Chapter 683: Are You Stupid, Bai Hao!?
After returning to Giant Ghost City, Bai Xiaochun took some time get his emotions back under control. He didn’t like killing, but after everything that had happened to him during his time as Bai Hao, too much frustration and rage had built up inside of him because of the injustice of it all.
For Bai Hao’s sake, he made the Bai Clan pay the price for their past actions. The direct bloodline had been wiped away forever!
After he was calm again, he looked at the pile of dazzling items that he had accumulated, and his eyes began to glitter brightly.
Although he generally wasn’t a greedy person, and wasn’t overly attracted to worldly possessions, he was currently looking at the type of wealth that most ordinary people wouldn’t be able to accumulate even in ten thousand lifetimes. It was enough to get his heart pounding audibly.
Countless vengeful souls.... A seemingly endless amounts of soul medicine.... A deva soul. Innumerable spirit enhanced magical items. As he examined them all, he gasped constantly.
Most moving of all were the secret treasures that had come from the reserve savings of the three clans.
The Cai Clan had its spiritjade statue, but the Chen and Bai Clans also had similar items. For example, the Chen Clan’s secret treasure was a crimson jade bottle, within which was a drop of blood that could supposedly enable any dead soul to recover its memories from its previous life, and become intelligent. Essentially, it could transform a soul into something like a ghost cultivator!
In the wildlands, precious materials like that were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. Originally, the Chen Clan had planned to use that drop of blood on their patriarch, after he reached the demigod level and then ran out of longevity. It would enable that patriarch to live on as a ghost cultivator and protect the clan for endless years. Unfortunately, the Chen Clan patriarch had been incarcerated after the rebellion, rendering such plans useless.
The Bai Clan’s reserve savings contained a seven-colored lotus seed pod. Originally it had contained seven lotus seeds, but it now only had two. Anyone who consumed one of those miraculous seeds would experience a complete recovery from any injuries. In fact, even if one’s body were completely shattered, those seeds would return that person to their original state, as if they had been reborn.
The reason why the clan chief and the deva patriarch had been able to recover from their serious injuries so quickly was because of those seeds!
Any one of these three secret treasures would be enough to shake heaven and earth, and went to show how profound the reserve savings of the three great clans were.
“Those three clans were definitely way too rich....” Bai Xiaochun thought, licking his lips. Next, he picked up a jade slip that contained flame conjuring formulas from all the clans, everything from one- to seventeen-colored flame.
Despite scouring all three of the clans, though, no formula for eighteen-colored flame had been recovered. Eventually, Bai Xiaochun came to be convinced... that the three great clans didn’t have such a formula. Actually, among all of the necromancer clans in the entire Wildlands, the formula for eighteen-colored flame was one of the rarest things imaginable.
“Ah, whatever. I’ll just have to wait for a future opportunity to find the formula. Or, who knows, maybe Bai Hao’s method will eventually produce it.” Despite the fact that his pile of treasures didn’t contain that formula, he was still very excited overall.
“I really struck a goldmine this time. I don’t think I’ll be able to get rid of all this stuff if I tried for my entire life....” By this point, he realized that he really enjoyed shaking down rich clans. Compared to shakedowns, cleaning out soulgrounds was a virtually pointless activity.
“If I have a chance in the future, I’ll definitely shake down some more clans.” He was fully convinced that this was the best route to take. However, moments later, a frown could be seen on his face, and an uneasy feeling rose up in him.
“Wait a second, there are just simply too many valuable treasures here.... If I keep them all for myself, people are definitely going to get jealous.... And the giant ghost king probably wouldn’t be happy either....” Hesitating, he eyed the pile of treasure for a bit before making a decision. “Material possessions are nice, but my poor little life is the foundation of everything.”
Eyes glittering, he thought back to his time on the Great Wall, and what that one particular city magistrate had done. Gradually, his eyes began to shine. Swishing his sleeve, he began to separate out some of the treasures in the pile. [1]
He finished his work around evening, whereupon he flew up to the royal palace on the giant ghost statue. Upon arriving, he clasped hands and bowed respectfully, then said in a loud voice, “Bai Hao is here to seek an audience with his highness the king.”
Silence met his request, so he stood there quietly for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn. Then, a solemn voice rang out.
“Come in.”
The time spent waiting had been very nerve-wracking, so at this point, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Heart thumping, he mused that the giant ghost king really did love to scheme and plot, and then sighed at the memory of being able to slap the man across the side of the head over and over again.
Unfortunately... that excitement was something he had to bury deep in his heart. Even if he were ten thousand times more daring than he actually was, he would still never dare to do such a thing again.
Settling his thoughts, he put a fawning smile onto his face and then hurried into the grand hall to find the giant ghost king sitting there solemnly on his throne.
“You’re back?” the king said coolly. “You certainly made quite the scene.”
He looked neither angry nor pleased, and from the words he spoke, it was impossible to say whether he was offering praise or criticism.
Bai Xiaochun was both confused and nervous. Now that the giant ghost king had his cultivation base back, he was completely terrifying. Bai Xiaochun couldn’t shake the feeling that if he said even one wrong thing, the man would fly into a rage and have him executed.
However, he was fairly certain how to deal with this version of the giant ghost king, and plastered a look of such incredible excitement onto his face that it seemed like he must wish to worship him.
“Just as you had predicted, Your Highness, the three great clans were overflowing with wealth. Vengeful souls, soul medicines, magical items, they had too much stuff to count.... However, instead of handing them over, they defiantly tried to deceive your humble servant.
“Unfortunately for them, I had come to visit you beforehand, and thanks to your boundless royal grace, was given plenty of inspiration, and thus saw through their little plot. I even managed to get my hands on the secret treasures in their reserve savings!” From the look on his face and the way he worded things, it seemed like he was giving all the credit to the giant ghost king.
No expression could be seen on the giant ghost king’s face, but there was the faintest hint of irritation in his eyes. Clearly, he was becoming slightly immune to the powers of Bai Xiaochun’s flattery, although he still enjoyed it to some degree.
“Let’s forget about the Chen and Bai Clans for the moment,” Bai Xiaochun continued. “The Cai Clan’s secret treasure is just completely shocking. It's a spiritjade statue, three meters tall and mysterious to the ultimate degree. It emits light that can surpass the heavens, and has spiritual energy of the rarest type here in the Wildlands.” As he spoke, he continued to look extremely excited, but also took the time to secretly gauge the giant ghost king’s reaction.
“As soon as it comes out into the open, the entire area for 3,000 meters in all directions gets filled with incredibly strong spiritual energy. In terms of large-scale use, it could sustain an entire clan, and if used alone, would count as a precious treasure for personal cultivation!” Bai Xiaochun’s facial expression was extremely lively, and he used compelling gestures to emphasize his words. From the way he described it, the spiritjade statue was obviously something completely one-of-a-kind.
Although the giant ghost king had never seen the spiritjade statue, Bai Xiaochun’s description made it sound incredible. “Hm. Yeah, if what you say is true, then that thing really is incredible.”
However, despite his words, his face remained completely expressionless.
Bai Xiaochun had been measuring the giant ghost king up this entire time, and after seeing his current reaction, he decided to take a step forward and lower his voice.
“Your humble servant has already put the spiritjade statue in one of your side courtyards, sir. Feel free to go study it at any time.”
At this point, the giant ghost king’s eyes widened, and then a broad smile appeared on his face. This was the first time he had ever shown such warmth to Bai Xiaochun. Clearly, he was very pleased with what Bai Xiaochun had done, and even looked at him with open praise.
“This little hooligan…” he thought. “Really knows what to say and how to say it. Not only is he skilled, he’s generous too.... On top of that, he knows how to figure out what people are thinking.” As of this moment, the giant ghost king’s opinion of Bai Xiaochun was only continuing to grow higher. However, at this point he suddenly seemed to remember something, and cleared his throat. “Oh right, I heard that the wife of the former clan chief of the Chen Clan is supposedly a peerless beauty, as has a physique perfect for cultivation assistance--”
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Xiaochun, despite cursing inwardly, gave a knowing chuckle. “Your Highness, I’ve already delivered Mrs. Chen to your side courtyard. You can go study her any time you wish, sir....”
The giant ghost king immediately slapped his palm down onto the arm of his throne. Eyes widening into a glare, he barked, “How impudent! Mrs. Chen is the wife of a former clan chief, and I am one of the four heavenly kings, a majestic demigod! How could I do such a thing!? If word got out, what do you think it would do to my reputation!? Are you stupid, Bai Hao?!?! Get Mrs. Chen out of here this instant!”
1. Back in chapter 530, Bai Xiaochun learned a “new move” from the magistrate of World City.