“Was the seal he cast on the Soul Pearl effective?” Ye Chen asked. Nan Gongye’s sealing technique was so mysterious and intriguing.
“It’s effective. This seal is known as the Cloud Seal. It’s one of the most powerful defensive seals. Even a Seventh Grade heavenly tribulation wouldn’t be able to destroy it!” Elder Tuntian expressed, “It’s said that only those from a special bloodline were able to cast such a sealing technique. There are some other requirements too but I’m not certain about the specifics.”
“That means Senior Tuntian won’t have to remain in the Sunken Jade Tower?” Ye Chen asked. He looked at Little Wingsy. He was not certain if this was a blessing or a curse.
“That’s right.” Elder Tuntian was overjoyed that he laughed. “From here on, this old one doesn’t have to fear the heavenly punishment anymore!”
Ye Chen looked back at the Sunken Jade Tower. It was filled with threats lurking everywhere. As he was now, he would not be able to explore the place by himself. He would have to return once he had become stronger. The mysterious individual, Nan Gongze and his background, had left many questions as well and he must be utterly powerful. It was a good thing that Ye Chen did not provoke him and instead helped him. At the very least, this was a good first impression.
Ye Clan valley.
“Little Chen, you really are going to go to the Central Empire?” Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhantian, and the others asked Ye Chen.
“Yes. Father, Granduncle, I want to head to the Central Empire and see more of the world.” Ye Chen nodded.
Ye Changxuan and Ye Zhantian exchanged a look and fell silent. At Ye Chen’s current cultivation base, he had most certainly earned his spot in the Xiwu Empire. However, in the Central Empire, the streets were filled with fighters stronger than Ye Chen.
“That’s fine too. Ye Meng, Ye Xuan, and the rest are in the Central Empire as well. Little Chen will have someone to accommodate you. The Nanman Kingdom had already pulled back their forces and they will not be invading the Xiwu Empire in the upcoming years. Still, Little Chen, you have to be careful in the Central Empire!” Ye Changxuan instructed.
“As for the Ye Clan…” Ye Chen still had some lingering doubts.
“We’ll take care of the matters of the Ye Clan.” Ye Zhantian assured him. He understood that Ye Chen would have to head out into the outside world eventually. It would do well for him to go to the Central Empire. If things went well, he could help expand the Ye Clan’s reach into new grounds. Although a small part of him still did not want Ye Chen to leave, he decided he had to let him go for the sake of the future of the Ye Clan and Ye Chen himself.
“Little Chen, take these. These are medicinal pills we earned from the clan’s Lingzhi trade.” Ye Changxuan retrieved a large wad of silver certificates. “We’ve obtained these silver certificates from our network and they are safe. There are a thousand pieces – each piece can be exchanged for five hundred Chi Deposition Pills. It adds up to a total of five hundred thousand Chi Deposition Pills. You’ll need a lot of money if you go to the Central Empire.”
Even for the Central Empire, five hundred thousand Chi Deposition Pills were a hefty sum!
“Hm.” Ye Chen nodded. He was roughly familiar with the Ye Clan’s financial situation. Their upcoming revenues were enough to sustain their expenses.
“Here is some physics. Take them with you.” Ye Zhan Tian handed Ye Chen a Heaven-Earth Pouch. It contained up to thirty variations of medicinal pills such as Millennial Flame-serpent Fruit, Millennial Fetal Ginseng, and many others. These were obtained from deceiving the Wolven Kingdom.
Ye Chen could not reject their offer so he took all of them.
Under Ye Zhantian’s management, Donglin County was on the right trajectory. The Wolven Kingdom was terrified of Ye Chen and would probably not be visiting the Ye Clan valley for some time. In addition, the Ye Clan valley had many mystical beasts to defend it so there would not be any incident.
After he had finished his preparations and said his goodbyes to his clansmen, Ye Chen took Little Wingsy and Little Squido with him. They rode on the Golden Sun Condor and made for the Capital City. Master Apothecary Xuanyi had mentioned that he wanted to make a trip back to the Central Empire so Ye Chen wanted to Master and Brother Li with him.
The Golden Sun Condor soared across the skies above the Ye Clan valley and vanished into the distant horizons.
They were several thousand kilometers away from the borders of the Xiwu Empire and the Nanman Kingdom. Among the thick, overgrown forests devoid of human civilization stood a broad valley.
Three giant wolves cautiously crossed a narrow and long section to enter the valley. In the middle of the valley stood an altar with a gigantic demonic blade perched atop it. The demonic blade was more than two meters tall. Its sharp edges reflected blood-red light off its surface into the sky above.
This was the ancestral weapon of the Demon Wolf Clan – the Demon Wolf Manic Blade!
The Demon Wolf Manic Blade was forged with the body of an ancestor of the Demon Wolf Clan and refined till perfection. It was a craft that defied the gods and may incur the wrath of heavenly punishment. Under usual circumstances, the Demon Wolf Clan had hidden the Demon Wolf Manic Blade in this hidden valley and concealed it with a large mist of blood.
Whenever the Demon Wolf Manic Blade appeared, a terrible massacre that painted the skies red would follow. The Demon Wolf Manic Blade was so powerful, even the previous Wolf King of the Wolven Kingdom was barely able to exert its full potential.
The three giant wolves that walked the narrow path were the three Celestial Beast Daemon Kings of the Wolven Kingdom. Respectively, they were the Blood Wolf Daemon King, Fire Wolf Daemon King, and Silver Wolf Daemon King.
“Third brother, are you certain that the energy belonged to an ancient Almighty?” the Blood Wolf Daemon King asked. They were going to disturb the ancestor’s cultivation again. Even though he was the leader of the Wolven Kingdom, he still held great fear and respect for the ancestors.
“It was an ancient Almighty. Otherwise, there would be no chance I’d be suppressed so heavily by it.” The Silver Wolf Daemon King was certain. He recalled the events in the Ye Clan valley and his heart was still gripped with fear thinking about it.
“If that’s the case, then let’s council with the ancestors.” The Blood Wolf Daemon King nodded.
The three Daemon Kings came before the bloody mist and reached into it with their Psyche.
In an instant, the scent of blood in the mist grew overbearingly strong as a giant red Demon Wolf appeared above the demonic blade. It was near seven to eight meters tall, its eyes burned with a bright red and its body engulfed in demonic flames. Its fierce eyes glared down at the three Daemon Kings. With a cold, grim voice it asked, “Now, what do you want?”
“Great ancestor, sorry to disturb your cultivation again,” the Blood Wolf Daemon King said, his voice trembling. The aura pouring out of the ancestor’s body terrified him. “Here’s the situation. When Third Brother was in a valley within the Xiwu Empire, he felt the presence of an ancient Almighty.”
When the Demon Wolf ancestor had heard of an ancient Almighty, a strange flash met its eyes and he said, “Tell me everything in detail.”
The Blood Wolf Daemon King looked at the Silver Wolf Daemon King who stood beside it. The Silver Demon Wolf King told the story of the events in the Ye Clan valley in clear detail.
The Demon Wolf ancestor listened silently and was in deep thought.
“What does the ancestor make of this?” the Blood Wolf Daemon King looked up at the red Demon Wolf figure and asked carefully.
The Demon Wolf ancestor remained silent for some time before confessing, “After experiencing the great calamities, most of the superior beings have all gone on to the Tianyuan Ancient City. After all this time had passed, the ones who remained have probably mostly died of old age. There are two possibilities. One, this ancient Almighty is the same as I, having refined itself into a spirit arcana. Two, this ancient great being is an absolute and powerful entity that’s able to evade the calamities using some peculiar method.”
“Spirit arcana?” The eyes of three Daemon Kings glowed. They knew just how powerful spirit arcanas were. Powerful beings like the ancestors have refined themselves into a spirit arcana and in turn, attained immortality. Unless they were destroyed by the heavenly punishment, they can continue to live on forever. The drawback was that their strengths were suppressed. Take the Demon Wolf Manic Blade for example. It could not attack at its own will unless someone wielded it to unleash its strength!
The Blood Wolf Daemon King was a top Daemon King Rank being. If it wielded the Demon Wolf Manic Blade, it could even stand a chance in a battle against a Grand Supreme Stage fighter!
There were two kinds of spirit arcana. The ones without an artifact spirit in them would not bring forth the heavenly punishment. Then there were the ones with artifact spirit sealed within them. They were usually Almighty beings that had survived ever since the ancient ages. There were several great calamities in the ancient ages which had wiped out all lives. Many powerful beings survived them by refining themselves into a spirit arcana. There was a great chance that the ancient Almighty mentioned was also a spirit arcana!
“If it’s a spirit arcana, shouldn’t we get our hands on it?” The Fire Wolf Daemon King’s eyes grew bright at the prospect.
“It’s better to not take such a risk. Let’s decide after we get more information!” The Daemon Wolf ancestor shook his head. If it was an Almighty being, his descendants would bring great devastation to the wolf clan by provoking it.
“Yes, ancestor.” The three Daemon Kings nodded in agreement. They thought about how they could determine if it was an artifact spirit of a spirit arcana in the Ye Clan valley or if it was simply just a powerful being.
To begin with, they would need to start with the Ye Clan members. They had to find some way to pry some information from the lips of several significant members of the Ye Clan.
After two days, Ye Chen had arrived at the Xiwu Empire Capital City. After the war, the Xiwu Empire had begun its reparations. Under the instruction of the Great Emperor Mingwu, everything was proceeding accordingly.
The Taiyi Sword Sect and the Stalwarts of the Heavenly Stars Sect were completely wiped out by the Xie Dao and Xie Jian duo. Nie Qingyun, Xie Dao, and Xie Jian were tasked with assisting Great Emperor Mingwu. Ye Chen took Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu with him. After bidding farewell to Great Emperor Mingwu and the others, they went on to the Central Empire.
Ye Chen wondered how the second uncle, Ye Meng and Ye Xuan were doing in the Central Empire.
“Master Apothecary, how long will it take for the Golden Sun Condor to reach the Central Empire?” Ye Chen asked, looking back at Master Apothecary Xuanyi.
“On the Nightwind’s back, it’d take up to half a year. For the Golden Sun Condor, it should only take two to three months,” Master Apothecary Xuanyi replied. The Great Eastern Continent was extremely vast. Kilometers of mountains and rivers spanned between the Central Empire and the Xiwu Empire. A Heavenly Adept Level Golden Sun Condor would be able to fly very fast. Besides, the Golden Sun Condor was known for its speed.
Three to four months… That was way too long!
During this duration, Ye Chen regularly consumed some Mystique Venerable Rank Spirit Pills. He also fed the Golden Sun Condor Soul-amassing Pills and Soul-consolidating Pills. The Golden Sun Condor was nearing advancement to Mystique Adept Level.
Mystical beasts were slightly different from Celestial Beasts. Compared to Celestial Beasts, it was easier for mystical beasts to advance. However, compared to Celestial Beasts of the same level, they were far weaker. In addition, Celestial Beasts had all types of mystical abilities such as transforming to human form, Psyche tracking, Astral Externalization, and much more. Mystical beasts did not possess such abilities, not even transformation to human form. The only exception being certain mystical beasts of special bloodlines who were able to transform into human form.
Mystical beasts had some common abilities such as changing their size and some other abilities.
The Golden Sun Condor was nearing advancement to Mystique Adept Level. It would be able to advance after more feeding. If it was able to advance to Mystique Venerable Rank, it should be able to fly faster!
Ye Chen retrieved a Soul-consolidating Pill from his Heaven-Earth Pouch and tossed it forward. The Golden Sun Condor snapped its head and bit into the Soul-consolidating Pill. Ye Chen transferred his own Celestial Chi into the Golden Sun Condor to help the Golden Sun Condor fortify its body.
The Golden Sun Condor was already top Heavenly Venerable Rank. Its body continued to grow stronger as it ate more high-quality pills. With Ye Chen’s Celestial Chi on top of the Soul-consolidating Pill, its body started to change.
Chirp!
The Golden Sun Condor fervently cried out, its cry echoed around the sky. A powerful energy poured out from within as its feathers started to radiate bright gold. Its body also began to grow significantly larger.
The Golden Sun Condor’s body was surrounded by rays of shining lights and its eyes as well glowed radiantly.
“Ye Chen, did your Golden Sun Condor just advance?” Li Xu noted the Golden Sun Condor’s transformation and asked curiously.
The Golden Sun Condor was already Heavenly Adept level by itself. After advancing, it would progress into Mystique Adept. In the Xiwu Empire and the Nanman Kingdom, Ye Chen would reign supreme just with the Golden Sun Condor alone.
There were many rumors of Ye Chen being a Daemon King which Li Xu did not believe. In the past, he had seen Ye Chen in the Yun Castle of Donglin County. At the time, Ye Chen was just a little unknown brat and there was no trace of Daemon King aura from him. Nevertheless, Ye Chen’s cultivation base and every single other aspect of his arsenal had improved to an unbelievable stage.
“It does seem like it’s advancing,” Ye Chen replied gladly. The Golden Sun Condor did live up to his expectations.
Ye Chen was not aware that with the help of his Celestial Chi, even the body of the Golden Sun Condor had undergone changes.
The Golden Sun Condor’s energy rose tremendously. Its body grew far stronger than before and it was covered in layers of dazzling golden glow. Its feathers became as tough as steel-forged metal.
Ye Chen’s Astral Body had sensed that the Golden Sun Condor had advanced to beginner Mystique Adept!
No, it was still going!
Ye Chen felt the Golden Sun Condor’s energy rising steadily, all the way from beginner Mystique Adept to mid-Mystique Adept before it finally stopped. It was just centimeters away from top Mystique Adept!
“It rose so quickly!” Ye Chen was at a loss for words.
The Golden Sun Condor had been stagnant in Heavenly Adept Level for a long time without advancing. That was the reason its original owner thought about selling it off and ended up releasing the Golden Sun Condor into the wild. Judging by the Golden Sun Condor’s progress, it would not reach Mystique Adept Level until the day it died. However, ever since it followed Ye Chen, it was regularly fed Mystique Venerable Rank Spirit Pills. It was even fed Soul-amassing Pills and Soul Consolidating Pills – the likes of pills that could improve its innate abilities. In addition, it was also nourished with Ye Chen’s Celestial Chi, fortifying its body. The Golden Sun Condor had been storing up energy to advance. The moment it advanced, the saved up energy helped it make a tremendous leap.
The Golden Sun Condor cried joyously. It became several folds faster. It charged forward, slicing the wind as it went.
