Chapter 574: You Serious?

Yunxia Consort and Jiang Fan had been locked in a battle of wits throughout their journey. She had suffered two major setbacks, both caused by his endless array of tactics. She certainly wouldn't dare let Jiang Fan keep possession of those items.

Jiang Fan, however, blurted out, "Then search me! If I search yours, you can search mine; that way, we'll be even."

Yunxia Consort flushed with indignation. "Shameless!" she snapped. "Golden Claw Iron Wolf, you search him!"

The Golden Claw Iron Wolf, which had been running, stopped. It raised its giant paw, like a small mountain, and compared it to Jiang Fan's stature. Jiang Fan was smaller than its paw.

"Yunxia Consort, are you sure you want me to search him?" it asked uncertainly.

Yunxia Consort looked at Jiang Fan, who wore a defiant expression. She picked up Jiang Fan's purple sword and placed it against his neck. "Will you hand them over?"

Jiang Fan, his face devoid of fear, crossed his arms over his chest. "No. Go ahead and kill me if you dare."

Yunxia Consort was furious. This bastard. She had thought that once she caught him, she could exact terrible revenge on him. But the Demon Emperor's command, "no killing, no injuring," had turned Jiang Fan into the one in control. She was completely powerless against him and still had to endure his provocations!

"Fine, search!" Yunxia Consort gritted her teeth and walked over. Her hand was already outstretched, but she was still too embarrassed to proceed. She grumbled, "Where did that wretched girl Chunni run off to? Why isn't she here yet?"

Jiang Fan's tone softened at this moment. "Alright, alright," he said. "I won't put you in an awkward position. I'll search myself."

He took out a jade box, which was the very Nascent Soul jade talisman that Yunxia Consort found most threatening. Yunxia Consort snatched it away, then remembered something else. "And that five-colored mountain!"

That Five-Magnetic Divine Light had caused her significant trouble. It was also a considerable threat. With a sigh, Jiang Fan also took it out and tossed it to her, saying, "You'd better catch this carefully..."

Yunxia Consort nonchalantly caught it. To her surprise, an unimaginable force bore down on her. Even with her strength, she almost couldn't hold onto it, nearly crushing the Golden Claw Iron Wolf beneath them. She quickly employed a subtle technique to deflect the immense force, flinging the five-colored mountain away.

CRASH—

The small mountain landed nearby, instantly shattering a large section of the ice. The Golden Claw Iron Wolf's fur bristled with fear, and it shrieked, "Careful, you two! I'm still down here!"

Jiang Fan secretly felt a pang of regret. If only he could have merged that pile of five-colored stones into the Five-Magnetic Primordial Mountain. He figured that one strike would have been enough to crush Yunxia Consort.

"What is this mountain? It's so bizarre," Yunxia Consort said, still feeling shaken. Jiang Fan held it as lightly as a feather, yet for her, touching it felt like lifting a mountain.

"Anything else?" Yunxia Consort stared at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan then took out the nine tufts of fox fur. Yunxia Consort snatched them, then snorted, "Is that all?"

"The purple sword, the Nascent Soul jade talisman, the Five-Magnetic Primordial Mountain, and the fox fur—they're all yours now," Jiang Fan replied. "What else do you want?"

Yunxia Consort's eyes narrowed. "Not right!" she snorted. "You previously produced a demon beast corpse and fooled me. Such a large demon beast corpse must have been stored in a spatial artifact. And your purple sword also appears and disappears, so it's undoubtedly hidden in that same spatial artifact. Hand it over!"

"Damn!" Jiang Fan gritted his teeth, reluctantly retrieving the Heavenly Thunder Stone from within his robes.

Yunxia Consort snatched the item, and her divine sense swept through it. Her beautiful face visibly changed. "Seven-Colored Profound Ice, Blood Bodhi, Millennium Spirit Meat, God-Transformation Essence Blood, Yaoyue's Jade Bone Necklace, Tianshan Silkworm Silk, Illusory蜃 Demon Core, Thunder Derivation Token..."

Yunxia Consort could hardly believe her eyes. "Are you truly just a junior disciple?" she exclaimed in surprise. "This collection is more extensive than that of a sect master!" Even as the Demon Emperor's consort, she didn't possess this many valuable items!

Jiang Fan's face darkened. "And aren't they all falling into your lap anyway?"

At his words, Yunxia Consort's vexed mood finally lightened. She couldn't help but laugh. "Good that you understand! From now on, these are all mine!"

Jiang Fan snorted, "Do you want to continue the search?"

Yunxia Consort had acquired so many treasures. She was already ecstatic and waved her hand. "No, no need..."

"Wait!" Her beautiful eyes suddenly narrowed. "You've always been cunning, yet you're so cooperative this time? I bet you took out some important items beforehand and then used the Heavenly Thunder Stone and other things to distract me!" She thought for a moment. Suppressing her embarrassment, she said, "For safety's sake, I still need to search you!"

Suppressing the strange sensation within her, she stretched out her hand and began to search Jiang Fan's body.

Jiang Fan let out a sarcastic laugh. "Well, well, well, the great Consort of the Demon Emperor is touching me. No loss at all! I'm gaining from this! Go on, feel around as much as you like!"

Yunxia Consort's face flushed crimson with embarrassment. "Quiet!" she snapped. "It's only because you're so cunning! I'm forced to resort to such measures? Don't think for a second that your words will make me stop! I insist on searching!"

As expected. Soon enough, Yunxia Consort retrieved several jade vials from Jiang Fan's robes. She sneered, "I knew you were hiding something, didn't I? What is this? Healing pills? And these seem to be pills for luring demon beasts, don't they? This is for replenishing spiritual energy? But what's this pink bottle?"

Yunxia Consort looked at the last pink jade bottle and was about to pull out the stopper. Jiang Fan's face changed. "Don't open it! It's aphrodisiac powder."

Yunxia Consort gasped and immediately dropped it, her face burning with indignation. "Why do you carry such an indecent thing with you? Shameless! Vile! Disgraceful!"

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes. "Why are you getting so worked up? Even if I were to use it, it certainly wouldn't be on a married woman like you, would it? I'm not interested in hand-me-downs!"

Yunxia Consort raised her fist, wanting to give Jiang Fan a good beating. But recalling the Demon Emperor's orders, she could only take several deep breaths, calming her heaving chest. She stuffed all the spirit pills into the spatial artifact. Only the aphrodisiac remained. With a disgusted kick, she sent it flying.

Jiang Fan quickly caught it, tucked it into his sleeve, and snorted, "You can confiscate my belongings, but don't you dare damage them!"

It was just a bottle of aphrodisiac, and Yunxia Consort assumed it posed no real threat, so she bothered with it no further. She, however, did not notice a flicker of excitement that flashed deep in Jiang Fan's eyes. This was the Six Harmonies Immortal that Yuemingzhu had given him, an aphrodisiac so potent that even Nascent Soul realm cultivators would find it hard to resist. If she pushed him too far, Jiang Fan planned to use the Six Harmonies Immortal as a threat, figuring that at worst, they would both fall victim to it. He refused to believe Yunxia Consort would be fearless of death yet unconcerned about her reputation.

Yunxia Consort, however, remained oblivious to this. Instead, upon noticing the chains on Jiang Fan's wrists, she remembered something crucial. "Almost forgot! Take out the Dragon-Binding Lock key!" Back then, Wu Manyue had slipped the key into Jiang Fan's trousers. The key must still be in Jiang Fan's possession. Fortunately, she remembered. Otherwise, Jiang Fan could have quietly opened the chains, and she wouldn't even have known.

Jiang Fan scoffed, rolling his eyes as he simply lay back on the wolf's furry back. He gestured towards his crotch. "Aren't you good at searching?" he challenged. "Go on, search! It's right in there!" He didn't believe she would dare to touch *there*.

To his surprise, blushing, Yunxia Consort gritted her teeth. "I'll search, then!" she declared. "Anything is better than you breaking free and tricking me again!" She was truly afraid of Jiang Fan now. Give him even the slightest opportunity, and he could turn everything around. She certainly wouldn't risk experiencing capture for a third time.

Immediately, her smooth, jade-like hand reached in.