Chapter 148: Soul Stealing Pill
After advancing to become a Martial Grand Master, the clear pool of water in his Dantian turned into a gushing river. The little Azure Dragon had also become significantly larger, and was swimming around in the water.
Xiao Chen could clearly feel the Essence provided by the gushing river was not only significantly more abundant, but was also a lot purer.
He circulated the Essence in his body in a great cycle before finally he carefully sent it to the wound on his chest. A strand of cold Qi wafted out from the wound.
Xiao Chen’s expression became joyful—he could finally expel this cold Qi. Otherwise, Xiao Chen did not have any other ideas and could only have sullenly bled to death.
However, Xiao Chen was surprised, as the cold Qi contained in the tiny wound was much more than he had expected. He circulated his Essence for two days and two nights, without eating or drinking, before he managed to force all the cold Qi out.
Xiao Chen got up and felt like his entire body was on the verge of collapsing. He walked over to the wooden bed step by step and fell onto it face down, falling asleep immediately.
Xiao Chen slept for twenty hours before he finally awoke, feeling much more refreshed and spirited. He was so hungry, his stomach rumbled. After he finished washing up, he quickly searched for a inn to deal with this hunger.
Within the inn, Xiao Chen started thinking about the details of his task. To begin with, this task was clearly not of a reasonable level of difficulty. Furthermore, he was sure that the mysterious Martial Saint was not Ge Yunbin’s man.
Xiao Chen thought of the intense competition for the inner sect spot and thought of a possibility. Could it be that because there were limited spots, Ge Yunbin wanted me to give up due to the difficulty, but there were still some people who wanted the matter to be settled for sure, and decided to deal with it themselves?
The more he thought about it, the more possible Xiao Chen felt it was. Xiao Chen pounded on the table heavily, smiling coldly to himself. I want to see who is messing around behind the scenes.
After he paid his bill, Xiao Chen quickly made his way to the City Lord Residence. The cultivator guarding the gate recognized Xiao Chen and after he reported it, he brought Xiao Chen in.
The City Lord was entertaining an important guest like before and temporarily could not meet with him; the guard could only place him in the secondary hall to wait. Xiao Chen only smiled faintly and didn’t say anything. When that person left, he immediately took out a carving of a little bird from the Universe Ring.
Xiao Chen executed the Life Bestowal Spell and the little bird fluttered around for a while before flying out the door. Xiao Chen attached his Spiritual Sense to it and controlled the little bird to circle around the City Lord Residence. Finally, he found Ge Yunbin in the Great Hall.
Within the great hall, Ge Yunbin was speaking with the Yunyang City’s Zhang Clan Head. The Zhang Clan Head smiled faintly, “City Lord Ge, this Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill is not an ordinary Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill. There are many rare Yellow Springs Grasses that are mixed in it; it can extend your lifespan by forty years.”
[TL note: ‘Yellow Springs’ is another word for the Chinese underworld/hades/hell. So it makes sense that this has effects on lifespan.]
“Brother Zhang, my cultivation has already been stuck at peak Martial Saint since long ago. However, City Lord Ge, you are a peak Martial King. With another forty years of lifespan, your chances of eventually becoming a Martial Emperor would be significantly increased. Once you become a Martial Emperor, your lifespan would increase by another hundred years.”
Zhang Clan… Xiao Chen frowned, Is that the Yunyang City’s Zhang Clan? With just a thought, Xiao Chen carefully controlled the bird to get nearer.
When Ge Yunbin heard this, he smiled slightly, “Old Zhang, just relax, he will back off after realising the difficulty. It is impossible for him to complete the task I’ve given him.”
The Zhang Clan Head snorted coldly, “I have received news that that person has already completed the task that the City Lord gave him.”
Ge Yunbin’s expression changed, he placed the teacup from his hand heavily onto the table. He said in a sullen voice, “Old Zhang, you are aware that this is someone Miss Feng recommended. You dare to mess around with him?”
Old Zhang smiled lightly, “City Lord, don’t worry. Naturally, I would not dare to mess around with someone Miss Feng recommended. The businesses that are flourishing in Yunyang City have some dealings with the Feng Clan, how would I dare to break off these ties.”
Ge Yunbin’s expression relaxed, and he said slowly, “As long as you know. However, this way, things become difficult for me. The quotas set by the inner sect are very strict because the resource allocations are very precise. If Leng Tianyue had not erred this time, there would not have been a spot at Tianyue Peak.”
Seeing the peak grade Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill on the table, a fire was lit in Ge Yunbin’s eyes. He was now already 120 years old—his lifespan was running short. This Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill held a deathly attraction for him.
He had been stuck at the peak of Martial King for many years already. If he was not able to advance to become a Martial Emperor, he would end up becoming a speck of dust; his progress on the road of cultivation would stop.
To most people, a Martial King was someone that everyone looked up to. For a regular person to become a Martial Saint, that was already something to give credit for. However, Ge Yunbin knew this was not considered much. The stronger he grew, the more insignificant he felt.
On account of the increasing reluctance to leave the world, the more one struggled on the long journey of cultivation, and the more one would be unwilling to end up as dust, forgotten by people a hundred years later.
Ge Yunbin had a sullen expression. After thinking for a long time, he sighed before finally saying, “I can only place this person in Qingyun Peak. I will leave the spot in Tianyue peak for your grandson.”
When the Zhang Clan Head heard this, he revealed an expression of joy. He smiled and said, “Thank you for all your troubles, I shall take my leave first and wait for your news.”
When the Zhang Clan Head left, Ge Yunbin kept fiddling around with the jade bottle containing the Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill. His face was full of smiles.
When he got up and left the great hall, Xiao Chen quickly controlled the small bird to follow him quietly. After a moment, he arrived at his bedroom and opened the jade bottle, inspecting it carefully.
“City Lord, the person recommended by Miss Feng has already been waiting in the secondary hall for a long time.” The voice of a cultivator sounded outside the door.
Xiao Chen cursed in his heart, He actually only reported my arrival to the City Lord after I waited here for this long. When he remembered he waited for such a long time the last time, he could not help but grow angrier.
Ge Yunbin frowned slightly, “Just as I started to appraise this… He actually picked this timing to come. I can only deal with appraising this later.” He placed the Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill on the table and opened the door, “Let’s go!”
After he left, Xiao Chen noticed Ge Yunbin left the Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill behind in the room, as he was in a rush.
“Should I just take it? … Damn it, this fellow nearly caused me to die. Why should I be so nice to him.” Xiao Chen made a decision in his heart and did not hesitate to control the small bird to fly in through the ventilation hole.
After the small bird entered, it immediately grabbed the Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill on the table and flew out. Xiao Chen was a little anxious; he was afraid someone would see the bird, so he controlled the bird to fly very high.
Afterwards, the small bird landed safely back in Xiao Chen’s hands. Xiao Chen quickly released the spell and then placed the wooden bird sculpture and the Immortal Cloud Life Extending Pill in the Universe Ring.
After he had done all this, the door of the secondary hall opened. Ge Yunbin walked in with a smiled adorning his face. He walked in with great strides and said, “Nephew Ye Chen, have you finished your task?”
Xiao Chen was mildly astonished, but there were no changes to the expression on his face. He got up and bowed, “Greetings, Senior City Lord. This junior has not disgraced you and managed to kill a Rank 5 Ice Ape.”
After he spoke, he took out the Ice Ape corpse. Ge Yunbin’s complexion changed. Although he already knew of this from the Zhang Clan Head, now that he seen it for himself, he scarcely dared to believe it.
A Superior Grade Martial Master actually managed to kill a Rank 5 Spirit Beast, how unbelievable. He looked at Xiao Chen again and his eyes lit up, Xiao Chen was actually now an Inferior Grade Martial Grand Master.
“My eyes are failing me already, I only just realised nephew has advanced to Martial Grand Master. Congratulations!” Ge Yunbin looked at Xiao Chen and smiled faintly. He felt it was unfortunate, as this person could possibly be a genius.
Xiao Chen conducted himself with etiquette as he said humbly, “I have to thank senior for this. If it were not for the fight with the Rank 5 Spirit Beast, I would not have advanced to become a Martial Grand Master.”
Ge Yunbin was stunned. Even an experienced person like him was not able to tell that this was an act put on by Xiao Chen. He thought that Xiao Chen was sincerely thanking him.
He smiled in an embarrassed manner, “There is no need to thank me, being able to break through is the result of your own effort. You can keep the Spirit Beast corpse. Wait for a while, I will get someone to send you to Lingyun Mountain Range.”
He now felt some complicated feelings and did not check the Spirit Beast corpse carefully. He called someone over and said, “Bring this little brother to the Lingyun Mountain Range. Send him to Qingyun Peak and bring my identity token as well.”
When this person heard the words ‘Qingyun Peak’, he showed an obvious expression of astonishment. He received Ge Yunbin’s gold identity token before he reacted, “Very well, Brother Ye, please follow me!”
This was already the second time Xiao Chen had heard of ‘Qingyun Peak.’ He had already made some guesses about it. Now that he saw this person’s expression, he was now sure Qingyun Peak was not a very good place.
However, now was not a convenient time to question this. He followed that person out and chatted with him. His name was Tang Dingtian, and he was the vice house steward of the City Lord Residence; he held a lot of authority in Saber City.
It would not be too far fetched to say there were few above him. However, he was very humble and he explained the things Xiao Chen needed to pay note to when in the inner sect.
The Heavenly Saber Pavilion inner sect was divided into seven branches, distributed on the seven peaks of the Lingyun Mountain Range. The seven branches were situated on the peaks. The requirements each Peak Master had for disciples were different. The Saber Techniques and Movement Techniques they learned were different as well.
Aside from the Pavilion Master, the ones who had the most authority in the Heavenly Saber Pavilion were the Peak Masters of the various branches. Aside from them there was the Law Enforcement Hall, Elders’ Assembly, and some other organizations.
Tang Dingtian also informed Xiao Chen of the various forbidden grounds in the inner sect. He was not to enter those places or else the consequences would be very grave. Regardless of how big his backing was, the Law Enforcement Hall would not show any mercy.
After a while, Xiao Chen and Tang Dingtian got more familiar with each other. He asked about the doubts in his heart, “Steward Tang, can you explain the situation of Qingyun Peak in more detail?”
Xiao Chen had discovered that, although Tang Dingtian spoke a lot, he had avoided the topics relating to the place Xiao Chen was going to, Qingyun Peak.
Tang Dingtian suddenly stopped speaking and then smiled awkwardly afterwards, “The City Lord probably didn’t tell you, so I did not dare to tell you directly. Let’s put it this way: of the seven peaks in Lingyun Mountain Range, its strength is the lowest, but it has the least amount of competition.
Lowest strength? Xiao Chen smiled to himself, That was not a problem. Looking at the Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s situation, the strength of the Peak Master was at least a Martial King. No matter how he instructed Xiao Chen, it would be more than sufficient.