Chapter 66: Official Business
Having obtained the metal-eating bug, Iron Cliff stored it in the bug pouch. Su Chen had just decided to give it to him.
After cleaning everything up, they left the mining cave together.
Compared to ten days prior, the number of people in the Halcyon Gorge had significantly decreased.
The amount of starsilver ore continued to decrease. Many people left in disappointment, unable to find anything.
Black Hand's store business also began declining. What made him most helpless was that a competitor had constructed a new shop where he had planned on constructing his originally. The two of them didn't see eye-to-eye, and they most likely would fight sooner or later.
Su Chen brought Iron Cliff and stealthily left. Once again, he entered the familiar forest, beginning to take the long way home.
Because there were still four days left, Su Chen was not in a hurry. He took his time wandering around, hunting other Vicious Beasts to the best of his ability.
When he was alone, he was already able to come and go as he pleased. Now that he had Iron Cliff and the metal-eating bug, he didn't have to worry about anything even though the metal-eating bug was unpredictable.
Because this place was quite deep in the forest, they encountered a low-tier Vicious Beast very quickly.
The two of them combined easily took care of it.
Iron Cliff was just about to skin the beast when Su Chen stopped him and said, "Do as I tell you. Reach your finger out and put it here... No, a little bit lower. Right, okay, don't move, now activate your Dartfrog Absorption Technique and focus your attention on this point. Imagine yourself inhaling here. Inhale... Keep inhaling... Keep inhaling!"
The Origin Energy dot of light finally slowly entered Iron Cliff's body.
This was what Su Chen meant when he said that he would raise Iron Cliff's cultivation speed. His eye's ability to see Origin Energy could help him see Origin Energy, which naturally meant that he could also help others.
After ten or so days of instruction and practice, Iron Cliff was already somewhat proficient in the Dartfrog Absorption Technique. However, his speed in absorbing that Origin Energy dot was still roughly half as quick as Su Chen.
Su Chen knew that this was because the Cliff Race did not have an inherent affinity for Origin Energy, and their ability to conduct it was also bad. Based on what he saw, Su Chen estimated that this difference was roughly twice that.
If their perception was only half that of humans, and their Origin Energy sense and absorption were also only half that of humans, no wonder it was so difficult for the Cliff Race to cultivate.
However, Su Chen did not give up. He continued to give Iron Cliff pointers, as well as continuing his own absorption of Origin Energy.
Because he was also focused on giving Iron Cliff pointers, Su Chen's own absorption rate had slightly decreased, losing roughly two dots. However, this was only temporary.
In the following days, he would help Iron Cliff absorb Origin Energy every time he killed a Vicious Beast. Although Iron Cliff's perception was somewhat slow, he was not an idiot, and he cooperated with Su Chen well. As long as Su Chen pointed somewhere, Iron Cliff would reach his hand out to that place. Although he could not see them, he loyally followed Su Chen's pointers to absorb and cultivate.
The benefits were immediate. No matter how slow he was, Iron Cliff discovered that his own cultivation base had rapidly increased. He originally was only in the seventh layer of Body Tempering, but now he was in the eighth layer of Body Tempering already.
This made Iron Cliff extremely excited.
"This is a secret. Only you and I can know about this, got it?" Su Chen told him.
Iron Cliff nodded his head. "Even if Iron Cliff dies, I will definitely not reveal this."
"Very good." Su Chen pounded his chest.
They could only do so much.
Four days later, Su Chen brought Iron Cliff and exited the Scarlet Mountain Range.
This time, he wasn't late.
The two underlings from the Su Clan responsible for receiving Su Chen were all dazed when they saw the large-bodied person exit with him.
How could they not be shocked? A blind Young Master entered the Scarlet Mountain Range twice and had actually returned alive twice.
Su Chen didn't pay them any attention. Before he returned, he had already told Iron Cliff about his identity and his eyes, so he didn't need to remind Iron Cliff of anything. He mounted the carriage that had been waiting for him. However, when Iron Cliff got on the carriage, it visibly trembled under the weight. Four horses were actually unable to pull it at first. The carriage driver had to whip the horses repeatedly before they began to move, leaving the two underlings speechless. They thought to themselves that Fourth Young Master must have relied on this brawny person to survive in the Scarlet Mountain Range.
Although Su Chen offered no explanation, people would always search for an answer that they believed in the most.
The carriage first went to the True Jade Pavilion. Upon arriving before the tower, he saw Li Shu and Tang Zhen talking about something together. When they saw Su Chen arrived, they were dazed at first. Then, upon seeing Iron Cliff, Li Shu instantly realized something and hurried up to support him as he said, "Young Master, careful below you. It's difficult for you to see; let this little one support you."
One had to admit that Iron Cliff was far inferior to Li Shu in terms of adaptability.
Li Shu helped him into the room, and Tang Zhen sent all the others away. The three of them sat down except for Iron Cliff, who stood behind Su Chen.
Tang Zhen had heard Li Shu talk about Iron Cliff before, so he was not too surprised.
After conversing for a bit, everyone began to talk about what had happened in the previous few days, explaining the circumstances to one another.
After Li Shu had arrived at the True Jade Pavilion, Tang Zhen had a discussion with him and realized that this person was very quick-witted as well as a fast learner. Thus, he had begun to teach Li Shu a few things about inspecting antiques. Li Shu had also told Tang Zhen about what Su Chen was doing in the gorge, and Tang Zhen was full of praise.
Su Chen also told the two of them about his encounters after discovering the mining cave. Upon hearing that Su Chen had experienced such an adventure, Tang Zhen and Li Shu were also shocked.
When he found out that Su Chen had obtained an ancient Arcana sheepskin scroll, Tang Zhen pulled it out hurriedly to take a look at it. As soon as he glanced at it, he began to shout with excitement, "Ancient Rare Scroll! This is actually an Ancient Rare Scroll! I never expected that something from tens of thousands of years ago would still be completely preserved until now. The Arcana Kingdom truly was extraordinary. This is an extremely rare item!"
If it weren't for the fact that it still had some practical usage, Tang Zhen probably would have taken it right then and there.
As for translating the Arcana script, Tang Zhen said that in cultivation small mistakes could be fatal, so in order to ensure his accuracy he would need to cross-reference with other materials. Su Chen had no issues with Tang Zhen's caution. "Because of certain reasons, I might be able to obtain a few ancient Arcana techniques in the future. Thus, in my free time I will continue to learn the Arcana script with head storekeeper in the future. However, this is not too pressing; right now, what matters the most is this."
As he spoke, he took out the starsilver essence.
Upon seeing the starsilver essence, Tang Zhen and Li Shu jumped to their feet in excitement.
Starsilver alone was already an extremely precious metal. Starsilver essence could be considered a treasure.
If Su Chen were to sell such a large chunk, he would have more than enough money to buy a few strips in Northface City.
However, Tang Zhen knew Su Chen's ambition could not be satisfied merely by riches, so he said, "Does Young Master want to exchange them for cultivation resources?"
Speaking with intelligent people was effortless. Su Chen nodded his head and said, "I will always use my money to increase my combat prowess one way or another. Some of this money will be used to buy other metals, while the rest will be exchanged for Origin Stones."
"Do you not need a few spiritual herbs or medicines that can increase your cultivation base?" Tang Zhen said with surprise.
Su Chen shook his head.
With the Origin Energy dots of light, he could raise his cultivation just by battling. Thus, he didn't really need too many spiritual herbs or medicines.
Origin Stones were not the same. Not only were they currency, but they could also help one replenish Origin Energy. And Origin Energy was precisely what was required when cultivating Origin Skills.
If one wanted to really control an Origin Skill, one would need to constantly activate and practice it. Origin Energy was only a restricting condition for practicing. One Origin Stone was equivalent to a day's worth of Origin Energy infusion by a Qi Drawing Realm Origin Qi Scholar. Put another way, it was roughly equal to the amount of Origin Energy that a Qi Drawing Realm cultivator could use in a single day.
Thus, every Origin Stone was equivalent to saving a day's worth of time. Su Chen's previous attempts at cultivation had consumed a few Origin Stones, but at the time he had too little money, so his cultivation was limited. Now that he had money, naturally he would use it to its fullest extent.
Because of the Origin Energy dots, Su Chen had decided to use his riches to increase his combat prowess, and his combat prowess to increase his cultivation base.
Apart from this, he would also need to buy Origin Skills and Origin Tools, so he still needed Origin Stones. He would not only sell the starsilver essence but also all the immortal herbs that he had taken from Wolf Blade.
As for the metals, he was purchasing them to perform some experiments on the metal-eating bug to see if it could convert all kinds of metals into essence.
When Tang Zhen heard this, he stroked his beard as he said, "Wanting to sell so much starsilver essence for Origin Stones only might be impossible in Northface City. Even if it is possible, the price might be severely decreased."
With larger quantities, the price would naturally decrease. This was also normal.
Su Chen asked, "Then head storekeeper means..."
"If you want to sell it for a good price, you will need to go to the Flying Immortal Palace."
Northface City was a part of the Three Mountains Region, and the Flying Immortal Palace was the capital of the Three Mountains Regions. If Northface City was like a child in a rural town, then the Flying Immortal Palace was a prince from a rich, wealthy family living in the city. The difference between the two was so great that they simply could not be compared.
Only there would Su Chen be able to sell his starsilver essence for a good price.
Afterwards, the four of them began to discuss a few other matters. Of course, the main people coming up with ideas was still Su Chen and Tang Zhen. Li Shu was still new and didn't have the authority to make many decisions, while Iron Cliff didn't even need to be considered. His role was just to listen.
"So it's decided. In a few days I will personally go to the Flying Immortal Palace. Li Shu, it's up to you to scout out the area for me. I've just returned, so I will hurry home to see my mother. Let's call it a day," Su Chen said as he stood up.
Tang Zhen and Li Shu personally sent Su Chen out the door.
As he watched Su Chen leave, Tang Zhen slowly said, "Young Master has truly grown up."
"That's right," Li Shu sighed. "Who would have expected that the mysterious, decisive, and vicious Demon Face would actually be the Su Clan's blind Young Master, a person who is not even sixteen years old yet."
Tang Zhen raised his head to look at the sky. "After this year, he will be officially sixteen."
"The Su Clan's next end-of-year competition is about to come, right?" Li Shu asked.
They looked at each other, then both suddenly began to laugh.
Apparently, Su Keji had paid quite a heavy price in an attempt to help his son gain the victory this time.
In reality, winning at this point didn't have much meaning anymore. After all, this was the last end-of-year competition before the Hidden Dragon Institute began accepting students. However, to Su Keji, winning was no longer about obtaining the Verdant Wood Essence.
This was also to vent some of his anger.
Even if it was just to defeat Su Chen, to teach him a lesson, Su Keji must win in order to get revenge for the great harm that had come to his son, Su Qian.
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Page 2
Chapter 67: Giving Up and Not Giving Up (Part 3)
When he returned, the Su Clan was once again shocked into turmoil.
Of course, for a blind person to safely return from the Scarlet Mountain Range twice, how could it not be news? However, just like those two underlings, many people came to the conclusion upon seeing Iron Cliff that Su Chen had only survived for a hundred days as well as finish the tasks the clan assigned him in the Scarlet Mountain Range with his help.
Su Chen ran into Su Qian on his way to see his mother.
He seemed much more energetic than before. His entire person's vigor increased, and he had actually already reached the peak layer of Body Tempering. Perhaps not too far off in the future, he would be able to entire Qi Drawing.
Indeed, in the time that he had been gone, no one had stopped to take a break.
"Su Chen!" Upon seeing Su Chen's safe return, flames of hatred appeared in Su Qian's eyes.
After being seriously beaten by Su Chen twice, the brotherly affection between the two of them had long since been lost. All that remained was a thick enmity.
Su Chen tilted his head, pretending as if hearing his voice and laughed, "So it's Second Young Master. How have you been lately?"
"Not too good," Su Qian squeezed out from between his teeth. "These days, I prayed every day that you would not die in the Scarlet..."
"Praying that after I returned you could soundly beat me, right?" Su Chen impatiently interrupted him. "I knew that you only had these kinds of ideas. What, you have a little more confidence now that your strength has increased? Unfortunately..."
Su Chen gently smiled. The smile was somewhat weird, yet it was also extremely familiar.
Su Qian had seen this smile before.
Last time Su Chen had fiercely beaten him, it had been this expression.
When Su Chen turned the tables on him during the single-elimination tournament, it had also been this expression!
Su Qian knew the situation wasn't good. He instinctively displayed the Flaming Tiger Fist, prepared to do battle.
Unexpectedly, Su Chen did not make a move.
Instead, he lazily said, "Iron Cliff, make him kneel!"
"Yes, Young Master!" Iron Cliff replied heavily, pressing his hand towards Su Qian.
I won't let you get away with a sneak attack this time!
Su Qian yelled in his heart, raising his arms to meet the attack. At the same time Iron Cliff's large hands came slamming down.
Bang!
His large hands smacked aside Su Qian's arms, pressing them on his shoulders. With a simple strike, he flattened Su Qian into the ground.
Instantly to the ground.
In terms of strength, even a Qi Drawing, Flowing Wind Body Technique Su Chen couldn't compare with Iron Cliff, let alone Su Qian.
However, Iron Cliff didn't seem to be too happy.
"Young master told you to kneel, not lie on the ground."
He lifted his hand, picking Su Qian up. Then, he pushed the back of Su Qian's knees. Su Qian couldn't stand up straight and buckled to the ground.
"Su Chen!" Su Qian stared at him with a look of hatred.
Su Chen faintly said, "I just want to tell you one thing. During my trip to the Scarlet Mountain Range... I once again failed to obtain the Cloud Bat Bloodline."
Su Qian's heart trembled. Even his angry expression wavered.
Could it be...
Su Chen continued, "So if everything goes according to plan, I will be going there a third time."
Su Qian sucked in a breath of cold air, completely forgetting his anger.
Of course he understood what Su Chen's words meant: 'If I want to, I can beat you again... one that will keep you bedridden for a long time.'
In that instant, his anger completely evaporated. All that remained was fear.
Thankfully, Su Chen's tone changed. "Consider yourself lucky. At the moment, I have some things to take care of, and I don't want to go just yet. Making you kneel once is enough to take care of matters. However, if you don't behave yourself... well, those things that I need to take care of aren't incredibly urgent."
Su Qian was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak.
Upon seeing him behave like this, Su Chen gently laughed. "What, you aren't speaking? Then I'll take it as if you agree."
He waved his hand, and Iron Cliff released Su Qian.
He walked over to Su Qian, patted his face, and said, "Don't piss me off again."
He then left, leaving Su Qian dazed and confused.
A moment later, Su Keji appeared.
Upon seeing Su Qian, he hurriedly said, "Son, you and Su Chen got into a fight again? Tell me, what did he do to you? I definitely won't let him get away with it!"
Su Qian stared at his father blankly, then shook his head and said, "No... Nothing."
"Nothing?" Su Keji was caught off guard. He looked closely at his son. Upon seeing that he did not appear to be injured, he let out a sigh of relief. "Nothing is good. Let's return first. Although you have reached the ninth layer of Body Tempering, Su Chen is also already at the peak of Body Tempering. You don't have any particular advantage if you do battle with him now. I have already contacted some others and I will buy some more medicines for you. After you eat them, your strength will definitely greatly increase. At that time, you can teach Su Chen a lesson and get revenge for yourself."
"Father," Su Qian suddenly said.
"What is it?" Su Keji asked.
"Can we not oppose Su Chen anymore? I don't want to fight with him anymore," Su Qian said quietly.
"What?" Su Keji said, shocked. He looked at his son again, only to see him trembling slightly. His expression was one of fright.
He said, almost crying, "We can't beat him! I don't want to fight anymore."
A flame of rage filled his chest. Su Keji was so angry that he wanted to kill someone.
He stared at Su Qian, saying one word at a time, "How did I get a disappointing son like you?"
Slap!
A palm landed on Su Qian's face, sending him flying.
"Father!" Su Qian yelled.
Su Keji coldly said, "Su Chen is a blind person, yet he knows the principle of never giving up. You can see, yet you don't even have this much ambition, and you actually got scared of a blind person – how useless can you be! I'm warning you. This is the first and the last time that I will ever hear you say such things. If there's another time, I won't let you off easily."
He left as he spoke, leaving Su Qian standing there, alone and silent.
——————
Su Chen met with his mother in the beautiful pavilion.
After not seeing her for a hundred days, Tang Hongrui had withered some more.
Su Chen knelt on the ground. "Unfilial son Su Chen greets Mother. It's my fault for making Mother worry about me for so long."
"It's good that you were able to return. Quick, stand up and come to me," Tang Hongrui said to her son weakly.
Su Chen hurriedly walked to her, allowing Tang Hongrui to stroke his face with her hand.
Her eyes were filled with warmth, love, and delight.
The two of them sat like this, idly conversing.
Most of the time, it was Tang Hongrui asking questions while Su Chen replied, telling Tang Hongrui about some of his experiences in the Scarlet Mountain Range.
He talked about how he had met Iron Cliff in the forest and had unintentionally saved him, earning his loyalty and making his future journey much easier. He talked about opening a shop in the Halcyon Gorge and earning some money. All the people there were friendly, good people, and everyone helped each other. Since he couldn't see, they would help him move around. He also talked about how he had encountered an old man while mining in a cave. The old man was very warm and cordial, and he understood many things. He had even invented a kind of medicine which, when dropped on his eyes, helped his eyes recover and allowed him to finally see light.
The last piece of information in particular made Tang Hongrui excited and joyful. She asked him over and over again if it was true.
Su Chen said with confidence that he could see a little light. The old man had told him that it would take time to recover, but in the near future his sight would definitely recover.
Tang Hongrui was unable to contain her joy. She was about to go tell Su Cheng'an.
Su Chen restrained her, telling her not to tell Su Cheng'an. He temporarily wanted to avoid letting other people know. He said that in these few years, he finally understood that there were benefits in hiding himself.
Tang Hongrui fell into silence.
After a long time, she asked, "You still hate your father, right?"
Su Chen gently smiled. "No, I don't hate him. I just made the same decision that he did."
"The same decision that he did?" Tang Hongrui didn't understand what these words meant.
"He gave up on me," Su Chen replied.
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Page 3
Chapter 68: Origins of the Spirit Burying Terrace (Part 4)
When nightfall arrived, Su Chen felt the Smoke Snake Imprint's familiar feeling, and he knew that Gu Qingluo had come to find him.
For Gu Qingluo to know that he had returned so quickly meant that she had been monitoring his movements the entire time.
Su Chen left his room and walked to the back mountain.
Upon passing through the small forest, he arrived once again at the familiar pool of water. He saw Gu Qingluo shaking her delicate legs in the pool of water.
Upon hearing a noise, she turned her head around to look at Su Chen. A smile blossomed on her face as she said, "You've had enough fun playing outside, yet you still know how to return?"
Su Chen laughed, "How come your words don't sound quite right? You sound like a married woman whose kids all left the house."
Gu Qingluo's face reddened. "Good, you actually dare take advantage of me."
As she spoke, she picked up some leaves and shot them towards Su Chen.
Su Chen's figure flowed like the wind. He didn't even bother looking as his body gently swayed dodging a large portion of the leaves.
Gu Qingluo's eyes lit up. "Hm? Your Snaking Mist Steps has greatly improved. Why does it seem like there are traces of Origin Energy?"
While speaking, she shot even more leaves at him.
Su Chen took repeated steps, his figure moving. At the moment, his eyes were closed; his ability to hear movements via wind that he had obtained when he was blind had not deteriorated. His body suddenly exploded to its full potential. He suddenly flipped his hand out and stabbed out with his hand, forming a blade. Although he had seeming to merely slash out through the air with his hand, there was a thunderous rumble, and a blade of air suddenly rushed towards Gu Qingluo.
Gu Qingluo was extremely shocked. She, too, activated her Snaking Mist Steps, and the blade of air flew past her, striking a nearby tree. The tree shook violently.
"You're an Origin Qi Scholar?" Gu Qingluo blurted out.
Last time he had returned, Su Chen had seen Gu Qingluo a few times. However, he never revealed the fact that he was now an Origin Qi Scholar. Now that three more months had gone by, he could admit that he was an Origin Qi Scholar. Although his speed was faster than normal, it was not much different and could be acceptable.
"No wonder your Snaking Mist Steps improved so much. Now you have discovered the uncommon aspects of the Snaking Mist Steps, right?" Gu Qingluo said with her hands behind her back, extremely pleased with herself.
"Miss Gu's Snaking Mist Steps definitely are uncommon. I would know this even if I wasn't an Origin Qi Scholar," Su Chen laughed.
"Hmph." Gu Qingluo rolled her eyes at him.
The two of them sat and chatted idly for awhile before Gu Qingluo said, "I came to find you because I've found some information about the Spirit Burying Terrace."
"Don't tell me, let me guess. First, this Spirit Burying Terrace is the name of a certain location, right?" Su Chen said.
"Correct."
"In addition, it should be somewhere in Northface City, right?"
"Hey, how did you know that?" Gu Qingluo asked with curiosity.
Su Chen replied, "Because Old Sang was trying to use Lin Xie. Lin Xie is nobody important. Trying to specifically talk to him about this matter means that he must be useful in some way. After all, he is only part of the Lin Clan, a strength confined only to Northface City. Thus, I estimate that the Spirit Burying Terrace is very likely somewhere in Northface City."
"Clever," Gu Qingluo laughed as she clapped her hands. "Continue."
"Thirdly, it should be an ancient ruin."
"How did you know that?"
"Because in the current seven human kingdoms, there is no Spirit Burying Terrace."
After his vision had returned, Su Chen had thumbed through ancient records, searching through all the different kingdoms. However, he never found a place known as a Spirit Burying Terrace. Upon discovering that the organization was the Immortal Temple, Su Chen realized that this could be an old name for it; however, he had no way of verifying this idea.
Most importantly, Su Chen knew that they were an Arcana Organization.
All Arcana Organizations had one thing in common, which was that they dreamed of restoring former glories, while overturning the current regimes.
They wanted the Arcana Kingdom's glory to reappear. However, they did not use their own efforts and the Arcana Race's previous experiments to recreate their inventions. Rather, they used various methods to uncover old Arcana artifacts and ruins, using them to find treasure stores.
Simply put, they were quite literally "reappearing" – they would dig up things hidden in the earth for tens of thousands of years, hoping that they would prove useful.
Thus, as soon as Su Chen knew their identities, he also knew what they would do. Guessing their target was not hard at all.
Gu Qingluo didn't know this piece of information. Perhaps even if she had, she might not have been able to guess it. Thus, her gaze towards Su Chen was filled with respect and even a little admiration, although Miss Gu would not admit it herself.
"You're pretty good. You were actually able to guess it."
"This is only the big picture. Tell me a little bit about the details," Su Chen replied.
"I found it in a history book. The Spirit Burying terrace was created during the Prosperous Emperor's time."
In the year 16700 of the New Star Era, the Illustrious Divine Dynasty's emperor died. His twenty-four sons began battling for the throne. The twelfth son, Gu Hongjin, obtained the throne with the support of General Lin Zhonghui. He was known as the Prosperous Emperor.
Immediately afterwards, the Prosperous Emperor killed all of his brothers, then promoted Lin Zhonghui to Grand Marshal.
The Prosperous Emperor strove to achieve many great deeds.
In the year 17200 of the New Star Era, the Prosperous Emperor broke the "Western Mountain Peace Treaty", going to war with the Feathered Race. Lin Zhonghui slaughtered five hundred thousand Feathered Race soldiers.
In the year 18400 of the New Star Era, the Illustrious Divine Dynasty entered the Eastern Seas, making the Ocean Race extremely unhappy.
In the year 19000 of the Chaos Era, the Illustrious Divine Dynasty sent soldiers to their northern borders to do battle against the Ferocious Race. Lin Zhonghui wiped the floor with the Ferocious Race's troops using their military prowess. When the large army reached the Carnage Springs, the Ferocious Race were down to their last troops. In the Carnage Spring Battle, the Ferocious Race's General Cleo Blackfox traversed the Ten Thousand Flat Mountains with the help of the Feathered Race and attacked the human race from behind. The human race suffered a great defeat. Lin Zhonghui died not long after returning to the dynasty.
The defeat at Carnage Springs severely decreased the strength of the Illustrious Divine Dynasty, causing it to enter a period of weakness. They lost control of their southern and central territories, reducing their number of territories from forty eight to forty two.
In the year 19200 of the New Star Era, the Prosperous Emperor died. His son, Gu Yangsheng, ascended to the throne, and was known as the Peaceful Emperor.
The Peaceful Emperor had no ability and no heart for controlling the government. He relied on ten powerful ministers to run the country for him.
Chancellor Luo Yucheng pretended to act on imperial orders and killed famous general Li Ze, shaking the nation. The Peaceful Emperor executed all ten of his ministers.
Afterwards, Giant Beasts raided the Illustrious Divine Dynasty, who had no one to left to defend themselves. Under the havoc caused by the Giant Beasts, they lost another three territories.
The Ferocious Race took advantage of the situation and struck. Humankind was no longer their opponent, and they surrendered another four territories to placate their enemies. The Ferocious Race then returned to the west, back to the Harvey Plains.
In the year 21000 of the New Star Era, the Successor Emperor ascended to the throne. This person loved to flatter himself, and gave himself many different names during his rule. In the meantime, Chancellor Chen Liuma began to gain power.
Not long afterwards, the Spirit Race made a move to take away the Light Shelter Source.
The Ocean Race took back the two territories in the Western Seas. The Illustrious Divine Dynasty was losing kingdom treasures and soil consecutively, resulting in many uprisings and revolts. Now, there were only thirty one territories remaining.
The Successor Emperor could not handle the burden and died an early death.
In the year 22400 of the New Star Era, the Glorious Emperor ascended to the throne. He was the final great emperor of the Illustrious Divine Dynasty. His temperament was extremely ruthless, and he was an incomparably bloodthirsty person.
In the year 23000 of the New Star Era, the Glorious Emperor killed the Cheng Clan Patriarch, inciting public outrage. This resulted in a "Change in Imperial Support". The Glorious Emperor was stabbed, and the Illustrious Divine Dynasty ceased to exist.
The Illustrious Divine Dynasty had a total of ten emperors before ceasing to exist. The last four emperors were known as the "Dynasty Downfall Four Emperors: Prosperous, Peaceful, Successor, Glorious".
The Prosperous Emperor was the first of the Dynasty Downfall Four Emperors.
Unlike the other three emperors, he had taken control of the Illustrious Divine Dynasty at its peak. However, because of his ambition and militant attitude, he was the prime catalyst for the decline of the Illustrious Divine Dynasty. Simply put, he was the first culprit in the downfall of the Illustrious Divine Dynasty.
Countless people after him would spurn his actions. Because of this, even in the history textbooks of the Seven Kingdoms, the Prosperous Emperor's acts were criticized, attempting as much as possible to restore the truth about the life of this first Dynasty Downfall Emperor.
Upon hearing that the Spirit Burying Terrace was created by the Prosperous Emperor, Su Chen was slightly stunned. "So it's not an Arcana ruin?"
"Hm? Why do you think it's an Arcana ruin?" Gu Qingluo asked, her eyes wide.
"Oh... I just felt that the more ancient it was the better," Su Chen carelessly replied.
Su Chen learned from Gu Qingluo that during the Prosperous Emperor's reign, there had been turmoil that exploded in this region. Because it was so sudden, many people from the Illustrious Divine Dynasty died. Later, a general personally quashed the chaos. In order to appease the families of those who had died, he had built the Spirit Burying Terrace as a tomb for their spirits.
In plain words, the Spirit Burying Terrace was a large tomb.
"Do you know where the chaos originated from?" Su Chen asked.
Gu Qingluo tilted her head and thought for a moment before responding, "I think it was because some shady organization's head was caught. Thus, members of that organization organized a jailbreak. I am not too clear about the exact circumstances."
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Page 4
Chapter 69: Bait (Part 5)
In the following days, after returning the Origin Tools to Night Demon, Su Chen once again resumed his two-pronged strategy. During the day, he would go to the True Jade Pavilion to study ancient texts and artifacts with Tang Zhen. At night, he would return home, where he would cultivate his Origin Skills. In his free time, he would tell Iron Cliff to let the metal-eating bug out and feed it some other metals.
Su Chen very quickly discovered that the metal-eating bug would eat most metals, but not every metal would be refined into its corresponding essence.
Su Chen tested a total of eighteen different metals. In the end, however, only three had managed to form essences. Because their value was not the same as starsilver, the rates of conversion was also different.
In other words, this metal-eating bug was like a long-term investment. While the amount of metal it could eat was limited and could not convert too much, it was better than nothing.
During this period, the Su residence was filled with a rarely-found peace. No one came to cause trouble for him.
One could see this from Ming Shu's body. Ever since Su Chen had displayed his might, no one else dared hit Ming Shu. The Su Clan's Fourth Young Master's sentence "I still have not found the Cloud Bat Bloodline, so I may go a third time at any time" had spread throughout the entire Su residence.
Nobody wanted to become the reason for Su Chen to enter the Scarlet Mountain Range a third time.
"This large Su residence, with over a hundred disciples, has been completely shaken by a blind person. Truly useless."
Sitting in his own position, Su Keji shook his head, sighing.
Elder Tong to his side was not worried about the cold. As always, he fanned himself as he sighed, "It's no surprise. The Su Clan was single-handedly established by Patriarch, and not for very long. Not to mention our background is slightly lacking."
"That's right, lacking," Su Keji helplessly said. "If we continue down this path, our outlook for the Hidden Dragon Battle during next year's summer solstice is bleak."
In terms of strength, Su Changche, who was in the Yang Opening Realm, could be considered the leader of the Four Great Clans. However, in terms of background, the Su Clan was significantly weaker than the others. This made it so that the Su Clan was like a nouveau riche household in many ways, with no way to compare themselves to the other three clans. Although Su Changche spared no effort to manage his clan, there were issues that could not be solved overnight. For instance, the Su Clan was clearly lacking in their ability to provide cultivation resources for their third generation. Originally, Su Chen was considered a genius, but he had still gone blind, and he was still unwilling to let go of the prime resources available. In addition, no one was able to overthrow him, causing many to feel helpless.
Elder Tong said, "The Lin Clan has already set relationships with Longxi's Gu Clan. Now, their Gu Qingluo often goes to the Lin Clan's Beast Garden. Although we don't know what she is doing, there must be deep cooperation given that she has remained there for such a long time. In addition, the Lin Clan's most outstanding disciples have all disappeared for about a year. As well, the He and Li Clans cannot be underestimated, and they have been constantly changing for the past two years. The He Clan's movements are hidden, making it hard to tell what they are doing. However, the Li Clan... From hearsay, Li Qingyun is going to return."
The chain of bad news considerably worsened Su Keji's mood. He lamented, "The other three clans are unwilling to be left behind, focusing all their efforts on obtaining a good result at next year's Hidden Dragon Battle. Only our Su Clan has so much infighting for the first position, allowing a blind person to maintain the top spot. This truly is..."
Elder Tong said with deliberation, "Thus, even if Su Qian's strength greatly increases after obtaining medicines and is able to beat Su Chen, he may still not be the opponents for the other three clans."
Su Keji's face fell. "Are you saying that my Su Clan is doomed to have no achievements during this Hidden Dragon Battle?"
"What I am saying is that if the Su Clan has any possible methods yet is unwilling to use them at this point in time, there might not even be the need to do battle at all."
Su Keji's heart trembled. He seemed to have thought of something.
He muttered to himself, "Do I really have to..."
Elder Tong gazed at Su Keji silently.
He knew that Su Keji would do exactly as he had anticipated.
As expected, after a moment of deep thought, Su Keji shot to his feet. "You're right. The four clans will be eyeing each other closely during this Hidden Dragon Battle. We cannot place all of our attention on Su Chen. I will go ask my father to use 'that' opportunity. No matter what... my Su Clan cannot just give up like this!"
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Many days later, Li Shu returned from the Flying Immortal Palace, bringing information from there.
The starsilver essence samples that Li Shu had brought aroused the interests of a few stores. Li Shu had spoken to many different stores before deciding on two of them.
One of them was the Thousand Treasures Pavilion, a well-known establishment in the Flying Immortal Palace. They sold and bought at fair prices and were well-established. Their opening bid was also decent – 280,000 low-grade Origin Stones for fifteen kilograms of starsilver essence.
The standard conversion rate of starsilver essence was forty to one; forty kilograms of starsilver would be used to refine one kilogram of essence. Thus, based on price alone, half a kilogram of starsilver essence was worth eight thousand low-grade Origin Stones, excluding the labor and time it would take. Thankfully, when starsilver was refined it would produce other relatively valuable byproducts, lowering the price. Generally, half a kilogram of starsilver essence was worth ten thousand low-grade Origin Stones.
However, this was the market price. The Thousand Treasures Pavilion was buying, so their price would be lower. It was only because starsilver was in short supply that Li Shu had been able to get a price only missing twenty thousand. If it were anything else, the Thousand Treasure Pavilion would have only bought it for merely half the market price. However, the Thousand Treasure Pavilion also said that if the seller wanted to buy more than fifty thousand Origin Stones worth of goods from them, they could buy the fifteen kilograms of starsilver essence for 300,000 Origin Stones.
No matter what, 280,000 Origin Stones was an extremely fair price, but it wasn't the highest bid.
The highest bid was by the store known as the Golden Name Workshop. The store wasn't big, and their business is average. However, their opening bid was decent: 400,000 low-grade Origin Stones.
They said that market value was only market value, but many times starsilver essence simply could not be found. Thus, the true sale value was much higher than this price and depended on the buyer's need. Since they could sell it for a better price, they dared to name a price of 400,000 Origin Stones.
Upon hearing Li Shu's explanation, Su Chen closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "Li Shu, do you think this Golden Name Workshop is reliable?"
"Not at all," Li Shu replied with surprising directness.
"Oh? Tell me why?"
"In the days that I spent at the Flying Immortal Palace, I specifically asked around about the Golden Name Workshop. Although they are a store, and they are located in a luxury quadrant of the city, their business is very bad. It doesn't seem as if they have any great origins, and I did not hear about any of the great clans in the Flying Immortal Palace having any relationships with them. One could say that it's impossible to estimate their foundation. To tell the truth, doing business with this kind of a store and with this kind of a price is extremely risky."
"But you still brought their information back to me."
"In the end, it is still an extra hundred thousand Origin Stones," Li Shu replied.
What did a hundred thousand Origin Stones entail?
To commoners, this was like a hundred million.
To low-tier Origin Qi Scholars, this was a hundred thousand.
To mid-tier Origin Qi Scholars, this was a thousand.
To high-tier Origin Qi Scholars, this was ten.
Only to peak Origin Qi Scholars would a hundred thousand Origin Stones be considered toilet paper or dung.
Su Chen was considered low-tier even among low-tier Origin Qi Scholars, and Li Shu wasn't even an Origin Qi Scholar yet. No matter what, a hundred thousand Origin Stones was not a small sum, one which could not be ignored.
Even if he held doubts, Li Shu still brought the information back with him.
After all, he did not have the authority to make a decision on such an important matter.
Upon hearing Li Shu's report, Su Chen was placed in a tough position.
He thought for a moment before saying, "I suddenly thought of the scam that Yan Wushuang tried to pull on me before. She wanted to use three fake goods to cheat my True Jade Pavilion out of two thousand tales of pure gold. If it weren't for the fact that I pretended I was blind, I probably would have been tricked by them. This taught me a principle, which is the more something is a scam, the more attractive the bait is. What do they mean, 'they have methods to sell for a better price so they can buy at a higher price' – I think that it's all nonsense. Their goals are most likely impure."
Li Shu said, "Young Master is clever. Since this is the case, we should just ignore this store and instead deal with the Thousand Treasures Pavilion. To tell the truth, the price that the Thousand Treasures Pavilion offered is quite fair."
Su Chen replied, "I only said that it will be a scam. I didn't say that we won't do business with them."
"What?" Li Shu was dazed.
Su Chen laughed sarcastically. "In the two months that I was in the Halcyon Gorge, my business was quite good. However, I obtained the most when I killed Ulrich in the cave, and I obtained the second most when I killed Bai Fan and Wolf Blade. Just a Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade alone is worth nearly ten thousand Origin Stones..."
Lin Shu silently cursed, 'Now you say that it's worth ten thousand Origin Stones. Earlier, you had given Wolf Blade a value of five hundred Origin Stones.'
Su Chen continued, "Do you understand what I mean?"
Li Shu replied, "Young Master means... finding riches in the midst of danger?"
Su Chen leisurely said, "Since there are people who are plotting against us, why not bite back? As someone who cultivates, how can I not have a few lives on my hands, and how can I not earn a few small fortunes? It would be a waste of all my bitter cultivation these past few years. How else would I be able to blend in with other Origin Qi Scholars?"
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Page 5
Chapter 70: Shadow Mountain Troops
Since someone wanted to eat up his fifteen kilograms of starsilver essence, Su Chen had no qualms playing around with them.
On the second day, Su Chen and Li Shu went to the Flying Immortal Palace. Li Shu found the Golden Name Workshop's head storekeeper and discussed the sale with him again and, under Su Chen's orders, he specifically raised the price to 450,000 Origin Stones. After discussing for a long time, the other party actually agreed.
At that moment, Li Shu had confirmed that the other party wasn't willing to pay money. Only someone unwilling to pay would agree so quickly.
He made an agreement with the head storekeeper that they would make the exchange at the Golden Name Workshop half a month later.
However, that same night Su Chen sold the starsilver essences to the Thousand Treasures Pavilion for 250,000 low-grade Origin Stones. He was missing thirty thousand because he had also setup a VIP card. He only needed to pay three hundred thousand Origin Stones to get an additional two hundred thousand Origin Stones worth of credit. This was also what the Thousand Treasures Pavilion had promised him before. However, Su Chen had only bought one item at the moment.
Su Chen went to search for Night Demon after returning to Northface City with his Origin Stones and his goods.
As soon as Night Demon appeared, she said unhappily, "Why are you looking for me again? It can't be that you want to borrow Origin Tools to go to the Scarlet Mountain Range again?"
Su Chen laughed, "I'm in no hurry to go to the Scarlet Mountain Range. However, I do need to borrow your Origin Tools again."
Night Demon opened her eyes wide.
Su Chen waved his hand and said, "Relax, relax. Is it not enough if I pay to rent it?"
Night Demon's expression became more pleasant upon hearing this. "How much will you pay?"
Su Chen replied, "Two hundred low-grade Origin Stones every day. I will rent three items – the blunderbuss, the battle blade and the armor. I won't need the boots anymore."
The Cloud-Stepping Battle boots were already quite old. After Su Chen had used them twice, they were getting closer and closer to breaking. Who knows when they would break completely. Thus, Su Chen decided not to rent that one, only renting three of them instead. While the Flaming Hunter Blunderbuss had terrible accuracy, it was still quite effective against people who were unaware of it when used in a critical moment. Thus, Su Chen decided to keep it.
Two hundred low-grade Origin Stones to rent three Origin Tools for a day was not a shabby price. Night Demon's expression became even less hostile. "This, we can consider."
Su Chen continued, "I will also need to borrow some people."
"Borrow people?" Night Demon's eyes once again opened wide. "Why do you need to borrow people? Can you not hold off for a bit? Do you think we are easy people to take advantage of..."
"I will also pay for them, eight times the normal amount," Su Chen replied.
Night Demon instantly shut her mouth.
Because Origin Stones were something that every Origin Qi Scholar could create, each one would also have their own corresponding reference value.
As a simple example, a Qi Drawing Realm Origin Qi Scholar with ten yellow stars could produce an Origin Stone every day. Thus, their reference value was one Origin Stone. This meant that to hire this Origin Qi Scholar to work for someone else required a payment of at least one Origin Stone a day. Otherwise, they could simply infuse any empty Origin Stone that they had without much effort. Why waste their effort working for someone else?
This was what a reference value entailed!
A reference value also meant that placing a price tag on an Origin Qi Scholar was also quite easy. One only needed to calculate the other party's reference value and then consider the multiplier.
Without a multiplier, Origin Qi Scholars would not be willing to be hired, and how large this multiplier was depended on the person's individual value and negotiation.
The lowest was two times, while the highest was unlimited.
Su Chen offered a multiplier of eight. This number was not too high, nor was it too low. It could only be considered normal. Although the Immortal Palace was rich and imposing and might not care too much about a thousand Origin Stones, business was still business. If they were unwilling to diligently earn small amounts of money, they would never be able to make a large haul.
In addition, they still had intentions of building up a relationship with Su Chen.
Thus, when Su Chen spoke, Night Demon's tone also changed.
"What kind of people do you want to borrow?"
"I want at least two Blood Boiling Realm cultivators and three high-layer Qi Drawing Realm cultivators to help me."
"Who is your opponent? What is their strength like?"
"The Golden Name Workshop. I'm not too clear about their strength."
"Then how do you know two Blood Boiling Realm and three high-layer Qi Drawing Realm cultivators will be enough to take care of the problem?"
"I don't know, but I can't just ask for Yang Opening, Light-Shaking, or even a Spirit Burning Realm 1 cultivator, can I?"
"Why do you need to fight with them?"
"I have some goods that they want to take for free."
"Can you avoid selling it?"
"I don't want to miss the beautiful sight of blacker consuming black."
Night Demon sucked in a breath of cold air.
After a long while, she said, "I will go back and consult with them."
Su Chen made a 'do whatever you want' gesture.
This time, Night Demon was gone for three days.
Three days later, she said as soon as she saw Su Chen, "This store is owned by Li Mingtang."
"Li Mingtang?"
"The commander of the Shadow Mountain Troops."
Su Chen instantly sat down. "So it was him!"
The Flying Immortal Palace had a mountain called Shadow Mountain. The mountain was densely forested. One end connected with the Black Pine Forest, while the other end connected with the Scarlet Mountain Range.
A horde of bandits lived on the mountain, known as the Shadow Mountain Troops. There were roughly three hundred people, and the bandit leader was the so-called commander of the Shadow Mountain Troops, Li Mingtang.
Of course, he had given himself the title of "commander". For him to call himself a commander with only three hundred amateur soldiers was extremely laughable. But in the bandit's circle of influence, this kind of matter was a common occurrence. They relied on nothing but their influence to scare others. Those who didn't understand the situation would crumble upon hearing the word "commander". They would give money or grain without hesitation upon being asked, not daring to say no.
The Shadow Mountain Troops had four leaders. The head leader was Li Mingtang, the second was Liu Yuan, the third was Li Zhi, who was the brains of the Shadow Mountain Troops, and the fourth was Li Mingxuan, Li Mingtang's twin. Li Mintang was already a Yang Opening Realm cultivator at the middle layer. Of the other three leaders, two were in the middle layer of Blood Boiling and one was at the high layer of Qi Drawing. None of them were weaklings. Most importantly, there were rumors that they had connections with an important clan in the Flying Immortal Palace.
This was also why the Shadow Mountain Troops could remain free and unfettered.
This Golden Name Workshop was a scout for the Shadow Mountain Troops. It could be used to find good targets to take action again. This time, they had found Su Chen.
"If the people you had wanted to borrow were to go, they would probably all just be delivered up to Li Mingtang." Night Demon looked at Su Chen with a disdainful expression.
Su Chen spread out his hands. "How was I supposed to know that the opponent was that strong?"
Yang Opening Realm was the third of seven realms for an Origin Qi Scholar, and could be considered a mid-tier Origin Qi Scholar.
"Stop with the nonsense. Don't think that I can't tell that you intentionally said you wanted to borrow people to use us to scout them out for you?" Night Demon harrumphed. This guy just wanted to use their relationship to gather information. One had to know that the organization had spent a significant amount of effort to investigate the Golden Name Workshop.
Su Chen's face was filled with surprise. "Hm? Your intelligence seems to have increased recently."
Night Demon gave him a flying kick.
Su Chen gently flashed by. "You're not ashamed of bullying a disabled person?"
"Your reactions make it seem like you aren't really blind." Night Demon slashed out, a streak of light flashing towards Su Chen.
Su Chen closed his eyes and took four steps. Every step that Su Chen took, his body would strangely shake, once again dodging Night Demon's attacks.
Night Demon was surprised. "What a magnificent footwork technique. I have never heard of the Su Clan possessing such a magnificent footwork."
He had yet to strike, so Su Chen's hand finally reached out. His left hand activated the Flaming Tiger Fist and sent it flying towards Night Demon, while the Thunder Blade struck out from his right hand. The sound of thunder forced Night Demon to evade. Most surprisingly, Su Chen had done all of this while his eyes were closed. Although his vision had recovered, Su Chen did not let go of the combat skills that he had gained while he was blind.
After dodging this palm and blade strike combo, Night Demon yelled, "So you have entered the Qi Drawing Realm."
"Hmph, I thought you'd have discovered this ages ago," Su Chen laughed.
Su Chen easily shifted forwards. The edge of his palm struck out like a blade. At the same time, his knee flew into the air, displaying the strengths and abilities of the Flowing Wind Body Technique without restraint. When paired with his ability to hear the wind, Su Chen and Night Demon exchanged numerous blows.
Although in the next instant a torrent of Origin Energy exploded out of Night Demon, the impact forced Su Chen to retreat, his figure simply swayed for a moment. He did not seem to have been too affected. She couldn't help but feel extreme surprise.
"Your Flowing Wind Body Technique has actually reached the stage of small success?"
It had only been four months since Su Chen had obtained the Flowing Wind Body Technique. For Su Chen to reach this point so quickly could be considered divine speed.
The main reason for this was because he trained bitterly every single day.
"Less idle chatter. Since you know the bottom line of the target, then let me borrow people based on the strength of the Shadow Mountain Troops. How does that sound?"
"How do you know we have the strength to deal with the Shadow Mountain Troops? Perhaps we don't even have any Yang Opening Realm cultivators."
"You shouldn't need to use these words to try and fool me, right? If you can carelessly toss me four Origin Tools and call them four pieces of trash from storage, do you dare tell me that your organization doesn't have a single Yang Opening expert? If you want to rope me in, show me some sincerity so that our collaboration can continue."
"Collaboration?" Night Demon looked at Su Chen. "You want to discuss a collaboration with us?"
"Wrong. You will be discussing a collaboration with me," Su Chen leisurely said. "Who else is more qualified than I am to replace Lin Xie?"
1. Just to recap and clear things up: after one steps into the Origin Qi Scholar level, there are seven different levels of Origin Qi Scholars. As far as I can tell, each level has nine different layers (pretty similar to most other cultivation novels), which depend on the amount of Origin energy that one has accumulated. Qi Drawing is the first realm, followed by Blood Boiling, Yang Opening, Light-Shaking, and Spirit Burning, in that order. We still don't know what the sixth and seventh levels are, and it is entirely possible that in the future more levels may appear – we shall see. For more clarity, here is a fan-made chart that might help with conversion of stars to cultivation base levels.
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