Chapter 30: A Favor For Saving His Life

Jiang Minghuang glared viciously at Gu Changqing.

He was ready to stand up and strangle the boy.

If he couldn’t get money, how was he supposed to live in this lower realm? He had truly had enough of these days!

But the moment his hand went to Gu Changqing’s throat, he hesitated.

If he killed this fellow, wouldn’t he be ruined? Who would he demand compensation from for all he’d risked these past days!

Jiang Minghuang withdrew his hand and crouched before Gu Changqing.

This scion purportedly from the foremost family of the upper realm showed none of the airs of his station now. He was more like a common thug, racking his brains over how to make the man who owed him his life repay the debt.

“Do you have any valuable jewels on you? You lost the manual, so give me some jewels instead.”

Gu Changqing shook his sleeves.

Jiang Minghuang’s expression grew more ferocious, then, almost in surrender, he said, “After all, I saved your life, so you owe me a hot meal… no, meat—I want meat.”

Outside the mirror.

The gathered cultivators were somewhat amused and bewildered.

One was the Great Emperor Jiang who swept the heavens.

The other was the peerless Heavenly Emperor, who suppressed the three realms, looked down on all beings, and held supreme authority.

One now owed the other a huge favor for saving his life—an immense debt of gratitude—yet this Emperor Jiang was so pathetic as to only want one hearty meal.

Given the present situation, this might well be a karmic consequence capable of making the entire Beixuan Continent tremble!

“Alright.”

Gu Changqing seemed to think this fellow wasn’t so detestable after all.

His childhood had been miserable, tormented by human cruelty.

Thus he preferred to live deep in the mountains rather than mingle with mortals.

This guy was the first person he’d met who seemed to bear no ill will toward him and was even his lifesaver.

Most importantly, his character wasn’t too bad.

Jiang Minghuang helped him up and then handed him an axe.

The latter gazed at Jiang Minghuang with some astonishment.

After all, it was already not easy that this guy had carried him back—he had even brought back his axe.

Jiang Minghuang smirked. “This axe saved my life—throwing it into a pit of corpses just didn’t feel right.”

Warmth filled Gu Changqing’s heart.

This axe meant a great deal to him. It had been the support for his courage to resist fate’s cruelty.

So even though it was a mundane item, Gu Changqing had kept it by his side all these years and never discarded it.

Stepping out of the dilapidated thatched hut without even a proper door, the biting cold wind met them.

The two came to a vegetable stall at a market.

They looked at each other. Neither moved a step toward the stall.

Aside from an axe that could barely chop firewood, they had nothing on them.

To swallow their pride and beg someone for scraps of greens or bits of beast meat—both of them found the idea unbearable.

After all, one was a scion of the foremost family of the upper realm.

The other was stubborn enough to rather lose his head than bow to others.

“Let’s go to the woods. I can hunt some beast meat for you.”

“I, Gu Changqing, don’t like to owe others—I owe you a favor for saving my life. No matter what, I must repay.”

The Zhao emperor had been slain. With no leader, the nation descended into chaos. The borders were in turmoil, the court shaken—anyone with ambition poured forces into this region.

The fortunes of the ancient sect that supported the nation had been cut down. The Dao lineage that had stood in the cultivation world for tens of thousands of years was wiped out in a single day, and every cultivator sought to nibble away at the remnants left by Jade Void Palace.

The two walked out beyond the city.

The mortal world was chaotic— the cultivation world even more so!

However, all of this had little to do with the two before them. After all, this future Great Emperor Jiang now only wanted a hot meal with meat.

The two reached a mountain forest.

Although Gu Changqing’s Dao Palace was shattered and his spiritual veins were broken, his insight into the sword dao remained, and he could still unleash sword force.

Hunting was still an easy task for him.

After all, having lived in the mountains for so many years, this skill was etched into his bones.

Soon.

Gu Changqing managed to catch a rabbit.

Jiang Minghuang somehow found a broken jar, lit a fire, and cooked a pot of hot rabbit soup.

In just 15 minutes’ time, the aroma of meat wafted forth.

Jiang Minghuang swallowed hard, and disregarding any noble bearing, he immediately grabbed a rabbit leg and began to gnaw on it.

“Delicious, so delicious—this is by far the best rabbit I’ve ever eaten in my life. The delicacies of the upper realm can’t compare.”

With his mouth full of rabbit meat, Jiang Minghuang still managed to offer an appraisal.

Then he actually lifted the broken jar and gulped down the rabbit soup in large gulps.

Full and sated, the youth who looked like an exiled immortal lay on the ground, bored and stroking his belly, his face full of contentment.

“Then I’ll consider the debt repaid,” Gu Changqing said. He hadn’t touched the pot of rabbit meat at all.

The young Emperor Jiang who had been disdainful a moment ago had now tasted the rabbit’s freshness and was reluctant to give it up.

After all, after more than a year in the lower realm, this was the only hot meal he’d had.

If Gu Changqing left, what would he do for food and clothing in the future?

He pondered a moment, then suddenly stood up with an inscrutable expression.

“I originally intended to pretend that I am an ordinary person, but now I have no choice but to be frank with you.”

“In truth, I am a scion of the foremost family of the upper realm. I only came down to the lower realm for a five-year excursion, and when the five years are up I will return.”

“If you can feed me meat every day and take good care of me, when I return to the upper realm I will bring you with me.”

“Look at you—your dao foundation is broken, and things won’t get much better in the future. If you come back with me, I won’t promise you’ll become a cultivator, but I can guarantee you wealth and honor.”