Chapter 62
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Chapter 62: Granny Bai Cao
Old Man Feng first jumped onto that gigantic gourd, then lifted his hand and pulled Lou Yun through the air onto the gourd. Immediately afterward, the gourd transformed in an instant into a silver flash, carrying both of them as it flew toward the sky.
This was controlling and flying on a magical weapon, which could only be achieved after cultivation reached a certain level!
Since the gourd’s speed was extremely fast, combined with Lou Yun having worries on his mind, he sat on it feeling no fresh excitement from his first flight. He only sensed the head-on wind buffeting his face like a knife cut, terribly painful, and the gourd flew tilting at times and steady at others, forcing Lou Yun to both secure himself and resist the fierce gusts.
Actually, this was Old Man Feng deliberately giving him a hard time. Genuine flight on a magical weapon allowed it to generate a protective shield, forming an enclosed space; no wind or rain influenced it at all.
After flying for about half an hour, Old Man Feng saw Lou Yun enduring with gritted teeth until now and felt he had troubled him enough. So he slapped his head and said, "Look at my memory—I was so anxious I forgot to activate the protective shield!"
As his voice rang out, Lou Yun distinctly felt the stinging wind vanish instantly, clearly because the area around the gourd was cut off from the outside world.
Lou Yun secretly sighed with relief inside. Truthfully, despite a night of unconsciousness, the spiritual energy in his body hadn’t returned to its peak. Handling the flight and wind had drained much more; if it continued, he truly wouldn’t have lasted long!
Old Man Feng then added, "By the way, I’ll tell you about this expert now. She’s a woman, as old as I am, but her temper is even worse than mine and hard to fathom. When you see her, use whatever method—soft or hard—just persuade her to help!"
Lou Yun nodded in agreement, yet inwardly he fretted helplessly. Even Old Man Feng thought her temper was worse than his—how could he ever convince her!
However, since things had come to this, he couldn’t overthink it. He must think of every way to get this expert’s assistance, otherwise Xia Zhilan would be in peril!
After that, neither spoke, and Lou Yun didn’t ask about their destination, simply following Old Man Feng.
Seizing the flying time, Lou Yun busied himself with cultivation, and his diligence satisfied Old Man Feng greatly.
This way, the gourd bore them flying close to half a day, finally descending slowly at dusk.
Before Lou Yun stretched a dense bamboo forest. As the evening breeze brushed by, bamboo leaves rustled with an unique charm.
Old Man Feng stored the gourd, motioning toward the forest and saying, "Inside is a crumbling straw hut—she lives there. Go in; I’m not joining you!"
Lou Yun nodded and asked, "Senior, how should I address this expert?"
"Address her?" Old Man Feng pondered briefly. "I’ve always called her the old hag; you call her Granny Jiang!"
Lou Yun gave a sound of assent and strode into the forest, while Old Man Feng settled under any handy large tree, pulled a small gourd from his chest, and went back to happily drinking his wine.
Lou Yun walked deeper into the bamboo forest, puzzling over how to persuade Granny Jiang later. Since he was here to beg a favor, he absolutely couldn’t resort to soft-and-hard tactics as Old Man Feng advised. He must plead kindly; if she refused, only then would he try another approach!
After walking for roughly a quarter-hour, Lou Yun finally spotted a small straw hut ahead, likely Granny Jiang’s home. He started walking again when an aged voice abruptly spoke in his ear: "Halt where you stand!"
Lou Yun swiftly stopped and didn’t dare advance, shouting toward the hut, "Granny Jiang, I am a student of the Ancient Weapon Academy—"
His words were cut off by the aged voice: "Ancient Weapon Academy? Relying on you—a primary three-star magical weapons master—you traveled safely and unharmed from Gu Feng Nation to Cang Lan Nation?"
Hearing that, Lou Yun froze—this was actually Cang Lan Nation!
Spirit Weapon Star divided into continent and ocean realms. As the whole planet was vast, nations and varying powers rose everywhere on both land and sea, naturally with disparities in strength. In area and overall might, Gu Feng Nation ranked low to medium, while Cang Lan Nation sat at medium to high.
The two nations weren’t adjacent, separated by several smaller states. Traveling purely by horse would take at least three to five months. Moreover, nations and factions on Spirit Weapon Star didn’t coexist peacefully; each craved to annex others, leading to constant war. Without sufficient power, it was impossible to journey unharmed from Gu Feng Nation to Cang Lan Nation.
Though Lou Yun could infer from the flight’s time and speed that this place was far from the Ancient Weapon Academy, he’d never imagined it was deep in Cang Lan Nation’s territory—flying on a magical weapon was incredibly swift!
Seeing Lou Yun silent, Granny Jiang uttered a cold snort: "So young and already lying! For a first offense, I’ll let it go—get out fast, or I won’t be polite anymore!"
Lou Yun snapped back to himself and said urgently, "Granny, I truly came from Gu Feng Nation’s Ancient Weapon Academy. But I didn’t travel alone—I accompanied Old Man Feng, riding his magical weapon here."
"Old Man Feng?" Granny Jiang’s voice held doubt. "Which Old Man Feng?"
Though Lou Yun knew Old Man Feng held high status at the Ancient Weapon Academy, he didn’t know his full name: "I don’t know his exact name either, but he’s responsible for guarding the Ancient Weapon Academy."
Granny Jiang stayed silent a moment before responding: "I’m not familiar with the Ancient Weapon Academy and can’t recall this Old Man Feng. Tell me: even if true, why come to me?"
Lou Yun thought, "I was just about to say it, but you interrupted me and didn’t let me speak!"
"I want to ask Granny Jiang to move and save one of my friends!"
"What happened to your friend?"
"She got severely injured while saving me, with her magical weapon badly damaged inside her body. Because of her weak constitution, regular methods couldn’t repair it without affecting her future cultivation. So Old Man Feng said that I should come and request your help."
Granny Jiang suddenly laughed loudly and said, "Child, is your so-called Old Man Feng an old geezer who always has a wine gourd in his hand and gets drunk all day?"
"Yes, that’s him!"
"I spit! What kind of senior is he? So it’s that old freak. Humph! Child, he must not have told you who I am, did he?"
"No!"
In fact, from the little exchanges between Old Man Feng and Granny Jiang, Lou Yun had already guessed they not only knew each other but had a rather deep relationship, though it seemed some conflict had occurred.
"I am Jiang Qiuqin!"
"Jiang Qiuqin…"
Lou Yun murmured the name and suddenly cried out in surprise, "Ah, you mean Granny Bai Cao?"
Granny Bai Cao Jiang Qiuqin was highly renowned on the Spirit Weapon Star. Not only was her cultivation level extremely high, but she was also a sixth-grade alchemist!
Like skilled weapon makers, alchemists were unique but highly respected professions on the Spirit Weapon Star. Skilled weapon makers could forge various grades of common weapons for cultivators, while alchemists could provide pills to aid their cultivation.
The grading of alchemists was the same as that of skilled weapon makers, divided into ten ranks from highest to lowest, with intermediate sub-grades at each level.
Granny Bai Cao was famous not only for her alchemy skills but also for her three eccentric conditions for seeking pills.
If anyone obtained pills from her once, they could never seek them again in their lifetime;
If it was for the opposite sex, they must be married—otherwise, no deal, even for father-daughter or mother-child pairs;
One must trade with something personal, and whether it was accepted depended entirely on Granny Bai Cao’s mood!
Now that he knew Granny Jiang’s true identity, Lou Yun was a bit confused. Since Granny Jiang was an alchemist, why ask her directly for pills instead of requesting her personal presence?
Then, Granny Jiang spoke again, "Child, I suppose you know my rules. On account of that old freak, I wasn’t inclined to help you. But since you came here yourself, I won’t let you leave empty-handed. If you satisfy my three conditions, I’ll give you a pill that repairs magical weapons!"
Lou Yun opened his mouth but didn’t speak, because Granny Bai Cao’s second condition was utterly incomprehensible and he didn’t meet it at all.
Being who she was, Granny Bai Cao instantly saw the reason for Lou Yun’s hesitation. "It seems your friend is a woman, and you’re not married, are you?"
Lou Yun nodded, "We’re not married. She, she is my martial sister!"
As soon as the words "martial sister" came out, Granny Jiang’s voice abruptly turned harsh. "Hmph, martial sister! What kind of martial sister? Boy, you just said she saved you, even risking her life. Does a woman like that really mean nothing more to you than a martial sister? Is her feeling for you truly just that of a martial sister toward her senior?"
Lou Yun’s forehead beaded with cold sweat. He opened his mouth to explain but then closed it again, unsure what to say. He couldn’t exactly admit that he regarded Xia Zhilan as his wife!
At that moment, Old Man Feng’s voice suddenly came from nearby. "Heh-heh, old witch! It’s been a while!"
Lou Yun quickly turned and saw Old Man Feng staggering to his side.
Granny Jiang’s voice rose with obvious anger. "Old freak, what do you really mean by this?"
Old Man Feng quickly waved his hands. "No meaning, no meaning at all! Let’s not talk about us for now. I’m genuinely here to ask for your help this time. But I know your conditions—I’ve already sought pills from you once, so I brought this lad!"
"Him!" Granny Bai Cao snorted coldly. "He doesn’t meet my conditions either!"
"I know, I know! But this kid’s only sixteen or seventeen, and he’s still studying at Ancient Weapon Academy, so he hasn’t married yet. But they’re actually engaged. Boy—Little Lan is your fiancée, right?"
Seeing Old Man Feng wink at him, Lou Yun hesitated before finally nodding and saying, "Yes, Little Lan is my fiancée!"
In Lou Yun’s view, Old Man Feng was only signaling him to admit this to coax Granny Guai into saving Xia Zhilan. Yet he never imagined this was actually a trap Old Man Feng had set, and he had already fallen into it!
Old Man Feng laughed heartily and called toward the thatched hut. "Ha! Hear that, old witch? The lad spoke the truth. Little Lan is his fiancée, and they’ll marry after graduation. That should meet your condition, shouldn’t it?"
After a moment’s silence, Granny Jiang gave a cold snort. "Even if he matches, he still has to trade with something personal of his, and I must agree to it!"
Old Man Feng hastily turned back to Lou Yun. "Boy, quickly check all your treasures and pick one out for the old witch!"
Lou Yun had no idea what might catch Granny Bai Cao’s eye. He just took everything from his storage ring and laid it out one by one in the bamboo grove, including even the Azure Cloud Cauldron.
Granny Jiang’s voice chimed in. "Well, well, so you’re a skilled weapon maker after all!"
As he put out each item, he glanced at Old Man Feng, hoping for a hint on Granny Bai Cao’s preference. But Old Man Feng remained expressionless and unresponsive, as if nothing was worthy.
Finally, Lou Yun even pulled out the Stone Sword, yet Old Man Feng still didn’t react!
He had brought out all his belongings. Wait—a flash of insight struck Lou Yun’s mind. There was one more thing. Lou Yun flicked his wrist, and in his hand appeared the plaque made from the Heart of Ice. This was what he thought was his most valuable possession.
