As she spoke, she didn’t forget to pour him a cup of tea. It was ordinary coarse tea, but the temperature was just right—neither too hot nor too cold. She had remembered since childhood that he didn’t like his tea too hot.
Chu Yuan nodded. “It’s delicious.”
Gu Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I-I will… *cough, cough!*”
Midway through her sentence, she began to cough violently. She covered her lips with her hand, and unexpectedly, she coughed up blood.
Chu Yuan asked with concern, “Wan’er, are you alright?”
Gu Qingwan quickly hid her blood-stained hand behind her back and smiled. “I’m fine!”
To change the subject, her gaze fell once more on that broken sword. “A’Yuan, the Divine Grade Auction held once every 100 years is coming up in a few days. You know about it, right?”
Chu Yuan nodded.
The Divine Grade Auction was hosted by the Righteous Path Alliance every 100 years, and this time it was being held right here in Xuanji City. At that time, people from all walks of life would gather, and countless rare treasures would appear. It was said that this auction even featured a Dragon Egg.
If Chu Yuan remembered correctly, the being that hatched from that Dragon Egg was the Black Dragon Emperor from his previous life. His fearsome reputation once struck terror into the entire Realm of True Emotions.
Yet Chu Yuan knew how that dragon had been enslaved and abused by evil cultivators since its youth, all because of the prophecy that “the Black Dragon is an ill omen.” He knew how, over the long years, the dragon had built a thick shell of coldness and slaughter to keep all warmth away.
Until it met him.
In his last life, Chu Yuan had approached the Black Dragon Emperor under the guise of a fallen demonic cultivator to complete a mission. The Black Dragon Emperor had slowly lowered its guard and bared its heart. Even after being betrayed by him, the Dragon Emperor had protected his mangled body before dying.
Chu Yuan felt a surge of emotion.
‘Imperial Lord! In my last life, I betrayed you. In this life, I will definitely win the Dragon Egg and give you a happy childhood!’
Having made his decision, he looked at the beauty before him. “Wan’er, why did you suddenly bring up the auction?”
Facing Chu Yuan’s confusion, Gu Qingwan bit her lip and weighed her words. “I… I heard there will be many good things at the auction. I happen to have saved some spirit stones, and I… I wanted to ask you to help me buy something.”
Chu Yuan laughed. “That’s the Divine Grade Auction. Without 1,000,000 spirit stones, you can’t even get in. Do you have that much money?”
Gu Qingwan’s eyes flickered. “I-I meant the small warm-up auctions held before the main event. The item I want is there.”
Chu Yuan was curious. “What is it?”
Gu Qingwan took a storage bag from her sleeve and pushed it toward him. “Here are fifty spirit stones. Just help me… bid on some decent artifacts or pills.”
Chu Yuan looked at the cloth bag, somewhat speechless. Fifty spirit stones was a huge sum for his current status. And he knew very well that she didn’t need him to buy anything for her. Most likely, his childhood friend wanted him to buy a good sword but was afraid of hurting his pride, so she made up such a clumsy excuse.
Seeing Chu Yuan’s silence, Gu Qingwan panicked slightly. “A’Yuan, d-don’t overthink it. I just wanted to ask for your help. I can’t go out, as you know… the clan keeps a strict watch. If it’s too much trouble, then…”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, and her eyelashes trembled slightly over her downcast eyes.
Looking at her, Chu Yuan felt as if he were seeing her from more than twenty years ago—the little girl crouching by the creek, stuffing wild fruit into his hand and saying, “Eat, Brother A’Yuan.”
He gave a helpless reply. “Alright.”
Gu Qingwan suddenly looked up, a light of pleasant surprise bursting from her eyes. “Really?”
Chu Yuan nodded. “What do you want?”
Gu Qingwan shook her head, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she smiled. “Anything is fine. I’ll like whatever A’Yuan chooses.”
She stood up, her skirt swaying gently, outlining her slender waist and those steep curves. Seemingly noticing Chu Yuan’s gaze, her cheeks flushed, and she whispered with her head bowed, “T-then I’ll be going now. I’ll come see you again in a few days.”
She walked to the gate of the outer courtyard, then turned back to wave at him.
Glimpsing the bloodstains on his childhood friend’s hand, Chu Yuan could only manage a bitter smile.
According to his memories of his previous life, his childhood friend was actually one of the Saintess candidates selected by Medicine King Valley. She suffered from the restriction of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians and was required to return to Medicine King Valley for a trial upon reaching adulthood.
She would have to go deep into the Demon Abyss Secret Realm to pluck the Nine-Death Life-Returning Grass; otherwise, she would not live past three years. Coincidentally, only one Nine-Death Life-Returning Grass grew every 100 years, yet there were multiple candidates. Such a selection process was no different from raising poisonous insects to fight until only one survived.
Because the odds were so slim, in his previous life, Gu Qingwan had broken up with him using cold and decisive methods. It wasn’t until many years later, when he and his Senior Sister participated in the Shennong Grand Ceremony at Medicine King Valley, that he realized the cause and effect. However, the Saintess of Medicine King Valley at that time was not Gu Qingwan.
Thinking about it now, the childhood friend who had cared for him so much most likely died in the Demon Abyss.
Chu Yuan could not sit by and do nothing for one of the few people in this world who was truly good to him. However, the Medicine King Valley trial was still a few months away. The priority now was to make money to buy the Dragon Egg.
Chu Yuan recalled that the closing price for the Dragon Egg in his previous life was around 3,000,000 spirit stones. To be safe, he needed to earn at least 5,000,000 spirit stones during this period.
The question was: how could he earn over 1,000,000 spirit stones?
Chu Yuan scratched his head. ‘That’s right! Where is my system reward?’
As he thought this, he suddenly noticed a Black Ring had appeared on his middle finger.