Transmigration: The Peerless Immortal Husband

Steward Qi relayed the information to the City Lord. City Lord Liu, who had been paying attention to the events unfolding, was equally astonished upon hearing the news. She spent quite some time searching through her memories, and when she finally found the relevant information, she felt speechless. It seemed that treasures truly belonged to those with fate. If one didn’t encounter the right person, even the most precious items could remain gathering dust in a corner.

Many thoughts flashed quickly through City Lord Liu’s mind, but in just a moment, she responded, “As long as Master Yao is satisfied, then it shall belong to him. I, the City Lord, keep my word and cannot go back on it.”

“Yes, City Lord. I will inform Master Yao.” Steward Qi took the communication device back and returned to the private treasury.

Gu Yao took two more spiritual replenishing pills, and the overwhelming consumption of his spiritual energy gradually slowed down. He sighed in relief, fearing that he would be drained dry without being able to activate the fire.

Right in front of Steward Qi, the stone ball, now filled, made a series of cracking sounds. The outer shell of the stone cracked and fell away, scattering fragments across the ground. Inside, a small Lotus Heart Fire Fire appeared, only the size of a fingertip. It flickered like a candle flame, seemingly on the verge of extinguishing at any moment. Gu Yao and Steward Qi held their breaths, both fearing that it might go out in the next instant.

However, the next moment, the tiny Lotus Heart Fire shot into Gu Yao’s body with a whoosh. It burrowed into his dantian and settled beside his Golden Core. Under the nourishment of the Golden Core’s spiritual energy, the flame seemed to grow slightly brighter.

Although Steward Qi felt a little disappointed, he also realized that this was the best possible outcome. He cupped his hands and said, “Congratulations, Master Yao, for obtaining the Lotus Heart Fire.”

“Where would I be without you, Steward Qi? Without you and City Lord Liu, I wouldn’t have had the chance to encounter the Lotus Heart Fire,” Gu Yao said gratefully. This reward was indeed too generous. If City Lord Liu had realized the true nature of the Lotus Heart Fire earlier, she might have been able to exchange it for a Limb Regrowth Pill from some alchemist or power. After all, the value of the Lotus Heart Fire was far greater.

This favor was something he could not forget, and it wasn’t just about the return gift.

Steward Qi smiled and invited Gu Yao to leave the private treasury and reunite with the waiting Chi Changye outside. The two of them bid Steward Qi farewell and made their way back to Mingkong Island together.

As soon as they returned to Mingkong Island, Gu Yao entered seclusion. The Lotus Heart Fire was too weak and needed immediate attention to stabilize it.

As Xu Chen had said, the Lotus Heart Fire was more fragile than other types of strange fires. The materials needed to nurture it were all wood and fire-type treasures. They had already used up the items Steward Qi had given them, found within the two storage rings. Gu Yao then sent out a list of items that Xu Chen had told him would help the Lotus Heart Fire, and Tian Feirong and the little fatty went out to gather more materials, spending a lot of spirit stones to barely stabilize the Lotus Heart Fire.

A piece of wood marrow stone turned to dust in Gu Yao’s hands, and he felt a bit of heartache. Xu Chen was much more relieved now: “Haha, this is just the beginning. The Lotus Heart Fire is still far from maturing, so you’ll need to work hard to earn spirit stones to nurture this strange fire.”

Gu Yao bared his teeth in response, clearly annoyed by Xu Chen’s enjoyment of his misfortune.

“The little purple baby will work hard and farm to earn spirit stones for big brother!”

A youthful voice rang out, causing Xu Chen’s teasing laughter to suddenly stop. Gu Yao, however, smiled and said, “The little purple baby is thoughtful, unlike some other guys who show no respect as they grow up.”

Thankfully, even though a large amount of spirit stones had been spent, there was some reward. In addition to stabilizing the Lotus Heart Fire, the energy it had filtered out was enormous and pushed Gu Yao’s cultivation to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Upon exiting seclusion, the first person Gu Yao saw was, of course, Chi Changye. Gu Yao’s breakthrough had also attracted his attention, but now that he had seen it, he was genuinely happy for Gu Yao. The Lotus Heart Fire had come at the right time; although it was difficult to nurture, it would also reward its owner as it grew stronger.

After soaking in a hot spring and indulging in a big meal, Gu Yao finally turned his attention to the situation outside. Tian Feirong and the little fatty had also entered seclusion during Gu Yao’s breakthrough. They couldn’t afford to fall behind.

“City Lord Liu has advanced to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. She cultivates water-based techniques, but aside from that, there have been no other updates,” Chi Changye said.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yao understood, “It seems that City Lord Liu and that Daoist Zhang don’t want others to know they have obtained the Limb Regrowth Pill. They’re likely hoping for recovery. This makes sense; there are probably countless people keeping an eye on Baihe City, so they should be cautious. Just the news of the high-quality Limb Regrowth Pill leaking out might lead many cultivators to take risks and try to seize it. This also makes me realize how important the Limb Regrowth Pill is. When I first made it, I thought if I was short on spirit stones, I could auction it off and probably raise enough spirit stones, but now I see I was too naive. I’ll need to hide the Limb Regrowth Pill more carefully from now on.”

“Yes, from now on, we shouldn’t make the Limb Regrowth Pill available,” Chi Changye added, having thought of the same thing, and specifically reminded him.

Gu Yao nodded, though his mood was still quite good.

Thanks to the transaction with the City Lord’s residence, and the help from Steward Qi and Steward Liu, as well as the support from City Lord Liu’s daughter, they had become closer. Of course, there was also a special effort to build a good relationship with the City Lord’s residence. Gu Yao was already skilled in alchemy, and now with the help of the Lotus Heart Fire, he would only improve further. It wasn’t difficult to find an alchemist, but finding one with exceptional skills was the hard part.

Now that Gu Yao, a pill master destined for greatness, was present, both publicly and privately, they couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity to get close to him. As a result, the three of them frequently visited Mingkong Island. After the first visit, however, Liu Yue no longer hid her appearance when arriving on the island. In fact, during their first meeting, both Gu Yao and Chi Changye had vaguely guessed her identity because when they mentioned City Lord Liu and her father, the change in her expression revealed her secret.

One day, Liu Yue excitedly ran over and said, “My father’s arm has grown back! It’s fully healed! Master Yao, thank you so much! Oh, by the way, I mentioned before that my father isn’t in Baihe City, right?”

Gu Yao smiled and replied, “Congratulations to you, and also to Daoist Zhang for his recovery.”

Liu Yue blushed, saying excitedly, “If it weren’t for Master Yao’s help, I don’t know when my father would have had the chance for this. If it weren’t for the injury, my father would have already reached the Nascent Soul stage. My mother says my father’s talent was no less than hers back then, so now he’s in seclusion. He won’t return until he’s reached the Nascent Soul stage.”

Gu Yao also felt that being cautious was wise. Once Baihe City had two Nascent Soul elders overseeing it, its strength would increase significantly, and the position of the City Lord’s residence would be more secure.

“Well, I’ll rely on Master Yao’s good words,” Liu Yue said with a generous smile. She enjoyed talking with Gu Yao, though sometimes she couldn’t help but feel the cold air around Chi Changye. Smiling to herself, Liu Yue found his cold demeanor amusing. With everything improving, she regained some of her playful mood.

“Daoist Zhang isn’t in the City Lord’s residence, so the young City Lord should stay there. If word leaks out, can the young City Lord handle the responsibility?” Chi Changye’s cold voice sounded in Liu Yue’s ear, causing her smile to freeze. This guy was really rushing her away under the guise of responsibility. If she didn’t leave, would she be guilty?

Liu Yue gritted her teeth inwardly, but kept a smile on her face as she said her farewells to Gu Yao. After seeing the young City Lord off, Gu Yao turned to glare at Chi Changye. “I heard from Steward Qi that the Young City Lord has endured a lot of pressure. She felt that the difficulties faced by Baihe City were all caused by her, so after forming her Golden Core, her cultivation hasn’t made any progress. Now that she has finally managed to break free, you’re still saying these things to her.”

Chi Changye curled his lips. “Don’t worry, she’s a Golden Core cultivator. Her mental resilience is strong enough. Otherwise, how could she take over the City Lord’s residence in the future? Also, now is really not the time to be careless. I was just reminding her out of good intentions.”

Gu Yao rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe for a second that Chi Changye was reminding her out of “good intentions.”

However, as Chi Changye had predicted, the young City Lord did become more attentive to the City Lord’s residence and visited Mingkong Island less frequently.

Liu Yue understood that her mother was often away to stay with her father. If her father successfully reached the Nascent Soul stage, her mother would have to stay with him to protect him. Of course, this wasn’t something they would publicly announce. Outsiders would still think that City Lord Liu was overseeing Baihe City, so the young City Lord and the City Lord’s trusted subordinates had to keep up the appearance of normalcy.

The upgraded versions of the Qingchen Pill and the Spirit-Refining Pill had not yet been released. It seemed the City Lord’s residence was waiting for the best opportunity, such as when Zhang Qianfeng returned after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

Tian Feirong and the little fatty also smoothly advanced to the mid-Golden Core stage. Both of them felt that their progress was not only due to their consistent cultivation but also because of their research into artifact refinement and formation techniques.

Gu Yao and Chi Changye both fully supported their decision to delve deeper into these two skills. As a result, they purchased numerous related books through Qianfeng Pavilion. At the same time, the magical tools and formation plates and flags they had crafted were sold through Qianfeng Pavilion, bringing in some income.

Tian Feirong had a sudden breakthrough after successfully refining a spirit tool. After reaching the next stage, he attributed the improvement to his excitement. His success rate in refining spirit tools stabilized significantly after his breakthrough. Even low-grade spirit tools were now worth much more than magic tools, just like how a seventh-grade artifact refiner was held in much higher regard than an eighth-grade one.

As for the little fatty, after his breakthrough, his progress in formation techniques made significant strides. Since he had only started learning formations later on, his speed of advancement in formations was much slower than Tian Feirong’s. After his breakthrough, he immersed himself in the cultivation room, determined to craft a batch of seventh-grade formation plates and flags that would be useful to everyone. In battles, he imagined throwing out a golden formation plate, followed by a stack of spirit talismans to create a bombardment, testing how many Golden Core cultivators could withstand it.

This wonderful prospect nearly drove the little fatty mad with excitement as he threw himself into the study of formations and the crafting of formation plates. Tian Feirong visited him once and was startled by his rabbit-like red eyes. However, the excitement in those eyes was unmistakable.