Chapter 337: The Aberrants’ Treasure Chests And Grandmaster Xilai
Crimson Moon Tower rooftop.
Until Mond and the human woman in silver-gray clothing disappeared from sight, the people of Tianhe Domain City could not help but explode into an uproar.
“Who exactly is that female disciple from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall? Why are the people from Mist Mountain Domain City so respectful to her?”
“I see that woman is at the initial stage of blood coagulation, and she is not yet twenty-five. There are not many such geniuses even among our four great domain cities. Could she be the child of that elder from Mist Mountain Domain City?”
“Impossible. Even if she were the talented child of that elder from Mist Mountain Domain City, Lord Mond is a Half-Step Heavenly Human. How could he be so respectful to the talented child of an elder?”
“Indeed, that’s impossible. Could this woman be the talented child of that vice city lord, or even the city lord?”
…
For a while, everyone from Tianhe Domain City speculated about the identity of the woman in silver-gray clothing, filled with curiosity and doubt.
Mond of Mist Mountain Domain City was a Half-Step Heavenly Human and one with deep accumulation, already at the best age to attack the Heavenly Human Realm. In the four great domain cities, there was no one who did not know him.
Within the domain city, his status and position were already second only to the city elders. Calling him a quasi-elder would not be an exaggeration.
Having such an important figure treat a blood coagulation realm disciple of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall with such respect was clearly impossible unless this disciple’s identity was far from simple. There was no other possibility.
“Senior brother Ying Hu, they went to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Should we go take a look as well?” A high-level blood condensation realm youth suggested to Ying Hu with great curiosity.
The gathered geniuses, men and women from Tianhe Domain City, also looked toward their leader Ying Hu. Their eyes could not hide their curiosity as they hoped Ying Hu would agree.
A woman treated so respectfully by Mond, the dignified quasi-elder of Mist Mountain Domain City, naturally made everyone curious about her identity.
If she really was the talented child of some major figure, this would be a rare opportunity to make a connection.
The big shots of the four great domain cities had many children. Even the fewest had more than ten, while some had over a hundred. However, the ones they truly valued were only those with extremely high talent, like Lexa, who could be considered a true child.
As for the others, they did not really care. Beyond providing basic resources, they were left to fend for themselves. Only if someone gave birth to a highly gifted child would their status in the family improve.
And these talented children of the major figures, especially those of the city lords and vice city lords, possessed resources that the super geniuses of the domain cities could not imagine. If one could befriend such people and casually help with a few things, they could obtain resources that would usually be impossible to get.
For example, the elders’ training rooms that even peerless geniuses had to apply for with great difficulty were directly available to them as they could simply use those of the city lords or vice city lords. Yet the elders’ training rooms were only a small part of the domain cities’ cultivation resources. Some truly good items were extremely hard to obtain even for peerless geniuses, but these people could get them directly without any contribution.
They could even be taken by the vice city lord or city lord into some special ruins deep within the Forbidden Zone, something many elders envied but could not obtain.
“Alright, we will go take a look as well.” Ying Hu nodded.
His original goal was to seek cooperation with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to explore the Forbidden Zone together and search for treasures that could help his third sequence supernatural level martial skill quickly reach third level perfection, or increase his physical strength, so he could achieve Half-Step Heavenly Human as soon as possible. After all, breaking through from Half-Step Heavenly Human to the Heavenly Human Realm was extremely difficult, and the earlier one became a Half-Step Heavenly Human, the better.
In addition, every ten years the four great domain cities would release a few quotas for special ruins in the Forbidden Zone. These were things that all Half-Step Heavenly Humans of the four great domain cities would fight over. If he could not become a Half-Step Heavenly Human soon, he would not even have the qualification to compete.
He was also indeed curious about the female disciple from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall who Mond treated with such awe. Now that everyone wanted to go, it was a good chance to find out more.
Ying Hu then led the talented blood condensation realm group to fly toward the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, hall master’s lounge.
Wu Zhuoqun, who had just returned from Tianhe Domain City, reported to Lin Qi, his expression full of guilt.
“Hall master, Vice City Lord Alis was very interested in the Fruit of Life, but considering the attitude of the Red Moon Merchant Guild, he was unwilling to trade the Energy Blood Essence Manufacturing Equipment. At most, he would use one Energy Blood Essence in exchange for three Fruits of Life, as an exclusive purchase.” Wu Zhuoqun took out the Fruits of Life previously entrusted to him by Lin Qi and placed them directly on the table.
On this trip to Tianhe Domain City, he originally thought that aside from broadening his horizons, he could also secure this cooperation with Tianhe Domain City. But after waiting there for more than ten days and finally getting an audience with Vice City Lord Alis, the cooperation still fell through, and he felt he had failed Lin Qi’s commission.
“Only exclusive purchases with Energy Blood Essence, and they refuse to trade the Energy Blood Essence Manufacturing Equipment?” Lin Qi glanced at the Fruits of Life on the table, slightly surprised.
Based on his understanding of the four great domain cities, they should not possess items capable of regenerating severed limbs, and the domain city geniuses who trained outside were bound to get injured. Becoming disabled was very normal.
He had thought Tianhe Domain City would gladly accept such a cooperation. After all, geniuses were rare, especially those with exceptional talent. If they became crippled and could no longer advance, it would be a huge loss to the domain city. For them to refuse a deal involving the Fruit of Life purely was beyond his expectations. He had not expected the Red Moon Merchant Guild to hold such weight in Tianhe Domain City.
As for an exclusive deal of trading one Energy Blood Essence for three Fruits of Life, that trade was far too unfavorable. Although the Fruit of Life could be obtained using monster blood, the Life Tree had a daily production limit. At present it could produce at most thirty Fruits of Life per day.
These Fruits of Life were not only important to him, but also extremely valuable for the local disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Even thirty per day were not enough for their own use, let alone trading them to Tianhe Domain City.
Moreover, Tianhe Domain City only produced so much Energy Blood Essence each year. Even if he were willing to sell to them, how much could they actually use to buy?
Spending a dozen or twenty pieces of Energy Blood Essence a year would probably be their limit. But for the enormous Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, a dozen or twenty pieces were just a drop in the bucket, not even enough for his personal use.
He cultivated three training methods, and with his transformation into a pseudo-supernatural life form, each full-body blood quenching consumed more than ten times what a normal blood condensation realm cultivator would. Twenty pieces a year really would not be enough for him.
The consumption was high, but the quenching speed was truly astonishing. The advantages of advanced training methods were far beyond ordinary ones. With guaranteed supply of Energy Blood Essence, what would take others cultivating normal methods several years or even more than ten years to reach peak high-level blood condensation realm, his three methods might not even need half a year, as if he were cheating.
However, accordingly, anyone cultivating these methods would also need an extraordinary amount of Energy Blood Essence. Without even mentioning the many players, just the local disciples alone would not be able to make do even if Tianhe Domain City sold their entire annual production of Energy Blood Essence to him.
The Obsidian Martial Arts Hall now was no longer what it used to be.
Currently, the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had more than fifty thousand players and nearly three million local disciples. The weakest of these local disciples were apprentices, while strong ones like Yinuo had already reached the blood coagulation realm. There were also many disciples at intermediate and advanced levels of the Bone Forging Realm.
For example, Xia Ling and the others who joined the Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps earliest were now in the Bone Forging Realm, and Dona and Xiong Yuedie, who joined later, had recently reached the advanced Bone Forging Realm.
Now, there were more than eight hundred Bone Forging Realm disciples just in the Guard Corps. Every one of them was a genius with a one hundred percent chance of reaching the blood coagulation realm in the future. Five hundred pieces of Energy Blood Essence would not even be enough for these people to use in two months, let alone the players.
“It seems we have to open up the markets of the Four Regions as soon as possible,” Lin Qi thought for a moment and said. “Zhuoqun, next you will send people to deliver invitations to all the major powers in the Four Regions, inviting them to participate in the next Crimson Moon Auction. The main item will be the Fruit of Life, to be auctioned with Energy Blood Essence.”
“Make the Fruit of Life the highlight of the auction?” Wu Zhuoqun said worriedly after hearing this. “Hall master, the Fruit of Life may not be a big deal to the domain cities; they do not care much about the blood coagulation realm. But if we promote it in the Four Regions, many factions will set their sights on the Fruit of Life. If they start scheming in secret, we might not have peace.”
In the Four Regions, apart from the very top major powers, most factions were founded by blood coagulation realm experts. For such experts, life in the Four Regions was far from stable. Injuries were normal. Once crippled, their factions would rapidly decline. Conversely, once a blood coagulation realm expert recovered, the faction would rise sharply. Their regard for the Fruit of Life was easy to imagine.
Now that they were being told such a limb-regenerating treasure existed, those factions would surely try to obtain it.
With the strength of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, they could easily annihilate these factions, but it would be hard to prevent these forces from acting in secret, especially the private actions of blood coagulation realm experts. If they robbed someone in Chiyue Town and fled, or hid their identities and targeted hall disciples in the wilderness to force the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to compromise and hand over the Fruits of Life, that would all be very troublesome.
“Moreover, if we so quickly auction the Fruits of Life to the major forces of the Four Regions, it might anger Vice City Lord Alis of Tianhe Domain City.” Wu Zhuoqun recalled Alis’s domineering attitude during their talks. If the Fruits of Life suddenly sold at high prices in Energy Blood Essence, it would undoubtedly be a slap in Alis’s face. He then suggested, “Hall master, how about we put the Fruit of Life matter on hold and only introduce it at the auction after the next one?”
“If that vice city lord is displeased, then so be it. If he is unwilling to pay a high price, I cannot stop selling or sell cheaply, can I?” Lin Qi waved his hand, clearly not planning to follow Wu Zhuoqun’s suggestion.
Although the four great domain cities were lofty, Tianhe Domain City had no authority over the Wushan Region.
Seeing this, Wu Zhuoqun could only leave helplessly, hoping he was overthinking. He followed Lin Qi’s instructions and sent people to inform the major forces of the Four Regions.
As for the lounge, after Wu Zhuoqun left, Mond, Luo Wu Shang, and the others were standing right at the entrance, which greatly surprised Wu Zhuoqun. He did not understand since when the gray-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall could mingle with such a big figure as a Half-Step Heavenly Human from Mist Mountain Domain City.
“Master of the Pavilion, this disciple has an item to submit.” Luo Wu Shang, standing outside the door, said very respectfully when she saw it open.
Lin Qi looked at the two people outside, who logically should not be together, and asked Mond, the Half-Step Heavenly Human, in puzzlement, “Are you together?”
“Hall Master Lin has misunderstood. I just have something to discuss with Hall Master Lin, and happened to come along with this leader,” Mond replied respectfully as he saw Lin Qi’s confusion. “If Hall Master Lin has matters to attend to, please handle them first. What I have to discuss is not urgent.”
“Alright, please wait a moment.” Lin Qi looked at Mond with some oddity. He did not understand why this Half-Step Heavenly Human from Mist Mountain Domain City was so respectful. But since Mond said so, he naturally would not refuse, and he let Luo Wu Shang enter.
After the thick lounge door closed, Luo Wu Shang stepped forward with a basketball-sized metal box.
“Master of the Pavilion, this is a treasure chest I acquired in the Forbidden Zone. I do not know how many contribution points it can be redeemed for.” Luo Wu Shang looked at Lin Qi with anticipation, as if she were handing over some great treasure.
“You got this in the Forbidden Zone where?” Lin Qi looked at the pitch-black box on the table, not understanding why these players always liked to treat such things as treasure chests.
“This was dropped by an abnormal being in the Forbidden Zone. I tried everything and could not open it or damage it, so I felt it might be useful to you, Master of the Pavilion.” Luo Wu Shang explained honestly.
She had initially wanted to open this treasure chest herself, but no matter what she did, this small pitch-black metal box would not open. It reminded her of previous treasure chests that players could not open, but handing them to Lin Qi had earned them generous rewards. That was why she had specifically come back.
“You could not open it?” Lin Qi looked at Luo Wu Shang, who was at the blood coagulation realm, picked up the pitch-black metal box, and examined it.
Now, once Luo Wu Shang entered a transcendent state, she could knead C6 alloy like mud, yet she could do nothing to a basketball-sized metal box. This alone showed that the box was not simple and that the alloy grade was at least above C level.
When Lin Qi pressed a button on the pitch-black metal box, a palm-sized display screen lit up, showing a symbol both strange and familiar.
A cluster of golden flames.
He had seen that symbol before in the First City information given to him by Hou Fei. It was the emblem of the First City.
“An item from the First City?” Lin Qi looked at the pitch-black metal box in his hand, unable to restrain a surge of excitement.
He had sent players into the Mountain of the Dead Forbidden Zone precisely to search for the First City. Although they had not yet found the First City, they had now found an item from it. Given the extraordinary material of the pitch-black metal box and the fact that it needed metal that even Luo Wu Shang could not damage, it was clearly used to store something valuable.
But the excitement lasted only a moment.
Since the metal box could not be opened by external force, it clearly required a password. Cracking something from the First City was obviously not an easy task.
Just as Lin Qi was thinking about how to reward Luo Wu Shang, an indescribably powerful qi and blood suddenly descended, suppressing the entire room.
At the same time, it was not only Lin Qi’s lounge that was enveloped. Everyone in the entire Obsidian Martial Arts Hall and even the whole of Chiyue Town felt it at the same moment.
On the training ground of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, Ying Hu and the others, who had not yet entered the main hall, were also pressed down by this qi and blood and found it difficult to move.
“This qi and blood!”
“This is grandmaster qi and blood. How can there be a grandmaster in Chiyue Town?”
Ying Hu and the others sensed this qi and blood, the same kind they had once felt from domain city elders, and they were all stunned.
“Over there! Someone is coming from over there!”
A high-level blood condensation realm youth pointed at a blurry figure in the distant sky, drawing everyone’s gaze.
In the far-off sky, they could vaguely see a man of the Crystal Race. His flight speed was more than ten times the speed of sound. In just one second, he went from a blurry figure to standing directly above Chiyue Town, overlooking the entire town.
“How is this possible!”
“Why has the vice leader of the Smiling Skull come here?”
“Wasn’t Mist Mountain Domain City supposed to forbid any member of the Smiling Skull from entering the Mist Mountain Region?”
Ying Hu stared at the Crystal Race man standing proudly in midair, completely stunned.
The three vice leaders of the Smiling Skull were all Heavenly Human Realm grandmasters, and the Crystal Race man above Chiyue Town was one of them.
Ghost Hand.
