Chapter 233, Complete Loss

“How can a genuine 6th-grade ingredient have problems?” Zhuo Fan scratched his nose as worry crept in his heart.

Scrunching his nose, Gu Santong frowned and split the ingredient in two with his fingers. A red worm was seen wiggling further into the ingredient, but Gu Santong picked it up.

“What is this?” Gu Santong’s set his eyes on Zhuo Fan.

Zhuo Fan was shocked inside, but didn’t show it. If the kid found out, he’d be pulverized with a flick alone!

Zhuo Fan knew he couldn’t admit it even in death. He had to play innocent, “Strange, how did a worm get inside an ingredient?”

“Yeah, ingredients are worldly treasure so how could this grand 6th-grade ingredient caught a worm?” Gu Santong stared Zhuo Fan down. But could only shake his head in the end having not detected any abnormalities. He killed the bug and ate the ingredient, “Whatever, anything is possible in this world! But be more careful next time you go pick ingredients.”

Zhuo Fan nodded, and hightail it out of there with a soaked back.

How did this kid, without a Discerning Field, find out about the Bloodworm?

Luckily the kid didn’t doubt him or he’d be a goner!

Recalling Li Jingtian’s heavy wounds after a mere throw, Zhuo Fan swallowed dryly as he flew away.

Yet Gu Santong still sat there on the cliff, chewing ingredients with a frown. [How is it that an ingredient caught a worm?]

Whoosh!

Zhuo Fan returned like lighting to Li Jingtian. The latter was eager to know the result, “Steward Zhuo, how was it?”

“Can’t you tell from my face?” Zhuo Fan spoke glumly.

Li Jingtian knew Zhuo Fan was depressed, “You mean the kid used the Discerning Field for the first time?”

“As if!”

Zhuo Fan shook his head and sighed, his brow in a constant frown, “And this is what worries me. Without using his soul to investigate, how the hell did he find the hidden worm? If I can’t understand this, any future attempts will be pointless!”

Li Jingtian sank in thought as well. The four demons suddenly stopped yelling as they tried muffling their laughter. But the pain got too much and soon resumed their tenor symphony.

Zhuo Fan couldn’t care less, however.

“Steward Zhuo, should we try with eggs?” Li Jingtian proposed, “We may not know what trick he used, but not even Discerning Field can find the eggs. I refused to believe he is any different!”

Zhuo Fan slapped his thigh, “We’ll do it like you said Elder Li! But this time it will cost me heavily!”

Gnashing his teeth, Zhuo Fan’s hand revealed a three-foot-long red and white root.

Li Jingtian shouted in shock, “7th-grade ingredient, Yin Yang Moon Fire Root!”

“Correct. This ingredient is hot on the outside but cold inside. This is one of the few ingredients with yin and yang in harmony. Because of it’s rarity, it is even valued higher than an 8th-grade ingredient.”

Stammering, Zhuo Fan caressed the red hot root yet ice cold whiskers with a bleeding heart, “I got it when I was in Drifting Flowers Edifice and couldn’t bear the thought of using it in the competition. Yet, I am now using it to house some worm eggs. When the kid takes it, it’s the same as eating a Spring Pill, quickening the growth of the worm!”

Seeing him so reluctant, Li Jingtian patted his shoulder, “Steward Zhuo, you know what they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Think about it, a 7th-grade ingredient in exchange for the Invincible Scamp, no matter how you see it, it’s totally worth it. I’m sure you can see it with your cunning mind!”

Zhuo Fan’s gaze hardened and nodded, “Yes, this is not just a mere exchange but a great deal!”

Zhuo Fan let a Bloodworm into the ingredient, then soon after put it back in the gourd.

Now the ingredient was filled with Bloodworm eggs.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the ingredient with hope and smiled, “Everything rests on you now!”

“Good luck, Steward Zhuo!” Li Jingtian cupped his hands.

Zhuo Fan nodded and flew to Gu Santong.

He was there in a flash.

Startled, Gu Santong turned to Zhuo Fan, “You’re damn quick, you know that? Those four fools have nothing on you! What did you find this time? Take it out…”

But he couldn’t finish as the sight of the ingredient in Zhuo Fan’s hands had him wide eyed, “7th-grade ingredient! You actually found a 7th grade ingredient?”

“Just lucky, I guess!” Zhuo Fan nodded.

Gu Santong took it and drooled. He was moved to tears, “A 7th-grade ingredient, oh I haven’t had one in three centuries. Those bastards in yellow only know how to starve me with wretched 1st and 2nd grade ingredients. It took me three hundred years to reach the 2nd layer of Radiant Stage…”

Gu Santong lamented his grief, while Zhuo Fan nodded inwardly.

Now he knew who he was talking about. They were the Imperial Capital’s guards. He found another big secret as well. His cultivation didn’t rely on training, or maybe training did very little. Only eating ingredients increased his strength.

[Curses, if I take him in, I’ll go broke before I get to raise him!]

On second thought, [I might not need to feed him anyway since he is already invincible. Yeah, no problem.]

Then, it suddenly occurred to him.

[The Imperial family definitely has high grade ingredients. Yet, over the last centuries they’ve only been feeding him 1st and 2nd grade.]

[Was it done on purpose to hold this monster’s growth in check?]

[So the more power he has the harder it is for the imperial family to control him!]

Squinting, Zhuo Fan realized Gu Santong was unlike the rumors painted him as the strongest in the empire. At least the imperial family seemed to have a way to keep him in check.

Otherwise there was no reason to stunt his cultivation for so many years.

Zhuo Fan took a deep breath. As of yet, he was unsure if this conjecture was real or not, but he couldn’t ignore it either or he’d be suffering at the hands of the imperial family sometime in the future.

The imperial family still had uses for them and they were relying on the imperial family, but who was to say when all of this could just go belly up?

[In short, there are no everlasting friends. Anyone can become an enemy!]

Zhuo Fan’s eyes flashed coldly!

Eh?

Gu Santong suddenly frowned and cried out. He looked at the ingredient and shook his head, “This one is also fishy. Why are all the ingredients you find so queer?”

His heart drumming in his chest, Zhuo Fan swallowed dryly, “Ha-ha-ha, what could possibly be wrong?”

Gu Santong snapped the ingredient in two and pointed, “See that?”

Zhuo Fan saw the core of the ingredient in shock.

Gu Santong broke it right where the Bloodworm laid its eggs. The middle of this 7th grade ingredient was white as the moon and released a deep chill. But in this whiteness, there were some greyish dots, Bloodworm’s eggs.

The average man would definitely miss them even with scrutiny. Not even a Radiant Stage expert searching it with his soul could find them – Li Jingtian bore testament to that.

Yet this little monster actually did it! Not only found them, but even accurately struck their exact spot. Even Zhuo Fan had to admire his prowess!

[This ain’t the time to gawk!]

Wiping his brow, Zhuo Fan squinted and faked, “Uh, what are you saying? I can’t see anything!”

Gu Santong pointed his childlike finger, “See these dots, they don’t match the ingredient. They are in fact closely resembling the worm in the last ingredient. They must be its eggs.”

Zhuo Fan’s heart sank and his legs almost gave.

[He looks like a clueless brat, but his eyesight is spot on. He can even see similarities between the eggs and the Bloodworm!]

Zhuo Fan was gripped with fear. [If the kid blames me for the worm and the eggs, a single hit from him will reduce me to pulp!]

But that didn’t happen as Gu Santong waved the eggs off the ingredient and started chewing it.

He chewed as he smiled, “I can’t blame you for this, just like the ingredient with the worm in it. How can I throw away a 7th grade ingredient? I don’t mind taking it, ha-ha-ha…”

Gu Santong laughed brightly, and Zhuo Fan felt his heart bleed.

[Ahhhhh! Not only I lost a fortune but I couldn’t get the kid either. I lost everything!]

But as he was mourning the loss, Gu Santong’s words drifted over, “Hey, you’re really good at finding ingredients. So why don’t I shorten the time? One ingredient every two hours, a 7th-grade one!”

Stumbling, Zhuo Fan was close to spurting blood. He had no one to blame but himself!

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Giving the kid so many ingredients ended up with him admitting defeat. And instead of getting him wrapped around Zhou Fan’s fingers, the kid asked a 7th grade ingredient per two hours! [He’s killing me!]

Not even he had so many on hand…