Chapter 1959 - Stealing the Immortal Rice

An immense sweep of paddy fields opened before them. Rare immortal wheat grew alongside the immortal rice, carrying profound sea energy rather than primordial energy. Its greatest value lay in that energy's ability to expand the dantian sea.

Plump grains bowed the stalks all around them. A breeze whispered through the immortal rice and wheat, stirring a dry rustle as ripe grains tumbled to the ground. Birds swooped in to seize them.

Footsteps brought several figures up behind Liu Wuxie. They were the same men who had mocked him and Huang Zechang from across the lake. Now, confronted with the seemingly endless crops, their eyes took on a green gleam of greed.

A brief inspection revealed to Liu Wuxie that the fields contained a few hundred thousand catties of immortal rice and wheat, sufficient to meet the Azure Jade Palace's daily needs. Neither its outer nor its inner disciples had reached the point where they could dispense with food.

Eating ordinary fare would gradually burden their bodies with impurities. On the other hand, daily consumption of Immortal rice strengthened their physiques without such accumulation.

Here within the Azure Jade Palace, theft scarcely warranted concern. Even so, disciples passed through on patrol from time to time.

The harvest was almost upon them. Before long, many outer disciples would come to reap the ripened crops.

The three men rushed past, shoving Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang aside as they approached the fields. None dared touch the stalks, however. Powerful spirituality permeated the plant, placing the harvest beyond the reach of an ordinary person. Special restrictions likewise prevented ordinary people from entering the fields.

Some grains had blown beyond those restrictions, though, falling where the birds could easily reach them.

The three men scrambled to collect the scattered grains, scooping them into their robes. "Hurry! Gather them up!"

Liu Wuxie exchanged a look with Huang Zechang, and both moved aside. The fallen grains would provide only a little primordial energy. The real benefits came from eating immortal rice every day.

With the loose grains collected, the three exchanged glances. Cold smirks spread across their faces.

"Wind!" the man in the middle commanded, summoning a wind element after making certain no one was nearby. A fierce gust tore through the stalks, stripping away grains and depositing them at the men's feet.

"Let's get going, Brother Huang," Liu Wuxie said, turning to leave before someone else's folly drew them into unnecessary trouble.

Though immortal rice was precious, it did not justify obtaining it through dishonest means.

"How dare you steal the immortal rice?!" a furious voice thundered from the distance. Two golden-robed disciples raced toward them on flying swords and landed directly in front of the group.

The three men were visibly alarmed. Before acting, they had carefully surveyed the area and found no one nearby. Although they had noticed Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang, they had dismissed the pair as insignificant. As high-level Divine Immortals, they were confident that neither would dare report what they had witnessed.

The terrifying aura of Golden Immortals pressed down from overhead, trapping Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang as well. Liu Wuxie could have broken that suppression with the Heavenly Dao Book, but drawing attention to himself within the Azure Jade Palace would not serve him well.

"Identify yourselves. What are you doing in the fields?" the two disciples demanded as they sheathed their swords.

"Senior Brothers, we're applicants for the recruitment. We were passing through when we spotted some fallen grains, so we gathered them," the three men explained. They quickly brought out every bit of immortal rice they had collected and presented it to the disciples, their faces bright with ingratiating smiles.

"Who used a wind technique to knock the grains loose?" asked the disciple on the left, ignoring the offered rice.

More than a dozen broken stalks marked the field's edge, the traces of powerful wind still fresh upon them. Someone had damaged them deliberately. Though a natural breeze could shake loose a few grains, it couldn't snap the stalks.

"There's no reason to waste time on this. Under the Azure Jade Palace's rules, damaging the rice paddy fields means disqualification," declared the disciple on the right. He summoned his sword, preparing to expel them from the Azure Jade Palace and strip them of their right to enter the recruitment.

The Azure Jade Palace tolerated no breaches of its strict rules. These men had damaged their rice crops, and punishment would follow.

The three men panicked. Never had they imagined that a few grains of rice would cost them their opportunity to participate in the recruitment.

With the paddy fields covering such an enormous area, they had not expected a patrol to visit this secluded corner.

"Senior Brothers, it was those two! They cast the wind technique!" accused the man in the middle, pointing at Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang.

The disciples had already reported the theft of immortal rice to the sect. However, they had been unable to identify the culprit because the wind technique had dissipated before they arrived.

"We were only passing by, Senior Brothers! Neither of us used a wind technique. Those three did, and they're the ones who stole the immortal rice," Huang Zechang hurried to explain. He and Liu Wuxie had done nothing but walk through the area. Neither had taken even a single grain.

"Enough of your denials! You two cast the wind technique, then tried to leave when you saw us. We gathered the rice because we didn't want it to go to waste. We were going to return it to the Azure Jade Palace," the three men insisted. Their accounts swiftly fell into agreement, painting Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang as thieves and themselves as helpful passersby.

"Were you two responsible for the wind technique?" the Azure Jade Palace disciples asked, directing their attention toward Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang.

"Please examine the facts fairly. They used the wind technique, and now they're trying to frame us," Huang Zechang insisted. He had never met men so utterly shameless. Having stolen the immortal rice themselves, they now meant to make him and Liu Wuxie answer for it.

"Don't believe their excuses, Senior Brothers. We're eighth-level Divine Immortals. What reason would we have to steal immortal rice? Look at their cultivation. They must have wanted the rice to get stronger," the three men argued. Every one of them had reached the eighth level of the Divine Immortal Realm, surpassing both Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang.

With accusations flying from both sides, the two Azure Jade Palace disciples found themselves unable to separate the truth from the lies.

"Senior Brother, why argue? They're all here, so expel all of them," the disciple on the left said impatiently. He was prepared to disqualify all five.

"But we're innocent, Senior Brothers! How can you expel us for something we didn't do?!" the three thieves protested indignantly. Faced with losing their places, they could no longer conceal their panic.

One quietly passed an interspatial ring to the disciple on the left.

Liu Wuxie saw the exchange, and his brows furrowed. The disciple slipped the ring out of sight before addressing him and Huang Zechang as if questioning criminals.

"If they're innocent, then you two must have cast the wind technique. Surrender your tokens and leave the Azure Jade Palace at once," the disciple on the right snapped after accepting the bribe.

His aura at the Golden Immortal Realm slammed into Huang Zechang. Under its weight, Huang Zechang began to buckle. Liu Wuxie did not move, nor did he break the silence he had maintained throughout the dispute.

"Well? Give up your token and get out!" the three thieves demanded, watching Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang with undisguised triumph.

"If you’re determined to condemn us, you’ll find any excuse! They stole the immortal rice and framed us, yet you refuse to see the truth. Can the Azure Jade Palace no longer distinguish right from wrong?!" Huang Zechang roared, his fury boiling over.

Among the superpowers, none enjoyed a finer reputation than the Azure Jade Palace. He had never imagined its disciples could behave with such disregard.

"You question our judgment? If you won't leave willingly, I'll strip you of your qualification myself," the disciple on the left declared. He reached toward Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang, intending to subdue them by force.

The disciple on the right offered no objection. His silence granted approval enough.

"Wait!" Huang Zechang shouted.

The Azure Jade Palace disciple stopped, but his piercing stare never left the pair.

Liu Wuxie had already prepared to summon Blackie. If necessary, he would settle the dispute through force. He refused to believe that no one in the entire Azure Jade Palace could distinguish right and wrong.

"What more could you possibly have to say?" the disciple asked coldly. They still had other areas to patrol and no time to waste here.

"The Azure Jade Palace has a Truth Stele. Let it show us who's lying!" Huang Zechang declared, channeling his words using soul energy. He wanted more people to hear, enough to turn this confrontation into a matter the disciples could not simply brush aside.

Liu Wuxie remained quiet, observing how Huang Zechang handled the situation. The young man's composure had exceeded his expectations by a considerable margin. He was someone worth befriending.

As expected, the mention of the Truth Stele made both Azure Jade Palace disciples hesitate.

"You aren't even Azure Jade Palace disciples! What gives you the right to use the Truth Stele?" the three thieves retorted. They backed away some distance without losing their composure.

Access to the Truth Stele required permission from the Azure Jade Palace's upper echelons. It was not a privilege anyone could demand.

Other participants heard the disturbance and came toward the fields. Within moments, a substantial crowd had formed around the confrontation.

The broad sweep of rice paddies immediately brightened the newcomers' spirits. Exclamations rose from some as they took in the grandeur of the fields.

Meanwhile, Huang Zechang had quietly contacted his clan's upper echelons. Their intervention, he hoped, would give the matter the weight it needed.

More people continued to gather. As the crowd swelled, unease began creeping onto the three thieves' faces.

"What happened here? Why are Azure Jade Palace disciples questioning them?" the newcomers asked those closest to them, eager for an explanation.

"Someone must have stolen immortal rice. Look at all the grains scattered around," one person replied. The snapped stalks plainly bore the marks of a wind technique. Nothing about the damage suggested an accident.

"Stealing immortal rice from the Azure Jade Palace? Who would dare? They must have a death wish," people condemned.

For all its value, immortal rice could still be purchased with immortal stones. Stealing it from the Azure Jade Palace made no sense.

The murmuring spread, and more eyes turned toward Liu Wuxie and Huang Zechang. Their inferior cultivation was enough for the crowd to mistake them for the thieves.

"Zechang, what's happened?" the Huang Clan's two Immortal Kings demanded upon arriving.