by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
After a while, he finally finished everything. He lifted a bottle of liquor and poured it into his throat. When the intense flavor of the liquor hit him, he couldn't help but mutter, "Eating good food, drinking good liquor, a life worthy of immortals."
It had been a while since he last had such a satisfying meal. Right this moment, someone walked over and sat down in front of him. The newcomer said, "Brother, you are clearly a carefree person. I wonder if you would mind me drinking a glass of your liquor?"
Xiang Shaoyun raised his head and looked at the random newcomer only to find that this person was even more handsome than him! To be precise, this man here had a face prettier than a woman, his bearing gentle and reserved. If he dressed himself up in woman's clothing, others might really think he was a woman.
"Hey, are you a woman dressed in a man's clothing?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in a low voice.
The newcomer blushed slightly before taking out a fan and gently waving it. "You are funny, brother. Do I look like a woman?"
Xiang Shaoyun sized up the newcomer. Feeling uncomfortable, the newcomer was forced to speak again, "Are you done staring at me?"
"Almost." Xiang Shaoyun nodded before he continued, "Apart from your completely flat chest, every single part of you looks like a woman."
"Y-you...scoundrel!" the newcomer stood up and rebuked.
"Hey, I thought you said you're not a woman? Why are you behaving like a woman? Come on, stop pretending," Xiang Shaoyun said with a smile on his face.
The newcomer finally realized he had forgotten his manners. He quickly explained himself, "I just did not expect you to be such a shallow person."
"Sure, sure, whatever. I don't really care about your gender. Drink if you want, but you will have to pour the liquor yourself," Xiang Shaoyun said lazily. The newcomer was about to leave, but he hesitated slightly before sitting down again. He poured himself a full glass of liquor and started drinking.
"Cough, cough...umm, what a fine liquor!" The newcomer choked on the liquor, but excitement filled his face when he praised it.
Xiang Shaoyun threw him a glance and noticed that there was an Adam's apple on the youngster's neck. Thus, he mused to himself, So this fellow is really a man. But why is he so effeminate? He's not a damned crossdresser, right?
That thought placed Xiang Shaoyun in some sort of discomfort.
"Brother! Come! Let's drink to us, two strangers coming together by chance!" the newcomer said, becoming friendlier and friendlier.
It was rude to say no, so Xiang Shaoyun raised his glass and emptied it.
"I'm done here. You can have the rest of the liquor. You can order more if you want," Xiang Shaoyun said before standing up to leave. He did not want to stay any longer.
"What's the rush, brother? It's no fun to drink alone," the newcomer urged Xiang Shaoyun to stay.
Xiang Shaoyun insisted on leaving, causing the newcomer to speak again, "Brother, you are probably a disciple of Blackhill Sect, right? If you can have a couple drinks with me, I will tell you a secret of Blackhill Sect."
This proposal was too attractive for Xiang Shaoyun to reject.
"You're not lying, are you?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"Feel free to leave if you don't believe me," said the newcomer. He seemed rather good at keeping one interested.
Xiang Shaoyun sat down helplessly and called out to the waiter, "Waiter, two bottles of fine liquor and two plates of peanuts."
"Haha, that's more like it," said the newcomer, pleased.
"So what do you know about the Blackhill Sect?" Xiang Shaoyun whispered.
"We'll talk after I have my fill of liquor," said the newcomer. The newcomer seemed to be a liquor lover.
Left with no choice, Xiang Shaoyun started drinking as well. He did not forget to ask, "Brother, what is your name?"
"I am Dong Zi. What about you?" asked the youngster.
"Me? I am he who does not change his name, he who is loved by all, he whose very presence causes flowers to bloom, the one and only, the handsome, Overlord Xiang!" Xiang Shaoyun said, emptying a glass of liquor.
Those words caused the newcomer to spit out all the liquor in his mouth.
Sphhlt!
Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun had a fast reaction time and was able to dodge the spit. Otherwise, he would have gotten himself drenched with liquor.
Chapter 141: The View Here Is Better
"Y-you're too conceited!" Dong Zi pointed at Xiang Shaoyun and said.
"What do you know? This young master is telling the truth. Believe what you will. Hey, don't spit liquor on me, or I'll get angry," Xiang Shaoyun replied.
"That was just an accident!" Dong Zi said awkwardly. He paused for a bit before saying, "Brother Xiang, your name is truly interesting. Overlord, are you not worried that some King Realm cultivators will overhear you and decide to teach you a lesson?"
"Hah, I'll just teach them a lesson when I become a King Realm cultivator," Xiang Shaoyun replied nonchalantly.
"Sure, sure. There's no winning an argument with you. Come, let's drink." Dong Zi started drinking again since he did not feel like continuing the topic.
A slight trace of anxiousness seemed to be hidden within his eyes, something that others could hardly notice. Xiang Shaoyun started to drink, inwardly thinking of a way to get the information about Blackhill Sect from this person. He also wondered if this was merely a lie and if he had been tricked.
Whatever. I'll just consider this a break or something, Xiang Shaoyun sighed inwardly.
After a bit of drinking, Dong Zi suddenly set the glass down and said, "I heard liquor can make someone drunk, but the more I drink, the more tasteless it becomes. Bah, time to stop drinking."
Xiang Shaoyun looked at Dong Zi in confusion, not understanding what the fellow was up to.
"Let's go. You want to know Blackhill Sect's secret, right? I'll take you there," Dong Zi lowered his voice and said.
Looking at the delicate and rosy face right in front of his own face, Xiang Shaoyun leaned back to distance himself from Dong Zi. He wondered why this guy was leaning in so closely to him. No matter how pretty this guy here was, he was still not a woman.
"I'll get the bill." Xiang Shaoyun stood up and called a waiter over. After he paid, he looked at Dong Zi and said, "Let's go."
Dong Zi strutted out of the restaurant with his head raised high as he waved his fan.
His action attracted all the women in the restaurant, overshadowing Xiang Shaoyun entirely.
But Xiang Shaoyun did not care at all. He was trying to keep a certain distance between him and Dong Zi at all times. For some reason, he had a feeling this fellow was interested in guys.
Outside the restaurant, Dong Zi turned and looked at Xiang Shaoyun before saying, "You're afraid of me?"
"Why am I afraid of you?" Xiang Shaoyun replied.
"Why are you staying so far from me, then?" Dong Zi asked.
"Haha, the view here is better!" Xiang Shaoyun laughed.
"Liar. Am I really such a hateful person?" Dong Zi asked as he suddenly turned distressed.
"What? Of course not. You're overthinking things." Xiang Shaoyun's tone softened when he saw the sorrow on Dong Zi's face.
"Don't bother. I know that a lot of people hate and dislike me." Dong Zi shook his head.
Inwardly, Xiang Shaoyun grumbled, Woah, we have just met each other. There's no need to tell me all that, right?
"Thank you for drinking with me. Come, time for me to fulfill my promise." Dong Zi took a deep breath, forced the negative emotions from his mind, and started to walk away. He walked at a speed much faster than the speed of an average Astral Realm cultivator.
Xiang Shaoyun wondered if this person was a Blackhill Sect disciple, but he couldn’t resist his curiosity, so he decided to play along for now. Shortly after, they exited the town and headed in a certain direction.
The longer Xiang Shaoyun followed Dong Zi, the more alarmed he was, as he discovered that this fellow was much stronger t
han he looked, and not even Xiang Shaoyun could see his real strength.
With Xiang Shaoyun's presence of a king, there were only two situations where he couldn't sense someone's real strength. The first was when the other party was too powerful for him to sense while the other was when his target had some treasure capable of concealing one's actual strength.
Whichever the case, one thing was clear—this Dong Zi was definitely not a person with an ordinary identity.
Reaching that conclusion, Xiang Shaoyun turned vigilant. After a while, he noticed that Dong Zi had brought him to some uninhabited mountain ridge.
"Where are we going, exactly?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"Blackhill Sect's mine," Dong Zi replied.
"Mine? What are you trying to do?" Xiang Shaoyun was shocked.
Dong Zi turned and looked at Xiang Shaoyun before saying, "Don't worry. I am not interested in your Blackhill Sect's blackiron ore."
"What do you want, then?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"You'll know when we're there." Dong Zi did not give a straight answer.
Xiang Shaoyun thought, Is this kid an enemy of the Blackhill Sect as well? But that does not seem like it? He thought I was a Blackhill Sect disciple, so he wouldn't have me tag along if he was about to do something bad to the Blackhill Sect.
After a while, they arrived at the peak of a mountain. From the peak, one could see a mountain range and vaguely hear human voices every now and then.
"Do you know the reason why the Blackhill Sect can keep digging blackiron ores from this place?" Dong Zi asked.
Xiang Shaoyun shook his head.
"Because there is a secret treasure hidden beneath this place," Dong Zi said confidently.
"What secret treasure?" Xiang Shaoyun asked curiously.
In an extremely irresponsible manner, Dong Zi said, "That is what I want to know as well."
His reply nearly caused Xiang Shaoyun to trip and fall.
"The hell? If you don't know, why are you bringing me here? Why mislead me?" Xiang Shaoyun couldn't help but curse.
Dong Zi replied calmly, "What can I gain from misleading you? Think about it, if you manage to figure out the secret, you will definitely reap a great harvest. But if you fail to find the secret, well, it's not my fault, is it?"
Xiang Shaoyun was speechless. He had indeed been tricked. If there was really some secret, those big-shot cultivators would have found it long ago. It would have nothing to do with him. Not wanting to talk to Dong Zi anymore, Xiang Shaoyun turned to leave.
"Hey, be patient. Look, something is going on over there," Dong Zi called out.
Xiang Shaoyun ignored him.
"Hey, I'm telling the truth. Come on, something weird is going on down there," Dong Zi cried out.
Xiang Shaoyun was about to continue ignoring Dong Zi, but he suddenly heard a sound that caused all his hair to stand on end.
Howl! Howl!
Suddenly, a big gust of wind blew past the area, and sounds akin to wailing ghosts rang out in the air. Xiang Shaoyun quickly turned around and looked down to see that chaos had erupted within the crowd below. They seemed to be fighting something.
"I'm going down there. Something shocking might be there waiting for me," Dong Zi said and directly ran down.
It was now that Xiang Shaoyun finally realized how fast Dong Zi was. He wondered, Which family's young master is this? Looks like he is at least a late-stage Transformation Realm cultivator.
He did not dally around doing nothing, as he started running down as well. Since they were running downhill, they were able to move at a speed faster than their usual speed. The two did not approach the crowd rashly. Rather, they hid themselves not far from them and tried to get a clear look at the situation.
"So many blackfur corpses!" Dong Zi paled. He was extremely disgusted by what he saw.
Chapter 142: You're the Boss
The blackfur corpse was a sinister being that was a mixture of a corpse and a zombie. Each blackfur corpse came into existence when a dead body did not rot but instead grew black fur and started to walk the earth again. It was a sinister monstrosity.
Similar to zombies, blackfur corpses loved feeding on blood. The moment one woke up, it would not stop before drawing blood. Not far from Xiang Shaoyun, a large number of blackfur corpses were fighting a group of Blackhill Sect members.
The Blackhill Sect members here consisted of some elders, overseers, disciples and regular miners. A large majority of them were only Basic Realm cultivators that were completely helpless against the blackfur corpses.
One after another, they fell, and the blackfur corpses feasted upon them, painting a terrifying and sinister scene. That was what Dong Zi saw, and that was what caused him to feel so disgusted.
"Miners, retreat immediately. The rest, charge! Kill these things!" shouted a Transformation Realm elder from Blackhill Sect.
They started unleashing numerous attacks at the blackfur corpses. The blackfur corpses weren't exactly powerful combatants, but they had the advantage of fearlessness. One could land a slash on a blackfur corpse, but that would not kill it. Instead, it would take the chance to decrease the distance and bite the human. To make things worse, the blackfur corpse's teeth were highly toxic, capable of causing its victim to lose combat power or even die from poisoning.
Because of that, the longer the battle lasted, the more fearful the Blackhill Sect members became. They were completely incapable of stopping the blackfur corpses. If it wasn't for the few Transformation Realm elders present, the Blackhill Sect would have suffered an even more disastrous loss.
"Chopping their head off will stop them!" said the leading elder. He moved like wind as attacks flowed out his hand like a rainbow. Where his sword energies passed, blackfur corpse heads flew everywhere.
"Elder Ma Feng, should we try charging in there? Something must've been dug out," suggested an elder.
"Sure, let's attack together and try charging inside. Everyone else, retreat," said Ma Feng.
They charged ahead bravely, killing any blackfur corpses that got in their way before they were finally able to get inside the cave. But they had only entered shortly when one person rushed out in a sorry manner.
This person was none other than Elder Ma Feng. Black fur was growing out of his face as he staggered about. With great difficulty, he yelled, "E-everyone, retreat! R-report to t-the sect..."
Before he finished the sentence, he collapsed and died. His death caused the Blackhill Sect members to be in an even greater panic. Everyone started fleeing, abandoning the blackiron ores stockpiled here. Nothing was more important than staying alive.
Both Xiang Shaoyun and Dong Zi saw everything clearly, and both of them were overwhelmed with shock at what they saw. A Transformation Realm expert was actually defeated so quickly after entering the cave. What exactly was in there?
"Let's go take a look," Dong Zi said, growing excited.
Xiang Shaoyun was shocked at how fast this fellow changed his mind. Joy, sorrow, disgust, excitement...he was as fickle as a woman.
"Even if you want to die, don't drag me along. Go yourself." Xiang Shaoyun turned and left without a second thought.
After many near death experiences, Xiang Shaoyun was no longer as rash. No matter what treasure was in the cave, he would not easily put himself in danger. At times, a fortuitous encounter might be a disaster in disguise.
"Pfft. What a coward. And you dare call yourself Overlord? Where's the courage of an overlord?" said Dong Zi with disdain.
"Whatever you say. I'm not risking my life for nothing." Xiang Shaoyun did not care.
"Hey, wait. I have some poison discharge pills here. Are you sure you don't want to try your luck in there?" said Dong Zi after taking out two pills.
"Try? Sure, go try yourself," Xiang Shaoyun rejected.
Dong Zi hesitated for a bit before he spoke again, "I also have a king-grade armor here. If you come with me, you can have the armor."
As he said that, he took out a t
iny armor. The delicate design of the armor and the durability of the materials used to forge it made it clear it was an extraordinary armor.
"King-grade armor?" Xiang Shaoyun was astonished. But an odd expression covered his face as he said, "This...is a female's inner armor."
That was when Dong Zi gazed at his armor and quickly cried out in alarm, "I-I took out the wrong armor. It's not this one."
The armor vanished, replaced with a male's armor.
There is indeed something that is more than meets the eye about him, Xiang Shaoyun thought inwardly.
He had already noticed a delicate bracelet on Dong Zi's wrist. Both armors were taken out of that bracelet.
Storage bracelet!
A storage item was different from the storage space within one's astral cosmos sea. The former was forged from rare materials while the latter was formed within one's body. A storage item was also extremely valuable and not something an ordinary person could own, especially someone as young as Dong Zi.
From this, it was obvious that Dong Zi had a powerful background.
Even so, Xiang Shaoyun still did not change his mind. He looked at Dong Zi solemnly and said, "Yes, the poison discharge pill works against regular poisons. But the poison in the cave is probably the blackcorpse poison. I doubt the poison discharge pill can keep it at bay for long. Also, although king-grade armor can protect your vitals, it won't protect your entire body. Have you thought of a possibility that something scary is in the cave? For example, a zombie king? If that is the case, both of us will die."
Looking at the stern Xiang Shaoyun, Dong Zi felt somewhat embarrassed as he said, "But...I really want to take a look at what's in the cave! Perhaps a heaven-defying fortuitous encounter is waiting for us in there!"
Xiang Shaoyun hesitated slightly before saying, "Fine, for the two items you offered, I will take this risk with you." He paused for a bit before saying, "Gather some wood and flints."
"Alright!" Dong Zi was overjoyed, but after walking a few steps, he stopped and asked, "Wait, why am I doing the gathering instead of you?"