"Mr. Chen, these are all your acquaintances. You don't need me to introduce them, do you?" The Northern Wilderness overlord said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Chen Xiaobei his eyebrows. "They are the third task that you're giving me? That's refreshing!"
"So, can you guess what the subject matter is?" The overlord asked.
"That's very obvious! These two families loathe me! They wish they could skin me alive! This third task is for me to fight them to the death, am I right?"
The overlord shook his head. "You can't exactly say that! I don't want you to die; on the contrary, this task is for your own good! First of all, you are still in your salad days. Most people in Northern Wilderness Starfield will not accept you! You see, I've brought all of the Temple's core members and some governors from some very important planets here today! Defeat both the Lu Family and the Tie Family, and your prestige will be given credence. From today onwards, no one would ever dare dismiss you for your age as a young Temple Master!
"Secondly, revenge breeds revenge; when will there be an end to it? If you can settle this animosity between you and these families once and for all, you, your family and your friends will be able to live in Northern Wilderness Starfield without worries! If this bad blood is unresolved, when your family walks on the street, someone might attack you! The meal that you share with your friends might be poisoned! That is why in order to secure your position as the Temple Master of the South Town Star Temple and for you to gain a firm foothold in Northern Wilderness Starfield, you cannot withdraw from this fight!"
The overlord spoke calmly and frankly; he had obviously prepared this speech beforehand.
He made it sound as if he really was concerned for Chen Xiaobei, and was paving the road for him.
But Chen Xiaobei knew very well that this was all to fool him!
Everything the overlord had talked about was built on the basis of Chen Xiaobei winning!
If Chen Xiaobei wins, he would definitely be building a reputation for himself and be able to secure his place in Northern Wilderness Stafield.
But! What the overlord failed to mention was what would happen to Chen Xiaobei if he lost.
The answer was simple!
If Chen XIaobei loses, the Lu Family and Tie Family's hatred for Chen Xiaobei would mean a macabre death for him and all of Chen Xiaobei's friends who were present!
Worse still, the Bei Xuan people in the secret space would have to live in hiding for eternity, unable to set foot on Earth and the Northern Wilderness Starfield lest they be hunted and killed!
The overlord said nothing about that dreadful consequence, claiming only that he was doing this for Chen Xiaobei's own good!
Only a fool would believe such nonsense!
Chen Xiaobei saw through this but he played along. "Your Eminence is so considerate of me. It is my honor to oblige!"
"So, are you brave enough to take on this task?" The overlord asked.
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "I am, but let's lay down the rules first! What are the restrictions? Can I bring my backup or do I have to fight on my own?"
Before the overlord could speak, Lu Tianheng bellowed, "You can bring whatever backup you want! At the end of the day, you and all of the people related to you are going to die anyway! Whoever you bring into this fight, I will slaughter!"
Ding!
[Cultivation: Middle phase of Ethereal Cultivation; Lifespan: 1,264 years; Health: 800,000 Combat power: 800,000]
Chen Xiaobei did a quick sweep of the old man's competency.
800,000 combat power!
That was 150,000 more than Six-Eared Macaque who was the strongest in Chen Xiaobei's group!
On the premise that the Chaos Blood Sword and the Blood God's Deity-Killing painting were not used, Lu Tianheng alone could easily kill Chen Xiaobei and all of the people who were on his side!
Ignoring Lu Tianheng, Chen Xiaobei asked the overlord, "Overlord, I can find help, right?"
"Yes!" The overlord nodded. "Not only can you seek help from those who are present, you can also seek help from your friends from other high-ranking starfields!"
Chen Xiaobei grinned, "Mm, that's great! I really am not capable to fight them on my own!"
In reality, Chen Xiaobei only needed to use either his Chaos Blood Sword or the Blood God's Deity-Killing painting to wipe out all of the Lu and Tie Family with ease.
But with so many people watching, the news about his Chaos Blood Sword and Blood God's Deity-Killing painting would spread like wildfire throughout the entire Northern Wilderness Starfield and even the entire human realm!
If that was the case, elites from high-ranking starfields and even from Earth God realms would come searching for Chen Xiaobei to rob him of these Earth God instruments.
At the moment, Chen Xiaobei was not very strong. If elites of Wei Zhonglie's caliber came for him, they could easily take Chen Xiaobei out and take possession of his Chaos Blood Sword and Blood God's Deity-Killing painting!
So, unless Chen Xiaobei was under disguise, he could not bring out these weapons in front of this crowd!
Of course, he could always get rid of all these eyewitnesses to prevent that information from spreading.
But not today!
Other than those from the Tie and Lu Family, the overlord had also brought many other very important people who were innocent, including Wenren Jinghao and Dong Zhuo.
Complete annihilation was not a viable option because his conscience would not allow him to do it, and without these people managing the starfield, Northern Wilderness would fall into complete chaos!
Not doing that meant that Chen Xiaobei could not use both the Chaos Blood Sword and the Blood God's Deity-Killing painting.
"Do you have anymore questions?" The overlord asked.
"One more!" Chen Xiaobei said. "This fight, is it to the death or are we supposed to pull punches?
"The Lus are criminals, traitors who are to be executed into the third generation. You are free to kill them all!" The overlord paused for a moment and then added hesitantly, "The Ties and I share a close tie, and they are the economical lifeline of the Northern Wilderness Chamber of Commerce… I think you should pull your punches on them!"
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "So if I do that, will Tie Family would have to hold back on me as well?"
"Of course!" The overlord confirmed. "This is a fair fight! If you are not allowed to kill the Tie Family, they shouldn't be allowed to kill you either!"
"No!" Tie Jingtao suddenly boomed. "We don't need him to hold himself back! We want to fight this piece of shit to the death!"
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "Whatever you want – I, Chen Zhengfeng, will fight you to the end!"
"Great! This is great! So, you are volunteering to get involved in this matter, right?! Tie Family will definitely make sure that you die a horrible death!"
Tie Jingtao shouted at Chen Xiaobei in a hysterical manner.
"President Tie! I don't think that's necessary at all! The Chamber of Commerce is the most important foundation of my Northern Wilderness Starfield! I don't think I can manage it well without Tie Family!" said the overlord.
"No! He killed my son! I have to avenge my son! I have to be the one that chops off his head! He needs to die no matter what!"
"But…"
"My Lord, you don't have to talk me out of it anymore! My brother and I have thought about it for a long time and we have made up our mind! Chen Zhufeng has to die! My Lord, are you worried that all of us here will lose to him?"
"Fine! Do whatever you wish! You may fight till the death!"
It seemed like the overlord had already expected that Chen Xiaobei was going to lose this fight. That was why he agreed to the fight anyway.
"The battle can begin any time from now!" announced the overlord.
Immediately, all those not related retreated to a safe distance to watch the battle. Zhou Daoxian and his people were the first who made the retreat. They were all but waiting for Chen Xiaobei to be killed in the battle. As for Xiangyu and others, they had chosen to stick with Chen Xiaobei no matter what. Though the enemy's side might have the advantage, Xiangyu and the rest of them would never leave Chen Xiaobei whatever the outcome may be
Long Zishan and Liu Xuanxin had decided to side with Chen Xiaobei as well. However, they felt really worried about Chen Xiaobei's current situation. To them, they knew that Chen Xiaobei could never win this fight no matter what. After all, they were just the elites who lived on Earth. All those elites that came from starfields were like gods to them. At the same time, Dong Zhuo and Wenren Jinghao started feeling guilty about the whole thing.
"We are the ones who suggested Mr. Chen to take over Lu Family to control the South Town Star Temple! I have never thought that it will lead to this life-threatening predicament." said Dong Zhuo.
"It's too late now! I didn't know the overlord would come up with such difficult test for Mr. Chen! Clearly, he is trying to kill Mr. Chen!" said Wenren Jinghao.
At the same time, the elders from temple and governors from other starfields were sighing as well.
"Sigh… Mr. Chen is a good man! If it wasn't for him protecting us at the forest, most of us here would have been killed by the demonic beasts!"
"You are absolutely right… Mr. Chen is our savior! Unfortunately, he messed with Tie Family! I don't think he will end well!"
"Should we try to stop the fight?"
"This is not possible! Lu Tianheng was the core elder of the temple and now he is a prisoner! Lu Family has completely ceased to exist… And Tie Juji is dead, not to mention that they lost 500 million Spiritual Stones as well! No one can stop the fight right now!"
"That's right… Not even the overlord can stop the fight… No matter what, the Lu and Tie Families will definitely kill Mr. Chen today!"
"Sigh… It's a shame that Mr. Chen is going to die here!"
A lot of them were grateful for what Chen Xiaobei did for them at the forest.
"Chen! Are these your allies? Are there more? Just summon them here! I will kill them all at once! I don't want to waste my precious time hunting them!" shouted Lu Tianheng.
Shinng!
Shinng!
Shinng!
Dozens of people from Lu Family drew their weapons. They were aiming at Chen Xiaobei and all those who chose to take his side.
"Elder Lu! You can kill the rest of them! However, you must leave Chen Zhufeng for us! Tie Family has dominated the Northern Wilderness Starfield for hundreds of years! We have never experienced such ridiculous shame before! In the name of our family, we brothers have to kill him!" shouted Tie Jingtao and Tie Nulang.
Shinng!
Shinng!
Shinng!
Dozens of people and assaisins from Tie Family drew their weapons as well. They were ready to charge at Chen Xiaobei and shred him into pieces.
"Xiaobei… The enemies are going to charge at us soon! What should we do now?!" asked Liu Xuanxin.
"What should we do now? We don't have to do anything! Let's just stay here!" replied Chen Xiaobei with his shoulders shrugged.
"What did you just say? We don't have to do anything?"
Upon hearing that, everyone was left in shock.
"Aren't you going to use the Blood God's Deity Killing painting and Chaos Blood Sword to kill them?" asked Jiang Ziya.
"Of course not! Just stay here! Everyone including me shouldn't have to do anything about it!" said Chen Xiaobei.
"Why… What's the logic behind it? We are going to be killed by them if we don't do anything about it!"
"Don't worry! We will not die!"
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
At the same time, hundreds of people from the Tie and Lu Families had finally charged their Ethereal Force to the max, ready to launch their ultimate attack at Chen Xiaoebi.
"Son of a bitch! Draw your weapon! Are you afraid of us now?! Or are you going to stand there and let us slaughter you?!" shouted Lu TIanheng while charging at Chen Xiaobei.
"Don't think that we will show any mercy to you! You are going to die a horrible death today!" shouted Tie Jingtao.
"Xiaobei! Stop messing around! Fight back now! Otherwise, we are all going to die!"
Liu Xuanxin was now in a paniced state. Everyone around him was hit by despair as well. Suddenly, a portal appeared in front of them and two people walked out of it.
"Ah Bu! Where is my Xiaobei? Where?"
The voice in question came from a beautiful and alluring woman.
Her face was exquisite, devoid of flaws and held reminiscence of classic charm; her physique impeccable as if the gods had broken the mould themselved – a work of art on her own!
In the pink trumpet sleeve tulle dress, she gave out the appearance of a goddess, graceful and elegant!
Next to the woman was a man, big and strong with a striking demeanour, and meandering eyes as fierce as a tiger's and steely as that of a wolf!
Even though the Murderous Qi from this man was overbearing, whenever he looked at the woman next to him, his gaze would always soften significantly and his expression tendered up.
Evidently, two were Lu Bu and Diao Chan!
"Bro Bei should be here too!" Lu Bu pointed ahead.
On the account that the transportation portal was on an elevated platform, they were able to see everything that was happening down there – hundreds of people carrying weapons, their faces oozing with murderous intent, ready to rip their prey apart!
Lu Bu's brows creased. "Chan'er! You better go help! There are hundreds of people getting ready to kill Bro Bei! He won't make it if we're late!"
"What? People actually have the nerve to kill my brother Xiaobei!" Diao Chan suddenly exploded into a frightening rage. Her daintily embroidered shoes hit the ground, and she disappeared.
When Shen Gongpao captured Diao Chan to blackmail Lu Bu into working for him, Chen Xiaobei could have killed Lu Bu and turn a blind eye to Diao Chan's ordeal. Instead, Chen Xiaobei took out a large portion of his hard-earned merit points, amounting up to a whopping 10 million to help Diao Chan become an Earth God, thus saving the couple!
This kindness was etched into Diao Chan and Lu Bu's hearts to the point that if anyone dared touch a hair on Chen Xiaobei's head, the couple would literally rip that person into shreds!
Swoosh!
A pink silhouette appeared in the sky above the Lu and Tie Family, magnificent and dreamy like blooming cherry blossoms.
The pink radiance streamed in to form beams that came together to manifest a pink Divine Light Formation!
"What… is that?"
The appearance of the pink light had taken everyone by surprise. Even the 110 heavily armed opponents of Chen Xiaobei took a step back unconsciously, lifting their gazes to the sky!
Whoosh!
A beautiful image of a woman flashed before their eyes and swooped down to land before Chen Xiaobei.
"Huh? Who is this woman? She's really beautiful!"
The men who were ready to charge forward were completely distracted.
They had never seen such a stunning creature in their entire lives. She was like the goddess of their most firecast dreams, so beautiful she was literally flawless from every angle.
In fact, it was not only these men, but the Northern Wilderness officials and aristocrats standing far behind were also staring at her lustfully, secretly salivating.
Even the overlord of Northern Wilderness could not help but ask, "Who is this woman?"
Sima Liang swallowed, "I'm not sure either… I've never seen nor heard of such a breathtaking beauty…"
"Sakura! Spirit Blade!" Under the hundreds of leering gazes, Diao Chan raised a porcelain hand and waved it towards her front.
There were no fancy moves, nor were there any sinister secret weapons – just the simple wave of a hand!
Zing!
A pink arc like a crescent moon sliced through the air so quickly it was all but a blur to the naked eye, which then released a terrifying energy!
When the pink crescent swept past, a violent gale blustered looking like it was about to sweep the entire place away! The ground trembled fiercely as a result, and pryed open alarming trenches in the ground!
Horrified, only one thought ran through the people's mind – powerful!
Very powerful!
Perversely powerful!
Zing!
The pink crescent bent towards the Lu Family and Tie Family and swept across like a blade slashing through paper!
The crescent had sliced about seventy to eighty people at the waist causing the upper half of their bodies to be removed from the bottom half like fallen trees, spraying red everywhere and hurling organs all over the place. Everything that came in contact with the strange crescent were now inanimate.
"My god… That… What is that woman… Her combat power… is… alarming…"
Cries of horror gradually filled the air.
Even the powerful overlord of the Northern Wilderness was gawking, his jaw slacked in incredulity.
Taking out eighty people with one strike was not a difficult task. Most of the people who were present there could also do it.
However, among the eighty people who were so simply halved, none of them were ordinary people!
Lu Tianheng and Lu Mingjun were among them! There were even three demigods, and the rest were all Ethereal Cultivation elites!
It was just a single wave of a hand, and all of these people were slaughtered before they could so much as utter a reply.
The stunning woman's cultivation was terrifying.
She had made the overlord look like a weak kitten – easily executed with one swing of her hand.
"Earth God! That woman is an actual Yuan Shen cultivation Earth God!"
The overlord screamed, "Earth… Earth God??"
In the hundreds and thousands of starfields in the human realm, Earth Gods were supreme! The absolute ruler of everything! Untouchable hegemons!
Whenever an Earth God presented themselves in a situation, everything would automatically be under their control. They only needed to think it, and every living thing would be destroyed.
Diao Chan was probably not used to her controlling her powers so the strike was a little unbalanced; or else all hundreds of them would have died.
Among the eight people, the Lu Family was practically completed destroyed, leaving only about twenty people from the Tie Family who had managed to evade death.
"Greetings, Earth God Master! Why have you come here?" The overlord smiled obsequiously as he bowed to the woman.
The other hundreds of people followed suit.
Instead of acknowledging the gesture, the woman turned around to face Chen Xiaobei and asked, "Bro Xiaobei, are you alright?"
"If even one hair is missing from Bro Bei, I, Lu Bu, will kill everyone here!" Lu Bu had arrived next to them holding the Heavenly Halberd, giving off the aura of an Earth God!"
Suddenly, there was but a pin drop silence in the place!
The Earth-God lady and the man that was holding an Earth-God weapon addressed Chen Xiaobei as Bro Bei. Presently, almost all the people present knew that Chen Zhufeng's real name was Chen Xiaobei. Immediately, everyone took a quick glance at Chen Xiaobei. Even Liu Xuanxin and Long Zishan were left in shock, unable to absorb the shocking incident that had unfolded before their eyes.
On the battlefield, the remaining 20 Tie Family's survivors were drenched in blood. Standing beside the broken bodies, they were all shaking in fear. Some of them even peed their pants. As for Zhou Daoxian and his gang of allies, they were standing there, petrified. In their eyes, one could see that their spirits were now weak with fear and they were completely terrified by that they had just witnessed. The overlord which was still bowing and the other high-ranking officers were also in a similar state of bewilderment.
"Ermm… Both of you… are here for Mr. Chen?"
Diao Chan ignored the overlord and ran to Chen Xiaobei. She took a good look at Chen Xiaobei to make sure that he was well before letting out a breath of relief.
"Bro Bei is our benefactor! Are you trying to kill Bro Bei as well?!" asked Lu Bu with his Heavenly Halberd pointing at the overlord.
Sii…
"No… No… No… Mr. Chen is my most trusted subordinate! I'm going to make him the official master of South Town Star Temple! I will never hurt him no matter what!" replied the overlord.
"Subordinate?! Are you even worthy to become my Bro Bei's boss?!"
"No… No… No… Mr. Chen is my most trusted friend! That was a slip of the tongue, an honest mistake!"
"Well, it sure sounds better now!"
Lu Bu then turned around and walked towards Chen Xioabei. Noticing the way Diao Chan and Lu Bu acted towards Chen Xiaobei, the overlord could no longer figure out who in the world Chen Xiaobei really was.
"Chan'er, why did you kill only half of those who wanted to kill Bro Bei? The rest of them are also trying to kill Bro Bei!"
"I was worried about Bro Bei, so I had to check on him first!"
After that, Diao Chan got back into the battlefield.
"Oh my god…"
Right now, Diao Chan was the reaper which was about to harvest their souls. Those she was extremely gorgeous, it did not hide the fact that she was merciless and extremely powerful as well.
"Mercy please… Please spare our lives! Mr. Chen! Please…"
Immediately, every single member of Tie Family kneeled down and started to beg for their lives. Considering that they were not powerful enough to defeat Diao Chan and Lu Bu, they had to start begging if they wanted to live to see tomorrow. Instead of killing them right away, Diao Chan chose to wait for Chen Xiaobei's decision first.
"Before the battle begins, I mentioned that none of us should do any killings, but you guys insisted to kill me! So, why should I spare your lives right now?"
"Erm… Overlord, please help us… Tie Family has helped out with the Chamber of Commerce for aeons! The Chamber of Commerce will stop working if our entire family is eliminated!"
The overlord knew that things in the Northern Wilderness Starfield could take a turn for the worse if everyone from the Tie Family was dead.
"Mr. Chen! You are my best friend! From today onwards, South Town Star Temple belongs to you! Can you please spare our lives…"
"No! If I'm not mistaken, you told me that everything that you do is for my own good and if I don't settle this score, my family and I will be killed by my enemies eventually! You also told me that someone might poison us when we eat!"
"About that…"
Rendered completely speechless, the overlord knew that he was indeed the one who said all those things earlier.
"I'm actually a coward. So, in order to prevent my enemies from killing me in the future, I'm going to end the entire thing for good before it gets out of hand!"
"Hold on! Mr. Chen! Tie Family really matters a lot to our Northern Wilderness Starfield! The economic lifeline of our planet lies with Tie Family! If the entire Tie Family is destroyed, I'm afraid the entire planet will go to recession!"
"I don't think so! There are hundreds of planets in the Northern Wilderness Starfield! I believe that there are a lot of talented people who can take over their position! I know a very qualified person for the job called Gu Congwen. You can hire him to be the manager of the Chamber of Commerce! I'm pretty sure that he can get the job done… and very well at that!"
"What?!!! Are you the overlord or I'm the overlord?! This is an important decision, and you don't get to decide it!"
The economy of the Northern Wilderness Starfield was closely connected to the overlord. That was why he wanted someone he knew to become the manager of the Chamber of Commerce. Not only did Chen Xiaobei wanted to kill Tie Family, but he also asked someone unknown to the overlord to become the manager. Thinking that his source of wealth was going to be cut off, the overlord was forced to voice out his opinion.
"I know you are the overlord but I'm not going to listen to what you have to tell me!"
"Chen Zhufeng! You better watch your manners with me! Don't you forget that I have poisoned you! With only a simple snap, I can kill you with ease!"
"What poison? Hehe… Little Diao Chan! Kill all of them!"
"Sakura Rain!"
Without saying a single word, Diao Chan started to do the killing. Before they could realize it, the sky was filled with countless pink dots, like cherry blossoms falling from their trees.
"Land!"
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
All the pink dots fell to the ground at an extreme speed.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
The fallen pink dots then exploded on all 20 Tie Family members. When it came to cultivation, all 20 of them were considered to be powerful elites. The moment the pink dots landed on their bodies, they swiftly exploded before they could do anything to stop it. Seconds later, the entire place was filled with blood and flesh.
"Chen Zhufeng! I want you to die!"
Immediately, the overlord attempted to activate the poison inside Chen Xiaobei's body!"
"What kind of curse is that?! I don't feel anything at all!"
"H… How is that possible…" The overlord stammered. He repeated the curse again a couple times more but nothing happened. "This is impossible… This is absolutely impossible… My curse has never failed before!"
"Don't waste your energy! Your curse is useless against me!" Chen Xiaobei told him.
The truth was, Chen Xiaobei had used the Nine Twists Thousand Hearts herb to break the curse earlier on, so he was no longer under its control but as the overlord was unaware of this he began to question himself.
"Alright, both the Lu Family and the Tie Family are eradicated!" Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "According to the agreement, I am now the Temple Master of South Town Star Temple. If there's nothing else, overlord sir, please bring the officials and the aristocrats inside. I need to take care of some Earth Jianghu's household matters!"
That was basically a dismissal order to the overlord and his guests, making it plain to these people that Earth's Jianghu belonged to Chen Xiaobei, and that, from now on, the overlord was not allowed to meddle with its matters!
"My goodness… What did I just hear? Is Mr. Chen declaring independence?"
"Heroes really are made young! Mr. Chen looks really young on the outside, but he's actually so powerful!"
"Yeah… Our Northern Wilderness Starfield is nothing to him…"
The officials and aristocrats blathered amongst themselves.
They thought that Chen Xiaobei was being played by the overlord, and was in grave danger. They had never imagined that Chen Xiaobei was the one who was actually in control all this while.
The once mighty overlord had lost all dignity to a young upstart called Chen Xiaobei.
"My god… We're dead for sure…" Zhou Daoxian inhaled sharply; his face was as white as a sheet.
Ding Xiadong and Xu Shiqiu swallowed. "How did Chen Zhufeng manage to have Earth God friends… If the overlord leaves, we're all going to die…"
The other demigods were also in low spirits, their faces drained of color and their hands and feet shook uncontrollably.
Moments ago, they all wanted Chen Xiaobei dead but right now, they were all terrified that they were going to die in Chen Xiaobei's hands.
On the other side, Long Zishan was still stunned by the events that had unfolded. "Faction Leader Chen really is something phenomenal… you actually got an Earth God to kill your enemies for you…"
Jiang Ziya chuckled, "Xiaobei has always been a loyal friend, always willing to lend a helping hand to his friends. Of course, his friends would come and help him when he needs it!"
"His friends are incredibly powerful…" Liu Xuanxin's gaze landed on Diao Chan, and to her own bemusement, felt a sting of jealousy.
Xiangyu and Six-Eared Macaque too, were very excited. "Xiaobei has many powerful friends! They are just not in this part of the world!"
"Not in this part of the world?" Liu Xuanxin looked confused. Chen Xiaobei was like a fog, or even a black hole. No one could ever see through him.
"Chen Xiaobei! You've gone too far!" The overlord had not left. "Atlantis belongs to my Northern Wilderness Starfield! If you want to be the Temple Master of South Town Star Temple, you have to obey me!"
"It seems like you don't plan to leave this place alive!" Lu Bu swooped in, the Heavenly Halberd ready in his hands.
"You… Don't… Don't you come here…" The overlord swallowed. "Don't say that I didn't remind you that I'm not simply the overlord of Northern Wilderness, and my Sifu is the great Elder of Heaven Dominating Faction! If you hurt me, you will pay for it dearly with your lives!"
"I don't care what faction you're from! If you don't obey, I will cut your head off!" Lu Bu growled.
"A… Are you crazy? You're not afraid of Heaven Dominating Faction?" The Northern Wilderness overlord said. "My sifu is in the middle phase of Yuan Shen cultivation! He can crush all of you like cakes! I am not joking!"
"You really want to die!" Lu Bu was growing impatient, and he raised his hand to attack.
"Hang on!" Chen Xiaobei suddenly spoke. He looked at the overlord and asked. "Is your sifu really an Elder of the Heaven Dominating Faction ?"
No one knew who Heaven Dominating Faction was, but Chen Xiaobei did.
The 1.4 million combat power God-Ascension cultivation Wei Zhonglie was all but a core disciple in Heaven Dominating Faction.
It was plain to see that the Elder of Heaven Dominating Faction was a person of an Earth-God level.
"Why? Are you scared now?" The overlord was growing bold. "If you hurt me, my Sifu will finish you off!"
"Arrest him!" Chen Xiaobei said.
"Huh?" The overlord nearly tripped over himself. "Chen Zhufeng! You're insane! My Sifu is the Elder of Heaven Dominating Faction! How dare you touch me…"
Swoosh!
Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Bu was already charging forward, fierce and savage as a mountain lion.
Chen Xiaobei thought for a while and then said, "Diao Chan, go help Lu Bu! I think the overlord owns three Earth God instruments!"
"Alright!" Diao Chan smiled sweetly.
"Arggggh…" A shrill cry echoed through the place when Lu Bu used the end of his halberd to strike the overlord in the face. The overlord was sent flying through the air and his face was now distorted.
He was simply lucky that Chen Xiaobei had ordered for his arrest and not his demise.
Lu Bu had only used the blunt end of his halberd instead of sharp blade at the tip. Otherwise the overlord's head would have been sliced open like a juicy watermelon.
"Be good!"
Lu Bu jammed the halberd against the overlord's neck with one hand, and picked him up by the collar with the other as if he was carrying a dead dog.
"Brother Xiaobei! This idiot can't have any Earth God instruments, right? He's so weak!" Diao Chan pursed her lips. She did not need to offer her help to Lu Bu.
Chen Xiaobei was troubled. "That's strange… Didn't Linghu Shuang tell me that the overlord has three Earth God instruments?"
The truth was before them – the overlord of Northern Wilderness did not possess any EarthGod instruments or else, he would not have ended up like this.
"Bro Bei! Here he is!" Lu Bu brought the overlord over to Chen Xiaobei.
"Detain him first and keep an eye on him!" Chen Xiaobei said.
"No problem!"
Lu Bu nodded, and then dragged the overlord back into the hall.
Chen Xiaobei walked to the front and said, "Uncle Wenren, Governor Dong, please lead everyone back. I'll have a quick chat with the overlord first and then I'll send him back to the Northern Wilderness!"
"Mr. Chen! Don't do anything reckless! Without the overlord's rule, the Northern Wilderness Starfield will fall into chaos!" Wenren Jinghao said nervously.
"Don't worry. I really am just going to have a chat with him!" Chen Xiaobei smirked.
"Mr. Chen! That's not for us to joke about! The overlord is the backbone of the Northern Wilderness Starfield! We can't let anything happen to him!" said Dong Zhuo in a worried manner.
The overlord was, after all the king of the entire starfield. Civil war would break out if the other planets knew that their king was dead. By that time, swathes of people would die because of that. In the worst case scenario, the entire Northern Wilderness Starfield could be ceased to exist.
"You guys don't trust me? Quickly ask them to leave this place!" said Chen Xiaobei while staring at the overlord.
"This…"
The overlord could not figure out what was Chen Xiaobei trying to do.
"Didn't you hear what Bro Bei just said?!"
Lu Bu glared at the overlord signifying that he could slit his throat whenever he wanted to.
No… Please don't kill me… Everyone! Leave us! Are you guys trying to kill me?!"
"Yes… Yes… Yes… We will leave now! Mr. Chen! Please don't kill him!"
Dong Zhuo and Wenren Jinghao were worried that the whole thing might spiral out of control. So, they hurried off to send all the high-ranking officers to the portal. After that, Chen Xiaobei looked at Osnur and signaled him to follow them. The portal had been recently built by Bai Linsu and it could only be operated by certain people. Osnur was the person that Chen Xiaobei chose to manage the portal. After all, Osnur's combat power was only 500,000. There was nothing he could do to help Chen Xiaobei even if he stayed here.
Besides, Osnur was really familiar with the Jianghu on earth. With the Heavenly Dog Biscuit that he consumed last time, his loyalty was sworn only to Chen Xiaobei. Right now, the entire place was left with Chen Xioabei and the ones who were instructed to slap their own face just now. As for the overlord, Chen Xiaobei had made him stand aside first. He would deal him lastly.
"Mr. Chen… Faction Leader Chen… Temple Master Chen… Spare our lives please… I beg you…"
Filled with fear, the entire group of demigods started to cry their hearts out to beg Chen Xiaobei to let them live.
"Zhou Daoxian, Ding Xiadong, Xu Shiqiu, Shuldean, and Betadalf! I want all five of you to come out right now!" said Chen Xiaobei.
It looked like nothing good was about to happen to them since Chen Xiaobei called out their name specifically. Right now, Chen Xiaobei was like their god and they had to do whatever Chen Xiaobei asked them to do.
"Mercy please… Faction Leader Chen, please spare our lives!"
With Zhou Daoxian taking the lead, all five of them knelt down on the floor and crawled to Chen Xiaobei.
"Tell me now. How many times have I spared your lives? How many times have I saved you and how many times have you guys attempted to kill me? I have shown you all the mercy that I have within me! Today, the five of you have to die no matter what!"
"No… Please don't do this to us… We swear our loyalty to you! We will never think of killing you anymore!"
Immediately, the five of them started to knock their heads on the ground to show their sincerity. They knocked so hard that the floor in front of them started to shatter.
"Your words mean nothing to me! You guys are telling lies! Only dumbasses will believe the lies you guys spew! Little Diao Chan! Send them to hell!"
"Okay!"
Diao Chan lifted up her weapon and prepared to kill the five of them.
"No… Faction Leader Chen! All five of us are the faction leaders of top-tier ancient factions! The entire Jianghu would turn upside down if you kill all five of us! Faction Leader Chen! From today onwards, the entire Jianghu on Earth belongs to you! Are you going to destroy your own Jianghu?"
"You don't have to worry about my Jianghu! Actually, I want to power up my cultivation as much as possible but I didn't do any training for the past three days! Do you guys know the reason behind it?"
"No… We don't know…"
"See… how stupid you guys are! For the past three days, I have set everything up to take over the Jiangju! I'm the one who called Little Diao Chan to come help me deal with the situation here! I have also found five replacements for all five of you!"
"What?! Our replacements?!"
Zhou Daoxian and the rest of them were left in fear and shock.
"Bro Bei! They are here!"
Suddenly, Wu Guangwen led a dozen people to Chen Xiaobei. Judging by the way they dressed, one could guess that all of them were also from the five respective ancient factions, and it was obvious that Chen Xiaobei knew all of them personally.
"Bro Bei!"
A young man who walked at the front greeted Chen Xiaobei.
"Faction Leader Chen!"
An elderly man greeted Chen Xiaoebei as well.
"Young Master Zhuo, how are you? Elder Zhuo is looking good too!" said Chen Xiaobei with a smile on his face.
The young man was Zhuo Qunfeng and he was one of the core disciples of Kunlun Faction. As for the old man, he was Zhuo Yaolung – the forth elder of Kunlun Faction. A long time ago, Zhuo Qunfeng was Chen Xiaobei's enemy. All this while, Zhuo Yaolung had been trying to convince Zhuo Qunfeng to make peace with Chen Xiaobei. After the adventure that they had Jingjue Kingdom, they saw that Chen Xiaobei had indeed done everything that he could have done to save their lives. That was how they finally became friends.
All these people that came here were from Xiangxiu Faction, Mount Shu Faction, Hogwarts Magic School, and The Vatican. They were going to replace the five people that Diao Chan was supposed to kill.
"All five of you should die in peace now! Our Jianghu will become a better place without you guys!"
"No… Please don't kill us… We will not think of killing you anymore! Never!"
Zhou Daoxian and the rest of them started to cry even louder.
Swish!
In a cruel second, the whole place became dead silent once again. Their voices were cut mid-sentence, dismissed as they were killed with one slash! The smell of blood and body parts scattered on the floor had terrified everyone silly in the hall. After that, Chen Xiaobei turned around and took a look at the demigods behind him.
"So, do you guys want to live or die?"
Sii…
The demigods behind were shaking like leaves, their faces drained of color and their palms wet with perspiration, each of them terrified of the prospect that they could be next on the kill-list.
After all, they had all sided with Zhou Daoxian just now, wishing Chen Xiaobei dead.
If Chen Xiaobei wanted to settle this debt, this group of people did not stand a chance.
Lucky for them, Chen Xiaobei gave them the option between living or dying. This meant that they had a choice, a chance at keeping their lives.
"Live… Of course… We all want to live… Have mercy, Faction Leader Chen… Have mercy…"
The demigods wailed, knocking their heads on the ground.
Although they were sorry weaklings before Chen Xiaobei, they were the apex of Earth's pyramid.
Status, wealth, and power awaited them back home – they would never willingly die just like that.
"Alright! Stop your howling!" Chen Xiaobei waved them off. "Since this is your first offence, I'll give you all a chance!"
"Thank you, Faction Leader Chen…"
"Thank you, Faction Leader Chen for sparing our lives…"
The demigods, still sniffling, kowtowed to Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei then announced, "From today onwards, the Jianghu on Earth belongs to me! I will first lay down the laws!"
All of the demigods, including Zhuo Yaolong and the other 10 people who had just arrived held their breath, pricked their ears and listened intently.
"Kunlun, Mount Shu, Xingxiu, Vatican, Hogwarts – these five forces will change hands immediately. I hope that the other forces will not loot a burning house, but help them as much as possible! It is not Jianghu without some fights – I do not mind minor bickers and quarrels but whoever wreaks serious conflict too close to home, I will wipe out their entire faction! I've mediated the feud between the Blood Descendants and the Werewolves, so if there are any grudges between you and any of the forces, you must seek my help to resolve the problem!
"On top of that, I don't care what the rules in South Town Star Temple were, from today onwards, Atlantis is officially under Bei Xuan faction! I will be assigning my disciples to manage Atlantis and Bei Xuan will decide all the laws here! You must obey the orders from even my most average of disciples!"
Chen Xiaobei spoke in an exacting tone, firm and assertive. Every word was like the royal decree, not subject to being questioned!
"We understand everything you've outlined, Faction Leader Chen. We will do as you have instructed and will not violate a single law!"
The demigods, as well as Zhuo Yaolong and the other ten people, pledged sincerely; no one dared to do otherwise.
At this very moment, Chen XIaobei had become the absolute ruler of Earth's Jianghu. The Anti-Bei Alliance was eradicated, and the overlord was detained.
Absolutely no one dared say one thing but do another.
After all, for the sake of their own little lives, obeying the rules was not too much to ask.
"Also…" Chen Xiaobei continued. "From today onwards, every year, each of the forces can recommend three people to come here. The reward will remain the same!"
"What?! Three candidates? Is this real?"
The leaders were all thrilled.
Previously, only a few forces were given the chance to recommend one person annually. Most of them were only allowed to have one candidate every three years! Some did not even have any!
Chen Xiaobei had just sanctioned them to three candidates every year! More importantly, the reward would be maintained!
With three candidates, the recommendation fee alone would add up to 90,000 Spiritual Stones. That was more than what some of the ancient factions entire fortunes!
If the person who was recommended was chosen by the Temple, they would receive an additional 100,000 Spiritual Stones each! That was indeed, a very large sum of assets!
"Thank you for your grace, Faction Leader Chen… Thank you Faction Leader Chen… Thank you…"
All the leaders of Earth's Jianghu expressed their heartiest gratitude.
They were sincere in their thanks for without Chen Xiaobei, they would never in their lifetime be able to enjoy such luxury.
Earlier on, they expressed reverence towards Chen Xiaobei because of fear.
Now, they were expressing thanks to Chen Xiaobei because they were truly grateful.
From this moment on, their lives and their interests were closely tied to Chen Xiaobei. They would be dutiful and obey only Chen Xiaobei.
"Alright! You can all go back!" Chen Xiaobei dismissed them.
Wu Guangwen quickly came to lead them away.
There was no one else left.
Jiang Ziya praised, "Xiaobei! That was incredible! With just a small move like that, you managed to control the entire Jianghu on Earth!"
Chen Xiaobei smiled back at him. "It's easy to take over them but they are hard to manage in the long term! From today onwards, you are in charge of running this iron triangle that is Earth, Atlantis, and the Northern Wilderness Starfield!"
Jiang Ziya nodded, "Don't worry, that is my specialty! Give me one year and I will make this iron triangle revolve around you!"
"Iron triangle? Does that mean you plan to procure the overlord as well?" Six-Eared Macaque asked.
"But of course!" Chen Xiaobei said confidently. "I was just going to feed the overlord a piece of Heavenly Dog Biscuit!"
"No! Don't waste the biscuit!" Six-Eared Macaque said. "Just let me change into the overlord! He is much stronger than my current body!"
"No! I must give him the dog biscuit!' Chen Xiaobei said. "Because the Northern Wilderness stage is not enough for me to unleash my full potential, I would have to go to higher-ranking starfields to expand. Do you want to come with me?"
"I do! Of course, I do!" Six-Eared Macaque was delighted.
"If you want to come with me, you cannot take the form of the overlord of Northern Wilderness! His position is too distinct. It will cause a lot of trouble for us as we travel across space!" Chen Xiaobei explained. "Also, the overlord is not really that strong – only one million combat power – that's nowhere nearly as strong as the Violet Reborn Yi Family's master! If you want to take a new form, you should take the form of the overlord's sifu instead!"
"The overlord's Sifu? An Earth God? Wow! That sounds awesome! Alright, that's settled then!" Six-Eared Macaque was practically on cloud nine.
"Mm, that's settled!" Chen Xiaobei nodded, and then turned around towards the hall. "Now I have to go settle the Northern Wilderness' overlord."
Inside the hall.
The overlord was sprawled across the floor with Lu Bu's feet planted firmly on his back and the halberd pressed against his neck.
Chen Xiaobei approached the overlord, and presented him with a Heavenly Dog Biscuit. "Open your mouth!"
"This… What is this… Is this poison? I refuse to eat… No… I will not eat it…" screamed the overlord while struggling.
Now that Chen Xiaobei had become his sworn enemy, the overlord figured out that Chen Xiaobei must have had wanted to poison him.
"Not going to eat, is it? Lu Bu! Kill him!" said Chen XIaobei.
"Hmph! I have always wanted to kill this coward!" shouted Lu Bu.
Before Lu Bu lifted up his weapon, the overlord screamed once again.
"Ah… Ah… I will eat… I will eat whatever you give me… Just don't kill me…" screamed the overlord while opening his mouth wide.
Knowing that Chen Xiaobei could kill him anytime, the overlord knew that he would have to eat it even if Chen Xiaobei was going to feed him a pile of shit.
"I'm a fair person! You used a curse to try and control me! Now, I'm going to control you with a Heavenly Dog Biscuit! Lu Bu, you can let him go now!"
"Thank you master!"
The overlord stood up and stared at Chen Xiaobei like he was his god.
"I have a few questions to ask you! Others told me that you have three Earth God tier weapons! Is that true?"
"It's a half-truth. That three Earth God tier weapons you have heard actually belongs to my Sifu. He will come and help me whenever I come across something that I cannot deal with. I just told others that I have three Earth God tier weapons to put fear in them!"
"No wonder Lu Bu could capture you with ease!"
Right now, the overlord's Sifu was not someone that Chen Xiaobei could deal with. It seemed like he had to wait for some time before he could get his hands on the weapons.
"How many Spiritual Stones are left in the temple?"
"Not many… It requires a huge amount of Spiritual Stones to run a starfield! Paying the high-ranking officers and employees are nothing! The thing that cost me the most Spiritual Stones is building the Space Jet and intergalactic weapons! In order to prevent intergalactic war, I have to invest a good amount of Spiritual Stones for military research! 70% of the tax that I collected from the entire starfield goes to this project! Other than that, I will have to hand over the remaining Spiritual Stones to my Sifu! If not, he will stop protecting me!"
"What?! Your Sifu is clearly taking advantage of you! My Sifu is the best! He always look after me no matter what! And he had gifted me some really powerful items as well!"
"You are right! My Sifu is taking advantage of me! I don't have a choice. Without his protection, I don't think I can be the overlord of this starfield!"
"I can understand that. This is like paying for protection fees!"
"Master, are you in need of Spiritual Stones? At most, I can squeeze out 50 to 60 million Spiritual Stones for you! I can get more after I confiscate everything that Tie Family possessed! I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of Spiritual Stones at the Chamber of Commerce!"
"It's okay. I still have 192 million Spiritual Stones with me! I don't think I can use all of them anyway! As for the Spiritual Stones at the Chamber of Commerce and temple, don't touch them first. Do what you need to do every day! I don't want anyone to see that you have sworn loyalty to me!"
"I understand! I will do what you tell me to do!"
"Alright! You can go back now! You will be under Jiang Ziya for now! Contact me if there is something big happens!"
"Understood!"
The overlord nodded his head and left the place.
"This is so frustrating! Such big fight but Bro Bei did not manage to get any EarthGod tier weapons! Not even Spiritual Stones! This is really bad!" said Lu Bu.
"I don't need all that for now! Those are just small things!"
"Then, what is the big thing that you gained today?"
"People! Today, I have the hearts of people! I have won them! Earth, Atlantis, and Northern Wilderness Starfield are the perfect triangle! If I manage them well, I will get able to get what I want in the future!"
"You are right! That makes sense! Though Earth God tier weapons and Spiritual Stones are really powerful, it would require a huge amount of them to be used every time you get into big fight! But, if you have your own army and intergalactic weapons, you can basically kill all those demigods that wish to kill you and you will spend way less resources to complete the whole gig!"
"That's right! I remember that I fought the three Demonic Beast Kings with the combat space jet before, and I actually managed to fight them off! With that being said, I will now need to focus on managing these three places. After all, my family and friends need to head back to Earth and live there!"
"Okay! I understand now! Now, we just need to make sure that Earth and Northern Wilderness Starfield are in good hands! If you manage to do so, people will respect our Bei Xuan Faction and your family and friends can live a peaceful life because of that!"
"Right! That is my goal!"
In order to make sure that his friends and family get to live a peaceful and good life, Chen Xiaobei was willing to give up all Spiritual Stones and Earth God tier weapons.
"Oh right! Just now, you mentioned our Bei Xuan Faction. Does that mean Dian Chan and you are planning to join me?"
"Not planning! We have made up our mind!" said Diao Chan.
"About this… The two of you are more than welcome, but I'm afraid the temple of Bei Xuan Faction is too small for the two of you to move in!"
"Bro Bei, please don't make the decision for us! Hahaha… While I'm in the Earth God Realm, I have managed to find a Spiritual Mountain! I have set Bei Xuan Faction up there!"
"Huh?! You've opened up a Bei Xuan Faction in the Earth God Realm?!"
"Okay. I have discussed the whole thing with Lu Bu. He has agreed to join the Bei Xuan Faction as well. However, we will not be the ones who manage the faction. The reason why we set the faction up is for you to take over when you travel to Earth God Realm. As for now, we are not going to recruit any disciples! You can decide on how to manage the faction when you are powerful enough to head to the Earth God Realm!" said Diao Chan.
"I see now… It's an early preparation! Let's not talk about the faction then… Please tell me more about the Earth God Realm."
"Okay. After the third calamity, the entire Void Land was shattered into the space that we know today. And the stars and planets are known as the dust of Void Land. The Ancestral Lord then went ahead to set the balance for all three realms! There is the heavenly realm and the underworld realm. In between these two realms lies what is known as the human realm! After that, Grand Deity Zhen Yuan found the four largest shattered pieces of land within space. With his almighty force, he combined all four shattered pieces and named it the Earth God Realm! That is why Grand Deity Zhen Yuan is known as the pioneer of the Earth God Realm! After the Earth God Realm was formed, it was made to connect the heavenly, underworld, and human realms together! In other words, the Earth God Realm had became the stopover that one must go through if the person wants to travel to other realms!"
"I see… Actually, I know all these, but what else? I would like to know even more."
"Alright! I have stayed in the Earth God Realm for a short period of time. I don't know too much about it! All I know is that there are four areas in the Earth God Realm. They are known as Purvavideha, Aparagodaniya, Jambudvipa, and Uttarakuru. At Purvavideha, everyone serves the Sanqing Saint and Taoism is their main religion. As for Aparagodaniya, they serve two Western Saints and their main religion is Buddhism! At Uttarakuru, they serve Lady Nuwo and they basically idolize the Demonic Clan over there. Lastly, Jambudvipa is the most unique part of Earth God Realm! Entities from Taoism, Buddhism, monsters and demons are staying there! Every day, they will haggle for territory, resources and disciples among themselves! A lot of small fights and skirmishes happen there almost every day!"
"The Earth God Realm is really different from the human realm! Just by listening to what you've told me just now, I feel like the Earth God Realm is a realm that has been designed only for powerful individuals!"
"Of course! The Earth God Realm is at the top of the food chain when compared to the human realm!"
"Speaking of which, where did you setup our Bei Xuan Faction? Is it at Purvavideha?"
"No! I setup our Bei Xuan Faction at Jambudvipa!"
Huh… Are you trying to make me laugh? Haha. Did you really setup our Bei Xuan Faction over there? The most chaotic place amongst them all?"
"Yes! I'm serious! Those who had just entered the Earth God Realm are only allowed to stay at Jambudvipa. You have to reach certain cultivation to move to other places! Only when one of the religions recognizes you, would you be allowed to move over there!"
"Damn… It seems like the Earth God Realm is not a free and easy place…"
"Of course! The next destination after the Earth God Realm is the Heavenly Realm! It's a tough path to enter the Heavenly Realm! You can imagine the competition over there! Everyone wants to ascend to Heavenly Realm but only a handful of them are qualified to do so!"
"Considering all that you've told me, I should really focus on improving my cultivation before I enter the Earth God Realm!"
"Yes… You should be able to enter the Earth God Realm the moment you achieve God Ascension Cultivation!"
"God Ascension?"
Lady Nuwo once told Chen Xiaobei that he could determine his own fate when he reaches God Ascension cultivation. At the same time, only then would he be powerful enough to protect Little Fox.
"Could it be that Little Fox is staying in the Earth God Realm now?"
Chen Xiaobei was thinking hard about it in his mind.
Firstly, the child of the Empress at Green Hill Planet was not Little Fox!
Secondly, Bai Linsu told Chen Xiaobei that the people of Green Hill Planet are half-beast, half-human. They were completely different from the Ancient Demonic Foxes which existed a long time ago.
Thirdly, The Ancient Demonic Foxes did live in the Earth God Realm. They were probably staying with Lady Nuwo!
Forth, Daji herself was part of the Demonic Clan and she was also Lady Nuwo's most trusted ally.
Fifth, Lady Nuwo insisted that Chen Xiaobei should at least achieve God Ascension cultivation first before telling him the whereabouts of Little Fox. He would then be able to find out the whole thing only when he was powerful enough to enter the Earth God Realm.
Based on the five deduction points that Chen Xiaobei came up with, there was a high chance that Little Fox had been reincarnated in Jambudvipa!
"Bro Bei, who is this Little Fox that you are talking about?" asked Diao Chan.
"Little Diao Chan, I have a favor to ask of you!"
"You don't have to be so polite! Your business is my business! Just tell me and ask freely!"
"I would like to ask you to head back to Jambudvipa as soon as possible! Head to where the Demonic Clan is and look for the Demonic Foxes' territory! I need you to help locate the reincarnated Daji!"
"Reincarnated Daji? According to what I know, she has already reincarnated twenty years ago! How is it possible for her to reincarnate once again?"
"I will tell you the whole thing another time! Right now, I need to find more clues!"
"No problem! I don't need to recruit disciples for now anyway! I can travel around with Lu Bu everywhere! It's good for us to get familiar with Jambudvipa and at the same time look for clues about the reincarnated Daji that you mentioned!"
"Great! This is perfect! Please look after yourself as you guys travel! It's important to look for clues but please don't risk your life!"
"I know that! I'm just a One-star Earth God! I will not risk doing dangerous or stupid!"
"Great! I'm glad that you understand me! Let's have a meal together at my private realm later! I want to introduce everyone to the two of you!"
"Nice!!!"
….
Now that everything was settled, Chen Xiaobei led everyone to his private realm. They then used the resources that Jing Fei bought for them to cook a good meal for everyone. It was a joyful time for them. After the short gathering, Chen Xiaobei continued on and started his new journey!
Lady Nuwo's condition for Chen Xiaobei to find out more about Little Fox was that he must break through to God-Ascension Cultivation in three months. He could not afford to waste any time.
After the dinner party, Diao Chan and Lu Bu hung around to prepare themselves before returning to Earth God realm.
Chen Xiaobei on the other hand was already on his way to Neptune Starfield.
Of course, he had not forgotten his friends back in the Northern Wilderness Starfield.
First, it was Wenren Muyue. Earlier on, Chen Xiaobei had already given her the prescription for curing her illness; the only thing missing from the list was the Golden Purple Echeveria Lola. Chen Xiaobei dispatched the Northern Wilderness overlord to send the medicine to her personally. She just had to take the medications according to the prescription, and Wenren Muyue would be completely cured, regaining her health in full.
Next, Gu Congwen was transferred to the general headquarters of the Northern Wilderness Chamber of Commerce. This old shopkeeper with more than a decade of business experience was very knowledgeable about the Chamber's operation and trade. Appointing him to be in charge of the Northern Wilderness Chamber of Commerce was the best decision!
Lastly, were Ning Yuchen, Liu Chen, and Hu Ben. They were the first friends that Chen Xiaobei made in the Northern Wilderness. After sending the medicine to Silver Plum, Chen Xiaobei had instructed the Northern Wilderness overlord to accept the three of them into the Temple, and treat them as core disciples by giving them protection and nurture.
Chen Xiaobei did not have time to return to the Northern Wilderness Starfield. When he had the time, he would return to visit them in the future.
Fortunately, the Northern Wilderness overlord had eaten the Heavenly Dog Biscuit and was one hundred percent loyal to Chen Xiaobei. While Chen Xiaobei was gone, the overlord would now take good care of his friends so that Chen Xiaobei had nothing to worry about.
Right now, Chen Xiaobei's main goal was to get to Neptune Starfield.
According to reliable sources, Wei Zonglie's 10,000 year-old Ambergris came from that place – there may even be higher-tier Ambergris there. This was the fastest way Chen Xiaobei could increase his cultivation!
If he could find two pieces of Ambergris, he could save himself a lot of time and hard work.
Also, the Emperor of Greenhill Starfield may also be there. If Chen Xiaobei could find him, it would be a real great help to Bai Linsu.
…
Chen Xiaobei had taken an electronic interstellar map from the Northern Wilderness overlord.
The connecting lines of the portals among planets and the starfield was clearly marked on the map. Chen Xiaobei only had to follow a specific route to get to the starfield nearest to Neptune.
Because the planets in Neptune were covered in water, it was not possible to get there by portal.
So, Chen Xiaobei needed to get to the nearest starfield and then fly to Neptune Starfield using the spacecraft.
Imagine Chen Xiaobei's surprise when he found out that the starfield nearest to Neptune was Saint Duke Starfield!
"I wonder how Luo Puti is doing. Since I need to drop by Saint Duke, I might as well pay her a visit!"
Chen Xiaobei stared at the electronic map, and Luo Puti's beautiful face popped into his mind.
She was like the woman destined for Chen Xiaobei. She was by his side since he was at his weakest.
They had both gone through life-threatening situations together, risking their lives for one another; thus, bonding them together on a very deep emotional level.
The last time, with Chen Xiaobei's help, Luo Puti discovered her lineage in the underground relic of Jingjue Kingdom.
It was a shocking revelation when they found out that she was actually the Royal Princess of the high-ranking starfield, Saint Duke! Upon this discovery, she had eagerly followed Saint Duke's high priest back to her homeland.
It had been a few months since that day.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that the chaos in Saint Duke was not yet resolved, and the secret of the real princess was still under strict protection, that Luo Puti had not contacted Chen Xiaobei since.
He had dialled her old number several times before but it did not go through.
By a stroke of luck this time, to get to Neptune Starfield, he had to go pass by Saint Duke Starfield anyway.
No matter what, Chen Xiaobei would find a way to track Luo Puti down. Knowing that she was safe would help Chen Xiaobei be at ease.
After about 10 times passing through portal after portal, in addition to going through eight different starfields, Chen Xiabei finally arrived at his destination.
Boulder Planet on the periphery of Saint Duke Starfield.
Owing to the ongoing war, outsiders had to undergo very stringent interrogation and inspection.
To get to Saint Duke's capital planet, visitors had to start from the outermost planet; and only after going through numerous layers of inspection, were they allowed to move on to the next planet.
This was not peculiar at all because from what Chen Xiaobei could see, the current situation and outlook in Saint Duke was indeed grim and gloomy!
The capital city was in ruins. Around him lay crumbled houses and buildings, cracked roads, broken streets, and soldiers armed to the teeth.
All these was evidence that confirmed Boulder Planet was on a constant high alert, and could be under attack at any moment.
Under such circumstances, they had to be very rigorous and uncompromising with those who were heading towards Saint Duke's capital planet in order to prevent any enemies from sneaking in.
If Chen Xiaobei wanted to see Luo Puti, he would have to play by the book and undergo the stringent inspections.
Thankfully, after the incident in Violet Reborn Planet, Chen Xiaobei was prepared in advance.
Ying Zheng's black coffin and most of the Spiritual Stones including all the other items from the Three Realms Red Envelope group were all stored inside the Verdant Emperor's Divine Gourd.
All that was left inside the Infinite Space Ring were a few Spiritual Stones, some clothes and the scores of Spiritual Medicine and Spiritual Pills that he had taken from the Overgrown Forest treasury.
"What's your name? Where are you from, and what is your purpose of visiting the capital planet?" A soldier with thick facial hair asked in a rigid tone.
Chen Xiaobei was ready with the answers. "Chen Zhufeng, coming from Northern Wilderness Starfield, heading towards Saint Duke's capital planet to start a Traditional Chinese Medicine practice!"
"Traditional Chinese Medicine practice? You?" There was a flash of suspicion in the bearded soldier's eyes. "Do I look stupid to you? You're still in swaddling clothes and you want to start a practice? Do you even know the significance of Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"Of course, I do – I am a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner!" Chen Xiaobei answered.
"You really are quite an actor!" The soldier wore a look of contempt as he spoke. "Saint Duke, Royal Azure, and Tenshou – the three starfields tangled in warfare. Countless are injured and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners are scarce! All three starfields are in need of them! They might even start a war over a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner!"
"Wow! Who knew that Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners are so invaluable!" Chen Xiaobei was very surprised to learn that Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners were so sought after in those high-ranking starfields!
Tenshou Starfield caught Chen Xiaobei's attention but he brushed it off. Maybe it was just a coincidence that the starfield shared the same name as Japan's Tenshou. They were probably coincidental and not related anyway.
"Then why are you pretending to be a doctor?! You're just here to mess with me! Get out of my sight now or I'll lock you up and deal with you as the enemy's informer!" The soldier snapped.
"I really am a doctor! And I'm a really good one!" Chen Xiaobei said. "If you don't believe me, let me show you! I can tell you your health condition without checking your pulse!"
The soldier roared while waving his hands, "Absolutely not! I am very healthy! If you don't leave now, I will arrest you…" The soldier trailed off when he spotted someone whom he greeted with a smile, "Bro Huo! Why are you here? Do you need anything? You could've just given the word, and I would've gone to see you!"
The fierce manner had seemingly melted away and was replaced by a puppy-like geniality.
Chen Xiaobei could tell that this person's ranking was far above the bearded soldier's!
Chen Xiaobei turned to look and saw that it was a man in his early thirties, sporting a special combat uniform covered in dust and crusted blood, and carrying a very modern-looking steel bow on his back.
You could really tell that the planet was about to break into battle at any moment. Everyone was armed at all times, ever ready to fight.
However, the strange thing was that there were no arrows with the man's bow.
"I thought I heard the words Traditional Chinese doctor. Did I hear correctly?" Bro Huo glanced casually at Chen Xiaobei.
The bearded soldier quickly explained, "Bro Huo! Please do not be mistaken! It's just this pretentious kid claiming to be a Traditional Chinese doctor! Not even an idiot would believe his stupid claims! I was just about to apprehend him!"
"Wait!" Bro Huo looked at Chen Xiaobei again. "You insist on saying stupid words that even an idiot wouldn't believe – so you're either crazy in the head or… you really are what you say you are!"
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "As proof, I can treat one of you!"
"Alright! Since you're so confident, tell me what kind of illness do I have!" Bro Huo put out his left hand. "Doctor, read my vitals!"
The bearded soldier cried, "Bro Huo! Why are you taking this so seriously! This kid is a liar!"
"I don't need to check your vitals!" Chen Xiaobei shrugged again.
"See! See! See! That's what I meant!" The bearded soldier's voice was dripping with contempt. "What kind of doctor doesn't do that? This kid has lost his mind and it seems to be a pretty severe mental condition!"
"Your problem is in your lungs!" Instead of defending himself, Chen Xiaobei looked at Bro Huo and said, "Less than half a month ago, you were involved in a fight in which you were hit in the chest with an Ice Attribute Ethereal Force. The cold Yin Qi permeated your lungs, and have caused you to have breathing difficulties. You would go into a coughing fit come evening!"
"Th… That that…" Both Bro Huo and bearded soldier were too stunned to speak or move.
"So? Was I wrong?" Chen Xiaobei smiled. Even though he was asking them for confirmation, there was an unmistakable confidence in his eyes!
"No… Nonono… Not wrong…" Bro Huo gulped. "Everything you diagnosed, the time, reason and symptoms are all accurate! I've been really tortured by the coughing at night. I haven't had a good sleep for days now!"
"Is that enough to prove that I'm a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
Bro Huo nodded, and lowered his voice. "Yes. But I want to know how my illness can be cured. How long will it take?"
"That's very simple!" Chen Xiaobei took out two Spiritual Medicine from his Infinite Space Ring, took a portion from each, rubbed them together and then offered it to Bro Huo. "Eat this, and then wield your Ethereal Force, expel the cold Qi out of your body, and you'll be healed!"
"Really? So simple?" Bro Huo accepted the medicine, and had an incredibly surprised look on his face.
"Th… That's a bit too exaggerated…" The bearded soldier was still in shock after Chen Xiaobei made the diagnosis. Hearing about the simple cure threw him off completely.
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "With the right diagnosis and medicine, your illness will be gone before you even realize it. There's really nothing to exaggerate about that!"
"Then… Then I'll give it a try…"
Bro Huo immediately did as Chen Xiaobei had instructed.
He swallowed the herbal medicine, and then began to wield his Ethereal Force.
Beardy watched Bro Huo with curiosity.
"Fuuuuh…"
In a short period of two minutes, Bro Huo exhaled, and released a mouthful of foul qi. His qi looked much better as he shouted at Chen Xiaobei, "You are not a good doctor! You are definitely not a doctor!"
"Bro Huo? What is it? Did the medicine not work? Are you alright?" The bearded soldier asked anxiously.
"Get out of my way!" Bro Huo shoved the soldier aside and praised, "You are a Divine Doctor! Compared to you, all those legendary doctors are weak!"
"Divine… Divine Doctor…" The bearded soldier's jaw fell.
"Of course he's a Divine Doctor! Definitely a Divine Doctor!" Bro Huo said admiringly. "I am cured! Completely cured! I can breathe without a problem! I don't feel a single bout of cold qi inside me! Such marvellous medical skills could only come from a Divine Doctor!"
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "You're too kind, Bro Huo. I am just another doctor looking to earn enough to feed myself in Saint Duke's capital planet. Can I go through the portal?"
Bro Huo trembled. "Good heavens! Don't call be Bro Huo! I am not worthy! You can just call me Little Huo!"
"Okay, Little Huo, can I go through the portal? I am in a hurry!" Chen Xiaobei said.
Bro Huo answered, "It won't be a problem here on my side. But recently, there has been an isolated situation. The portal in capital planet had been sealed. To get there, I have to report to my superiors first. You can only go after permission is given!"
"Report to your superiors?" Chen Xiaobei frowned. "You have just witnessed that I am a real Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. I am in no way associated with your enemies. Can you make an exception?"
"Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors are extremely rare. Our enemy will never send a Divine Doctor like you to Saint Duke…" Bro Huo did not sound hopeful. "But it's useless even if I know that… This really is a very sensitive time period… I don't even dare do anything that is against the law, much less letting you go secretly!"
Chen Xiaobei furrowed his brows. He was in already in a pinch for time. With all the reporting and the waiting for approval, who knew how many days it would take.
These three months was nothing to joke about!
Once the time limit was exceeded, Little Fox would be in danger, and Wei Zhonglie might have returned to Greenhill from Tian Zhing. Then, Bai Linsu and the others would be in danger too.
He could not afford any delays!
"Could you tell me what this special situation is?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"Of course, everyone in Saint Duke knows this!" Bro Huo said. "The real Saint Duke Princess has returned from Earth. There is going to be a grand martial arts contest to recruit the best groom!"
"The real Princess? Finding a groom through a martial arts contest?" Chen Xiaobei repeated while sounding surprised.
"When it comes to finding a groom through a martial arts contest, the princess of Saint Duke has everything to do with it. First! Saint Duke Starfield and Tenshou Starfield are enemies! Around ten years ago, Tenshou Starfield moved all their armies to attack us! Did you know that the intergalactic war is still going on?! During our most difficult time, the king had to summon the princess back from Earth and she was married off to the Prince of Royal Azure Starfield! However, Royal Azure Starfield had made some ridiculous demands! They wanted us to give them five planets as dowry!"
"Filled with anger, the king did not summon back the real princess. Instead, he found a volunteer to masquerade as the princess to be married to the Royal Azure Starfield! Unfortunately, the Royal Azure Starfield broke their promise to us. They refused to send us aid after they took the fake princess and five planets from us! In the end, Saint Duke Planet was left alone with no help! After five years of bitter war, Tenshou Planet has taken a dozen planets from us! Until few months ago, the shameless bastards from Royal Azure Planet had colaborated with Tenshou Starfield to launch an attack on us!"
Bro Huo gritted his teeth when he explained the whole thing to Chen Xiaobei. Clearly, the hate that he had towards them was immeasurable!
"The leader of Royal Azure planet is one shameless son of a bitch! Why would he do something like that?!" said Chen Xiaobei with empathy.
"You are right! Every single person from Saint Duke Planet hates Tenshou Starfield, but, they hate the Royal Azure Starfield which took advantage of us even more! As a warrior of Saint Duke Starfield, I dream of killing the king of Royal Azure Starfield every night!"
"What happened after that? Is Saint Duke Starfiled managing well in holding off the combined attack?"
"That's not possible! Saint Duke is in grave danger right now! The entire Starfield might be destroyed by them really soon! Luckily, the king ordered the fake princess to kill the prince of Royal Azure Starfield! Now, there are a few princes who are fighting their way to take the throne! That's why the armies of Royal Azure Starfield had to retreat and head back to their respective starfields!"
"As for Tenshou, they are busy counting the resources that they'd snatched from us! For now, they have stopped their attack! That is why we now have a few months to breathe!"
"But, you should know that the enemies will not give up on attacking you guys so easily! I think they will launch their second attack in a few months!"
"The doctor is right! The enemies will never let Saint Duke Starfield recover! I've heard, that the moment the Royal Azure chooses their new prince to take the throne, they would launch a second wave of attack with Tenshou Starfield!"
"What should we do now? Did the king of Saint Duke Starfield manage to figure out a way to defeat them?"
"Initially, we could not figure out a way to deal with the situation. To our surprise, the real princess had returned from Earth and she's now back in the palace! So, the king thought of finding a groom for her through a martial arts contest!"
"What kind of idea is that?!"
Chen Xiaobei was clearly angered by the idea. He was disturbed by the idea of using Luo Puti as shield to stop the war.
"Doctor, I don't think you know that our princess is extremely pretty! She looks like the real goddess! The news about the nuptials and her pictures had been spread across other starfields! From what I know, many princes have decided to join the martial arts competition! Even the elites from Apocalyptic Starfield had registered to join the contest as well! Once we have found the right groom for our princess, we will be able to ask them to help us to fight the war! This would mean that the second wave of attack can be stopped once the Royal Azure and Tenshou fear us! This is killing two birds with one stone! Only our king can figure out such perfect plan!"
"Psst! This is a trashy idea!"
Chen Xiaobei would never allow this to happen to his woman after knowing that men from other starfields were going to marry Luo Puti.
"How do I register for it?"
"Huh? Doctor, are you thinking of joining the martial arts contest?"
"I'm not thinking about it! I will join the contest for sure, and I will win and marry the princess!"
Since there was nothing he could do to change the current circumstance, he had no choice but to use his own strength to take back his woman and protect her. That was why Chen Xiaobei insisted on joining the martial arts contest.
"Doctor, I'm not trying to bring you down! All those who are to participate in this martial arts contest are either extremely rich or powerful! All of them have direct influence to the Saint Duke Starfield! I know that your medicinal skills are extremely high but it will not help with Saint Duke Starfield's current situation! With that being said, there was no way that you can marry our princess…"
"Cut the crap! Just tell me how to register for it!"
"Alright… I will tell you all about it…. First, do you have any royal background? Do you belong to any faction? You need to take note that it has to be a royal member of high-tier starfield or faction!"
"Define high-tier starfield!"
"Just now, I heard that you are from the Northern Wilderness Starfield! That belongs to a low-tier starfield! The Green Hill Starfiled near your starfield is mid-tier starfield! Saint Duke, Tenshou, and Royal Azure are high-tier starfields!"
"I have none of that!"
"That means you can only join the elimination round! The rules are simple! Those who have the most strength wins the round!"
"Where would the elimination round be held? I will head there right now!"
"Huh, now that I think about it, it's indeed quite a coincidence! It's here in Boulder Planet." Bro Huo paused. "But unfortunately, the elimination round has been going on for two days. Today is the last day!"
"What? It started two days ago???" Chen Xiaobei nearly shouted. "Does that mean I have no hope at all?"
"Not exactly…" Bro Huo said. "The competition lasts three days. Anyone can sign up before it ends!"
"Oh, you can join any time? Then wouldn't it be a mess then?" Chen Xiaobei was puzzled.
"No! They've employed the Warlords Chasing Deer method! And, they've released ten Cloud-riding Golden Antlers Deer in the Boulder forest! In three days, the person who is able to capture the most deer would be crowned the winner!"
Chen Xiaobei understood immediately. "That means if I am able to capture one of those deer from Boulder forest, I can pass the elimination round?"
"That's right! As long as you do that before the end of the day! But from what I gather, nine of these deer have already been captured. There's only one left!"
"What the hell! Then what are you waiting for? Tell me where this Boulder forest is!" Chen Xiaobei exclaimed.
"It's not easy to explain its location. I'll bring you there myself!" Bro Huo said.
"Alright!" Chen Xiaobei nodded. "You can send me there but you have to be fast!"
This was a high-ranking starfield so it was inconvenient for Chen Xiaobei to use his Somersault Cloud. Having Bro Huo send him there was the fastest way to get there.
Bro Huo drove a flying car. The higher-ranking starfields were much further along in technologucal advances when compared tothe Northern Wilderness. The flying cars here were way faster than the Somersault Cloud.
After about a 10,000 km journey, they had finally arrived at Boulder forest.
Chen Xiaobei alighted the car and was shocked by what he was saw. "It's already the last day and there's only one of that Cloud-riding Golden Antlers Deer left, but there are still so many people joining the competition!"
The sky above the forest was dense with flying cars, and there were a lot of human activity in the forest.
There roughly thousands of people desperately searching for the last deer!
Based on this premise that the competition first started three days ago, there were at least 10,000 who joined the competition!
This was evident of how strong Luo Puti's attractive power was!
Of course, with so many people and a generous three days and three nights to complete the task, with one more deer on the loose, it was clear to Chen Xiaobei that these deer were not easy prey!
Chen Xiaobei asked, "Is the combat power of these Cloud-riding Golden Antlers Deer very strong? Why are they so difficult to capture?"
Bro Huo explained, "These deer are strong. They are fast – their speed is similar to those in the later phase of Ethereal Cultivation. That's why they are such difficult prey!"
Chen Xiaobei frowned. "Wow, later phase of Ethereal Cultivation… So, does that mean those who have joined the elimination round are all elites in the later phase of Ethereal Cultivation?"
"No… They've chosen to use the Warlords Chasing Deer method this time to test the competitors combat ability in places like this! Some of the people with weaker strength were still able to capture the prey using special methods! That way, we can also pick out soldiers for Saint Duke from among those who had displayed exceptional abilities!"
Chen Xiaobei blurted, "Your Emperor is really smart! He is trying to choose the best groom and recruit some of the best soldiers at the same time!"
"We don't have a choice… With the enemies in front of us, unless we use employ extreme measures, Saint Duke would be waiting to be doomed!"
Chen Xiaobei declined to comment. "Alright. If there's nothing else, you should go back first. I will go in on my own!"
Bro Huo thought about it for a minute and then said, "I think it would better if I go with you. I can protect you when there's danger, and I can answer any questions that you have!"
"Alright! Come with me then!" Chen Xiaobei nodded.
Chen Xiaobei did not need any protection, obviously. But having a guide who could inform him about the things he did not know about this foreign land was pretty important.
…
The both of them then entered deep into the forest.
However, after about two hours, they caught nothing. They did not even catch a glimpse of the deer.
Along the way, the met quite a few competitors, all of them complaining.
"it's such a huge forest! Finding the last deer with that kind of speed is harder than finding a needle in a haystack!"
"The sun is going to set soon. Once the time is up, the elimination match will end… Forget it, I should just go home…"
"F*ck! This is bullshit! I've searched for three days and I can't even find a single strand of hair! I'm out!"
"Give up… Just give up… There's no hope…"
…
Hearing all those complaints had Chen Xiaobei feeling a little anxious, "No! We cannot continue searching like that. We need to figure out a better way!"
"Do you have any good ideas?" Bro Huo frowned. "An alien species like the Cloud-riding Golden Antlers Deer are not something that regular people can capture! If we can't do it, let's just retreat. If we go back now, we can still make it in time for dinner. If we go back late, we'll have to eat instant noodles!"
"Don't worry! I have an idea!" Chen Xiaobei said as he dug into his pockets for his phone.
"Are you serious? Is this a time to be fussing about with your phone?" Bro Huo looked disappointed. "I guess I'll be eating instant noodles tonight…"
Chen Xiaobei ignored him as he browsed through the names of his good friends for Qianliyan.
Chen Xiaobei: Bro Yan! Are you thre? 🙏🙏🙏
Qianliyan: Aww! God Chen! It's been a while! You haven't contacted me for a long time now! What do you need? Spill!
Chen Xiaobei: I don't have time to explain, but can you please send me a God's Eye Talisman?
Qianliyan: God Chen, we are considered old friends but I can't just give you the God's Eye Talisman this time!
Chen Xiaobei: Why?
Qianliyan: After Shen Gongpao was humiliated by you during the King of Glory competition, he gave out orders that those who send you red envelopes will have to collect 10 times the merit points! One God's Eye Talisman costs 100,000 merit points. Do you still want it?
Chen Xiaobei: F*ck! That motherf*cker Shen Gongpao! I won't give him a single merit point!
Qianliyan: If you don't, then I cannot help you… You know that I'm just a small official in the celestial court, and I work for Shen Gongpao!
Chen Xiaobei: Don't give me that excuse! It's not like you've never sent me a red envelope before! What do you want? I can give it to you!
Qianliyan: Ahem… I'm not that kind of person…
Chen Xiaobei: Fine wine, good food or beautiful women? Take your pick!
Qianliyan: I really am not that kind of person…
Chen Xiaobei: Alright… I have recently acquired a couple of new products but since you are not interested, then forget about it! 😡
Qianliyan: Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Did you say new products? What new products?
Chen Xiaobei: Oh everything – excellent wine, good food, beautiful girls. Choose one. I guarantee you'll be pleased!
Qianliyan: Mmm… I choose good food!
Chen Xiaobei: What about my God's Eye Talisman?
Qianliyan: If I am satisfied, I'll send you one in secret.
Chen Xiaobei: Alright! Wait for a moment! I will send you good food immediately!
Qianliyan: Okay! I'll be waiting! 🙏
Chen Xiaobei put down his phone, a worried look on his face.
"This is bad…" Chen Xiaobei muttered. "If he had chosen beautiful girls, I have a little website I can use! If he chose excellent wine, I have the Hundred Fruits Dragon's Dick! But he chose good food instead! This is not Earth! Where am I going to find him good food?"
"Divine doctor, what are you mumbling to yourself about?" Bro Huo was beginning to feel a little discouraged. "The sun is going to set soon. If we don't go back now, we will have to eat instant noodles!"
"Instant noodles? You brought instant noodles?" Chen Xiaobei lit up.
"Er… Yeah… Because there's war all year long, all of Saint Duke soldiers carry rations in their storage bracelets…" Bro Huo answered. He could not understand why an outstanding divine doctor would get so excited over instant noodles.
"Hurry! Hurry! Give me one packet!" Chen Xiaobei said.
"One packet? Ours are packaged in boxes!" Bro Huo took out a red plastic container.
"Give me! Hurry up and give it to me!" Chen Xiaobei took the boxed noodles and examined it. "Kang Shifu? Roasted Crimson Beef noodle? This… isn't this too posh…"
"Haha! This is Boulder Planet's specialty product!" Bro Huo grinned. "Handpicked hearty Three-star Spirit Beast roasted to perfection, and then paired with some Three-star Spirit Plant yellow-gold fragrant wheat kneeded into yellow-gold ramen! Add in boiling water and ooh! Deliciousness!"
"Isn't that just roasted beef noodle…" Chen Xiaobei was speechless. "Where can I get hot water! Make me one now!"
"I have hot water too!" Bro Huo took out a very modern-looking thermo flask. When he opened the cap, steam came pouring out. It was definitely hot enough to cook the noodles.
Chen Xiaobei ripped open the packaging, poured in the seasoning, the hot water, and then covered the container.
"Divine doctor, how can you still have the appetite to eat noodles? Are you giving up finding the deer?" Bro Huo took one box of noodle out for himself. "I'm hungry too. I'll have a box of Laotan Sauerkraut noodles! This is my favorite flavor!"
Bro Huo plopped down on the grass and began preparing his noodles.
After a few minutes, Chen Xiaobei put the cooked box of noodles into his Infinite Space Ring.
"Divine doctor! Your noodles are almost ready! Why did you put it away? It'll be overcooked it you continue to let it sit!" Bro Huo said.
"I have something to do! I'll eat later!" Chen Xiaobei answered.
He had already put the roasted beef noodle into a red envelope, ready to be sent to Qianliyan.
"Crap!" Once he hit the send button, Chen Xiaobei was suddenly anxious. "I should've tried it first! What if this alien instant noodles tastes different from the ones back on Earth? That's going to be a problem! If Qianliyan doesn't like it, he won't give me the God's Eye Talisman. It's going to be sundown in half an hour. If I don't catch that deer, I won't be able to join that martial arts contest, and Luo Puti will be married off to someone else!"
The more Chen Xiaobei thought about it, the more worried he grew.
These instant noodles were of grave importance. Should anything go awry, it would an unsalvageable situation!
Ding!
Chen Xiaobei's phone rang. It was Qianliyan.
"Crap! Please let nothing be wrong with it!" Chen Xiaobei held his phone with a hand covering the screen, afraid to look at the message. "If this fails, I can't join the contest. Then I will have to resort to take her over by force! By that time, I will create a big mess!"
"Divine doctor! Why are you talking to yourself again?" Bro Huo frowned. "Time waits for no man! If you don't eat your noodles, they will get all soggy!"
"You're right! Time waits for no man! Whatever the outcome, I have to face it! I don't have time to waste!" Chen Xiaobei took a deep breath and looked at the message.
What he read gave him a shock.
Qianliyan: My goodness… God Chen… These noodles… Oh these noodles… they are too too too delicious…😭 I took one bite and there was a powerful force gushing out of the noodles. Every bite had a bounce to it! The springiness of the noodle! The bite! The feeling in the mouth! It's wonderful! Also, there's an unmistakable fragrance of freshly made noodles. That natural taste makes me feel like I'm scampering down the field with every bite! Oh, and the soup is rich and aromatic! I am willing to bet that this was made with a generous amount of beef braising for long hours! Of course, the most important part are the large pieces of beef, paired with the unique seasoning. Every piece, every mouthful was regal, lingering on my palates! This is the first time I've eaten such a wonderful bowl of noodles!"
"Err…" Chen Xiaobei stared at the message in disbelief. "This is just a bowl of roasted beef noodle cooked in boiled filtered water. But the way he described it makes me want to have a bowl myself!"
Qianliyan: God Chen! Do you have more? I've finished it already! There's not a drop of soup left! Send me one more!
Chen Xiaobei: These noodles a rare high-quality gourmet food. It took a lot of effort to acquire it!
Qianliyan: Pfft! Please, save that act! You are the notorious profiteer of the Three Realms! It's not like I don't know that! I'm sure you have a lot more of that noodles!
Chen Xiaobei: Er… I'm in a bit of a rush. Give me the God's Eye Talisman first. We'll talk about the noodles some other time!
Qianliyan: I know! You are planning to use these noodles to enter the gourmet food competition?
Chen Xiaobei: Huh? What gourmet food competition?
Qianliyan: What? Don't you know about it? Culinary God is hosting this competition. It's happening right after Qixi and Mid-autumn festival!
Chen Xiaobei: Wow! I really didn't know about it. Isn't Qixi festival seven days away?
Qianliyan: The group will start to be really excited during the two months following Qixi! There will be a Red Envelope Snatching Session during Qixi festival and another during mid-autumn festival. Right after that will be the Culinary God's gourmet food competition!
Chen Xiaobei: That sounds awesome! I haven't snatched any Red Envelopes for a while now! I can't wait!
Qianliyan: Haha, I can't wait either! I always get pretty decent things during the Red Envelope Snatching Sessions!
Chen Xiaobei: Alright! I can't chat with you for now! Give me the God's Eye Talisman! It's urgent!
Qianliyan: Get ready to receive my Red Envelope!