Chapter 1013: Chapter 530: An Unintentional Willow Becomes a Shade (Part 2) "We understand. Just go ahead and do it." Gu Sheng agreed, but he still went to see Lan Yao early in the morning. Hearing footsteps, Lan Yao immediately woke up, and seeing it was Gu Sheng, he lazily lay back down. "Gu Sheng, this room isn’t as comfortable as yours. I’ll move to your place tonight." "Sure, you can stay at my place for the time being." "Are you serious?" "Of course, I won’t be around for the next few days, so feel free to use my things." Hearing this, Lan Yao sprang up quickly. "You’re not around? What do you mean? Are you going out?" "Not going out, but I’m going to refine the Spiritual Pearl. I wanted to accompany you for a few days, but the elders are urging me, so I had no choice but to agree." Knowing what he was going to do, Lan Yao stepped forward and patted his shoulder. "Gu Sheng, the elders are right. Keeping the Spiritual Pearl for too long is unsafe; it’s better to refine it early. You go ahead and refine it; I’ll stay here studying the Hundred Poison Grass and maybe wait for your return." "You stay here, the Elder Council will take care of you." "No worries, I don’t consider myself an outsider. The whole courtyard is under my charge, so whether someone attends to me or not doesn’t matter. You just focus on refining the Spiritual Pearl." Gu Sheng nodded with a smile and left after chatting with him for a while. On the way, he happened to bump into Er Gou and Shi Lou. Seeing him, both of their eyes lit up. "Brother Sheng, are you here to act as our protector?" "Huang Shan will protect you." "And you? You’re not here to protect us?" "I’m here to refine the Spiritual Pearl." Hearing this, Er Gou’s eyes turned, and he leaned in closer. "Brother Sheng, you’ll probably release some Spiritual Energy while refining the Spiritual Pearl, right? Can we absorb a little bit?" Upon hearing this, Gu Sheng slapped the back of his head. "Focus on your breakthrough, don’t think about such nonsense. It’s been a long time since you last broke through, and now that you finally can, if you’re distracted, it’ll backfire on you. Get your head straight, or else I won’t spare you." Holding the back of his head, Er Gou looked at him pitifully. "Brother Sheng, I was just kidding." "This is critical, and you’re joking with me? Believe me, if you keep this up, I’ll crack open your head to see what’s inside." Gu Sheng pretended to strike, and Er Gou ran off holding his head. Watching his retreating figure, Gu Sheng and Shi Lou couldn’t help but laugh. An hour later, Gu Sheng arrived at the place arranged by the Third Elder. He solemnly took out the Spiritual Pearl and placed it in his mouth. In an instant, the Spiritual Energy of the pearl burst forth, quickly filling the entire Stone Village. Gu Sheng mobilized the Qi of Dantian, enveloping the entire room, preventing even the slightest leak of Spiritual Energy. After making preparations, Gu Sheng began absorbing the Spiritual Energy released by the pearl into his body bit by bit. At this time, in Stone Village, everyone stopped and quietly absorbed the wisp of Spiritual Energy leaking from Gu Sheng. Until the last trace of Spiritual Energy disappeared, everyone exhaled a long sigh of relief. The Third Elder led a group to Gu Sheng’s place, where several elders sat on the ground, protecting Gu Sheng. Seven days later, Gu Sheng had absorbed half of the century’s worth of Spiritual Power from the pearl, incorporating all of it for his own use, and his meridians expanded dramatically, with even his Dantian growing more than a size larger. The Spiritual Energy continued to enter his body in a continuous stream, and Gu Sheng could clearly feel that this Spiritual Power seemed to be reshaping his physique. While Gu Sheng was focused on refining the Spiritual Pearl, Lan Yao was tinkering with the Hundred Poison Grass. After a week, he finally found some tricks, and in his excitement, he wiped the dirt off his face with force, laughing heartily. At this moment, one of his subordinates suddenly ran over, pale-faced, and said, "Young Master, someone is attacking outside." Upon hearing this, Lan Yao frowned. "Someone is attacking? Who?" "I don’t know, I couldn’t sense any aura from them, but..." Seeing him hesitating, Lan Yao’s brows furrowed even more. "But what? Speak up!" "But all the strong ones in Stone Village are at Gu Sheng’s place protecting, and now there’s no one guarding Stone Village. Those people have already been scouting the perimeter. If they find no one guarding here, they’ll probably attack directly." Hearing this, Lan Yao’s heart immediately tensed. He and his people had been in Gu Sheng’s courtyard studying the Hundred Poison Grass, completely unaware of the outside situation. Now, knowing that the Stone Village was unguarded, his emotions quickly grew tense. "There’s not a single person outside?" "There are people, but they are not strong enough to be their match." Realizing this, Lan Yao quickly led the Elf Clan members to the border. Indeed, at the border, there were sneaky individuals approaching. It seemed they sensed the place was unguarded; their speed was quick. Had he arrived even a bit later, they would have attacked Stone Village! Gathering his forces to block their path, Lan Yao waved his right hand, and a green longsword appeared in his hand instantly. As his Divine Power fluctuated, the green longsword faintly emitted a green glow, inexplicably exerting some pressure on others. "Who dares trespass into Stone Village? Come out and meet me quickly!" After saying that, he swung the green longsword forcefully forward, creating a whirling sound, scattering the sneaky individuals backward. Seeing the shadowy figures, Lan Yao’s steps moved forward once again. "Which side are you from to dare cause trouble in Stone Village!" Seeing Lan Yao approach, the person instinctively covered his face with his hand. However, Lan Yao did not look at his face but focused on the Token at his waist. After a careful look, a cold smile spread across his face. "Sect Leader Zhang Ping of Heisha Sect? Didn’t expect you’d dare to find your way here!" Hearing him accurately call out his name, Zhang Ping was shocked, his eyes widening. "Lan Yao, our Heisha Sect has no grudges against the Elf Clan. Why do you keep opposing me?" "You may have no grudge with me, but targeting Gu Sheng involves me!" "What does it have to do with you? You and Gu Sheng have only met a few times; why do you keep helping him? Lan Yao, I don’t want to become enemies with you. If you don’t want to bring trouble upon yourself, I advise you to act like you saw nothing, or else when I kill Gu Sheng, I won’t spare you!" Hearing Zhang Ping’s harsh words, Lan Yao sneered repeatedly. At that moment, he shifted his gaze and smirked coldly: "Gu Sheng has already been crushed to death by your rubble, and you’re still thinking of taking his life? Are you planning to kill him again in King Yan’s realm?" "You’re talking nonsense! Gu Sheng is perfectly fine!" "Zhang Ping, you yourself said Gu Sheng was dead, and now you’re denying it. Who’s the one talking nonsense here!" "Indeed, I said that before, because I really thought Gu Sheng was crushed to death by rubble. However, the more I thought about it afterward, the more something felt wrong. After everyone scattered, I specifically went to the place he supposedly died; there was only a pile of rubble, not even a corpse or a drop of blood. How could he have died there? He clearly stole the Spiritual Pearl and fled! You being here proves he’s alive!" Hearing his words, Lan Yao smirked. He had thought this Zhang Ping was a fool, but now it seems he was a bit smarter than anticipated. "So you didn’t find Gu Sheng’s body there, which led you here? You want the Spiritual Pearl?" "Yes! I want the Spiritual Pearl! Lan Yao, the news has spread. Countless people want Gu Sheng’s life; if it’s not me, it will be someone else. He’s already on the opposite side of the entire Jianghu, and if you don’t want to be implicated by him, you should leave now!" Seeing his smug demeanor, Lan Yao took another step forward. "Let me tell you, the bond between me and Gu Sheng isn’t something you can sow discord over with a few words. If you want to kill Gu Sheng, you’ll have to go through me first!"