Chapter Eighteen: Butler Cai

Li Chengzhu went alone to the apothecary and spent a hefty pile of supreme-grade stones on a cartload of medicines for restoring spiritual energy.

All of it had been prepared for Gu Linglong, and Boss Li was no longer the man he had once been. Wealthier than ever, he tossed out a handful of supreme-grade stones, and the shopkeeper, who had looked at him with a touch of disdain at first, instantly broke into a fawning smile and nearly called him an immortal emperor. He hurriedly brought out the finest pills in the shop and let Li Chengzhu choose at will.

The spirit-rich pills dazzled Boss Li until his eyes nearly went blurry. After choosing carefully, he selected a medicine called Hundred-Herb Sun-Spirit Ointment, which could greatly restore lost spiritual energy. He also took a ninth-grade pill called Spirit-Bond Essence Gel.

That Spirit-Bond Essence Gel had been enshrined by the shopkeeper as the very treasure of the store. A ninth-grade pill was already extraordinary; one more grade, and it would become an immortal pill. In legend, it could even bring the dead back to life, and it was of tremendous benefit in repairing a scattered nascent soul.

As for how effective it might be in repairing an immortal’s divine soul, he had no idea, but anything was better than nothing.

By chance, he had found this precious treasure, and Li Chengzhu’s plan immediately gained a great deal more hope. What remained was how to lure Gu Linglong into bed.

Li Chengzhu suddenly felt like the big bad wolf wearing a little red hood, lurking at every moment over the innocent little lamb that was Gu Linglong.

He strolled back to the City Lord’s Manor, still thinking hard about how to bring this up to her.

Chances were that before he could even finish speaking, Gu Linglong would kick him straight out of the room.

Could it be that he really had to drug her with Immortal Desire Powder?

Damn it, that would be far too despicable. Boss Li cast a fierce inward scorn upon himself.

Just as he stepped through the manor gates, he saw Butler Cai walking past with his head lowered. Li Chengzhu gave the suddenly appeared butler a sidelong glance, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

This fellow moved like a rat; something about him had always felt wrong.

“Cai, where are you off to?” Li Chengzhu called out.

“Ah, haha, it’s the son-in-law. I’m going out to arrange the welcoming ceremony,” Butler Cai replied. Old but sharp, he could tell at a glance that Li Chengzhu held an unusual place in Gu Linglong’s heart, and so he addressed him as son-in-law without waiting for others to say it first.

Li Chengzhu patted the shoulder of this butler, whose cultivation was only at the Soul-Exit stage, with some satisfaction. This man was quite good at handling himself.

“Cai, how long have you been serving as butler here?”

At that, Cai’s expression darkened. “A hundred and fifty years, maybe. Rainbow City has already changed hands several times over.”

Li Chengzhu raised an eyebrow and struck at the soft spot. “Then why is your cultivation still like this?”

Cai gave an embarrassed smile. “You mean it’s poor, don’t you? Sigh. My aptitude was never high to begin with, and I had no backing. I never obtained any good cultivation method, nor anything like Heavenly Fate Stones to support me. My progress has been... sigh.”

Another cultivator at the very bottom of the immortal path. Li Chengzhu could not help feeling a little sympathy for him.

“Hasn’t our Linglong taught you a better technique?”

At the mention of Gu Linglong, Cai’s eyes lit up. “My lady is truly kind to me, just like family. She can’t be compared to the city lords who came before her. But son-in-law, you know this as well: I’ve already cultivated other techniques. Even if my lady wanted to teach me now, I could no longer learn them.”

“Oh?” Li Chengzhu was puzzled. Was there such a thing? Once one practiced one technique, one could no longer learn another? Why had nobody ever told him that?

“You didn’t know, son-in-law?” Cai asked, staring in surprise. This was common knowledge to everyone.

Li Chengzhu smiled awkwardly. “No one ever told me. I’ve been in the immortal realm for less than four years, and before that I didn’t even know how to cultivate.”

“Heavens!” Cai’s eyes bulged so wide they looked as if they might pop out like pigeon eggs. Was this son-in-law bragging? In less than four years, he had reached such a profound level of cultivation? With Cai’s long experience of reading people, he estimated that Li Chengzhu had at least reached the mid-Manifestation stage.

This... this was a prodigy.

Cai could not help but grow excited. If the city lord were with such a son-in-law, then once he attained immortality, he would surely solve the problem of her insufficient power.

This son-in-law at least had the potential to ascend directly into the ranks of a Golden Immortal.

Cai’s eyes moistened.

Ah, little Gu, at last you’re going to rise above your hardships.

“Why are you so excited, Cai?” Li Chengzhu asked in confusion.

Cai wiped the corners of his eyes and, with emotion, gripped Li Chengzhu’s hand. “Son-in-law, with the city lord in your care, I can rest easy.”

Li Chengzhu was rather dazed. Why did Cai make it sound as if Gu Linglong were his own daughter?

After a moment of feeling sentimental, Cai finally calmed down. “To tell the truth, son-in-law, the city lord has shown me immense kindness. Not only does she guide me in my cultivation, every year she also gives me thirty of the one hundred supreme-grade stones the Immortal Emperor grants her. Such a city lord... son-in-law, there is absolutely no second one like her in the immortal realm. That is why everyone in the city respects and loves the city lord so deeply. As for me, I may be thick-skinned in saying this to you, but I truly regard the city lord as my own daughter. As long as she can find a good match, I’d be willing to do anything.”

“Cough, cough.” Li Chengzhu nearly choked. Gu Linglong was at least eight or nine hundred years old, wasn’t she? He could not help but remind Cai, “How old are you?”

Cai blushed at his own age and mumbled, “At the very least, eight hundred, perhaps nine hundred? Yes... but certainly not over a thousand.”

Damn, Cai’s aptitude was truly something else. To reach the Soul-Exit stage in nearly a thousand years was no wonder he looked somewhat aged. It was likely that if he still failed to break through his current realm within the next hundred years, he too would return to dust.

Boss Li took out a storage ring, inside which there were at least a hundred supreme-grade stones, and handed it to Cai. “Cai, take this as a little token from me. I’m not saying it’s repayment for the way you value Linglong, but from now on we’ll all be family. If you run into any trouble, come find me.”

Boss Li thumped his chest with great force. Cai was immediately moved to tears. After a few refusals, he accepted it.

Seeing that no one else was around, Li Chengzhu leaned close to Cai and lowered his voice. “Cai, may I ask you for a favor?”

“Son-in-law, that’s too formal. Just say the word if you need anything.”

Having received such a generous gift, Cai became quite frank himself.

“Can you drive the idle servants and hangers-on out of the City Lord’s Manor?” Li Chengzhu fixed his eyes on Cai’s weathered face.

“That... might not be very appropriate, would it?” Cai hesitated. “After all, they’re all guests of the city lord.”

“What’s inappropriate about it? Just say the city lord has some private matters to attend to, and have them stay outside for a day.”

“A day?” Cai asked in astonishment, and then, as if suddenly understanding something, he pointed at Li Chengzhu. “You...”

Boss Li’s old face flushed red. “Cai, your thoughts have gone off track.”

He quickly composed himself and put on a serious expression. “To tell the truth, Linglong is a little injured. I’m worried that someone might disturb her while she’s recovering, so I need them out of the way. Understand?”