The Gift of a Life Scale

Shi Yu gave a faint nod and untied the Submissive Rope around his neck.

Seeing this, the manager could not help remarking, “Miss, the Snakefolk are cunning by nature. It's best to keep him bound.”

Before his words could finish echoing, the youth lowered his head. One hand pressed against his chest to hold the snow-white brocade coat tightly around himself, while the other hand reached beneath the fabric and yanked viciously.

“Mmh!” A muffled groan escaped the youth as if struck by intense pain, his face turning instantly pale.

After catching his breath for a moment, he withdrew his hand from beneath the brocade. His pale fingers, clenched into a fist, slowly opened before Shi Yu.

Shi Yu saw a silver snake scale lying in his palm, its edges stained with blood.

“This is...”

The snake scale was delicate with fine textures, shimmering like a rippling water surface in a silver-white light. It looked as exquisite as a piece of fine jewelry.

The warning the manager had been about to give—telling Shi Yu to keep a close eye on the youth—stuck in his throat. He stammered out, “A... life scale?”

Dragons had reverse scales; snakes had life scales.

What the youth had plucked out was precisely the life scale located over his heart.

Master Ji had originally held feelings of aversion and vigilance toward this Snakefolk descendant, worried that he might harm Shi Yu, his precious treasure.

Seeing the youth pluck out his own life scale willingly, Master Ji's expression softened considerably. Since he offered his life scale of his own accord, he thought to himself, there is no need to worry about him harboring ill intent toward Little Yu.

Before everyone's eyes, the snake scale floated into the air and glided toward Shi Yu, coming to rest right beneath her eye.

No larger than a fingernail, the snake scale decorated the spot under her eye with a rippling silver luster, looking as though it had been delicately painted on. It added a touch of striking beauty to her delicate features.

A cool sensation spread through her, and the silver scale vanished beneath her skin in an instant.

Shi Yu could not help touching the area under her eye with her fingertips.

There was no mark or trace of a scale, yet she could distinctly feel its presence.

It did not feel out of place or awkward at all, almost as if it had belonged there from the beginning.

When she looked back at the youth, their eyes met, and a sensation akin to a mind-link washed over her.

This connection was far from equal. For instance, she could clearly perceive his emotions, whereas he could not sense a single trace of hers unless she permitted it.

Furthermore, she could even control him with her intent—if she ordered him to die right now, he would have no choice but to obey implicitly.

At the same time, his name surfaced in her mind. Shi Yu murmured softly, “Qingzhou.”

The youth gave a low, quiet response.

Beside them, Zhou Shuo sized up the youth and remarked casually, “As in 'a light boat drifting on a pond'?”

Shi Yu thought for a moment, and without knowing why, she said, “It's Qingzhou as in 'Leaning against the sea, overturn the firmament; wild tides submerge the nine continents.'”

Zhou Shuo uttered an “Oh,” glancing at the weak and pale youth with a hint of skepticism, feeling that “Light Boat” suited him much better.

Shi Yu had no desire to pry into another's inner world. Once she understood the effects of the life scale, she deliberately ignored the scale beneath her eye, effectively blocking out her perception of his emotions.

Seeing that Qingzhou was still bleeding from where he had forcibly torn out the scale from his chest, she retrieved a Rejuvenation Pill from her Fate-Tapping Bell and offered it to him. “Eat this.”

Qingzhou obediently took it.

The other people in the room twitched at the corners of their eyes upon seeing her casually pull out a Rejuvenation Pill radiating a misty pill halo.

“...”

A pill halo meant it was a high-grade pill! A high-grade pill!

He was only bleeding a little from his chest—a minor injury that could easily be healed with a sprinkle of ordinary medicinal powder. Wasn't pulling out a high-grade Rejuvenation Pill a bit too extravagant?

Yet Shi Yu herself acted completely unbothered.

The main reason was that she did not have anything other than high-grade Rejuvenation Pills on her.

Nowadays, for ordinary pills like Dew-Condensing Pills and Rejuvenation Pills, whenever she refined a batch, they were guaranteed to be high-grade. Moreover, a single cauldron yielded at least a dozen pills, sometimes as many as twenty or thirty. Using them like jellybeans was more than viable for her.

Beside her, Master Ji cleared his throat lightheartedly and said to Shi Yu, “Your cave dwelling happens to lack servants to handle mundane chores anyway. Qingzhou... since he gave you his life scale, his life is tied to yours now, so you won't need to worry about betrayal. Having him do some everyday chores for you is actually quite fitting.”

The manager muttered to himself, Bought for eighteen hundred spirit stones just to use as a servant... that is one expensive servant.

Despite his internal complaints, he chimed in with agreement on his face, “Indeed, indeed!”

Shi Yu glanced at Qingzhou, thinking that with his frail build, he probably couldn't even handle sweeping and dusting.

Master Ji waved his hand and said to the manager, “Alright, no need to see us off. Go about your work.”

“Understood! Then I shall not disturb you further.” The manager bowed respectfully and led his attendants away.

Inside the private box, Master Ji picked out two items from the pile he had won at the auction and handed them to Shi Yu. “Little Yu, consider this the meeting gift I owed you.”

Shi Yu looked over. The first item was two spools of silkworm silk produced by a thousand-year-old spirit silkworm called the Mist-Cloud Silkworm. The silk shimmered with dreamlike colors, lying there as airy and weightless as its name implied—resembling rosy clouds, breathtakingly beautiful.

Earlier at the auction, quite a few female cultivators had bid fiercely for this item.

The two spools of silk were of superior quality and rich in spiritual energy. Although spirit robes crafted from it offered only average defensive power, they were supple, graceful, and exceptionally gorgeous, making them immensely popular.

Master Ji squinted with a smile and said, “I noticed you lack a spirit robe. This happens to be perfect for having a set made. When those old fogies at the Refinement Association find out it's for you, they'll surely be more than happy to help. You can go seek them out with confidence.”

He added, “A young girl like you shouldn't be dressed so gloomily all the time.”

Shi Yu offered a small smile, running her fingers over the spools of silk. Seeing the shimmering, gorgeous colors shifting across them, she felt a fondness for them and accepted them graciously. “Thank you, Master Ji. Once the spirit robe is made, I will be sure to show you.”

The other item was Ice Marrow, another rare and precious treasure of heaven and earth.

Master Ji said, “Consuming pills always leaves behind residual pill toxicity. This Ice Marrow can help you purge it.”

“Just take it whenever you feel too much pill toxicity has accumulated. Don't let pill toxicity delay your cultivation.”

Shi Yu held the translucent blue piece of Ice Marrow in her palm, feeling touched in her heart. Whether Master Ji appreciated her talent or held expectations for her, he was undeniably sincere in his care.

Ice Marrow possessed remarkable effects that Master Ji himself could use, yet he had given it to her instead.

In reality, Shi Yu had long consumed only high-grade pills, so she barely had any accumulated pill toxicity in her body. Furthermore, possessing a Heavenly Fire like the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame made dissolving pill toxicity far easier for her than for ordinary people.

This Ailment-Clearing Pill was also a new recipe she had developed back in the game, using Ice Marrow as the primary ingredient, which greatly enhanced its effectiveness in purging pill toxicity.

Seeing Shi Yu accept both items, Master Ji beamed with delight.

The others in the room looked on in deep envy seeing how well Master Ji treated Shi Yu.

With the auction now at an end, the group began retracing their steps back.

Shi Yu glanced at Qingzhou and said, “Follow me.”

Qingzhou nodded silently and followed behind her, but as he took a step, he fell heavily to the ground.

—He had been locked in a cage for months, and his legs had long since lost their strength.

Seeing this, Shi Yu secretly blamed herself for being careless in forgetting this. She leaned down and helped him up. “Let's go.”

Qingzhou leaned partially against her, looking slightly uneasy as if worried about putting too much weight on her.

Beside them, Zhou Yang noticed that Shi Yu herself had a slender build and found supporting someone somewhat strainful, so he offered, “Let me carry him on my back.”

Shi Yu thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright, thank you for the trouble, Brother Zhou.”

She held Qingzhou and was about to hand him over to Zhou Yang when Qingzhou gently flexed his legs and feet. His voice was low, clear, and soft: “Just now, my legs were merely numb from being curled up in the cage for so long, making it hard to walk.”

“I can walk on my own now.”

With that, he began walking by himself, though still limping slightly in a way that evoked pity.

Shi Yu did not overthink it and nodded. “That's good then. It saves Brother Zhou the effort.”

Zhou Yang gave a response, casting a couple more glances at Qingzhou. He felt there was a strange, indescribable air about the youth...

...one that he didn't particularly like.