Chapter 1645 (Raw 1627):
Three days later, not long after Xiao Chen left, a black ship arrived silently at the Pirate Hall where Xiao Chen had stayed.
"Holy Son, the Sect Venerate's aura came from that Pirate Hall."
On the deck, a group of black-clad arhats stood respectfully behind the Black Lotus Church's Holy Son, Ming Xuan.
The Black Lotus Church's Holy Son wore white monk robes and looked extraordinary and graceful.
"The Pirate Hall? He must have been here to repair or upgrade his ship. In that case, he should have stayed for more than a day or two and left behind a lot of clues."
The Holy Son Ming Xuan showed a peaceful smile as he calmly analyzed. "The search area shrank significantly again. Come, follow me in."
—
Inside the captain's quarters of the Black Cutlass pirate ship, Xiao Chen's heart thumped heavily.
The black lotus mark on his chest seemed to pulsate, giving off heat. Fortunately, the Buddhist pendant firmly suppressed it, preventing it from releasing its aura. Even so, it made Xiao Chen very nervous.
After thinking for a while, he realized when he made a mistake.
It was that day when he released the black lotus mark to convince the West Wind Tower's Ding Yuan.
Someone from the Black Lotus Church had probably sensed it. Now, people from the Black Lotus Church had to be going to the Pirate Hall to seek out news.
Xiao Chen had stayed at that Pirate Hall for more than a month. Although he was cautious, if someone investigated carefully, they would definitely discover some clues left behind.
Fortunately, he already had the recommendation letter.
As long as he entered the blessed land, he would be temporarily safe. No matter how strong and bold the Black Lotus Church was, they would not dare to charge into a blessed land.
Thinking this, Xiao Chen calmed down and started cultivating again.
What he found even more confusing was why the Black Lotus Church was pursuing him.
Dwelling on the matter was pointless. He might as well use the time to cultivate.
If Xiao Chen kept worrying about everything, it would end up delaying his cultivation and might even leave behind a mental block.
As the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation's tenth layer circulated, the ink-painting-like Taiji diagram in his dantian spun slowly.
Using Veritable Essence Energy as the foundation and Yin Essence Energy and Yang Essence Energy as supplements, every time the Taiji diagram spun around, comfort swept throughout Xiao Chen's body.
Inside the Taiji diagram, the two fishes—Yin and Yang—were actually the cores of the Yang Essence Energy and Yin Essence Energy. The two cores chased each other but would never meet.
The Veritable Essence Energy was in the entire Taiji diagram; it was everywhere, containing the Yin Essence Energy and Yang Essence Energy.
"Whoosh!"
Inside the captain's quarters, as Xiao Chen entered a state of cultivation, a Taiji diagram appeared on the floor as well.
Light and shadow swirled around, flickering endlessly, looking incredibly mysterious.
Xiao Chen's entire being seemed to merge with the world. The Taiji diagram formed by the Veritable Essence Energy, Yang Essence Energy, and Yin Essence Energy in his dantian spun slower and slower. Eventually, it was hard to tell that it was moving.
However, Xiao Chen already forgot about this long ago. His entire being seemed to have merged with this space. If another party used their Mental Energy Perception, they would find the captain's quarters empty, void of life.
However, if one opened the door, one would clearly see Xiao Chen sitting there with his eyes closed.
One with heaven. This state was being one with heaven. Although Xiao Chen had not reached the Primal Core Realm yet, he succeeded in merging with the world, something that only Primal Core cultivators could do.
When the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation circulated for one hundred eighty minor cycles, Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes. He felt that he was one step closer to the Primal Core Realm.
After reaching the Primal Core Realm, Veritable Essence Energy, Yin Essence Energy, and Yang Essence Energy would merge and form the Primal Core.
It was said that the stronger one's accumulations, the better the quality of Primal Core formed. The strongest cultivators could form a 9-Star Primal Core, possessing unlimited potential.
After refining a ten-thousand-year-old Baleful Yin Energy and the Heavenly Yang Pill, Xiao Chen was filled with anticipation over what grade his Primal Core would be.
Once his Primal Core formed, his strength would increase explosively.
The horrifying accumulations that he had in the Veritable Personage Realm would be unleashed, his combat prowess reaching an incredible level.
At that time, Xiao Chen planned to refine the Heavenly Flame, forming the Taiji Yinyang Flame Diagram with Primal Chaos Grade flames—the Heavenly Flame and the Heavenly Snow Divine Flame. This could become his strongest trump card.
Only then he would truly be able to protect himself from the Black Lotus Church.
Even though the Black Cutlass was very strong, it was something external in the end. It was not his own strength.
Collecting his thoughts, Xiao Chen took out scattered pieces of paper and pieced them together.
Each piece of paper had only one or two words. They were just some simple words. When all the pieces of paper were pieced together, they formed a coherent message.
These words from the talisman runes on the Scarlet Blood War Banner had been translated by scholars of ancient languages.
Xiao Suo had tidied these up and handed them over to Xiao Chen long ago. When Xiao Chen had time, he would mull over them.
"My name is Scarlet Blood. I have a body of scarlet iron with burning-hot blood;
For half my life, I went through ups and downs, homeless and miserable;
For half my life, I was peerless, traveling around without fear.
My body is like a sword, filled with a firm and unyielding pride;
My heart is like the sun and the moon, shining bright for ten thousand years;
My stature is like a mountain, spanning tens of thousands of kilometers;
My eyes are like the many stars, making the sky shine bright like day instead of night;
I cover the sky with one hand and establish myself an emperor with another."
Xiao Chen muttered these words, feeling extremely confused.
Without a doubt, the legendary Scarlet Blood Pirate King hid the location of his treasures in this passage.
No matter how Xiao Chen looked at it, this passage was an introduction of the Scarlet Blood Pirate King and him boasting of some things.
However, it could not really be considered boasting. If Xiao Chen were to describe himself like this, he would definitely be indulging in braggadocio.
However, this was the Scarlet Blood Pirate King speaking about himself. These were facts…as he himself was a legend.
This passage could be divided into two parts. The first part could be considered a simple introduction of himself. "A body of scarlet iron with burning-hot blood" could explain the origin of the name "Scarlet Blood Pirate King."
"For half my life, I went through ups and downs, homeless and miserable." The Scarlet Blood Pirate King did not lead a good life in his earlier days, wandering about and experiencing all sorts of difficulties.
"For half my life, I was peerless, traveling around without fear." The Scarlet Blood Pirate King rose up in the latter part of his life, becoming so strong that no one could defeat him. He did not need to fear anything as he traveled the Great Thousand Realms.
The key should be the last part. "My body is like a sword, filled with a firm and unyielding pride; my heart is like the sun and the moon, shining bright for ten thousand years; my stature is like a mountain, spanning tens of thousands of kilometers; my eyes are like the many stars, making the sky shine bright like day instead of night; I cover the sky with one hand and establish myself an emperor with another."
Body, heart, stature, eyes, and hands.
Every line described a part of the Scarlet Blood Pirate King's body. However, what did this mean?
I'm confused. I do not understand. I simply do not get it.
Xiao Chen mulled this over, then suddenly thought of something. He called out, "Get Elder Tang to come over."
"Yes, Captain."
A respectful reply came from outside. Immediately, a crewmember went to get the Beast Governing Sect's Elder Tang.
There was an experienced person here. If Xiao Chen did not make use of him, it would be too wasteful.
Compared to three days ago, Elder Tang was in much better spirits. He could even be said to have transformed; his aura vaguely seemed stronger.
Elder Tang walked over slowly. His aura was withdrawn, heavy as a mountain, giving off immense pressure.
Even Xiao Chen thought to himself that this Elder Tang was indeed very strong.
Previously, Xiao Chen had been quite lucky. Using the sixteen Neptune's Rages and the two strengthened Cold Steel Eagles, he had pulled off a one-sided battle.
Now, no matter how strong Elder Tang was, he had to listen to Xiao Chen.
There was a dragon blood mark in the depths of Elder Tang's soul. With one thought, Xiao Chen could turn him into a soulless body.
"It looks like Elder Tang already started refining the Life Juice Source. The effects seem to be pretty good," Xiao Chen said softly with a faint smile.
Elder Tang did not show much joy on his face; he merely said indifferently, "It's alright. What does Captain have in mind for this old man?"
"Take a look at this."
Xiao Chen did not mind Elder Tang's attitude. No matter who it was, no one would be happy if they were in Elder Tang's situation.
He let Elder Tang take a look at the tidied-up words.
Originally, Elder Tang did not care and just prepared to get to work. However, after he softly read those words aloud twice, his expression changed drastically.
Elder Tang looked excitedly at Xiao Chen and exclaimed, "These are the last words of the legendary Scarlet Blood Pirate King!"
Before every legendary Pirate King died, they would bury their treasures in the sea and leave some clues behind in their last words, allowing the latter generations to search for their treasures. This formed a sort of inheritance.
This was a pirate tradition. There was a romance, which others would find hard to understand, pushing the Pirate Kings to do this.
In fact, even the ordinary Pirate Kings would bury all the treasures that they plundered.
Elder Tang understood what kind of opportunities and fortuitous encounters the treasures that the Scarlet Blood Pirate King provided.
Xiao Chen nodded and said, "You are smart. I obtained the Scarlet Blood War Banner by chance. I managed to repair it to twenty percent of its peak state and obtain some ancient talisman runes from it. After translating them and organizing them, we got what you see."
After finishing his explanation, Xiao Chen took out the Scarlet Blood War Banner and held it in front of Elder Tang for a moment, proving the truth of his words.
Elder Tang trembled slightly. He asked in confusion, "Where exactly do you come from? To think that you even stumbled into such a startling opportunity!"
Xiao Chen put away the war banner and replied calmly, "Strictly speaking, it is not my opportunity. I was also not the one who bought the war banner. Never mind…let's put that matter aside. What did you manage to make out? Just tell me straight.
"If we can obtain the treasures of the Scarlet Blood Pirate King, you will definitely benefit as well."
Elder Tang nodded and said, "Of the two parts, I feel that we can ignore the first part. The main clue should be in the second part."
"Great minds think alike. I am of that opinion as well. So, what next?" Xiao Chen looked at Elder Tang in anticipation, hoping that Elder Tang had figured out something different.
