Chapter 192
Chu Feng brought Illya back to the other world.
The Shaman Qiu Luo saw them and smiled. “You’re back!”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah. What are you busy with?”
“I’ve been dealing with that snake you left last time,” Qiu Luo said.
“Not easy to handle, huh?”
Qiu Luo nodded. “Right. The scales are super tough, and the meat is so tough it can’t be cut. We could only use it for soup. The dwarves brought a lot of tools and helped a lot—without them, we might’ve just had to put it on display.”
Chu Feng: “…”
He followed Qiu Luo into a room filled with large glass jars containing herbs and liquor. To fully utilize the snake’s medicinal power, much of it had been turned into medicinal wine.
“Is this a snake gallbladder?” Chu Feng asked.
Shaman Qiu Luo nodded and said, “Yes! This is the first time I’ve seen a snake gallbladder this big.”
Chu Feng: “…”
A gallbladder three times bigger than a football, soaked in a jar of alcohol—it was a shocking sight.
“Shaman, is the potion ready?” Chu Feng asked.
Shaman Qiu Luo nodded and said, “It’s done. The batch of herbs you delivered last time was of good quality. Most of it has already been made into potions. The quality of this batch should be better than before. It seems like the quality of your herbs has improved quite a bit!”
Chu Feng smiled and said, “Maybe. From now on, we’ll have more and more rare herbs and exotic plants on our side.”
Shaman Qiu Luo chuckled and said, “No matter how many rare herbs you get, it’s still hard to compare with the Tree of Life!”
“How’s the Tree of Life seed doing?” Chu Feng asked.
Shaman Qiu Luo smiled and said, “It sprouted.”
Chu Feng said with some surprise, “Really? Last time, we tried all kinds of methods and it still didn’t sprout!”
Previously, in order to make the seed sprout, Illya had used her powers to assist Jocelyn, but it had still failed.
“Jocelyn has been caring for the seedling these past few days and asked about Illya several times,” the Shaman said.
Illya glanced at the Shaman and asked, “She wants to see me? Why?”
The Shaman took a deep breath and said, “She seems to want to use your powers to help accelerate the growth of the Tree of Life.”
Illya nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll go take a look shortly…”
Chu Feng followed Illya to the Tree of Life cultivation chamber. Outside the chamber, a few armed half-elves were standing guard.
“What a refreshing feeling!”
As soon as Chu Feng entered, it felt like stepping into the clean air of the wild outdoors, cleansing both body and soul.
In the center of the cultivation room, Chu Feng saw a tiny seedling.
“This is the Tree of Life seedling?”
Jocelyn nodded and said, “Yes.”
Illya was excited. “Amazing!”
She walked up to the Tree of Life and felt an extraordinary sense of comfort. She finally understood why the elves revered the Tree of Life so much. Being near it brought a mysterious sense of happiness.
Among elves, those who committed wrongdoings could be banished from the tribe. Illya used to think that punishment wasn’t a big deal—but now she realized it might actually be harsh.
After staying beside the Tree of Life for so long, being forced to leave must be very hard to bear.
Chu Feng took out a few witch stones and said, “Does the tree need these to grow? Keep them for nurturing it.”
Shaman Qiu Luo looked at him and said, “So many? Isn’t that too much?”
Chu Feng waved his hand and said, “Not at all.”
After all, witch stones would become more and more abundant in the future. He and Illya wouldn’t be able to use up that many anyway, so using them to grow the Tree of Life seemed like a good investment.
With his current level of ability, normal potions were no longer effective. Only higher-grade ingredients could still benefit him.
If the Tree of Life was truly as powerful as the legends said, then it would be well worth cultivating.
Shaman Qiu Luo buried a witch stone in the soil, and the moment it went in, the seedling perked up noticeably.
Jocelyn looked at Illya with enthusiasm. “Could you assist me?”
Illya nodded and said, “Sure.”
She held Jocelyn’s hand and transferred her energy. With Illya’s help, Jocelyn’s power increased several times over.
She waved her fingers, sending streaks of green light from her hands toward the seedling. The moment they touched, the seedling shot up significantly.
Jocelyn smiled and said, “That’s good enough.”
Illya withdrew her spiritual power.
Jocelyn looked at Illya and said, “Your spiritual power is really impressive. There’s an elder in Crescent Village who’s lived over 200 years and also has strong spiritual energy, but compared to you, he’s got no advantage—even though he’s used a lot of Life Essence Liquid.”
Looking at the growing seedling, Jocelyn was visibly excited. Originally, she had very little confidence in raising the Tree of Life, but now, things were going far smoother than expected. The conditions in Crescent Village were actually better than in her elf tribe for nurturing the Tree.
Chu Feng and Illya exited the cultivation chamber. “Does the Tree of Life really help enhance abilities?”
Shaman Qiu Luo shook her head and said, “The Tree of Life is the elves’ top secret. All I know is that the Life Essence it secretes has many miraculous effects. But judging from the past few days, just staying near it seems to subtly improve one’s physical condition.”
Chu Feng nodded and said, “It really was comfortable being in that room.”
It felt like his body had been through a massage. And that was just from a seedling. Once it grew into a small tree, one could only imagine how powerful its effects would be…
*
Meanwhile, Shi You was in his room, feeling excited. The castle district had recently expanded a lot, and several of the senior members of the Highland Tribe, including Shi You, had gotten their own rooms.
Chui Shi walked into the room and said, “Shi You, the boss was looking for you just now?”
Shi You nodded and replied, “Yeah.”
Chui Shi frowned. “The boss seems to be getting busier and busier lately! He always comes and goes in a rush—even when delivering supplies. What did he talk to you about?”
Shi You stiffened his face and said, “Boss told me to train my abilities properly.”
He had even given him two witch stones. Witch stones! A legendary treasure. Shi You hadn’t expected he’d ever get any.
Chui Shi asked, a bit puzzled, “Why did the boss suddenly tell you to focus on training your powers?”
Shi You scratched his head and said, “Maybe it’ll be useful soon.”
Judging from the boss’s expression, perhaps before long, he’d be able to go to the other side of the sea.
Shi You had already heard a lot about the other side from Manning and was filled with longing. He also wanted to help the boss like Manning did. From what Chu Feng had just revealed, it might soon be his turn to cross the sea.
Shi You silently thought to himself: I really need to work harder on improving my strength. If Chu Feng needs me and I’m not strong enough, that’ll be a problem…
*
The Zhuang Family
Zhuang Feixue and Zhuang Cheng were chatting on the sofa when a knock sounded at the door.
Before anyone could open it, Chu Feng appeared inside the house with Illya via teleportation. Zhuang Cheng jumped in fright when he saw them, his knees buckled, and just as he was getting up, he fell back onto the sofa.
“Xiao Cheng, why do you look so guilty? Were you bad-mouthing me?” Chu Feng squinted at him and asked.
Zhuang Cheng quickly shook his head. “No, not at all!”
Chu Feng replied blandly, “It better not be.”
Zhuang Cheng: “…”
Chu Feng walked over to a sofa and sat down casually. “Sis, what were you two talking about?”
Zhuang Feixue smiled lightly. “Nothing much.” Zhuang Cheng had actually just been complaining that Chu Feng was a bit scary!
“Sis, I want the Rongtian Building.”
Zhuang Feixue froze for a moment and blinked. “Rongtian Building? That building’s pretty close to the earthquake site, but it was preserved quite well. There weren’t many casualties inside during the quake. People online are calling it the Lucky Building.”
Chu Feng: “…‘Lucky Building’, huh? Seems like I’ve got a good eye, picking that one straight away.”
“You want a floor?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Not just a floor. I want the whole building.”
Zhuang Cheng: “…Second Brother’s appetite is really something!”
Zhuang Feixue took a deep breath. “An entire building would cost at least several billion.”
Rongtian Building was owned by over a dozen bosses. If she remembered correctly, their Zhuang family had a stake in it too—probably just the sixth floor. The location was great, and their group had purchased it years ago. Its market value had since multiplied several times.
Chu Feng nodded. “I know.”
Zhuang Feixue took a deep breath. “Are you planning to buy it with cash?”
Chu Feng should’ve made a lot recently. The Lin Yunfei kidnapping case alone probably earned him a billion. Selling elixirs was also lucrative. Still, he likely didn’t have more than two billion on hand.
Chu Feng nodded again. “Not with cash. Even though I’ve been trying hard to earn money, I still don’t have enough.”
Zhuang Feixue said, “I have some capital on hand, though most of it is tied up in investments. I could free up maybe 200 million. If you need it…”
Chu Feng shook his head. “No need. I can’t borrow money from you.”
Besides, 200 million wouldn’t solve the problem anyway.
Zhuang Cheng tilted his head. “Are you going to ask Dad? He should have money.”
“No need to bother him.”
Yangfan Group suffered losses during the earthquake; probably a lot of people died. That old man was likely swamped with problems right now.
Even if the group hadn’t suffered, Chu Feng still wouldn’t want to ask his father for help.
He reclined lazily on the sofa, feet on the coffee table. “I don’t plan to use money. I want to trade for it.”
“Health Elixirs, Beauty Elixirs, Slimming Elixirs, Strengthening Potions… I believe everyone in the high society circles knows how valuable those are. If they’re really not interested, then gold and jade can do as well…”
Chu Feng opened a suitcase he had brought along, revealing its contents.
This world’s about to fall into chaos. Real gold and silver are likely more reliable than digits on a screen.
Zhuang Feixue was stunned when she saw what was inside.
The suitcase was full of jade, gem-encrusted swords, gold, and baby-fist-sized pearls—everything imaginable.
Zhuang Cheng turned his head and silently thought: He really is a broke man at heart!
Chu Feng said, “With the current situation, money’s about to become worthless. Real gold and silver are more dependable, right?”
Zhuang Cheng nodded and mumbled, “That’s true, that’s true.” Second Brother really is rich! This level of flexing is off the charts.
