Chapter 72 Youthful Spring Robes (18)

This cramped tomb was like a large cage, dark, stuffy, and filled with eerie yin energy. If it weren't for the luminous pearl and Jiang Gu, Wei Feng wouldn't have been able to endure it for even an hour, let alone a month.

But Jiang Gu said this was his home.

Wei Feng struggled to describe this strange feeling. He awkwardly flicked his tail and chuckled dryly, "It's...pretty good."

“Those things outside are adept at understanding people’s hearts and manipulating desires, using them to confuse cultivators’ minds. Don’t easily believe the words of ghosts and monsters.” Jiang Gu paused, “They are quite similar to the ghost mask and white eyes on your body.”

"Master, I swear to the heavens that I will never deceive you in the slightest!" Wei Feng panicked instantly, after all, he had committed evil deeds before, twice in fact. He said sincerely, "If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

He knelt before Jiang Gu, raised his hand to swear an oath, and did so in a very serious manner.

"No need." Jiang Gu's reaction was indifferent. "I'm keeping you because you're useful. Just do your job well."

This was far more despairing than beatings and scoldings. For nearly a month, the master and disciple had depended on each other for survival. Jiang Gu seemed to have forgiven him and even taught him more diligently. Even when he acted cute and cuddled up to Jiang Gu, Jiang Gu did not show any impatience. Wei Feng thought that he had finally gained some weight in Jiang Gu's heart.

But then he suddenly realized—Jiang Gu simply didn't care.

At first, he was at least a little angry about being betrayed, but now that anger has completely disappeared. He was too weak to Jiang Gu. He could just kill the little thing he was raising if it betrayed him. If it was still useful, he would keep it. Perhaps in Jiang Gu's eyes, he was not even as good as Wu Tuo before. At most, he was just a flying sword under Jiang Gu's feet.

I'll keep it because it's useful.

The excitement and heartache he had felt upon learning a few bits of Jiang Gu's past were extinguished, leaving him calmer than ever before.

He was abandoned the moment he betrayed Jiang Gu's possession of the divine artifact.

Jiang Gu never changed his mind.

"Yes, Master." He lowered his voice, respectful and obedient.

Jiang Gu glanced at him, then untied the spirit pet pouch and threw out his body.

Wei Feng saw his body instantly rush forward in excitement, but then stopped abruptly in mid-air, looking at Jiang Gu tentatively and asking, "Master, may I go in?"

Only after Jiang Gu nodded did he eagerly return to his own body.

The body still bore the marks of his previous injuries. He moved his limbs uncomfortably, then looked at Jiang Gu with surprise, "Master, is this my original body?"

He instantly forgot the low mood he had felt because of Jiang Gu's coldness and happily rushed over to hug Jiang Gu.

As a result, they were separated by Jiang Gu's spiritual energy shield.

He looked into the boy's bright eyes and said, "Go and undergo your tribulation."

Wei Feng clearly felt the surging spiritual power within his body, and a large part of it came from the flesh and blood that Jiang Gu had forcibly fed him. He knew that this breakthrough was crucial, so he knelt on the ground and respectfully bowed to Jiang Gu as a disciple, "Yes, Master."

Wei Feng went to find a place to undergo his tribulation. With the Fire Rope and the Primordial Spirit Imprint, Jiang Gu could sense his situation at any time, so he did not go with him, but left the tomb alone.

As soon as he emerged, the ghost tide surged forth with overwhelming force, and a foul-smelling, chilling gale fiercely attacked him, but was blocked by a spiritual energy shield three feet away.

Jiang Gu strolled leisurely through the desolate graves, as if he were visiting his own backyard. It wasn't until he deliberately revealed a trace of his aura that the endless hordes of vengeful ghosts seemed to suddenly react, screaming and shoving as they scrambled to escape for their lives.

Centered on Jiang Gu, the ghost horde within a radius of nearly a thousand miles vanished without a trace in an instant, like the receding tide.

However, a few ghost cultivators with higher cultivation levels were forcibly kept behind. They stood trembling and huddled together in front of Jiang Gu, their primordial spirits almost scattered by fear.

"I never knew I had been taken care of by you here," Jiang Gu said.

A ghost cultivator who had transformed into human form trembled with fear and immediately knelt on the ground. "Young master, spare my life! I didn't know that person was brought by you. If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to lay a hand on your people even if you gave me eight hundred lives!"

“Yes, yes, young master, we really didn’t mean it,” someone chimed in trembling voice. “We’ve been guarding Miss Gu’s grave, so we’ve done our part to atone for our sins. Please forgive us, sir.”

Jiang Gu raised his hand, and golden spiritual power condensed in his palm. Upon seeing this, the ghost cultivators immediately begged for mercy. The one who attacked Wei Feng knew he couldn't escape and tried to flee, but a magic array had already been set up on the ground, firmly binding him within it.

"You talkative thing." Jiang Gu lowered his hand.

However, the palm-sized amount of spiritual energy possessed immense power upon impact. The ghost cultivator, already knowing he couldn't escape this calamity, steeled his resolve and roared, "You beast who disregards humanity! Do you think I don't know you survive by eating your mother's flesh and blood?! You have no humanity whatsoever! Heaven will strike you down sooner or later—ahhh—"

The magic array tightened, and the ghost cultivator who was cursing loudly was instantly reduced to ashes.

Jiang Gu brushed the dust off his sleeves, looked at the remaining trembling ghost cultivators, and said in a friendly manner, "Would you all be willing to do me a favor?"

The ghost cultivators were on the verge of tears, but they had to pretend to be willing. "Of course we're willing! Please give your orders, young master!"

The wind howled, and thunder rumbled from the west of the desolate graveyard. The ghost tide that had been retreating suddenly surged toward the direction of the lightning tribulation.

Jiang Gu brushed the black smoke off his sleeves and said politely, "I'll borrow your bone marrow for a while."

——

The lightning tribulation from the mid to late stage of Foundation Establishment wasn't particularly severe, but perhaps because Wei Feng had undergone two tribulations within a month, this lightning tribulation struck exceptionally hard. When the tribulation ended, Wei Feng was lying on the ground, unable to get up.

Jiang Gu calmly walked over, used a water-drawing spell to wash away the charcoal and mud from the person's body, and then helped the person up.

Wei Feng was naturally fair-skinned, and even before he had those messy bloodlines, he was handsome and clean-cut. At seventeen or eighteen, when a young man is growing, his shoulders and back are much broader than before, and his body is covered with a layer of peeled muscles. His lean waist and the butterfly bones on his back are so white that they seem to glow under the washing of the water.

Jiang Gu remained calm, but Wei Feng, who was naked, blushed as he was pulled up. "Master, I can do it myself."

But he is at his weakest right now, and he can't even lift his fingers.

Jiang Gu ignored him and roughly draped his own outer robe over Wei Feng's head. The front of the robe was already loosely tied, and when Wei Feng straightened his back, his shoulders and most of his chest were exposed. He looked embarrassed and helpless, and even the fine hairs on his ears seemed to be tinged with crimson.

Jiang Gu glanced at his round, red earlobe, raised his hand and pinched it.

Wei Feng instinctively flinched, his eyes glistening as he looked at him, his face instantly turning red to the roots of his neck and collarbone. He stammered, "Master, Master."

It wasn't as soft as he had imagined.

Jiang Gu was a little disappointed, so he picked the person up in his arms and said, "Let's go."

Wei Feng had been hugged by him many times, and he hadn't felt anything before, but just now his master touched his earlobe, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. However, he was happy to enjoy this hard-won opportunity and buried his face in Jiang Gu's neck and took a deep breath.

"..." Jiang Gu knew that he had relapsed again.

If it weren't for the fact that this guy was afraid of the spirit pet pouch and that carrying it was unseemly, he would never have carried this bastard.

Even while being held, Wei Feng wasn't very still. He would sniff Jiang Gu's neck one moment and touch Jiang Gu's front the next. He looked at Jiang Gu's earlobe and wanted to touch it like Jiang Gu did, but he didn't dare. He just swallowed hard.

Compared to that filthy and ugly primordial spirit, Wei Feng's physical form seemed quite endearing. Jiang Gu became a little more patient and didn't throw him out, but his travel speed was not slow.

Despite their haste, half an hour later, they were still stopped at the exit of the desolate graveyard.

Covered in wounds and looking disheveled, Qu Fengyu carried the dying Wu Hezhi on his back and looked at the master and disciple opposite him.

Her handsome but not-so-bright nephew, wearing only a thin black robe, was being held horizontally in the arms of Jiang Gu, that ruthless killer. His bare shoulders were partially exposed, and his face was flushed with desire. Anyone could guess what the two of them had just done.

In disbelief and heartbreak, she nearly dropped Wu Hezhi from her back. "Wei Feng!?"

Wei Feng was even more shocked than her, "What are you doing here?"

Qu Fengyu couldn't tell whether he should be relieved that his eldest nephew was alive or heartbroken that his beloved nephew had been ruined by Jiang Gu, that wicked star. He choked for a long time, unable to speak, "You, you are..."

She came to Jiang Gu with murderous intent to seek revenge, but when she saw this passionate and explicit scene, she wished she could gouge out her own eyes.

"Put my nephew down!" Qu Fengyu's heart was bleeding.

Jiang Gu showed no intention of letting go. A red-tinged longsword was raised behind him. Wei Feng recognized it at a glance as his natal sword, Chi Xue. Usually, this meant his master was about to kill someone. He quickly grabbed Jiang Gu's neck and said, "Master, she's not a bad person. She even saved me!"

Jiang Gu coldly lowered his eyes and looked at him.

On that day, Wei Feng betrayed him, perhaps also intending to save Qu Fengyu and Wu Hezhi. Although he didn't care, he wasn't exactly happy about it.

Thus, his killing intent became even more undisguised, and the Crimson Snow Sword shot straight at Qu Fengyu.

"Master!" Wei Feng struggled for a moment, then heard the sound of swords clashing.

Qu Fengyu, wielding his sword in one hand, retreated dozens of feet and hurriedly said, "Seventh Young Master, please wait! I have a Marrow Cleansing Spirit Mushroom that I'd like to make a deal with you!"

People with multiple spiritual roots cannot refuse rare and precious materials that can cleanse the marrow. Cleansing one spiritual root can save more than a hundred years of time, and Jiang Gu is no exception.

The Crimson Snow Sword had already shattered Qu Fengyu's broadsword and hovered between her brows.

Wei Feng broke out in a cold sweat, only to be casually tossed aside by Jiang Gu. His expression darkened, and he pulled up the outer robe that had sagged down to his shoulders, following closely behind Jiang Gu.

“The Marrow Cleansing Ganoderma is rare; it withers and dies as soon as it is unearthed. How do you plan to preserve it?” Jiang Gu looked at Qu Fengyu, the Crimson Snow Sword hovering in front of him, ready to take her and Wu Hezhi’s lives at any moment.

“In my early years, I traveled and was fortunate enough to find a spiritual realm. I planted the Marrow Cleansing Ganoderma in the realm and hid it in the Sparrow Kite Sect.” Qu Fengyu said, “If Seventh Young Master does not believe me, you can search his soul to verify it.”

Although soul searching can easily lead to cultivators becoming mentally impaired, at the level of Qu Fengyu and Jiang Gu, it will only cause them some pain at most, provided that the person searching their soul has no malicious intent.

Seeing is believing, Jiang Gu searched Qu Fengyu's soul and indeed found the Marrow Cleansing Ganoderma.

"If Seventh Young Master can save Wu Hezhi's life, I will give him the Marrow Cleansing Ganoderma," Qu Fengyu said.

Jiang Gu looked down at her and asked, "You want to negotiate with me?"

Qu Fengyu was already drenched in cold sweat. He steadied Wu Hezhi behind him and forced himself to calm down, saying, "Only I can open the entrance to the Spirit Realm. If Seventh Young Master agrees, I am willing to give you the Spirit Realm and all its treasures."

She's at least three or four hundred years old, and has traveled far more than Jiang Gu. She's naturally hoarded countless treasures, making it a worthwhile deal for Jiang Gu. Of course, Jiang Gu could kill them all, but—

Qu Fengyu looked at Wei Feng behind Jiang Gu.

Wei Feng caused such a huge disaster but didn't die at Jiang Gu's hands. Moreover, given the situation just now, the two of them still had some feelings for each other. A smart man like Jiang Gu wouldn't kill her in front of Wei Feng. Agreeing to this deal would be most advantageous for him.

"Okay." Jiang Gu agreed readily, without any hesitation.

Wei Feng and Qu Fengyu, who were behind him, both breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Gu was not fooled by Qu Fengyu's appearance. This woman was very smart. Dealing with smart people is time-saving and effortless, but it is also very dangerous.

Completely different from a fool like Wei Feng.

He looked at Wei Feng, who, seeing him looking at him, tilted his head and smiled proudly and contentedly, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth.

"..." Jiang Gu indifferently withdrew his gaze.

What is he so happy about?