Chapter 8: Chu Yuan.

“Senior Sister… actually… I never liked you. Everything before was just an act.”

After saying his final words, Chu Yuan closed his eyes.

【Do you wish to rebirth?】

He resolutely pressed confirm.

‘Farewell! Damn system!’

‘Farewell! My dog-licking identity!’

‘Farewell! All the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect cultivators!’

Chu Yuan was reborn.

When he opened his eyes again, a dilapidated room with bare walls greeted him.

Outside the window stood a familiar yet unfamiliar locust tree, from which hung a green bamboo-patterned lantern unique to the Chu family’s collateral branch.

In the distance came the sounds of women washing clothes, mixed with the laughter and playful shouts of children chasing one another.

Chu Yuan’s gaze turned dazed.

Where is this?

He remembered that on the day the system suddenly activated in his first life, he was participating in the disciple acceptance ceremony at the Heavenly Sword Sect.

His first dog-licking task was to deliver the Warm Sun Jade to his senior sister, only to be rejected on the spot.

This environment was clearly not inside the Heavenly Sword Sect.

It seemed to be…

Chu Yuan searched his memories and quickly recalled:

This was Xuanji City in the Xuanyuan Immortal Dynasty, territory of the Chu family’s collateral branch.

At that time, he had gone by the alias Chu Yuan.

On the surface, he was an orphan who had lost both parents.

In reality, he was the Grand Void Holy Lord’s only bloodline.

Precisely because he was the sole bloodline, the Holy Lord had made these arrangements both to protect him from assassination by external enemies and to temper his character.

After figuring out the situation, he couldn’t help but sigh.

This alias “Chu Yuan” is pretty good!

From now on, I’ll use this name to start my new life!

Knock knock knock.

A sudden knocking sounded at the door.

A gentle, clear female voice came from outside.

“A-Yuan? It’s me.”

The voice was soft, carrying a hint of unconcealable worry.

He got up and walked toward the door.

The moment the door opened, morning light poured in, illuminating the graceful figure standing outside.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, loosely pinned into a flowing cloud bun.

A plain-colored ruqun clung to her figure. Her waist was so slender it seemed it could snap in the wind.

Yet above it rose exaggerated curves, the fabric stretched full and abundant, like snow-covered mountain peaks.

Chu Yuan vaguely recognized her as his childhood sweetheart, Gu Qingwan.

When they were small, she used to follow him to the stream to catch fish. Once her skirt got wet and she cried, afraid to go home.

He had draped his sun-dried clothes over her, carried her over the back mountain on his back, and delivered her to her doorstep.

She had lain on his back and said softly,

“A-Yuan gege is the best.”

He remembered how, after his foster parents passed away one after another, she had knelt outside the mourning hall for an entire night, keeping vigil with him.

At dawn, she had slipped a safety pendant into his palm.

“This is what I prayed for at the temple. From now on, wherever A-Yuan goes, you must stay safe and sound.”

Now, the little girl who had followed him since she could walk had grown into a delicate, gentle beauty.

At this moment, she lifted a carved wooden food box with her jade hands.

“A-Yuan, I heard you were injured a few days ago and wanted to visit you, but the clan wouldn’t allow it… Today I finally found a chance. I… I brought you some osmanthus cakes. Would you like to try them?”

Gu Qingwan’s voice was soft and sweet as she looked at Chu Yuan with hope-filled eyes.

As she raised her head, a few loose strands of hair fell beside her ear, swaying gently like willow tips brushing water.

Chu Yuan’s throat bobbed.

“Uh… Wan’er, it’s windy outside. Come in first!”

Gu Qingwan stepped lightly into the room. The fragrant breeze that rose with her movement left Chu Yuan momentarily dazed.

She looked around the room, a flash of heartache in her eyes.

The house was too small—one table, one chair, one bed, one cabinet. That was everything.

On the table lay a sword whose scabbard was badly worn. Seeing it made Gu Qingwan’s eyes instantly redden.

Is this the sword A-Yuan usually uses?

She remembered that when they were children, he had used the standard long sword issued by the clan, at least made of refined iron.

But ever since his parents died, his treatment had worsened day by day.

As a collateral member, resources were already scarce. He also refused to beg others. These years, he had ended up living in such a wretched state.

She placed the carved food box on the table.

“A-Yuan, eat the cakes first. These were freshly made this morning and are still warm.”

The food box opened, releasing a clear, sweet osmanthus fragrance.

The cakes were osmanthus cakes, yet different from ordinary ones—

The cake bodies were semi-translucent pale gold, with whole golden osmanthus flowers visibly embedded inside.

On the surface, sugar frosting depicted a osmanthus branch, its stem slender and petals fully spread, vivid and lifelike.

Chu Yuan recognized this as Gu Qingwan’s family’s secret recipe: Golden Osmanthus Spirit-Nourishing Cake.

In his previous life, he had made it for his senior sister to complete a dog-licking task. The process was extremely complex.

Not only did these cakes fill the stomach, they also nourished the spirit. After injury, consuming them could help circulate qi and blood while calming the mind.

Chu Yuan picked one up and took a bite. Warm sweetness melted on his tongue and slid down his throat, as if a lover’s gentle hand was tenderly nourishing his meridians.

Gu Qingwan watched him, her autumn-water eyes beneath delicate brows filled with expectation and nervousness.

“Is it good?”

As she spoke, she poured him a cup of tea from the teapot.

It was ordinary coarse tea, but the temperature was just right—neither too hot nor too cold.

She had remembered since childhood that he disliked tea that was too hot.

Chu Yuan nodded. “It’s good.”

Gu Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. I… I’ll… cough cough!”

Mid-sentence, she began coughing violently. Covering her lips with her jade hand, she actually coughed up blood.

Chu Yuan asked with concern.

“Wan’er, are you alright?”

Gu Qingwan quickly hid her blood-stained hand behind her back and smiled.

“I’m fine!”

To change the subject, her gaze fell once more on that worn sword.

“A-Yuan, the once-in-a-century Divine Grade Auction will be held in a few days. You know about it, right?”

Chu Yuan nodded.

The Divine Grade Auction was hosted by the Righteous Alliance once every hundred years and held in Xuanji City.

Cultivators from all walks of life would gather, with countless rare treasures. It was said that this session would even feature a dragon egg.

If Chu Yuan remembered correctly, the dragon egg would hatch into the Black Dragon Emperor of his previous life.

Her fearsome reputation had made the entire True Emotion Realm tremble.

Yet he knew how that dragon had been enslaved and abused by evil cultivators from a young age, all because of the prophecy that “black dragons bring misfortune.”

He knew how, over long years, she had built a thick shell of ice and slaughter to shut out all warmth.

Until she met him.

In his previous life, Chu Yuan had approached the Black Dragon Emperor under a dog-licking mission while pretending to fall to the demonic path.

Step by step, the Dragon Emperor had lowered her guard and opened her heart to him.

Even after being betrayed by him, she had still protected his broken body with her dying breath.

Chu Yuan sighed inwardly.

Emperor! In the last life, I betrayed you.

In this life, I will definitely bid for that dragon egg and give you a happy childhood!

Having made up his mind, he looked at the beauty before him.

“Wan’er, why did you suddenly mention the auction?”

Facing Chu Yuan’s confusion, Gu Qingwan bit her lip and carefully chose her words.

“I… I heard there will be many good things at this auction. I’ve saved up some spirit stones and wanted… wanted to ask you to help me buy something.”

Chu Yuan smiled.

“That’s the Divine Grade Auction. Without a million spirit stones, you can’t even enter. Do you have that much money?”

Gu Qingwan’s gaze drifted.

“I-I-I mean, before the main auction, there are still several small warm-up auctions, right? The thing I want is at one of those.”

Chu Yuan asked curiously.

“What do you want to buy?”

Gu Qingwan took out a storage bag from her sleeve and pushed it toward him.

“Here are fifty spirit stones. Help me… buy some decent magical artifacts and pills and bring them back.”

Chu Yuan looked at the cloth bag, somewhat speechless.

Fifty spirit stones was an enormous sum for someone of his current status.

And he knew very well that she did not need him to buy anything for her.

Most likely, his childhood sweetheart wanted him to get a good sword but feared hurting his pride, so she came up with this clumsy excuse.

Seeing Chu Yuan fall silent, Gu Qingwan grew anxious.

“A-Yuan, d-don’t overthink it. I just wanted to ask you for a favor. I can’t go out myself, you know… the clan is strict. If you find it troublesome, then… then…”

Her voice grew smaller and smaller. Before her lowered eyes, her lashes trembled gently.

Looking at her like this, Chu Yuan felt as if he were seeing her from over twenty years ago—

The little girl who squatted by the stream and stuffed wild fruit into his hand, saying “A-Yuan gege, eat this.”

He answered helplessly.

“Alright.”

Gu Qingwan suddenly looked up, her eyes bursting with joyful light.

“Really?”

Chu Yuan nodded.

“What do you want?”

Gu Qingwan shook her head, smiling so widely her eyes curved into crescents.

“Anything is fine. Whatever A-Yuan picks, I’ll like it.”

She stood up. Her skirt swayed gently, outlining her slender waist and steep curves.

Seemingly noticing Chu Yuan’s gaze, her cheeks flushed. She lowered her head and said softly.

“Then… then I’ll leave first. I’ll come see you again in a few days.”

She walked to the outer courtyard gate, then turned back and waved at him.

Catching sight of the bloodstains on his childhood sweetheart’s jade hand, Chu Yuan smiled bitterly.

According to memories from his previous life:

His childhood sweetheart was actually one of the Saintess candidates selected by the Medicine King Valley.

She carried the Nine Yin Severed Meridian restriction and needed to return to the Medicine King Valley for a trial upon reaching adulthood.

In the depths of the Demonic Abyss Secret Realm, she had to pick the Nine Deaths Returning Soul Grass. Otherwise, she would not live past three years.

Yet the Nine Deaths Returning Soul Grass only grew one plant every hundred years, while there were multiple candidates.

Such a selection was essentially raising gu.

Because it was a trial of nine deaths and one life, in the previous life, Gu Qingwan had broken up with him using ruthless means.

It was only years later, when he and his senior sister participated in the Medicine King Valley’s Shennong Grand Ceremony, that he learned the full story.

However, the Saintess of the Medicine King Valley at that time had not been Gu Qingwan.

Thinking about it now, that childhood sweetheart who had always cared for him so tenderly had most likely died inside the Demonic Abyss.

For one of the few people in this world who had truly been good to him, Chu Yuan could not possibly sit by and do nothing.

However, there were still several months until the Medicine King Valley trial. For now, the priority was to earn money to bid for the dragon egg.

Chu Yuan recalled that the dragon egg had sold for over three million spirit stones in his previous life.

To be safe, he needed to earn at least five million spirit stones during this period.

The problem was:

How was he going to earn over a million spirit stones?

Chu Yuan scratched his head.

Right! Where is my system reward?

As he thought this, he suddenly noticed a black ring had appeared on his middle finger.