Ximen Chen stood in the sky, staring blankly at the growing tree
Ximen Chen stood in the sky, staring blankly at the growing tree.
Doubting his own eyes.
How could this be possible?
To confirm, he flew down to the top of the tree and looked closely, realizing that the tree was indeed growing taller.
It was increasing in height at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Extremely wondrous.
He landed at the base of the tree.
There he saw a few piles of soil.
When he noticed these piles of soil, he was struck dumbfounded, as if by lightning.
"This!"
Ximen Chen gasped in astonishment, utterly amazed.
In his vision, those piles of soil were now emanating powerful energy, flowing into the tree roots.
This soil gave him the feeling of a supreme treasure!
"What...what is this exactly?!"
Ximen Chen squatted down to examine closely.
Seeing the great tree growing taller, he concluded that this soil could accelerate plant growth!
Just as he thought of this, he suddenly recalled Murong Gong.
"Could this all be just a coincidence? Or did someone calculate everything?"
Ximen Chen stared blankly at the soil, then quickly took out a large box from his spirit ring.
This box was as big as a wardrobe.
He placed it on the ground and used tools to shovel the soil into it.
Soon, he had collected all the piles of soil into the box.
At that moment, the tree in front of him also stopped growing taller.
Ximen Chen was exhilarated.
If he took this soil back and piled it under the longevity flower, wouldn't it also accelerate the flower's maturation?
He had to try it!
Ximen Chen prepared to leave.
But then, he paused.
He still didn't understand where this miraculous soil came from.
He looked towards the town of Qing Yuan.
"Could it be that some treasure appeared in this town, changing the soil composition? That's why this soil has such an effect?"
Ximen Chen's thoughts wandered.
But he didn't have much time to waste, planning to first help his mother with the longevity flower before uncovering the truth.
However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw a handsome young man carrying two buckets coming his way.
At a glance, he realized what those two buckets contained.
The two buckets emanated a mysterious energy around them.
Could those be two buckets of that miraculous soil?!
Ximen Chen stood frozen, staring intently at Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an gave him the impression of being extraordinary.
Even dressed plainly and carrying things for manual labor, he still exuded a transcendent aura beyond the mundane world.
Yet Ximen Chen did not sense any cultivating energy from him.
He seemed like an ordinary mortal!
There were two possibilities then.
One, this person truly was a mortal.
The second possibility was more outlandish.
This person was an extraordinarily powerful transcendent master, so formidable that even if Ximen Chen was at the Celestial Being realm, he still could not discern the other's cultivation.
He felt the first possibility was more realistic.
Perhaps this person's land had some treasure that, under its influence, caused the soil to become so wondrous.
Chen Ping'an soon approached.
He also noticed Ximen Chen staring at him.
He glanced at Ximen Chen as well.
"He looks vigorous and has eyes like a tiger. Could he be another cultivator?"
Chen Ping'an had noticed many cultivators coming to the town of Qing Yuan recently.
However, he didn't bother with them, simply smiling and nodding at Ximen Chen before starting to pour out the soil at the base of the large tree.
But he found it strange that the few buckets of soil he had just poured were now gone.
He looked again at Ximen Chen.
After seeing that the two buckets did indeed contain that wondrous soil, Ximen Chen smiled at Chen Ping'an: "Young man, may I ask what you are doing?"
Hearing the "young man" address from Chen Ping'an's polite demeanor, Chen Ping'an smiled back respectfully: "I have cultivated a plot in my courtyard to grow some things. To avoid the hassle of watering, I dug a channel connecting to the pond and am pouring out the soil dredged up."
"By the way, I haven't seen you in town before. Are you a visitor from elsewhere, sir?"
Listening to this response, Ximen Chen's eyes lit up.
Soil from the courtyard?
Could there be some treasure in this courtyard that caused this?
Ximen Chen became interested.
Regarding Chen Ping'an's question, Ximen Chen smiled back: "Young man, I am actually a cultivator. I was wondering..."
But then Ximen Chen suddenly stopped himself.
He had been about to ask if Chen Ping'an's courtyard might have a treasure that he could take a look at.
But then he thought, if he said that outright, Chen Ping'an might not let him go.
Seeing Ximen Chen abruptly stop speaking, Chen Ping'an raised his brows and waited a moment, thinking about what Ximen Chen had just said about being a cultivator.
Indeed, a cultivator.
But from the looks of it, the visual bug had not been triggered.
If the visual bug was triggered, Ximen Chen would have immediately addressed him as Senior.
Regarding this visual bug, Chen Ping'an had some new guesses.
Not only did this visual bug randomly trigger for different cultivators, it also seemed to have a contagious quality!
For instance, he noticed that anyone who knew Murong Gong would call him Senior without fail upon seeing him.
Originally he didn't notice this pattern until recently, when he saw Bai Xiaochun and Chen Zhonghua walking with Murong Gong.
As soon as they saw him, both Bai Xiaochun and Chen Zhonghua immediately addressed him as Senior.
Most baffling of all, both of them happened to know Murong Gong too.
If it wasn't a contagious bug, then what else could it be?
It couldn't just be a coincidence that they both knew Murong Gong and triggered the visual bug, right?
And now this elderly cultivator did not immediately call him Senior upon seeing him, meaning the visual bug was not triggered.
He likely did not know Murong Gong either.
To test it out, Chen Ping'an asked: "Sir, do you know Murong Gong?"
Hearing this question, Ximen Chen paused.
He had just met Murong Gong recently, so of course he knew him.
He scrutinized Chen Ping'an anew.
This person before him didn't seem ordinary!
Could it be that Murong Gong had sent him here not to find some celestial sword, but because he knew this place had something Ximen Chen wanted?
This person was now asking if he knew Murong Gong - wasn't that echoing the situation?
Damn!
Thinking it through, Ximen Chen gasped.
If that were the case, then everything happening here was arranged by Murong Gong?
Or perhaps some powerful figure already knew his situation and set this up in advance?
If it was Murong Gong's arrangement, that seemed far-fetched.
First, Ximen Chen's movement was very fast, so Murong Gong could not have prepared everything so swiftly.
It was impossible to have readied this so quickly.
Moreover, Murong Gong's cultivation was not that high.
He wouldn't have gone through such great trouble arranging all this, when he could have simply produced these treasured soils earlier.
Otherwise, it would be meaningless effort, like dropping one's pants to fart.
After all, if he wanted Ximen Chen to feel grateful, just giving him these soils would suffice.
Ruling that out, then the only other possibility was that some powerful figure had calculated everything and prepared it in advance!
He began staring intently at Chen Ping'an, his scrutinizing gaze becoming even heavier.
He abruptly cupped his hands in a salute: "Good sir, might all of this have been arranged by someone?"
Since he couldn't figure it out, he might as well just ask directly.
Hearing this, Chen Ping'an paused in confusion.
I asked you a question, but you haven't answered me yet.
Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then tried asking: "Sir, are you asking about me digging the channel and pouring out the soil?"
Seeing Ximen Chen nod quickly, Chen Ping'an smiled: "Indeed, someone did arrange it."
The digging of the channel and channeling the water was his own idea that he directly executed.
Ximen Chen's eyes lit up brightly.
So there really was some powerful existence behind this?!
Ximen Chen excitedly asked: "May I ask who this person is?"
Chen Ping'an smiled: "It was none other than myself."