NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
Chapter 5: A Glimpse More
The next morning,
Zhang Erhu slumped at the door, his bloodshot eyes and greenish complexion making him look like he was auditioning for a zombie movie.
He had slept all night, yet somehow felt even more exhausted.
And it got better—just the thought of cultivating made him feel nauseous.
Was it food poisoning? Did he offend someone?
Seriously, was he cursed?
He guzzled water like a cactus in the desert, as if that would remedy the situation.
“Cough cough cough…”
Just as he finished his drink, a severe cough escaped him.
His throat burned like he swallowed lava, and his veins were a red mess, feeling as if spirit power had shredded them inside.
“What the heck is going on? Is this servant disciple dorm cursed or something?”
Zhang Erhu’s face contorted.
Was he inflicted with some bizarre illness? He dared not risk a check-up. After all, with his status, exposing his condition to Qinglian Sect was a big no-no.
Suddenly, he spotted Liu Shunyi, just waking up.
Zhang Erhu’s eyes lit up.
“Liu Shidi!”
Liu Shunyi was momentarily taken aback but quickly smiled and approached.
“Brother Zhang, what’s up?”
Zhang Erhu whipped out a low-grade spirit stone.
“Go buy me a healing pill from the alchemy room!”
Liu Shunyi hesitated, clearly uncomfortable.
“Brother Zhang, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but I promised the artifact refining room I’d do some hard labor today. If I run off to get you medicine, it might cause a hold-up. What do you think…”
Zhang Erhu’s gaze turned icy.
“Oh~ and why is that my problem?”
Liu Shunyi took a deep breath.
“Alright, Brother, just wait here!”
With that, Liu Shunyi sprinted off to the alchemy room and quickly returned.
Zhang Erhu, holding the pill, was visibly satisfied.
But he intentionally grabbed onto Liu Shunyi.
“What’s with this, Brother Zhang?”
Liu Shunyi’s expression shifted.
Zhang Erhu just chuckled.
“No biggie, just curious what kind of punishment you’d get if you were late!”
Liu Shunyi simmered with annoyance.
“Brother Zhang, I have no grievances with you. I even helped you buy the pill; why do you have to treat me like this?”
Zhang Erhu snorted.
Anger surged within Liu Shunyi, his fists clenching.
But~
That guy was a green horn, and for now, the best he could deal with.
Stay calm.
Liu Shunyi inhaled deeply, steadying his emotions.
He plastered on a smile.
“Brother Zhang, your teachings are valuable; there won’t be a next time!”
He bowed his head low.
Zhang Erhu narrowed his eyes.
“You can endure quite well; it scares me. Therefore, I think I can’t let you stick around!”
With that, Zhang Erhu swung a fist toward Liu Shunyi.
Liu Shunyi reacted, feeling ready to counterattack.
But suddenly, he caught sight of someone out of the corner of his eye.
He pretended to be clueless.
“Bang~”
The punch landed square on Liu Shunyi’s face, sending him flying backward.
Zhang Erhu was ready to capitalize on his ‘victory.’
Suddenly, a flying sword swooped in, severing both of Zhang Erhu’s arms.
“Ah~”
Zhang Erhu screamed, collapsing to the ground, staring at his severed limbs, sweat pouring down his face.
Just then, a stunning woman in a flowing white dress entered from the servant disciple gate.
Gazing at the sobbing Zhang Erhu, her voice was as cold as ice.
“Unjust harm to fellow disciples leads to death!”
With a mere flick, she directed her flying sword.
Swish—
A flash of white light, and Zhang Erhu was done for!
Liu Shunyi stood there, aghast at the whole scene.
The cold beauty cast a fleeting glance at him before taking her leave, not pausing for even a second.
Blood streamed from Liu Shunyi’s nose, soaking his clothes.
What a mess.
Just moments before Zhang Erhu’s punch landed, Liu Shunyi had flipped the Grand Dao Scroll to Shen Kaiyang’s page.
As a result, after enduring Zhang Erhu’s punch, Shen Kaiyang’s name shattered.
Just like that, it was gone!
In the following three-second vacuum period, Liu Shunyi still felt a backlash.
However, once those three seconds passed, the name on the first page of the Grand Dao Scroll changed automatically to Cui Hao.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
This experience revealed something crucial to Liu Shunyi:
The names on the Grand Dao Scroll could replace a life!
But to Liu Shunyi’s bewilderment, a new name appeared on the scroll.
And that name? Zhang Junbao!
It was even greener than Zhang Erhu’s, glowing like ambient lighting.
Liu Shunyi squinted.
“Looks like Zhang Erhu’s death isn’t blamed on that stunning sister, but it’s all on me, haha~”
Liu Shunyi laughed at the absurdity.
Such is the law of survival of the fittest.
But right now, he wasn’t afraid of enemies at all.
The more deadly they were, the more he liked them.
And that Zhang Junbao? With a name so glaringly green, he’d treat himself to a reward later!
“Wait a sec, oh crap!”
Liu Shunyi suddenly remembered the grueling labor waiting for him at the artifact refining room.
No time to celebrate having a powerful new enemy!
The priority was to earn some cash.
Only with money could he buy better techniques or spells!
With that in mind, Liu Shunyi hurried off toward the artifact refining room.
……
Shen Kaiyang might be out of commission,
But his cousin managed to bring in a top-notch healing practitioner to help him out.
Of course, Lin Qinghe was reluctant to assist Shen Kaiyang,
But he couldn’t say no to Shen Kaiyang’s parents.
After all, both of them were Foundation Establishment seniors.
Shen Kaiyang getting hurt on his watch? That would be a hard sell.
So, Lin Qinghe sought out a healer, hoping they could at least stabilize Shen Kaiyang until he could reach Foundation Establishment himself.
Even if they couldn’t fix him up completely, buying him time for a day sounded good.
The healer, however, appeared at a loss.
“Lin Xiaoyou, I’ve checked your cousin’s condition. It isn’t that his veins can’t be fixed; it’s just that the cost is astronomical, and the spirit stones will pile up without adequate herbs. Honestly, I’m helpless!”
Lin Qinghe nodded.
“Sure, I know. I just wanted to see if we can swap for some cheaper herbs to stabilize his condition.”
As he spoke, he pulled out more than thirty low-grade spirit stones.
The healer’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“Alright, in that case, let’s take another look.”
With that, he joined Lin Qinghe at Shen Kaiyang’s side.
Just as Shen Kaiyang attempted to rise, Lin Qinghe waved him off.
“Let’s begin!”
The healer nodded, took Shen Kaiyang’s pulse, and stared into his eyes.
But just by looking a bit more closely,
“Bang~”
Shen Kaiyang’s head exploded!
That mixture of red and white went splattering all over Lin Qinghe and the healer’s faces.
Both froze, dumbfounded, looking utterly bewildered!