Chapter 1973: Let's Get Some?

Within Canglan Jie, a scene of tranquility and serenity unfolded. Under the starlight and moonlight, it was like a dreamlike paradise, truly an immortal realm on earth.

In the spiritual fruit garden, Ye Chen sat as still as a mountain. His consciousness was immersed in his Dantian Sea, attempting to bond with the Sanmei Zhenhuo. This rare true fire possessed considerable intelligence and was resistant to acknowledging Ye Chen as its master.

Ye Chen exhibited immense patience, spending an entire night speaking earnestly to it.

Awkwardly, the Sanmei Zhenhuo remained stubbornly unyielding, refusing to cooperate no matter how excessively Ye Chen praised it. It continually attempted to escape, much like the Jiuyou Xianyan had done previously.

“I’m out of ideas.” Ye Chen coughed lightly, turning to the immortal fire for assistance.

As soon as he spoke, the pitch-black immortal fire stirred, transforming into a vast black sea of flames within Ye Chen’s Dantian Sea. Surging waves of fire rolled tumultuously, making the Sanmei Zhenhuo seem insignificant in comparison.

Indeed, under the might of the immortal fire, the Sanmei Zhenhuo was truly intimidated. Its flames were suppressed to the point of near extinction, trembling all over. In terms of rank, it was greatly outmatched.

Ultimately, it caved. Under the pressure of the immortal fire, it submitted to Ye Chen, becoming as docile as a lamb, clearly afraid of being punished by the immortal fire.

“That’s more like it!” Seeing the Sanmei Zhenhuo yield, Ye Chen couldn’t help but laugh. As expected, when dealing with flames, the immortal fire was far more effective than he was. If persuasion failed, force was the answer.

However, he didn’t fuse with the Sanmei Zhenhuo immediately. Instead, he used his divine sense to communicate with it thoroughly, ensuring its complete submission, as any resistance during fusion could lead to failure.

This process took Ye Chen a full three days to establish a good relationship with the Sanmei Zhenhuo, which had now fully surrendered.

The fusion proceeded quite smoothly, primarily due to the Sanmei Zhenhuo’s cooperation. Afterward, the flame remained black, suspended within his golden sea, remarkably conspicuous.

After fusing with two flames consecutively, the power of the immortal fire had undergone a qualitative transformation, akin to a rebirth. Even his Sacred Body’s origin had received some overflow, although regrettably, his cultivation level hadn’t advanced.

Once again, Xie Mo emerged from the small bamboo grove, heading directly outside Canglan Jie.

Ye Chen spotted her and quickly followed, eager to leave. He couldn’t stand being confined forever; not being allowed to go home was one thing, but he at least wanted to venture outside.

However, as soon as he caught up, Xie Mo struck him with a palm, sending him right back. Afterward, a faint voice echoed, “Behave yourself.”

On the ground, Ye Chen scrambled up in a sorry state, covered in dirt and grime, with black lines crossing his face. “I wasn’t trying to escape; I just wanted to go for a walk.”

Perhaps feeling pent-up, this fellow got to work. Rolling up his sleeves, he pulled out a large sack—it was a massive storage bag.

Then, he returned to the spiritual fruit garden and began his plundering.

His plundering involved picking spiritual fruits, stuffing the crystal-clear ones into the sack one by one. He didn’t care if they were ripe or not; with a single sweep of his palm, the branches were left bare.

Not to boast, but wherever he rampaged, not only were the spiritual fruits gone, but even the leaves on the trees vanished, leaving only bare, dry branches.

In just one day, that entire fruit garden was stripped bare, with nothing left but the trees.

But this fellow was ambitious. After finishing one garden, he moved on to the next. Canglan Jie was vast, with thousands of large and small fruit gardens, and the number of fruit trees was immeasurable.

Under the moonlight, his figure, shouldering the sack, was quite eye-catching. The mighty emperor of Da Chu, who had once slain a great emperor, now looked every bit like a shameless thief.

Day and night alternated, time cycling through, and in the blink of an eye, three days passed quietly.

Looking at Canglan Jie again, the once lush fruit trees were nowhere to be seen—just dry branches, with all the spiritual fruits picked clean by Ye Chen.

With the fruits gone, Ye Chen turned his attention to the spiritual herb gardens. Canglan Jie had many of them, and while the herbs weren’t extremely precious—mostly materials for refining five- or six-patterned pills—he didn’t spare them either.

Another three days passed, and the spiritual herb gardens were also stripped bare.

But that wasn’t the end. With the herbs gone, there were still the spiritual springs and immortal pools, which contained abundant essence. He drained them completely.

Now, it was night again. This guy leaned against a spiritual fruit tree, burping endlessly. It had been years since he’d eaten so much, and his storage items were packed to the brim.

Glancing over Canglan Jie once more, oh, what a sorry sight! Everywhere you looked, it was a mess, all courtesy of Ye Chen.

A gentle breeze blew, and in the sky, space twisted as Xie Mo returned.

But upon seeing the scene in Canglan Jie, she nearly lost her footing and fell. Was this still Canglan Jie? Was this still a paradise? Where were her spiritual fruits? Where were her spiritual herbs? Where were her spiritual springs and immortal pools? Where had it all gone?

Finally, her fiery eyes landed on Ye Chen.

She didn’t even need to ask; she knew it was this guy’s doing. The shameless nature of the Sacred Body was renowned across the heavens. A talent like Ye Chen was a once-in-a-millennium rarity.

“Senior, you’re back early!” Seeing the black lines on Xie Mo’s face, Ye Chen scampered over, his grin annoyingly smug.

From that year to now, he had never seen Xie Mo with such an expression.

Instantly, he felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment. Being able to frustrate a primordial great god like this was quite a feat.

Xie Mo said nothing, but her face grew even darker.

Ye Chen shook his head leisurely, adopting a dead pig not fearing boiling water attitude, as if saying: Who told you not to take me out for a stroll?

Xie Mo still didn’t speak, but her actions spoke volumes. She swung a palm at him, and Ye Chen was knocked out cold on the spot, sprawled out in a perfect star shape on the ground.

The night grew quiet, with Canglan Jie remaining as tranquil as ever.

But if you looked closely, you’d notice a crooked-neck tree with a person dangling from it, in a dazed state, bruised and swollen, tied up with immortal ropes in a tight bundle, swaying in the wind.

That’s right, it was our Ye Dashao, who had been thoroughly beaten by Xie Mo and then hung from the tree.

Meanwhile, Xie Mo sat under the opposite tree, legs crossed, cracking melon seeds with perfect rhythm.

Before long, Ye Chen woke up, shaking his head. His mind was buzzing, and blood was still trickling from his nostrils.

“You’ve really grown bold.”

“This is all from being cooped up. I’ve already promised to help you refine pills, but Senior, you can’t keep me locked up like this!”

Her words went in one ear and out the other. Xie Mo picked up a storage bag and examined it closely, chuckling seductively, “I hear this is a specialty of Da Chu. I wonder how effective it is. And, will there be problems if you eat too much?”

Ye Chen’s mouth twitched. Clearly, the storage bag in Xie Mo’s hand was one she had taken from him, along with all his treasures and herbs.

Looking at that bag of Da Chu specialties, he felt an overwhelming nausea.

It was the Hehuan San he had refined, with extraordinarily potent effects. If someone consumed it, they’d meet a fate that drained their vitality.

Moreover, from Xie Mo’s demeanor, it seemed she might actually feed it to him. Xie Mo never did anything ordinary, and this guess wasn’t unfounded. Back in the ancient ruins, if not for the Xie Mo spirit, he and Ji Ningshuang wouldn’t have ended up together.

“How about, making it even?”

“Just ate; not hungry.” Ye Chen chuckled awkwardly, struggling fiercely in an attempt to break free. Otherwise, if he were fed the Da Chu specialty, the consequences would be dire.

“Tch.” Xie Mo rolled her eyes at Ye Chen, then put away the Da Chu specialty. Who knows, it might come in handy if Mu Liuqing is revived someday.

Seeing this, Ye Chen let out a huge sigh of relief. As long as she wasn’t feeding it to him, the Da Chu specialty was meant for others—he wasn’t into that.

But in the next instant, his expression turned utterly awkward.

Because Xie Mo pulled another item from his storage bag—it was a book, a very exquisite one.

That’s right, it was the collector’s edition that Ren Wang had given him, full of beautiful women, with scenes that were incredibly alluring.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If I’m not mistaken, this is Donghuang Taiyi.” Xie Mo flipped open the first page and couldn’t help but sigh at the images inside. It was exactly the Kunlun Goddess.

“This one is Yue Huang. I’ve seen her; truly a peerless beauty.”

“There’s even Di Ji. What a perfect figure.”

“And this little girl, Yaochi Xianmu? Hmm, it’s definitely her.”

As Xie Mo spoke, she flipped through the pages one by one. Remarkably, she recognized them all and could name each one.

More importantly, her expression showed she was thoroughly engrossed, her beautiful eyes gleaming with interest.

What a scene this was—a primordial great god sitting there, absorbed in a collector’s edition, her eyes sparkling, and doing so right in front of a junior.

It’s a good thing Honglian Empress had already fallen; otherwise, seeing her like this, who knows what expression she’d have. Not an ounce of restraint?

As for Ye Chen, his face was flushed bright red.

Even with his thick skin, this situation was too embarrassing. He desperately wished for a hole to crawl into. Getting caught red-handed like this was mortifying.

He should be grateful that the collector’s edition from Ren Wang didn’t include Xie Mo. If it had, he wouldn’t need to go home—Canglan Jie would make a fine grave for him.

“Kid, you’re something else!” Xie Mo finally finished flipping through it, sighing in admiration as she looked at Ye Chen like he was a legend. She thought she was wild enough, but Ye Chen had outdone her, living without any bounds.

“It’s not mine; it’s Ren Wang’s.”

“Doesn’t matter whose it is; I’m confiscating it.” Xie Mo casually tucked the collector’s edition into her embrace. She could pull it out now and then for a look, maybe even compare figures with others.

In that moment, Ye Chen’s heart sank, pounding wildly.

After all, this was Xie Mo—what wouldn’t she do?

If that collector’s edition spread across the heavens tomorrow, not only he, but even Ren Wang would be done for.

“They say the people of Da Chu are bold, and it’s true.” Xie Mo was still sighing, even giving Ye Chen a thumbs-up. “Your existence has completely upended my worldview.”

“It’s not my fault; Ren Wang gave it to me.”

“Look how scared you are. I’m not going to kill you.” Xie Mo stood up and headed toward the small bamboo grove, muttering all the way, “So many great beauties; I should let the people of the heavens get to know them. I love a lively scene the most.”