I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World-Chapter 59 - 49: A Life for a Life

Huaxi Valley Courtyard.

Jiang Yuebai was in a panic, not knowing what to do. She wanted to help but was harshly pushed away by Tao Fengnian.

"Get out!"

Tao Fengnian shouted angrily, but Jiang Yuebai didn’t leave.

In a split second, Jiang Yuebai took out the healing medicine Moh Baichun had given last time, which Tao Fengnian told her to carry for protection.

With trembling hands, she poured out the remaining three pills and handed them to Tao Fengnian.

In unbearable pain, Tao Fengnian reluctantly swallowed the three pills in one gulp.

A moment later, the Gu poison receded on its own, and the medicine’s effect allowed Tao Fengnian to catch a breath, his whole body soaked as if drenched in water.

"Grandfather, Xie Jingshan helped me buy the Lifespan Extension Pill. Eat it quickly, and you’ll be fine."

Jiang Yuebai, eyes red, handed the elixir bottle to Tao Fengnian, who did not take it. Instead, he stared at the bottle in her hand and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, hahahaha..."

Laughing until tears and snot flowed, crying blood with every sound.

"It’s all fate, all my fate, Tao Fengnian’s fate!"

He had spent years scheming for the Lifespan Extension Pill.

Jiang Yuebai got it effortlessly in just two months.

It’s simply laughable!

"Grandfather?"

Slap!

Tao Fengnian struck the elixir bottle out of Jiang Yuebai’s hand with an angry glare, "Get out!!"

Jiang Yuebai shuddered, not knowing why.

Tao Fengnian looked almost insane, his gray hair draped over his shoulders, his eyes bloodshot, seemingly affected by the Gu poison.

"It’s all because of you! If you hadn’t wanted me to strive for life, how would I have dared to swallow the Gu worm?"

"Grandfather?!"

"The Mother Flower withered, the Gu poison hard to dispel. What’s the use of giving me the Lifespan Extension Pill now, letting me see hope right before my eyes yet powerless? Do you know how unbearable that is?"

Jiang Yuebai quickly went to check the broken flower pot, her vision blocked by mist in her eyes, wiping constantly, tears falling continually.

"The flower isn’t dead yet, Grandfather. Don’t worry, I will save it. Don’t give up. I’ve already got the Lifespan Extension Pill. We can definitely get through this."

"It’s all because of you, all your fault. Leave, I don’t want to see you, go!" Tao Fengnian roared, waving his hand.

Jiang Yuebai felt oppressed, stood up with clenched fists, and shouted, "What use is it to blame me, chase me away? If you don’t want to die, fight for life!!"

Tao Fengnian’s eyes were blood-red, close to madness, "I’ve been fighting every moment, enduring the burning pain of blazing flames. Haven’t I fought enough? When did the Heavenly Dao ever pity me, only ever casting me down to the abyss once more?"

"If you’d started fighting from the moment you stepped on the Immortal Path, how would you be in today’s state?" Jiang Yuebai yelled.

Many words she wanted to say long ago, but held back because Tao Fengnian was an elder, the person she respected the most.

Tao Fengnian’s chest heaved violently, staring fixedly at Jiang Yuebai.

Jiang Yuebai suppressed her emotions and spoke slowly, "Grandfather taught me to read and understand reason, each word and phrase I’ve kept in my heart. But as for those principles you taught me, have you followed them yourself?"

"You clearly have mountains and moons in your heart, yet always crowned yourself in mud. Why, among thousands, did you fight to become a Spiritual Cultivation Master but can’t even manage to get a mere Lifespan Extension Pill? Thirty thousand Contribution Points, three thousand D-Class Tasks, just sweeping and delivering messages, one a day, after ten years, it should’ve accumulated!"

"But you, what have you done in forty years of cultivation?! Go see other Spiritual Cultivation Masters, who else like you stays in the Valley daily, only planting twenty acres of Spiritual Field?"

"If you were willing to fight, plant a few hundred acres of Seventh-Grade Spiritual Medicine, in three to five years, you could’ve gathered enough contributions. If you were willing to fight, make connections with a few Alchemy Elders, surely someone would help you. If you do nothing, not even Heavenly Dao can save you! Where did that drive go when you took the Spiritual Cultivation Master test back then?!"

Tao Fengnian’s head buzzed, Jiang Yuebai’s words pierced to the heart.

Thinking back to the past, getting the Spiritual Cultivation Master Token, Alchemy Elders in the Sect throwing olive branches, he had once been ambitious, wanting to accomplish much, aspiring to Core Formation and enjoying the heavens and earth.

When did he become so timid, content with doing the minimum?

Jiang Yuebai wiped her tears, "What’s the use of yelling at me now, truly have the ability to fight for destiny!"

After saying this, Jiang Yuebai took the Heart-Burning Mother Flower and turned to leave.

Tao Fengnian reached out to stop her but was choked, unable to say a word, only seeing the Lifespan Extension Elixir Bottle lying quietly in the corner.

So close yet out of reach.

＊

Backwoods of Huaxi Valley, drizzling and misty. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Jiang Yuebai sat on the ground, mud-stained hands, wrapping the Heart-Burning Mother Flower with the best Spiritual Soil from the Spiritual Field, green halos issuing from fingertips, infusing the Mother Flower.

"Why is it completely useless?"

Jiang Yuebai was full of anxiety, over and over until her Spiritual Energy was exhausted, yet the Heart-Burning Mother Flower’s leaves remained withered, without any vitality.

She took out Spirit Stones to recover, looking around at the trees and biting her lip, directly seizing the trees’ essence to transform it into Grass and Wood Essence Pearl to feed back to the Heart-Burning Mother Flower.

"Useless, still useless, what on earth should I do?"

The rain or tears on her face, wiped repeatedly but still there, Jiang Yuebai was so panicked her fingers trembled. The surrounding trees, their vitality drained by her, young leaves withered away, lifeless.

Unfortunately, Elder Lii was in seclusion, and she couldn’t find him; now no one could help her.

Thinking it over, Jiang Yuebai’s gaze turned fierce. Abruptly initiating a spell aimed at herself.

The sensation of emptiness hit, Jiang Yuebai held her breath to maintain the spell, her face drained of color, her own essence blood seized out, transforming into crimson beads in the palm.

The spell ended, her body relaxed, gasping for breath, injecting the Qi Blood Essence Pearl into the Heart-Burning Mother Flower.

The withered leaves finally spread; Jiang Yuebai wept with joy.

"It’s working, finally working."

Without hesitation, she again formed the hand technique.

Little Green rushed out of the Sea of Consciousness, crashing into Jiang Yuebai.

"Get away, leave me alone!"

Jiang Yuebai fiercely pushed Little Green away, indifferent, continuing to draw her own essence blood.

Little Green, in a phosphorescent turmoil, seemed angry, also anxious. Ultimately, helplessly retreating to Jiang Yuebai’s Sea of Consciousness, the wick’s silver light flourishing, stabilizing her Divine Soul.

"Jiang Yuebai, what are you doing!!"

Lv Ying suddenly appeared, pushing her away.

Lv Ying looked at the Heart-Burning Mother Flower on the ground, then at Jiang Yuebai, angrily said, "Are you crazy, draining your essence blood for a flower, do you know it’s consuming your lifespan!"

Being cared for, Jiang Yuebai instantly collapsed, helplessly crying.

"This isn’t a flower, it’s my grandfather’s life. I must save it; I must save my grandfather’s life. What do I have to do to save my grandfather’s life..."

The gloomy sky was cold, vast, and gray. Light rain like needles, bone-eroding and heart-piercing.

Helpless, with nowhere to express sorrow...

＊

At that time, the world was dim and dull.

Tao Fengnian returned from outside utterly exhausted, sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, taking out the Locking Scythe silently wiping it.

Jia Wei came as summoned, swaggering as he entered the courtyard.

"Tao Fengnian, what do you want from me?"

Tao Fengnian didn’t even lift his eyes, placing the storage bag beside him, slowly wiping away blemishes on the Locking Scythe.

"In the early years, offending Lin Xiangtian, I should have known, there’s no escaping death, shouldn’t have clung to life. Thinking myself educated, understanding truth, in the end, not as clear-sighted as a girl."

Jia Wei, with an arrogant demeanor, looked towards the storage bag with eager eyes, sneered, "Understanding now isn’t too late."

"Death, I fear, but when it comes, I’m more afraid of being looked down on by that girl; being called grandfather by her requires some grandfatherly actions, must plan a bit for her before dying."

Jia Wei stared at the storage bag, "Indeed, plan for her, otherwise, when you’re gone, with her Water Spirit appearance, in a few years, she’ll be cruelly bullied. But I’m not like Lin Xiangtian, have no personal grudge with you. If you give me all your belongings, I’ll ensure her safety, or else... hmm..."

Tao Fengnian put down the cloth, "This Locking Scythe is my best Eighth-Grade Magical Artifact. If you want it, I’ll give it to you, but only if... you can take it!"

As the words fell, the Great Array rose.

Locking Scythe out, evil dogs cry!