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Chapter 378: Am I That Important?

He rushed back to Silver Sword Peak, and intense flames filled his line of sight. Half the hillside was ablaze with violet-gold flames, and Di Nufeng\'s pavilion was gone. All that remained was a crater engulfed in raging flames.

Fortunately, Chu Liang\'s side was unaffected; the Berry Wonderland and the Intoxicating Spirit Flower garden were still there.

Chu Liang let out a sigh of relief.

Luckily, only Esteemed Teacher\'s pavilion was blown up.

That\'s not a huge loss.

These violet-gold flames were clearly from Di Nufeng\'s Samadhi True Fire, so Chu Liang didn\'t dare approach. Even with his current cultivation level, it would be really painful if he were to get burned by it.

After a moment, some of the divine fire gradually subsided, converging and withdrawing to where Di Nufeng\'s pavilion used to be... which was now the site of the crater.

Di Nufeng emerged from the blazing crater.

Dressed in a high-waisted, black-hemmed red dress as always, she stood nonchalantly with her usual languid expression as the flames danced in the wind. Against a backdrop of the scorched ruins of her pavilion, she appeared especially stunning and imposing.

Seeing Di Nufeng emerge, Chu Liang finally dared to approach.

He asked cautiously, "Esteemed Teacher, what happened?"

It looked like she\'d been in a battle, but he didn\'t see any enemies... He guessed that they were likely scattered all over the burning hillside.

"Nothing." Di Nufeng shook her head. "I was cultivating."

"Ah... What?"

Chu Liang was about to sigh in relief, but he suddenly realized something was off about what Di Nufeng had said. His eyes widened in shock, and he took a few steps back.

Chu Liang recalled the various things he\'d seen Di Nufeng doing in the past ten-odd years that he\'d spent at Silver Sword Peak.

Drinking wine, reading picture books, playing mahjong, sleeping, and fighting... When have I ever seen Esteemed Teacher cultivating?

In fact, even those who had been here twenty years before him might not have ever seen her cultivating.

Why did she suddenly start cultivating today?

There were only two possibilities. One was that Di Nufeng had a sudden epiphany and decided to cultivate diligently. The other was that the Di Nufeng standing in front of Chu Liang was a fake.

Chu Liang thought the latter was more likely.

"Why did you step back?" Di Nufeng asked, giving him a sidelong glance. She said irritably, "Is it that strange that I was cultivating?"

What do you think? Chu Liang muttered inwardly in silence.

Nevertheless, he said, "Esteemed Teacher, you are well known for being diligent, so of course, it\'s not strange. It\'s just a bit surprising."

These words of courtesy sounded like flattery to Di Nufeng.

She chuckled and replied, "I wouldn\'t say I\'m diligent. It\'s just that I\'ve been feeling more motivated lately."

"Esteemed Teacher, did something happen?" Chu Liang asked.

In his mind, he added, I can\'t figure out what could possibly motivate you enough to cultivate...

"Haaa..." Di Nufeng sighed. "Mount Shu is experiencing some turbulent times, so Yan Zi resolutely decided to go into closed-door cultivation to get stronger. I can\'t keep staying stagnant like this either..."

Chu Liang advised, "No matter how difficult the situation is, we should proceed steadily. Considering what happened today... Esteemed teacher, did you experience qi deviation?"

Di Nufeng hadn\'t worked on her cultivation for many years. Her sudden cultivation session had probably caused her qi to deviate. It was a very reasonable conjecture based on the state of the hillside.

However, Di Nufeng glared at him. "What qi deviation? I made a breakthrough!"

Chu Liang was startled again. "Huh?"

She cultivates for the first time in eight hundred years[1] and just casually makes a breakthrough?

What kind of fairy tale is this?

Moreover, Di Nufeng was one of the top seventh-realm Eminent Ones. It was incredibly difficult for someone at her level to make progress in their cultivation, yet she had made a breakthrough just like that...?

"This might happen often on our peak in the future. Be mentally prepared," Di Nufeng warned Chu Liang.

What? Are you planning to make breakthroughs every day?

Chu Liang found it quite absurd, but it also seemed quite possible since it was Di Nufeng.

A cultivator\'s intelligence and perception were two truly distinct things.

There were many intelligent people in this world, such as the officials and cabinet ministers of the imperial court. At least a quarter of them had no cultivation ability at all, yet they were all undoubtedly highly intelligent individuals.

Then there were some people who could casually make breakthroughs in their cultivation despite not having much intelligence and generally spent their time drinking wine, sleeping, reading picture books, and playing mahjong. This was probably the power of perception.

Indeed, different people had different fates.

In any case, it wasn\'t a bad thing.

If Esteemed Teacher gets a little stronger, it just means I can walk a little more boldly outside.

After finding out that there was nothing wrong at home, Chu Liang felt at ease. He was thinking about whether he should go back to Senior Sister Jiang and let her know everything was fine. Perhaps they could even continue the good mood they had going earlier...

A second later, Di Nufeng said, "Oh, dear. My place has been blown to smithereens. I have nowhere to stay tonight... Guess I\'ll go sleep in Yan Zi\'s pavilion in the ancient tree on Azure Falling Peak. Heheh, I\'ve wanted to sleep there for a long time, but she never let me... Now she can\'t stop me. Yan Zi\'s bed... Heheheh..."[2]

Chu Liang\'s expression froze.

Esteemed Teacher, do you really have to go there?

How about you sleep at my place, and I\'ll go there instead?

If that\'s not possible, could you at least go a little later?

How about it?

I\'m begging you.

In the end, the night passed by peacefully.

Chu Liang had no idea what Di Nufeng did on Yan Zi\'s bed, but when she returned to Silver Sword Peak, her smile looked a little perverted.

The next morning, disciples specializing in leveling land, building, and restoring mountains arrived to repair the damaged half of Silver Sword Peak and rebuild Di Nufeng\'s pavilion. It was impossible to rebuild the exact same pavilion, but before long, it would look as if nothing had ever exploded there.

Seeing the disciples work, Chu Liang couldn\'t help but marvel at their professionalism. Whenever these disciples were building something, a group of people would go over and enthusiastically watch the creation process.

Chu Liang would have liked to watch too... if he wasn\'t busy.

Unfortunately, he had to fly to Taotie City early in the morning. He had quite a burdensome task to deal with that day.

After having breakfast, Chu Liang got on the Golden-Furred Hou, and they flew north.

Sitting on the back of the Golden-Furred Hou, Chu Liang found time to complete his two qi-circulation cycles for the day. He was deeply moved by his own diligence.

Upon arriving in Taotie City, Chu Liang went to see Dan Lingzi.

"Ah, Young Hero Chu," Dan Lingzi said in greeting.

He was much more cordial this time. He beamed with enthusiasm and warmth that was reserved for his financial backer.

"Esteemed Senior Dan Lingzi, long time no see," Chu Liang replied with a smile. "I heard you\'ve already concocted those berry-flavored pills; your speed is truly astonishing. You really do live up to being the genius alchemist who pioneered the Pill Fusion Technique!"

"Heh." Dan Lingzi blushed at the praise. "It\'s just a few thousand pills. Even if it were a few thousand more, I\'d be done making them for you in just a few more days."

"Really?" Chu Liang asked incredulously.

He was thinking, If that\'s true, then I will certainly ask you to concoct even more pills next time.

"Hehe," Dan Lingzi chuckled instead of replying. Then he took out a storage gourd and handed it to Chu Liang. "Please check them."

"Esteemed senior, the pills that you concoct will, of course, be excellent," Chu Liang commented. Nevertheless, he still used his divine sense to inspect the pills and randomly took out a few of them for a taste. "Mm, it\'s a very pure berry taste."

The pills were authentic berry-flavored Qi-Gathering Pills. They were slightly less effective than the ones Chu Liang had concocted, but the quality was the same.

"I used as much of the Golden Vein Berries you sent me, so of course, they have a pure berry taste," Dan Lingzi said. Then he smiled awkwardly. "There are some extra berries left over. Could I—I heard they\'re quite valuable."

From his expression, it seemed he wanted to sell the leftover berries.

"Of course, esteemed senior. The extras are yours to keep," replied Chu Liang. "Feel free to use them. These are all home-grown spirit fruits. Just let me know if you\'d like more."

"Young Hero Chu, you\'re so generous!" Dan Lingzi praised sincerely.

Chu Liang looked around and continued, "You have such great talent, esteemed senior. It\'s a pity that no one in Taotie City appreciates it."

"Haaa!" Dan Lingzi sighed, lamenting his unrecognized talent too.

It was true there wasn\'t a market for his fruit-flavored pills in Taotie City.

After all, the cultivators there were regular folks, and few were willing to pay a premium for pills that were essentially just sweet treats...

Seeing Dan Lingzi\'s dejected appearance, Chu Liang immediately asked, "Esteemed senior, have you heard that my sect\'s Red Cotton Peak is currently recruiting merchants? Why not set up a shop there? It\'s near my peak, so your fruit-flavored pills would definitely be in high demand!"

"This..."

Dan Lingzi was, of course, tempted by the idea.

Earlier, he had seen the recruitment announcement for Red Cotton Peak in The Seven Stars Gazette and had considered the possibility of shifting his business there.

Dan Lingzi fidgeted for a while in hesitation.

Ultimately, he admitted, "But I don\'t have the money to rent a shop."

"I know the elder who is in charge of this. If you want to shift your business there, I can arrange for you to rent a shop for free for ten years. During this time, if there are any pills that you can\'t sell, my sect will buy them from you. How about that?" Chu Liang offered a set of favorable conditions.

Upon hearing that, Dan Lingzi was inclined to go. Nevertheless, having been in Taotie City for so long, he was still a bit hesitant about moving so suddenly.

Chu Liang leaned close to him and said earnestly, "Esteemed senior, you have such great talent. If you don\'t move to Red Cotton Peak, it would be a tremendous loss for all of Mount Shu!"

All the flattery was getting to Dan Lingzi\'s head, and he was feeling rather dizzy.

He blinked and muttered, "Am I... really that important?"

1. We’re not sure if this is a factual number or just a figurative one... Likely the latter. ☜

2. Lol, I can’t tell if Di Nufeng is being perverted or simply like a mischievous child. ☜