Chapter 603: Immortal Fairy Bie Xue and the fish-head shop (2 in 1)
Translator: GodBrandy Editor: Kurisu
The 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' Horizon. After listening to this nickname, it was clear that it wasn't Daoist Priest Horizon's first time passing on his strength to someone else.
At this point, imparting strength to other people had become his hobby. Hence the nickname 'Frenzied Strength Imparter'.
But judging from Yu Jiaojiao's reaction... this lovely white-haired grandpa that would regularly appear inside martial arts novels to impart some of his strength to the main character wasn't really good news. Otherwise, she wouldn't have told him to run away as fast as possible.
"No, wait. Fellow Daoist, this is a misunderstanding! Let me clear things up!" Daoist Priest Horizon said hurriedly.
But Daoist Priest Horizon had yet to finish his sentence when little friend Song Shuhang had already escaped at full speed.
As soon as Yu Jiaojiao said 'run quickly', Song Shuhang used the ❮Virtuous Man's Ten Thousand Mile Walk❯ footwork and quickly left the place.
Daoist Priest Horizon stood in place with his hand stretched out, as well as a dumbfounded look on his face. At this time, he wanted to cry but had no tears.
It was a misunderstanding. It was just a big misunderstanding!
What the hell was the deal with this 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' nickname? Although he frequently imparted strength to others, it was only after he had obtained the consent of the other party. What reason there was to run away like that?!
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In the meantime, just as Song Shuhang was running at full speed, Yu Jiaojiao told him about the deeds of the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' Daoist Priest Horizon.
Daoist Priest Horizon indeed had the peculiar 'hobby' of imparting strength to other people. However, it wasn't a hobby he was born with, but something that came into existence due to special circumstances. Unless there was a good reason behind it, why would a cultivator pass on to others the 'origin true qi' or 'origin spiritual energy' they had painstakingly accumulated through their practice, basically working for free for other people?
The main reason that had pushed him to develop this hobby was the 'heavenly tribulation'.
Daoist Priest Horizon had been a peak Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor for nearly 300 years. However, he hadn't rushed to break through the Sixth Stage Realm!
After a careful self-assessment, Daoist Priest Horizon determined that he had only a 20% probability to become a Sixth Stage True Monarch if he were to try to break through without proper preparations. As for the probability of failing, it was as high as 80%.
It was a situation where he would survive only two times out of ten. Daoist Priest Horizon was a powerhouse of the Golden Core Realm, and his lifespan was very long. Such being the case, why would he want to carelessly throw his life away?
Thereupon, Daoist Priest Horizon suppressed his realm as much as possible and tried to find a way to increase his chances of transcending the heavenly tribulation.
However, suppressing his realm wasn't something that was going to work in the long term... Daoist Priest Horizon was already at the peak of the Fifth Stage Realm, and even if he stopped practicing, the spiritual energy inside his body would reach the maximum limit in around ten years.
And whenever that happened, his Golden Core would automatically give birth to a Spirit Lake, making him forcefully advance to the Sixth Stage True Monarch Realm.
But later, Daoist Priest Horizon had a very good idea that prevented this situation from taking place.
The good idea consisted in imparting his strength to other cultivators through the 'strength imparting' method or consuming his 'origin spiritual energy' to transform and strengthen the muscles and bones of other people. With that, he wouldn't have to worry about the heavenly tribulation for some time.
At that time, when he thought of imparting his strength to others, Daoist Priest Horizon believed himself to be truly clever.
Not only could he pass on to the other party his 'origin true qi' through the 'strength imparting' method, but also obtain something of equal value in return sometimes.
For the past 300 years, Daoist Priest Horizon never got tired of it and kept imparting strength at intervals of a few years or tens of years.
Just in this fashion, Daoist Priest Horizon's nickname, 'Frenzied Strength Imparter,' spread around.
But if it was only the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' nickname spreading around, it wasn't such a bad thing. After the name had spread enough, Daoist Priest Horizon could take advantage of the opportunity to open a big business! After all, there were a lot of people in the world of cultivators that wished someone could pass on to them strength and skills.
In particular, if people below the Fifth Stage were lucky enough to have a Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor pass on to them their strength and skills, their body would be able to experience the effects of the 'spiritual energy' ahead of time, increasing their overall strength and power of martial skills. At the same time, their bones and muscles would also strengthen and undergo a transformation. It was simply too helpful!
But if he was one of those lovely white-haired grandpas that imparted strength to others, why would just the mention of Daoist Priest Horizon's nickname, 'Frenzied Strength Imparter', frighten people so much that they started running away as soon as they recognized him?
Was it possible that Daoist Priest Horizon secretly tampered with the strength imparting process and caused harm to the person that had received his power?
Of course, this wasn't the case!
Daoist Priest Horizon was very earnest while passing on to others his strength. Each time he imparted his strength to other people, he would take into account both the quantity and the quality. He had a certain reputation in this aspect!
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Speaking of which, the whole situation was rather unusual.
Whenever Daoist Priest Horizon wanted to impart his strength and skills to someone, he would enthusiastically take a step forward and call the fellow daoist in question.
Like: "Fellow Daoist, please, wait a minute!"
Or: "Fellow Daoist, may I have some of your time?"
Or other similar sentences such as: "This poor daoist noticed that your talent is incredibly high, and I just happen to have five years' worth of strength here with me that I can pass on to you through the strength imparting method, are you interested? You can have this power as long as you pay a small fee!"
Daoist Priest Horizon was very good at selling his services. Whenever he tried to convince someone how good and effective his strength imparting method was, he would succeed 80% or 90% of the times.
Thereupon, he would impart his strength to the opposite party and receive a payment in return.
After carrying out the transaction, both parties would be very satisfied.
During the past 300 years, Daoist Priest Horizon had imparted his strength to 72 cultivators.
But it was right at that time that the trouble started!
Amidst the 72 cultivators, 29 died not long after accepting his strength under the power of the heavenly tribulation, with both their bodies and souls getting destroyed. People guessed that it might be due to those 29 cultivators being too greedy and accepting too much strength from Daoist Priest Horizon through his 'strength imparting' method. They didn't even have the time to show off to their peers when they were forced to transcend the heavenly tribulation due to the sudden increase in their strength. Eventually, they were reduced to ashes since they were unable to prepare themselves for the event properly.
Then, not long after carrying out the transaction, other 23 cultivators went through a calamity that destroyed their bodies. They had no choice but to change the shape of their corporeal body, turning it into a puppet or something similar to keep living.
Then, other two cultivators offended a powerful expert from a demonic sect and got turned into undead servants.
After that, other 11 cultivators went missing, their whereabouts unknown.
Up to this day, only seven cultivators were safe and sound.
One almost had a 90% possibility of dying after receiving his strength!
Amidst these seven cultivators that were still safe and sound, there was one that had received Daoist Priest Horizon's strength imparting twelve years ago.
That person had no idea as to how fearsome the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter', Daoist Priest Horizon, was. After obtaining the power of the lovely white-haired grandpa, he returned to his sect and started to show off to his fellow disciples.
But after learning the truth about the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' from his senior and junior brothers, the young cultivator was almost frightened to death.
He wrote a will that very night and lived every day after with fear and trepidation, starting to practice even harder. Luckily, he was able to survive in the end.
Of the 72 cultivators that received the strength imparting, less than ten managed to get through the ordeal safely.
Thereupon, since quite some time ago, a lot of people in the world of cultivators that knew about Daoist Priest Horizon's strength imparting method started to avoid him.
Most cultivators believed in the concept of 'fate'.
It was known that Daoist Priest Horizon didn't tamper with the strength imparting in any way. Whether we were talking about quantity or quality, they were both fine; there was nothing wrong with the strength he passed on to others.
However, the luck related to this matter was rather unusual.
Some people guessed that perhaps Daoist Priest Horizon was unwittingly passing on to the other person even the imminent 'disaster' he was going to face when he would meet the heavenly tribulation while passing on to them his origin spiritual energy.
Perhaps this was the reason 90% of the people that received his strength didn't end up well.
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Song Shuhang nodded his head and said, "In other words, Daoist Priest Horizon's strength imparting method is something super scary."
In addition, he wasn't someone that lacked 'strength'. There were still a lot of uneaten 'spirit beast crystals' in his size-reducing purse. The reason was that his constitution couldn't keep up with the rest of his body. Such being the case, he might really die if his strength were to increase again!
Thereupon, Song Shuhang kept using the ❮Virtuous Man's Ten Thousand Mile Walk❯ footwork. Song Shuhang's movements were flawless when he used the footwork. At first sight, it didn't seem as though there was any difference between him and an ordinary person that was simply walking. But if one were to look carefully, they would notice that his speed was extremely fast.
In the rear, Daoist Priest Horizon didn't bother chasing after him. Otherwise, he would have caught up to Song Shuhang within a second given his cultivation at the peak of the Fifth Stage Realm.
Song Shuhang heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Let's take a taxi and head back, alright?"
But when he carefully recalled what had just happened, he discovered that there was no need for him to run!
After all, Daoist Priest Horizon merely suggested to use the 'strength imparting' method to carry out the transaction, but he didn't say he only wanted to use that method. They could have just used spirit stones to carry out the exchange!
If he were to meet Daoist Priest Horizon again, he would directly go the point and ask him to carry out the transaction with spirit stones.
Spirit stones were something he really needed at this time.
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The scorching sun was high in the sky, and today's temperature was also very high.
Nevertheless, Jiangnan area's Leyuan Street was still full of people and bustling.
"Growl~" Song Shuhang patted his belly. Due to the gastric lavage earlier, his stomach was currently empty. Although he would still recall 'dirt' as soon as he heard the word 'eat', he was really hungry at this time.
"Should we get something to eat first?" Song Shuhang said.
"We might as well. After all, Daoist Priest Horizon didn't chase after us," Yu Jiaojiao replied. But for safety reasons, she still activated a small magical treasure she had with her.
It was a magical treasure that could conceal a person's aura. It was something that Jiaojiao's father, True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon, had personally manufactured for her. After activating the magical treasure, it was possible to conceal both Song Shuhang and Yu Jiaojiao's aura.
With that, they wouldn't have to worry about Daoist Priest Horizon catching up to them by following their aura.
In the next moment, Shuhang glanced at the row of shops in the proximity of Leyuan Street.
There were all types of food, with nothing lacking. In terms of size, it was almost comparable to the row of shops selling food in front of Jiangnan's university.
Then... Song Shuhang quickly saw a rather special shop that sold fish heads.
Unexpectedly, there was a very long line in front of the shop even though it was blazing hot. The line started at the entrance of the shop and extended for several tens of meters.
That line-up was really something! It seemed that not even the blazing hot weather could stop the enthusiasm of gluttons!
But was this fish-head shop really that famous? Why hadn't he heard of it before?
Thereupon, Song Shuhang decided to stand in line out of curiosity.
In front of him was a young student with sweat dripping down from the tip of his nose due to the hot weather.
Just as Song Shuhang stood behind him, he felt a pleasantly cool sensation transmit from the rear. He felt as though he had entered a room with the air conditioner on. He couldn't help but turn his head and look behind, seeing the now very tall Song Shuhang.
Song Shuhang smiled at him.
The young student smiled back at him.
From the looks of it, he would have to stand in line for quite a while. Therefore, Song Shuhang asked out of curiosity, "Little brother, is the fish head of this shop very famous?"
"Fish head? No. The fish head of this shop is average," the youth replied with a smile.
"?" Song Shuhang.
It was a fish-head shop, but their fish head-based meal wasn't even that famous? Such being the case, what were these guys forming the line planning to buy?
But right at this time, the low voice of a young girl was transmitted from Shuhang's rear. "Did you decide to stand in the line because you saw all these people waiting and got curious? Actually, all of us are lining up for the meat sandwich and not for the fish head."
"..." Song Shuhang.
Meat sandwich?
If they are lining up in front of a fish-head shop to eat meat sandwiches, won't the owner of the shop feel like crying?
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Actually, the manager of the shop indeed felt like crying at this time.
He glanced at the kitchen of his fish-head shop, and an extra set of tools used to prepare meat sandwich had appeared in that place.
Additionally, there was also a veiled woman with a tall and slender figure in there. Her slender hands were quickly operating a tool that the shop manager had never seen before, swiftly slicing up all different types of meat.
The movements of the veiled woman were flawless, and even something as simple as slicing meat up looked like a beautiful piece of art when she was the one doing it.
But why had this strange veiled woman appeared in his fish-head shop? The shop manager tried to recall what had happened.
Everything happened this morning. The veiled woman and a white-haired daoist priest came to his fish-head shop to have a meal.
Although he felt that the duo was somewhat strange, a client was a client. Since he had decided to open a shop to do business, he wouldn't reject them.
The veiled woman and the old man casually ordered the specialty of his shop.
After the meal was served, the white-haired daoist priest ate with great enthusiasm, but the veiled woman moved her veil to one side and ate a mouthful, placing her chopsticks down immediately afterward.
There was nothing strange about it. After all, the shop manager never thought that his fish head specialty would be able to please anyone that ate it. It was quite normal that some of the clients might not like it.
But what happened next stunned him.
The veiled woman stood up and headed toward the kitchen, saying to the chief chef, "The fish head you prepared was just too bad. I wasn't even able to eat a mouthful of it before stopping. Come, let me teach you how to prepare that fish properly!"
The chief chef was dumbfounded.
Then, the woman didn't stand on ceremony and took the kitchenware from the chef's hands and started to prepare the fish step by step. While preparing it, she was even giving a thorough explanation of each step.
If you slice the fish this way, it will be tastier.
The seasoning has to be combined in this way.
The strength of the fire is also very important. It has to be controlled properly.
From the way the woman was speaking, she looked like a teacher lecturing a student. There was no trace of politeness.
Back then, the shop manager got very angry after seeing this scene. What was that woman doing? She couldn't even let people do business in peace?
Moreover, the chief chef of his shop was also a seasoned chef. Wouldn't he get mad if the woman were to lecture him like a little kid?
However... the chief chef of his shop didn't lose his temper and kept listening to the woman like a good student. Then, he even took out a small notebook from somewhere and started to earnestly note down each step the veiled woman was explaining.
The shop manager was dumbstruck. Had the chief chef of his shop eaten the wrong medicine today that he ended up becoming so tame?
After the veiled woman completed her lecture, the chief chef acted as though he had found a rare treasure and enthusiastically thanked her. Then, he ran away while tightly holding the notebook...
He ran away, just like that. He didn't even greet the manager.
Back then, the shop manager called him five times but received no answer.
The shop manager felt that his lungs were about to explode from anger.
What kind of joke was this?! Were the chief chef and the veiled woman in cahoots, playing a prank on him together?
At that time, the shop manager felt like grabbing the collar of the veiled woman and letting her have a taste of the 'angry roar skill of the shop manager'.
No, wait... the shop manager remembered that he indeed rushed toward the veiled woman and tried to grab her collar. But... what had happened afterward? He remembered that everything before his eyes turned black and he lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he discovered that the veiled woman had usurped his shop and was now using the head-fish shop to prepare 'meat sandwiches'.
The most fearsome thing was that the veiled woman was extremely good at doing business. There was already a very long line outside, and the number of clients was so high that one couldn't even see the end to it.
The eyes of the shop managed immediately started to tear up.
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At this time, the veiled woman looked at the shop manager and said indifferently, "Stop looking at me like that. You don't have to worry about the earnings; they will be all yours. I have no interest in pocket change."
When she was preparing the fish head earlier, a miraculous glow flashed through her mind, just as though she had been suddenly enlightened. Several pairings of different types of meat had resurfaced in her mind.
The veiled woman felt that those several different combinations were rather interesting. If she were to successfully match them, the quality of the 'feast' would go up a notch this time.
Thereupon, she immediately got into action and started experimenting.
She tried several types of pairings... and just as she was experimenting, the fragrance of the food she had prepared drifted far away, attracting several people over.
Unknowingly, the clients had formed a long line, looking at her with expectant gazes.
The veiled woman pondered for a moment and concluded that she might as well sell these experimental meat pairings. It was still better than throwing them away. Thereupon, she started to prepare meat sandwiches.
Of course, so as to avoid the spiritual energy inside the food harming the clients, she carefully removed it before preparing the dishes.
This was a brief recap of what had just happened.
The clients waiting outside were really lucky. Both because the spiritual energy within the ingredients had been removed and also because these valuable ingredients belonged to the world of cultivators. Their bodies would greatly benefit after eating them.
Sometimes, being a foodie was a good thing.
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The veiled woman kept experimenting with different pairings of meat.
But right at this time, someone pushed open the back door of the kitchen. Next, a white-haired daoist priest entered the kitchen; his expression was somewhat awkward at this time. In addition, he completely weakened his aura so as to avoid influencing the shop manager, who was just an ordinary human being, and even used a magical treasure to suppress it further.
The white-haired daoist priest was precisely the 'Frenzied Strength Imparter' Daoist Priest Horizon. He was the same person that had come here together with the veiled woman this morning to eat the fish head.
"Miss Bie Xue, I've returned. What good thing to eat do you have here?" Daoist Priest Horizon smelled the fragrance in the kitchen and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
The veiled woman, Bie Xue, smiled and asked, "Are you done taking care of your matters?"
Daoist Priest Horizon nodded and said via secret sound transmission, "The item has been sent. While I was at it, I also asked a specialized sect if they had the 'Golden-Black Cicada Taming Technique' stored somewhere. However, the possibility of obtaining it is very scarce. After all, Golden-Black Cicadas are simply too uncommon."
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Horizon. I'll remember your kindness." Bie Xue faintly nodded her head. She had obtained several valuable Golden-Black Cicadas recently and wanted to see if she could train them up. According to ancient records, they were a culinary delicacy, and she wanted to seize the opportunity to make the dish popular again.
"In addition, I've also collected information about Venerable White. Senior White indeed passed some time here in the Jiangnan area. Then, according to another news, Senior White once drove a... hand-guided tractor on Jiangnan area's streets." Daoist Priest Horizon had a strange expression on his face. Then, he took out his mobile phone and started to swipe on it.
His friend said that he had gotten his hands on a picture where Venerable White was setting out on a journey with a hand-guided tractor. The picture was taken through a surveillance camera. Therefore, it was somewhat blurry.
His friend was just sending the picture over.
"I see." Miss Bie Xue nodded. Recently, Venerable White organized a hand-guided tractor competition that shocked the whole world of cultivators and was even broadcast live. Unfortunately, she was busy with something and couldn't make it there in time.
"It's here. The picture my friend sent." Daoist Priest Horizon took the mobile phone and zoomed the picture he just received.
On the picture.
A brand-new hand-guided tractor was sprinting on the road while emitting black smoke.
The person driving the hand-guided tractor was a man that looked like an immortal that had come out of a painting, incredibly handsome. After seeing him, people wished they could reserve the words 'pretty', 'beautiful', and 'handsome' for his exclusive use!
But this man that seemed an immortal had an excited expression on his face at this time. He was grabbing the steering wheel with both hands and his body shaking up and down along with the tractor. It looked he was having a lot of fun.
Then, next to the immortal-like man was another person. It was a university student with fine features. He still had the childishness typical of a student on his face, and since the hand-guided tractor only had one seat, the student had no choice but to curl up into a ball, looking very delicate and charming.
"Before Senior White drove the hand-guided tractor, it is said that a hole suddenly appeared somewhere in the Jiangnan area. The hole had a semicircular shape. In addition, the two events were more than one month apart. Such being the case, we can assume that Senior White lived in the Jiangnan area for more than one month after coming out secluded meditation. Now, the only way we have to find Senior White's traces is to find that youngster that was with him on the hand-guided tractor... eh?!" Daoist Priest Horizon suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Then, he zoomed even more and carefully looked at the picture.
Although the face of the youth in the picture looked a bit more immature, there was no mistaking! The youth in the photo was the same youth he had met earlier and proposed the strength imparting deal!
He was absolutely sure that he wasn't mistaking him for someone else!
Miss Bie Xue glanced at Daoist Priest Horizon with her beautiful eyes and asked, "Fellow Daoist Horizon, did you recognize the youth?"
Daoist Priest Horizon nodded and said, "What a coincidence. I just met this boy today. He's a cultivator of the Second Stage and is seemingly very young. So he was related to Venerable White... no wonder his constitution was already this strong at his young age. The true qi inside his body was also very rich, and even his mental energy had reached the Third Stage rank."
Miss Bie Xue's eyes immediately lit up. "Where is that boy now?"
400 hundred years ago, she thought of proposing to Fellow Daoist White, openly declaring her love for him.
However, Fellow Daoist White rejected her without thinking twice.
As a result, Immortal Fairy Bie Xue never invited Senior White to the 'Immortal Feast' for the following 400 years out of spite.
But after thinking about it for a while, she decided to give Venerable White another opportunity this year and send him an invitation. But here came the problem... she was unable to find Fellow Daoist White.
She had no idea where he had run to. He hadn't suddenly decided to close up for hundreds of years, right?
Daoist Priest Horizon forced a smile and said, "Earlier, I was preparing to carry out a transaction with that youth, but he directly ran away..."