Chapter 1639 (Raw 1621):
After Xiao Chen arrived at the Black Cutlass pirate ship, he got all the crewmembers to come down, then led Master Jin to take a look at the ship.
"What is below? Are you not going to let me take a look?"
Master Jin pointed to the entrance to the lower deck. Xiao Chen smiled and said, "There is no need."
The Immemorial Demon Soul Formation was down there. It would be best not to expose it, if possible.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen did not believe that the other party had the ability to improve the Immemorial Demon Soul Formation.
Master Jin did not find this strange. After he disembarked, he said, "Just based on the exterior, I can tell that this is the work of a master who is no way inferior to me. In fact, he might even be better than me."
Xiao Chen kept silent, not acknowledging or denying it, letting the other party continue.
"I can tell that the original shipwright made some backup plans, leaving this pirate ship plenty of space for improvement. Honestly speaking, it is a waste for you to invite me here to do this."
Xiao Chen found this strange. He asked, "What do you mean?"
Master Jin pointed to the ship and said, "The person who originally modified this is extremely experienced. As long as you have enough resources and follow his train of thought, improving it step by step, it will be enough. There is no need at all to think further. Do you get it? No matter how ordinary a shipwright is, they will be able to see this easily and accomplish what you want.
"Let me think. I should have heard of a shipwright that has such skills…who could it be?"
As the two chatted, Master Jin actually got lost in thought. Xiao Chen quickly interrupted him, asking, "You mean that the original shipwright already planned out the future improvements and fixed it all down?"
"Right, that's what I mean. You can get any shipwright, and they just have to follow the steps. You don't need me to handle this minor matter."
Xiao Chen was stunned. Just based on the Immemorial Demon Soul Formation, he had known that Senior Gui possessed excellent origins, but he had not expected him to be that excellent.
As Xiao Chen pondered, Master Jin turned to leave, not having any intention of remaining.
Xiao Chen quickly went forward and stopped the other party. "Master, thank you for being honest with me. However, I would still like to ask you to help with the modifications."
Master Jin frowned and said, "Are you sure? Your ship does not need any major changes. You just need to follow the train of thought of the original shipwright. If you still want me to do it, I will not charge any less. My time is very precious."
"The price is not a problem."
Xiao Chen smiled. He liked making deals with honest people like this shipwright. Then, he took out a jade bottle filled with silver Life Juice Source.
Master Jin opened the bottle, and his eyes gleamed. Clearly, he had not expected this Life Juice Source to be so pure.
"What a pure Life Juice Source! It is at least superior quality."
Originally, Master Jin thought that it would be ordinary Life Juice Source but just purer, without impurities.
What would Master Jin think if he found out that Xiao Chen still had the golden Life Juice Source?
Suppressing the questions in his heart, Master Jin did not ask how Xiao Chen had obtained the Life Juice Source.
After thinking for a while, Master Jin accepted the jade bottle and said, "With this bottle of Life Juice Source, there is hope for my grandson to break through the bottleneck of the Primal Core Realm. His physique will be improved by several times as well.
"I'll not take advantage of you. I'll help you prepare the materials you need for the upgrade and give you a fifty-percent discount on them."
Xiao Chen performed a cupped-fist salute and said, "In that case, many thanks, Master Jin."
Master Jin appeared very satisfied. He smiled and said, "This is good. I'll help you upgrade the ship to 4 Stars. Speed, defense, or offense, which direction would you like to focus on?"
Xiao Chen thought for a while before replying, "Speed and defense."
For now, offensive power was not necessary. The primary uses of the ship were travel and defense against enemies.
After that, the two started discussing the miscellaneous details, such as what materials to use and on what scale, what was needed and what was not, formations for an explosive increase in speed, and so on.
The discussion widened Xiao Chen's horizons. Unexpectedly, building a pirate ship was so complicated.
He had not even heard of many of the issues involved. Fortunately, Master Jin patiently explained them to him, teaching him many things.
"I'll take my leave first and bring people over tomorrow."
Master Jin took his leave. After he left, Xiao Suo nearly jumped up in excitement.
A 4-Star pirate ship. Xiao Suo had never even dreamed that one day, he could ride on a 4-Star pirate ship.
The entire crew was extremely excited as well. After all, back in Purple Sun City, the Golden Setting Sun Pirate Group's 3-Star pirate ship had already caused such a huge commotion.
However, the Black Cutlass would only be modified to 4 Stars and not purchased from the Pirate Alliance.
It would look rather ordinary, and regular people would have difficulty making out the difference.
This was rather vexing, but it suited Xiao Chen's character.
"I'll leave the subsequent details to you. Whether we can deal with that late-stage Major Primal Core cultivator's harassment or not will depend on this ship," Xiao Chen said as he looked at Xiao Suo.
Xiao Suo patted his chest and smiled. "Don't worry. There will not be any problems. Oh, right, the talisman rune puzzle of the Scarlet Blood War Banner will be translated soon."
"Let me know when the results are out."
—
Three days later, Fei`er came to Xiao Chen's room and reported the information on the three blessed lands.
"Big Brother Xiao Chen, I'm almost done with the investigation. I have also found the route there already."
"You've worked hard. Tell me about it."
"Right, the three blessed lands are not very far from each other. They are all at the center of the Grave Sea and are connected by a sea region. They are heavily guarded. Those who are not disciples of sects in them cannot enter.
"The Spiritual Energy in the blessed lands is ten times denser than outside them. Every blessed land has twenty-odd Rank 3 sects and some Rank 4 sects. The Rank 3 sects in them are several times stronger than the Rank 3 sects outside.
"In summary, those places are aloof holy lands. Outsiders can only look on from afar."
After hearing that, Xiao Chen frowned. He had not considered this possibility.
To think that the blessed lands did not give outsiders any opportunity to enter.
How was Xiao Chen to get in touch with that Ye Zifeng like this?
"Big Brother Xiao Chen, perhaps that Ling Yu has a way?" Fei`er whispered.
Xiao Chen shook his head and said indifferently, "There's no need. That person is overly proud. If we seek him out, we will just get humiliated.
"Withdraw first. I'll think of a way."
"Alright."
Seeing Xiao Chen frown but being unable to help him, Fei`er left unhappily.
Xiao Chen toyed with an engraved card and looked forward with a thoughtful glint in his eyes.
West Wind Tower, Ding Yuan!
Perhaps this person could help him get into the blessed lands.
—
With the engraved card, Xiao Chen received privileged treatment when he entered the West Wind Tower again. A pretty maidservant with a slender figure led him to the highest floor of the tower.
Inside the distinguished guest room, Ding Yuan was slowly brewing tea. When he saw Xiao Chen arrive, he smiled and asked, "You've thought it through? You want to go to the dueling ring and earn a large sum?"
Xiao Chen sat down and accepted a cup of tea from the other party. Then, he took a sip and said, "The tea is pretty good. If I obtain consecutive victories before suffering one defeat, Chief Manager Ding will definitely like that even better."
Ding Yuan laughed loudly and said, "You really understand a lot of things, not like those two geniuses from the blessed lands. They are so arrogant that their noses are nearly in the sky. No matter how I advised them, they would not listen. How about this: you obtain twenty consecutive victories, and then we will defeat you in the twenty-first?"
Xiao Chen put down the teacup and replied calmly, "That's a pretty good suggestion. However, today, I came to you because I got some other matter to discuss."
When Ding Yuan heard this, his smile vanished. He said indifferently, "I'm only interested in business, nothing else. Let's just drink tea. Take it as my apology to you for that day."
"I sought you out to do business."
"Oh, what business?" Ding Yuan asked casually, slightly interested.
Xiao Chen said, "You send me to the Black Cave Mountain, and I give you sufficient remuneration. Are you interested in this business?"
Ding Yuan smiled and countered, "Let's just drink tea, then. I am not that capable. You overestimate me."
"I know that you are not that capable, but you should know people who are," Xiao Chen said with heavy emphasis on every word, calmly analyzing. "With your strength and standing, you are already in contact with such people."
Ding Yuan's expression turned serious. He looked at Xiao Chen and said, "It looks like you are serious. I do know such people, but sorry, I can't trust you. No matter how much you pay me, I cannot help you."
Trust…this is a big problem. If Xiao Chen were to do anything disrespectful in the blessed land, Ding Yuan would be implicated.
That would lead to death for sure. No matter how big the business was, it was not as important as one's life.
Because the other party could not trust Xiao Chen, no matter how Xiao Chen explained, the other party would not believe him. The problem of trust was indeed somewhat unresolvable.
Just when Xiao Chen felt that this was a dead end, he noticed a string of Buddhist prayer beads in Ding Yuan's right hand.
The small, red sandalwood Buddhist prayer beads were very smooth, shining with spiritual light.
Under the illumination of the lanterns, the Buddhist prayer beads reflected a faint light that made them glitter and look bright.
Xiao Chen felt excited. After a long time, wooden Buddhist prayer beads would turn purple then black. This darkening was unavoidable unless their owner truly had a heart for Buddha.
Such people would thumb through the string of Buddhist prayer beads in meditation every day, cleaning it every day. This allowed the Buddhist prayer beads to maintain their luster, making it twinkle to the eye, free of dirt.
Xiao Chen revealed a smile. Now, he knew how to resolve the problem of trust.
