Versatile Mage: I Awakened Nine Stars

Chapter 410 The Secret of the Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo

Xu Shen gazed at the delicate bamboo shoot that floated into his palm, and the words "I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush" inexplicably came to mind, causing him to smile knowingly.

His soul suffered a double blow from the erosion of the illusion and the backlash of the contract, and was seriously injured. Even with a treasure that can repair the soul, it would be by no means easy to completely heal in the short term.

Now is not a good time to absorb the Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo seeds.

He gently pushed the seeds in his hand towards Yu Mian: "I'm entrusting these to you for safekeeping."

"it is good."

Yu Mian understood Xu Shen's meaning and did not refuse.

Spiritual demons are rare enough, let alone those in plant form. Just as Xu Shen thought, this special seed might truly inspire her cultivation.

After Yu Mian put away the seeds, the fox mother beside her said leisurely, "Now that you have the seeds, I'll be leaving."

"So fast?" Xu Shen was taken aback.

"Ah."

Xu Shen sighed inwardly.

The Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo Seed is indeed a good thing, but when I think about the price of obtaining it being the departure of the fox mother, it suddenly doesn't seem so "appealing".

He always felt at ease when his mother was around. Now that she's gone, he feels uneasy everywhere.

However, he never intended to force this great figure to stay.

In that era of dazzling totems, she lived alone in Kunlun, untouched by worldly dust.

It's already a miracle that we've been able to spend some time together now, so how could I expect her to always be like that fluffy little fox, letting me tease her as I please?

All good things must come to an end.

Xu Shen smiled, his tone tinged with sadness: "Then... have a safe journey."

The fox mother didn't speak again, but simply nodded, and then disappeared in a flash.

"Wait! I haven't finished speaking yet!" Seeing the fox mother disappear in the blink of an eye, Xu Shen's expression changed, and his speech quickened considerably: "At least get us out of here first!"

Don't let the Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo's current docile appearance fool you; who knows what it will be like once the Fox Mother leaves? Xu Shen dared not gamble.

Suddenly, the entire bamboo forest began to rustle.

"Don't think of me as bad as you humans."

Qi Qingkuzhu's voice was still somewhat hoarse and devoid of emotion, but Xu Shen could still detect a trace of grievance and anger at being distrusted.

Ha, you're putting on quite a good act.

Xu Shen muttered a remark to himself.

If this broken bamboo is really so harmless, then is this 300,000 square kilometers of land a free gift with a phone top-up?

Besides, Yu Mian is just for show!
The little secret thoughts that this broken bamboo was hiding were more obvious to her than Radiance Purification.

The fox mother had a keen sense of perception. As soon as Xu Shen finished speaking, she had already landed back on his shoulder like a ghost, her eyes scanning the entire bamboo forest with a chilling gaze.

That familiar sense of security returned, and Xu Shen's hands-on-hips posture became much more assertive: "Tell me, what exactly are you planning to do?"

After a long silence, Zhu Lin said, "It's nothing, you may leave."

"Nothing wrong?" Xu Shen sneered. "You're not going to talk about it, huh? Well, our Divine Continent is currently building a satellite array, and we're in dire need of the essence of high-level demons."

The bamboo grove remained silent.

In its previous confrontation with Ding Yumin, it had also captured some fragments of the girl's memories, so it naturally knew that Xu Shen's threat was not unfounded.

But it remained silent.

Xu Shen frowned slightly.

This wretched bamboo was quite sensible before, giving me bamboo leaves and shoots, making me feel embarrassed to kill it.

He remained silent for a moment, displaying remarkable toughness.

Are you really not afraid of death?

"Fox Mother, could you do me one last favor?" Xu Shen rubbed his hands together, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "The rewards for this mission in the Heavenly Poison Kingdom are quite generous."

The fox mother was ruthless and taciturn.

Without her making any visible movement, time and space seemed to freeze instantly. The bamboo forest, covering 300,000 square kilometers, appeared to be divided and compressed by countless ever-shrinking transparent boxes, with the crackling sound of crushed bamboo echoing in the air...

Xu Shen's pupils dilated slightly.

He rarely saw the Fox Mother truly make a move, and he never expected her methods to be so bizarre and terrifying. No wonder she was one of the Ten Great Rulers.

What was I thinking back then? How dare I pry open her legs to tell if she was male or female...?

That's incredibly audacious...

He shook his head, glanced guiltily at the solemn-faced fox mother on his shoulder, and quickly suppressed those dangerous thoughts that could easily be "formatted".

Time passes little by little.

The 300,000 square kilometers of bamboo forest have been almost completely flattened into a lawn.

The air was filled with sorrow and regret, but there was no sign of begging for mercy.

Xu Shen was somewhat surprised.

Which demon has cultivated itself to the level of an emperor? It has taken hundreds or thousands of years to achieve that.

These old monsters are all extremely afraid of death.

What secret could possibly make it risk its life?

Xu Shen couldn't help but become even more curious.

However, judging from its unyielding stance, I doubt I'll get anything out of it. It'd be better to just get an Emperor-level essence.

"Fox Mother, wait a moment."

Yu Mian gazed at the bamboo forest, her colorless and transparent spiritual magic rippling outwards.

A mirage-like illusion appeared in the void: a middle-aged monk was meditating under a golden ancient tree, and not far away, a green bamboo swayed its branches and leaves.

Xu Shenqi asked, "What is this?"

"When the Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo was on its deathbed, it was driven by emotions that I captured a fragment of memory."

"That monk looks somewhat familiar," Xu Shen stroked his chin: "A middle-aged version of the Heavenly Poison King?"

Speaking of the Heavenly Poison King, he couldn't help but recall the memory that almost made him "go to heaven".

One day, let's put Tingting, Xuexue, and Teacher Tang Yue together and put on another "Demon-Slaying Transformation"...

"Pervert!" Yu Mian couldn't help but glare at him.

Xu Shen gave an awkward smile.

In the midst of the tense standoff, a flood of lewd thoughts popped into his head, and he himself was starting to lose his composure.

In an effort to salvage his image, he quickly began analyzing the clues.

Previously, Asha's information indicated that the Seven Emotions Bamboo was related to the Heavenly Poison King.

The information they found also showed that the ruler of the Heavenly Poison Kingdom had preached and practiced here.

In the most profound memories of the Seven Emotions Bitter Bamboo, besides itself, there are only the Heavenly Poison King and the Bodhi Ancient Tree. Clearly, the bond between the two is very deep.

Yu Mian had a vague feeling that the bamboo forest seemed to have something else in mind for him.

And he happened to have received the inheritance of the Heavenly Poison Kingdom's ruler.

Things seem to be getting clearer...

"The secret you'd rather die than reveal is related to the King of Tiandu Kingdom?"

Yu Mian spoke first, clearly indicating that she and Xu Shen were thinking the same thing.

The bitter bamboo remained silent, even its sorrow at impending death seemed to have diminished somewhat.

It was very wary of this human, fearing that if it showed the slightest emotion, she would seize upon its weakness.

Silence may not be the best policy, but at least it avoids mistakes.

Suddenly, Xu Shen's eyes lit up: "Is this broken bamboo tree eyeing that ancient Bodhi tree?"

"An ancient Bodhi tree?"

“Think about it, the Seven Emotions Bamboo and the Bodhi Ancient Tree are both plant-type demons, and they both grow on Mount Ling. As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. If these two get along well, when the Heavenly Poison King was expelled from the country, he certainly wouldn’t have just taken the tree with him. If these two have no conflict, the most reasonable thing to do is either to take both of them or not to take either of them.”

Xu Shen clapped his hands and said, "Therefore, there is only one truth. There must be an irreconcilable conflict between these two, which is why the Heavenly Poison King can only take one of them with him on his journey! According to my speculation, there must be something on them that they care about each other. Just like we need the Earth Core to break through the forbidden spell, these two demons may also need each other to sacrifice themselves to truly overcome the hurdle of ascension?"

Yu Mian thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "A Shen, you've overlooked one point. If it were just for advancement, it wouldn't have died without saying a word."

Yes, if it's just for advancement, there are other methods if one doesn't work, so there's no need to be so stubborn as to die rather than submit.

(End of this chapter)