Chapter 451: The Wondrous Blessing of Fortune

While Chi Yan was still hesitating, Lu Sangjiu had already raised a hand, helping all the kneeling Cultivators to their feet. "No need for such formalities."

Chi Yan finally let out a sigh of relief. ’Well, that settles that! No more hesitation!’

In front of so many people, Lu Sangjiu had no choice but to maintain the demeanor of a grand senior. After helping the younger generation to their feet, her gaze fell directly on Chi Yan, and she coolly tossed out two words. "Follow me."

It wasn’t as if Chi Yan hadn’t seen Lu Sangjiu over the past three years, but every time he had, she was lying in a coffin with her eyes closed.

Seeing her up and about again, he was genuinely happy and cheerfully followed after her.

"Daoist Lu, have you completely recovered?"

Once they reached a secluded spot, Chi Yan eagerly approached her.

Lu Sangjiu also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly suppressed her aura to prevent another such embarrassing incident.

"Yes, I’m completely fine now. My cultivation has even grown, so I have all of you to thank."

Chi Yan scratched his head in embarrassment. "My cultivation is low, so I didn’t really help much. Besides, looking for ingredients for you gave me a lot of practical experience. My combat skills have improved significantly, and my cultivation has progressed as well!"

This was true. The last time they met, Chi Yan had only just reached the Nascent Soul Stage. Now, his cultivation had already reached Mid-stage Nascent Soul.

For an ordinary Cultivator with no fortuitous encounters, advancing a minor realm within the Nascent Soul Stage in just three years was already incredibly fast.

After chatting a bit more, Lu Sangjiu asked about the medicinal ingredients.

Chi Yan explained, "Our whole group stays in contact. Whenever someone finds one of the ingredients, they notify everyone right away. We also report our destinations in advance to avoid duplication of effort."

Lu Sangjiu nodded. "So, is there anywhere I can go right now?"

Chi Yan thought for a moment. "With your current cultivation, you can’t enter most Secret Realms anymore. How about taking a trip to the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain?"

There is a Demon King in the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain whose cultivation is also at the Body Integration Realm.

This Demon King detests human Cultivators, so you have to fight him to get inside.

Among their group, only Duan Xingyun and Fa Shan were at the Body Integration Realm. The two of them together might not necessarily lose to the Demon King, but it just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Besides, as great as the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain is, it has a master. Even if it did contain the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures they were looking for, those would belong to the Demon King. Getting them would still mean an unavoidable fight.

So, after weighing the pros and cons, no one in their group had ever gone there.

But Lu Sangjiu was different. She had the Thousand Faces of Life, which could conceal her own aura. She could probably sneak in for a look without being discovered.

And even if she were discovered, she had the skill to escape from the Demon King’s grasp.

There weren’t many places she could go now, and Chi Yan felt it would be a shame to waste Lu Sangjiu’s top-tier combat strength. That’s why he’d had this idea.

After he explained the situation, Lu Sangjiu agreed it was worth a trip.

"But you shouldn’t go. It’ll be inconvenient for me with you in tow."

Though a little disappointed, Chi Yan had expected this. He just replied forlornly, "All right... I’ll keep searching in places I can access. You be careful, too."

After bidding farewell to Chi Yan, Lu Sangjiu made her way to the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain alone.

Now that her cultivation had grown, her Thousand Faces of Life technique had also advanced. Its power was greater than before, making it a simple matter to evade the notice of a Body Integration Realm expert.

Lu Sangjiu easily entered his territory and had a look around. Unfortunately, she didn’t find any of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures she was looking for. She did, however, eventually discover a Wuyang Fruit tree.

The Wuyang Fruit was indeed on her list. Unfortunately, the fruit on this tree wasn’t yet ripe; it looked like it would need another thirty to fifty years to mature.

’But... since it grows here, that Demon King must have some in his collection.’

So in the end, there was no avoiding the Demon King. Lu Sangjiu could only brace herself and pay him a visit, hoping she could buy some with Spirit Stones.

This Demon King’s true form was a White Tiger. In his human form, he was an imposing, powerfully built young man.

However, he was extremely hot-tempered. The moment he saw Lu Sangjiu, he attacked before she could even state her purpose.

Lu Sangjiu had no choice. ’Well, a fight it is!’

Lu Sangjiu had always been capable of fighting opponents above her own realm, so defeating a Demon King of the same level was naturally no challenge at all.

In the end, Lu Sangjiu pinned the Demon King down and gave him a sound beating, successfully obtaining a few Wuyang Fruits from him.

Afterward, Lu Sangjiu felt a little bad about it, so she left him more than enough Spirit Stones as payment.

Bai Yan, his face black and blue, cradled the pile of Spirit Stones with tear-filled eyes. He felt as if someone had forced themselves on him, and then had the gall to leave money behind.

’What an absolute insult!’

And so, after Lu Sangjiu left the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain, she discovered she had picked up a tail.

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

She ignored him for a few days, but he kept following her. Finally, exasperated, she had to speak. "Why do you keep following me?"

"It was wrong of me to hit you, but I left extra Spirit Stones to cover your medical expenses. You’re a grown man, surely you’re not going to hold a grudge over this?"

Bai Yan snorted haughtily. "You took advantage of... I mean, you beat me! Do you think leaving money means it never happened? Impossible!"

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

’He almost said "took advantage of," didn’t he? He did, right?’

She was at her wit’s end. It wouldn’t be right to just beat him up again, so she had no choice but to ask, "What is it that you want?"

Bai Yan looked at her, his face suddenly flushing red. "It’s simple... Y-you just have to marry me! Then I will grudgingly forgive you!"

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

’Maybe I should just beat him to death?’

Lu Sangjiu tried reasoning with him, then appealing to his emotions, but he continued to pester her relentlessly. In the end, he earned himself another sound thrashing.

Lu Sangjiu seized the opportunity to use the Thousand Faces of Life to conceal her aura and make a hasty escape.

After leaving the Ten Thousand Realms Mountain, Lu Sangjiu visited a few other places. And then... for some unknown reason, she kept attracting unwanted suitors, just like Bai Yan.

After accumulating a mountain of romantic entanglements, Lu Sangjiu finally had an epiphany. ’Don’t tell me this is the consequence of being blessed by fortune?’

’Are all the most eligible men in the world going to fall in love with me?’

The thought sent a chill down Lu Sangjiu’s spine. From then on, she never dared to remove the Thousand Faces of Life again. She snuck around everywhere she went, terrified of accidentally attracting more unwanted admirers.

While wandering the outside world searching for ingredients for Xie Ningyuan, Lu Sangjiu also observed how Immortal Cultivators and Demon Cultivators now coexisted.

Although they couldn’t be described as being in perfect harmony, the two sides now had dealings with each other. It was no longer like the old days when they had to fight to the death on sight.

The Spirit Void Realm was finally becoming the place she had always wanted it to be.

It was just a shame that the sword hanging over her and Xie Ningyuan’s heads was still there.

In the second year of her search for the ingredients, Lu Sangjiu’s cultivation reached the threshold of Late-stage Integration.

It was just... absurd. It felt as if her cultivation was increasing with every breath she took.