Chapter 275 – Soul Brand
Nie Li split and handed a hundred spiritual stones to Lu Piao as the two of them returned to Xiao Yu’s home.
Xiao Yu raised his head as the two entered and asked, “Where have you been? I couldn’t find you when I returned and was just about to look for you guys, since I didn’t know where you were!”
Nie Li was a little touched by the expression of anxiety and concern written on Xiao Yu’s face. After all, he and Xiao Yu were strangers who’d only met by chance, yet Xiao Yu had done his utmost for them. Recently, Nie Li’s opinion of Xiao Yu gradually changed as he realised that Xiao Yu had a good character and was worth befriending. Although he was a little feminine, it wasn’t a terribly big problem.
“We took a little walk around the place and came back with a boatload of spiritual stones. You can have these!” Nie Li took out a bag of spiritual stones and tossed it over to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu caught the bag of spiritual stones and was instantly stunned when he saw that there were fifty or sixty of them in there.
Xiao Yu immediately shook his head. “Where did you guys get so many spiritual stones? I can’t accept these!”
“We just walked around a little and earned five hundred spiritual stones. Since we’re brothers, what are you being so polite for?” Lu Piao chuckled and imitated Gu Bei as he tried to hook an arm around Xiao Yu’s shoulders. However, Xiao Yu dodged it without a sound.
Xiao Yu was utterly astonished in his heart. He couldn’t figure out how Nie Li could’ve possibly earned five hundred spiritual stones. Again, he shook his head in determination. “I can’t accept these spiritual stones! You guys should take them back!” As he finished speaking, he returned the bag of spiritual stones to Nie Li.
Nie Li grabbed Xiao Yu’s hand and pushed the spiritual stones back into Xiao Yu’s hand as said solemnly, “Earlier, when we just arrived here, you gave us two spiritual stones, which we didn’t reject. Now what we’ve gotten so many spiritual stones for ourselves, we’re also trying to give you a share. If you reject it, then doesn’t that mean that you’re not treating us as friends?”
Xiao Yu pulled his hand back and appeared a little embarrassed. “That’s not the same. I only gave you two spiritual stones and yet, you’re giving me so much more.”
“How is it not the same?” Nie Li’s brows slightly twitched as he continued, “You had roughly around a dozen spiritual stones and yet, you were still willing to give us two. Now that we’ve gotten five hundred spiritual stones, it’s only natural for us to split a share for you. There’s no difference! Not to mention the fact that we’re also staying in your place. If you don’t accept these, then the two of us will move away immediately!”
Xiao Yu hesitated for a brief moment before he finally nodded. “Fine. Then I’ll go ahead and accept these spiritual stones.”
“Alright! Now that this is done, we’ll head back to cultivate. If anything comes up, we’ll talk about it later!” Nie Li smiled and went ahead back to his own room without waiting for Xiao Yu’s reply.
Xiao Yu stared at Nie Li’s back and opened his mouth as he tried to say something. However, he couldn’t think of anything, so he swallowed those words and looked down at the spiritual stones in his hands. Yesterday, Nie Li had taken only five spiritual stones in return for the treatment. Then, after only a single day had passed, Nie Li came back with so many spiritual stones; Xiao Yu was speechless.
Lu Piao smiled back at Xiao Yu, then returned to his room as well.
When Nie Li arrived at his own room, he placed Jindan’s pouch on the floor in a corner of the room. With so many spiritual stones, he’ll definitely be able to raise his strength quickly!
Yu Yan flew out from Nie Li’s sleeve. She’d been hiding in his sleeve this entire time, cultivating. She could sense that Nie Li’s aura was extremely useful for her cultivation. Cultivation of Heavenly Energy inside Nie Li’s sleeve proceeded several folds faster than cultivation outside; that’s why she hid inside his sleeve and not coming out.
“Big Sister Yu Yan, you can have these spiritual stones for your cultivation!” With a casual smile, Nie Li passed a pile of spiritual stones to Yu Yan.
“Thank you, Nie Li. I’m aware that these spiritual stones are extremely precious.” Yu Yan looked at Nie Li with a moved expression. Since the beginning of her travels with Nie Li, she’d known him to be extremely caring towards his friends and was an extremely reliable person.
Nie Li smiled. “Big Sister Yu Yan is being too polite. You also witnessed it; I only treated someone a little bit and earned myself five hundred spiritual stones. In the future, I’ll treat more people and obtain even more spiritual stones. This here can’t be considered much!”
As she looked at Nie Li’s bright smile, Yu Yan couldn’t help feeling touched in her heart. After living for so long, Nie Li was one of the few who truly treated her well!
Yu Yan landed on Nie Li’s shoulders, kissed him on the cheek, and said, “No matter what, I still have to thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be sealed in that black spring.”
Kissed by Yu Yan and smelling her faint fragrance, Nie Li was briefly stunned. Ever since the incident in the Black Infernal Tower, Nie Li had sensed that something changed in Yu Yan.
However, the current Yu Yan was more gentle compared to the past, as she had more human emotions.
Nie Li smiled, “Then, I’ll go ahead and start cultivating, Big Sister Yu Yan!”
He took out a spiritual stone and began to absorb the Heavenly Energy inside it. A surge of energy drew forth from the spiritual stone and into his Soul Realm, where he began refining it.
Yu Yan sat on Nie Li’s shoulders as a complicated expression flashed through her eyes. She threw a glance at Nie Li and a scarlet pink flushed across her face. She was wearing a silk dress that showed her fair and flawless back and slender long legs, giving off a boundless sense of amoury.
When she saw that Nie Li had already entered his cultivation state, she flew over to the pile of spiritual stones and begun her cultivation as well.
Quickly, Nie Li dried his stone of its Heavenly Energy. Yet even though all that Heavenly Energy had entered his dantian, it didn’t produce the slightest effect.
There was nothing Nie Li could do, except take out a second spiritual stone and continue absorbing the energy.
The second piece, third piece…
Even after he’d absorbed the tenth piece, the energy in these spiritual stones continued to disappear into his dantian like a clay ox entering the sea 1, without causing the slightest ripple in his Soul Realm. However, the vine in his Soul Realm began to grow stronger from the nourishment of the Heavenly Energy. The flower bud gradually blossomed and became even more beautiful.
It was probably the Heavenly Energy that had excited this vine, since this vine was constantly absorbing the Heavenly Energy.
After the vine absorbed the energy, Nie Li sensed that his cultivation rose by a little. He couldn’t help smiling bitterly; originally he thought that two or three hundred spiritual stones would be enough to last him a long time. But according to this exhausting speed, wouldn’t he finish his supply of spiritual stones way too quickly?
Although he didn’t have a clue as to the true nature of the vine inside him, he could sense that this vine belonged there as a part of him. If it was nourished and allowed to grow, it’d definitely profit his own cultivation!
Nie Li continued to absorb the Heavenly Energy contained in the spiritual stones.
Twentieth piece, thirtieth piece…
The quantity of spiritual stones being consumed steadily increased in number. As Nie Li absorbed more Heavenly Energy, his cultivation finally showed a substantial increase and qualitative leap.
According to the sub-rankings of Legend rank, Nie Li was already more or less a 4-star Legend rank and would soon reach 5-star. Right now, decreasing his distance from the Heavenly Fate Realm was the most urgent goal for him.
Once he reached the Heavenly Fate Realm, the stages of his cultivation would be entirely different.
Jindan, who was asleep only moments before, suddenly woke up, and appeared to have sensed something. Once it saw the empty spiritual stones scattered on the floor, its eyes glowed as it began to eat through them one by one, as if it was eating through several helpings of stir-fried beans.
Nie Li practised for a long time to consolidate his current cultivation level, not daring to absorb too much Heavenly Energy at once. Only after he’d concluded his training and opened his eyes did he realised that Jindan had already eaten about half of the drained spiritual stones and left messy fragments lying all over the place. Jindan’s stomach was plump and round as the creature rolled back and forth on the floor, with a satisfied expression on its face.
This little guy even eats wasted stones!
Nie Li was speechless towards Jindan. After pondering for a moment, Nie Li took out a normal spiritual stone that contained some Heavenly Energy and threw it to Jindan.
The moment that spiritual stone landed beside Jindan, the creature’s eyes lit up, as it quickly rolled over to the stone and hugged it tightly, as if it were guarding a valuable treasure and was afraid that someone would steal it. It held the spiritual stone tightly and began chewing; in a flash, the spiritual stone was eaten completely without a single shard left behind.
Jindan immediately lost interest in the drained spiritual stones and stared at Nie Li.
This little guy really knows what the good stuff is. It knew that the undrained spiritual stones were the better goods and had developed a new taste for them in an instant.
Nie Li shook his head and said, “I don’t have a lot of spiritual stones, so right now, I can only give you one. If you still want more, then you’ll have to listen to me!”
At Nie Li’s words, Jindan was like a little chick as it nodded its head.
This little guy was rather easily tricked. Back then, when Nie Li had tried to reform Jindan’s aura, his efforts were obstructed by something, so he couldn’t accomplish the reformation. This time, Nie Li again took Jindan and injected a trace of his own Heavenly Energy into the creature.
Nie Li once again tried to reform Jindan’s aura. This time, his attempt was much smoother, since Jindan wasn’t resisting. As he injected his Heavenly Energy, Nie Li slowly became aware that Jindan’s bloodline contained a frightening and unimaginable strength.
This power was far stronger than the Celestial Qilin’s!
Nie Li was completely astonished in his heart. He couldn’t imagine what heights Jindan would achieve when it fully grew up. Bit by bit, Nie Li injected his Soul Brand into Jindan; in return, he sensed his link with Jindan was getting stronger.
Just as Nie Li was about to go a step further, he sensed a powerful rebound of energy inside Jindan that caused a jolt in his Soul Realm.
It looked like the matter couldn’t be rushed. The fact that he’d achieved some improvements was already pretty good; marking his Soul Brand inside Jindan’s Soul Realm and turning it into his own Spiritual Beast would have to be done slowly.
1. Chinese idiom. Disappeared with no hope of ever returning.