EFB Chapter 2406 Only by Striving for the Top
Chapter 2406 Only by Striving for the Top
Chapter 2406 Only by Striving for the Top
Shangguan Biao was also a little discouraged; Li Yun had said this no less than ten times.
"You're good at growing medicinal herbs, but you can't leave?" Xiaoying laughed angrily. "It's been so many years, and you still haven't been transferred."
"Senior Brother Xu conveyed Uncle Li's message, saying that sending me back requires a certain opportunity, preferably one where I can make a contribution, so that he can go along with it. Otherwise—" Shangguan Biao said, word by word, "I didn't come to Duzhishan for no reason, and I can't leave here for no reason either."
"You want credit? You want credit too? If this were easy, would we need to ask Li Yun for favors?" Xiaoying complained. "I don't believe it's so hard to ask you to stop doing menial tasks? Is he incompetent because he's making excuses like this?"
"Shh!" Shangguan Biao whispered, "Don't speak ill of Uncle Li behind his back. This is Changfeng Valley."
"Is earning merit such a simple thing?" Xiaoying muttered. "It's both greedy and wicked!"
"Actually, I have an idea about meritorious service. But it hasn't been successfully verified yet, so I won't tell you for now."
Xiaoying's eyes lit up: "Any progress?"
"That's it."
"Great!" Xiaoying exclaimed with delight. She took two plump, juicy peaches from the basket, wiped them with a handkerchief, and handed one to him. "Here, let's celebrate with a peach instead of wine!"
The two touched the peach and started eating it.
"If this doesn't work out this time..." Xiaoying mumbled as she ate the peach, "You might as well just quit Changfeng Valley. The Yuan'an Sect that I joined is a small sect, but it doesn't have so many problems, and the fellow disciples are quite friendly. The peach you're eating was planted and picked by my senior sister herself."
“No wonder it’s so sweet.” Shangguan Biao’s smile vanished in an instant. “Changfeng Valley is not easy to enter, but it’s just as difficult to leave. When we enter, we all sign a contract, unconditionally obeying the sect’s training, assignments, and management. We are not allowed to escape without permission, otherwise we will be treated as traitors and will be hunted down to the ends of the earth, and then our cultivation will be taken back!”
Being hunted by Changfeng Valley is an absolute nightmare for rogue cultivators.
"What kind of outrageous clause is this?" Xiaoying asked, bewildered. "What if I voluntarily terminate the contract?"
“That’s possible, but… it’s very expensive,” Shangguan Biao said quietly. “My family has already spent a huge amount of money to get me into Changfeng Valley. In the past few years, we’ve also been trying to curry favor with Uncle Li, which has almost emptied our savings. We can’t afford such an expensive termination fee. Moreover, even if my family’s assets were still the same as before, they would need to at least double to qualify for termination with Changfeng Valley. After that, we would be bankrupt.”
Xiaoying was so shocked she stopped eating the peach: "What? Why is it so expensive?"
"Changfeng Valley says that it invests heavily in every disciple with potential. The teachings of famous teachers, the atmosphere and spirit of the sect, the Xuanjing and pills used by the disciples in the sect, and even the spiritual energy absorbed are all beyond what money and material possessions in the mortal world can measure. The compensation specified in the contract is already very favorable."
"It's saying that... it's hard to calculate the benefits the sect gives to each disciple by comparing them to mortal silver. But Xiaoying suddenly realized, "Wait a minute! You've already been demoted to Duzhi Mountain, how many sect resources could you possibly consume? Where does it get the nerve to demand such a high termination fee?"
"This is Changfeng Valley," Shangguan Biao said with a hint of self-deprecation. "Even if I don't want to go in, plenty of others do. Why should it be polite to me?"
Xiaoying was speechless for a long time before finally sighing, "Is there really no other way?"
“My situation is like rowing against the current; if I don’t move forward, I’ll fall behind. The only way forward is—” Shangguan Biao said heavily, “to strive to be the best.”
His family's savings and his own future are all tied up in this. Right now, how can he possibly back out?
Xiaoying could only comfort him: "Brother Biao, you can definitely do it."
Then she quickly changed the subject: "By the way, can you still see that big red ghost now?"
Before Shangguan Biao could finish speaking, he shook his head and said, "I can't see it. It's probably just my imagination."
Since no one else can see it, what's the point of him saying it?
"That's good!" Xiaoying breathed a sigh of relief. "We were all very worried about you."
"By the way, how is my mother's health?"
Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your father told me not to tell you, but... I don't want to hide it from you. She is very ill. The family has tried many medicines, but they have had little effect."
Shangguan Biao's lips were dry: "Is it... is it the same as last time...?"
“Yes, it’s a disease of depletion,” Xiaoying whispered. “Your mother’s life force may be about to go out.”
Shangguan Biao closed his eyes.
This is a truly incurable disease; there is no cure.
"The doctor said she fell ill from worry and overwork. I went to see her this time, and your mother was so thin that she was just skin and bones. She cried whenever she mentioned you, saying that she regretted sending you to Changfeng Valley every day. She said that people here eat people without spitting out their bones, and she blamed your father for not investigating properly beforehand and for sending his son into the den of demons with his own hands."
Shangguan Biao lowered his head and said after a long while, "The people of Suzhou consider it an honor to join Changfeng Valley, and this sect is indeed incredibly powerful. This is not my father's fault, but my own incompetence!"
The last sentence was uttered through gritted teeth.
Xiaoying gently shook his arm to comfort him: "Your mother said that her last wish is to see you get out of this predicament. She's willing to do anything for that."
Shangguan Biao nodded, then nodded again, and said in a deep voice, "I understand, thank you. I'll try to go home soon to see my mother."
After talking for a while, their hands were clasped together.
As darkness fell and a light rain began to fall, Shangguan Biao escorted her away from Duzhishan. He watched her walk into an inn at the foot of the mountain to rest before turning back.
……
Through Shangguan Biao's window, He Lingchuan and the other two could see the golden lotus in the dew on the medicinal rock.
As darkness fell, its golden light shone even brighter, becoming visible from a great distance.
Immortal Mingke stared at the golden lotus, lost in thought: "Liu Yisheng said before that he had re-signed a contract with the Earth Mother's spirit, but he couldn't do anything to her. Is it because Shangguan Biao hid the Earth Mother's spirit in the secret realm and took control of the Earth Mother's body? The contract is obviously invalid for him."
Aunt Zhu immediately said, "That's probably it! Isn't Shangguan Biao an expert in soul-sealing techniques?"
Shangguan Biao's specialty was sealing the spirits of living people and things in secret realms to suffer, as seen with Li Yun and Liu Yisheng, among others.
Similarly, does Mother Earth also enjoy the same treatment?
"At that time, the Earth Mother had already been seriously injured while fighting against the invasion of the three factions. In order to control her, Liu Yisheng used a trick to make her seriously injured a second time, which broke the original contract and made a new contract with her. Later, Liu Yisheng ordered her to launch a strong attack on the other two factions. The Earth Mother must have been injured again in the process."
(End of this chapter)