Even Chen Jingzhai did not expect that a sudden idea that he came up with could actually succeed. However, when he really thought about it, the outcome was inevitable.
The celestial code that the fire raven had cultivated was a direct path to spiritualization and a direction toward achieving the technique of Grade 6 true celestials. The Golden Flame Sword was a product of that technique and was fused with the soul of a Grade 4 sea beast.
Once it had gathered its authority, it matched the development of the Primordial Essence World.
“The world’s law? Or its nature?” Chen Jingzhai wondered. He stopped seeing the sun and the moon and the mountains and the rivers. His consciousness was indefinitely heightened to the point where he was about to become one with the world.
However, just as it was about to succeed, he backed out of it.
“No. It’s not the time yet. I don’t have enough resources for my Golden Core passage.” Chen Jingzhai shook his head.
He forced himself to stop the process of enlightenment as he felt something pushing him back. It was his soul or his heart, telling him to choose another path.
It was something normal. Naturally, achieving the Complete Foundation Plane meant that he could freely control his desire and uphold his heart of the path. He could have controlled the entire Primordial Essence World.
He spent a little more time studying the bright sun before leaving.
Only the Supreme Sky Master remained standing in the middle of the plaza watching as the sun rose and set.
“I don’t have a lot of Essence Refinement Cards left. Looks like I’ll have to find some time to make more,” the young man thought as he recalled his puppet.
What the white crane had mistaken during his fight with Chen Jingzhai was that he thought the puppet was being controlled by the young man.
The truth was, after leaving the Ink Jade Jackals’ territory, Chen Jingzhai had re-processed a soul remnant into the Dark-face Humanoid Puppet.
Chen Jingzhai would still control the puppet when they were traveling to collect resources and spread Essence Refinement Cards all over the forest. He also needed to do some exploration and also be prepared for any possible danger.
Chen Jingzhai had never thought of using the Essence Refinement Cards in the forest. However, the trade with the female jackal demonic beast made Chen Jingzhai notice the achievements of the demonic beast’s tribes, and he would never miss such a good chance.
The cards were scattered far away from stronger tribes. Once the marketplace opened up, the cards would show themselves and attract demonic beasts.
He had used a lot of the cards as there were too many different tribes in the forest and he didn’t want to miss a single one of them. He would rather spend more cards than have that happen.
“Are you okay?” Lu Tao asked Chen Jignzhai.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Chen Jingzhai replied. “Had to use one of my aces to gravely injure a Complete Golden Core Plane beast, and that attracted the Spirit Plane lords’ attention. Fortunately, I was able to run away.”
Everyone was shocked as they didn’t think that the bright light was caused by Chen Jingzhai.
The young man thought that they were too shocked that the Spirit Plane lords were joining the battle. “Don’t worry, the lords won’t do anything to us. We are already out of their territory anyway. We just have to be even more careful after this. We might even catch up with the other party at this rate.”
“There’s no point in chasing after them.” Miao Yun shook her head. “Rather, we should spend our resources on finding a way out of the forest safely. I initially thought that there are some unique spells or formations in this forest that made it so dangerous. Who would have thought it was just because of the demonic beast tribes? It’s a little bit disappointing.”
“It’s not like we aren’t benefiting from this,” Ji Shuanghua said. “The further we go, the denser the Essence Power is. Getting out of this forest is also a way to help us accustom to this foreign environment. At least our meridians won’t break because of the dense Essence Power out there.”
“Is the Essence Power on the other side that strong?” Chen Jingzhai was shocked.
“Yes, more than you think.” Lu Tao nodded. “It’s at least as dense as the training rooms we have. And that is just normal places. It will be even denser at training spots.”
“I see. That’s why this is called an ancient path.”
“There should be some other secrets waiting for us to uncover after we leave the forest,” Celestial Maiden Han said. “Let’s put that aside. Is there anything we should know about the Gold Demonic Apes?”
“What’s the point?” Lu Tao asked. “We just run past them as fast as we can. If they chase after us, we’ll just do what we did with the cranes.”
“We should be more careful. The apes are strong and easily agitated.” Celestial Maiden Han shook her head. “The most important part is that even though they are a tribe, they don’t live together. Every single ape has their own cave.”
“Are you thinking of looking for treasures in their caves?” Miao Yun looked at her senior sister. “That’s too dangerous!”
“But the Gold Demonic Apes store a type of wine that only they can make in their caves. It’s called the Golden Jade Liquid.” Celestial Maiden Han turned to look at Chen Jingzhai. “It can boost one’s physical ability.”
“It’s even effective for Golden Core Sages?” The young man raised a brow.
“Yes.” The celestial maiden nodded. “The wine made by powerful demonic beasts is beneficial even for sages. It’s a highly graded wine that has potent effects and is very hard to come by.”
“Well, there’s no way we can miss something so rare, can we?” Chen Jingzhai rubbed his chin. “I’ll find a chance to sneak into a cave to find some. However, you guys will have to act as baits this time.”
“Don’t worry.” Celestial Maiden Han grinned. “We are still Golden Core Sages, you know? There’s no way we can hide behind your back all the time. Don’t force yourself when you are in there, alright?”
“Of course.” Chen Jingzhai nodded.
The others were nervous when they heard Chen Jingzhai accepting the celestial maiden’s request. They turned to look at Ji Shuanghua and Lu Tao, but the two sages showed no reaction as they were willing to follow their Master-Uncle’s order.
The two sages would not stop the young man despite knowing the danger it had. They knew that their Master-Uncle would not listen to them. They even hoped that Chen Jingzhai would find some as they also wanted to taste something that rare.
After a short rest, Chen Jingzhai canceled the formations he had deployed and led the party.
They didn’t care if the other party was ahead of them anymore. They had decided to move at their own pace. Ever since they made that decision, they couldn’t help but find themselves hilarious for trying to compete as that would only bring them even more trouble.
Half an hour later, they finally ran into the first Gold Demonic Ape.
Just like the Sky Blue White Cranes, the apes belonged to a Grade 4 tribe. These apes were black in color and had a vicious appearance. They weren’t fast when compared to other beasts, but they were huge. Even a Grade 2 ape could reach 12 feet tall while those who had taken the form of a human were at least 6 feet tall.
The forest was more like a playground to these apes. They chased after Celestial Maiden Han and her group. Because of their sturdy body and talent, powerful apes could defend themselves against the attack from a magic treasure.
They had immense strength as well, and the human cultivators were reluctant to face the apes head-on. All they could do was outrun the demonic beasts. The other option was to find a clearing and cut down all the trees behind them.
Whilst the group had attracted the attention of the apes, Chen Jingzhai had entered the apes’ territory using his earth escape method. Just as Celestial Maiden Han had said, the apes’ territory was different than the others.
The other territories were heavily guarded and the entire tribe lived together in one area, either in a huge cave or a nest built among the trees.
However, the apes were different. They dug their own caves and lived alone despite being part of the same tribe. If two apes were to live together, they would have fought each other all the time.
These apes would not hold back before they could achieve a human form. Deaths on their own were normal. Even after they had a human form, they would still live alone.
However, that habit of the apes gave Chen Jingzhai a chance to sneak into one of the caves. He easily spotted the Golden Jade Liquid inside the almost empty cave and he took all of it.
The Golden Jade Liquid was categorized into different grades according to its colors. White liquids were Grade 2. Grade 3s had a hint of green while Grade 4s were indigo in color.
Grade 2 Golden Jade Liquids had a rough texture while Grade 3s were aromatic. Grade 4s were sweet but strong. Chen Jingzhai left not only with the wines but also with resources like ores and spirit herbs.
He was extremely careful whenever he moved. Other than relying on the Great Heaven Mirror to hide his presence, he also used the Presence Concealment Technique. He would only enter caves that had a dense aura and would carry the hair of the apes with him.
The young man searched through about 50 caves and obtained two Grade 4 Golden Jade Liquids, 16 Grade 3s and the rest were Grade 2s.
Even Grade 2 Golden Jade Liquids were considered a rare discovery. After pouring one into his wine calabash, it was brewed with the wine talismans and the ice soul stone to produce something entirely different.
