Chapter 81: Chapter 81 - The Blood Ink Pen and the Cup of Poisoned Blood

Su Bai and Lu Canghai returned to Clear Cloud Peak.

After landing in the courtyard, Su Bai politely excused himself and went back to his wooden hut.

He had something important to do.

Accounting.

Su Bai sat at his desk and poured out the rewards given by the Sect Master.

Clatter.

Clatter.

Clatter.

Stacks of High-Grade Spirit Stones appeared on the table.

The super dense, neutral Qi inside them shimmered softly.

Su Bai stared at them.

Then stared some more.

Su Bai’s expression remained calm, but his heart was extremely moved.

Rich.

He was rich.

Then, he opened another pouch.

Inside were ten High-Grade Spirit Stones.

This was his share from the Distributed Load-Balancing Surge Array.

Peak Master Hou Yan of Heavenly Forge Peak had given it personally after the meeting. The sect had apparently earned quite a fortune from the array, and Su Bai received his ten percent cut of the profit.

Still, compared to the small mountain given by the Sect Master, it looked small.

But Su Bai did not dislike it.

Small or large, profit was still profit.

As long as it entered his pocket, it was helpful.

After carefully storing the spirit stones, Su Bai began checking the pills. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

There were many jade bottles.

Foundation Stabilizing Pills. Meridian Nourishing Pills. Spirit Recovery Pills. Heart-Calming Pills. Blood Replenishing Pills.

They were all excellent pills.

The medicinal fragrance alone was enough to make ordinary disciples drool.

Su Bai opened one bottle and sniffed it.

Then his expression changed.

He closed it immediately.

To ordinary cultivators, these were treasures.

To him, they were poisons.

Most of them were refined for righteous cultivators. They nourished meridians, stabilized Qi, cleansed impurities, and strengthened the body in the proper way.

Unfortunately, Su Bai’s body did not like the proper way.

He silently placed all the pills into a separate pile.

Rejected.

Next were the artifacts.

There were a lot.

With a wave of his hand, swords, jade pendants, robes, mirrors, talismans, and array plates appeared across the table.

Su Bai first checked the array plates. Defense arrays. Trap arrays. Concealment arrays. Utility arrays.

These were useful.

With these, he could instantly set up arrays without spending time carving runes and arranging formation flags.

Su Bai kept them.

Then came the swords.

Good swords. Very good swords.

One strengthened righteous sword Qi. One purified demonic aura. One repelled poison. One stabilized killing intent.

Su Bai stared at them.

Then he looked at his own fingers.

A thin, dark needle appeared silently between them.

Su Bai looked back at the swords.

Rejected.

Next came the jade pendants.

One resisted curses. One purified miasma. One blocked poison. One cleansed evil Yin Qi.

Su Bai stared at the last pendant.

Then he silently pushed it farther away.

That was not a protective artifact. That was trying to steal his food.

Rejected.

After sorting for a while, Su Bai only kept the things that were useful to him.

The Heavenly Aegis Mirror. It could reflect magical attacks.

Good.

The Thousand-Mile Transmission Cranes. They could send messages across long distances.

Also good.

A few sets of robes that fit his taste.

White, silver, and pale gray.

Simple, elegant, and strong enough to resist ordinary attacks.

Good.

And finally, the True-Sight Bodhi Bead. It could see through disguises and illusion arts.

...

Su Bai placed all the things he could not use into another storage ring.

He would hand them to his master later.

Then, he remembered something.

Earlier, in the Grand Hall of Radiant Zenith Peak, he had taken the time to sign in.

He opened his system inventory to check the reward.

There it was.

A dark red pen.

[Blood Ink Pen]

[Description: An artifact used to draft Soul Contracts. As the user writes, the pen actively drains their blood to use as ink and extracts a sliver of their Soul Essence to weave into the paper as collateral. If the terms are broken, the contract destroys the trapped soul sliver, sending a crippling backlash that severely injures the oath-breaker’s main soul.]

Su Bai froze.

Then, he smiled.

Soul Contracts.

This was useful.

In the cultivation world, promises were cheap. Oaths could be twisted, agreements could be broken, and even heavenly vows had loopholes if someone was powerful or shameless enough.

But Soul Contracts were different.

They used the soul as collateral.

If someone broke the terms, their soul suffered the price.

In truth, standard Soul Contracts require complex preparations to create.

But the Blood Ink Pen streamlines the process. It allows him to draft binding agreements in seconds, using his own drawn blood as the ink.

And if he broke a contract and suffered backlash?

Would it strengthen his soul instead?

Su Bai’s smile became brighter.

This thing was very bleak.

And Su Bai liked bleak.

Bleak things were honest.

Compared to smiling cultivators who hid knives behind their backs, cursed artifacts were much more trustworthy.

Su Bai carefully stored the Blood Ink Pen.

...

Soon, Su Bai took the pouch of rejected pills and artifacts and walked out of the hut.

Lu Canghai was sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea beneath the old pine tree.

"Master," Su Bai greeted.

Lu Canghai opened one eye. "Finished counting?"

"Yes." Su Bai placed the ring in front of him. "The Sect Master gave many good things, but most of them are not suitable for me. I would trouble Master to keep them for me."

Lu Canghai scanned the ring. Then his eyebrow twitched.

There were enough good pills and protective artifacts inside to make ordinary disciples cry.

His disciple had rejected them like spoiled vegetables.

Lu Canghai stroked his beard and sighed.

"I guess you really cannot use these things with that strange constitution of yours."

Su Bai smiled helplessly.

"They are good things. Just not good for me."

"Fine," Lu Canghai said, keeping the pouch. "I will hold them for you."

Su Bai bowed. "Thank you, Master."

Lu Canghai waved his hand.

Then, as if remembering something, he said, "Right. The Sect Master will make an announcement soon."

Su Bai looked up.

"In fifteen days, the sect will hold a competition," Lu Canghai said. "A Mystic Realm will open soon. The sect has obtained five slots, so we need to choose carefully who will enter."

Su Bai’s expression became serious.

Mystic Realm.

He had read about those.

To summarize, it is danger.

Lu Canghai continued, "You should train as well. Entering the Mystic Realm will benefit you."

Su Bai hesitated.

"Master... can I not go?"

Lu Canghai froze, then stared at Su Bai.

"You faced demonic cultivators, escaped from danger, and returned alive. Yet you are afraid of a Mystic Realm?"

Su Bai scratched his head.

After a moment, the old man laughed.

"Hahaha! You brat. You must go. With your constitution, ordinary resources are not very useful. But Mystic Realms are full of strange things. Cursed lands, poisonous valleys, ancient artifacts, forbidden inheritances... perhaps there will be something suitable for you."

Su Bai paused.

That did make sense.

Lu Canghai then added, "Besides, before the Mystic Realm opens, the major factions will gather. I received news that the Tang Clan will introduce the new heir of their clan during that gathering."

Su Bai’s eyes moved.

Lu Canghai stroked his beard.

"If I am not wrong, it should be Wanyue’s daughter. With the Purple Calamity Venom Body, the Tang Clan will definitely value her."

Su Bai froze.

Tang Ziyan.

He remembered her... and the taste of her poison.

Su Bai swallowed.

Suddenly, the Mystic Realm did not sound that bad anymore.

Lu Canghai continued, "However, many sects and ancient clans have also caught wind of her. Quite a few young masters went to the Tang Clan to propose marriage deals."

Su Bai snapped back to reality.

"Did the Tang Clan agree?"

His voice was calm. Very calm.

Lu Canghai looked at him strangely.

Then the old man laughed.

"Ha! How could it be that easy? Wanyue’s daughter is quite brave. She cut her palm, filled a cup with her blood, and told those young masters, ’If you can drink my blood and still live, then I might consider it.’"

Su Bai froze.

Then, slowly, he smiled.

That did sound like her.

Lu Canghai laughed even harder.

"When I heard the news from an old friend, I nearly spilled my tea."

Su Bai let out a breath of relief.

Then he paused. Why was he relieved?

Su Bai’s thoughts stopped.

Lu Canghai then added, "Besides, Tang Yuyan would never let anyone casually marry off her long-lost niece."

Su Bai finally relaxed.

"That is good then."

Lu Canghai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh?"

Su Bai coughed softly.

Lu Canghai stroked his beard and smiled.

He seemed to have realized something.

Su Bai quickly cupped his hands.

"Master, this disciple will return to cultivate."

"Go," Lu Canghai said, still smiling. "Train well. Fifteen days is not long."

Su Bai nodded and returned to his hut.

This time, his footsteps were different.

Before, he did not want to enter the Mystic Realm.

Now, he wanted to go.

He wanted to see Tang Ziyan again.

He also wanted to see whether that woman with the fierce mouth had become even fiercer.

After closing the door, his expression became serious.

Fifteen days.

He needed to prepare... for the next taste of premium poison.