Legend Management Bureau Chapter 169

[ … words ]

Bai Suzhen looked at the old man before her with confusion. “Senior, I don’t quite understand. Does this herb growing on the steep cliff actually have an owner?”

“Oh my, little girl!” The South Pole Immortal was so anxious he almost stepped forward to cover her mouth. “I already told you, you absolutely cannot mess around here! Where are you from, you rogue immortal spirit? If you’re short on herbs, you can check other spiritual mountains—Mount Changbai, Mount Taihang, Mount Wutai! Why must you come to Mount Kunlun? Do you know whose territory this is?”

“Senior, to be completely honest, my name is Bai Suzhen. I am a millennium-old snake demon. My husband was harmed by that old monk Fahai of Jinshan Temple and turned to stone. Therefore, I seek the immortal ganoderma herb to save his life.”

The South Pole Immortal couldn’t help but frown. “Little girl, your past is indeed tragic, but I truly cannot give you this herb. If that ‘fierce tiger’ finds out, even though I am the Star of Longevity, I’m afraid I’ll meet an early end.”

Bai Suzhen found this genuinely hard to comprehend. “Senior, just what kind of fierce tiger lives on this mountain? Why would someone with your level of cultivation fear it so much?”

“Ah! Well…” The South Pole Immortal looked around. After confirming there was no one within a three-mile radius, he whispered to her, “This ‘tiger’ is more ferocious than any beast in the world. Forget about me; even the ghosts of the Underworld walk backward when they see her, and the dragons of the Eastern Sea swim in reverse! If she’s even slightly displeased, whether you’re a High Immortal, a True Immortal, or a Golden Immortal of the Great Luo, she will obliterate your body and soul!”

“What?!” Bai Suzhen was truly stunned. ‘What kind of tiger is this? Even the Demon King Sun Wukong back in the day didn’t have such immense power!’

“Crack!”

With a crisp snap, the Queen Mother of the West crushed the armrest of her throne.

“Haha.” Empress Houtu couldn’t help but laugh out loud from the side. She glanced at the Queen Mother of the West and teased, “Who is the South Pole Immortal talking about? Why can’t I seem to figure it out?”

“Houtu, do you want to anger me too?” Veins throbbed rhythmically on the Queen Mother’s forehead. Her normally exquisite and beautiful face was somewhat twisted at this moment. “Do I really seem like a tigress, just as he claims?!”

The various immortals of the Legend Administration Bureau quickly buried their heads deep into their chests. Who would dare answer such a lethal question?

“Little Yao, sit down first,” Houtu said, waving a hand at the Queen Mother of the West as she lowered her voice. “Watch how the South Pole Immortal handles this matter for now. It won’t be too late to hold him accountable afterward.”

The Queen Mother of the West snorted coldly, forcefully flicking her sleeve. “It seems my heavenly tribulation lightning has grown too weak, allowing people to gossip right beneath my feet.”

Even though the rest of the immortals hadn’t provoked her, they still felt a wave of fear wash over them at this moment.

“Weaver Girl, quickly summon the Three Stars of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity. Have them wait in the courtyard of the Legend Administration Bureau.”

“Ah?” The Weaver Girl was put in a difficult position. Wouldn’t calling them over right now be sending them straight into the Queen Mother’s fury?

“Your Majesty, perhaps… perhaps…” The Weaver Girl frantically racked her brain for an excuse, but she was facing the Queen Mother of the West. Ordinary reasons would never convince her.

“Go ahead and call them, Weaver Girl,” Houtu suddenly interjected. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

The Weaver Girl glanced at Empress Houtu. Even though she had a fairly good guess regarding this female cultivator’s true identity, could she really protect the Three Stars from the enraged Queen Mother of the West?

On the screen, Bai Suzhen frowned in deep thought before saying to the South Pole Immortal, “I do not wish to put you in a difficult position, Senior. If the other party is truly such a formidable demonic beast, even if it’s a near-certain death, I still want to go and request her to gift me the herb.”

“Huh?” The South Pole Immortal was taken aback. “Little girl, are you not afraid of death? Your cultivation isn’t low; you could easily ascend to immortality. Yet, you want to take such a massive risk for a mortal?”

“Senior, I am not afraid to die. If it weren’t for this mortal, let alone ascending to immortality, even taking on a human form would have been a pipe dream. He gave me my life, so I must save his.”

The South Pole Immortal scratched his large head. “Even if your body perishes and your cultivation is erased, you still want to try?”

“Yes,” Bai Suzhen nodded solemnly. “Even if my body perishes. Even if my cultivation is erased.”

“Good! What a sentimental demon!” The South Pole Immortal suddenly burst into laughter. “In that case, this old man will summon his courage and help you out this once!”

Bai Suzhen blinked in surprise. “Help me?”

“That’s right,” the South Pole Immortal said with a smile. “I quite like you, little girl. You value love and loyalty. Helping you once can be considered accumulating good karma.”

“B-but!” Bai Suzhen said anxiously. “If you help me, Senior, I’m afraid it will anger the vicious tiger on this mountain. It would be better if you left right now. I will pick the herb and flee on my own. Otherwise, if something goes wrong… I’m afraid I’ll implicate you.”

“You don’t understand. If I leave right now, that’s when you’ll really be in big trouble.” After saying this, the South Pole Immortal stomped his foot and yelled at the ground, “You two old thieves, you’ve been eavesdropping this whole time, haven’t you? Come out right now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an exceptionally short old man popped out from the ground near his feet. Immediately after, a human figure slowly materialized on the nearby stone cliff. Looking closely, it was actually a robust and muscular young man.

“I say, Old Star of Longevity, why did you call the two of us out?” the short old man asked in a panic. “Don’t drag us into the promise you made to this little snake.”

The robust young man also nodded repeatedly. “This minor immortal was just passing by. In truth, I didn’t hear a thing.”

“Earth God, Mountain God,” the South Pole Immortal declared. “I’ve already decided to give that stalk of ganoderma herb to this little snake. If you don’t help me, we’ll all share the blame when things go south. Let’s just all get struck by lightning together.”

“You!” The Earth God stomped his foot in anger. “Aren’t you just trying to get us killed?”

The robust young man looked flustered and hurriedly covered his ears. “I didn’t hear anything! I’m just passing by!”

The South Pole Immortal chuckled. He reached out toward the ganoderma herb, and it flew right over. He immediately pulled out a Cosmos Bag and trapped it inside. The ganoderma bounced around wildly within the bag, unable to find an exit for a long time, before finally giving up and lying still.

“Catch, little girl.” The South Pole Immortal tossed the Cosmos Bag to Bai Suzhen. “If anyone asks, just tell them you found this ganoderma herb on the ground.”

Bai Suzhen’s hand trembled slightly as she held the bag. A thought couldn’t help but surface in her mind.

‘Why have I constantly been meeting noble benefactors eager to help me these past two days? It feels as if a lucky star has fallen from the heavens. How incredibly fortunate.’

“Little girl, hurry up and leave,” the South Pole Immortal urged. “Leave the rest to us.”

“Senior… but you…”

“Go, go quickly.” He waved his hand dismissively and turned around, ignoring her.

Bai Suzhen solemnly bowed to the South Pole Immortal three times and said, “Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude. May your boundless merit be rewarded, Senior.”

With that said, she stepped onto a cloud and ascended, heading toward the shaded side of the mountain slope to find Xiao Qing.

“I say, Old Star of Longevity, what exactly is your crazy plan?” the Earth God asked. “If the Queen Mother of the West suddenly asks about it, how are we supposed to explain?”

“Sigh, this stalk of ganoderma herb is nothing more than a decoration for the Queen Mother, sitting uselessly on this cliff. Now that it can be used to save a life, why not let it serve a purpose?”

“Saving a life is fine, but who’s going to save us?!” The Earth God stomped his feet anxiously.

“Don’t panic, aren’t I thinking of a way right now?” The South Pole Immortal searched the ground for a while before picking up a piece of a tree root. He spun the root around, examining it, and broke into a grin. “Mountain God, aren’t you highly proficient in wood-element spells?”

“I don’t know anything! I didn’t hear anything! I’m leaving right now; I was just passing by!” The Mountain God looked somewhat terrified.

“Don’t be afraid. Just use your spell to turn this tree root into the shape of a ganoderma herb. I’ll paint it red, and then the Earth God can use his earth-element spells to wedge it into the steep cliff. Wouldn’t that solve everything perfectly?”

The Earth God and Mountain God froze simultaneously. ‘Isn’t this basically a bait-and-switch?’

‘Faced with the Queen Mother of the West, would such a clumsy trick really work?’

The Queen Mother of the West also paused, suddenly recalling something.

A long time ago, she had discovered that the ganoderma herb on the mountain had been swapped out for a piece of wood. Flying into a rage, she had struck the South Pole Immortal—the guardian of the Kunlun Immortal Mountain—with lightning, stripping away a thousand years of his cultivation.

“Back then, when I saw the South Pole Immortal’s cultivation skyrocket, I assumed he had stolen and eaten the ganoderma. I never imagined it was because of his ‘good karma,'” the Queen Mother of the West murmured to herself, deep in thought.

Before long, Bai Suzhen found Medusa.

“Sister!” Bai Suzhen’s face beamed with irrepressible joy. “Quick, look what I found!”

Saying that, she pulled a massive ganoderma herb out of her Cosmos Bag and waved it excitedly at Medusa.

Medusa blinked in surprise. “Wow, what’s that?”

“This is the ganoderma herb!”

Medusa frowned slightly. ‘So the red mushrooms I found weren’t ganoderma herbs after all. Still, they’re red mushrooms… maybe they can save lives too?’

“Let’s hurry back!” Bai Suzhen happily grabbed Medusa’s hand, and Medusa seemed to catch her infectious joy.

The two of them utilized their divine abilities and flew rapidly toward Hangzhou.

…

Empress Houtu explained for a long time, but Du Yu remained silent.

“Kid, did you understand or not?!”

Du Yu shook his head helplessly and replied, “Boss, don’t worry about whether I understand or not. You’re being a little ridiculous. One moment you’re talking about using this fire, and the next you’re talking about using that earth. Just look at the three people who entered the legend this time. Do any of them look like they know how to use five-element spells?”

“Uh…” Empress Houtu finally realized it. Du Yu was a mortal, and that little Fusang girl specialized in summoning and sealing arts. The only one with a sliver of hope was Emperor Medusa, but her understanding of the five elements was far too shallow.

Without realizing it, the crowd turned their heads to look at Zhan Qisheng.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Zhan Qisheng froze. “Wasn’t I left out of the legend this time?”

“Please, do us a favor,” Dong Qianqiu said from the side. “Otherwise, Xu Xian will end up dying in the legend.”

“Sigh…” Zhan Qisheng shook his head helplessly. “If I had known, I would have gone in with them.”

Empress Houtu frowned and glanced back at this man, finding him somewhat familiar.

Empress Houtu then spoke to Du Yu with slight anger. “Du Yu, that kid in black, is that Zhan Qisheng?”

“Yeah,” Du Yu answered without thinking, immediately realizing he had misspoken. “No, wait, I mean…”

“Let me do you a favor and cripple his cultivation. It can be considered venting some frustration on Yingning’s behalf.”

“Ah?” Du Yu hurriedly waved his hands. “No need, no need, really…”

“Hmph.” Empress Houtu snorted coldly. “Leaving an enemy right in front of your eyes and remaining entirely indifferent… Can you even call yourself Yingning’s guardian? I’ll give you one more chance. This time, I expect a ‘one-word’ answer. Otherwise, don’t bother coming back.”

‘What am I supposed to do?’ Du Yu had almost forgotten that Empress Houtu treated Yingning as her own flesh and blood. Seeing Zhan Qisheng now, she naturally harbored deep resentment.

After holding it in for a long time, Du Yu finally squeezed out a single word:

“Don.”