Hearing the word “reward,” Yuanhui’s eyes narrowed slightly. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Fine. As long as you let me go into that ‘Immortal Trapping Cage’ and take a few breaths afterward, I’m in…”

That kind of Immortal Trapping Cage really was a heavenly treasure. Just hearing Wu Xian’s rambling description of its effects had already set his heart itching. This was the kind of thing you couldn’t enjoy no matter how many gold coins you threw at it.

“You’re asking for way too much. The energy in the Immortal Pool is limited—how could we just let anyone soak in it?” At that, Su Rou beside them couldn’t help snapping coldly.

“Besides, we’re only having you fill up the numbers this time. It’s best two out of three. In the last round, you might not even have to show up. With that level of contribution, how could we let you into the Immortal Trapping Cage too?!”

Yuanhui’s expression stayed calm. He just gave the arrogant Su Rou a sidelong glance, then looked at Ai’er, whose brows were slightly furrowed, and smiled. “If I really don’t have to make a move, I won’t need any reward at all. But—what if you can’t get two wins?”

Su Rou froze, lost for words. If the other three Pavilions were really that easy to deal with, Xizhou wouldn’t have been searching for so long without finding a suitable candidate.

“The Immortal Trapping Cage’s energy is limited,” Ai’er mused for a moment, then spoke slowly, “but if you show some convincing contribution in this Emperor of Immortals Ruler contest, the reward you’re asking for isn’t completely off the table.”

“Ai’er, you!!”

“I’m the Young Pavilion Master at home. Don’t tell me you’ve got a problem even with the Young Pavilion Master’s word?”

Hearing what Ai’er was implying, Su Rou immediately cried out, but Ai’er just shot her a brief glare, and she could only fall silent in frustration.

At that, a smile surfaced on Yuanhui’s face. He could tell Su Rou’s strength was at the peak of Nine Hearts, which was pretty formidable. The younger generation from the other Four Pavilions was probably on about the same level. Opponents like that really weren’t much trouble for someone who’d once slaughtered that whole group of Hundred Ghosts.

“Heh, you kid actually made Miss Ai’er back down. That’s not something you see every day.” Seeing the haggling come to an end, Pavilion Master Han couldn’t help shaking his head.

“Heh, you flatter me, Senior Han…”

Yuanhui let out a dry laugh. This was a huge opportunity. If he didn’t grab it tight, when would a freak treasure like the Immortal Trapping Cage ever be his turn to enjoy?

Su Rou shot Yuanhui a vicious glare from the side, clearly not expecting this guy to be so infuriating.

“When does the contest start?” Yuanhui ignored her stare and looked straight at Ai’er.

“Three days from now.”

Ai’er smiled. “If you’d like, you can stay at my Han Estate in Xizhou for the next few days. Just say the word if you need anything.”

“No need. I’ll come find you here in three days.”

“But…”

“Miss Ai’er’s kindness is appreciated by both me and my master, but I’m really sorry. My master can’t guide me properly if we stay here, so…”

“…”

Only then did Ai’er and Su Rou notice there was a mysterious young man standing behind Yuanhui. At first glance there was nothing special about him, but when they looked more carefully, they sensed a faint hint of age and vicissitude in his aura.

Yuanhui shook his head. He had his own secrets. There were too many people and too many eyes in Xizhou’s Han Estate. If anything got exposed, it’d be trouble. Besides, these next few days were perfect for him to quietly cultivate that virtual-realm technique he’d just bought at the auction—more cards up his sleeve.

After sorting out a brief plan with Pavilion Master Han and his family, Yuanhui took his leave.

“Ai’er, you really agreed to let that brat into the Immortal Trapping Cage? There’s not enough immortal energy in there for many people…” Watching Yuanhui’s back as he left, Su Rou still sounded unwilling.

“Heh. So you’re confident then? You know very well what kind of strength the other side has. That young generation from the Wu Clan is a genuine Boundless expert.” Ai’er gave a faint smile.

Hearing that, Su Rou bit her lip and snorted softly. “Whatever!!! When the time comes, I’ll make him understand he’s just here to stand around and make up the numbers. I’ll make sure his pride gets trampled!”

At her snort, Ai’er couldn’t help letting out a gentle laugh, her eyes resting on the spot where Yuanhui had disappeared.

She actually thought this man probably had some real skills.

“You’d better be careful. Even with him, your odds of winning aren’t that high.”

After leaving the Xizhou estate, Yuanhui didn’t linger. But to be safe, he didn’t go straight back to his inn either. Instead, he wandered casually around the city for half a day before sauntering back to his lodging.

Back in his room, Yuanhui hastily filled his stomach, told the inn servant not to disturb him for anything at all, then shut the door tight.

“Sigh, what a waste of that food just now…” Wu Xian said, half crying, half laughing.

“Can’t be helped. I don’t think you’ll get another chance…”

“Your master finally got a taste!!!” Wu Xian happily slapped Yuanhui’s shoulder as he spoke. “Didn’t expect Xizhou’s domain to actually help me reshape a body. Shame it’s just condensed from immortal energy.”

“Yeah, just an empty joy,” Yuanhui said flatly, his tone cooling.

“But it’s something. Your master finally got to experience mortal delicacies. I can at least taste a bit of these dishes now.”

“Heh.” Yuanhui sneered. “You immortals really have it easy, getting satisfied this fast.”

The moment he entered the room, Yuanhui couldn’t wait to take out a jade box from his bracelet. He opened the lid, and a wave of chilling coolness drifted out. Faint phosphorescence curled around the jade, and just the way it looked already put every medicine he’d seen before to shame.

Yuanhui grinned broadly at the day’s haul, and Wu Xian chimed in beside him.

“Xizhou really isn’t anything like your ‘backwater.’ Over in your place, nobody’s even heard of divine medicine of this quality… though, yeah, this stuff costs a fortune.”

As he spoke, Wu Xian slowly stretched out his right hand. Filaments of strange light shot from the flesh of his palm and wove themselves into the herb.

Right after, the medicine started melting rapidly. Only about half an hour later did it finally transform into a single pill.

“As expected of a heaven-and-earth divine medicine. Even you, Master, need that long to refine it, huh?” Yuanhui exhaled softly, staring at the pill in his hand.

Before this, Wu Xian always refined medicine in just a few seconds. This was the first time something had taken half an hour.

After successfully refining the divine herb, Yuanhui conveniently refined the rest of the herbs as well. Soon, the spirit herbs were all turned into five divine pills.

Looking at the pills now resting inside a jade bottle, Yuanhui nodded in satisfaction. With Wu Xian’s refining, their medicinal power had been drawn out almost perfectly.

“Let’s test the pills first. I wanna see how strong this medicine is (no, better let Teacher try it first. He’s just a soul body anyway—he can’t die from it!)… really is?!”

Yuanhui licked his lips, then sat cross-legged on the bed, ready to hand a pill to Wu Xian. But Wu Xian snatched it right out of his hand and casually popped it into Yuanhui’s mouth instead!

“You—you…!”

“Quit fussing like an old granny and swallow it for your master!”

Chi surged through Yuanhui’s body in a roaring whirl. His soul power once again entered that cycle of being crushed to pieces and then restored.

When that cycle had repeated for the ninth time, Yuanhui suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes.

His face was deathly pale. Waves of weakness and dizziness kept seeping out from his sea of consciousness. Needle-like stabs of pain made every muscle in his body twitch faintly. This round of “spiritual grindstone” training had once again pushed him into an extremely weakened state.

He took a pill from the jade bottle and shoved it into his mouth, then slowly closed his eyes, letting the gentle medicinal power spread rapidly through his body.

A faint chill flowed along his meridians, then rose like steam. Threads of Chi instantly seeped into Yuanhui’s body.

As that icy coolness poured in, the dizziness in his head swiftly faded. The feeling of weakness also thinned out.

After about an hour, when the medicinal power had completely washed over his soul body, Yuanhui opened his eyes, full of vitality. His face couldn’t hide his joy.

The divine pill worked even better than he’d expected. After suffering through the soul tribulation grind and then adding this pill as support, the result was insanely good. Just from this one session, the soul imprint inside his star core was flickering with new light, its strength shooting up a whole level from before.

“Phew—”

With joy on his face, Yuanhui took a deep breath. Before he had the divine pill, he could only last through ten cycles of soul tribulation in a day. After that, he had to rest his mind and wouldn’t be able to continue until the third day.

Now, after taking the pill, he could boost that efficiency tenfold.

Take right now, for example. After the pill’s recovery, he wasn’t exactly at his peak, but he was already in good enough shape to undergo another round of soul tribulation.

That alone showed just how powerful this miracle medicine really was.

“Yeah, yeah, you get what you pay for. Guess that saying’s not wrong.”

“Of course. Your master’s just keeping you from dropping dead. Come on!!!”

Feeling Yuanhui’s condition improve so much, Wu Xian’s spirits also rose. Eyes blazing, he let out a low shout and hurled Yuanhui back into the soul space again!

In just half a day, Yuanhui endured a full hundred cycles of his spirit body being crushed and then rebuilt, over and over—a training method that was almost self-torture.

Even Wu Xian was a bit stunned this time, muttering under his breath, “Maniac…”

After more than a hundred cycles, Yuanhui was completely drained. When the one hundred and thirtieth round ended, even with the help of the divine pill, he could feel waves of numbness spreading through his mind. He knew he’d hit his absolute limit. If he forced another tribulation, it would start damaging his very foundations.