Chapter 20: Man-Eating Flower

Refining the Lotus

Gu Chi sat in the pool, refining the two Black Pool Ghost Lotuses.

These were rare treasures.

If sold at Lingyun Pavilion, they’d fetch nearly two thousand five hundred high-grade spirit stones.

He’d paid only ten stones to enter the realm—a stellar deal.

After consuming demonic cultivators’ gu or beasts, his Demon Dragon Gu brimmed with vitality.

The pure essence in these spirit herbs would lull it back to calm slumber.

His system, despite its presence, was never his trump card.

The Demon Dragon Gu was his true ace.

Its uses were many.

Its ability to conceal his cultivation alone was invaluable.

He could mask his aura to appear as late Foundation Establishment.

With the Qingmian mask, he showed early or mid-Core Formation.

This let him roam realms freely, fearless of capture.

The gu also countered dao marks, letting him erase the protective charm on the Flying Snow Sect’s young master he’d killed.

After eating the Snow Velvet Lampwick Flower, several beasts, and a peak Core Formation demonic cultivator, his cultivation hit peak Core Formation.

One step from Nascent Soul.

His breakthroughs required seven times the spiritual energy of others, explaining his dominance over peers.

But each minor advance made the gu hungrier.

Until he found herbs to suppress it, he wouldn’t break through.

He closed his eyes, resting.

An hour later, his aura stabilized at peak Core Formation.

His core instinctively tried forming a Nascent Soul, but he suppressed it.

Soon, he dialed his aura back to early Core Formation—freshly broken through.

Playing weak wasn’t fun, but revealing his true strength invited schemes.

Years among cunning rogues taught him plenty.

Spending time with a dragon, you grow scales.

With his Demon Dragon Gu, he was the worst dragon of all.

A commotion came from outside.

Frowning, he rose, exiting through the cave’s other end.

Circling around, he blended into the crowd, spotting Feng Xizhi.

In her white dress, she looked frail, pure—an innocent fairy.

She’d sent up Fire Phoenix Sect’s distress flare.

A group of cultivators now headed to the cave.

They’d find nothing but ashes from his flames.

He had no desire to reunite with her.

Slipping into the trees’ shadows, he moved opposite the crowd.

A Day Later

Gu Chi woke on a tree, refreshed from a good sleep.

His fatigue was gone.

With one day left before the realm expelled outsiders, he didn’t plan to explore further.

His haul was rich.

Content with modest gains, he rarely planned far ahead.

Last night, he dreamed of Pei Ningxue.

Only days apart, yet he missed her in dreams.

He couldn’t tell if this was good or bad.

It stirred him.

He didn’t know the gu’s forging method, but it amplified his desires.

Holding his chastity, he could restrain it.

But after a night with Pei Ningxue, he felt restless heat.

Soon, he banished those thoughts.

Before him stretched an endless sea.

The Heavenly Action Secret Realm was a self-contained world, like many on Cangxue Continent.

Each had unique rules, their origins unclear, unexplored.

Fish swam in the sea.

He took out a rod, planning to fish.

He loved fishing—and eating fish.

Their sweet flesh was delicious any way cooked.

As he set up, a phoenix phantom approached.

He tried to run but was already in her sight.

Feng Xizhi, in her white dress, landed, panting heavily.

Seeing him casually handling his rod, she fumed.

“You’re alive and didn’t signal with my red cord?”

“Would that kill you?”

“Who knows if you gathered those righteous cultivators to trap me?”

“Take me to Fire Phoenix Sect?”

He felt no guilt, answering boldly.

“I called them to save you, you dead ghost!”

“I’m fine, aren’t I?”

He shrugged, casting his hook.

She wouldn’t let it go.

As he sat on a blue stone, she leapt, straddling his neck.

Her fair, slender thighs clamped tight.

His head pressed against her soft abdomen.

Her inner thighs burned hot, warming his cheeks.

“You know I searched this realm for you a day and night?”

“Don’t want to know.”

He tried to shake his head.

Her tender, fair thighs brushed his lips.

Mischievously, he nipped her crystalline flesh.

She yelped but didn’t let go, clamping tighter.

“Strangle you!”

“Like a crab…”

He muttered, eyeing the sea’s rippling waves.

“You owe me three thousand stones.”

“Tell me how you survived.”

“I killed that demonic cultivator with one sword.”

He said lightly.

“Don’t believe you.”

She pouted.

“Truth.”

“We fought for an incense stick’s time.”

“Spells clashed, I burned my essence blood.”

“His blood surged, aura chaotic.”

“His gu seized the chance, ate his brain.”

“I barely escaped.”

Her suspicion eased.

His first words were true, but too fantastical.

People believed what fit their understanding.

“I’ll pay the three thousand.”

She smiled softly.

“With my heart.”

“How much is your heart worth?”

He scoffed, grabbing her back to pull her off.

He made her sit properly beside him.

She’d rushed through the forest, searching.

Her dress, stained with plant sap, looked mottled.

Her fair feet were muddy.

She hopped to the sea, washing them clean.

Activating her aura shield, her skin became pristine.

She returned, sitting close.

Her delicate feet, still wet, gleamed.

She lifted a leg, wiping the droplets with a handkerchief.

Then, scooting closer, she rubbed her foot on his waist.

Like a keycap waiting for a strike.

He ignored her, grabbing her ankle, pressing her sole.

She giggled—she was ticklish.

Their first meeting, he’d punished her this way, leaving her trembling, incoherent.

“Hey, I thought all day and night.”

“Why didn’t you take my Supreme Void Seal?”

“No need.”

“I had fifty percent odds of wearing him down.”

He followed her assumptions.

“The other fifty—was it love for me?”

“Don’t dream up storybook romance.”

“That heaven-tier seal’s bound to you.”

“I couldn’t use it if I took it.”

She pouted.

“Can’t you pretend you didn’t know?”

“Pretend you risked yourself for my safety, so I’d weep with gratitude?”

“That’d make me look too stupid.”

His tone stayed mocking.

She leaned closer.

He pushed her shoulder, annoyed.

But she pressed nearer, her fair thigh against his.

He reached out, tearing her skirt.

His hand rested on her soft, tender thigh, smooth as lamb fat.

She let out a soft moan.

Her legs parted slightly, letting his fingers touch.

Her face flushed, muttering.

“That skirt cost two stones…”

“Now I owe you two thousand nine hundred ninety-eight.”

“Touching’s free?”

“Mm, free.”

She lifted her face proudly, whispering.

“Touch anywhere…”

But as his fingers crept up her inner thigh, she instinctively clamped them shut, trapping his hand.

She glared, shy and annoyed.

“Who just touches there in broad daylight, no warning?”

“Didn’t you say anywhere?”

Her cheeks burned.

After a moment, she seemed to decide.

Eyes closed, lashes trembling.

“Just… touch through the fabric.”

“No… other ideas…”

He watched her quivering lashes, her flushed face.

She looked like a blooming rose.

He couldn’t tell if her shyness was real or feigned.

Too complex to ponder.

He withdrew his hand, eyes back on the float in the water.

After a while, she opened her eyes, staring at his profile.

“I was ready, and you… play hard to get…”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Get lost.”

His tone cooled.

“Nope.”

She grabbed his hand, guiding it under her dress, past her clinging undergarments, to her smooth, fair abdomen.

“Your hand’s cold.”

“Warming it up.”

Her flattery was blatant, cautious, base, pitiful.

Yet he felt he was peering through fog.

At a man-eating flower.