Chapter 87

Chapter 87: First Test of the Furnace

Outside, Ye Zhao Zhao was still keeping watch, and the jade slip could not move on its own. Li Shuang was still in great danger.

Even so, seeing Su Mu so relaxed, Li Shuang calmly sat beside him.

She held out a hand.

Su Mu gave her a puzzled glance.

Li Shuang said: “The fishing rod.”

After a pause, he waved, and a fishing rod appeared in her hand.

Li Shuang began to fish with him.

Su Mu looked over and said: “You’re not anxious at all. That Ye Zhao Zhao is strange, and she’s been waiting right outside. Aren’t you afraid of dying? You can only stay in the jade slip for ten days at most. What will you do after that?”

Li Shuang shook her head and said: “I am afraid of dying.”

She still had many things to do, so of course she feared death.

The corner of Su Mu’s mouth twitched: “Doesn’t look like it.”

Li Shuang’s voice stayed steady as she said: “Panic won’t solve the problem in front of me.”

She truly focused and started to fish.

She was always focused in everything she did.

It was true for sword practice.

It was true for fishing.

Soon, the first fish took the hook.

Li Shuang smiled a little and dropped it into the bamboo bucket.

Su Mu glanced at the fish.

He had been fishing this whole time and still hadn’t caught a single one. [Fine. That must be beginner’s luck.]

One fish after another bit the hook. Her bucket was soon full to the brim.

Su Mu looked at her bucket, then at his empty one, and fell silent.

His fingers twitched, and a big fish swam up to bite his hook on its own.

Smiling, he lifted it slowly and said: “Fishing values quality over quantity. Look at this one. A single fish beats several of yours.”

He tilted his head toward Li Shuang, only to see her eyes go blank, as if she hadn’t heard him at all.

He frowned.

[Did my big fish hit her pride?]

Right then, Li Shuang’s mind had sunk into her sea of consciousness. She was running tests.

She confirmed several things.

First, to put something into the Heaven and Earth Furnace, its ownership had to be clearly hers.

For example, she had just given a command to exchange the sand and soil within ten miles.

The Heaven and Earth Furnace didn’t react at all.

Because that sand wasn’t hers.

But the items in her storage bag could all be refined. The Furnace judged those as belonging to her.

Second, the Furnace’s idea of equal value ignored most added value.

She had just swapped a freshly picked Second Tier Flame Grass from the desert for a Second Tier Soul Essence Herb that had been extinct for a thousand years.

If she sold the Soul Essence Herb, the spirit stones she could get would far exceed the price of the Flame Grass.

The Heaven and Earth Furnace’s equal value had nothing to do with rarity.

Before, to upgrade her sword, she had to search far and wide for the right ore.

But with the Heaven and Earth Furnace, she only needed any same-tier ore and could convert it through the Furnace. That single function would save her a huge amount of time.

Based on this, a new idea formed.

She thought: “Exchange one bottle of Third Tier Rejuvenation Pills for one Third Tier Demon Luring Grass.”

A prompt sounded in her mind: “The former is worth 133 points. The latter is worth 135 points. Success chance is very high. Proceed with the exchange?”

These two items were close in value but not equal.

This time Li Shuang didn’t want to gamble. She wanted a 100 percent chance.

So she added a small extra item until both sides matched.

The prompt changed: “Items are equal in value. Exchange can complete with 100 percent success. Proceed?”

She nodded without hesitation and said: “Exchange.”

The items she offered vanished quietly from her storage bag, and a small white grass appeared.

It was a Third Tier spirit herb, Demon Luring Grass.

This herb had a deadly pull on Demon Clan at Foundation Establishment Stage.

If Ye Zhao Zhao used only Foundation Establishment Stage power, she could not handle the Demon Clan. If the Demon Clan gathered, Ye Zhao Zhao would have to unseal Nascent Soul Stage again to live.

Li Shuang did not believe she could keep using that power.

Her only regret was that in the Inner Zone and Core Zone of the Langya Secret Realm, tokens could not be used, and the Memory Stone could not record true images. Otherwise, if she could record Ye Zhao Zhao’s strange behavior, she could rip off the mask and expose her.

But Li Shuang wasn’t in a hurry.

People can hide for a while, but not for life.

Ye Zhao Zhao would destroy herself sooner or later.

By the lake, Su Mu coughed and said: “Li Shuang, don’t be upset. Not everyone has talent for fishing. Even though I caught an unheard-of king fish, your take is still decent…”

“Senior Su,” Li Shuang said as she turned to him.

He felt guilty for a second.

[Did she notice I cheated just now?]

A small blue herb appeared in Li Shuang’s hand.

Su Mu blinked in surprise and said: “Huh, is that… Demon Luring Grass?”

Li Shuang nodded and said: “Senior Su, I happen to have one in my storage bag. A Third Tier lure herb is enough for Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Clan within a hundred miles to sense it.”

Su Mu stroked his chin and said: “You plan to draw the Demon Clan here?”

Li Shuang answered without a pause: “Yes.”

Since Ye Zhao Zhao was so strong, she could help thin out the Demon Clan. That would be a contribution to the six sects.

Su Mu raised a brow and said: “Once you grind Demon Luring Grass into juice, it is totally colorless and tasteless to the Human Race, but to the Demon Clan it releases an irresistible scent. Any nearby Demon Clan will rush here. The question is, how will you get the juice on Ye Zhao Zhao?”

A crafty smile flickered in Li Shuang’s eyes, and she asked in a Dao-Questioning tone: “Senior Su, what level of force can this jade slip endure?”

Pride lifted Su Mu’s face as he said: “In this world, no one has the power to destroy the Inheritance Jade Slip.”

Otherwise, it could not have been passed down for so many generations.

“Then it’s simple,” Li Shuang said softly, and she whispered her plan.

Su Mu’s gaze shifted, and he smiled: “You do have ideas. Let’s do it.”

Their plan set, they waited.

Outside, Ye Zhao Zhao suddenly opened her eyes.

Where there had been only endless sand, a jade slip appeared in the desert.

It was the Inheritance Jade Slip. Su Mu had removed its disguise and shown its true form.

Joy flashed in Ye Zhao Zhao’s eyes.

[Found it. So Li Shuang is hiding in there.]