by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Right, how is Long Chen,” asked Ling Yunzi.
Tu Fang smiled bitterly. “If I had to describe him with one word, it would have to be ‘terrifying’.”
A jade tablet appeared in his hands. Inserting his spiritual qi, the entire scene of Long Chen fighting Gui Sha appeared.
Not only was that scene there, but there was also his sudden fight with the law enforcers. Everything had been recorded in there.
Ling Yunzi nodded emotionally. “Using terrifying to describe him really is perfect. He really is worthy of being an existence of legends, a paragon amongst the same realm. Perhaps even if he had only just broken through, he would be able to sweep away everyone amongst his generation!”
“Cough!” Ling Yunzi suddenly went through an intense coughing fit, a bit of blood dripping out of his mouth.
Tu Fang was greatly alarmed. “Sect leader!”
“I’m fine. It’s just that I seem to have underestimated the power of the Heavenly Daos’ backlash. But it was definitely worth it,” laughed Ling Yunzi proudly.
Perhaps from ancient times to now, he had been the only one with the qualifications and the courage to dare confirm a Divergent’s existence!
Tu Fang was appalled. Ling Yunzi was someone who had stepped into the Xiantian realm. He had simply guessed Long Chen’s identity and said ‘Divergent’ to confirm it. But in return, he had received such a huge backlash. That was too terrifying.
“There is something I am extremely worried about,” said Tu Fang.
“What?”
“I think Elder Xun Sun’s Dao-heart is no longer pure. He should have formed some greed, and I don’t know what to do about it. Elder Sun has already been in our monastery for over a hundred years. He is a powerful senior Elder-level combatant and has fought in our great battles several times. He has dedicated much to the monastery…,”
“What do you want to say?” Ling Yunzi smiled slightly.
“I think he has placed a wicked intention on Long Chen. Should I stop him?” asked Tu Fang probingly.
“Why would you stop him?” asked Ling Yunzi.
“Huh? If I don’t stop him, then Long Chen…”
“There’s no need. All you need to do is your own job. Let everything come naturally.”
“But that’s extremely harmful to Long Chen!” Tu Fang was an upright person, and he didn’t like to see any despicable acts take place.
“Tu Fang, do you know why a peak expert is able to become an expert? He cannot be lacking in one thing.”
“What thing?”
“A whetstone.” Ling Yunzi looked out into the distance.
Tu Fang immediately understood Ling Yunzi’s meaning. But he shook his head, “This whetstone might be a bit too big for Long Chen.”
Ling Yunzi smiled, “Tu Fang, I understand your character. I know you like that child Long Chen. He definitely has a convincing, charismatic charm.
“But he’s not the same as others. His path is not the same as normal people. His path is one that will end up destroyed by the Heavenly Daos or overturning all of heaven and earth.
“If you really want to do what’s good for him, don’t interfere with his growth. That will not only not help him, but it will infect you with karma.”
Overturn all of heaven and earth? Tu Fang’s heart tightened. He felt an intense sensation of fear.
That kind of terror didn’t come from anywhere. It came directly from the core of his heart. He couldn’t help but raise his head to look up into the heavens.
“Not bad. Your perception of the Heavenly Daos is becoming increasingly keener. Your distance from the Xiantian realm is closing every day. Congratulations,” smiled Ling Yunzi.
“Many thanks, sect leader for the reminder. Tu Fang understands.” He respectfully thanked him.
Ling Yunzi nodded. Looking into the distance, he thought to himself what an honor it was to be able to personally watch a Divergent’s towering rise.
…
Once Tu Fang left, Long Chen was uneasy being stared at by everyone and began to walk to the Xuantian pavilion with Tang Wan-er.
“Please wait a moment, senior brother Long!”
Suddenly, two people walked over to him. Both their auras were extremely formidable. The surrounding people didn’t dare approach too close to them.
This was because their auras were extremely unstable and berserk from having just advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm. They still were unable to control their auras, causing it to spill out on its own.
Long Chen stiffened. No way right? Was there really someone finding trouble for him again just after he finished a fight? Was there no intermission?
“Ah, don’t misunderstand, senior brother Long. Just now we saw your incomparable divine strength and that convincing bearing, so we wanted to get acquainted,” explained the man with a very bushy brow.
The other one looked a bit frailer, but his aura was still extremely domineering. He said, “Senior brother Long’s imposing manner that does not fear heaven or earth really causes admiration. Although everyone in the monastery is competition, that doesn’t prevent us from becoming friends. Even if we can’t become friends, having such a powerful rival is also a good thing.”
Although that person seemed frail, he had a heroic mannerism deep within him, and hearing him speak made people feel comfortable inside.
Long Chen smiled, “You honor me with your words. If it weren’t for Elder Tu Fang helping, I would already have been turned into dog meat.”
Both of them laughed. Long Chen’s combat strength was so great, but he spoke so candidly without the slightest arrogance.
“Let me introduce myself. I am Song Mingyuan, and he’s Li Qi,” said the bushy-browed man.
Long Chen smiled, “Well then, I won’t say any nonsense greeting about what an honor it is to meet you etc. In any case, you both already know my name.”
Song Mingyuan and Li Qi couldn’t hold back a laugh at that. Long Chen’s manner of speaking was quite interesting, both humorous and not lacking in elegance. He spoke extremely effortlessly.
“Let me give you guys a grand introduction. This is our Heaven Earth Faction’s old boss… uh, our Heaven Earth Faction’s leader, the number one martial beauty, sister Tang Wan-er.”
Long Chen almost slipped up and called her the wrong name again.
Tang Wan-er was a bit red. She was still not used to that unfamiliar appellation. But she still forced herself to smile, “Hello.”
“Sister Tang Wan-er’s grand name is already extremely well known. To revive the ancestral mark during the trial, it really causes admiration,” said Li Qi courteously.
At the very beginning, they hadn’t known who she was, but as soon as she had summoned her wind blades to fight against those law enforcers, revealing her powerful runic power, they had immediately realized who she was.
“With sister Tang Wan-er and brother Long Chen, the Heaven Earth Faction will definitely stand out amongst all the factions,” praised Song Mingyuan.
Both Long Chen and Tang Wan-er politely chatted with them for a while. They learned that the two of them were core disciples. Song Mingyuan’s faction was called the Brotherhood Guild and Li Qi’s faction was called the White Cloud Pavilion.
Both parties asked about which mountain the others were on, agreeing to visit when they had an opportunity. They even invited Long Chen to come over to drink when he had time.
After politely saying some final words, Li Qi very sensibly made an excuse about needing to do something else and brought Song Mingyuan away.
They had already received their own rations and exchanged them for what they wanted, so they didn’t need to spend more time there.
Only then did Long Chen and Tang Wan-er walk into the Xuantian pavilion. Long Chen saw that inside it was very spacious.
There was a winding staircase going downstairs. There was also a large lounge with many people around. They were all lined up, and there was someone busily recording things. That should be the p
lace to receive the monthly rations.
But Long Chen saw that other than that busy spot, there was also another counter without a single person lining up. There was only a single woman quietly sitting there.
Long Chen and Tang Wan-er walked over there. Tang Wan-er handed over her badge to that woman. “Sister, can I receive my rations here?”
That woman examined the badge and then nodded to Tang Wan-er. “Yes, in accordance to the monastery rules, you can take out one hundred spirit stones and fifty thousand points here. Furthermore, as a faction leader, you can also take out one hundred thousand points for your faction’s usage. Here are a total of one hundred fifty thousand points as well as one hundred spirit stones.”
Long Chen’s jaw dropped. An outer disciple was only able to get one spirit stone and five hundred points.
Inner disciples could obtain three spirit stones and two thousand points.
But core disciples could obtain one hundred spirit stones and fifty thousand points?! That difference was huge!
Although he still didn’t know what usage those points had exactly, he could guess that they were a kind of currency within the monastery. Furthermore, it was a currency that would never depreciate.
No wonder Tang Wan-er would risk her life to help him obtain a core disciple position. This difference was far too great.
He now felt more regret about that bastard Gui Sha. He cursed eighteen generations of his ancestors, cursing how wicked he was.
Tang Wan-er quickly received a bag. Inside were one hundred neatly stacked, bright, and sparkling spirit stones.
Spirit stones were incredibly rare and precious. They had to be nourished for hundreds of thousands of years underground before they could crystallize spiritual qi. The amount of spiritual qi inside was absolutely shocking. They were priceless treasures in the outer world.
Tang Wan-er happily put those spirit stones into her ring. A recess in her badge lit up with a few numbers.
The badge wasn’t just a proof of status, but it was also a tool used for storing your points. It was similar to the crystal cards found in the outer world. Points could be directly taken out, put in, transferred, etc. Furthermore, there was no transaction fee.
“Sister, can I also receive my rations? Thank you.” Long Chen also courteously handed over his badge.
That woman indifferently glanced at him. “This spot is only for core disciples to obtain their rations. You need to line up there.”
Long Chen sighed bitterly. That line practically had no end. Long Chen had been hoping to try and get some special treatment with Tang Wan-er by his side. Unfortunately, this woman didn’t even pay any attention to him, now closing her eyes and resting.
As for Tang Wan-er, she was impishly laughing at him. Long Chen angrily rolled his eyes. He obediently lined up.
After more than two hours, Long Chen finally received his own meager rations. He then followed Tang Wan-er down to the next floor. That was a place to buy things.
They only just reached that first level when Long Chen heard a familiar voice, causing him to smile.
Chapter 187 Gathering Medicinal Ingredients
The first level’s lounge was extremely spacious. There was at least thousands of meters of space. This open space was brightly lit up, appearing extremely luxurious.
The large lounge was filled entirely with sales counters. There were all sorts of medicinal pills offered here. This first level was actually the medicinal pill lounge.
Hundreds of maidens were handling customers now. Most of those customers were newcomers as well.
As soon as they had received their points, they prepared to spend them. You could buy anything within the Xuantian Monastery with points. Of course, that was on the precondition that you had enough points.
As soon as they entered the lounge, Long Chen saw a familiar figure, Guo Ran. He was in front of one of the sales counters and asking the woman inside, “What is this thing’s price?”
That woman glanced at that medicinal pill and indifferently said, “Two hundred points.”
“Damn, what is with that price!?” Guo Ran was completely shocked. He pointed to the medicinal pill beside it. “What about that one?”
Still indifferently looking at Guo Ran, she opened her hand, using her five fingers to clearly emphasize: “Five ‘damns’.”
Guo Ran was stunned. He was about to say more when a tinkling laugh rang out behind him. He turned to see that Tang Wan-er was laughing at him with Long Chen.
“Cough, boss, faction boss, how come you’ve come here?” Guo Ran asked with some embarrassment.
“Don’t call me boss. Call me faction leader.” Tang Wan-er obviously didn’t like that unsophisticated title.
“Yes, faction leader Wan-er,” said Guo Ran quickly.
“Guo Ran, how long have you been here? What’s your feeling about this place?” asked Long Chen.
Guo Ran bitterly said, “Ah, don’t even talk about it. I’ve circulated around here for four hours. Everything here is too expensive. With my ration, I can only buy some garbage pills.”
Guo Ran had already received his rations previously. He had wanted to spend them, but as soon as he arrived here, he had been stupefied. He was practically a beggar who had come to a gold shop. His few points were unable to buy anything good.
But Guo Ran was extremely smart. He first went through the entire lounge, basically having asked the price of every medicinal pill.
By doing that, he finally met someone who had been angered. That way, he could confront and haggle with them. But it was just at that point that Long Chen and Tang Wan-er had come.
“I was hoping to buy a Tendon Firming Pill here. But that pill requires six hundred and fifty points. I don’t have enough points,” explained Guo Ran dejectedly.
He had just advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm, and his aura was still unstable. If he wanted to quickly stabilize it, the Tendon Firming Pill was a must-have.
The Tendon Firming Pill was perfect for those who had just broken through to the Tendon Transformation realm. It could quickly help them increase their strength and consolidate their realm.
Without the Tendon Firming Pill, it would take two to three months to completely consolidate the realm.
But with it, one could drastically cut down on that time. It would only take ten to fifteen days to completely stabilize.
That saved a cultivator’s precious time, and it was a must-have for the newcomers.
“I’ve haggled with the sellers for half a day but they just won’t relent. They won’t make it even the slightest bit cheaper for me! It really infuriates me,” grieved Guo ran angrily.
As he said that, the maiden behind the sales counter unhappily said, “You’re wrong. We’re only in charge of selling. We don’t have the authority to give you a discount. Furthermore, what kind of place do you think this place is? A food market? You want to haggle? The fact that none of us have thrown you out after you wasted so much of our time here is already giving you enough face.”
“You…” Guo Ran scowled.
“Sorry, this brother of mine has been in a bad mood recently. Let me take his place to apologize,” smiled Long Chen.
Only then did that maiden’s expression become a bit better. She also smiled slightly, showing she wasn’t actually angry.
Long Chen pulled the still angrily puffing Guo Ran away. Tang Wan-er laughed, “Guo Ran, I finally understand why the two of you have become brothers. You two are both definitely weirdos. You wanted to haggle over prices here?”
“I was just doing that to display my dissatisfaction, letting the monastery hear us newcomer’s thoughts. The monthly rations are unable to even buy a Tendon Firming Pill! Aren’t they just intentionally toying with us for fun?” Guo Ran still couldn’t accept this.
“The monastery’s rules all have reasons behind them. Since you’re all members of my faction, the faction will think of some method. You don’t need to be so worried. Now that everyone has ju
st advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm, the Tendon Firming Pill is something we must buy. It’s also the main reason I came here.”
“At six hundred and fifty a pill with seventy-nine people, we’ll need fifty-one thousand three hundred and fifty points. For just one pill, we’ll need to use up half the faction’s ration?” Long Chen was somewhat speechless. The monastery’s prices really were ruthless.
Tang Wan-er shook her head. “We don’t have seventy-nine people, but one hundred.”
“Oh? How do we have one hundred people?” asked Long Chen. There were originally one hundred people, but now only seventy-nine remained.
“Each faction can have a total of one hundred people. The empty spots can be filled with fresh blood. If we don’t, we’ll end up losing in terms of numbers. In a bit you guys can come with me to find some fresh talent,” explained Tang Wan-er.
Guo Ran nodded, but Long Chen was lost in thought. Looking around, his eyes suddenly brightened.
“There’s a place to buy medicinal ingredients?”
Guo Ran nodded, “Yes, two-thirds of this lounge is taken up by all kinds of medicinal ingredients. The other third is taken up by essentially only a few dozen kinds of medicinal pills.
Long Chen’s heart shook. Walking over to the section with medicinal ingredients, we walked a lap and found there were over ten thousand kinds of medicinal ingredients, delighting him.
Although he only scanned quickly, he saw several of the ingredients necessary for the Alioth Pill.
“Wan-er, do you trust me?” Long Chen solemnly looked at Tang Wan-er.
“What nonsense is that? Of course, I trust you.” Tang Wan-er was a bit surprised and puzzled.
Long Chen smiled. “Then that’s good. Lend me sixty thousand points and within three days, I’ll give you one hundred Tendon Firming Pills.”
Both Tang Wan-er and Guo Ran’s eyes widened in disbelief. Guo Ran stuttered, “Boss, you aren’t thinking of…”
“Yup. I’ll refine the Tendon Firming Pill myself. I took a look around and saw that the ingredients for it aren’t that expensive. One hundred pills’ worth of ingredients is only just over eight thousand points. If I refine them myself, we’ll be able to save a great deal of points,” said Long Chen.