Chapter 130: Doubts Caused by Chu Chaoyun
That person was lucky to have met Xiao Chen. Many cultivators who had the same misfortune as him would not be even able to stay warm or get food after they became crippled. They could only live a miserable life.
At this moment, a manservant suddenly came over and said to Xiao Chen, “Distinguished guest, our young master invites you up.”
Xiao Chen was mildly astonished, I have already changed my appearance; how did the fatty recognize me? Xiao Chen was filled with doubt. He put away the copper bell and followed the manservant, heading directly to the fifth floor.
On the fifth floor, the fatty’s familiar face watched as Xiao Chen came up. He laughed loudly and patted Xiao Chen’s back violently and said, “Damn! You're really capable. Despite the noble clan searching for you for so long, you still have not been found. What’s up now? Are you here to ask for this Fat Lord’s help in escaping?”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and tried to clarify his doubts. The fatty gestured for Xiao Chen to sit. Then, he opened his signature folding fan and fanned himself.
He smiled smugly, “This Fat Lord’s intelligence is just a little higher than most people. I knew if you came into the city, you would change your appearance. However, the ring on your finger would not change.
“Thus, I handed out a drawing of your ring to every manservant. I told them to immediately bring anyone wearing such a ring to me.”
Xiao Chen looked at the Universe Ring on his finger and frowned slightly. He did not expect, after all his planning, there would be such an obvious loophole.
Xiao Chen recollected his thoughts and looked at the fatty. He asked, “That day on the stone platform… after I left, did you see what Chu Chaoyun did?
The fatty shook his head and sighed, “No, when you flew off, we all left the stone platform. No one noticed what Chu Chaoyun did. When we returned, the coffin and the corpse, as well as Chu Chaoyun, vanished.”
After hearing this, Xiao Chen frowned slightly. He thought about it carefully. He managed to clarify some of the doubts he had about this trip to the Ancient Remnant.
However, Chu Chaoyun and the coffin vanished together. He did not understand this. Although the Tianwu Emperor was not from the Ancient Era, he comprehended the laws of heaven and earth and comprehended his own Dao.
The body automatically emitted a Dao that rejected Spatial Rings. It was not possible to place the body in a Spatial Ring. Yet, it disappeared together with such a huge coffin. How did that happen?
Aside from cultivating in the past month, Xiao Chen had been thinking about the events of the trip to the Ancient Remnant. He felt there was someone behind the scene, manipulating the events and turning everyone else into chess pieces.
Xiao Chen asked the fatty, “Have you ever thought about how the Jiang Clan obtained the Ancient Remnant map?”
No outsiders knew how the Jiang Clan obtained the Ancient Remnant map; it seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, without leaving any trace behind.
Then, it was coincidentally leaked, dragging the noble clans of the Dongming Province into it.
Finally, no one expected the Jiang Clan actually had a backer, the Ji Clan, who was not afraid of the noble clans. Everything fell into a delicate balance. No one was able to explore the Ancient Remnant alone; they could only go in together.
Jin Dabao took out several drawings of different ages. All these drawings were incredibly ancient; they all gave off an aura of age. The oldest one was estimated by Xiao Chen to be at least 3,000 years old.
The fatty slowly spoke, “I reacted to that too late. Before we entered the Ancient Remnant, I felt something was wrong. Thus, I ordered my people to gather all the news of Ancient Remnants in Dongming Province.
“In the end, I only obtained the results a few days ago. The final destination of all these drawings was the underground palace we went to. I checked it out; the earliest drawing was made when the Tianwu Dynasty had just collapsed.”
Xiao Chen was astonished; the Tianwu Dynasty had collapsed five thousand years ago. That is to say, this had been planned out five thousand years ago and lasted all the way to today.
Thinking of the strange stone platform and the countless corpses on it, Xiao Chen said with some disbelief, “Are you saying someone is trying to revive the Tianwu Emperor? It is obvious there is an ancient formation below the stone platform absorbing the life force and Spiritual Energy of everyone before gathering them all in one place.”
The fatty rubbed his head. He said, “That should not be possible. In the entirely of the Tianwu Continent’s history, a method to revive the dead has never been mentioned before. Even the Great Emperor did not have any way to do so. There were many mentions of reanimating the dead, but those do not retain the memories of their previous lives.”
Xiao Chen thought about it and agreed. Reviving a dead person went against the cycle of the Dao. If it happened, there would be a great change in the laws of heaven and earth.
“What do you think about the countless headless Martial Sages on the stone platform?” Xiao Chen remembered there was still a broken sword in his Universe Ring. Until today, he was unable to make out anything special from it. He wanted to see if he could pry some information from the fatty.
Jin Dabao took out a particularly ancient drawing and said, “This is the drawing from a thousand years ago. That period was the greatest period of the Great Qin Nation. Regardless of the province, Dongming Province, Xihe Province, or Nanling Province, there were many geniuses.
“The people who went during that time were the people at the peak. Every one of them were Martial Sages. According to my understanding, that should have been the final time, but it seemed like someone spoiled their plans. Thus, we were able to go on this trip now.”
The person who planned this seemed more and more frightening when they thought about it. He was even able to get Martial Sages to dance in the palm of their hands. It was unknown who was the one to spoil their plans, but his cultivation was definitely not low.
The fatty muttered to himself for a while before saying, “According to the situation of that period, there was only one person in the Great Qin Nation who could do so.”
“Who?”
“Thunder Emperor Sang Mu!” Jin Dabao enunciated every word slowly. “The Thunder Emperor was the last Martial Emperor of the Great Qin Nation. He was also the strongest person in the Great Qin Nation; his whereabouts in his latter years were unknown. My guess is that he was definitely related to this.”
Xiao Chen was not too surprised; he had already made the same guess as the fatty. The wounds on the neck of those Martial Sages were indeed scars resulting of electricity.
When Ao Jiao finally woke up, he could try asking her. As the Weapon Spirit of Thunder Wood Sword, she should know something.
“You seemed to have forgotten someone,” Xiao Chen said, he did not continue to pursue the answer to the previous question.
Jin Dabao smiled faintly, “I know who you are talking about. Chu Chaoyun right? I can only say this person is very mysterious and very strong. It is best you don’t offend him.”
Don’t offend him? However, Xiao Chen had a feeling he would end up fighting him sooner or later. This was a gut feeling that did not have any base, and there was no evidence or reason to it; it was just a feeling.
After obtaining the information, Xiao Chen got up and prepared to take his leave. The fatty hurriedly pulled him back, saying, “You really don’t need me to help you escape? The people of the noble clans are all hunting you down.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, “There is no need. That’s right; please get someone to bring me some fish porridge. I have some need for it.”
The fatty summoned a waiter to make Xiao Chen some fish porridge. He then said, “That’s right; at this moment, the noble clans and the Jiang Clan are in Savage Forest. White Water City is much safer.
“However, Brother Xiao, aren't you forgetting something?”
Xiao Chen asked with some confusion, “What?”
The fatty chuckled and took out a promissory note. He said, “Brother Xiao, surely you haven't forgotten so quickly about this promissory note. Furthermore, it’s the same to you whether you sell the treasures of the noble clan to anyone, so you might as well sell them to me. If you do so, I’ll consider the debt settled.”
I did forget about this. Xiao Chen thought for a while; he did not need those things either. Thus, he took all the Spirit Weapons, Battle Armor, ancient Martial Techniques, and Medicinal Pills out from the Universe Ring.
The treasures piled up like a small mountain on the tiny table. The fatty watched till his eyes almost popped out. After a long time, he could not help but laugh loudly.
After a long time, the fatty saw Xiao Chen looking at him strangely. He quickly stopped laughing and said, “I could not help myself… I could not help myself. That right; aren’t there still Spirit Stones? They are good stuff. Every one of the three noble clans had some with them.”
This fatty was not just greedy on an ordinary level. Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “You can forget about the Spirit Stones. These are what I’m selling. Pay half of it to me with Spirit Stones and the other half with gold taels banknotes.”
The fatty’s previously smiling face immediately became bitter. He said, “Brother Xiao, let me tell you this; it is easy to get banknotes, but Spirit Stones are more problematic.”
Xiao Chen thought for a while, and he responded, “Then change it all to banknotes. However, please get it all ready by tomorrow morning. Chances are, I will not show up in Dongming Province again.”
The fatty knew about Xiao Chen’s circumstance. He said, “No problem. Here are twenty Essence Light Arrows. Miss Xiaoxiao asked me to pass them to you before she left.”
Xiao Chen received the Essence Light Arrows the fatty passed to him, and he suddenly thought of a problem. His expression changed as he said, “You damn fatty! Su Xiaoxiao gave the Essence Light Arrows last time, right?!”
The fatty smiled awkwardly and quickly put away all the items on the table; he then fled rapidly. The answer to the question was obvious; the fatty was clearly feeling guilty.
Early in the morning, Xiao Chen received eight million gold taels from the fatty and left Liushang Pavilion. Eight million gold taels was a big fortune; even the annual income of White Water City’s Jiang Clan was not that much.
Not long after Xiao Chen left Liushang Pavilion, he immediately felt an indistinct killing intent extending around him. Xiao Chen was startled and extended his Spiritual Sense.
The merchant who was speaking to the cultivator with the missing arm the previous night led a few Martial Grand Masters and was following behind Xiao Chen carefully. They hid very well; if it were not for the lack of control over their killing intent, Xiao Chen would never have discovered them.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and walked towards a desolate alley. Then he dashed into it.
The group of people followed quickly. The alley was a dead end, but they did not see Xiao Chen. The leader could not help but curse, “Where is he? Where did he run to?”
“Fellows, are you looking for me?” Xiao Chen descended slowly from the sky and blocked the entrance to the alley.
The leader was startled before he started smiling. He laughed loudly, “We were just looking for you, and you came out by yourself. Hand over all the Spirit Stones on you; otherwise, don’t blame me for being vicious.”
Xiao Chen’s expression did not change. He smiled faintly, “I don’t seem to have any grudge with any of you; there is no need to force me into such a state.”