Chapter 485: Luo Han's Choice

“Ahaha, I must still be dreaming.”

A super-grade rolling pin, made entirely of high-aged thunder tribulation wood…

Even an Immortal with a hole in their head wouldn’t make something like this!

Who would’ve thought this shabby little village was hiding a treasure like that.

And the person who could use such a treasure must be terrifyingly powerful!

Luo Han’s gaze toward Zhao Shen had completely changed. In his eyes, she had transformed into a hidden, unfathomable super-level expert!

Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Who knew a Senior of this caliber was hiding in a poor little village running a dumpling shop.

And he had just unintentionally offended her… Was she going to squash him on the spot?

Luo Han hurriedly bowed deeply to Zhao Shen.

“Senior, I apologize! This junior failed to recognize your greatness. I was rude just now. I hope you won’t take it to heart! In the future, this junior will surely return with generous gifts to make amends!”

Zhao Shen blinked, confused. “What Senior and junior nonsense… Are you trying to learn how to wrap dumplings?”

The complete mismatch in their lines of thinking sent Luo Han’s mind racing.

Was this some kind of code? Could the Senior be planning to take him as a disciple?

Or was this a trap? He’d heard that some Grandmasters enjoyed feasting on the flesh of high-rank cultivators, believing it to be a great tonic… Could the Senior be planning to stuff him into dumplings?

Luo Han quickly spiraled into a panicked, nervous state.

“Your wontons are ready!”

Zhao Shen enthusiastically delivered the wontons to Jiang Ke’er herself, while Luo Han didn’t dare move a muscle the entire time.

It was Jiang Ke’er who pulled him back, finally allowing him to relax his body a little.

“Um… When are we leaving?”

Luo Han fidgeted uneasily.

“No rush. Let me finish this bowl of wontons first.”

Jiang Ke’er lowered her head and slowly, methodically blew on the scalding wonton soup in her bowl.

Luo Han sat as if on a bed of nails. Every second spent in Zhao Shen’s presence was pure agony. He felt like a palm could come flying at him at any moment and flatten him into meat paste.

Finally, Jiang Ke’er finished her bowl of wontons, drinking the soup down to the last drop. Only then did Luo Han feel like he’d been granted a pardon.

“Come on. Let’s go check out Wang Ershu’s little vegetable garden.”

Jiang Ke’er stood up and led the distracted Luo Han further into the village.

Wang Ershu had no special skills, only a small vegetable garden and a little orchard. Taking advantage of the tourism wave, he’d opened a pick-your-own fruit orchard.

But just like Zhao Shen, business was terrible. Since everyone passing through the Novice Village were cultivators, and cultivators were used to eating immortal cuisine, they turned their noses up at such mortal fare.

Ten catties of cherries weren’t worth as much as a random pebble picked up by the seaside—cultivators loved gambling on stones, always believing the next one would crack open to reveal a priceless treasure.

So Wang Ershu took on a side gig selling stones.

He cleared out a patch of land in his vegetable garden, buried a great many large rocks beneath the soil, and let cultivators experience the thrill of digging for treasure.

If a cultivator was too lazy to dig, Wang Ershu would personally swing his hoe and pry a stone out of the dirt.

“What’s there to see in a swindler’s business?”

Luo Han sneered, seeing through the stone-selling scheme at a glance.

Not a single stone could yield a treasure. All of this was just a trap exploiting people’s gambling nature.

“Look closer.”

Thanks to Jiang Ke’er’s reminder, and with the earlier lesson from Zhao Shen, Luo Han quickly turned pale with fright.

The farmer clearly swung his hoe with full force every single time, holding nothing back—yet the hoe left not a single scratch or dent on the stones.

Every stone dug out was perfectly intact, just like the dumpling shop auntie earlier. An absolutely miraculous skill!

Just how many experts were hidden in this tiny village?!

“Keep walking.”

Jiang Ke’er gave Luo Han a firm pat on the shoulder. “Once we finish our tour, you can go home.”

Luo Han nodded nervously.

If it were just Zhao Shen alone, he might have harbored thoughts of killing her and stealing her goods. But as they continued walking, he completely abandoned that notion.

Thinking any crooked thoughts would be pure suicide.

By the time Jiang Ke’er finally led him on a full loop through the Novice Village, the sky had already begun to darken.

During that time, the dragon boat race had already determined its champion. He’d even been forced to attend the award ceremony, watching helplessly as Jiang Ke’er handed that small piece of wood to the champion, Lady Luyia.

Seeing Luyia’s ecstatic expression reminded Luo Han of that thunder tribulation wood rolling pin.

Just such a tiny piece was worth a fortune, enough to send cultivators across the world into a frenzy. If they ever found out that rolling pin was actually one solid piece of thunder tribulation wood…

“They’ll never know.”

Jiang Ke’er smiled. “No one pays attention to a village woman’s rolling pin. Even if they noticed, they wouldn’t believe it. And even if they believed it, they’d be beaten to death.”

Luo Han’s hair stood on end.

He had now peeked into the secret of this hidden village. He feared there was no escaping being silenced.

Since the other party dared to show him all this, they must be absolutely certain he couldn’t leak the secret. Silencing him was the simplest solution.

After Jiang Ke’er took Luo Han door-to-door through the entire village, she finally stopped and led him to the entrance of the Qinglian Sword Sect.

Standing beneath the four large characters reading Qinglian Sword Sect, Jiang Ke’er asked, “Now do you know this village’s secret?”

“Yes…”

Luo Han said in a trembling voice.

“No, you don’t.”

Jiang Ke’er said, leading Luo Han into the courtyard.

She pulled out a crystal studded with buttons and pressed two of them rapidly.

A brilliant flash appeared before Luo Han’s eyes, but he still managed to catch the image from that instant.

The rundown courtyard suddenly transformed into a magnificent immortal estate, its towering sharp sword intent piercing a hole straight through the sky!

Luo Han touched the scar at the corner of his eye. It was a small cut left by the sword qi in that brief moment—a warning only, so it hadn’t struck anything vital.

“Even with all this, it’s still just the tip of the iceberg in the Novice Village.”

Looking at the paralyzed Luo Han, Jiang Ke’er said, “Now you know what you need to do.”

Without hesitation, Luo Han knelt on the ground.

Then he pulled out a small white porcelain bottle, tilted his head back, and swallowed every pill inside.

After that, he extended his hand.

“This is soul-splitting poison. If the poisoned person doesn’t receive the Master’s True Qi within a month, the poison will kill them. You only need to give me a wisp of your True Qi, and from now on, I am your servant.”

Jiang Ke’er recognized soul-splitting poison and knew Luo Han hadn’t pulled any tricks—he’d taken the real poison.

“No need.”

Jiang Ke’er tossed another small porcelain bottle to Luo Han. “Take the antidote for your soul-splitting poison. This is an antidote I developed myself. Smart.”

An antidote for soul-splitting poison?!

Luo Han gripped the antidote bottle in shock, his mind short-circuiting.

Everyone in the world knew soul-splitting poison had no antidote. That was why poisoned servants could never be freed for life, and even had to be buried with their Master when he died.

But this person before him was so incredibly capable that they even possessed an antidote for soul-splitting poison!

Just what kind of existence was he dealing with?!

Jiang Ke’er gave a faint smile. “Hurry and take the antidote. In a moment, open your mind. I’ll place a servant seal on you, and you’ll receive power.”