Chapter 166: The Visit of the Ghost Princess

Venerable Xuanji pushed the spiritual treasure box back in front of Su Che and said in a deep voice, “If I can advance to the Yuan Ying stage, my lifespan can be extended by another five hundred years. I won’t need the Black Realm Immortal Lotus to prolong it.”
Generally, a Golden Core cultivator can live up to five hundred years, while a Yuan Ying cultivator can live up to a thousand. Venerable Xuanji was still under three hundred years old, so he indeed didn’t need external aids to extend his life.
Speaking of advancing to Yuan Ying, Su Che asked with concern, “When does Master plan to enter seclusion? How confident are you?”
“I’m still preparing,” Venerable Xuanji sighed softly. “If I weren’t at least 50% confident, I wouldn’t enter seclusion so easily. It seems I still can’t do it within three to five years.”
Su Che nodded lightly, as he was also aware of the difficulty involved in advancing to Yuan Ying.
Later, Venerable Xuanji mentioned Tian Yin from the Wuji Sect and couldn’t help but wonder, “Why does that Tian Yin pay you so much attention and take such good care of you?”
“I’m not sure.”
Su Che couldn’t mention the Mi Xian Ling Banner and shook his head. “Perhaps we’ll know the true answer on the seventh day of the seventh month in five years. Master, though she seems very friendly to me now, I instinctively feel a strong wariness toward her.”
“A cultivator’s intuition is often quite accurate…”
Venerable Xuanji murmured thoughtfully. “If you still feel uneasy in five years, I’ll accompany you to the Wuji Sect.”
Su Che nodded. “We’ll see then.”
Though he said this, he didn’t want to trouble his master by asking him to take risks. After all, his master was about to advance to Yuan Ying—how could he be distracted by other matters?
Su Che kept this gratitude in mind, though he didn’t say anything.
“And then…” Venerable Xuanji looked at the spiritual treasure box. “We need to come up with a proper explanation for the Black Realm Immortal Lotus. You can’t just admit that you have this treasure whenever someone asks. That would bring you endless trouble.”
Su Che nodded. “Tian Yin said she could take care of this for me, but I’m wary of her and don’t dare trust her completely.”
“Yes, she has no reason to help you like this.”
Venerable Xuanji agreed. “The more you owe her now, the more you’ll have to repay her in the future.”
After a brief pause, he added, “Then let me take care of this for you.”
Smiling, he said, “Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to repay me in the future.”
“Master…”

Su Che bowed deeply and said sincerely, “I truly feel that I will need my master’s kindness even more in the days to come!”
Elder Xuanji laughed heartily, “Your filial piety is another matter altogether.”
At that moment, Lao Hei in the Immortal Prison was also moved by the sincere bond between master and disciple, and finally acknowledged this master as his true master. Before that, Lao Hei had always been quite wary of Elder Xuanji.
Su Che’s thoughts were different from Lao Hei’s. When he took out the Spirit Treasure Box and the Black Realm Immortal Lotus, he felt confident, believing that his master was not a selfish person who would abandon principles for profit, nor had he ever looked down on him.
Thus, the master and disciple agreed that if anyone asked about the Black Realm Immortal Lotus in the future, Su Che could claim that he had already given it to his master as a token of filial piety. Anyone who wanted to claim that lotus would have to come to Xuanji Peak and ask Elder Xuanji for it.
From that day on, Su Che’s life returned to peace. Although the sect leader also sent people to inquire about the “Witchcraft Gang’s pursuit of Su Che,” Elder Xuanji personally explained the situation.
As a result, the distressing situation Su Che had feared—having to hand over the Black Realm Immortal Lotus to the sect—never happened.
Through the Spirit Vessel Elixir Record, Su Che already knew that a single seed of the Black Realm Immortal Lotus could indeed extend life by a hundred years, but it had two limitations:
First, it was only effective the first time it was taken; taking a second seed would yield no effect.
Second, it had to be taken by someone on the verge of death—only then would the elixir made from the seed save their life and show its life-extending effect. It did not mean that one could accumulate a hundred more years of life just by taking it while still young.
In other words, the true function of the seed was to prolong life, not to add to it.
Nine seeds could extend the life of nine dying people. Su Che thought that aside from reserving two for himself and his master and two as seeds, the remaining five could be sold, provided someone was willing to pay a good price.
Of course, such a transaction had to be handled by his master—he certainly didn’t have enough strength to handle it on his own…
Back at the sect, Su Che calmed down and resumed his relentless cultivation.
The second batch of elixirs as a reward from the sect had arrived, giving Su Che hundreds of spirit elixirs of grade six or higher to assist his cultivation.

Consuming two sixth-grade spirit pills per day, at such a rate, it only took two months for his cultivation at the early stage of Foundation Building to reach its peak. With a bit of adjustment in his mindset these days, Su Che could attempt to break through to the middle stage of Foundation Building.

He had thought that after experiencing the Thunder Dance in the Stormy Desolation, his mental state had already surpassed the middle stage of Foundation Building, so this breakthrough shouldn’t be too difficult. But while there were no internal issues, external distractions arose.

That morning, Su Che left his cave dwelling, intending to talk to Linglong and Su Nian’er to relax before returning to meditate…

“Senior Su, please wait.”

After taking just a few steps, he saw a junior inner disciple running toward him. Though this person was a few years older in bone age, his cultivation was only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, so he had to address Su Che as senior.

“Is there something?” Su Che turned to ask.

“The master sent word for you to go to the Golden Hall immediately.”

“Okay, thank you, junior brother.”

Su Che changed direction and headed up the mountain path toward the peak.

Inside the Mysterious Golden Hall, Su Che met the Venerable Mysterious Again. Seeing another improvement in Su Che’s cultivation, the Venerable Mysterious was quite surprised and asked right away, “Preparing to meditate?”

“Yes, master,” Su Che replied. “I plan to start meditating this afternoon or tomorrow.”

“At this rate, by the inner sect competition in two years, reaching the later stage of Foundation Building should be no problem, right?” the Venerable Mysterious asked with hidden delight.

“At least that’s the case,” Su Che said, confident in his own cultivation speed.

“Good!”

The Venerable Mysterious said just one word, but in his heart he thought, “If Che can achieve true mastery, he will be my most satisfied disciple…”

After a brief pause, the Venerable Mysterious got to the point: “Just now, the External Affairs Hall reported that You Lan Gui Ji from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect has arrived and specifically asked to see you.”

“She really came here?”

Su Che was stunned. A cultivator from the demonic path dared to come to Tianxuan Sect and demand to see him personally—this witch must be desperate!

The Venerable Mysterious smiled slightly, guessing what Su Che was thinking, and explained, “Although she belongs to the demonic path, her status is special. In name, she is still one of the wives or concubines of the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts. As a prestigious sect like Tianxuan Sect, we can’t deliberately make things difficult for her in such an open visit.”

Su Che nodded. “Without a doubt, she’s here to demand the lotus seeds from me. What do you think, master?”

Elder Xuanji said in a deep voice, “I think this matter should be resolved in a gentle manner. Though we’re not afraid of her, you always carry the burden of being wanted by the demonic sect, making every step you take full of danger. Of course, as for what belongs to you, you can decide as you see fit.”
“Then sell her a lotus seed?”
Su Che thought that selling her one seed was already the greatest concession he could make. After all, he had been forced by that old witch almost to the point of losing his life.
Give it away for free? Absolutely not!
“Then sell her one seed,” said Elder Xuanji with a laugh. “I’ll handle the bargaining. I’m not afraid of offending this crazy woman.”
“Master has defeated her twice; of course, he’s not afraid of her,” Su Che said with a smile as well.
After that, the master and disciple flew together to the Foreign Affairs Hall of Tianxuan Sect.
In one of the VIP rooms in the hall, Youlan Guiji, with a black veil covering her face, sat quietly, waiting patiently.
Over forty years ago, she should have been dead. Out of consideration for their marital bond, the leader of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect used some kind of life-prolonging technique, extending her lifespan by fifty years. As of now, only four years remained.
Generally, the same life-prolonging method cannot be used twice, so a single lotus seed became her only hope of continuing to live.
If she didn’t want to die, she had to get a lotus seed! Thus, setting aside all pride and hesitation, she came to Tianxuan Sect alone, determined to secure a chance to survive from Su Che no matter what.
When Elder Xuanji and Su Che appeared before her, Guiji got straight to the point: “Su Che, I’ve come to you just to ask for a lotus seed. You can state your conditions directly.”
Before Su Che could respond, Elder Xuanji snorted coldly and said sternly, “Guiji, let’s not talk about the lotus seed for now. Su Che is my beloved disciple. You forced him to enter the Stormy Desolation at great risk first, and then issued a warrant for him from the demonic sect. Do you think we, the master and disciple, are worthless and can be bullied by you at will?”
“Xuanji, I just want to live a few more days. I’m not targeting anyone specifically.”
Guiji spoke in a hoarse voice, “I already said, state your conditions if you have any. Consider those past incidents as mistakes on my part as a witch. I’m sorry to Su Che. As you know, I belong to the demonic sect. When it comes to dealing with people, there are no rules to follow.”
Elder Xuanji laughed in anger and sat down heavily across from her: “You really haven’t changed at all. No reason is still a reason; acting unreasonably is still reasonable…”

“Xuanji, we’ve been old rivals and acquaintances for a long time. In front of you, I’m not afraid of losing face.”
Beneath the black veil, the Ghost Princess’s body trembled slightly, and her voice shook noticeably: “I only have four more years to live, but in this world, there are still people and things I can’t let go of. I want to live a little longer. Today, I’m begging you—please sell me a lotus seed. Just one will do.”
Hearing this, Venerable Xuanji lost his anger and sighed softly, “You crazy woman, why go to such lengths? Even if you live another hundred years, you won’t be able to change anything…”