Chapter 696: The Original Owner of the Secret Realm Appears
Lu Xuan wore a deadpan expression the whole time Zhou Sulong shouted his frustration out loud. He saw too much of a situation unfolding back in his past life, after all.
No matter how great a genius could be, one misstep could have easily killed them.
He had seen this happen so many times back in his past life that what he just saw was deemed not worth mentioning.
Among everyone he killed throughout his journey back in his previous life, many of them had once been deemed some of the greatest of their time.
With so many people having cornered Lu Xuan, he only managed to barely save himself. A lot of such people had cornered Lu Xuan, and he had only managed to barely save his skin. He faced more life-threatening situations than he could count.
The result was all the same.
A dead genius and a dead common folk were hardly any different; they were both corpses lying in graves.
Lu Xuan also confirmed one more thing after killing Zhou Sulong; this unmatched fighter, who lashed out all of a sudden, had no intentions of coming into the secret realm.
He breathed a sigh of relief at that thought.
If that person were to get inside, even someone like Lu Xuan would have had to retreat for the time being. That person was at a level that made it difficult to ambush him even if he could use the centipede to his advantage.
Furthermore, all the venom that the Seven-star Poisonous Centipede had accumulated so far was all used up on Zhou Sulong, so he still needed to keep it dormant for a while. A trump card like that couldn’t be used too often, after all.
Lu Xuan then came to realize something else as well; the other party probably had so much faith in Zhou Sulong’s power that he didn’t bother showing up. On the other hand, that person probably had a close connection to Zhou Sulong as well. That was why such an opportunity was left for Zhou Sulong instead of letting him interfere inside the secret realm.
The way the other party saw it, Lu Xuan was utterly incapable of threatening Zhou Sulong, and things would have indeed been such. Lu Xuan had to ingest three Blood Phoenix Fruits, grow his powers exponentially, and then put the Seven-star Poisonous Centipede to use before he could finally take Zhou Sulong out.
Under normal circumstances, being five sublevels below Zhou Sulong meant that he was invincible.
Despite the odds, Lu Xuan managed to win against Zhou Sulong.
The difference of five sublevels was just the tip of the iceberg. Lu Xuan had too many methods at his disposal, and he could have cranked up his powers further with more measures to use. The only reason he didn’t bother using such methods was that they would’ve hurt his foundations if he did use them.
Being entirely unwilling to let anything hurt his foundations, Lu Xuan went to great lengths to care for his foundations after his reincarnation. That way, he could’ve grown even stronger than he had been in his past life when he finally returned to his position as a Celestial Lord.
He would be far stronger than he used to be.
He was out to craft a perfect foundation for himself, one that would’ve led him all the way to the Great Path.
He believed that neither Zhou Sulong nor that unmatched fighter that he encountered before were nowhere near worth hurting his foundations for.
That other party was simply powerful enough to make him wary for the time being. The situation would’ve hardly stayed the same if he was given just a little more time to grow even further.
Lu Xuan ignored Zhou Sulong’s dead body and began to look into the farm itself. He finally had the time to look at the place closely.
There were many herbs found on the farm. While the secret realm had been opened many times before, the Great Ancestors were at their very limit even just getting to the farm. That meant that they had to leave as quickly as they came.
As such, they only managed to collect some herbs at the outer fringes of the farm, since the many fields found there have herbs that were growing very stoutly. Even the herb of the lowest grade had been around for 500 years. He managed to even find a piece of ginseng that was over 1,000 years old.
That ginseng had truly been around for 1,000 years; it was very much alive and had almost taken a humanoid form, developing a bit of a will of its own. If the barrier wasn’t suppressing it, it would have probably hidden itself before anyone who came near it on reflex.
Lu Xuan had developed in-depth knowledge of the herbs back in his past life. Many herbs grew increasingly wild over time.
Everything in existence could’ve developed a will of their own eventually, and herbs were no exception. Something like that was very unlikely to happen, given that they would’ve most likely been plucked away before they could develop a will of their own.
However, Lu Xuan had fought some immensely powerful fighters that mutated from the essence of powerful flora back in his past life.
He then scanned the farm with his will and discovered to his shock that the farm itself was actually a treasure.
The entire farm itself was a treasure, one that latched onto that world. The discovery immediately made him overjoyed.
Those herbs were incredibly valuable, especially that millennial ginseng that Lu Xuan could craft pills with. Coupled with some cultivation methods that he knew, he could then ingest those pills to allow his powers to grow even further.
However, that ginseng was worthless compared to the whole farm. Such a supportive, auxiliary treasure could only show its true worth when used by people who knew of their true value and how to make use of it.
It was especially so in the case of such a farm. If Lu Xuan were to run into some precious herbs in the future, he would have had a place to plant them in.
Just as he was about to internalize the farm, he suddenly sensed that his surroundings had fluctuated. Spiritual qi gathered before him and coalesced into an old man wearing a black robe. His silver hair coupled with his youthful features made him look rather mystical.
Lu Xuan narrowed his gaze and did nothing rush. That elder couldn’t escape his Delusion-breaker Eyes, which was shown to be but a spiritual body that was conjured by one’s will.
Upon seeing Lu Xuan, the figure bowed and said, “Please to meet you. You can call me the Medicine Man.”
Lu Xuan replied, “The name’s Lu Xuan. Well met, friend.”
The Medicine Man continued, “I don’t have much time, so I’ll make it quick. I’m the original owner of the secret realm. Don’t worry, friend. I’ve passed many years ago. What you see before you now is but a sliver of my will. I bet you could already tell that even this sliver of will would be dissipating soon.”
Lu Xuan nodded as his eyes glittered with golden light. The Medicine Man was actually completely laid bare before his eyes. Given how the sliver of his will couldn’t stay around much longer, it became apparent that many years had passed. Even though the Medicine Man had been able to retain a sliver of his will, it was already at its limit.
Had it not run into Lu Xuan, that sliver of his will would’ve dispersed in years to come without him even realizing it.
Lu Xuan said, “Since you’ve now appeared before me, I assume that you have some unfulfilled wish that you would like me to help fulfill, which you’d like my help with fulfilling.” Lu Xuan knew that the other man was not just carelessly exposing his weakness; this man needed to earn Lu Xuan’s trust. As such, he had to be as honest as he could.
The Medicine Man then gritted his teeth and continued, “Precisely. The secret realm here is my residence, and I could help you keep it in control. While this place is but a common secret realm residence, I’d say that it’d be sufficient to serve as your training ground.”
Lu Xuan didn’t agree to it right away and said, “If you were willing to offer something of value, then I’d assume that you’d have a request that is just as valuable. Before I agree to this, I’d first like to hear your wish.”