Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 60 - Teaching Bai QianShuang

"Recipes?"

Hearing Ye Chuan's request, Bai QianShuang, sitting on the bed, tilted her head and thought for a few seconds.

Although she often came into contact with pills in her sect, she didn't actually know anything about alchemy. 

Moreover, she had lost her storage pouch, so naturally, she didn't have any recipes.

Seeing Bai QianShuang shake her head, Ye Chuan wasn't surprised. He had just been trying his luck.

Too bad his money tree couldn't produce more "leaves".

Seeing Ye Chuan lost in thought, Bai QianShuang asked softly, "Ye Chuan, are you feeling unwell?"

In her mind, Ye Chuan must be feeling unwell to be so concerned about medicine recipes.

Alchemy wasn't a simple matter. Bai QianShuang often saw disciples from the Medicine Peak accidentally blowing up their furnaces due to incorrect ingredient ratios, wasting months of effort.

"I'm fine, I was just curious," Ye Chuan said with a smile. But Bai QianShuang stepped forward and took his hand.

The girl's slightly cool hand sent a shiver down Ye Chuan's spine. He froze, then realized that Bai QianShuang was releasing her spiritual energy, seemingly probing his body.

Ye Chuan's Chaotic Indestructible Body was activated, greedily devouring the spiritual energy like someone starved.

As the spiritual energy entered his body, Bai QianShuang realized something was wrong. She found that Ye Chuan's body was continuously absorbing her spiritual energy!

There was even a humming sound coming from his body, like a fan whirring!

"?!"

The girl quickly withdrew her hand and stumbled back, sitting down on the bed. 

She covered her chest with her hand and looked at Ye Chuan up and down, hesitant. "How…"

Bai QianShuang frowned slightly. "Ye Chuan, there's something strange about your body."

"Uh, maybe I have a special constitution. Don't use your spiritual energy to probe my body next time," Ye Chuan said.

Bai QianShuang wanted to say something, but thinking about how much of her hard-earned spiritual energy had been absorbed by Ye Chuan, she decided to let it go.

But she was curious about the strangeness in Ye Chuan's body. Could people in this world also have special constitutions?

Seeing Bai QianShuang's silence, Ye Chuan noticed the phone on the table and asked,

"QianShuang, have you learned how to use the phone yet?"

The girl shook her head. "It's very difficult."

The content on this small device was overwhelming, making her dizzy.

She had accidentally tapped on it earlier and found the app jumping between something called "Taobao" and "Pinduoduo," even though she hadn't clicked on anything.

(ED: Taobao is a Chinese online shopping platform. Pinduoduo is a Chinese online retailer, with a focus on the traditional agriculture industry. It’s probably Bing she went to.)

"How can it be difficult? Just tap on things," Ye Chuan said. "You can use the phone to chat with people, pay for things, browse everything happening in the world, and even… you know…"

Bai QianShuang seemed surprised. "Such a versatile treasure?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, then shook her head.

"It must be very precious. I'm fine, I don't need it."

"I don't mind staying here without going out."

Hearing this, although Ye Chuan wanted her to stay in her room all the time, he felt it was a bit strange to actually do that.

He should at least teach her some basics.

"Ahem, I'll teach you some basic functions today," Ye Chuan sat down beside Bai QianShuang and downloaded a few apps.

"Look, this is for making calls, like long-distance communication, you understand?"

"Mm, does it require spiritual energy?" Bai QianShuang nodded.

"It uses electricity."

"Oh…"

"Got it?"

"What's electricity?"

"The power of lightning," Ye Chuan explained. "We have mastered the power of lightning. Look, these lights, these devices, they all use electricity."

"Mortals can achieve this…" Bai QianShuang pondered.

If mortals could achieve this without cultivation, what was the point of their cultivation?

Were they on the wrong path?

…

"This is the camera, for taking pictures," Ye Chuan said, raising his phone and making a selfie pose. "Come on, make a cute pose."

Cute?

Bai QianShuang's beautiful eyes were filled with confusion.

How did one make a cute pose?

"Just smile," Ye Chuan said.

"Smile…" Bai QianShuang's lips curved into a stiff, unnatural smile. 

Seeing this, Ye Chuan said, "You can even just use your fingers to lift the corners of your mouth."

"Oh?" Bai QianShuang followed his instructions, using two fingers to lift the corners of her mouth.

Her expressionless face with her fingers pulling her lips into a smile looked incredibly cute.

Ye Chuan seized the moment and pressed the shutter button.

The image was captured.

"A memory stone," Bai QianShuang said, looking at the photo on the phone, surprised. "It has the same effect as a memory stone, how amazing."

But what did this pose have to do with being cute? She looked ordinary.

"Right? There are many more functions."

Ye Chuan opened Douyin (TikTok) and showed it to Bai QianShuang. 

"Look, tap the heart icon if you like a video, swipe down if you don't. This is a popular form of entertainment here, you can think of it as watching a play."

Bai QianShuang seemed to understand. After watching a few videos, she asked, puzzled,

"Are the things in these videos real?"

"Some are real, some are fake. Just entertainment, don't take it too seriously," Ye Chuan explained. 

AI-generated content was also becoming popular recently; if Bai QianShuang couldn't distinguish between real and fake, she might be easily deceived.

"Mm."

Bai QianShuang was a bit like an elderly person in this regard. Since she had never encountered these things before, she asked Ye Chuan about every function.

Her favorite functions were the messaging app and the camera.

"In my world, memory stones and long-distance communication treasures are rare, and memory stones have limited uses," Bai QianShuang explained.

Ye Chuan just smiled.

"Alright, you can familiarize yourself with it. If you have any questions, just send me a message."

Bai QianShuang nodded.

Ye Chuan returned to his room, and Bai QianShuang put down her phone, intending to cultivate.

But after a while, she opened her eyes and looked at the phone on the table.

"..."

She had to focus.

A few seconds later…

Bai QianShuang opened her eyes again and looked at the phone.

"Ye Chuan told me to familiarize myself with it. I can cultivate later," Bai QianShuang whispered. "Cultivation requires patience."

She picked up the phone and opened the camera.

Click, click, click, click.

Bai QianShuang took hundreds of photos of her sword, from every angle.

Seeing that the photos were indeed saved, Bai QianShuang switched to selfie mode. Looking at herself in the camera, she touched her face.

"What does… 'cute'… look like?"