Chapter 57: In the Gap Between Success and Failure
“Young Master Xiao, are you alright?” Mo Fan asked worriedly when he saw Xiao Chen staring blankly.
Xiao Chen recovered his wits and said, “Earlier, my mind turned hazy and I seemed to have obtained an inheritance.”
When Mo Fan heard this, he was astonished. He quickly asked Xiao Chen to tell him the details. After a long period of time, Mo Fan said, “That person is very likely to be the Thunder Emperor of a thousand years ago. To think that he would actually pass on the Battle Sage Technique to you.”
The Battle Sage Technique is from the legendary Battle Sage Origins. It is a secret technique that was enlightened from the Battle Sage Origins. Within the Tianwu Continent, it was one of the strongest martial techniques. Back in the days of the Thunder Emperor, he relied on this to rampage around the world, and he was unrivaled.
However, the Battle Sage Technique was broken into six pieces, together with the Battle Sage Origins. Even the Thunder Emperor only learned the Changing Character Formula. If one could learn the six different kinds of Battle Sage Technique, and assemble the complete the Battle Sage Origins, he would be unrivaled under the heavens.
Remembering the last words the man said, Xiao Chen stated in a puzzled manner , “The last words the man said were something about not letting her cry again. I wonder what it means?”
When Mo Fan heard it, he did not understand either. Xiao Chen then suddenly remembered that Ao Jiao had not said anything in a long time. After he had obtained the Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon, he got too excited and forgot about her.
He could not help but feel guilty. The creation of the Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon was only possible with her help. Xiao Chen quickly looked towards her.
With that one look, he was astonished. He only saw that Ao Jiao’s body had turned to a very faint illusionary image, as though as she was about to disappear.
Xiao Chen panicked and quickly rushed over, “Hey, Sister Ao Jiao, what’s wrong with you? Please don’t scare me!”
There seemed to be traces of tears in the corners of Ao Jiao’s eyes. She did not reply to Xiao Chen’s words. Instead, she revealed a bitter smile on her face. Throughout all the times he had interacted with her, Xiao Chen had never seen her smile before. At this moment, he suddenly realized that she looked very pretty when she smiled.
Ao Jiao’s hands kept making hand seals, changing constantly, her body turned even more illusory.. Finally, she made a hand seal that was bright, causing her entire body to shine incomparably luminous.
“Hey, Ao Jiao, what are you doing?” Xiao Chen was very anxious and tried to stop Ao Jiao. However, when he stretched out his hands, he only grabbed air. His hands had passed through Ao Jiao’s body.
Ao Jiao’s body finally completely disappeared and turned into an exceptionally resplendent seal mark. With a ‘sou’ sound, it entered into the Lunar Shadow Saber.
Its brilliance was reserved, and the internals of the Lunar Shadow Saber seemed to have some changes. Xiao Chen could feel that the might contained in the Saber diminished significantly.
However, Xiao Chen could not be bothered about this at the moment. Xiao Chen faced Mo Fan and asked, “Elder Brother Mo, What happened to Ao Jiao? How come she suddenly disappeared?”
Mo Fan’s expression was grave. He remembered the hand seals that Ao Jiao made earlier and said, “Pass me your Lunar Shadow Saber, let me take a look at it.”
Xiao Chen handed the saber over. Mo Fan received it and inspected it carefully. After a long time, the grave expression on his face slowly changed into a smile, “Young Master Xiao, you don’t have to worry. Ao Jiao has employed a secret technique to use her body to nourish the saber. She temporarily sealed the saber to make it a Superior Grade Profound Ranked Spirit Weapon.
The expression on Xiao Chen’s face did not change for the better, “What do you mean? The saber is a small thing. I just want to know whether Ao Jiao will wake up or not.”
Mo Fan explained, “The biggest difference between a Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon and a Sub-Divine Weapon is the Weapon Spirit. When ordinary people want to forge a Sub-Divine Weapon, they require a Divine Grade Spirit Stone before they can succeed.”
“However, in this world, Divine Grade Spirit Stones are extremely rare and precious. Not to mention Divine Grade Spirit Stone, even Superior Grade Spirit Stones are very rare. However, Ao Jiao herself is a Sword Spirit. In order to turn this Lunar Shadow Saber into a Sub-Divine Weapon, she used herself to become the Weapon Spirit.”
Due to this reason, this Lunar Shadow Saber was temporarily suppressed to a Superior Grade Profound Ranked Spirit Weapon. However, someday, it will turn into a Sub-Divine Weapon.”
Why did she do this? Xiao Chen could not understand. He held the Lunar Shadow in his hands again and said, “How long will she take to wake up?”
Mo Fan said, “This would depend on yourself.”
Xiao Chen did not understand as he asked, “Depend on myself? What do you mean?”
“Try brandishing the Lunar Shadow Saber in your hand and see,” Mo Fan said.
When Xiao Chen heard this, he grasped the handle of the Lunar Shadow and used a few saber techniques. There was a cold gleam on the blade of the saber as it sliced quietly through the air; it did not make any sound at all.
Xiao Chen’s complexion changed; he rapidly circulated the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation and established a connection between the Azure Dragon Martial Spirit and the Lunar Shadow. The body of the saber gave off an electrical gleam. Each time he brandished it, there was the sound of thunder. At the end of all of Xiao Chen’s moves, there was even the faint image of the Azure Dragon on the saber.
All of these proved that although this Lunar Shadow was only a Superior Grade Profound Ranked Spirit Weapon, the might it contained was something that an ordinary Earth Ranked Spirit Weapon could not compare to.
However, the problem was that Xiao Chen was not able to hear a hum coming from the saber. No matter how much strength he used, this Lunar Shadow Saber would not hum.
What is going on? Aren’t I already its master? Xiao Chen thought, feeling incredibly bewildered.
Mo Fan said, “Although the Lunar Shadow had already recognized you as its master, you still do not understand it yet. If someday you are able to make the Lunar Shadow hum, Ao Jiao might be able to come out earlier.”
After they chatted for awhile, Xiao Chen indicated that he wanted to leave. Mo Fan did not attempt to detain him and sent Xiao Chen off to the door.
They had spent quite a long time in the underground room, where the air was somewhat stale. The moment Xiao Chen reached the street and smelled the fresh air coming from the outside, Xiao Chen took a deep breath.
The Spirit Weapon was made. Although the process had some hiccups, it had managed to fulfill all of Xiao Chen’s original requirements. His purpose in coming out had been accomplished, so it was time to go back.
However, Xiao Chen kept feeling that something was missing. His mind kept revisiting the hazy memory of the contact with Ao Jiao, and the last words that the Thunder Emperor said.
Do not let her cry again.
...
Not long after Xiao Chen left, Feng Feixue’s figure appeared in that small alley. She rushed over when she saw the strange phenomenon. She wanted to see who was so lucky to actually be able to obtain a Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon.
“This fellow, he is quite indiscernible! The Young Miss had asked Grandmaster Mo three times, but he still refused to help. To think he was actually willing to forge a Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon for him,” a voice that was a little hoarse and envious sounded from the shadows behind Feng Feixue.
A faint smile appeared on Feng Feixue’s exquisite face as she played with a hairpin. She said somewhat playfully, “Shu, you are not thinking of killing him for the treasure right?”
The man called Shu replied, “There is more than one Heavenly Weapon. There is no need to obtain it and offend Miss. However, thinking of the mission that the clan head gave you, it seems that you will not be able to accomplish it.”
“I have never liked forcing others, and the conditions that I gave him were quite lucrative already. If he still does not agree to it, then it is not necessary anymore. Furthermore, there was significant progress in the true mission, thus this trip has not been made in vain.
...
At this moment, it was nearing dusk. However, due to the large-scale auction that Linlang Pavilion had just conducted, there were many people still on the streets. As Xiao Chen walked along the streets, he suddenly noticed that there was a large group of people gathered in an area a few hundred meters in front.
Xiao Chen recalled that there seemed to be a martial arts arena in front. Given that there were many people gathered there, there definitely was an exciting battle going on.
In the Tianwu Continent this was the popular culture, where the people were valiant. This kind of martial arts arena could be seen everywhere. Furthermore, their business was very good. There would frequently be people who had some disagreements on the street and came here to duel it out. For some others, when they reached a certain standard with their cultivation, they would challenge their enemies to a duel.
They could even fork out some money to challenge the arena master, potentially winning high amounts of money. There normally was a motive to having a duel, one of the most important was rapidly making a name for yourself.
Although the standards of this kind of street arena were low, the news was able to be spread fast and far. If someone could win a few duels consecutively, they could become famous quickly, resulting in some big clans looking at them favorably.
Seeing that it was still early and there was a racket caused by the people near the arena, making it particularly lively, Xiao Chen decided to go and take a look.
“Is the Xiao Clan full of trash like you? With the little bit of ability, you dared to go around calling yourself the strongest person amongst the younger generation of Mohe City? If you went into the Demonic Forest, a piece of trash like you would not be able to survive more than a day.”
Before Xiao Chen got near the arena, he heard the voices coming from the arena. Xiao Chen felt astonished in his heart. The strongest person of the younger generation in Mohe City? Could it be Xiao Jian? Why was he here?
Who was the person speaking? The voice sounds familiar? Xiao Chen was very curious, so he quickly made his way through the crowd and went in front.
He ignored the scolding and cursing of the people around him as he used his Essence to force his way through the crowd. When he arrived at the front of the arena, he finally could see clearly what was going on.
The two people in the arena were Zhang He and Xiao Jian. At this moment, Xiao Jian was already full of sword wounds. He looked very miserable, but he still held on bitterly.
By comparison, Zhang He, who was dressed in long white robes, seemed perfectly fine. On the surface, there were no visible injuries and his face had an unruffled expression. It was obvious that this duel could have ended already; he was clearly just bullying Xiao Jian now, suppressing the reputation of the Xiao Clan.
When Xiao Jian heard Zhang He’s humiliating words, his expression turned to one that was full of anger. He shouted out loudly, raised his sword, and charged at Zhang He once again.
Xiao Chen quietly shook his head. Under such circumstances, he was not able to stay calm. The blood rushed to his head and he just charged in like that. This would only result in a crueler humiliation.
Indeed, it was as Xiao Chen expected. Before Xiao Jian could draw near, several more wounds appeared on his body when Zhang He sent out a few streams of sword Qi.
As Xiao Jian moved forward, he tripped and fell heavily backward. Zhang He mocked him, “Even that trash from your Xiao Clan is stronger than you. At least he was able to cause me to vomit blood. You are not even able to touch me.”
Hearing Zhang He say that he was not even comparable to Xiao Chen, Xiao Jian’s face twitched. He managed to draw out some energy, and suddenly charged forward to attack Zhang He ruthlessly.
He was shouting out like a mad man, causing Zhang He to keep retreating. With this sudden change in the situation, Zhang He was caught unprepared.
Zhang He’s previously relaxed face now revealed a livid expression. Countless sword Qi came from his body and caused Xiao Jian to be blasted back.
The sword Qi was moving around unhindered, randomly dancing without boundaries, turning into an impenetrable barrier around Zhang He’s body. After Xiao Jian got up, no matter what he did, he was not able to break through this barrier formed by sword Qi.
Xiao Chen’s eyes brightened as he carefully examined this sword Qi barrier. Previously, his Divine Thunder Break was rendered useless by this person.
Just at this moment, Zhang He’s expression finally turned serious. His gaze was as calm as water, staring at Xiao Jian. He slashed out thrice, and three tyrannical sword Qi flew towards the three major acupoints near Xiao Jian’s Dantian.
Crap! He wants to cripple Xiao Jian. Xiao Chen thought in his heart, he had to save him.
Although he did not like Xiao Jian, he was still a member of the Xiao Clan. Given his character, it was impossible for him to be apathetic and refuse to help when someone was in trouble.
“Pu! Pu! Pu!”
A stream of resplendent electricity came from his hands. Instantly, it streaked through the air and broke Zhang He’s sword Qi. After that, its strength was not diminished, and continued flying towards Zhang He.