Chapter 902: Chapter 901: Swarming Forward

Fairy Fei Bai scrutinized Hou Niao back and forth with a probing look. She couldn’t understand how a crude Sword Cultivator could have reached this point. Did he make it here by himself, or did Qi Zheng bring him here?

But it wasn’t quite appropriate to ask Qi Zheng about it; it seemed a bit presumptuous.

She could only ask the Sword Cultivator, “How did you get here too? Did you hitch a ride on someone else’s wind boat?”

Hou Niao raised his eyebrows, feeling that this woman always had an air of superiority from the Upper Realm, making herself more noticeable, with an overly inflated self-perception.

“Why couldn’t I have found my own way here? Jinxiu Continent is my hometown. A wanderer longs for home, is that not reason enough?”

Fairy Fei Bai frowned slightly, “I’m afraid you’re not capable of that.”

“You’ll slowly come to understand my abilities, and I must ensure you have a good time to fulfill my duty as a host.”

A group of around ten people entrusted the navigation to those among them most skilled in spatial abilities. Hou Niao mingled in the crowd, loafing about and swallowing elixirs, feeling quite content; but he reckoned that at his current pace of consumption, these great elixirs wouldn’t last long.

“Are those elixirs still useful to you? I see you’ve reached the Golden Core’s completeness and don’t need that many more, so why not sell them to me, and we could maintain a friendly relationship?”

Fairy Fei Bai scoffed, “Do you even have any cultivation knowledge at all? Such pure and spiritual great elixirs, can they be exchanged for Spirit Stones? They’re comparable to the Yuqing Spirit Machine, or even more valuable due to their wider applicability, something countless Golden Core Cultivators dream of. You want to buy them? Just with those scraps from Jinxiu?”

Hou Niao rubbed his nose, used to the woman’s sharp tongue, perhaps even accustomed to it?

“There must be a price? And it’s not like you’re the only one who made these great elixirs. I see others who have made no less than you.”

“No price! There’s no price for you! If it weren’t for your threats and coercion, my wealth would be even more than this. After seizing what you want by force, you still want to buy and sell unfairly? Are all Sword Cultivators like this?”

Hou Niao was speechless, “You were the one who proposed giving me half the elixirs in exchange for saving your life. Have you forgotten so soon? You can take back the elixirs if you want, but does that mean I can reclaim your life?”

“Still say it’s not a threat? You’ve been threatening in the past and now! Forget it, I won’t bicker with you. How about this, I’ll give you ten elixirs, but you have to answer one question for me, without concealment or deceit.”

Hou Niao seized the opportunity to raise the price, “Twenty elixirs?”

Fairy Fei Bai turned to leave, and Hou Niao quickly caught up, “Why are you angry now? It’s just business negotiation, isn’t it normal to haggle?”

Fairy Fei Bai responded coldly, “I heard Sword Cultivators never haggle over business deals? It’s said you’re straightforward and direct, which is why I gave this price, and yet you want to inflate the price?”

Hou Niao was not ashamed, but rather proud, “Haha, if we had learned to bargain, even the Daoist Sect wouldn’t exist anymore… Alright, ten it is, but only within my ability and not crossing my limits.”

Fairy Fei Bai sneered, “You have limits?”

Hou Niao replied matter-of-factly, “Of course, there are limits for ten elixirs, and even lower limits for a hundred elixirs. If you gave me all your elixirs, I’d even sell myself to you!”

What a rogue! Fairy Fei Bai was reluctant to ask, but the crux was that among these people, only this guy could answer her question!

“What I want to know is, you’ve consumed so many great elixirs and Spirit Plants along the way, even directly swallowing them raw. Has there been any change in your Dantian? I mean, have you noticed anything amiss?”

Hou Niao’s heart stirred, “No, your question is foolish. If I felt something was wrong, why would I keep swallowing them? If something goes wrong, you stop the treatment, if there’s a reaction, you check yourself. A simple reasoning that even mortals understand, how come you’re confused here?

Forget it, count it as my kindness not holding it against you this time, but you shouldn’t beat around the bush. Say what you need to say, only then can I know how to help you?”

Fairy Fei Bai thought for a while and decided to speak more bluntly. This issue had been bothering her for a long time,

“It’s like this, though most of my energy has been on refining Spirit Plants and creatures into great elixirs, occasionally I consume them directly to make my cultivation more refined. Over the past decade, I’ve felt some slight changes in my Purple Mansion, as if something is about to grow from it. I wanted to know if consuming like you do feels more pronounced?”

Seeing Fairy Fei Bai trying to maintain her composure yet subtly uneasy, he didn’t want to be too harsh, so he spoke truthfully,

“I haven’t felt anything unusual, not because I have a special tolerance for Spirit Plant energy, nor due to any special cultivation technique. For Jinxiu cultivators, cultivating the Purple Mansion is already a priority in our cultivation, even more so than the three Dantians.

For your Golden Core, it’s the deep integration of the upper, middle, and lower Dantians, but for us Jinxiu cultivators, we also include the Purple Mansion, where a seed is nurtured since we begin our path, so it’s not surprising.”

He gave her a deep look, “So the anomaly you speak of is normal for us Jinxiu people. I don’t know what this means for you, whether good or bad, but in some sense, it’s a case of ‘when in Rome’?”

Fairy Fei Bai frowned in distress, “I’m not sure. According to you, if we hadn’t experienced this time in the Medicine King Furnace, but smoothly descended to the Jinxiu Continent, would we still feel the Purple Mansion stirring?”

Hou Niao shrugged, “I never said that, such a hypothesis has no basis; but if you all entered the Jinxiu Continent after unlocking the Heaven and Earth Chains, then there would likely be no effect. Never heard of high-level cultivators assimilating with the local natives upon descent to any Boundary Domain. If descending to the Demon Realm, would humans align with demons in cultivation?

So, maybe the root of everything lies in prematurely entering Jinxiu Continent at the wrong time, causing changes in your inner secret?”

Fairy Fei Bai furrowed her pretty brows, “I have a bad feeling, almost as if controlled. Of course, it’s just intuition; we haven’t actually entered Jinxiu Continent yet, and such changes began occurring inside the Medicine King Furnace. I see the Medicine King Furnace’s intentions aren’t entirely pure.”

Hou Niao found it hard to respond. He could only change the subject since suspecting an Innate Spiritual Treasure’s purpose was not a foolish act he would partake in. Clearly aware of his limitations, he was prepared to feign ignorance even if there were machinations against them.

“Actually, this question should not be directed at me, but rather at the group of Upper Realm guests with you, to see if they share similar feelings.

My suspicion is that this may not be trouble unique to you.”