Chapter 433: Are You Messing With Me?

Lu Sangjiu’s mind was a mess, and she couldn’t help but worry about what was happening outside.

Of course, she was most worried about the safety of her family and friends.

So, even though she knew it was a long shot, she couldn’t help but ask, "Cangming, I... I want to contact my master and the others. Could you take down the Barrier for a moment?"

Cangming shot her a glance and said mockingly, "Are you worried about your master and the others, or are you worried about Xie Ningyuan?"

"I’m worried about all of them."

"Hah. But you’re most worried about Xie Ningyuan, aren’t you?"

Lu Sangjiu’s mood soured at his sarcastic tone. "If you’re going to refuse, just say it. You don’t have to be so passive-aggressive!"

Cangming said, "Oh," and then, "I refuse."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

She burst out, "Do you have to keep me imprisoned here?"

Cangming looked at her. "Even though I knew you were avoiding me, I didn’t stop you from entering seclusion. Now... don’t push your luck."

"Lu Sangjiu, since you refuse to return to the Western Demon Realm, you are my prisoner here."

"And a prisoner has no right to negotiate with me."

Lu Sangjiu was left speechless.

After a long moment, she took a deep breath and turned back toward her room.

"Where are you going?"

Without looking back, Lu Sangjiu replied, "To enter seclusion and cultivate."

"Come back."

Lu Sangjiu whirled around, furious. "Didn’t you say you wouldn’t stop me from entering seclusion?"

Cangming regarded her calmly. "I don’t allow it anymore. You’re coming with me."

"Go..."

Lu Sangjiu was about to ask where, but Cangming, ignoring her completely, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a spatial rift.

The next moment, Lu Sangjiu found herself on the peak of a snow-capped mountain.

"...Why did you bring me here?"

"To show you something nice."

With that, Cangming pulled her into a cave behind them.

The cave was covered in ice and snow. Deep inside grew several Cold Ice Crystal Stones, the oldest of which was a full ten thousand years old!

A thousand-year-old one was rare enough, let alone one that was ten thousand years old!

Lu Sangjiu stared in shock. Then she heard Cangming say, "I heard you have a Spirit Beast that relies on Cold Ice Crystal Stones for its cultivation, so I made a special trip to several snowy mountains to find some for you."

"You’ve broken through to the Divinity Transformation Stage, but your Spirit Beast probably hasn’t. If it cultivates with these, it should be able to catch up to you quickly."

To be honest... looking at the ten-thousand-year-old Cold Ice Crystal Stone, Lu Sangjiu felt a genuine pang of desire.

Even Duoduo in her Spirit Beast Bag could sense the power of the Cold Ice Crystal Stone and was stirring restlessly, wanting to come out.

But... she turned to walk out. "I won’t accept anything from you."

But before she had taken more than a few steps, a heart-wrenching pain suddenly seized her.

It came so suddenly that she staggered, nearly falling. She couldn’t help but clutch her chest and drop to one knee, her face paling from the pain.

Cangming strode slowly to her side. In a placid tone, he said, "If you don’t want these, then you’ll have to endure the heart-gnawing pain of the Gu Worm."

"It’s one or the other. Are you sure you don’t want the Cold Ice Crystal Stones?"

Lu Sangjiu was in too much pain to speak, only cursing him silently.

’Is this guy a psychopath???’

’Who ever heard of someone trying to kill you with pain just because you wouldn’t accept their gift!’

’And he dares to say he likes me???’

Although she had long known how outrageous Cangming could be, Lu Sangjiu was still furious. ’I must have had the worst luck for eight lifetimes to have someone like him fall for me.’

She desperately wanted to stand her ground and not yield to him.

But she had to admit... when the Love Gu acted up, the pain was truly unbearable.

On one hand, there was agonizing pain; on the other, the tempting Cold Ice Crystal Stones... Was there even a choice?

Finally, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t take it anymore. "I... I’ll take them!"

As she forced the words out through gritted teeth, the pain in her chest receded in an instant, like a withdrawing tide.

Lu Sangjiu remained kneeling, her hands braced against the ground as she gasped for breath.

Cangming stood beside her and suddenly reached out to pat her on the head. "You should have done that from the start."

Despite her exhaustion, Lu Sangjiu still managed to struggle away from his touch.

When she looked back at him, her eyes were filled with undisguised loathing.

Cangming was stung by her glare. His hand froze in mid-air for a moment before he nonchalantly drew it back.

He turned, gathered all the Cold Ice Crystal Stones into his hand, and offered them to Lu Sangjiu. "Here, take them."

As if to vent her frustration, Lu Sangjiu snatched the stones from his hand with a sharp, forceful motion and shoved them haphazardly into her storage bag.

But then Cangming said, "Didn’t I say those were for your Spirit Beast to use?"

"Since I gave them to you, you should at least make the most of them."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’I really want to scream at him,’ she thought. ’Isn’t it enough that I took them? Now you’re telling me how to use them!’

But the recent pain had left her exhausted, and she had no energy to argue with him. So she grudgingly took the stones out again and, right in front of him, stuffed them into her Spirit Beast Bag. Only then did Cangming finally seem satisfied.

"It seems you need to rest... It’s cold and damp in the cave. Let’s go outside and enjoy the view."

As he spoke, Cangming reached out to help her up, but, unsurprisingly, she avoided his hand.

Lu Sangjiu simply took out her Domination Map Blade, using it as a cane to limp her way outside. Her retreating figure was the very picture of defiance.

Cangming watched her go, a gentle smile gracing his otherwise cold face. ’...That’s her, all right.’

The view from the snowy mountain was truly beautiful, but with the wrong person by her side, Lu Sangjiu was in no mood to appreciate it.

After sitting outside long enough to recover her strength, she got up and said to Cangming, "We can go back now."

Cangming grunted in agreement and once again pulled her into a spatial rift.

When they emerged, Lu Sangjiu realized they hadn’t returned to the Cold Crow Sect. Instead... they were in a valley.

Before them stood a large tree, upon which grew three golden Spirit Fruits exuding an alluring aroma.

Cangming raised a hand, plucked all three fruits, and presented them to Lu Sangjiu. "These are high-level Spirit Fruits. You don’t need to go through the trouble of refining them into Elixir Pills; they will still benefit your cultivation. Take them."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’Fine,’ she thought. ’I’ll endure it!’

She had just put the fruits away and was about to ask if they could go back now.

But Cangming started walking forward again. "Come on, there’s more this way."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’We’re Cultivators, do we really need to walk?’

Suppressing her anger, Lu Sangjiu asked, "Walking is too slow. Can’t we just use Instant Teleportation?"

Without looking at her, Cangming simply said, "The scenery here is nice. I feel like walking."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

And so, Lu Sangjiu had no choice but to follow Cangming around, collecting one batch of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures after another.

No matter how powerful Cangming was, there was no way he was just happening upon all these rare items.

It seemed he had most likely found them long ago, set up Barriers and markers, and was now leading her to "discover" them.

This struck her as very odd. "Are you doing this on purpose to mess with me?"

Her patience snapped. "If you really wanted to give me these things, couldn’t you have just brought them to me? Do you have to drag me all over the place like some errand boy?"