Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The core formula that Su Mo had produced had unexpectedly earned the admiration of the best core-forging master on the planet of Ziyun, Alchemist Xu, and the transaction was swiftly completed.
A thousand spirit stones were stored in the space ring and brought out of the black market.
Of course, for insurance purposes, Su Mo did not leave the black market immediately after the payment was handed over to him but spent half a day window shopping before leaving.
This was to avoid someone following him.
People would have assumed he would leave the black market as soon as he could after completing the transaction.
However, he purposefully chose a different course of action, and after spending half a day loitering in the black market, he finally left the black market in the wee hours of the next morning and headed toward the inn.
What Su Mo did not expect was that he had still attracted attention.
“Seventeenth elder.”
In a brightly lit room in the black market, an old man reported respectfully to a middle-aged man, “From the time last night you assigned me, I have thoroughly investigated everyone who entered and left the black market.
“There is a total of fifty-two unfamiliar faces among them. The people stationed at the various entrances all say they didn’t recognize these people, that they could all be visiting the black market for the first time. There could also be some among them who have not visited for a long time. Drawings of the fifty-two people are all here.”
As the old man finished, he took several steps forward and passed a stack of drawings to the middle-aged man.
If Su Mo had been present, he would have known immediately that this middle-aged man was the elder of the black market who had conducted the transaction with him the previous night.
This elder of the black market was also the seventeenth elder of the Shenguang sect, Liu Xuanyu, a middle Primal-Core-stage adept.
The ultimate authority of the black market, the third elder of the Shenguang sect, had not allowed Liu Xuanyu to do anything to obtain the core formula, as doing so might have damaged the reputation of the Shenguang sect.
Yet Liu Xuanyu was not disheartened.
He intended to vet all the people who had entered and departed the black market the previous day to identify unfamiliar faces.
The person who could produce such a formula for a Qi-gathering Core could not be someone who frequently visited the black market.
Fifty-two people …
Liu Xuanyu had drawings of fifty-two people altogether, including old men, old women, as well as middle-aged men and women, and even young men, young women, and a good number of young girls.
…
The fifty-two drawings Liu Xuanyu was flipping through included Zhou Donghuang’s and Su Mo’s images.
“Go and check on these people. At the same time, check those who left the black market over the past few days, and compare them against those who entered yesterday.”
As he finished, a flash of insight gleamed in Liu Xuanyu’s eyes. “I am afraid he may have stayed a few days in the black market before leaving. The people who left last night before I completed the transaction with him can be disregarded. This will make the checking process much easier.”
As he finished, Liu Xuanyu added, “Go ahead. Remember to report to me if you make any progress.”
Liu Xuanyu looked deeply at the old man before him. “If I can recover those thousand spirit stones and that space ring, I will give you a hundred spirit stones.”
“Many thanks to Seventeenth Elder.”
The old man expressed his thanks profusely and turned to leave with a spring in his step.
A hundred spirit stones.
Even an early Primal Core adept of the Shenguang sect could only draw one spirit stone each month, needing to save for eight to nine years before having a hundred spirit stones.
After the old man had left, Liu Xuanyu’s eyes gleamed as he murmured to himself, “If you had only wanted dozens or hundreds of spirit stones, I would not have been bothered to go through all this trouble to investigate you … but for a thousand spirit stones and a space ring, you are worth my while!”
Liu Xuanyu’s investigation of the sale of a Qi-gathering core formula to the Shenguang sect was neither on behalf of the black market nor of the Shenguang sect.
He was investigating for his own benefit.
After he had investigated, he would prepare to seize the spirit stones and space ring. The spirit stones and space ring would be his plunder.
Although Liu Xuanyu was the seventeenth elder of the Shenguang sect with a level of practice at the middle Primal Core stage, the Shenguang sect issued just three spirit stones to him every month.
A thousand spirit stones, along with a space ring worth over a thousand spirit stones, was worth every ounce of effort.
…
When Su Mo arrived back at the inn in the capital city of the Shenguang empire, he went immediately to the youth’s room and knocked on the door.
“Master, the thousand spirit stones are in the space ring.”
After the youth opened the door, Su Mo passed the space ring to the youth. The look he gave the youth was more respectful than it had been before.
The core-forging master of the Shenguang sect, Alchemist Xu, was the best on Ziyun. He was from a planet with great practitioners of the Primordial Soul stage and had vast experience of his own.
However, Xu Fu had said that no formula for a Qi-gathering core from that planet could be compared with the core formula that his master had produced.
What did this mean?
It implied that the level of mastery over the art of cores his young master possessed exceeded the level on that planet!
“I, Xu Fu, am acknowledged as the best core-forging master on the planet of Ziyun … but with my level of core-forging, I am barely worth a mention on my home planet!”
“I might not even make it into the top ten thousand.”
This was what Xu Fu had said to the elder of the black market in front of Su Mo.
This is why Su Mo felt so strongly that there was more to his master than met the eye, and that if he continued on his current course, he would have the chance to attain the Dharma Laws stage, or even the Primordial Soul stage!
As for the Primal Core stage, it was a given for him at this point in time.
“Only one square foot?” Zhou Donghuang took the space ring and infused his qi into it. An image rose in his mind, that of a small space of one square foot.
A thousand spirit stones practically filled up the small space completely.
Space rings were classified into different grades depending on their storage capacity. Inferior-quality space rings had a storage space of less than three square feet, with the smallest no less than one square foot.
The space ring in Zhou Donghuang’s hands had a storage space of one square foot, indicating it was the lowest quality of inferior-quality space rings.
“I’ll just use it first. When I attain the Primal Core stage, I’ll use the three Samadhi fires to remake it, and I’ll be able to increase the storage space to two square feet,” Zhou Donghuang said to himself.
With Zhou Donghuang’s methods, he could maximize the use of a space stone to forge space rings.
Although the space stone used to forge his space ring was very low quality, he could nevertheless use it to forge a space ring with a storage capacity of two square feet.
“Take these one hundred spirit stones to practice.”
Zhou Donghuang took out a hundred spirit stones and passed them to Su Mo, saying, “In the meantime, I intend to practice in seclusion. If you want to use these spirit stones and attain the Primal Core stage in half a year, you’d better practice in seclusion with Big Gold and me. If you have nothing else to do…”
Zhou Donghuang gave Su Mo another reminder before returning to his room.
Bang!
When the youth shut the door Su Mo was startled back to his senses and looked at the hundred spirit stones he was holding with disbelief.
“Master … Master said earlier … I … I can attain the Primal Core stage in half a year? Can it be true?”
Startled by the thought, Su Mo struggled to believe it. However, in the end, he chose to believe his master.
In the room.
Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged on the bed, a thousand spirit stones intricately arranged on the mattress surrounding him.
At first glance, these spirit stones appeared to be randomly placed.
Upon closer inspection, the placement of these spirit stones was deliberate, not random.
“I didn’t expect to be able to get a thousand inferior-quality spirit stones in such a short time. With these spirit stones, I might even be able to set up a small energy-gathering position.”
As Zhou Donghuang placed his hands on one of the spirit stones in front of him, his movement immediately caused the thousand spirit stones to light up.
A thousand rays of light shot out from a thousand spirit stones, combining and finally forming a bell-shaped envelope of light that cocooned Zhou Donghuang inside.
“With this energy-gathering position added to the strength from the Buddha’s lifeblood and the Connate elixir, and using the Lord of the Four Supremes, if nothing unexpected occurs, I will attain the Primal Core stage in half a year!”
With this thought, Zhou Donghuang closed his eyes and began practicing.
At the same time, the spirit energy was being swallowed into the energy-gathering position at an incredible rate, forming a clearly visible white haze that spun like a whirlpool at the top of the energy-gathering position.
After the spirit energy had been swallowed up, it flooded into Zhou Donghuang’s body, following the pathways of the Lord of the Four Supremes, making circuit after circuit, and finally turning into qi that belonged entirely to him.
The energy-gathering position was a set-up for rapidly gathering spirit energy and could absorb spirit energy from the surroundings at an incredible rate.
Practicing in an energy-gathering position allowed one to progress in leaps and bounds.
Zhou Donghuang was now just a Connate-stage adept, and even a small energy-gathering position was enough to allow his level of practice to increase at a rapid rate.
Of course, while he was practicing Zhou Donghuang did not forget to look after Su Mo and the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold.
The strength of the Buddha’s lifeblood reached out and enveloped them as well, aiding their practice.
…
One month later.
The black market.
“Seventeenth Elder, I can confirm that the one who sold the Qi-gathering core formula to the Shenguang sect was that middle-aged man with uncertain background,” the old man reported to Liu Xuanyu in a room in the black market.
“Can’t you find out anything else?” Liu Xuanyu asked with a slight frown.
Someone on whom no information could be found was either an obscure person from an insignificant place, or one with such a powerful background that there was no way to find out more.
He had to be extremely careful since the matter concerned the spirit stones and the space ring from the black market.
“At this moment, only that he and the youth with him rode the early Connate-stage demon golden-crowned eagle into the capital city.”
The old man continued, “And before entering the city, that middle-aged man killed the eighth elder Yang Wei of the Yang family.”
“The Yang family is still pursuing the assailant.”
