Lo Jik's days weren't just spent on Feng Jin Huang's time-consuming tasks or her grandmother's sexual relief even when he did prefer the latter over the former, but he also refined several rank 1 Recurring Dream Gu, or as Fairy Yi eloquently named it—rank 1 Countless Cycle Incarnation Dream.
Yeah, fuck that name.
Still, refining the gu worm was only one half of the task assigned to Lo Jik. The latter half involved contributing the gu worms to earn a decent load of contribution points that would put the income received through contributing a rank 4 or even an ordinary rank 5 gu worms to shame. Dream path gu worms were simply too rare, prompting their value to rise correspondingly.
That was also the reason why Lo Jik had to hand over every batch of Recurring Dream Gu to Fairy Yi personally despite the latter no longer being present inside the blessed land.
Arrangements, however, were already in motion.
"What are you doing here?"
Feng Jin Huang's snappy voice tore Lo Jik's gaze from the impressive door leading to Bai La's residence within the palace built atop Dang Hun Mountain. She appeared with a flicker of light, sent over by Little Hu's impressive teleportation ability within the blessed land. Needless to say, the adorable little land spirit accompanied the busty and seemingly perpetually annoyed blonde with her fluffy white tail swaying ever so slightly and her fluffier fox ears twitching near their peaks.
"Oh, Sister Feng." Lo Jik smiled. "I heard all of you managed to secure qualifications for the second round. Forgive me for not congratulating you earlier. I thought you and the others might need some rest."
"You didn't answer me." Feng Jin Huang raised an eyebrow. She might have inherited Feng Jiu Ge's presence and Bai Qing's beauty, but Lo Jik could now also notice hints of Bai La's willfulness in the woman. And it was most certainly arousing.
"I'm here to submit my body to your grandmother," Lo Jik responded with a sleazy smile, his reply leaving the legacy disciple dazed before she sucked in a breath of cold air and hurriedly shot the door a panicked glance.
"Stop spouting nonsense, you moron!" She hissed coldly, the phoenix coronet on her head jingled at her snappy head motions, something that reminded Lo Jik of Bai La's anklets again.
"Fine…" Lo Jik drawled with a shrug. "I'm here for official business. Believe it or not, I'm way more popular with the supreme elders than you'd care to imagine, Sister Feng. Though, I can assure you that I'll complete the day's quota with the rockmen batches despite my schedule."
"Hmph, you better."
Feng Jin Huang worked her jaw as the hall descended into silence.
"Did you know I came up with an interesting refinement duel in the spirit of refinement convention while you were outside?" Lo Jik informed his employer with a smirk, noticing interest flash in her blue eyes. Before he could spread the sermon of Strip Refinement Duels, however, a voice emerged through the closed doors, interrupting Lo Jik's sales pitch.
"Disciple Gu Yue may enter." Bai La instructed, not mentioning Feng Jin Huang at all. Taking the hint, the granddaughter sighed and nodded at Lo Jik before leaving alongside Little Hu Immortal.
Bai La's residence was adequately furnished, but many mortal mansions would put it to shame with their sheer luxury. Of course, Lo Jik understood the simple fact that this entire palace was not constructed through bricks and stones, but gu worms! It was a massive mortal gu house!
How could any mortal compare with this wealth?
Even Lo Jik didn't have enough gu worms to construct such a mundane gu house.
Bai La was seated with a single cup of steaming tea on the table. Her features shrouded with all the deadpan she could muster as if aware of Lo Jik's dastardly act of trying to strip her granddaughter. And knowing how things ended for them, Bai La could almost imagine Lo Jik stuffing her granddaughter's face and paint her throat white after winning a few rounds just to avenge his loss against the former.
At least, that's what Bai La would have tried accomplishing in Lo Jik's stead.
"Senior Bai." Lo Jik bowed reverently before speaking softly. "I'd like to submit my results to Elder Yi."
Bai La bit back her snark the second she heard about Lo Jik's reason for this meeting. She quietly observed the youth before inquiring curiously.
"How many dream path gu worms did you refine?"
Lo Jik smiled plainly but did not answer, eliciting a cold laugh from Bai La's distractingly red lips.
"I can have you spill your secrets with a wave of my hand, lad. Do you dare not answer my questions? Tell me. Now!"
Lo Jik sighed deeply.
He fell to his knees and kowtowed.
"I submit to Senior Bai's punishment. Allow me to appease your anger, Senior. However, I cannot divulge the matter of dream path gu worms without Fairy Yi's express approval. I have sinned. Please, spread your knees and let me repent!"
The corner of Bai La's lips twitched. She recalled how things ended yesterday. No matter how much she tried using Lo Jik or push him into more subservient positions… he didn't break. He was simply too flexible. Despite being smeared and stained, he kept provoking her for more, enjoying everything she unleashed on him.
The recollection left Bai La's innermost secrets twitching in response.
"You want to repent?" Her gaze glimmered coldly as the gears in her head clicked and clacked with an arousing idea.
"Yes."
As she expected, Lo Jik kept playing along.
"Hmm." Bai La let out a satisfied noise after sipping from her cup of tea. "Then you must not have any intimacy with your wife and Little Juan for the next week."
Lo Jik froze.
Of course, the second round of the convention would begin soon. However, the same amount of time inside the blessed land equaled to nearly five days! With how much he'd been left teased, and with how much she left his cock aching in need, Bai La did not doubt the time they spent together left the youth with ungodly urges to release. So, she added more conditions, proverbially rubbing more salt on the wound.
"You also cannot seek intimate relationship with anyone else until I allow it, including acts of self-relief."
Of course, Bai La was never going to leave any loophole for Lo Jik to act upon. She caged him at once, only short of physically snapping a chastity cage around his cock.
"… understood."
Bai La instantly felt her mood brighten after hearing Lo Jik's dejected voice.
"Hmm. I shall leave you and Fairy Yi's will alone."
Bai La set up a formation with a wave of her hands and left the room, leaving behind a dim yellow-colored will resembling Fairy Yi.
Dream path gu worms could only exist in one's mind and needed other specialized gu worms to store, something Fairy Yi left behind in spades. They didn't converse much as Lo Jik submitted the rank 1 Recurring Dream Gu he refined before leaving Bai La's room, almost giddy by the amount of contribution points he earned alongside Bai La's terms and conditions.
Of course, he was pent up. But he'd already mastered his libido unlike the other way around.
He also took a detour to the exchange hall in Dang Hun City to spend his contribution points, purchasing several sets of materials for Wealth Gu before exchanging polite greetings with other disciples as rank 9 Love Gu was too conspicuous to be ignored no matter how many times the surroundings disciples caught its glimpse.
Finally, he returned to his routine of 'befriending' batches of rockmen as they either got sold into Treasure Yellow Heaven or sent off to different corners of the blessed lands to dig earth and develop the underground regions.
"Shouldn't you be preparing for the second round of the convention, Sister Feng?" Lo Jik let out an exhausted exhale before glancing at the sauntering Feng Jin Huang, his gaze instantly glued onto her soft and slightly bouncing chest in a practiced fashion, something the blonde took up with a sense of defiant pride as she preened and straightened her back ever so slightly.
"Just keeping an eye out for the goods," she replied, her eyes flicking from Lo Jik to another batch of unconscious rockmen.
'And couldn't you use Little Hu for that?' Lo Jik sneered internally but remained quiet as he prepared his killer move.
She watched things silently, a thought stuck in her mind as Lo Jik tampered with the minds of the unconscious rockmen. There was still the task of persuading said rockmen. Although, that was easy to achieve because Lo Jik held the relevant Rank 3 Leader Gu.
'He's already rejected my earlier proposals for purchasing the recipe of this gu worm and the killer move named Follow the Leader. I could always ask father for this recipe since all of Lo Jik's human path recipes and research are noted by the higher-ups.'
Feng Jin Huang was aware of that much even if she never heard her parents speak of the matter. It would be too strange for them to not do such a thing.
'However, doing that will sour our relationship.' She sighed internally. It was the classic dilemma of trying to balance short-term gains with long-term goals. The best way was to entice Lo Jik with a great enough offer to have him willingly trade his recipe.
'Or create a situation where he has no other option but to trade the recipe and earn quickly. However, he is too rich and skilled to fall into such circumstances.'
Feng Jin Huang worked her jaw, feeling more and more annoyed by Lo Jik's brilliance. And there was also that Black Moon! That mysterious woman showed up just when Feng Jin Huang thought she had no more rivals for the position of sect's fairy. Not only that, that cunt also spread baseless rumors about her and Lo Jik being fierce lovers.
'Should I challenge him again?' Feng Jin Huang wondered while her gaze remained glued to his back. 'I won once. I can win again… but what if I lose? He dealt with most of my attacks with a single Rank 4 Self-Reliance. Now he's already recruited into Father's faction and received a strength path inheritance. Father also said Supreme Elder Yi gave Lo Jik the recipe for a rank 5 Self-Reliance Gu. However, he might not have refined it at the moment. Most strength path recipes, even newer ones, involve rare or nigh-extinct materials.'
'If he refines a rank 5 Self-Reliance Gu…'
Feng Jin Huang felt stifled. Not being the strongest one in the room forced her to rely more on her brain than her brawn.
'He's bound to have some weakness.' She crossed her arms, deep in thought.
'Since he is already part of father's faction… no, if I do that, I'll be forced to rely on father for all my troubles. There's also the fact that father might not agree with my request.'
'But if I don't get this killer move and gu recipe soon, I'll have to be more reliant on Lo Jik after this year. Who knows if he will help me with the business later on. Sure, being part of this business means a steady income, but he's a top-tier talent like me. Wouldn't he also desire his solo business? How much time would he spare on my business at that point?'
She felt faint pressure thinking about such a scenario. Their usual antics aside, Feng Jin Huang could not depend on someone else's good faith. The only correct path in cultivation was to be self-reliant.
Look at Qin Juan and Shu Zhe. They were still cultivating on their own despite Lo Jik's talent because they were aware of this truth just as much as Feng Jin Huang.
No amount of love, trust, and promises could compensate for one's own ability!
A thought appeared in Feng Jin Huang's mind as she recalled Lo Jik's movements recorded by Little Hu at former's command.
'His trips to Dang Hun Mountain increased recently. His soul is at the same level but it keeps getting injured frequently. Is it due to a new refinement recipe he's trying to complete? No… he just came out of grandmother's residence and then spent most his newly earned contribution points, including spending some income to gain access to the gutstones for three hours. It must be a task related to other supreme elders. Is that why his soul needs more nourishment these days?'
"Lo Jik," she spoke out, interrupting Lo Jik from preparing another batch of rockmen. "Sell me the recipe for Rank 3 Leader and Follower Gu alongside the killer move Follow the Leader."
"Why don't I strip naked and get my ass fucked by a couple of horse beasts while I'm at it?" Lo Jik inquired with a polite smile and a thinly veiled mockery in his voice.
"No, you don't have to do that. What would Juan'er think of you?" Huang shot back with an equally pleasant smile, though she was not averse to the idea of having the sarcastic asshole turned into a submissive tool.
She continued calmly and cut to the chase without any awkwardness. At this moment, she only had one thing to offer that could truly entice Lo Jik. As if understanding her intentions, she felt his gaze turn more… appraising as it took the whole of her in one go.
"I can let you have a free access of Treasure Yellow Heaven for a month." She offered with a narrowed gaze, standing straight and proud under his gaze.
Others might believe Guts Gu to be Lo Jik's greatest source of desire. But Feng Jin Huang knew better. It had to be Treasure Yellow Heaven. Guts Gu can be accessed through contribution points. Sure, he would need to pay an additional fee to let Little Hu Immortal quickly choose all the gutstones with Guts Gu inside of it, but such convenience didn't matter to a rich bloke like Lo Jik.
However, he was incapable of accessing Treasure Yellow Heaven without Little Hu's help. That place might just be a source of wonder for other disciples, but Lo Jik wasn't like them. He could earn more and grow at a greater pace!
As expected, Lo Jik's gaze shifted and he pondered seriously.
"One year." He countered.
"Heh, why don't I strip naked and—" Feng Jin Huang stopped in her tracks before growling. She was about to say some rather obscene nonsense after being affected by Lo Jik's earlier words, something she pinned him with a frustrated gaze for as her cheeks burned hotly.
"I wouldn't stop you," Lo Jik replied with a shameless grin.
"Fuck off!" She snorted. "One year is too much. One month is all you'll get."
Just as Lo Jik had a rather firm control over his recipes, Feng Jin Huang also had a firm control over the Connecting Heaven Gu.
"One year is too little." Lo Jik countered again. "What use do you have of me after getting the recipe for my gu worm? You can keep expanding your business. But what about me? I'll have to seek another path for my growth. Becoming a gu immortal is very challenging and I cannot have my own blessed land and Connecting Heaven Gu without being one."
"You can always inherit a blessed land." Feng Jin Huang smiled and assured him shamelessly. "Fortune is part of one's talent. A genius like you surely has a blessed land in your future."
Lo Jik snorted.
"I'm only entertaining this conversation because I respect you, Sister Feng."
Feng Jin Huang rolled her eyes. Why didn't she feel respected instead of nearly being stripped naked by his gaze if that was the case?
"Didn't you have a business plan?" Feng Jin Huang asked. "You can use this month to research the market and make better plans."
"I did have a plan." Lo Jik agreed. "But I have too many responsibilities now. I cannot go through with it. Selling you the recipe is similar to closing my own shop."
Feng Jin Huang frowned before relenting.
"Two months."
"One year."
"You're going overboard, Lo Jik. I know you. Your gu worms can also incite a favorable response in Treasure Yellow Heaven. It's not hard for you to earn more money!" Feng Jin Huang accused angrily. "Where's the respect you talk about? Shouldn't you offer me the gu recipe without any thing in exchange if you truly respected me?"
Lo Jik tossed her a bland glare while feeling more than impressed.
"You're right. I might have a decent chance in earning more income from Treasure Yellow Heaven directly," he accepted with a soft tone as he smiled. "It's good that you know the difference between our talents, Sister Feng."
She scoffed.
"But I won't lower the price from one year. Think carefully, Sister Feng. I'm currently unable to access Treasure Yellow Heaven, but does that mean I will forever be restricted by mortal nature? However, you won't get recipe any other way."
Feng Jin Huang grew slightly alert. It was a trap. She'd get in trouble if she openly pointed out how other supreme elders already possess most of Lo Jik's human path recipes.
So, on the papers, Lo Jik was indeed the only source of this recipe.
She couldn't help but fall silent.
"How about this? Six months and I will also reduce six months from the leftover time from our bet," she spoke finally.
This meant he could enjoy more time with Treasure Yellow Heaven early on.
'Six months… I would have let her have this win if not for losing the earlier bet.' Lo Jik shook his head as Feng Jin Huang's expression fell and turned sour.
"One. Year."
Feng Jin Huang tried several times but Lo Jik simply didn't budge. The more she was rejected, the further her expression darkened. Giving Lo Jik one year of free access to Treasure Yellow Heaven left her feeling more worried—worried that he would leave her in the dust. However, such thoughts could never be known by the stubborn bastard who refused to budge at her expense.
Yet, her need for the gu worm's recipe and the relevant killer move was greater. And the fact that Lo Jik was willing to sell it was already a matter of great relief. However, Feng Jin Huang failed to feel the same after they formed their agreement.
She left with a snort shortly after, not responding to his usual gaze as she turned around without the familiar sway of her hips and disappeared from his view entirely.
'Well, she's mad.' Lo Jik shrugged. 'Good thing I'm currently focused on her grandmother. That said, I really should try Strip Refinement Duel with others. It might be fun.'
He could picture Shu Zhe's deadpan at his idea because she was devoted to her cultivation. However, Qin Juan would take the challenge in the intended spirit.
'What about Sun Yao?' Lo Jik snickered. 'She might be the first one to drop out of the convention after Feng Jin Huang. I could get a couple of platinum achievements from her while Qin Juan and Shu Zhe are participating and preparing for their next rounds.'
'Ah, but no fun this week. Unless Senior Bai herself wants more of it.'
<<<>>>
Feng Jiu Ge stopped using the letter gu sent by his daughter before nodding with a contended smile.
'So, Lo Jik decided to sell the recipe to Feng Jin Huang.'
Lo Jik had already contributed the recipe to the sect among other things to earn their trust through Feng Jiu Ge. However, the latter kept these matters from his daughter despite knowing the value of the recipe for her business.
Sharing the recipe with Feng Jin Huang would have only soured their relationship because his daughter still needed the relevant killer move to make use of the gu worm. It was also one of the reasons why Feng Jin Huang finally settled on cultivating enslavement path instead of soul path as a secondary focus. She hoped to advance her business.
'Now she has the killer move and the gu recipe directly from Lo Jik. It's a consenting trade from both the sides. Huang'er can finally expand the scope of her business and even look into other variant human, preferably snowmen and minimen. But…' The gu immortal's gaze flickered.
'How can someone like Lo Jik not understand the benefit Feng Jin Huang stands to gain with this trade? Why would he settle for merely one year of free access to Treasure Yellow Heaven? I would have aimed to gain free access to the market until I advanced as a gu immortal in his shoes.'
The thought was perplexing.
Did Lo Jik like his daughter this much to the point of stooping so low and let the latter gain all the advantages?
No. The supreme elders knew of his nature. While not stone-hearted, Lo Jik wasn't necessarily driven by sentiments alone.
Why…
Feng Jiu Ge's gaze flashed as he retrieved another gu worm. His will within Treasure Yellow Heaven just received it from Lo Jik.
It was another letter gu worm.
"This is…" The rank 7 gu immortal felt stumped.
'I never forgot about that Black Moon lass, but to think he's already targeting her. Too foolish… but it's only foolish because he doesn't know everything. This letter… it might just be an indirect request to learn more about Black Moon.'
Feng Jiu Ge smiled softly.
'So, that's it.'
'He did Feng Jin Huang a favor to request more information about Black Moon. It means he already suspects the reason of her sudden appearance. Did he deduce all this by himself or with his wife's help?'
'He might also be looking for my express backing before he targets Black Moon. But just sharing a recipe and killer move with Huang'er isn't enough. All he will get is information. How he deals with Black Moon is up to him.'
His gaze darkened momentarily.
'I would have returned the favor and bullied you similar to how you bullied my daughter based off the difference in strength if not for First Elder already revealing to me your worth and the reason for cooperation, Fairy Black Moon.'
He looked ahead, his gaze sweeping through the wide expanse of cultivated fields.
'Hopefully… Black Moon won't kill Lo Jik with a snap of her fingers. There's no reason to worry. He's got Love Gu.'
***
Alternate Title: Like Grandmother Like Granddaughter; Submitting Results; Lo Jik Just Wants More; Eloquent Naming Sense; Fairy Yi About to Name Shatter Dream as Break Limits Dream Wall Gu!; Feeding on Feng Jin Huang's Anger; Feng Jin Huang When She Finds Out Lo Jik Indeed Submits His Body to Bai La: *Shocked Pikachu Face*; One Year; Accessing the Free Market; Daily Labor; Enslaving Rockmen; Fearful Feng Jin Huang; Stubborn Negotiations; Reason for Sale; TRUE Reason for Sale; Caged; A Week of Repenting; Mysterious Black Moon; Restrained Feng Jiu Ge; Fairy?; An Outlandish Plan; Stumping a Rank 7 Gu Immortal
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