Chapter 173: Chapter 172: A Great Regret in Life: Jiuxi Was Still Alive Before Death

Jiang Zuo then replied in the group chat,

Po Xiao: "By the way, it would be best for all of you to wear something flamboyant."

Jiang Zuo had reminded them of this once before. He really wasn’t joking.

The Eight Trigrams Colored Fish love flamboyant things.

Mo Yan sent a selfie. She was wearing a very fantastical queen’s costume. "Great One, is this flamboyant enough for you?"

Po Xiao: "..."

Chu Qing also sent a photo—it was of her sister, Chu Qing. She had changed styles and was now wearing a Magical Girl outfit, still very much in an anime-like style.

Chu Qing: "My sister said this is her most flamboyant outfit. Do you think it will work?"

Chi Xue Child: "Chu Qing cares about this stuff? Has she had a change of heart? She’s not hammering iron anymore?"

Chu Qing: "My sister loves life and enjoys it. She doesn’t get obsessed with any one thing, and everything she does is meaningful. Please don’t slander my sister."

Chi Xue Child: "Is your sister lurking?"

Liu Yiyi: "Can we drop this? @Po Xiao, Fellow Daoist, will their outfits do?"

Jiang Zuo thought these people had very interesting ideas, but it wasn’t what he had in mind.

Po Xiao: "When I say flamboyant, I mean lots of colors. The bright and vibrant kind."

Fairy Mo Yan: "But... I’m all in black!!!"

Liuyue Xue: "I don’t like flamboyant clothing, Fellow Daoist Po Xiao. Is there another way? I can give you a discount—you can keep the Fifth-Grade Spirit Stones."

On the third floor of the sacrificial grounds, in a certain area, Demon Cultivator Mo Yan looked at Liuyue Xue and said, "Going that far, huh? Didn’t your senior sister just say she’d give you two Sixth-Grade stones? ’A share for anyone who sees it,’ you said that yourself."

Liuyue Xue: "..."

Liuyue Xue was used to wearing light-colored clothing, so she really wanted to know if there was another way.

’But this has nothing to do with my senior sister giving me money. That’s what I earned from selling things recently. Bringing in business is a perfectly valid way to make money, too.’

’Eight Eighth-Grade items in exchange for two Sixth-Grade ones. What’s wrong with that?’

’And Demon Cultivator Mo Yan actually dares to fight me for them.’

’In her dreams.’

Just then, Liuyue Xue saw Po Xiao’s reply: "There is. You can try it by consuming a Ninth-Grade Spirit Stone."

Liuyue Xue instantly fell into despair.

To Jiang Zuo, the Eight Trigrams Colored Fish wasn’t a big deal. Even the Yin Yang Fish, he just planned to catch and raise. ’These things have no effect on me, anyway.’

’Still, they’ll be useful to collect. Especially now, while I’m still so weak.’

’Take Sweet Potato, for example. He was useless at first.’

’But the day before yesterday, I relied almost entirely on Sweet Potato to lead the way.’

’If I’d gone on my own, it definitely wouldn’t have been that fast. I would’ve been slower to notice things, too.’

’I was powerful in my past life, and I’m powerful in this one, but I’m not omnipotent.’

’In my last life, I couldn’t kill Jiu Xi. In this life, my Cultivation is my Achilles’ heel.’

’So, some things that seem useless can turn out to have unexpected applications.’

’It has nothing to do with being strong or weak.’

’Being strong doesn’t mean anything. No matter how strong I was, I still couldn’t kill Jiu Xi.’

’I used countless methods on Jiu Xi, but I just couldn’t kill her.’

’In my past life, I broke Jiu Xi down. From her flesh and blood to the atomic level, to the very essence of her power—I analyzed it all.’

’But I could never find the secret to her immortality.’

’And it was ridiculously easy for her to kill herself. No matter what kind of Seal she was under, death was her escape.’

’I was utterly helpless against her.’

’It was absolutely sickening.’

’Part of the reason I went and got myself killed in my past life was because of Jiu Xi. Through her, I discovered the world was far more complex than I’d imagined. So what if I had no equal? Being unrivaled in the world was just... being unrivaled in the world.’

’And so, the invincible me got myself killed.’

’How ironic.’

’One of my life’s great regrets: Jiu Xi was still alive when I died.’

The memory made Jiang Zuo’s stomach churn. ’I really want to kill her.’

He had even imprisoned Jiu Xi once. What was that like? It meant...

’I had to go check on her every single day, just to make sure she was still there. The one day I’d forget, she’d be gone, and then she’d start tormenting me in every way imaginable.’

’She could keep it up for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. It nearly drove me insane.’

’Truly a painful memory.’

’It was like I had to punch a time card every day.’

’Makes me want to puke.’

’Yep, Jiu Xi has to die. An existence like her should never have been born. She must be snuffed out.’

Right now, Jiang Zuo felt like charging up to the seventh floor to kill Jiu Xi.

But with Su Qi up there, it wasn’t a good time to make a move.

Besides, once Su Qi returned, he barely thought about killing Jiu Xi at all. His days would revolve entirely around Su Qi.

Jiang Zuo shook his head, clearing his thoughts. For now, he needed to recover from his injuries.

’If Su Qi finds out I got myself this injured, I might not get a chance to take my revenge.’

Then, Jiang Zuo put away his phone and began to prepare a medicinal draught.

This time, Jiang Zuo was using a pressure cooker again. He poured some water in and switched it on to boil.

Making the draught was extremely simple. He just had to prepare the Spirit Medicines, put them in, and bring the water to a boil.

The shelf life was short, but it would be enough for his immediate needs.

This time, the alchemy process went off without a hitch—no explosions or fires.

After a short while, Jiang Zuo successfully finished the draught.

Seeing the clear liquid, Jiang Zuo was suddenly reminded of the Forgetfulness Water. ’If I hadn’t forgotten about the Forget-me-not last time, it probably would have been lost in that big fire, too.’

After filling the bathtub, Jiang Zuo poured the draught in and then stepped into the water himself.

The moment he entered the water, Jiang Zuo’s scars began to heal and slough off. There was no discomfort in the process; in fact, it was exceptionally soothing.

Taking advantage of the moment, Jiang Zuo lay back in the tub and fell asleep.

He was bound to be exhausted. He had spent nearly a full day in the Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion, dragged his heavily injured body back through the night, and then spent another half a day on healing.

He was utterly spent.

’Luckily, the Fire Element hasn’t come looking for trouble. It seems it only shows up when I’m advancing a grade.’

That night, Jiang Zuo’s phone rang, jolting him awake.

It was a call from his aunt.

The moment he picked up, Jiang Zuo heard a stern voice from the other side. "You didn’t show up?"

Jiang Zuo: "...I just woke up."

There was a moment of speechless silence on the other end, followed by Yue Xi’s helpless sigh.

She was the one in charge of the grand event, and she had been all set to give Jiang Zuo some special treatment today. But she never sensed the aura of that piece of Jade.

Such a good opportunity to pull some strings for him, missed just like that.

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration at his failure to live up to expectations.

Still, she asked, "Did something happen? Is someone giving you trouble?"

"I get that you want to be a man about it, and I respect that. But if someone is giving you a hard time, don’t worry about what Su Qi would think. Just tell your aunt, and I’ll go take care of them."

’Does that guy from the Array count as someone giving me a hard time?’

’Could my aunt even handle him?’

But he had no intention of mentioning it. He just said, "No, nothing like that. I’ll head over in a bit."

With that, his aunt hung up.

The opportunity to give him special treatment was gone, but she could always find another way.

She was, in fact, quite grateful to Jiang Zuo. She never would have imagined that such an ordinary person could have Su Qi so utterly captivated.

The first time Su Qi came back after leaving, she had immediately announced that she was giving up her position as Saintess—she wouldn’t even remain a Candidacy Saintess.

Then, she couldn’t wait to go off to school, throwing a fit at any delay.

Young women in love are just so impetuous.

And now, ten years later, things still hadn’t changed one bit.