CH 1723

Chapter 1723 (Raw 1734): Startling Change

Hiding a dagger being a smile…was actually not accurate.

However, after the Venerable Xuan Bei took the saber manual away, Xiao Chen felt rather upset in his heart. After all, it was an original saber manual.

If Xiao Chen had nothing to do, he could take references from it and benefit a lot.

Ling Yu’s expression changed slightly. “Martial Uncle, what’s going on? Weren’t they the ones who were in the wrong? How come your saber manual got taken away? I’ll help you seek out the Sect Master.”

Xiao Chen’s expression recovered its calm as he waved his hand. “You don’t have to. I no longer need the saber manual. That Saber Technique is a consummate skill of the Buddhist sect in the first place. Even if he did not ask for it, there would be people who would in the future. Those people would be even more forceful.”

Another Buddhist sect expert would definitely attack without saying a word instead of being so polite like the Venerable Xuan Bei.

Everyone in the Grave Sea knew that Xiao Chen was Ye Zifeng’s junior brother. They would have to think twice if they wanted to attack.

The Venerable Xuan Bei used both kindness and might. His taking away the saber manual was the best solution.

In any case, no matter what, this experience opened Xiao Chen’s eyes. In the future, when he interacted with the people of the Buddhist sect, he could not let his guard down easily.

Whether these people cultivated beneficence, incense, or great aspirations, they were all not easy to deal with.

One could not think that another was easy to deal with just because they looked kind and showed a smile.

Ling Yu still felt dissatisfied. He considered it pure bullying, something very hateful.

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Let’s not care about that first. Take a look at what’s inside.”

Xiao Chen did not want to involve the Sect Master, who would actually not be able to do anything. Xuan Bei had taken away the saber manual with justified reasons without making any problems.

Xiao Chen handed the storage ring to Ling Yu and got him to take a look at what was inside, to see what compensation Xuan Bei gave him.

Ling Yu sent in his Mental Energy into the storage ring. Then, he let out an exaggerated cry, “Wow!” He only recovered his wits after a long time.

“Martial Uncle, it’s all Spirit Jades…all of them Medial Grade Spirit Jades…” Ling Yu was mumbling; hence, Xiao Chen could not make out everything he said.

“How inexperienced! They’re just Spirit Jades. Do you have to behave so exaggeratedly?” Xiao Chen said with disdain. Then, he took the storage ring to take a look for himself. He immediately felt dazzled.

The storage ring’s space, which was not small, was practically crammed with Medial Grade Spirit Jades. Xiao Chen sent his Spiritual Sense through it and made some preliminary estimations.

Eight million Medial Grade Spirit Jades!

Aside from this, there was nothing else. They were all crystalline Spirit Jades giving off intense light.

Xiao Chen’s expression changed greatly. At his wealthiest, he had only had two million Medial Grade Spirit Jades.

Even so, that had already been enough to sweep his way through the peak auction house in the Purple Sun Region, directly crushing his opponent into not daring to show any temper.

When Xiao Chen made a move on them, he had been completely merciless.

“It really is a pile of secular goods…” Xiao Chen sighed. Then, he smiled bitterly. “The Venerable is truly incredible.”

Xiao Chen also added a line in his heart. If possible, I will not stand on ceremony no matter how much of these secular goods you want to give me.

Ling Yu only calmed down after a long time. He sighed, “Previously, I heard that the accumulations of any Potala Mountain Rank 3 sect were much vaster than our sect’s. Now, I truly saw it for myself. I heard that many of the believers give generously, wishing that they could donate everything that they have.”

Xiao Chen shook his head. That was the charm of faith. Nothing could compare to it.

Ling Yu smiled and said, “Martial Uncle, all those present have a share, right? Can you split some with me? My pocket has been a little tight recently.”

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Cut the crap. Aside from me, you are the one with the best harvest in this Fiendish Demon Battlefield’s opening. Just that peak Treasure Tool alone is worth a lot. Furthermore, you probably still have not revealed a large pile of natural treasures.”

Ling Yu smiled and did not rebut. He was just kidding. He was indeed the one with the richest harvest.

Even so, Xiao Chen did not see Ling Yu as an outsider, directly handing Ling Yu one million Medial Grade Spirit Jades.

Ling Yu accepted the Spirit Jades abashedly. He tried to reject a few times before reluctantly accepting them and happily putting them away, unable to hide the smile on his face.

When Xiao Chen looked around, he realized that there was still the brocade box from Zhen Yuan on the table.

What would that fellow give me?

“Martial Uncle, what is in that brocade box? I’ll help you to open it.”

Ling Yu headed over excitedly, but Xiao Chen quickly stopped him. “Wait a moment!”

Xiao Chen did not trust Zhen Yuan. Since Zhen Yuan was so unfortunate in the Fiendish Demon Battlefield, Xiao Chen did not believe that the monk did not hold a grudge against him.

“Whoosh!”

Xiao Chen sent out some energy with a flick of his finger. “Bang!” The brocade box immediately burst open.

The thing inside revealed its true appearance—nothing, nothing at all.

“Empty?” Ling Yu said in surprise. “Who gave that? What does it mean?”

Xiao Chen picked up the empty box and smiled. “Interesting. Is he trying to say that I am like air to his eyes, not even worth mentioning?”

In reality, that was not far from the truth.

Zhen Yuan had never treated Xiao Chen as a true opponent. That day, the environment was complicated. If he had faced Xiao Chen alone, he would not have been so concerned.

After that, the Black Lotus Church’s Holy Son ambushed him. Hence, he ended up just watching Xiao Chen defeat the Black Lotus Church’s Holy Son and leave.

As a result, he felt even more sullen, unable to bring out his strength at all.

By giving Xiao Chen an empty box, he was trying to tell Xiao Chen not to be cocky and that he would settle this account sooner or later.

“It must be from Zhen Yuan. What an arrogant fellow,” Ling Yu muttered to himself but did not say much more. Zhen Yuan had firmly suppressed Shangguan Lei and Wang Yueming in strength for a long time already.

Zhen Yuan’s strength was unfathomable, and people rarely saw his full power. He did indeed have the capital to act mysterious and be arrogant.

Xiao Chen said indifferently, “Let’s not care about him. I have some questions. Do you know where I can buy a cauldron? An ancient cauldron would be best. The older, the better, and it must be an authentic one.”

“An ancient cauldron? That has me stumped. The Ancient Era used to respect the cauldron as supreme, symbolizing indomitable spirit and ascending the throne. During ancient times, it was not just some symbolic object. It also represented Luck, the Luck of the nation, even of the dynasty.”

If Xiao Chen sought an ordinary cauldron, it would be fine. However, Xiao Chen specified an ancient cauldron. Ling Yu did not dare to speak any nonsense, so he thought carefully about it.

Naturally, Xiao Chen knew the history of ancient cauldrons. Coincidentally, he also needed a good cauldron to cultivate his Vital Qi.

In that case, Xiao Chen could use the cauldron for two purposes. As he refined the Heavenly Flame, he could use the cauldron to cultivate Vital Qi.

Before the Blood-Soaked Dragon Emperor went back to sleep this time, he finally handed over a Dragon Race Cultivation Technique and some Dragon Race secret arts.

Xiao Chen benefited a lot from this. However, he would have to wait until he broke through to the Cloud Sea Realm for the Blood-Soaked Dragon Emperor to wake up again.

Among those things the Blood-Soaked Dragon Emperor gave him was a Cultivation Technique for Vital Qi, called the Divine Dragon Golden Body Art. Just from the name itself, it was clearly extraordinary.

However, Xiao Chen required an ancient cauldron to practice this Cultivation Technique.

If he were in Ancestor Dragon City, a Dragon Race upper echelon would definitely bestow a precious Dragon Pattern Cauldron on him.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chen did not have such fortune. He could only rely on himself.

“I got it!”

Ling Yu’s eyes lit up as he finally thought of a place. “The Soaring Dragon Great Realm!”

When Xiao Chen heard that, he felt somewhat astonished. Could the Soaring Dragon Great Realm be related to the Dragon Race?

After hearing Ling Yu’s explanation, Xiao Chen learned that this Soaring Dragon Great Realm did indeed have some relation to the Dragon Race. It was said that before the dynasties of the Central Great Realm were established, the Soaring Dragon Great Realm was the land of one of six Dragon Race bloodlines.

It seemed like they were defeated for some reason, resulting in that Dragon Race bloodline withdrawing.

Now, the Soaring Dragon Great Realm did not have any connection to the Dragon Race at all. It was currently the conferred land of the Yanwu Dynasty’s Soaring Dragon Marquis and had held the name Soaring Dragon for more than ten thousand years already.

Naturally, the Soaring Dragon Marquis was not there. The Soaring Dragon Marquis’s clan and faction were based in the Central Great Realm’s Yanwu Dynasty.

The Soaring Dragon Great Realm was only the Soaring Dragon Marquis’s external conferred land.

Or perhaps, it was just the conferred land of one of the Soaring Dragon Marquis’s descendants. The Soaring Dragon Marquis had many more conferred lands.

Xiao Chen felt that it was very imperious. An entire great realm was actually just a conferred land of a marquis.

The Tianwu Dynasty, the Yanwu Dynasty, the Leiwu Dynasty, and the Xuewu Dynasty were the four Great Dynasties in the Central Great Realm. Each dynasty had tens of thousands of years of history. The royal clans of the dynasties went even further back, traceable to the time of the Fiendish Demons, the time when the predecessors appeared.

[TL Note: The four dynasties have a two-part name, of which the second part (Wu) is the same and is explained below. Tian is sky or heaven, Yan is fire, Lei is lightning or thunder, and Xue is blood.]

The names of all the dynasties had the word “Wu” (martial) in them. It represented the descent of the Martial Dao’s Luck, an indicator of sorts that the dynasty would not fall in the Martial Epoch.

Ling Yu continued explaining, “Because the Soaring Dragon Great Realm is a conferred land of the Soaring Dragon Marquis, its status is different. The many surrounding clusters have it as their center. I know a place in Soaring Dragon City where we can get the ancient cauldron that Martial Uncle wants.”

After pausing for a while, Ling Yu smiled. “Furthermore, we are currently very wealthy. We have eight million Medial Grade Spirit Jades, and there are the many natural treasures from the Fiendish Demon Battlefield. We can sell those over there and get a good price.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

Xiao Chen secretly made some calculations. It seemed that his possessions did not total just eight million Medial Grade Spirit Jades but more.

Just the high-quality Life Juice Source, which he still had quite a lot left, added to the Medial Grade Spirit Jades he had on hand would already bring the total to over ten million Medial Grade Spirit Jades.

---

At the foot of the Purple Flame Sect’s main peak, after enduring for a long time, Zhen Yuan asked, “Master, did you obtain the saber manual?”

Xuan Bei nodded without much care. “Your contributions make up for your mistakes. You do not need to get punished for the mistake you committed because of the evil person from the Black Lotus Church. I will explain it to my senior brother, the abbot.”

Zhen Yuan’s eyes gleamed. He did not listen to the latter part of his master’s words. He smiled and asked, “Master, can you let Disciple take a look at the saber manual? I am very curious about the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique.”

Xuan Bei shook his head and said decisively, “If it were another consummate skill, there would be no problem with letting you take a look. However, since it is the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique, definitely not. Too many disciples have fallen to the Demonic Dao because of this Saber Technique. After breaking the abstinence, how does one govern oneself? How do we explain Mahāmāyā? Its origin itself is difficult to answer.”

While speaking about this, Xuan Bei suddenly stopped and sighed, “It is really unfortunate for Xiao Chen. At first glance, I already felt that he had a fate with Buddhism. Buddhism pays a lot of attention to fate. The feeling from my first glance was definitely right. Indeed, an outsider actually succeeded in practicing the Mahāmāyā, which even the orthodox Buddhist sect disciples find hard to practice…”

The crux was that Xiao Chen even comprehended its true meaning. With such talent, it was truly unfortunate that he was not part of the Buddhist sect.

Xuan Bei did not notice that Zhen Yuan’s expression turned scarily sullen at this point.

Damn it. Could it be that Master feels that I cannot even compare to an outsider?

I don’t believe it!

---

Three days later, the time when Xiao Chen and Ling Yu arranged to depart:

Ling Yu brought Xiao Chen a piece of very surprising news. “Zhen Yuan betrayed his sect and fled. I heard that he killed a few Xuan-generation esteemed monks and stole a book of scripture before fleeing. The Profound Light Temple already informed all the sects in the three blessed lands and sent out the highest-level wanted notice. Now, there is no place for him in the entire Grave Sea.”

When Xiao Chen heard that, he immediately thought, What scripture book? It must be the Mahāmāyā Abstinence Violation Saber Technique’s manual!