LAVW – Chapter 18 Sleeping Heart Lotus Seed

The sky brightened, and the roar of a tiger shook the heavens.

In his heart, Shi Qian gave the overly early-rising, overly loud tiger demon a bad review.

He squinted his eyes, unwilling to crawl out of Long Ye’s warm clothes. “Squeak Squeak.”

Cats aren’t this noisy.

Long Ye was already awake. Resting his hand behind his head, he fairly defended the tiger demon, “Cats can be noisy too.”

After meditating before sleep to absorb the medicinal power of the pill and resting for a night, Long Ye felt much better. His meridians still ached faintly, as if they had been pounded inch by inch, but at least he had recovered eighty percent of his strength.

Shi Qian thought: Cats don’t like making noise.

But the ones he had seen were all from his original world. He didn’t understand the cats of the cultivation world—Long Ye was probably the one who knew better.

After a little conversation, the drowsiness quickly faded.

Shi Qian got up while Long Ye went outside the cave to find a tree and practice his techniques.

He focused on the Long Clan’s techniques, realizing that he had a unique talent for using Dragon Subduing Claw, seemingly surpassing the other members of the Long Clan. The move he used to take Long Chengyang’s life was an advanced form of the Dragon Subduing Claw.

The words “become stronger” were now deeply engraved in the young man’s heart, not just as an instinctive desire.

To uncover the full truth behind his father’s death, to see the outside world, to no longer be looked down upon and humiliated at will…

To achieve all this, to protect himself and his spirit beast, he needed to become stronger.

This world was like this—it forced everyone to grow stronger. Those who weren’t strong enough would, sooner or later, find themselves with no way to survive.

Shi Qian crouched on a tree branch bathed in the first rays of sunlight, watching the boy in the forest sweating as he trained, and thought to himself—one day, he would be able to live a life of leisure.

“Security? As long as we have Long Ye, we’re fine.”

With that thought, he enjoyed his pine nuts even more.

Little did he know, while he was snacking, Long Ye was also thinking about how to fix Shi Qian’s lazy habits.

After finishing a full set of cultivation exercises, Long Ye withdrew his energy and walked to the tree branch.

Shi Qian handed him a pine nut. “Squeak Squeak.”

“Brother Ye, have one.”

Long Ye didn’t hold back. After all, he’d already eaten so much of Shi Qian’s food, this was nothing.

He cracked the pine nut and tossed it into his mouth before asking, “Brother Qian, why do you never cultivate? If I surpass you, you’ll have to be my little brother.”

Shi Qian rolled his eyes, ignoring the provocation and staying silent.

Long Ye chuckled. “Why aren’t you saying anything, Brother Qian?”

Not only did he tease him with words, but he also reached out and poked Shi Qian’s soft belly.

Shi Qian blocked his hand with a paw. “Squeak squeak.”

“I’m already calling you Brother Ye, don’t be unreasonable.”

“How am I being unreasonable? If we sweat more now, we’ll bleed less in the future.”

“Squeak squeak squeak.”

“Then you can be the one to bleed.”

Shi Qian pointed at Long Ye’s injured arm mercilessly and even tried to pull out a decorative handkerchief from his necklace to dramatize the situation. However, the handkerchief was already wrapped around Long Ye’s wound.

Long Ye watched his whole performance: “…”

The young man sighed helplessly and spoke the harsh truth. “If we don’t become stronger, we’ll always be like this—forced into situations, defending ourselves, running away, with no dignity to speak of.”

But Shi Qian already knew the future.

He looked at Long Ye seriously. “Squeak Squeak.”

“You will become incredibly strong—unmatched in the world.”

Shi Qian’s mission was to ensure Long Ye grew stronger and to prevent any true dangers from arising.

But Long Ye couldn’t understand this unwavering confidence. He even laughed. “Unmatched in the world? How strong is that—an Immortal who overcomes tribulations? I’ve never dared to think that far. My talent is too poor. I’d be happy just becoming a Golden Core ancestor in this life.”

To Long Ye, at this moment, a Golden Core cultivator was already an incredibly powerful figure.

Of course, Shi Qian knew how down-and-out he was right now. He wanted to give Long Ye some confidence.

“Squeak Squeak!”

“I’m a treasure-hunting mouse!”

Long Ye still didn’t quite believe it, but the warmth of being affirmed spread through his chest, reaching his limbs, dispelling the morning chill of the forest.

He picked up Shi Qian and placed him on his head.

“Let’s go! I’ll take you to find some meat.”

Hunting in a beast-filled mountain wasn’t difficult. They just had to find a suitable target and strike.

As the sun climbed slightly higher, Long Ye was already plucking rabbit fur.

It was a very cute rabbit.

But rabbits were delicious, and Shi Qian felt he could eat an entire roasted rabbit leg.

One was a greedy youngster, and the other was genuinely hungry. They sat around the fire, waiting for the fragrant roasted meat.

Smoke curled upwards, climbing toward the forest canopy.

A cultivator flying by on his sword glanced down but quickly ignored them, leading his team forward.

A female cultivator was curious. “Are they roasting food? Why aren’t they eating fasting pills?”

Most cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above relied on fasting pills for sustenance. This was even more common in sects and noble families, as ordinary food contained too many impurities that could taint a cultivator’s spiritual body.

Only high-grade beast meat and spiritual herbs could be refined into spiritual energy for cultivation, but even then, meditating with spirit stones was more efficient. So, fasting pills were the standard in the cultivation world.

Anyone venturing into Beimang Demon Mountain—even just its outskirts—was likely at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And the beasts in the outer region weren’t high-grade enough to be worth eating.

“Don’t mind other people’s business.”

The speaker was the sword-riding cultivator, Wang Chunping.

His face was full of worry. Usually calm, his expression was now clouded with exhaustion, though he forced himself to stay composed.

The female cultivator, Wang Lianzhi, tried to console him. “Father, don’t worry too much. On this trip, we’ve already found leads on the Sleeping Heart Lotus. We will definitely get it for brother.”

“Let’s move faster to avoid complications,” Wang Chunping replied wearily, pressing forward.

Meanwhile, Shi Qian and Long Ye, happily feasting on roasted rabbit, were unaware of what was happening above them.

Even after breaking through again, Long Ye was still at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement stage—not yet a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He needed food every day to sustain himself.

Shi Qian, on the other hand, was just greedy. Besides, as a beast, he wouldn’t eat those fasting pills—real beasts ate meat.

After filling their bellies, Long Ye and Shi Qian headed out of the mountains.

Along the way, they encountered other cultivators. Some were kind enough to provide directions, revealing that they were in the Beimang Demon Mountain region. It was about a three-day journey from Luofeng Town and even closer to the provincial capital—just a two-day walk.

After traveling for half a day, Shi Qian counted at least a dozen groups of cultivators rushing toward Beimang Mountain.

Curious, Shi Qian kept asking, so Long Ye found a cultivator who sold information for spirit stones and asked about it.

“You really don’t know? This news has spread all over the capital!”

Shi Qian stared at him wordlessly. If he already knew, why would he waste spirit stones to ask?

“It’s about that Wang family genius who joined the Sword Sect—Wang Xingzhi. On his way home, he was attacked by demonic cultivators and fell into a coma. The only cure is the Sleeping Heart Lotus. If he stays asleep for half a month, he’ll never wake up. Several days have already passed, and the Wang family is offering a fortune to find the lotus.”

“Foundation Establishment pills, secret realm entry slots, barrier-breaking pills, spiritual herbs, elixirs—you name it. And the Wang family has a good reputation. They don’t seize treasures unfairly, so every cultivator out there is scrambling to find the Sleeping Heart Lotus!”

“That’s why so many cultivators are heading to Beimang Mountain. There’s supposedly a Sleeping Heart Lotus growing there, and it’s just about to mature.”

“Before it matures, it looks like an ordinary seed, lying dormant. But once it fully matures, it rapidly sprouts leaves and blooms. Since it’s nearly impossible to detect beforehand, everyone’s coming in hopes of getting lucky.”

“I guarantee this information is legit. Wang Xingzhi’s own father, Wang Chunping, has already arrived at Beimang. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll find the lotus too.”

After giving the information, the cultivator hurriedly left, probably to try his own luck as well.

After hearing everything, Shi Qian swiftly climbed onto Long Ye’s head and began performing ritualistic punches.

Luck?

This was Long Ye’s fortune arriving!

And with the treasure-seeking rat sitting on his head, Long Ye also had some expectations. The last time the little spirit beast did this, he had found a spirit ginseng. So this time…

After completing his ritual, Shi Qian parkoured back onto Long Ye’s shoulder and heard him ask:

“Brother Qian, which direction should we go?”

Shi Qian: ?

Why are you asking me? Just go wherever you want.

Shi Qian stretched out his paw and boldly drew a circle around himself. He didn’t say anything, but the meaning was clear—go in any direction you please.

Long Ye still didn’t quite understand, but he trusted Shi Qian completely and casually picked a direction to move forward.

He didn’t dare venture too deep into the mountains, but going too far outward would mean leaving the Beiyang Demon Mountain entirely. So he chose to circle around the outer perimeter—not too dangerous, good for training himself, and maybe he’d even find the Sleeping Heart Lotus. A win-win choice.

This journey lasted three days, and Shi Qian was already tired of eating meat.

With his stash of nuts running low, Shi Qian started eyeing other creatures’ hoards.

Whenever Long Ye stopped to rest, Shi Qian would occasionally raid the tree holes of small Qi Refining-stage demon beasts.

When he encountered tougher opponents, he would first use his newly learned technique —bluffing—to scare the demon beasts inside. If that didn’t work, he’d let Long Ye handle it, giving him some practice with his ranged attacks.

One day, after another round of tree-hole looting, they resumed their journey. As usual, Shi Qian generously shared his spoils:

“Squeak Squeak.”

“Brother Ye, have some.”

“Give me a handful, Brother Qian.” Long Ye reached out, hoping for more. He, too, was getting tired of eating meat and wanted to snack on something different.

Shi Qian made him open his palm, then simply tipped his vine-ring over and poured out his stockpile of pine nuts.

Originally, he had wanted Long Ye to take the ring to store things himself, but Long Ye didn’t want it—probably afraid it would remind him of past sorrow. Not wanting to upset him, Shi Qian just kept it tucked inside his storage necklace, which was still easy to access.

As Long Ye grabbed a handful of pine nuts, he suddenly noticed one that looked different.

That “pine nut” was dark purple-black, twice the size of the others, and more rounded.

Could the treasure-seeking rat really be this amazing?

Just hearing about a treasure made him find one right away?

Suppressing his shock, Long Ye nudged his shoulder and said, “Hey, Brother Qian, look—does this look like a lotus seed?”

Shi Qian lowered his head and stared at the lotus seed hidden among the pine nuts, a slow question mark forming in his mind.

When he raided that tree hole, this stupid lotus seed had been mixed in with the pine nuts, completely escaping his notice. His treasure-seeking ability might have had a small hiccup, but he could still recognize a treasure when he saw one.

With Long Ye’s luck…

Wouldn’t the other treasure hunters die of frustration?

Honestly, he himself was already feeling a little heartbroken.

Sorry, fellow treasure-seekers—I, Shi Qian, have embarrassed all treasure-seeking rats today.