Chapter 261 Meaty Pork Crackling Noodle (p)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

Shiyu was startled by the spectacle.

Frowning, she crossed her arms and glared down at the Demon Vine. She had ordered Ocean Heart Flame to find Qi of Origin for her. Could it be…

While she was pondering over this, Ocean Heart Flame fiercely attacked [1] a part of Demon Vine that had been knotted up tightly. It has to be said, Demon Vine was rather unlucky. In the first place, fire trumps wood. Even though Demon Vine is uniquely resistant to all kinds of attacks, it could not fight against Ocean Heart Flame. The Fire Spirit could turn substances harder than the stones and metal into ashes.

Not long after their tussle, a part of Demon Vine was reduced to ashes. Fine purple mist floated from that damaged bit. Ocean Heart Flame quickly enveloped itself over the mist, tucking it safely inside its body.

When Shiyu held out her hand, [1] Ocean Heart Flame released the bit of purple mist into her hand.

“This is… Qi of Origin?” Shiyu frowned uncomprehendingly. Didn’t Old Gu say that only medicinal herbs over ten thousand years old would have the chance of producing Qi of Origin? This Demon Vine is not even a herb, moreover, it is definitely less than ten thousand years old…

“Squeak, squeak,” Ocean Heart Flame happily rubbed itself against the back of her hand.

“That is the Qi of Origin,” Fat Cat’s voice came from behind. Shiyu turned and saw that this cat was still as transparent as before. However, he looked a bit more lively now.

Fat Cat trotted over to Shiyu and said, “The Qi of Origin is one of the first things that existed between Heaven and Earth. It is the amalgamation of all five elements. Therefore, everything in this world has some traces of the Qi of Origin in them. However, because the trace amount is so little, it was minuscule. Plants and trees are unique in that they could absorb the elements inside them and eventually accumulate enough Qi of Origin to the point that it could be seen by the naked eye.”

“But, this Demon Vine…”

“That thing is an outlier,” Fat Cat stopped in front of her. “It has the ability to plunder the essence of plants and trees and suck the vitality out of them. Therefore it is more efficient when it comes to accumulating Spiritual power. This also means it could gather the Qi of Origin faster than other plants. It’s perfectly normal.”

Plants and trees were gentle creatures that would live and grow in peace with other plants. The Demon Vine was a strange one as it actively attack and absorb the Spiritual powers of its fellow plants.

Shiyu stared at the Demon Vine with unusually bright eyes. Here she thought she had picked up a trash vine, who would have thought it would actually have this kind of usefulness.

“Rejoice [2a], you are lucky to have Divine Tea that has gone through Lightning Tribulation to guard the Saint’s Dwelling. Otherwise, that cunning Demon Vine would have sucked up the Spring of Life water and grow strong enough to break the seal in this place and escape.” Fat Cat extended his claws and jerked the drooping Demon Vine upwards. Before Shiyu’s wide eyes, what looked like a 1 metre long plant suddenly grew another 3 metres. Three-quarters of the plant was underground! Moreover, its hidden part was clearly growing towards the Spring!

This Demon Vine is too sneaky!

“Such a long Demon Vine, how much Qi of Origin does it have?” asked Shiyu.

“It has all been wrenched out of it. You’ve seen it for yourself,”

“… should I say better a few wisps than nothing?”

“There’s another use for this Vine,” said Fat Cat casually. “You could toss it into someone else’s medicinal field for example…”

Shiyu went still. Suddenly, she laughed, “Hahahahahaha! That’s too evil! It’s the perfect weapon against enemies!”

[3] Visions of sneaking this vicious fellow into private fields and having it devastate their medicinal herbs and plants filled her with glee. Just what kind of face those people would make once they see the ‘lovely surprise’ left by her Demon Vine, ah?

As she studied the drooping vine on the floor, Shiyu was already plotting all the ways she could make use of it.

“That’s right, if you collect enough Qi of Origin, you could use it to repair the <<Soul Drawing Book>>. That way, you don’t have to wait for the next Saint Dwelling upgrade to see the next content,” Fat Cat added.

It’s been almost two months since Shiyu had gotten hold of the last black page. However, since the page did not respond to the book, she had no way of knowing what to do next. To think that there’s this option as well. Picking up this creepy vine is certainly a lucky accident, ah.

“I can’t wait.”

After putting the wispy bit of the Qi of Origin into a jade bottle, Shiyu left the Saint’s Dwelling and went to seek out Dong-Fang Zhen.

Naturally, the own medicine fields of her people were out of bounds. However, the medicine fields of enemies… heheheh…

Aren’t there lots of rich nobles within the Eastern Martial Empire who were looking to make trouble? Rich people like them should have their own treasure house and medicine fields, right?

Speaking of which, even medicine fields aren’t as valuable as treasure houses, right? Since the Demon Vine could burrow underground, she could use her mental power to conceal its movements…

She felt as though she found herself a great companion capable of plundering great treasure troves…

Once she found Dong-Fang Zhen, Shiyu pounced and said, “The guy who hired Fire Wolf and One Ear is the same, right? Someone surnamed Ge or something. Do you know where he lives?”

That surname Ge character tried to have Dong-Fang Zhen killed. Right now, all seven of them must be on his to kill list. Although she had no idea why the emperor and the Dean are letting that surname Ge person jump around, her target is not his life. So, it should be fine, right?”

Dong-Fang Zhen eyed her for a moment. Then he said, “Surely you’re not thinking of…” he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Unfortunately, Imperial Father seems to have plans for him. So, we had best just leave that creep alone.” Otherwise, he would have already attacked the man himself.

“No, I just want to stroll around his medicine field,” said Shiyu. “If you can provide me with a map of their residence, I want to know where their medicine field and treasure house or treasure pavilion is. Include any places that contain valuable things.”

[2b] Dong-Fang Zhen raised one eyebrow, “You want to steal medicinal herbs?”

Shiyu grinned, she was nearly squirming with delight, “Just go do your thing!”

“Yes, yes, yes, I won’t ask anymore. I’ll have someone look into it. You just make sure to stay safe. There are a lot of experts in the Ge residence. If something happens, remember to call for me. I’ll definitely back you up,” [2c]

As the Crown Prince of the city, all he had to do was send some loyal servants out. Within four hours, a wonderfully detailed map of the Ge residence was quickly presented to him.

Shiyu spent the waiting period messing about in the kitchen, fulfilling her quota for the Dean.

When it was finally dark outside, she stretched her sore body and disappeared into her Saint’s Dwelling to grab hold of the limp Devil’s Vine.

“I know you have some awareness, so don’t try to act stupid in front of me. You’ve already heard my conversation with Fat Cat. As long as you listen to me, you can gorge yourself on the targeted medicine field. All I want is the Qi of Origin. If you don’t listen to me or try to run away, I will burn you with Spirit Fire.”

She has no qualms about threatening this plant. After all, this parasite had been eating and drinking for free inside her Saint’s Dwelling all this while. It’s about time she put it to work.

The Demon Vine squirmed and a sudden green light flashed from his body. The four metres long body gradually grew smaller and thinner until it twined around Shiyu’s wrist like a bracelet made of fine green vines. It looked very unique.

“Looks like you can be obedient,” Shiyu touched the little vine bracelet and left the Saint’s Dwelling.

 

[Gumihou: Shiyu is going to wreak havoc]

We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places

 

[1] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Give more details on how Ocean Heart Flame attack Demon Vine and forced the Qi of Origin out.

[2] Deleted Stuff:

[a] ‘you should feel lucky that…’

Replace it with ‘rejoice’ since that’s more old timey and condescending.

[b] ‘hearing Shiyu say this’

The above seems to be a staple with Chinese novels, along with nodding heads.

[c] ‘kept talking endlessly’

No need to do this to Dong-Fang Zhen to make Shiyu look more competent

[3] Adjusted Details for Dramatic Purpose: Basically a repeat of what Shiyu had said, but readjusted so that it’s ‘visualised’ and not ‘said’.

 

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