Chapter 35: Jiang Fufeng's Favor

Liang Yi gave a helpless smile; judging from the messages received from his past life, his master was indeed unconventional, which explained why the City Lord had such comments.

"What brings the two of you here?" Despite having heard of the renowned Banished Immortal for a long time, Jiang Fufeng remembered that there had never been any communication between himself and the Taoist Sect.

"I must be honest, while I was in Xunyang City, I heard from the locals about your wife's condition." Everyone in Xunyang City indeed knew about the situation of Jiang City Lord's wife. Jiang Fufeng even publicly declared that anyone who could bring him the heart of the Heavenly Vault Plant would be owed a huge favor by him.

"Could it be that sir has a clue about the heart of the Heavenly Vault Plant!?" Jiang Fufeng's eyes widened, and his voice suddenly rose eight tones, causing the air around him to quiver slightly in response to his mental state.

The square-faced middle-aged man, who was making inquiries from Yuan Hua, also looked up at Liang Yi with surprise upon hearing this, while Su Youyi was still confused. She didn't know what was going on with the City Lord's wife.

"Yes, does City Lord Jiang require my assistance?" Liang Yi needed Jiang Fufeng to state it personally to bring out the task.

"I implore you to help me!" Jiang Fufeng, with the peak power of the Sixth Realm, actually bowed to Liang Yi, a Cultivator of the First Realm, showing how important his wife was to him.

"Ding! Congratulations on triggering the mission [Iron Blood Tender Heart: The Plea of City Lord Jiang]!"

[Mission brief: Yuan Xihuan, wife of Jiang Fufeng, the brother-in-law of the Emperor of the Xuanzhou Immortal Dynasty, general of the West Realm, and City Lord of Xunyang City, accidentally consumed the juice of the Heavenly Vault Plant due to a scheme by the Devouring Spirit Sect and fell into a coma. Protected heavily by Jiang Fufeng, the Devouring Spirit Sect failed to take her soul and retreated helplessly.]

[Mission requirements: Find the heart of the Heavenly Vault Plant, revive Yuan Xihuan!]

[Task completion: 0%]

[Task rewards: 100k experience points and a significant increase in favor from Jiang Fufeng and Yuan Shushan.]

"Accepted!"

Surprising! Why is the Devouring Spirit Sect everywhere? Even this mission was their doing. Could this be the big plan Yin Lu was talking about? Is this directly pitting them against me?

Liang Yi looked at the task panel; the system assigns experience points based on character level, and 100k experience points are quite generous for early stages. The experience points are secondary; the crucial thing is the favor from Jiang Fufeng. Liang Yi knew that after retrieving his lost love, when Jiang Fufeng took his wife out to relax, they had the fortunate opportunity to break through the heavenly barriers and ascend to the Seventh Realm as a Great Cultivator.

The difficulty of this mission lies entirely in finding the heart of the Heavenly Vault Plant; getting the rewards would be a breeze once found. But without any clues, it would be impossible.

"Yuan Shushan? The head of the Yuan Family in Central State?" Liang Yi looked at the equally excited middle-aged man in surprise; he thought Jiang Fufeng was the only one owing him a favor. He didn't expect a buy-one-get-one deal, sharing the same surname; was there some relation?

Without further thought, Liang Yi took out the piece of gnarled wood from his Storage Ring and handed it to Jiang Fufeng.

"This object is the heart of the Heavenly Vault Plant; if not preserved immediately upon its formation, it would morph into this appearance. Just apply the juice of the Heavenly Vault Plant onto it," Liang Yi explained.

"So that's how it is! No wonder we couldn't find it despite searching everywhere. I thought seeking the Emperor was our only hope. Who would have thought, my wise brother turns out to be a godsent!" Jiang Fufeng was so delighted that he changed how he addressed Liang Yi, without doubting that Liang Yi was jesting with a random piece of wood. Not to mention the credibility of the Taoist Sect vouched for him; if Liang Yi did make a jest, the fiery wrath of a peak Sixth Realm would not be taken lightly.

"Thank you, Young Hero Liang, for stepping in to save my sister, and also for rescuing my children. Should you face any difficulties, the Yuan Family of Central State will definitely offer our utmost support!" Yuan Shushan hurried over with his children, his face full of excitement as he bowed to Liang Yi.

Yuan Shushan's face was too imposing, and now, his smile forced Su Youyi to hide behind her senior brother.

"May I know who this is?" Although Liang Yi already knew the identity of the man before him, he still pretended to be unaware.

"Oh, how forgetful of me, I haven't introduced myself. I am the head of the Yuan Family from Central State, Yuan Shushan!" The rugged and fierce-looking Yuan Shushan probably seldom smiled, and his smile now made Liang Yi feel rather uncomfortable.

"So it's Senior Yuan in person, my apologies for any disrespect. When the great competition of the Immortal Dynasty sects begins, my junior sister and I will surely visit!" Liang Yi pulled Su Youyi, who was pretending to be absent, to join him in bowing to Yuan Shushan.

"Hahaha, no wonder Jiang said you don't seem like a disciple of the Banished Immortal, you really have a way with words!" Now that Yuan Shushan's burden had been lifted, he was in high spirits and found Liang Yi and Su Youyi more and more pleasing to the eye.

Liang Yi glanced at Jiang Fufeng who was anxiously arranging for people to extract the juice of the Heavenly Vault vine, and then sat down to talk with Yuan Shushan.

"Are you and Senior Jiang close?"

"Jiang Fufeng's wife is my younger sister; I am his brother-in-law!" Yuan Shushan explained with a smile.

"So that's why, is this the secret reason for your visit?"

"That's right. Recently the West Realm has been quite troubled. There's a force known as the Devouring Spirit Sect stirring up storms. A while ago they even attempted to harm my sister, so I had to come over. Otherwise, I'd still be in Central State searching for the heart of the Heavenly Vault vine!" Yuan Shushan snorted coldly, obviously harboring some hatred for the Devouring Spirit Sect.

"Does Senior Jiang know the details about the Devouring Spirit Sect?" Liang Yi was fairly concerned about this, as it related to the progress of his two tasks.

"That group has been very secretive. With Jiang bogged down by my sister's affairs, he couldn't spare the effort to investigate. All he knew was that they had been dormant before and only began to grow active in recent years." Seeing Liang Yi's interest in the sect, Yuan Shushan shared all the information they had.

"Ding! Task completion +2%"

Hearing the notification, Liang Yi was quite satisfied; it was an unexpected gain. Following that, he briefly described what they had encountered in Qingfeng City, leaving Yuan Shushan furiously shaken—could it be that they had also targeted his sister with the same intentions?

"I thought it was a mere small force, but I didn't expect them to act so viciously. I must report this to His Majesty upon my return!" Yuan Shushan realized the terrifying nature of this sect.

"Thank you so much, Senior Yuan. If there is any new information about this sect, please inform Youdao Mountain." Liang Yi said.

"It's a small matter!"

"Recovered!!" A shout of astonishment came from the back room.

"Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission [Iron-blooded Tenderness: The City Lord Jiang's Plea]!"

"Congratulations on receiving the mission reward: Experience 10w, greatly increased affection from Jiang Fufeng and Yuan Shushan."

Liang Yi received the System notification, while Yuan Shushan, delighted, hurriedly led Liang Yi and others forward.

As they entered the side room, they found Jiang Fufeng sitting by the bed, holding a gently-composed woman in a pale yellow dress, undoubtedly his wife, Yuan Xihuan.