Chapter 64 - 64: Being Outstanding Is A Trouble
After collecting the access token for the Demon clan, Chen Chen called Zhang Ji along as he began to plan the harvest of opportunities.
The opportunities of the highest priority were of course those with a time limit. Chen Chen was not in a hurry to harvest the opportunities like digging mines and such. As long as he knew the estimated location, he could dig too.
Just like that, Chen Chen and Zhang Ji had spent half a day getting busy in the Tianyun Mountains while the sky gradually turned darker.
However, neither of them felt tired at all due to the fact that they had harvested plenty of superb items within that period of time, all of which were at least 100,000 Spirit Stones in value!
Unfortunately, the silly Zhang Ji was clueless about the value of the found items. All he did was give Chen Chen all the items he harvested, like a handyman who worked mindlessly without asking for a reward. Watching him, Chen Chen began to get a headache.
'That's what the legendary morally upright and intelligent people are like, right...'
"Brother, take a break, there is no hurry now."
Chen Chen could not help but intervene when he saw how energetic Zhang Ji was.
"Uh... Brother, didn't you say previously that it was very urgent?" Zhang Ji said with a look of bewilderment. Previously, Chen Chen told him that it was an urgent matter.
"There are some items that I don't care about. The most important thing about life is to be suave and resolute. You can never finish collecting heavenly treasures."
Chen Chen said in a relaxed tone as he lied down on a patch of grass.
Seconds later, he seemed to have thought of something as he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Big Brother, what are you laughing at?" Zhang Ji was puzzled.
"Is this Heavenly Tranquil Peak? I'm a little thirsty, can you get some water from the waterfall for me?" Chen Chen asked in an ambiguous tone with a faint smile on his face.
Zhang Ji didn't think much about Chen Chen's question as he began scurrying towards the Heavenly Tranquil Peak waterfall with a water bottle.
With an ambiguous gaze in his eyes, Chen Chen stared at Zhang Ji's back as he left. According to the system, one could see a group of outer clan disciples showering in the Heavenly Tranquil Peak waterfall at this moment.
Zhang Ji was too thick in the head and needed some exciting experiences.
At the thought of this, Chen Chen could not help but burst into laughter.
However, a moment later, he couldn't laugh anymore as he remembered another detail that the system mentioned.
Zhao Xiaoya would begin slipping into obsession tonight and if Chen Chen went to save her, she would have a better impression of him. This put him in a dilemma.
What if she falls in love with him after he goes to her rescue?
He might not fall in love with her or take responsibility for her in the future.
"Ah, it's so troublesome being outstanding. If I wasn't so outstanding and strictly self-disciplined, I wouldn't be embroiled in so much trouble. I'm so helpless!"
Chen Chen sighed gently as he decided to go save her. After all, she had given him a red ginseng.
Besides, he couldn't possibly leave her in the lurch just because he was afraid that she would fall in love.
While Chen Chen contemplated troublesome matters, Zhang Ji made his way back over with a water bottle. However, his eyes were already extremely swollen.
When Chen Chen saw this, he sat up abruptly and asked, "What's the matter? Did you get beaten up for peeping at others while they're showering?"
Zhang Ji answered with a look of melancholy, "Brother, how did you know..."
"You have some status of cultivation. How did you get discovered?" Chen Chen asked in puzzlement.
He sent Zhang Ji to the waterfall because he wanted to help him and give him a gift, not to harm him.
Hearing this, Zhang Ji rubbed his eyes with an aggrieved gaze.
"I took a glance... and I thought that it wouldn't be good for that Senior Sister to take a bath outside because others might peek, so I gave her a reminder. Yet, she gave me a hard beating."
Hearing this, Chen Chen was speechless. After a long time, he took a deep breath.
Although he was only 16 years old physically, his mental age was almost 40. On the other hand, Zhang Ji was truly only 18 years old inside and out, and had never interacted with girls before.
"Brother, I really envy you. You have absolutely no risk of becoming a scumbag, unlike me... Ah, I'm going to go run an errand, I'll be right back."
Chen Chen sighed, turned around, and began making his way towards the inner gate of Heavenly Sword Peak.
Seeing that Chen Chen's footsteps were getting heavier, Zhang Ji could not help but ask, "Brother, do you want me to help you?"
"No, some things are inevitable when you're too outstanding. I'll bear the responsibility for being slandered. I just want to have a clear conscience."
Chen Chen's voice echoed in the pitch-black night, his tone full of sorrow.
Although Zhang Ji couldn't understand Chen Chen's words, he was still in awe and reverence towards him.
...
Meanwhile, in the courtyard at the top of Heavenly Sword Peak, Zhao Xiaoya was kneeling and cultivating. As a senior inner clan disciple, she had already possessed the strength of an elder, and was now about to step into the middle stage of foundation building.
However, something went wrong with her state of mind just as she was about to break through.
That problem ultimately arose due to her obsession with the Tianyun Divine Thunder Technique.
The middle stage of foundation building was a hurdle that she had to cross. Once she entered the middle stage of foundation building, she would no longer be able to practice the Tianyun Divine Thunder Technique unless she got rid of her status of cultivation.
Her obsession made her will to break through waver, and soon, the ethereality in her diaphragm began to grow chaotic.
Ethereality was a power source of Heaven and Earth, and once it went berserk, it would be extremely destructive. By the time Zhao Xiaoya realized that she had gone off track, it was already too late as the ethereality was already rampaging through her body, destroying her eight meridians.
Psht!
Zhao Xiaoya spurted out a large mouthful of blood and her face suddenly turned pale while her body became frail.
However, the ethereality in her body did not show the slightest signs of slowing down as her diaphragm was nearing complete destruction.
If her diaphragm was destroyed, she would die on the spot. Thinking of this consequence, endless panic flashed in Zhao Xiaoya's eyes as she hurriedly struggled to take out the communication token from her chest, in a bid to notify her grandfather, Elder Xing Fa.
However, when slipping into obsession and veering off track, she couldn't mobilize any of her ethereality or even use the communication token.
After realizing her trouble, a trace of desperation arose within Zhao Xiaoya.
Advancing from the early to middle stage of foundation building was not difficult, so she wasn't bothered at all. She didn't get anyone to watch over her as she never believed that she would go off track at such a simple juncture...
"Father, Mother, I may not be able to avenge you..."
Zhao Xiaoya murmured in her heart while she couldn't stop tearing up.
She couldn't even imagine the kind of grief her grandfather would feel when he found her corpse in the morning of the following day.
"No... I want to live."
Thinking of her grandfather, Zhao Xiaoya immediately felt a strong desire to survive. While struggling, she fell to the ground before crawling towards the door with great difficulty.
She thought that as long as she crawled to the door and yelled, someone would probably hear her.
At this point, she no longer hoped to maintain her status of cultivation and only hoped to survive so that her grandfather wouldn't become miserable.
However, she lacked strength because she was severely injured. Even after crawling towards the door, she still didn't have the strength to open the door.
Looking at the door that was directly in front of her, Zhao Xiaoya finally sunk into despair and closed her eyes, waiting for her death hopelessly. She even tried to adjust her facial expressions, so as to appear as 'peaceful' as possible.
In that case, her grandfather would be in less agony. That was the only thing she could do now.
However, as she forced a smile on her face, the door suddenly creaked open.
Hearing this sound, Zhao Xiaoya merely thought that she was getting hallucinations as she was near death. After all, no one would dare to enter her place at will at this hour.
"You're severely injured but you're still smiling. I give hats off to you!"
At this time, a familiar voice entered her ears, making her feel like it was a lifetime ago.
'Him? How is that possible?'
"You're not dead, why are you pretending to be dying peacefully? You do look the part, though."
Hearing this voice again, Zhao Xiaoya suddenly opened her eyes, only to see a familiar white-clothed figure crouching beside her with a look of derision.
The white-clothed young man had somehow placed his hand on her diaphragm and a strong suction force was continuously absorbing the rampant ethereality within it.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Xiaoya had mixed feelings, and left speechless for a while.
At this moment, the white-clothed teenager's contemptuous smile vanished and was replaced by a look of indifference.
Seeing the change of expression on the teenager's face, Zhao Xiaoya began to grow wary.
"Open your mouth!"
The white-clothed teenager ordered in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Zhao Xiaoya opened her mouth slightly, and seconds later, a cold stream of air entered her mouth. Immediately afterward, endless vitality erupted. Her domineering aura began to be restored.