As soon as Chen Zhou let go, the Wanshou Tortoise let out a 'whoosh' and launched itself like a rocket, plunging into the deepest part of the Pool of Fortune and Longevity. It buried itself in the water and refused to come out again.
Terrifying.
The world outside was simply too terrifying.
The unaging pine looked at its companion fleeing in panic, and its heart felt incredibly at ease.
As long as I'm not the one being plucked, all is right with the world.
Chen Zhou put away the tortoise shell and cast a half-smiling glance at the pine cones on the unaging pine.
"Alright, I'll let you off this time. Grow well, and next time, try to produce a whole cluster."
The unaging pine nodded repeatedly as if granted a general amnesty.
Chen Zhou took his spoils and returned to the Bone Altar.
Su Xue and Poison-Wing were standing there somewhat stiffly, while the Plague Rat was pompously lecturing them on the rules.
"I'm back."
With a casual toss, Chen Zhou threw a pine nut along with a piece of tortoise shell radiating a vast, ancient aura in front of Su Xue.
He kept the six pine nuts from the new pine cone for himself, but decided to give Su Xue the last pine nut from the old cone to help her recover.
"Take them."
Su Xue caught them subconsciously.
As a great demon who practiced the medical dao, she sensed the weight of the items in her hand almost instantly.
She had eaten the pine nuts before—they were natural treasures that could increase longevity, exceptionally precious.
And that tortoise shell...
Su Xue's hands trembled slightly.
The shell was deep black, heavy and thick, with rugged edges.
The patterns on its back flowed, and upon closer inspection, they seemed to be a miniature representation of mountains and rivers.
Even in the resource-rich Eastern Region, these two items were sixth-stage natural treasures that countless experts would fight to the death over.
Su Xue was nearly frozen in shock.
She had thought the two pine nuts from before were already a monumental grace, but she hadn't expected Chen Zhou to be so generous again the moment he returned.
The dense vitality within the shell was not inferior to the pine nut at all; in fact, it seemed even greater.
She didn't act coy and accepted them, but that didn't mean she wasn't grateful.
She could never repay the Lord's kindness; saying more sentimental words was useless compared to practical action.
The Lord valued her abilities, so she would be used by him. Even if she had to sell her life to the City of the Wrongfully Dead, it would be worth it.
"And this, Poison-Wing, you get a piece too."
Chen Zhou casually tossed a piece of tortoise shell to Poison-Wing.
"Your baleful qi is too heavy. This shell can help you suppress it, lest you burn yourself to death one day."
Poison-Wing caught it in a flurry, his face turning bright red, his excitement reduced to a silly grin.
"Thank... thank you, Lord!"
Chen Zhou waved his hand, indicating they didn't need to stand on ceremony.
"Alright, since you've received the gifts, it's time for business."
"Go, touch that stone."
Chen Zhou pointed to the nearby Test Immortal Stone.
The Test Immortal Stone stood quietly on one side of the altar.
Nightmare had been curled up on the altar sleeping, but hearing the commotion, it woke up in a daze.
It rubbed its eyes, saw Chen Zhou, and immediately rolled over like a little pink ball of flesh, affectionately rubbing against Chen Zhou's pant leg.
'Hng-hng...'
Chen Zhou looked down and noticed that after not seeing it for a while, the little thing seemed to have changed again.
Nightmare's originally short nose had grown a bit longer, looking a bit like an elephant's and a bit like a pig's.
The originally brilliant dreamlight on its body now showed a subtle tendency toward developing into fiendish qi.
'After raising it for so long, is the little thing finally going to open its wisdom and turn into a fiend?'
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow, lost in thought.
It was likely the result of the Fortune Spring Water.
So, if Nightmare turned into a fiend and became a dream demon, could it be a dream tapir?
Chen Zhou pinched Nightmare's chubby face and tugged on its elongated nose, but it didn't really look like one.
No matter how he looked at it, it was just a pink pig with a slightly longer nose.
"Forget it. If you're ugly, you're ugly, as long as you're useful."
Chen Zhou patted Nightmare's backside. "Go play and sleep, don't cause trouble."
Nightmare nodded as if understanding, then rolled back into the corner to continue blowing its dream bubbles.
By this time, Su Xue and Poison-Wing had walked nervously to the Test Immortal Stone.
"Sister goes first," Poison-Wing said, stepping aside with some grace.
Su Xue took a deep breath, extended her fair palm, and pressed it lightly against the stone's surface.
The light flared intensely.
Chen Zhou focused his gaze.
【Su Xue】
【Aptitude: Heaven Grade Wood Spiritual Root (Orange): Increases cultivation speed and work efficiency by 150%.】
【Destiny: Heavenly Doctor Noble (Red): The Heavenly Doctor star enters the destiny. The subject is compassionate, possesses benevolent skills, can avert calamity and heal wounds, neutralize death qi, and suppress baleful destinies.】
【Averting Calamity with Fate (Unique): Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; even a noble has a Noble's Tribulation. Can actively consume own destiny's fortune to reshape vitality and heal origin damage; can also significantly weaken the negative effects of a target's destiny. When the destiny's fortune is exhausted, it will consume longevity instead.】
【Benevolent Healer (Red): Naturally proficient in pharmacology and healing arts. Can master extremely high-tier healing and purification divine powers without deliberate cultivation. The efficacy of herbs processed by her hand is increased by 300%.】
【Pure and Refined (Orange): Possesses a transparent mind untainted by dust. The healing capability of healing and purification divine powers is increased by 150%.】
Looking at the string of red and orange, the corners of Chen Zhou's mouth curled into a satisfied arc.
The Heavenly Doctor Noble was an auspicious god destiny.
"Not bad." Chen Zhou nodded and gestured for Su Xue to step back.
Su Xue couldn't see the text on Chen Zhou's panel, but she knew she seemed to have passed some kind of test and breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as she was useful, she was truly afraid she wouldn't be able to help the Lord.
"Your turn, Poison-Wing," Chen Zhou looked at him.
Poison-Wing swallowed nervously and, mimicking Su Xue, pressed his claw—which hadn't fully grown its feathers back—onto the stone.
【Poison-Wing】
【Aptitude: Heaven Grade Fire Spiritual Root (Orange): Increases cultivation speed and work efficiency by 150%.】
【Six Disasters (Red): Afflicted by the Six Disasters, born with baleful qi, extremely prone to attracting calamity. However, this makes the destiny hard as iron; the more setbacks, the stronger he becomes. A double-edged sword that harms others and oneself.】
【Zhen Bloodline (Unique): An ancient poisonous bird. Its wings contain lethal poison. Once awakened, it can control all poisons in the world, using poison to fight poison and balefulness to suppress balefulness.】
【Calamity Venom-Fire (Red): Natal venom-fire mutation, fused with the power of calamity. When burning, it not only causes toxin damage but can also incinerate the opponent's luck, miring them in misfortune.】
No wonder.
Chen Zhou understood.
Six Disasters was considered an extremely baleful destiny in Bazi numerology.
Destinies are divided into auspicious gods and baleful stars. Heavenly Grace and the Heavenly Doctor belong to the auspicious gods, but these Six Disasters were a genuine baleful star.
The common phrase 'vicious gods and baleful stars' evolved from this.
It had to be said that Poison-Wing was lucky to have met Su Xue.
Su Xue's Heavenly Doctor destiny was exactly right to suppress the baleful qi in his destiny, reducing the negative effects of the Six Disasters to a minimum and even activating the hidden Zhen bird bloodline within him.
The Zhen was a legendary poisonous bird that even immortals were wary of.
Hopefully, this silly bird would evolve and fully awaken soon.
Rate on N.U.
