Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Hey!” Pei Sefei was furious. Not only did this guy treat her very rudely, but he also made her stay outside the door. The way he stared so boldly at her also greatly annoyed her. She had never been treated so rudely by anyone before since she was young. Pei Sefei had participated in this competition purely for fun. She didn’t expect to win!
She had won, but she didn’t let it get to her head. She was well aware of the corruption in the entertainment industry and understood that since she had not provided any ‘extra services,’ how could she be the winner? So she employed some small tricks and easily found the two addresses where a large number of votes had been sent from. From her rough estimate, the votes sent from these two addresses cost at least millions of yuan. Millions of yuan meant nothing to Pei Sefei, but she did not want to owe anyone a favor.
The latter address was a rental house. The tenants had already moved out, and there were no traces of them to be found; the former was in a small housing estate. Pei Sefei couldn’t help but become curious about who was helping her secretly. If he had ulterior motives, why hadn’t he contacted her even though it had been a long time since she had won and landed the endorsement contract?
Although she could only be regarded as being in the entertainment industry partially, she had heard numerous stories of ‘entertainment Cinderellas.’ Often, on the night when a competition ended, the winner would receive a mysterious golden invitation. In the dim light, maybe on a yacht, or maybe in a romantic French restaurant, a pot-bellied, balding, middle-aged ‘prince’ would appear…
Or should he be called—Lord?
Pei Sefei’s curiosity about this mysterious person grew. She couldn’t help but look for him, visiting the house repeatedly. According to information Pei Sefei obtained, the owner had not put the house up for sale, which meant that he was likely to return. Therefore, she went there every other day. She went to the house so much that the enthusiastic neighborhood aunties cast her sideway looks whenever she appeared.
Pei Sefei also had a bit of expectation in her heart for what she would find. A girl who was in her twenties would be thinking of love, and she was no exception. It was inevitable that she would fantasize about her Prince Charming appearing in the most unexpected romantic way. To her, the most romantic way would be her prince loving her silently and secretly. One day, he would find an opportunity to appear, half-kneeling before her, with a bunch of red roses. He would then tell her about his love-sickness which was as bitter as bitter coffee in a gentle and deep voice..
She was about to be surprised.
Certain special reasons made her cautious, like a cat stepping on thin ice. Drawing in prey by pretending to be uninterested was a tactic she had encountered before, but she couldn’t stop her imagination from running wild. The girl inside her had thrown away all her restraints. Thus, she appeared outside Luo Qian’s house time and time again.
Unfortunately… her fantasy was eventually destroyed. Pei Sefei’s dream was shattered within five minutes of meeting Luo Qian. It seemed as if Luo Qian couldn’t wait to chase her away. His eyes were indifferent and unreasonable. Pei Sefei had never been so coldly treated by a man. The way he looked at her was as if scrutinizing a piece of artwork. Right, it was a scrutinizing look, not the besotted look men usually had when they looked at her.
Luo Qian was mesmerized by her elf-like quality, but he was not obsessed with her. Luo Qian never imagined that he would have anything to do with a human girl. The reason for the current situation was entirely because of that man, Du Lengning. To explain it using the most popular theory now, Du Lengning was the butterfly wing from the Immortal Realm. He fluttered his wings and sent this elf-like girl, Pei Sefei, to Luo Qian.
Pei Sefei—whose self-esteem had taken a severe beating—made up her mind to leave once she asked her questions and got clear answers. “Why did you help me?”
Luo Qian decided to stubbornly deny everything. “Help you? Are you kidding? I don’t even know you, so why would I help you?”
Pei Sefei sneered, her mindful vigilance taking effect. “Your reaction is really special, but unfortunately, it’s useless. I have seen countless similar tricks. I came here to find you because I wanted to tell you this: I will not have special feelings towards you just because you spent millions of yuan helping me. Stop your wishful thinking.”
After Pei Sefei finished speaking, she turned around and walked away with her head held high.
Luo Qian sneered. “Ridiculous…”
He didn’t stop her from leaving. He listened to the clicking sounds which Pei Sefei’s heels made when they hit the stairs before closing the door and shaking his head. Suddenly remembering her cute cheeks from earlier, he couldn’t help but smile. “Du Lengning has some foresight.”
Pei Sefei walked out of the building and still didn’t see Luo Qian coming after her. She couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. “Was I mistaken, and he really has no ulterior motives? That’s impossible. He’s not stupid, why would he throw millions out for nothing?” Looking back at the somewhat old buildings behind her, Pei Sefei frowned. This guy did not look like someone who had millions to spare. Could he have a backer?
With those thoughts weighing on her mind, Pei Sefei left the small housing estate. She turned a corner. A black Mercedes was waiting for her in the shade of a tree.
Picking up the car phone, Pei Sefei dialed a number. “Hello, Uncle Liu. Can I trouble you to help me check on something…”
H County was located southeast of Qinghai Province. The land was barren, and the climate dry. There were no special products here. The living standards of the residents were far below the national average. The only reason Immortal Luo was willing to visit such a barren place was for the sake of 100 Superior Immortal Jade.
The mountain Ling Xiaose’s mysterious cousin mentioned was in County H. It was quite a distance away from the county seat.
In the air, Luo Qian searched for the location given by Ling Xiaose’s mysterious cousin. He found the rock that looked like a roaring tiger. With joy in his heart, he floated down and smashed the rock tiger with a punch.
A cluster of golden light faded out—it seemed that someone had deliberately placed a seal on it. However, to an Immortal, a seal from the Human Realm was as fragile as rice paper. Even a Tribulation Immortal like Luo Qian could destroy it without any effort.
Since someone from the Immortal Realm wanted this object, it must be related to cultivation in the Human Realm. It wasn’t surprising there was some kind of magical spell like a seal placed on it.
Luo Qian probed the rubble with his Immortal aura, and a little white light floated up from it. Luo Qian stretched out his hand to grasp it. It turned out to be the jade pendant that had a phoenix and dragon carved on it. The blood-red eyes of the dragon and phoenix gave life to them.
Luo Qian smiled and pocketed the jade pendant. Having achieved his goal, he activated his secret technique and left the Human Realm.
Luo Qian didn’t know much about ‘situation.’ After all, he was just a half-baked Immortal. He couldn’t see that this place was an extremely rare ‘three positive’ cave and that the stone tiger was exactly at the cave’s energy center. Beings or objects suppressed in such places were by no means simple.
Not long after Luo Qian left, a few light rays came from different directions. The few people who came seemed to know each other. When they saw the broken stone tiger, they were startled. “Who broke this tiger-killing formation and took away the Jade Demon’s soul?!”
Bang!
Luo Qian once again landed head down, feet up, like an object which had fallen from a height. Straightening himself laboriously, Luo Qian was very annoyed. It seemed that he should work harder. Even though he was a Tribulation Immortal, the results of his cultivation were still pathetic. However, every little bit would eventually add up. He vowed to become a Second-Order Immortal at least. This ‘vertical drop’ was really unsafe. He didn’t want to be the first Immortal ever to fall to death in the Immortal Realm!
Carrying the gold and the precious jade pendant worth 100 Superior Immortal Jade, Luo Qian returned to his cave mansion in Fushan. He then released a jade talisman to contact Ling Xiaose before settling in his cave mansion to await good news.
“Old Luo, are you back yet…” Du Lengning’s voice came from outside.
Luo Qian called out loudly, “I’m back. Come in.”
A figure flashed in through the door. Du Lengning flipped his palm, and a bunch of power generation boxes appeared in his hand. “Old Luo, I got the items back from Xiao Xiangzi. I borrowed 24 Superior Immortal Jade from my buddies. Speaking of which, when will you let me handle the finances?”
Luo Qian chuckled, then took 24 Superior Immortal Jade out and handed them to him. “You don’t have to worry about that. Don’t you know how much money we make? You will definitely get your share. You got here just in time; I was just about to look for you.”
Du Lengning’s brow furrowed. “Your smile is getting more and more sinister. You must be up to no good.”
“How can you say that!” Luo Qian began to justify himself. “I thought of a way to make more money for us.”
Upon hearing this, Du Lengning was suddenly energetic. “Tell me about it quickly. I know you have a lot of crazy ideas.”
“Why does this sound so awkward?”
“Are you going to tell me or not?”
“Alright, I will, I will. Let’s open a drug shop. We’ll just use rice cookers to refine the elixirs. Although we don’t have a lot of variety and the grade is low, we can offer good quality elixirs and low prices. Also, we have a steady source of equipment and ingredients. Do you think it will work? I also want to come up with some new elixirs by mixing and cooking different types of Immortal rice. Who knows, there might be a surprise!”
Du Lengning’s eyes glowed. He slapped Luo Qian’s shoulder hard. “Haha, I said you have a lot of crazy… a lot of wacky ideas.”
Luo Qian frowned again. “That’s not a good word either.”
“That’s settled then. You should hurry up and start developing new medicinal elixirs. I will get the store ready. My old man has an acquaintance in the Commerce Association. If we send him some elixirs, we should be able to settle the procedures quickly,” Du Ningxing gushed.
Du Lengning was an impatient person. He was in a hurry to get started and turned to rush off.
Luo Qian grabbed him. “Wait. I haven’t finished speaking yet. Where can we open our medicine hall?”
Du Lengning said without hesitation, “The more prosperous the place, the better. However, we have limited funds now. If it’s a prime location, I’m afraid…” He glanced at Luo Qian suddenly, comprehension finally dawning. “Oh, so you are thinking about our place on Mountain Ning Yao. To think you took such a big detour.”