Chapter 31: Locusts Passing Through

Within the Azure Mystery Realm, Lin Chuan was traveling through the dense forest, accompanied by the floating Fatso and the remnant soul of the Nine Nether Realm Lord. Wherever the man and the two spirits passed, it was as if a plague of locusts had descended; not a single blade of grass remained.

"Three hundred paces to the left, five fathoms underground, there is a piece of Azure Mystery Profound Iron," the voice of the Nine Nether Realm Lord echoed in Lin Chuan’s mind.

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Chuan’s eyes. His shovel danced, and before long, he unearthed a piece of metal shimmering with a dark blue glow. He grinned broadly. "Good stuff! If I took this outside, it would be worth at least fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones."

"Young Master, your horizons are still too narrow," the Realm Lord’s voice sounded somewhat helpless. "In my prime, such material would be considered too coarse even to use as a table leg."

Lin Chuan curled his lip, tucking the Azure Mystery Profound Iron into his storage pouch. "Stop harping on about the past. Right now, we’re broke as a church mouse."

As he spoke, Lin Chuan suddenly slapped his forehead. "Blast! I almost forgot about Zhang Lin and the others!"

"Elder Zi, lead the way," Lin Chuan commanded.

Elder Zi nodded respectfully, his divine sense spreading out like a tidal wave. A moment later, he pointed toward the northwest. "Young Master, that way."

By the time Lin Chuan and Elder Zi found Zhang Lin and his two companions, Fatso had already vanished into the Blood Spirit Ring. From a distance, Lin Chuan saw Wang Tiezhu squatting on the ground, studying something, while Zhang Lin and his wife, Li Yun, kept a vigilant watch over their surroundings.

"Big Brother Zhang!" Lin Chuan shouted, his face instantly shifting into an expression of delight.

The three turned at the sound. Upon seeing Lin Chuan, they were initially overjoyed, but their gazes soon fell upon the purple phantom floating beside him, and they became instantly wary.

"Brother Lin, this is..." Zhang Lin gripped the hilt of his sword, asking cautiously.

Lin Chuan offered a mysterious smile. "It’s a long story. Let’s find a safe place and talk it over."

In a secluded cave, Lin Chuan began weaving his carefully crafted lie. "Actually, the reason I was so focused on soul-related treasures is because of this strange book." Lin Chuan pulled a tattered booklet from his robes—the very "incomplete strange book" he had mentioned many times before.

"The author of this book is none other than this senior beside me—Elder Zi." Lin Chuan gestured toward the purple phantom.

The Nine Nether Realm Lord nodded slightly in cooperation, maintaining the air of a true master.

"Hundreds of years ago, Elder Zi was framed by treacherous villains and suppressed by an evil array deep within the Soul-Devouring Green Abyss. He exhausted his final strength to send this book, which recorded his ordeal and the location of his seal, into the void, hoping that a fated person would find it and rescue him." Lin Chuan’s eyes shone with sincerity. "And I am that lucky person."

Zhang Lin frowned deeply. "So... that is why you were so insistent on going to the Soul-Devouring Green Abyss..."

"Exactly, to save Elder Zi," Lin Chuan nodded. "In return for saving his life, Elder Zi volunteered to become my guardian. It is thanks to him that I was able to find you all so quickly."

Li Yun suddenly spoke up. "No wonder you were so obsessed with Azure Mystery Grass!"

"Precisely." Lin Chuan felt a surge of joy; the others were already filling in the gaps of his lie themselves. "Although Elder Zi did not know the specific realm where he was sealed, he knew it was rich in Azure Mystery Grass, so he wrote that clue in the book."

Zhang Lin and his wife exchanged a glance, both seeing the sudden understanding in each other’s eyes. Everything seemed to make sense now—Lin Chuan’s obsession with soul treasures, his courage to venture into the Soul-Devouring Green Abyss, and those strange phenomena...

Just as the atmosphere began to thaw, Wang Tiezhu suddenly slapped his thigh. "Just as I suspected!"

This shout startled everyone, and they all stared at him in unison.

"Brother Tiezhu, what... what did you discover?" Lin Chuan asked cautiously, terrified that this simpleton might say something entirely inappropriate.

Wang Tiezhu looked blankly at their stares. "Why are you all looking at me?"

The Nine Nether Realm Lord—now going by the name Elder Zi—sensed Lin Chuan’s speechlessness and suppressed his impatience as he asked, "Young friend, you just said 'just as I suspected.' What did you mean?"

Wang Tiezhu puffed out his chest, his voice booming. "Lin Chuan is truly a Son of Fortune who stepped in dog dung!"

The air froze instantly.

Elder Zi’s eyelid twitched. Having traversed the heavens for a million years, when had he ever encountered such... fresh and refined brain circuitry?

"You..." Elder Zi fought the urge to slap the fool to death. "What do you mean by that?"

Wang Tiezhu looked bewildered. "Huh? I just mean Lin Chuan has good luck."

Elder Zi took a deep breath, silently ranting in his mind: What kind of weirdos has the Young Master befriended? Is this blockhead’s brain filled with nothing but dirt?

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than he felt a cold gaze fixated upon him. Lin Chuan was looking at him with a half-smile, his eyes filled with warning.

Elder Zi broke into a cold sweat—he had forgotten that Lin Chuan could perceive his thoughts!

"Ahem..." Elder Zi coughed twice to change the subject. "Young Master, I sense spiritual herb fluctuations thirty miles to the northeast."

Lin Chuan nodded with satisfaction. "Lead the way."

"Two miles southeast, in a rock crevice, there are three hundred-year-old Fire Spirit Mushrooms."

"Directly ahead at the bottom of the lake, there is a chest of Dharma artifacts left behind by an ancient cultivator."

"On the cliff to the west, there is a nest of Lightning Falcon eggs that can be hatched into spirit pets."

Under Elder Zi’s guidance, they moved as if they were using a cheat for x-ray vision, leaving nothing in their wake. Even mineral veins buried dozens of fathoms underground were exposed by Elder Zi as he stripped the surface bare.

In just one day, the natural treasures within a three-thousand-mile radius were completely looted. By evening, the four sat around a campfire, tallying their spoils. The pile of various treasures resembled a small hill, estimated to be worth nearly ten million low-grade spirit stones.

"We’re rich..." Wang Tiezhu’s eyes went vacant, his mouth nearly watering.

"At least ten million spirit stones!" Zhang Lin’s voice trembled; he had never seen so much wealth in his entire life.

Lin Chuan felt a surge of heat in his heart as well.

Elder Zi sensed Lin Chuan’s excitement and couldn't help but grumble inwardly: Even if he is the child of Lord Thunder Punishment, he is still a bumpkin from the countryside, getting this worked up over a mere ten million spirit stones.

The moment this thought arose, he locked eyes with Lin Chuan’s icy stare.

"Elder Zi," Lin Chuan said with a smile, "you’re on watch tonight."

Elder Zi’s expression stiffened, and he quickly bowed. "As you command, Young Master."

Deep in the night, Elder Zi sat cross-legged by the campfire, watching the four sleeping figures, his heart a storm of conflicting emotions. A dignified Realm Lord, reduced to standing watch for a few ants...

"Old thing, feeling pretty unhappy, aren't you?" Fatso’s voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Elder Zi shivered, quickly responding in his head, "I dare not, I dare not. It is my honor to serve the Young Master."

"Hmph, you’d better mean that," Fatso sneered. "If I find out you have any ulterior motives..."

"I wouldn't dare!" Cold sweat beaded on Elder Zi’s forehead. "I am absolutely loyal to the Young Master!"

Fatso did not respond, but the suffocating pressure he emitted kept Elder Zi uneasy for the rest of the night.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight spilled down, Elder Zi had already prepared breakfast. Watching Lin Chuan enjoy his spirit fruit, he sighed inwardly: *Fine, fine. When one is under another's roof, one must bow one's head. At least this little ancestor is much easier to serve than that blue-haired star of calamity...*