There were a few things within his body that could communicate with him telepathically.
That fool of a clone of his, who always loved to fight for the limelight, was kept in the Myriad Anthive Nest. Vicious had not spoken much ever since the previous time they found his upper body in the Sanctum of Sages. Besides, the latter would not even dare to release his Spiritual Perception without his permission, so there was no way he could have been aware of what was happening outside here.
As for Little Amulet, he had kept it in his storage ring, so the latter would not be able to communicate telepathically with him at all. The voice clearly did not belong to that of the Dragonbone Divine Spear either.
However, he had heard that voice loud and clear. It was reminiscent of that of a young child, crisp and sharp. It did not seem to be a product of his imagination…
Just what could have slipped into his body without his noticing?
Zhang Xuan quickly scanned his body, but to his shock, he could not find anything at all. Unable to take it any longer, he harrumphed inwardly. “Who in the world is it? Stop fooling around!”
“What do you mean by fooling around? I’m Little Gourd!” the voice replied anxiously.
“Little Gourd?” Zhang Xuan frowned in confusion.
“Uh huh! Who else can it be other than me?”
As those words sounded, a certain gourd lying lazily in Zhang Xuan’s dantian shook its bottom slightly.
“The Dongxu Gourd?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
He was aware that the Dongxu Gourd was within the body, and of course, he knew that it was a sentient being. How else could it possibly have been so annoying? But… the Dongxu Gourd was actually able to speak?
Not to mention, to call itself Little Gourd…
Don’t you find it cringy to address yourself in such a cutesy manner?
“That’s right! After absorbing a lot of lightning energy, I have finally fully awakened! Quick, give me that extraterrestrial meteorite in front of you! I want to eat it!” The Dongxu Gourd continued shaking its bottom gleefully.
“You want to eat it?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Do you know what this meteorite is?”
He had guessed that the Dongxu Gourd was not as simple as it looked, but he did not think that it would actually be capable of speech. Furthermore, given how anxiously it wanted the meteorite… could it possibly have guessed what it was?
“I don’t know what it is, but I know that it’s edible!” the Dongxu Gourd replied.
“Edible?” Zhang Xuan turned his gaze onto the extraterrestrial rock.
He placed his finger on it, and the Library of Heaven’s Path jolted. A new book was compiled. He flipped it open and browsed through it, “Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal, an object that has slipped through the cracks of space-time. It can be used to forge artifacts. Uncertain value.”
Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal? Uncertain value? What does that mean? Zhang Xuan frowned.
This was the first time that the Library of Heaven’s Path had given such a vague appraisal of an artifact.
In the past, as long as the item was touched, he would be able to uncover the full history of the object. Yet, for this extraterrestrial meteorite, the description in the compiled book was strangely vague.
Uncertain value… Was this extraterrestrial meteorite something valuable or not?
It seems like the Library of Heaven’s Path isn’t reliable anymore… Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed.
Ever since he reached Saint 9-dan pinnacle and came into contact with the top experts of the Master Teacher Continent, the Library of Heaven’s Path had not been as trusty a companion as before.
To be unable to discern the history of a single rock… It seemed like he could not blindly rely on it anymore.
I really should find some time to pay a visit to the Seer Guilds… Zhang Xuan sighed deeply as he reaffirmed his decision once more.
He considered whether he should pass the Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal over to the Dongxu Gourd, but he eventually decided against it.
“You said that you are a Dongxu Gourd, but I don’t believe that Dongxu Gourds are capable of ingesting something like this. Who in the world are you?” Zhang Xuan demanded an answer.
If the other party was just an ordinary Dongxu Gourd, he could have turned a blind eye to it staying in his dantian. However, with the realization that it was gaining greater sentience with time, to the point that it was even capable of speech, he could not help but be concerned about having it stay in his dantian.
Should the other party intend to harm him, he would really be in deep trouble.
“What else can I be other than a Dongxu Gourd? Rest assured, I acknowledged you as my master before entering your dantian, so there’s no way I can hurt you. I still have a bright future ahead of me! There are countless damsel gourds out there for me to court, so I would really have to be a fool to seek my death!” the Dongxu Gourd replied haughtily.
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “That won’t do. I still don’t feel safe with you being in my body. Why don’t we make a trade? I’ll give you the Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal, but in exchange, you’ll have to leave my dantian and enter my storage ring!”
“I’ll fall into a deep sleep once more after ingesting the Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal, so you don’t have to worry about me bothering you…” the Dongxu Gourd replied lazily.
It seemed to be content with the accommodation that it had at the moment, and it was reluctant to leave.
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan frowned.
He hated to admit it, but he was completely helpless before the Dongxu Gourd. The Dongxu Gourd had entered his dantian without his permission, and he had tried time and time again to drive it out. He had tried once more not too long ago, after his cultivation reached Saint 9-dan pinnacle, but it was to no avail.
As long as the Dongxu Gourd remained in his dantian, it would be equivalent to having a ticking time bomb in his body. While the other party claimed that it would not wreak havoc, who could be certain that it would hold its end of the promise?
Ultimately, it would still be best to get it out first!
“This matter is not open to discussion. You can either hibernate in my storage ring or never mention the matter concerning the Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal again!” Zhang Xuan said as he shut the lid on the jade box.
“Tsk! Fine then…” In the face of food, the Dongxu Gourd had no choice but to cave in.
It shuddered a little, and before Zhang Xuan knew it, it had already vanished from his dantian and appeared in his storage ring.
“This…” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in shock.
His dantian was within his body, a space that should have been under his control. On the other hand, his storage ring was a separate folded space, which should have been impossible for another being to access without his permission as its master. Yet, the Dongxu Gourd was actually able to travel over without any impediment.
This effectively meant that the Dongxu Gourd was above him in terms of spatial manipulation!
Just what in the world was the Dongxu Gourd?
Humph, it doesn’t matter what it is! As long as it dares wreak havoc, I’ll throw the Book of Heaven’s Path on it! Zhang Xuan harrumphed coldly.
Fortunately, after Luo Xuanqing learned the simplified Heaven’s Path Spatial Sealing Art from him, his gratitude had triggered the formation of a new golden page. Considering how the tool could subdue even Vicious easily, it should not be too difficult for it to curb a mere gourd.
As long as he slammed the Book of Heaven’s Path down on the Dongxu Gourd, that darned fellow would be smashed into bits!
With a trump card to rely on, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt more secure. In any case, he had managed to get the Dongxu Gourd out of his dantian for the time being, so there should be nothing to worry about at the moment.
Thus, he turned his gaze to Luo Ganzhen and smiled. “May I take this extraterrestrial meteorite away?”
“Our predecessors have studied the meteorite many times but were still unable to figure out what it is. Feel free to take it if you want it!” Luo Ganzhen nodded.
“Thank you.” Hearing that he could take it, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
With a thought, he sent the jade box into his storage ring.
Upon seeing the jade box in the storage ring, the Dongxu Gourd immediately rushed toward it excitedly. Its body distorted a little, and the Extraterrestrial Fallen Crystal in the box abruptly vanished without a trace. It was almost as if some mysterious force had swallowed it whole.
Following which, just like what it had said, the Dongxu Gourd fell into a deep slumber, not moving at all.
Seeing that the fellow had toned down for the time being, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. A moment later, he could not help but clutch his head in distress. “A speaking gourd…”
Thinking about it, he sure had a lot of weird things with him… A talking amulet, a talking gourd, a talking spear… It was fortunate that those pig trotters that he had in his storage ring could not speak—if he had speaking pig trotters too, he might just die of shock.
Ignoring the issue with the Dongxu Gourd, Zhang Xuan continued looking through the treasure vault. Very soon, he spotted some decent resources.
There were concentrated spiritual essences, precious pills, and unique herbs.
He really had to say that the Luo Clan was crazy rich. The number of treasures that they had in their treasure vault would leave any cultivator’s mouth agape.
After taking a couple of items that would help in his breakthrough, Zhang Xuan finally left the treasure vault.
No matter what, these items had slowly been accumulated through the hard work of the predecessors of the Luo Clan. It would simply be too despicable of him to steal all of them.
That being said, he did loot quite a few good things.
To make an analogy, if the item that he had taken from Sword Saint Xing back then was referred to as a single unit, the items that he had taken were worth at least ten units. If not for the fact that he was currently the head of the Luo Clan, Luo Ganzhen would have surely thrown him out of the Ethereal Shrouding City by now.
Stowing the items away carefully, Zhang Xuan told Luo Ganzhen, “I am intending to head out to find an impetus to make a breakthrough. If anything happens to the Luo Clan, send me a message and I’ll rush right back!”
The Speaking Pig Trotters is another author on Qidian. He’s known for writing the book, ‘Spare Me, Great Lord!’, which was a number one seller for nearly a year on Chinese Qidian. He’s a friend of the author.
