Chapter 268: Change of Target

Although what Celestial MeiHua said seemed weak and genteel, SongZhong did not dare to underestimate her words. He pulled a long face as he said, “I a.s.sume Senior would be the famous Celestial MeiHua, right?”

“Haha, I did not expect you to have such good eyesight!” Hearing such, Celestial MeiHua could not help but smile. “How did you guess?”

“Other than Senior, there are no other female YuanYing cultivators in the Mystical Sky Yard!” SongZhong laughed as he replied, before saying a little gloomily, “I have a good relations.h.i.+p with your disciple, ShuiJing, and would not want to cross blades with Senior!”

“What do you mean, cross blades?” Celestial MeiHua immediately interjected. “Did I say I was coming to fight it out with you?”

“What?” SongZhong could not help but feel elated at this piece of news. “Don’t tell me Senior does not plan to obstruct me?”

“That goes without saying; from now on, I am wiping any and all relations.h.i.+ps with those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds below. On the contrary, I would be happier if that Daoist HuoLong was dead!” Celestial MeiHua hatefully spat out.

“EEHH?!” SongZhong never thought she would say so, and was caught totally by surprise.

Seeing him in a flabbergasted state, Celestial MeiHua only smiled lightly, saying, “I know this may seem suspicious, but every word I have spoken is only the truth. With my ident.i.ty, it’s definitely not worthwhile for me to lie to you!”

“Then Senior, please move aside and let me wipe Daoist HuoLong off the face of this earth before we reminisce about the old times!” SongZhong hurriedly spoke.

“Ai ya!” Celestial MeiHua shook her head in response, saying, “Look at you, you’re so silly! Let me ask you, even if you blast the Mystical Sky Yard to smithereens, are you guaranteed to kill Daoist HuoLong?”

“This...” SongZhong was rendered speechless. Subconsciously, he was aware that every YuanYing cultivator would have their own set of Life-Saving Secret Arts. For him to rely on the Golden Dragon Boat to defeat them and chase them off would be possible, but it would be another matter to actually kill them. The other party only needed to put all their effort into running away, and compared to a YuanYing cultivator’s speed, the Golden Dragon Boat might be able to catch up at all. Even if it could catch up, the consumption of spiritual stones was not something which SongZhong would be able to endure! As such, he could only destroy the entire Mystical Sky Yard today, but he could not do anything about Daoist HuoLong.

Seeing his expression, Celestial MeiHua immediately understood that SongZhong had understood all that she had said. She continued, “Child, while it is true that Daoist Huolong is your enemy, the Mystical Sky Yard isn’t! Huo QianWu isn’t here, even if you were to destroy the entire Sect, this would only result in the deaths of countless cultivators. Some of them are even your fellow apprentices, can you bear to watch them die?”

“This...” Another chord was struck in SongZhong. The familiar faces of Han LingFeng, Monkey, and Qing FengZi all flashed by in his mind, and the killing intent immediately bled out of him. While he hated Daoist HuoLong to the bones, he wasn’t willing to blindly sacrifice all the people he was close to.

Seeing his expression of agony, Celestial MeiHua smiled gently. “Child, don’t be disheartened! Let me tell you, your real enemy is actually the Jade Pearl Pavilion, that’s where Huo QianWu is residing currently. Not only that, even the shameless Celestial QingYun is there too. The two of them were responsible for the death of your entire family, why aren’t you going there to destroy their Sect instead?”

Hearing such, SongZhong’s eyeb.a.l.l.s turned bloodshot and a fresh wave of killing intent spilled out once again. He viciously spat out, “Senior is right. For every grievance there is someone responsible, for every debt there is a debtor. I should not have blindly attacked the Mystical Sky Yard; the Jade Pearl Pavilion should be my target! I shall now head towards them to take my revenge!” As he spoke, SongZhong’s hands prepared to change the destination to the Jade Pearl Pavilion.

However, he was stopped by Celestial MeiHua, who called out, “Wait, wait!”

“Does Senior still have more instructions?” SongZhong immediately stopped where he was, turning around and saluting her respectfully.

“Silly child, at your strength now, how could you defeat the Jade Pearl Pavilion? Their Grand Defensive Formation isn’t like the one here; furthermore, it has been properly maintained. Even though your Golden Dragon Boat is peerlessly overpowering, you might not even scratch the formation!” Celestial MeiHua poured a bucket of cold water on him.

“Ah! Is that so…” SongZhong took in a cold breath. He knew that Celestial MeiHua would not lie to him, so he could only reveal a face of anxiety.

Seeing his constipated face, Celestial MeiHua laughed as she continued, “Silly child, it is actually nothing difficult. While the Jade Pearl Pavilion’s defensive formation may seem like a stronghold of steel to you, in front of me, it is full of holes. Come, take a look!” As she finished, she took out a piece of white jade, tossing it to SongZhong.

Upon catching it, SongZhong asked in doubt, “This is…?”

“This is the formation for the Grand Defensive Formation of the Jade Pearl Pavilion. I’ve already mapped out the leylines for you on it. As long as you aim at these crucial spots, with the strength of the Golden Dragon Boat, you can definitely destroy it!” Celestial MeiHua smiled darkly as she spoke.

“Ah?” SongZhong eyes brightened as he replied joyously, “Why would Senior give this to me?”

“Because I can’t stand some people treating me as though I’m a fool and an idiot!” Celestial MeiHua replied hatefully.

“Eh?” SongZhong did not expect such an answer. He thought to himself, “Most likely, someone in the Jade Pearl Pavilion has angered her. This is her borrowing a knife to kill someone!”

Celestial MeiHua suddenly casually remarked, “You also have another problem. That Golden Dragon Boat of yours is fierce, but it mostly consumes high-grade spiritual stones, and the consumption is no trifling matter too, right?”

“That’s the case!” SongZhong was first shocked, thinking that Celestial MeiHua was probing his weaknesses, before realising that she had made her calculations long in advance. He did not attempt to conceal it, instead pulling a long face, “This toy here is formidable, but in truth, it actually depends on burning money to maintain it. Today’s battle has already left me in deficit. If I were to attack the Jade Pearl Pavilion, I’m afraid I would be less capable than I wis.h.!.+”

Hearing this, Celestial MeiHua only clicked her teeth together before saying, “Child! Let me help you a little bit more!” As she spoke, she threw out an elaborate storage pouch without waiting for SongZhong to reply.

Receiving it and scanning through it with his spiritual sense, SongZhong received another great shock. As it turned out, the storage pouch actually contained millions of high-grade spiritual stones, already forming an actual mountain from the sheer numbers.

SongZhong did not expect Celestial MeiHua to be so generous and could only exclaim in shock, “Senior, this, how could I afford to take this?”

Celestial MeiHua merely dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. “If I say that you can have it, don’t question me. You just have to promise me that you will flatten the Jade Pearl Pavilion into a pancake!”

“This Junior swears, if I don’t flatten Jade Pearl, I’m not worthy to be a human!” SongZhong eyes flashed with killing intent as he spat out each word slowly.

“Good!” Celestial MeiHua jubilantly laughed. “With such words, I can rest a.s.sured!”

“But Senior!” SongZhong furrowed his brows, “Why would you want to do this? These millions of high-grade spiritual stones, they are no small sum!”

“Hahaha, silly child, though this amount of spiritual stones might not be present even in a FenShen cultivator’s belongings, but to me, they’re not even worth mentioning. Don’t forget what I cultivate in!” Celestial MeiHua smiled.

SongZhong froze for a while before he understood. With Celestial MeiHua’s abilities of calculation, the locations of heavenly treasures, as well as ancient cultivators’ residences, could not escape her grasp. As such, with so many years under her belt, the wealth she possessed would definitely be far beyond everyone’s imaginations. Though the sum of spiritual stones she gave to SongZhong might be frightening, they were not even enough to put a dent in her savings.

Following which, Celestial MeiHua continued, “As for the reason, I shall not hide it from you. There are two reasons, the first being revenge. The hussy in Jade Pearl Pavilion has been too insufferably arrogant, but due to my ident.i.ty, I cannot deal with her, and thus can only use you as my intermediary. This can be considered my payment for your services!”

“But such payment seems to be too huge!” SongZhong bitterly laughed.

“I know, thus the second reason, which is to obtain a favor!” Celestial MeiHua continued solemnly. “I am placing my bets on you, and I feel that you are worth me investing my effort, do you understand?”

“I understand!” SongZhong knew that because Celestial MeiHua predicted that he had a bright future ahead of him, she decided to get on his good books beforehand by using spiritual stones which she had practically no need for to obtain a favor. SongZhong admired her candidness, and even though he knew he was being used, he still cupped his fists towards her. “Senior’s kindness today, SongZhong will engrave it in his mind!”

“That’s good!” Celestial MeiHua smiled in satisfaction, before interjecting, “I intend to give you another gift. Would you like to return my favour and give me some benefits?”

“What gift?” SongZhong perked up his ears.

“It’s like this; my disciple has been out roaming the last few years and has become quite close with Han Bing’er of the Jade Pearl Pavilion. A few days ago, Han Bing’er sent a transmission inviting my disciple over, and seeing how your close friend Han LingFeng had a lot of bad luck surrounding her, my disciple suspected that something was going to happen, and thus took the chance to run there with her![a] In any case, she is now at the Jade Pearl Pavilion, so if you rush over there, guns blazing, if Celestial Qingyun finds out that she cannot deal with you, she will definitely use her as a bargaining chip!” Celestial MeiHua sneered. “I intend to go now to bring them back and allow you to reunite with Han LingFeng. How is that? Is it a good gift?”

“Definitely!” SongZhong immediately bowed in grat.i.tude. “I really have to thank Senior for this!”

“No need for false pleasantries!” Celestial MeiHua waved it off, “If you really want to thank me, then take out some Five Elements Lotus Seeds. I am not greedy, three will do!”

This outspoken att.i.tude of Celestial MeiHua was extremely pleasing to SongZhong; it let him feel her sincerity. SongZhong was never one to be petty, and since he still had a lot of Five Elements Lotuses, he immediately complied, throwing three of the seeds over to her. The way things looked, Celestial MeiHua was still at a loss. With the few millions of high-grade spiritual stones, let alone 3, she could buy a countless number of the Five Elements Lotuses! Thus, in terms of owing favours, despite having gifted 3 of the seeds to her, SongZhong was still indebted to her!

“Haha, you’re really straightforward, you sure did not waste my effort spent in talking to you!” Celestial MeiHua received the seeds with a smile. “Since that’s the case, then let me make a move first. You can follow behind me, and I’ll pa.s.s Han LingFeng to you on the way before you sweep the entire Jade Pearl Pavilion! Hahaha, this is making me so excited!” The moment she finished speaking, she did not even wait for SongZhong to reply before disappearing into a gentle breeze.