Don’t Discriminate Against Species

Chapter 27 - Unable To Bear

The fact that Qing Yuan had been sent flying by the tail of a younger generation likely made him feel that he had lost face. As he charged towards Zhuang Qing in his original form, he was using nearly seven to eight-tenths of his original form’s power.

“Elder Qing Yuan!” Qing Yan had a very bad feeling about this turn of events. He moved swiftly ahead in an attempt to block Qing Yuan, but the enraged Qing Yuan paid no heed to Qing Yan’s obstruction and directly shot past him, accompanied by a cold chill.

“Quick, leave,” Slight panic appeared on Zhuang Qing’s eternally rigid statue face. He wanted to push aside Fu Li who was beside him and transform into his original form to block Qing Yuan, but not only did Fu Li not leave, he even took a step forward and stood in front of him.

“My cultivation might be average, but I won’t let an underaged yao stand in front of me at such a moment,” Fu Li very shamelessly forgot that he had not too long ago let Zhuang Qing go up to fight while he shot his mouth off and pulled aggro at the side.

The chilled air approached. Some of it had even morphed into ice blades sheathed in a piercing might. It was a terrible, abnormal phenomenon.

Ding.

The azure dragon’s offense was suddenly halted by a single slender, fair palm that had grabbed hold of his dragon horn.

“Have you considered the kind of outcome that would result from using ice techniques here?” A layer of thick ice had formed on Fu Li’s face, hair, and even body. In front of the azure dragon, his body seemed particularly small.

Roar.

The azure dragon let out a roar of rage and started thrashing about in an attempt to fling Fu Li off his dragon horns. With a turn of his body, Fu Li flew into the skies. His right palm turned over and an ancient scarlet sword appeared in his hand. With a wave of the sword, the ice swooping towards him was blocked.

“A divine sword refined by the true fire of a Fenghuang?” At the side, Qing Yan’s expression became extremely ugly. He wanted to go up and help but was blocked by Zhuang Qing. In reality, neither of them had any intention of fighting at this moment. Zhuang Qing was worried that Fu Li, the yaoguai who hadn’t left the mountains much, would be at a disadvantage, while Qing Yan was worried that Qing Yuan would be defeated by the divine sword refined by the Fenghuang’s true fire.

Both of them guarded against each other with very tacit understanding, yet neither took action.

After watching for a while, Qing Yan secretly heaved a sigh of relief. This yaoguai didn’t seem to have walked the path of sword cultivation. Although the sword itself was powerful, his skill with the sword was so-so. Hence, he could only restrain Qing Yuan, but not suppress him.

After not more than ten minutes had passed, Qing Yuan, who was so exhausted he was panting for breath, already had the intention of retreating. In contrast, Fu Li was still waving the sword around untiringly, making chopping and cutting motions as if the sword was a hatchet.

But even if this was the case, Qing Yuan was still unable to hold his own against him and was made to retreat step by step. Injuries had already appeared on his body.

The sword landed on Qing Yuan’s body, prompting a pained wail from him. In the end, he could only change back to his human form and take consecutive steps back. He stared hatefully at the sword in Fu Li’s hands, his heart brimming with a very strong unwillingness to accept the situation. He hadn’t lost to an unknown yao cultivator, but to the sword in his hands.

The excessive anger caused Qing Yuan to spit out blood.

Fu Li hadn’t expected the sword to have such powerful destructive ability. When he grabbed the azure dragon’s horns, he had felt that the cold air was a little uncomfortable. In addition, there was only this one weapon in his Qiankun Pouch, so he simply made do with it.

“Leave!” Qing Yuan turned and glanced at Qing Yan with an ugly expression, preparing to leave.

“Wait,” Fu Li stopped Qing Yuan and pointed the sword at his forehead. “You guys bullied an underaged dragon, and now you want to leave just like that?”

Unable to bear his tone of voice, Qing Yuan was about to curse him when someone grabbed the chance to speak first.

Qing Yan took a step forward and cupped his hands at Zhuang Qing. “Dragon Lord Zhuang Qing, we have offended you.”

Zhuang Qing held his hands behind his back and looked at Qing Yan expressionlessly without saying anything.

Seeing that Zhuang Qing didn’t appear to want to continue pursuing the matter, Fu Li turned his hand and drew the sword back, sheathing it.

“Many thanks to Dragon Lord Zhuang Qing for your mercy, this humble one will take my leave!” Qing Yan heaved a sigh of relief, bowing deeply to Zhuang Qing and Fu Li. Turning, he picked up his two motionless juniors and then transformed into a beam of light with Qing Yuan, vanishing into the clouds. The speed at which he did this was so quick that he appeared to be running for his life.

Fu Li dragged the sword he was carrying along the ground. Without any care for maintaining his image, he walked lazily to Zhuang Qing and said with a face full of resentment, “This sword is too heavy. It isn’t nice to use at all.”

“This sword…” Zhuang Qing watched Fu Li drag the divine sword that induced fear in the azure dragons as if it was scrap iron. “How did you obtain it?”

“All the yao cultivators on our mountain who can transform have one,” Fu Li put the sword back into his Qiankun Pouch. “This was forged by King Ganglie and the sparrow spirit at the entrance of my cave who can’t transform no matter how much they cultivate. But this sword is heavy, ugly, and isn’t even practical for cutting trees, so no one likes to use it.”

“It not for the bone-chilling air on that dragon’s body and the fact that I didn’t have any other suitable weapon with me, I wouldn’t have used this,” Fu Li glanced at his open palm. “My hand’s even red from the extreme cold. Are those clansmen of yours so shameless that they even like bullying their juniors?”

Zhuang Qing coughed. “I’m not on very good terms with the dragon clan.”

“I can tell,” Fu Li looked at Zhuang Qing standing there majestically. He hesitated for a moment but still decided to say, “Let me be honest, don’t force it if you’ve suffered internal injuries. I’m already so old anyway, it’s not like I’ll make fun of you.”

It was unknown if Fu Li’s words had angered him, but the moment these words left his mouth, a trace of blood dripped out of the corner of Zhuang Qing’s mouth. When he reached out a hand to wipe it, Fu Li stopped him.

“Don’t move,” Fu Li took out a jade bottle and collected the blood at the corner of Zhuang Qing’s mouth. “Dragon blood is good stuff for refining pills.”

Zhuang Qing stared at Fu Li’s jade bottle. It was a type of jade bottle that had been enhanced by a magic array. Regardless of the kind of liquid that was poured in, it would remain in the freshest state. All pill cultivators coveted such a bottle, even if they were dreaming. Unfortunately, good jade was hard to come by and many drawing methods for magic arrays were lost during the earlier years. Therefore, other than large and influential clans who were in possession of a few of such bottles, other people didn’t have any.

Even Zhuang Qing… didn’t have one.

Why would a yaoguai who had this sort of rare item want to become a civil servant and even be in such poor financial straits that he had to borrow money from him?

“Eat one,” Fu Li rummaged through his Qiankun Pouch and fished out a small medicinal pill. “Nurse your internal injuries.”

This Hunyuan pill was clear, sweet, and rich in spiritual qi. It was an extremely rare panacea of the highest quality. Even refining a thousand medicinal pills would not guarantee the production of one such pill. That was why the starting price of this pill at auctions in the cultivation world would be at least two million yuan. Zhuang Qing pinched the medicinal pill and thought about how he had to swallow this two-million-yuan Hunyuan pill just because he had suffered minor internal injuries. Instantly, grief felt as if it was tearing through his heart.

“What are you doing staring into space foolishly?” Fu Li patted Zhuang Qing’s hand and the Hunyuan pill smoothly entered Zhuang Qing’s mouth, rolling into his esophagus. Zhuang Qing very quickly felt a gust of warmth within his five internal organs. The internal injuries he had suffered from the collision of palms gradually healed.

“I forgot that this bottle’s Hunyuan pill has been sitting for nearly three thousand years. Do you feel okay after eating it?” Fu Li looked worriedly at Zhuang Qing. If he poisoned the only golden-national fate dragon to death, would heavenly law strike him with lightning till he turned into dregs?

“Many thanks,” Zhuang Qing’s complexion looked even worse than before. “I’m fine now.”

“Really?” Fu Li looked doubtfully at Zhuang Qing. His complexion was this terrible looking, yet he still said he was fine. Truly a considerate child.

How was Zhuang Qing fine? His heart was aching so much that he nearly couldn’t breathe. But in addition to the heartache, he also felt an unfathomable happiness. This feeling of happiness came out of nowhere. Even he himself didn’t understand what was going on.

Outside the barrier, Xu Yuan and the rest realized that the cold air had vanished without a trace. Even the barrier erected by the dragon clan had also dispersed, so they rushed in with a deeply worried heart.

“Oh right.” Zhuang Qing wiped the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth and asked Fu Li, “Didn’t you need money to change the human’s grave?”

“Oh, that.” Fu Li waved his hands. “Isn’t your management bureau also having a tough time getting by? I’ll find another way.”

“No, I was joking with you that time,” Zhuang Qing pursed the corners of his lips. He attempted to squeeze out a smile, though the curved corners of lips appeared a little stiff and strange, likely due to the fact that he didn’t usually smile. “As part of the dragon clan, how can I lack money?”

He took out his handphone. “I’ll send a million to your bank account first, let me know if it isn’t enough.”

He tapped the screen for a very long time, yet there was no response from the bank’s application. Only then did he recall that this place was a little far from the ground. Handphone signals didn’t yet reach the sky.

“What would I do with a million? I don’t need that much,” Fu Li rubbed his hands. “Moreover, I won’t be able to return the money in a short time.”

“To my dragon clan, this bit of money is merely a drop in the ocean. There are many places in the capital to spend money. You’ve just left the mountain and don’t understand many things. Having money will give you more confidence,” Zhuang Qing stuffed his handphone back into his pocket. “You’re belittling me if you bring up returning the money again.”

“Mr Zhuang, I think the outside world has misunderstood your dragon clan,” The more Fu Li looked at this mixed-blood dragon, the more he felt that he was different from the other crafty and unruly dragons. He was magnanimous and reasonable, had character and was kind-hearted – as expected, the mind of a minor was still the most pure and virtuous.

“What misunderstanding?”

“The yao cultivators who lived with me on the same mountain said that nine out of ten dragons in your clan are stingy.”

Zhuang Qing raised his chin slightly and flashed a careless smile, his attitude like that of an extremely generous person. “I’m probably the exception.”

But the remaining one was especially stingy.

Fu Li pondered over it and felt that he had better not utter this statement. It was rare for a generous dragon to be in existence, he couldn’t lead him astray.

Beneath the layers of clouds, Chu Yu and Lin Gui, who had very good hearing, met each other’s gazes and saw the shock in each other’s eyes.

Where did the boss find such thick skin, even thinking that he was an exception in the dragon clan?

If he wasn’t considered stingy, then there were no stingy people in this world.

After returning to the management bureau, Zhuang Qing sent a million yuan to Fu Li. In the many years Fu Li had lived, it was his first time having so much money. He took out a natural diamond from his Qiankun Pouch and placed it in front of Zhuang Qing. “The other time I took your car, I saw that the stone on the car roof resembled this. Since your dragon clan likes bright things, take this back and embed it into your wall.”

The fist-sized natural diamond was thrown onto the table as if it was just a pebble.

Zhuang Qing looked at the natural diamond, took a deep breath, and asked hoarsely, “Mr Fu, did all yao in the past give people things so casually?”

“It’s all right, I’m not particularly generous,” Fu Li poked the diamond, letting it roll back and forth on the table. “This stone seems to be scrap material left behind after the sparrow spirit refined the sword. Although it’s valuable in today’s society, it’s not like I can sell this off, so treat it as my way of paying you back for the one million.”

“This stone of yours is worth far more than a million,” Zhuang Qing thought about how Fu Li could have casually gifted all sorts of valuable items to other people and felt his entire body from head to toe aching, despite the fact that these things clearly had no relation to him.

“You were the only one out of so many yao who was willing to lend me money. Since you happen to like these things, isn’t it appropriate to give it to you?” Fu Li patted Zhuang Qing’s shoulder consolingly. “These are merely worldly possessions, don’t take them to heart.”

Zhuang Qing looked at this old yaoguai who was smiling splendidly. After a long while, he sighed. “I will accept Mr Fu’s good intentions. If you still want to give people things in the future, you can consult me about it.”

To avoid him giving rare objects away as if they were two-yuan wholesale goods.

“How could I inconvenience you?” Fu Li gave a somewhat embarrassed smile. His understanding of the human world was extremely lacking. If a yao residing in the human world could teach him how to handle human relations, it would indeed make things much more convenient for him.

“No, it’s not inconvenient at all!” Zhuang Qing stood up and told him resolutely, “Come with me.”

He, the sole descendant of the golden dragon clan, truly could not tolerate Fu Li’s wasteful way of gifting items. Even if he had mountains of gold and silver, it wouldn’t be enough to supplement his ways.

It was necessary for him to understand what the human world was like!

Fu Li felt that his negative impression of the dragon clan would change very soon because of one Zhuang Qing.