Rebirth of the Supreme Immortal Emperor-Chapter 382 - 379: Handsome and Valuable!

"Brother Baiyang, you’ve come at just the right time; I’ve just caught a fat salmon today!"

Li Lingtian said, raising the salmon in his hand, eager to speak first upon seeing Sun Baiyang’s arrival.

Sun Baiyang, looking utterly disconsolate, forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Li, but I’m in no mood for salmon right now, not even dragon meat could tempt me!"

Li Lingtian feigned surprise and asked, "Huh? What’s wrong? What’s so troubling that the Master of Medicine King Valley is so distressed?"

"It’s none other than Immortal Master Li!"

Although Sun Baiyang tried to control his emotions, his tone still carried a hint of complaint.

He was complaining that Li Lingtian had not taken action sooner to kill Immortal Master Li, allowing him to grow stronger step by step and now posing a threat to the safety of Medicine King Valley.

Li Lingtian completely ignored Sun Baiyang’s complaint and instead pretended to be very surprised, pressing further: "Immortal Master Li, what happened to him?"

Sun Baiyang asked, "You must know about Immortal Master Li recently killing Gongzi Yuu and flattening Heming Mountain, right?"

Li Lingtian pretended to be clueless and turned to Azure Dragon, asking, "Azure Dragon, do you know about this?"

Azure Dragon had an utterly befuddled expression on his face, thinking to himself that he had just returned from North Africa and hadn’t even had a chance to eat, so how could he know about these matters? If it weren’t for running into Xuanwu on the way, who mentioned it in passing, he probably wouldn’t even know there was such a person as Immortal Master Li!

Of course, these thoughts were kept to himself. They could not be spoken aloud.

"Boss, we are urgently investigating the Heming Mountain incident. We believe that reliable information will come soon!"

Seeing that Li Lingtian was only playing Tai Chi with him, Sun Baiyang was in a gloomy mood and decided not to beat around the bush anymore.

"Mr. Li, we have known each other for many years, so let me cut to the chase," he said.

As he spoke, he actually knelt down straight.

"Mr. Li, I beg you to save Medicine King Valley!"

Li Lingtian did not expect Sun Baiyang to suddenly take such a step, and for a moment, he was caught off guard.

He hurried forward to help him up: "Brother Baiyang, what do you mean by this? Speak plainly, what’s wrong with Medicine King Valley?"

Sun Baiyang insisted on not getting up, saying, "That Immortal Master Li is too bullying; he demands a thousand-year-old Cold Attribute Spiritual Medicine from our Medicine King Valley!"

Li Lingtian had already heard about this. Gongzi Yuu had placed the Thousand-year-old Ice Soul inside the body of Li Chen’s little girlfriend, Ye Chuxue, and presumably, it was for this reason that he had come to Medicine King Valley demanding a thousand-year-old Cold Attribute Spiritual Medicine.

Thinking of this, Li Lingtian tested the waters and said, "Brother Baiyang, do you have a thousand-year-old Cold Attribute Spiritual Medicine in Medicine King Valley? If so, just give it to him. Think of it as sending off a plague; spending money to avoid disaster!"

Sun Baiyang did not expect such words to come from the mouth of the Undefeated War God Li Lingtian, and his expression was one of utter astonishment for a moment.

However, he was not a fool and knew there must be something he was unaware of. Asking Li Lingtian to eliminate Immortal Master Li and eradicate the problem for good was probably an impossibility.

Nowadays, the only alternative was to ask Li Lingtian to mediate, to stop Immortal Master Li from troubling their Medicine King Valley.

"Mr. Li, perhaps you are unaware. The thousand-year-old spiritual medicine is extremely rare, especially the Cold Attribute ones. If I had it, I would have given it to Immortal Master Li already. Even the Heavenly Master Sect, the leader of the Four Great Mystical Sects, was obliterated by him. How could my humble Medicine King Valley dare provoke him any further?"

Sun Baiyang’s words conveyed his frustration, but they also carried a veiled criticism of Li Lingtian.

Among the Great Families of the Northern Country, the Li Family was revered, yet now, a mere Immortal Master Li could so brazenly run amok on the lands of the Northern Country while Li Lingtian only sought peace.

At the same time, Sun Baiyang was secretly resolved that if Li Lingtian refused to help this time, he would immediately go to the Central Continent to seek refuge with the Yuan Family.

Li Lingtian also heard his old friend’s complaints and turned towards Azure Dragon, saying, "Azure Dragon, didn’t you want to meet that Immortal Master Li? Now I’ll trouble you to accompany Brother Baiyang on a trip."

Azure Dragon bowed his hands as a sign of understanding.

Sun Baiyang was overjoyed to hear this. Although it wasn’t Li Lingtian who took action personally, at least he showed his stance. Moreover, he knew of Azure Dragon’s reputation, the leader of the Dragon Team, whose strength was second only to Li Lingtian.

"Then I will trouble Brother Azure Dragon, let’s not delay any further and set off now!"

Azure Dragon didn’t expect Sun Baiyang to be in such a hurry; he hadn’t even had time to catch his breath before he had to return.

"Valley Master Sun, are you in such a rush?"

Sun Baiyang felt like his eyebrows were on fire and said, "Of course, I’m anxious, I’m afraid if I go back late, Medicine King Valley will no longer exist."

Azure Dragon was visibly astonished and asked, "Really? Would Immortal Master Li be so unreasonable?"

Sun Baiyang complained, "If Immortal Master Li were reasonable, I fear there would be no reasonable people left in this world!"

...

Thirty li southwest of Medicine King Valley, there is an Apricot Blossom Village, named for its ten thousand mu of apricot trees. It would be more appropriate to call it Apricot Blossom Town rather than a village, given its size.

As the necessary passageway into Medicine King Valley, a continuous stream of people seeking medical treatment made their way through, including many wealthy and influential individuals. As a result, merchants gathered, and the local economy grew rapidly, with the scale of the village continually expanding. Its population had already exceeded one hundred thousand the previous year.

With the strategic advantage of being adjacent to Medicine King Valley, the village chief of Apricot Blossom Village commanded far more respect than any town or county chief. Even city mayors had to speak to him with utmost respect.

Now with New Year’s Day approaching, the village bustled with several times more prosperity than usual. Moreover, in order to maintain consistency with the ancient architecture of Medicine King Valley and attract tourists for sightseeing, the streets and buildings of Apricot Blossom Village were also designed with ancient features. Many merchants dressed in period costumes, and to the unaware, it looked as though a historical drama was being filmed.

On this day, the sun shone brightly, and young children bounced and jumped along the streets, humming cheerful tunes.

They sang: "In the rain-soaked season of Qingming, travelers’ souls on the road disperse. When asked where the inn lies ahead, a herdsman points from afar to Apricot Blossom Village."

Treading on the innocence of nursery rhymes, a graceful youth strolled into a tavern.

The youth was none other than Li Chen!

He found a seat by the window, and soon a server dressed in traditional clothes came over.

"This honored guest, you’re on your way to Medicine King Valley, right?"

Li Chen was taken aback and asked with surprise, "How do you know?"

The waiter put on a mysteriously smug smile, looked around the room, and said, "Everyone who comes here is on their way to Medicine King Valley."

Li Chen glanced around and asked, "What are they going to Medicine King Valley for?"

The waiter explained, "Some are seeking medical advice whereas others just come for the reputation, here on sightseeing."

Li Chen gave a faint smile and remarked, "It seems that Medicine King Valley is doing pretty good business!"

The waiter, brimming with enthusiasm, said, "Of course, and they limit the number of daily visitors to just twenty. Now each spot has been marked up to this price!"

While speaking, the waiter held up five fingers to Li Chen.

Li Chen inquired, "Five Thousand?"

The waiter looked disdainful and said, "Five thousand only gets you a stroll around the apricot blossom forest. To enter Medicine King Valley, you’d need at least fifty thousand, and that’s just for the outer areas treated by ordinary disciples. If you want a Deacon or an Elder to see you, without a seven-figure amount, you can forget about it!"

After saying that, he cast a secretive glance left and right, then whispered, "I’ve got a spot here. Seeing as how attractive you are, I’ll give you a 20% discount. Just forty thousand and it’s yours, what do you say?"

Hearing these words, Li Chen felt somewhat foggy-headed. It turned out this brother was moonlighting as a salesman.

However, it was true; Medicine King Valley was really making a fortune. Just by selling quotas in this no-capital trade, they could make a net profit of over a billion in a year—it was practically robbery.

Li Chen waved his hand, sending the rambling waiter away: "Thanks, I don’t need it!"

Seeing his long-winded effort come to naught, the waiter immediately rolled his eyes at Li Chen: "Seriously, if you have no money, why bother coming here? What a waste of sentiment!"

Li Chen couldn’t be bothered with him and simply savored his tea, gazing out the window.

However, it wasn’t long before the waiter came back, this time carrying an antique celadon teapot.

"Your apricot blossom rain, sir!"

Li Chen, taken aback, replied, "I didn’t order any tea. Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?"

The waiter, expressionless, casually pointed ahead and said, "No mistake, the miss over there ordered it for you. Please enjoy!"

Li Chen looked over to see a tall, attractive girl with long, flowing hair raise her celadon tea cup towards him and offer a reserved smile.

Though Li Chen was somewhat perplexed, he returned a polite smile.

Then, he noticed a yellowish note under his tea cup, with a row of fine characters written:

"The brooding look on your brow is charming, much like this apricot blossom tea, bearing a subtle sorrow. If your heart faces the sun, fears no sadness!"

In the bottom-right corner of the note, there was a cartoon heart with the character "Jin" written inside.

Upon seeing the character "Jin," whether it was an illusion or some other reason, Li Chen felt the girl who had sent him the tea seemed familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

However, he couldn’t quite remember where at the moment.

Li Chen inspected his own reflection in the tea water, pondering.

Where is the brooding? I didn’t notice. Could it be that I am indeed as handsome as the waiter said?

In fact, this was a common play among the upper-class gentry and noble ladies. Approaching someone directly was deemed too abrupt, and a rejection could be quite embarrassing.

Thus, they preferred this indirect, somewhat petty-bourgeois romantic approach, dreaming of a "serendipitous encounter, a fleeting romance in the city."

If the other party also took a fancy to you, they would reciprocate and whether it’s a candle-lit dinner or a romantic movie, you might end up in a life conversation at close quarters, just like Adam and Eve in the Eden Garden.

Of course, when it came to these convoluted social cues, Li Chen was mostly clueless, still wondering how exactly he seemed brooding.

The girl who had sent the note to Li Chen was named Yuan Jin’er, the second young lady of the Yuan Family. She was here accompanying her sister, Yuan Jing’er, to visit her future brother-in-law at Medicine King Valley.

Bored from being fed dog food by her sister all the way here, she thought of the note-passing game. Mustering courage to pass a note for the first time in her life, she was distressed by the lack of response from the other side.

When Yuan Jing’er returned, she asked: "Jin’er, what are you looking at, your soul nearly getting hooked away?"

Jin’er, like a child caught misbehaving, shook her head over and over: "Nothing, I wasn’t looking at anything!"

"Right, sister, it’s already noon, over an hour past our scheduled time, why hasn’t brother-in-law come to pick us up?"

Yuan Jing’er, slightly plaintive, said: "Your brother-in-law couldn’t make it. He said Immortal Master Li is coming and Medicine King Valley has temporarily closed off entry to outsiders!"

Yuan Jin’er, surprised, asked: "Who is Immortal Master Li, and why does Medicine King Valley have to close off for him?"

...

A large Chapter of 3500 words is here, today’s update is late, but two more updates will follow. Thanks for the rewards from some friends, humbly requesting a recommendation ticket, much appreciated!