Fu silencing him has quickly broken up. He ruthlessly started the one-sided muting of the system again.

Author’s notes: Bai Lianhua: Sob. I want to change species, and be a cool, imposing, wild, impressive and arrogant rafflesia… I may have a white lotus body, but I’m a rafflesia inside. It’s my white lotus body that has restrained me from doing all my divine moves_(:з」∠)_

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