Volume 1, Chapter 354 – Borrowing Influence

“Your lifespan is no longer a problem?”

Shi Tianlu looked toward the dark-red tips of Shi Lan’s hair, delight flashing through his eyes.

“My cultivation improved a little. It’s fine now.”

Shi Lan shook her head and glanced toward the half-open courtyard gate.

“Where did Mother go?”

Her divine sense had already swept over the entire residence, yet she had not found any trace of Su Lanyue. Even her two younger brothers were not in the manor.

“Your mother happened to have something to take care of, so she went out. She’ll be back shortly. Come home first.”

Shi Tianlu waved a hand and pulled Shi Lan toward the gate. He did not think much of what she had said about her cultivation improving. As long as the crisis with her lifespan had been resolved, that was joyous news of the highest order.

“Brother Shi, the people from the merchant association are still waiting.”

A voice came from not far off to one side. Following the sound, Shi Lan saw an unfamiliar middle-aged man dressed in purple robes. He wore a short beard, his eyes keen and shrewd, and he carried the air of a businessman.

“My apologies. I got carried away for a moment and actually forgot about this matter. Brother Luo, please pass word to them that this deal is canceled. I’ll send compensation for the trouble later.”

Shi Tianlu came back to himself and spoke with some apology in his tone.

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“How could that be…”

The purple-robed middle-aged man frowned slightly. His gaze paused for an instant on Tianbai on Shi Lan’s shoulder, and he was just about to speak when his eyes casually swept to the corner of Shi Lan’s sash. A pale-gold jade token came into view, half-hidden and half-revealed. His pupils contracted at once, and he could not help changing his tone.

“Brother Shi, you’re far too polite. Even if a deal doesn’t go through, goodwill remains. How could there be any talk of compensation? We have plenty of time ahead of us.”

The man’s expression was utterly sincere, without the slightest trace of falsehood. He immediately cupped his hands and added,

“With a heavenly phoenix returning to the nest in Brother Shi’s household today, I won’t intrude any further. I’ll take my leave here.”

“Take care, Brother Luo.” Shi Tianlu did not press him to stay, merely cupping his hands in farewell.

“If the opportunity arises, allow me to prepare a modest banquet to welcome your daughter home.”

With that, he glanced at Shi Lan once more, gave a slight bow, then turned and hurried off with his group.

Shi Tianlu lowered his hand and glanced at the Demon-Suppressing Token at Shi Lan’s waist, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening further.

“Heh. Looks like your old father has to borrow your influence now.”

Shi Lan smiled faintly. After stepping into the Central Heaven Domain, she had already vaguely noticed that the status of the Demon-Suppressing Army might be even more useful here than she had imagined.

“Who was that just now?”

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“One of the stewards of the Yunzhou Merchant Association, named Luo Yong’an. I previously posted a commission with the association to purchase some heavenly treasures capable of restoring life essence. Now that you’ve returned, there’s naturally no need for them anymore.” Shi Tianlu sounded unconcerned as he turned and led Shi Lan inside.

Shi Tianlu made it sound easy, but only he knew how much effort it had taken to gather those heavenly treasures.

Any heavenly treasure capable of restoring life essence or extending lifespan was exceedingly expensive. After all, no one would ever think their life was too long. Especially for powerful experts whose lifespans were nearing their end and who had reached a bottleneck, even a short stretch of borrowed time from Heaven might create unimaginable miracles.

…

This courtyard residence was not particularly large. There were only a few maids and servants within, making it seem somewhat desolate.

There was an unoccupied room in the rear courtyard. It was simply furnished, yet clearly prepared with great care. Inside stood a dressing table and several wardrobes. Shi Lan opened them and found that they were filled with brand-new dresses of every color.

Shi Tianlu escorted Shi Lan into the room. Thinking that she might have been worn out from traveling all the way here, he did not linger for long. After chatting for a few moments, he left.

Shi Lan walked around the room a few times, then finally lay back on the large bed, feeling a rare trace of peace in her heart.

Tianbai leapt down from Shi Lan’s shoulder. Her body suddenly swelled, her beast form fading away as her snowy white fur disappeared, revealing smooth, fair skin.

Ever since stepping into the Demon King realm, she had increasingly preferred taking human form, because she had discovered that in this form, her speed in comprehending the laws was faster.

“Put some clothes on.”

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With her thoughts drifting blankly, Shi Lan felt a wave of drowsiness for the first time in a very long while. She did not resist it. After mumbling a reminder to Tianbai, she let the sleepiness wash over her. She soon fell fast asleep, and even her spirit sank into silence.

Tianbai did not dare disturb her. She carefully climbed off the bed, opened the wardrobe, rummaged around for a bit, awkwardly pulled on a piece of clothing, then lay back down by Shi Lan’s side.

An Innate Spiritual Body absorbed spiritual qi at every moment without pause. No matter the time, the concentration of spiritual qi around Shi Lan was always much higher than in the surrounding world. For Tianbai, there was undoubtedly no place more comfortable.

After an unknown length of time, Shi Lan slowly opened her eyes. Night had already fallen. At some unknown point, candles had been lit in the room, casting a warm, gentle glow.

A figure was sitting by the bed, looking at her with a smile.

“Mother.”

Seeing who it was, Shi Lan called out softly on instinct. Then she gently rubbed her brow, unable to help shaking her head inwardly. She had slept far too deeply. She had not even noticed when Su Lanyue had entered.

She had relaxed a little too much in this state. After waking, she even felt that her spirit had become a little clearer.

“It’s good that you’re back.”

Su Lanyue drew Shi Lan into her arms and gently stroked her hair, as though a burden had finally been lifted from her heart. At long last, the worry she had carried all this time had found an answer.

Shi Lan was undoubtedly the most important person in the world to her. During the time Shi Lan had been away, her heart had been suspended the entire while.

“Who is she?”

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After a long moment, Su Lanyue released Shi Lan and looked toward Tianbai, who was curled up to one side and already sleeping like the dead.

Shi Lan smiled, winding a strand of snowy white hair around her finger.

“She’s my subordinate.”

…

Shi Yiming and Shi Qinghu also returned to the residence that evening. Their reactions to Shi Lan’s return were not the same. Shi Qinghu was naturally full of excitement, while Shi Yiming felt somewhat awkward.

Shi Yiming had now entered a Confucian academy, cultivated a body of righteous qi, and fully stepped onto the Confucian path. Unlike Shi Qinghu, whose nature was simple, Shi Yiming considered things much more deeply. Toward Shi Lan, he still felt a measure of awe.

After the family had a quiet evening meal, Shi Lan began to examine Shi Qinghu’s body.

Previously, she had taught Shi Qinghu the Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art and had used divine phoenix blood to forge his first-layer heavenly foundation, helping him step into the Innate Realm. Now, several years had passed, and on the basis of that divine phoenix blood foundation, Shi Qinghu’s cultivation had steadily advanced into the ninth stage of the Innate Realm. His progress had already been astonishingly fast.

Now Shi Lan was preparing to forge his second-layer heavenly foundation, but she found herself somewhat troubled over the choice of spiritual blood.

Shi Lan currently lacked many things, but precious blood was not one of them. Leaving aside the Demon Emperor blood hidden deep within her body, in the Langya Grotto-Heaven she had also gathered a portion of divine blood belonging to an Ancient God King.

The origins of these two portions of precious blood were simply too shocking, and the energy contained within them was as vast as an ocean. Even Shi Lan as she was now could not safely bear them. If she used them rashly, she worried that some uncontrollable mutation might occur.