Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 129 - I'll Fight Alongside You

"...Really? It's rare for you to be late for class, Luo Xi." In the next class, An Shiyu, seeing Luo Xi sneak in through the back door, blinked in surprise. 

It was unusual for this diligent student to be late.

She was always punctual, even though many students arrived late for these large lecture classes. 

Just returning some equipment and taking a shower shouldn't have made her late, right?

An Shiyu rested her chin on her hand, her narrowed eyes as if she knew something.

[Marshtomp sees all.jpg] (TL: A reference to a Pokémon known for its blank stare, implying she knows the real reason for Luo Xi's tardiness.)

"Uh… the equipment room door was stuck, it took a while, haha," Luo Xi said with a nervous laugh, scratching her cheek. 

Her voice lacked conviction; she had indeed taken quite a while.

The shower had been… rather lengthy.

"It's normal for girls to take longer showers, right?" Ye Chuan said, then felt a sharp pain in his foot.

He looked at Luo Xi, who was glaring at him with puffed-up cheeks, and smiled.

…

The afternoon sun cast a golden glow on the classroom walls.

Luo Xi and An Shiyu went to their respective club activities, while Ye Chuan went straight home.

He wasn't interested in clubs, and he had a lot to do every day. 

He preferred spending his time on cultivation-related matters; club activities felt like a waste of time.

The apartment was quiet when he arrived; there was no sign of Lan Xiaoke.

Ye Chuan released his divine sense and could feel both Lan Xiaoke and Bai Qianshuang in their rooms, though he didn't pry into what they were doing.

"I'll break through to the Crystallization realm tonight in the Tianxuan Continent."

Since the adventure hadn't refreshed yet, he wasn't in a hurry. It was just a matter of waiting until midnight.

He sat on the sofa and took out his phone, starting to refine Deer Blood Pills. After all, he had promised to deliver them to Wang Yanran for the Superpowered Warrior Tournament in a few days.

As for the Rejuvenation Pill, he needed more time. Wang Yanran probably hadn't used the one he gave her yet.

He'd focus on the Deer Blood Pills for now.

Since he had upgraded his pill furnace several times, refining Ordinary-grade pills was a piece of cake. 

He didn't even need to use the acceleration function; he could produce one pill per minute.

After refining thirty Deer Blood Pills, Ye Chuan was about to take a break when the door to Bai Qianshuang's room opened.

A long-haired girl walked out. Bai Qianshuang, wearing her pajamas, saw Ye Chuan on the sofa and said softly,

"Ye Chuan, still troubled by the Crystallization realm?"

Huh?

Ye Chuan hadn't expected her to ask about this.

"Not really, maybe I'll break through someday," Ye Chuan said with a smile, not revealing the Crystallization Pill.

When he broke through, he would just claim he was naturally gifted and didn't need a pill.

["I don't know what happened, I just woke up like this."]

["Maybe I have a talent for cultivation."]

["What? You reached Immortal Emperor just by sleeping?"]

Bai Qianshuang sat down beside Ye Chuan, her hands on her lap, her face expressionless.

Just as Ye Chuan was wondering what she was going to do, she suddenly pushed him onto the sofa!

Ye Chuan: "?!"

"I can help you compress your spiritual energy," Bai Qianshuang said softly, her beautiful eyes downcast.

Her long, black hair fell across Ye Chuan's face, tickling him slightly.

Ye Chuan froze, looking at her face so close to his, her… cleavage… also within his line of sight. 

He gulped. "Compressing spiritual energy is a good thing, but… do you need to use such a strange position?"

He had thought she was going to push him away.

"Sorry," Bai Qianshuang said, realizing what she had done, and sat up straight. She didn't know what had come over her.

The crystallization process was rather… intimate, requiring the merging of their spiritual energies, and Bai Qianshuang had been thinking about it all day.

"The Crystallization realm isn't urgent," Ye Chuan said. He wanted to ask Bai Qianshuang about the Tianxuan Continent.

He was going on an adventure there tonight; it wouldn't hurt to gather some intel.

"Qianshuang, can you tell me more about the Tianxuan Continent?"

"The Tianxuan Continent…" Although Bai Qianshuang didn't understand why he was asking, she nodded. "Yes, what do you want to know, Ye Chuan?"

Ye Chuan wanted to start with the basics. "The general situation, like the distribution of power, and such."

"The Tianxuan Continent is divided into four continents and one forbidden zone: the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Divine Continents, and the Forbidden Zone. The power structure is complex, and the population is vast, with countless mortals and rogue cultivators," Bai Qianshuang explained.

"My Jade Void Sect was one of the three great sects of the Eastern Hua Divine Continent, but due to the Qingyun Sect's collusion with the demon race, our sect was destroyed, and I was hunted and slandered…"

As she spoke, Bai Qianshuang's eyes dimmed, and her ahoge drooped, as if she was recalling painful memories.

"My Jade Void Sect was a righteous sect, but we were falsely accused, and even my master and the sect leader were killed."

Bai Qianshuang's body trembled slightly, a mix of sadness and anger.

Then, she felt a warm hand holding hers.

"It's okay, after we find a way back, I'll go with you and destroy that Qingyun Sect," Ye Chuan's words seemed to soothe her, and her emotions stabilized slightly.

"The Qingyun Sect's leader and elders are at the Dao Integration realm, and their leader is at the peak of Dao Integration," Bai Qianshuang said.

The cultivation realms in the Tianxuan Continent were divided into ten levels:

[Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Crystallization, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Dao Integration, Mahayana, Tribulation Transcendence, Ascension]

In short, revenge would be difficult.

Facing her blood enemies, Bai Qianshuang just wanted to drag a few of them down with her and didn't want Ye Chuan to be involved.

"I can handle it myself," she said.

"No, didn't we agree to be together forever?" Ye Chuan held Bai Qianshuang's hand and said gently, "What if I become a powerful cultivator someday?"

"I'll fight alongside you."

Bai Qianshuang looked at Ye Chuan, the words she wanted to say caught in her throat.

"Okay…" A single word, carrying a thousand unspoken emotions.

She lowered her head, her forehead resting on the back of Ye Chuan's hand, her voice choked with emotion.

"Thank you…"