Chapter 154: A Great Merit
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
Apart from the treasures obtained from Wei Xiaoxiao, after collecting all the remains left behind by those cultivators, Wu Qi found a total of 17 lower-grade magical treasures, over 230 upper, middle, and lower grade magical items, and 578 talismans of various purposes. He also found over 2000 energy stones of different elements, over 200 bottles of poisons, ecstasy, aphrodisiacs, and over 300 bottles of either externally or internally used medicinal pills. However, he did not find even a single pill that could recover one's energies, as all of them were used up by these cultivators who had been working hard in digging on the iron walls.
Looking at the surrounding iron walls filled with holes, the result of being excavated by those cultivators, Wu Qi casually waved his hand and called back the silver lotus. He made it shrink to the size of a human fist, then threw it onto the iron wall with all his force, making it penetrate deep into the wall. After that, with a finger incantation from Wu Qi, the silver lotus suddenly expanded to the size of several hundred feet in diameter. A large piece of iron wall crumbled with a loud boom, as it was ground into pieces by the rapid spinning of the lotus petals.
At least three hundred pieces of Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold flew and fell out from the crumbled iron wall. Upon seeing that, Wu Qi gave out three loud laughs, and repeated the same process. It was really convenient to handle such a task with a treasure at the grade of Innate Spirit Item. On top of that, the silver lotus was formed from the purest energies of the Gold element, thus making it many times tougher and sharper than the iron walls. Wu Qi kept crazily repeating the same excavating process, and the mine pit with merely one thousand feet circumference was extended to almost two thousand feet by him, while he was able to dig out roughly two to three thousand pieces of Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold.
He gathered all the Spirit Gold of Spatial Breaching and piled them up into a small hill, then placed all kinds of crystal cores that grew together with them beside, which piled up into a small hill ten times larger than the first one. After spending some time in glancing at the result of his hard work, Wu Qi finally nodded his head satisfyingly.
He then began to tidy up, placing the most valuable items among his loots, such as those magical treasures, pills, and talismans, into a supreme-grade storage ring that originally belonged to Wei Xiaoxiao. He then tied it on his wrist with a string made from Ice-worm silk. After he was finished with all that, Wu Qi knitted his brows into a tight frown. He pulled out a flying sword of lower-grade magical item level and a few Explosive Talismans.
"I've killed so many people, and I can't have the same safe and sound look." He breathed out a long sigh, with a manner as if he just admitted that his misfortune was predetermined by the heaven. He grabbed the flying sword and fiercely stabbed a few times on his own body, on some parts with the thickest muscle and skin which would not cause any fatality, yet each stab would leave a hole on his body. Then, he triggered the few Explosive Talismans and made them explode one after another, leaving burn marks everywhere on his body. Now, he looked in an extremely pitiful condition.
Using the same flying sword and a few extra Explosive Talismans, he began wreaking havoc onto the surrounding iron walls, chopping all the dead bodies scattered on the floor into tiny pieces. After fabricating a scene which looked like he had gone through a tough battle before he obtained the final victory, only then did Wu Qi breathe out a long and heavy sigh. "I've to suffer some injuries, and it is better to have a severe injury. Not only will it make everything look reasonable and logical, but my merit will also be greater as well. If not because of this ore vein, I’d never bother to waste my energy like this."
This was the iron mine found in Lu Chengfeng's fief, and he had excavated Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold here, which came with an immeasurable value. Logically, a strategic resource such as this would definitely be nationalized, becoming wholly owned by the Great Yan Dynasty. But, Wu Qi was trying to break this logic, so Lu Chengfeng could continue owning the management rights to this mine. Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold meant a vast source of revenue; it represented endless energy stones, spirit pills, talismans, and magical items. Wu Qi had no idea how long he was going to stay in Great Yan Dynasty before he eventually left, but as long as he was still staying in this place, he could never be parted from powers and money.
This ore vein could undoubtedly allow the powers and wealth controlled by him to take a tremendous leap, and Lu Chengfeng's political resources would also skyrocket. It brought benefits to both of them, therefore, he had to keep this ore vein in hand, no matter what price he had to pay.
He gave a long sigh, gazing at the pierced through wounds on his body. He felt such injuries were not enough to touch the heart of those who saw it. He pondered for some while, then pulled out a large Fire element blade and began to hack and chop on his body again, creating a dozen of charred and burned wounds. Wu Qi gave a grimace of pain, jumping up and down while cursing out loud. If not for the fact that he had constructed the full cycle of five elements innate energies, and his body was currently undergoing a tremendous transformation, with the recovering ability of his having also gained a great improvement, he would never choose this method which would only cause trouble to himself.
He looked at his body again, which was now in a complete mess as the result of being tortured by himself. He pondered again, then took out two upper-stage flying swords and stabbed through each of his upper arms. He exercised all his arms and legs, realizing none of those serious wounds could cause any negative effect to him. Only then did he twist his body, transforming into a clump of yellow gas and plunging into the ground.
With his innate earth and gold energies mixed with divine sense spread over the place, every single movement and activity within the mine was clear before Wu Qi's eyes. There was not a soul that could be found in the mine, and he did not find any aura of living human even when he arrived at the exit of the mine. It was only after he left the mine and came to the exit that led to the outside of the valley that he detected the aura of a few Respiration tier cultivators, who were lying on their stomach within bushes, carefully and vigilantly watching any surrounding activities.
Wu Qi did not waste any time. Turning the escape art of Earth into Wood, nimbly he transformed into a ball of faint green gas and moved toward those cultivators through the surrounding grasses and woods. Stretching out his hand, he broke the neck of these few Xiantian cultivators from their back. He read 'Amitabha' a few times under his breath, then took away all their magical items which he deemed valuable. After that, he pretended a look of being on the verge of death, fell and lied down on his back at the entrance to the valley.
He fished out the Token of Eight Swallows which was always carried with him, and the identity token which represented his identity of Marquis Tianyun, squeezed out a drop of his blood and dropped it onto both tokens. In an instant, two bright beams soared up high into the sky, turning into two tiny rays that flew towards Ji City at top speed. It was the defensive mechanism that was embedded within the tokens carried by all the important officials and prestigious members of Great Yan Dynasty. It was called the 'Signal of Ten Thousand Miles Shooting Stars'. As long as the owner dropped a drop of his blood essence on it, an urgent signal would immediately be sent over to Ji City. Upon receiving it, according to the status of the token, Ji City would deploy the relevant search and rescue force.
As the Token of Eight Swallows was a privileged token which equaled the status of Chief General Jing Ke and his brothers, Wu Qi was thinking that the rescue should arrive within a short moment. Lying at the exit of the valley and feeling bored while waiting for the rescue, he grabbed the few dead bodies of those Xiantian warriors, and using his flying sword to cut their bodies, made their warm blood splash and spray all over the place. And of course, his body was besmeared with their blood as well, and it looked like he just survived a tough and violent battle, a really miserable look.
Less than one hour into the wait, he heard the hurried noises of wind breaking coming from afar. A golden beam that stretched nearly one thousand feet long, accompanied by a few other white and green beams which sent forth a similar momentum, were seen rushing toward Wu Qi's direction, together with nearly another one thousand bright beams behind. More sword beams were seen flying towards the same direction at the further distance, but because their flying speed was rather slow, the distance between them and Wu Qi was greater.
Staring at all the bright beams that came whistling towards his direction with a shocked and stunned expression, Wu Qi could not help himself and cry out in alarm, "Yan Dan is here personally? Is there really such a necessity?"
While staring in a daze at all those sword beams coming at him, Yan Dan, Jing Ke, Gao Jianli, and a few other of their brothers, together with nearly one thousand Human Immortals of Gold Core realm, had leaped off their flying swords and landed near the valley entrance. Wu Qi felt a numbness creep over his scalp. An army of nearly one thousand Human Immortals of Gold Core realm, was this the true power that was possessed by Great Yan Dynasty? On the surface, Heaven Breaking Sword Sect only possessed thirty-six Sect Elders of Gold Core realm!
Yet, Heaven Breaking Sword Sect was the strongest sect among all thirteen sects of Great Yan Dynasty, and roughly speaking, if all the thirteen sects were combined, they only would have at most, five to six hundred Human Immortals. But, that did not even reach half the number of Human Immortals which Yan Dan brought here today! Even if all the sects were like Nie Yaonu, hiding some trump cards secretly, perhaps they would still not be a match of the Great Yan Dynasty. No wonder with merely the force of the Imperial Court, Great Yan Dynasty was able to repress all thirteen sects. Its true overall strength was simply incredible.
With shaky and unsteady movements, Wu Qi rose to his feet, but right after he stood up, he immediately kneeled back down on the ground. Caused by the sudden movement, the flying sword stabbed in his left arm was pushed half an inch down and cut through his muscle. The tragic scene made Yan Dan's eyes go wide in an instant. Except for Jing Ke who was looking at Wu Qi with an approving expression, all the other men had their brows tightly frowned. Gao Jianli was shaking his head, frowned and turned to look into the other direction.
"Marquis Tianyun, what happened to you? And where had you been for the last few days?" Yan Dan strode forward and held Wu Qi's arms, asking with a quick voice, "Ji City was in a messy situation, which forced us to bring soldiers and slaughter all the treacherous ministers and traitors. We've just finished with the purge today, and immediately received your signal of rescue. Hehe, we thought you had been killed by someone amidst the tumult of the war. Duke Yan Le even cried and shed bitter tears because of that!"
Lu Chengfeng cried bitterly? Wu Qi forced a smile on his face, and said with his body swaying, "Your Majesty, I came to this place by following the trace of those people from Wei Merchant, and it brought me to uncover a great secret. It explained why Wei Merchant is scheming to seize the ore veins in Duke Yan Le's fief, as I found Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold here."
"Ah, oh, WHAT?!" At first, Yan Dan only answered disapprovingly, but his voice suddenly raised high. "WHAT? Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold? The core materials used in constructing teleportation formations, which can greatly reduce the consumption of energy stones while greatly improving the teleportation distance of the formation? Wu Qi, do you know that deceiving the emperor can only be punished with a death sentence?!"
Wu Qi did not say a word, but instead, he flipped his palm and fished out a piece of Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold from his storage ring, the size of a human head. Such a huge Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold could be considered as an extremely rare treasure. If it were used in constructing a teleportation formation, it could allow the user to travel a distance of over millions of miles, while transporting a group of nearly one thousand men at the same time.
For a teleportation formation which could transport nearly one thousand men at one time and did not consume too many of energy stones, the value of this piece of Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold could definitely raise to the level of a national strategic resource. A frightening looking green glow suddenly shone from Yan Dan's eyes, as he stretched his hand out and grabbed towards the Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold in Wu Qi's palm. Wu Qi hastily shoved it back into his storage ring, then murmured under his breath, "Take it easy, Your Majesty, there are plenty of them inside the cave. As an emperor yourself, why are you trying to rob something belonging to your subordinate?"
What he said made Yan Dan feel a sweetness in his throat, as he nearly threw out a mouthful of blood. But, he was too lazy to argue to Wu Qi. Conveniently, he pulled out two flying swords stabbing in Wu Qi's body, tossed a few bottles of life-saving spirit pills which were concocted with a secret Imperial formula, then cried out with a loud voice, "Quickly lead the way. Don't tell me there really is Spirit Gold of Spatial Breaching under the mine, is there?"
Yan Dan was too impatient to go under the mine, but as the emperor of Great Yan Dynasty, although he wished to go down immediately, all his personal guards would not allow that to happen. After a thorough and detailed survey and probing, making sure no ambushes or traps existed under the mine, only then Yan Dan strode into the mine, under the lead of Wu Qi.
Upon entering the mine, Yan Dan, Jing Ke Gao Jianli, and all the other core members of Great Yan Dynasty had their eyes fixed straight at the small hill which was piled up from two to three thousand pieces of Spatial Breaching Spirit Gold. Then they ran their eyes around, darting their glances between the Spirit Golds of different sizes embedded in the surrounding iron walls. Hardly refraining himself, Yan Dan began to breathe rapidly. "This is a great merit, Marquis Tianyun! I have no idea how to describe the merit of yours this time. With all these Spirit Spatial Breaching Gold, hmph, all the vassal kingdoms of Great Yan Dynasty will become one. As for those monarchs..."
Subtly, Yan Dan exchanged a glance with Jing Ke and Gao Jianli. With that, Wu Qi knew that some vassal kingdoms would be struck with calamity soon. In the future, wherever the teleportation formation could arrive, that land would be under the direct ruling of Great Yan Dynasty, and those vassal kingdoms who threw out a revolt this time, perhaps they no longer had the valid reasons to continue their existence. As for those vassal kingdoms who abided by the law and behaved themselves, some years later, their rights would be gradually taken away by the Great Yan Dynasty.
Nevertheless, all these did not concern Wu Qi. How did the life and death of someone have anything to do with him?
What he did was kept pulling on Yan Dan's sleeve, putting up a look of a loyal member of the empire and said, "Your Majesty, this mine is one of my young master's property. You see, ugh, haha... for the sake of protecting this mine, I've gone through a battle of life and death!"
Yan Dan, who was indulged in a wild joy, suddenly gave Wu Qi a helpless gaze.