Chapter 109: A Desperate Gamble

Xu Mengdie watched as Xia Baiqian leaned in so close. Her nose tingled with a strange, inexplicable feeling.

Was it just her imagination? She recalled that Baiqian used to be close with her brother too. But why did this closeness now seem… different? Could it be because of her brother’s amnesia?

She was just being sentimental, of course. It wasn’t as if his disciples would ever harm him.

Xia Baiqian tossed the top-grade spiritual treasure into Chu Huaizhou’s arms. Just as it was about to hit Bai Li’s head, the white fox shot away like a spring—*swoosh*—landing on the ground, then rebounding into Xu Mengdie’s arms, fur bristling. She instantly activated her Spinosaurus mode again.

“Meow! Baiqian, be careful! I know you’re excited, but I’m scared, meow!”

She knew that all of Baiqian’s Gu insects were stored in that pot. If a few accidentally fell out, her fox life might… come to an end.

Xia Baiqian stuck out her tongue sheepishly. “Sorry, Little Bai Li. I was just too excited.”

She took the treasure back from her master’s arms and gestured for it to return. But Bai Li didn’t budge. Why? Because… the human was dirty.

Chu Huaizhou looked at her sympathetically. Poor little Bai Li, completely at Baiqian’s mercy. But thinking of how he himself was equally helpless before her delicate feet, he couldn’t help but feel a fox’s grief.

“Master, Master—please help me upgrade the treasure’s quality!”

Chu Huaizhou pushed aside the Hundred Gu Refining Immortal Pot that Xia Baiqian offered, shaking his head. “Don’t rush. This isn’t a hundred percent success. There’s still a chance of catastrophic failure. This treasure resonates with your Dao and is incredibly powerful—you probably only have one like it. If it’s destroyed, the loss would outweigh the gain.”

Xia Baiqian dejectedly took back the treasure, rubbing her hands together between her thighs.

“You’re right. I was impatient. So, Master, what should we do?”

Chu Huaizhou smiled faintly.

“We’ll need some mysterious little rituals.”

With that, his gaze fell on Xu Mengdie.

*****

“Failed… failed, failed, failed, failed, failed, failed, failed.”

Chu Huaizhou’s Nine Radiance Profound Abyss Ring on his index finger had vanished somewhere. He slumped against the bed, on the verge of tears, while a heap of gray ash lay on the floor. It had truly burned away, leaving only snow-white ash.

Xia Baiqian and Xu Mengdie had gone from excitement to grim faces.

What kind of drop rate was this? So abysmally low that he angrily threw the ring on the ground.

Chu Huaizhou didn’t have many magic tools or treasures. His storage ring mostly contained spirit stones, disposable formations, talismans, and pills. But that didn’t matter—where was he? The Ten Thousand Methods Immortal Sect! Aside from the Profound Creation Sect, which specialized in forging and alchemy, no other sect was richer in artifacts than his.

Before Chu Huaizhou could say anything, a single glance from him made Xu Mengdie wave her hand and dump out a mountain of magic tools and treasures.

Even though she muttered, “Can’t believe I’ve stooped to begging from my little sister,” having a rich sister was quite an experience.

Unfortunately, the success rate was truly pathetic. He’d smelted twenty-five furnaces—all top-grade magic tools he’d tried to refine into treasures. Twelve furnaces were catastrophic failures, twelve succeeded, but because he needed to upgrade their grade, they were essentially failures. Only one furnace succeeded brilliantly.

Even that single success came from the very first attempt—probably the newbie protection period at work. After that, ten consecutive catastrophic failures. If it were treasures refined into spiritual treasures, the success rate would be even lower.

But every time he locked onto a magic tool, he needed materials equivalent to two treasures just to accumulate enough Creation Value. Essentially, it was a gift that gave nothing—if not for a particularly favored weapon, this ability was a pure burden.

Xia Baiqian and Xu Mengdie fiddled with the Nine Radiance Profound Abyss Ring, searching for a trick to boost success rate.

Bai Li padded over with a soft *pat pat*, arched her back, and lightly jumped onto Chu Huaizhou’s shoulder. She raised a tiny paw and patted his head.

The little fox didn’t understand much—in her eyes, it was just a loss of some tools and treasures, nothing to be so upset about. But she sensed his sadness and wanted to comfort him in her own way.

“Don’t be sad, human. I’ll think of a way to help you, meow.”

Chu Huaizhou showed a resigned expression, looking up at the ceiling as if he’d accepted everything. If he had a cigarette in hand, it would be a classic painting.

“Sure, but how can you help? Luck is… intangible.”

“Luck, meow? I can boost your luck, meow.”

Bai Li grabbed his face with her little paws, staring into his eyes. Her huge amber eyes were wide open, looking incredibly cute.

Chu Huaizhou shot upright, his face regaining life, cheeks flushed. He grabbed Bai Li seriously, holding her up.

“Little Bai Li, can you really improve my luck?”

Bai Li nodded again, lifting her head with a hint of pride, paws on her hips. “Of course, meow. This is even a Mahayana-level technique, meow.”

Haki Bai… you were actually this strong?

Chu Huaizhou once again felt Bai Li’s power as a support companion—unparalleled across the ages!

“Bai Li, I’m counting on you. Cast a luck-boosting spell on me.”

He hugged her tightly, rubbing his face against her little cheek.

But neither noticed that Xia Baiqian, while fiddling with the ring alongside Xu Mengdie, had been staring fixedly at them. Her eyes seemed barely restrained, showing a hint of emptiness.

“Okay, okay, meow. Human, loosen up a bit. I can’t breathe, meow!”

Bai Li didn’t see Xia Baiqian’s gaze, but the nine-tailed celestial fox’s intuition was sharp—she felt a prickling sensation all over. Though she usually loved cuddling with Chu Huaizhou, now she struggled out of his clutches and licked her ruffled fur.

Her nine tails pointed at him, emitting a soft cyan glow.

“Wum—”

Chu Huaizhou’s spiritual sense felt something different about himself, but he couldn’t describe it. In any case, he now lacked nothing.

No time to mourn the ten consecutive catastrophic failures. Next up was Chu Huaizhou, red-hot and buffed.

“Little sis, did you guys succeed?”

Xu Mengdie shook her head. “No. Baiqian and I tried twice—also catastrophic failures.”

Chu Huaizhou was overjoyed. “Great! Excellent! Give me the ring. I feel like this time it’ll work.”

He was like a mad gambler who had used all his saved stones on card pulls, only to lose everything. Then he scraped together one more pull, betting everything on it.

Heh. This time, he’d go big.

Chu Huaizhou took out his old companion, the Startled Swan Sword, and brought it close to the Nine Radiance Profound Abyss Ring. The ring emitted a golden phantom—a Pixiu gold furnace half a person tall.

Just as he was about to throw the sword in, Bai Li suddenly rushed up and grabbed his arm.

“Wait, human! What if it fails catastrophically, meow! Qingqiu gave you this sword. If it breaks, she’ll definitely…”

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