After making a Spiritual Connection, everything about the Heaven and Earth Furnace was projected into Chen Xiaobei's mind.
It was a deep black space like a cave, and within it, a ray of thin and wispy rainbow-colored Spiritual Aura fluttered gently in the air.
Chen Xiaobei studied it for a moment.
"This is a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura! Everything on heaven and earth has Spirituality, the only difference is how much! In other words, everything relies on Spiritual Qi for growth! The higher the grade of an item, the more Spiritual Qi it will need, and the stronger its spirituality. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura content will also be higher! When the thing has absorbed the Spiritual Qi, it breaks them down and accumulates them little by little, bit by bit. A change is then triggered, and it changes into Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura!"
"This means the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura is the end-product, the essence of the cumulative Spiritual Qi! Although Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura is also an energy source, it is much stronger than Spiritual Qi!"
With the help of Scholar's Heart, Chen Xiaobei was able to understand the nature and essence of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura.
"So, if Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura are like an extremely high-grade Spiritual Qi, can I use it for cultivation?"
Chen Xiaobei allowed the cauldron to release the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura. He then took in a deep breath, sucking all of it into his body.
"Wow! This Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura is incredible!" Chen Xiaobei cried.
Chen Xiaobei could feel the effects of the aura immediately. It was the same feeling he experienced when he ate the 9,000-year-old Saturn Peach!
Ding!
[Cultivation: Early phase of God-Ascension; Lifespan: 19,100 years; Health: 1,064,000; Combat power: 524,000]
"Wow! 100 combat power and 100 health points! That's an instant increase! This is amazing!"
Chen Xiaobei was happy as a sandboy at his discovery.
"If I don't count the boost that my Heavenly Path's reward adds, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura from the Five-star Spiritual Instrument increased my health and combat power by 50 points each!" calculated Chen Xiaobei.
"After I break through to God-Ascension cultivation, one high-grade Spiritual Stone can add 100 points to either my health or combat power! Both methods add 100 points except one high-grade Spiritual Stone was equivalent to 10,000 medium-grade Spiritual Stones, which also counts as 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones – I can buy ten Five-star Spiritual Instruments with that amount!
"The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura refined from a Five-star Spiritual Instrument valued at 1 million low-grade Spiritual Stones. This corresponds to the Spiritual Qi of 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones! That is to say, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura yield are ten times that of ordinary Spiritual Qi, and many times more than the Beast Cores!
Chen Xiaobei continued to be stunned by the numbers.
He may have to make changes to his cultivation strategy.
"The things that I have taken from the Tenshou exchequer range from One-star to Nine-star!" Chen Xiaobei rubbed his hands gleefully. "If I convert these resources to the standard of a five-star Spiritual Instrument and refine them into Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura, I can add up to 1 million points to my health and strength! No wonder Monkey King recommended the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura so highly! This energy is just out of this world!"
The more Chen Xiaobei thought about, the more excited he became.
"Although I've taken lots of resources from the Tenshou exchequer, they are mostly unappetizing and pathetic to me! Useless garbage! With this Heaven and Earth Furnace though, I can yield Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura from a One-star Spiritual Instrument! That's just like turning trash into treasure! I can even make a fortune from simply picking rubbish!
Turning trash into treasure was an extremely important skill to Chen Xiaobei!
A useless low-grade Spiritual Instrument could be refined into a utilitarian and valuable Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura!
It was absolutely incredible!
"But… I cannot use the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura just yet. Even though refining everything can hike up my cultivation, it won't get me to Earth-God cultivation! Instead, I should be using the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura to restore the Green Dragon sword and Red Dragon sword's Special Abilities! If I'm successful, I can wield power beyond my own strength with the swords! That would be even more of a worthwhile investment!"
At this thought, Chen Xiaobei immediately placed everything – except for the higher-grade Spiritual Medicines – he had taken from the Tenshou treasury into the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
Then, he introduced a ball of Transmogrifying Flame to the cauldron. Because there were so many things inside, the refining process would take a long time.
…
Chen Xiaobei used this time to tend to Qin Yitian's shidi and completed the final round of acupuncture.
Needless to say, when he was done, Qin Yitian's shidi was able to leave his sickbed and walk – exactly as Chen Xiaobei had promised.
"Childe Chen! I know I've said this many times, but I still want to thank you!" Qin Yitian said earnestly.
Qin Yitian's shidi, on the other hand, saw Chen Xiaobei as his savior. Once he got off the bed, he immediately went down on his knees thanking Chen Xiaobei profusely!
"You don't have to thank me anymore. My ears are calloused from hearing your thanks for three days!" Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "If you really want to thank me, do something for me!"
"What is it? Just tell us! We'll do everything we can!" Qin Yitian and her shidi answered in a heartbeat.
Chen Xiaobei said, "I want to buy a lot of Spiritual Items, as many as possible! They have to Five-Star and above!"
Qin Yitian was taken aback by this strange request. "Why do you need so many Spiritual Items? Are you planning to build an army?"
"That is my secret. Just tell me if you can help me." Chen Xiaobei answered.
"Yes, of course!" Qin Yitian rubbed the back of her head. "But you have to give me the specific amount or it'll be really difficult for me to make the purchase!"
Chen Xiaobei said, "I have 50,000 high-grade Spiritual Stones, and 500,089,000 medium-grade Spiritual Stones and around 30,100,003,000 low-grade Spiritual Stones! You do the math. How much can all this buy? Buy it all for me!"
"What?!" Qin Yitian and her shidi stared at Chen Xiaobei."Childe Chen… You're joking, right? The amount of Spiritual Stones you mentioned, after conversion, adds up to about 13 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones. You want to use all that to buy Spiritual Items? You won't be able to finish using them even with an army…" Qin Yitian managed to croak, still in a state of shock.
"I'm not! Just buy them for me!" Chen Xiaobei said. "Pass me your storage bracelet. I'll give you 50,000 high-grade, 500 million medium-grade and 3 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones first!"
"I…" Qin Yitian blinked.
All of that added up 13 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones!
To Qin Yitian, that was an astronomical amount!
Yet, here was Chen Xiaobei, taking out all these Spiritual Stones, as casual as shopping for vegetables in the market. He did not even break a sweat!
"Lady Qin, snap out of it! I am serious! I need you to spend all of it within the next thirty days!" Chen Xiaobei said. "Didn't you want to repay me? Spending all these Spiritual Stones is the best way to do it!"
"I… I will… do my best…" Qin Yitian stammered.
The world was full of people working themselves to the ground to earn money!
But as for people who were so eager to spend all their money, Chen Xiaobei was definitely the first one Qin Yitian had ever seen!
Thirty days to spend all 13 trillion… Even if Qin Yitian gave it her best, she might not be able to spend it all!
This amount of money was just too much!
What Qin Yitian did not know was that by spending 13 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones, Chen Xiaobei would be gaining back 130 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones!
The more he spent, the more he would earn!
Of course, it would also take a lot of effort to spend it all!
…
After the Spiritual Stones were transferred to her Storage Bracelet, Qin Yitian left Tenshou starfield with her shidi.
Chen Xiaobei's original plan was to visit Apocalypse Starfield but after today's incident with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura, Chen Xiaobei changed his mind.
It turned out Qin Yitian could be trusted with the task.
He, on the other hand, had to make the best use of the remaining thirty days to restore the dragon swords.
Chen Xiaobei returned to the study and brought out the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
"I have 89,000 medium-grade Spiritual Stones and 130 million low-grade Spiritual Stones left! I can't simply use them. I will need them to power the Earth-God Instruments!" Chen Xiaobei said to himself.
"But, do I have enough resources to mend two Immortal Instruments? When they are restored, will the remaining Spiritual Stones be enough to power them?"
Ding!
[You have a message from the Prime of Tongtian!]
The question had only just popped into his mind when the Prime of Tongtian decided to send him a message!
This sifu was seriously something else!
The Prime of Tongtian: Xiaobei, I can sense that you've already started using the Heaven and Earth furnace!
Chen Xiaobei: Yes, I tested it. It works really well. I've put in a large portion of my resources into it, and now I'm just waiting to harvest the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura.
The Prime of Tongtian: What do you plan to do with these Spiritual Aura?
Chen Xiaobei: To restore Spirituality into my two broken Immortal Instruments.
The Prime of Tongtian: No! Don't do that!
Chen Xiaobei: But… Why?
The Prime of Tongtian: Because the resources you have won't be enough to do that. Even if you put everything in, it could only be reanimated to extent of a Three-star Earth-God Instrument!
The Prime of Tongtian: You might as well invest all of that resources into a potential Divine Instrument!
Chen Xiaobei: Potential Divine Instrument?! 😯
The Prime of Tongtian: Chaos Blood Sword, Dragon's Edge, Somersault Cloud – all of these instruments have the potential to be developed into Divine Instruments! Each of them has its own maximum limits, and their success in the future will differ too!
Chen Xiaobei: I understand! Immortal Instruments have limitations that prevent them from growing further! As for Premature Divine Instruments, they have the space to grow further and eventually overpower Immortal Instruments!
The Prime of Tongtian: That's right! The Chaos Blood Sword and Dragon's Edge have the capacity to exceed Immortal Instruments. These are where you should be devoting your Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura into!
The Prime of Tongtian: This is especially true for Dragon's Edge! There are profound mysteries of the mechanics hidden inside this weapon. Its Spiritual Attribute is extremely frightening at its pinnacle phase! Shen Gongpao wants to get his hands on it because of the Primordial Lord of Heaven!
Chen Xiaobei: Yeah! If you haven't mentioned it, I wouldn't have noticed either! Recently, Shen Gongpao had been trying to get me into making bets with him. Each time, he would place his wager on my Dragon's Edge!
Chen Xiaobei: I really didn't think that the Primordial Lord of Heaven would ignore the Chaos Blood Sword and seek the Dragon's Edge instead. What Special Ability does this saber have anyway?
The Prime of Tongtian: The mysteries of heaven must not be revealed. You have to find out yourself! If you're willing to go all-in, you can probably activate the Dragon's Edge's preliminary Special Ability!
Chen Xiaobei: Go all-in? You mean I'm going to have to put in ALL of my resources?
The Prime of Tongtian: I forged the Dragon's Edge with my own two hands. It's a Divine Instrument in itself. Only that its Spirituality has never been awakened, and its Spiritual Ability has not been activated. This process will be more difficult. Perhaps you would have to include the broken Immortal Instruments in the furnace!
Chen Xiaobei: That…
The Prime of Tongtian: Why? Are you reluctant? On one hand, two Immortal Instruments, and on the other a Divine Instrument. You should know which one you should choose to nurture!
Chen Xiaobei: It's not that… It's just that I have used a lot of Living Soil on both the Immortal Instruments! I'm just troubled that I've wasted the Living Soil!
The Prime of Tongtian: Don't worry! The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura in the Living Soil can be refined too. It would not have been a waste!
Chen Xiaobei: Okay! I get it! I'll go do as you have instructed, right now!
Chen Xiaobei put his phone away and jumped right into the task.
First, he examined the situation inside the furnace.
10,000 or more Spiritual Items, Spiritual Medicines and Elixirs – all being refined to make thousands of rainbow Spiritual Aura.
Accumulated together, the Spiritual Aura looked like the long hair of a woman, dancing in the wind. It was a splendid sight.
"Come! No matter what this is going to cost me, I have to awaken the Dragon's Edge's Spirituality and activate its true Special Ability!"
Thousands of rainbow-colored Spiritual Aura filled the Heaven and Earth furnace.
Chen Xiaobei had the Dragon's Edge taken out.
Under the control of his mind, the thousands of Spiritual Aura streams pierced the Dragon's Edge.
"It's reacting!" Chen Xiaobei's eyed lit up. He could sense a touch of Spirituality in the palm where he held the Dragon's Edge.
It was delicate like an infant's breath but it was there!
"Its Spirituality is awakened! The next step is to continue to strengthen it and activate its Spiritual Abilities!
Chen Xiaobei took out his Green Dragon and Red Dragon and tossed them into the furnace without so much as a protest.Although the dragon swords lost their Spirituality, they were still Immortal grade materials that had been fixed with the Living Soil! Refining them was not going to be an overnight task!
On top of that, Chen Xiaobei only had one piece of Sanmei True Fire Talisman left. So, he had to resort to using the Transmogrifying Flame.
Even if the Heaven and Earth Furnace's Spiritual Ability was given a boost, it would take almost a month for the whole refinement process to be completed because of the low-grade fire.
Of course, since there was no battle involvement in the meantime, Chen Xiaobei had the time to spare.
He could cultivate while he waited; not a minute was to be wasted.
Chen Xiaobei may have given most of his Spiritual Stones to Qin Yitian and the Beast Essence stored inside his body had been used up. However, he had made the emperor of Tenshou his loyal hound and had access to the Tenshou's spirit channel for cultivating.
Ultimately, after 40 days, the Tenshou imperial family would we wiped out. Chen Xiaobei did not wish to rule Tenshou Starfield either, so it did not matter even if the spirit channel was drained dry.
…
After communicating with Wugui Osama, Chen Xiaobei received an electronic imperial edict that allowed him to go in and out of the Tenshou palace without any restrictions.
Wugui Kojiro brought Chen Xiaobei to the secret cultivating room built right above the core of the imperial city's spirit channel. The room was used only by the emperor himself.
"The Spiritual Qi here is so dense!" Chen Xiaobei noted upon entering the room.
The room was not very big but it was filled with pure and extremely concentrated Spiritual Qi, making it feel as if tens of thousands of Spiritual Stones had been cracked opened in the room.
Wugui Kojiro shook his head. "This is only a small portion of the spillover from the Spiritual Channel. Go ahead and get ready to cultivate, master. I will go get the formation going. There will be even more Spiritual Qi released later!"
"Alright!" Chen Xiaobei walked to the raised platform in the center of the private room. He crossed his legs and began to use his Heaven and Earth Scripture.
Wugui Kojiro activated the Spiritual Channel's formation.
Only the core members of the Tenshou imperial family had the access to the formation.
In the next minute, Spiritual Qi poured into the secret room like a raging river.
Chen Xiaobei breathed them all in.
Ever since he broke through to God-Ascension cultivation, Chen Xiaobei's Dantian's capacity had increased by ten times! He could also take in Spiritual Qi ten times faster than before.
Almost every second, 30,000 thousand low-grade Spiritual Stones' worth of Spiritual Qi was continuously siphoned into his body.
Of course, after he had broken through to God-Ascension cultivation, it would require even more Spiritual Qi to increase the same amount of cultivation.
Essentially, one high-grade Spiritual Stone's Spiritual Qi could increase either his health or combat power by 100; and one high-grade Spiritual Stone was equivalent to 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones.
Taking in 30,000 low-grade Spiritual Stones every second meant almost 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones in an hour!
Put simply, every hour Chen Xiaobei spent cultivating required 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones, which would either increase his combat power or health by 100 points.
…..
There were thirty days in one month, and twenty-four hours in a day. That added up to a total of 720 hours!
Because his health was far above his combat power, Chen Xiaobei leaned more towards increasing his combat power.
720 hours of cultivating to raise his combat power.
72 billion low-grade Spiritual Qi spent.
This should result in a 72,000 increase in combat power.
With the boost of his Heavenly Path's reward, however, that number was doubled to 144,000.
Ding!
[Cultivation: Early phase of God-Ascension; Lifespan: 10,100 years; Health: 1,064,000; Combat power: 668,000]
Chen Xiaobei opened his eyes and breathed out a mouthful of white mist of about ten meters long. The mist did not dissipate. It was very unusual.
"Master! You're awake!" Wugui Kojiro, who had been waiting by his side, said.
"I could feel the Ethereal Force in your body undulating. That must have been about a 150,000 increase in combat power!"
"About there…" Chen Xiaobei shrugged.
He slowly reined in his Ethereal Force, and allowed his body and Dantian to calm down.
"My god… It's true… I thought that… I was mistaken…" Wugui Kojiro stammered. "I'm twenty-five this year but I've only managed to reach 600,000 combat power! In thirty days, you were able to reach my level which I worked my ass off for six long years to achieve… That… It is just incredible…"
"It's nothing…" Chen Xiaobei answered. "If I had used the Demonic Beast Essence to cultivate, I could have gained another 100,000 health."
"Oh…" Wugui Kojiro felt a stab in his little heart.
What seemed so impressive to Wugui Kojiro was simply ordinary to Chen Xiaobei!
Wugui felt like useless in comparison to Chen Xiaobei. How could he ever catch up to his master?
…
Chen Xiaobei took out his phone and left Wugui Kojiro to stew in his shock.
"Qin Yitian is very reliable, after all." Chen Xiaobei smiled at the message he had just received from her.
This woman had used all her family's connections and pulled the all right strings to turn the 13 trillion low-grade Spiritual Stones into Spiritual Items in thirty days!
In her message, she informed Chen Xiaobei that he could go to Vermillion Phoenix to collect the goods. If it was inconvenient, she could send it over to him herself.
"I have ten more days until the Saint Duke betrothal contest deadline. My cultivation can skyrocket again after I get my Spiritual Items! This is great!"
Chen Xiaobei stood up. "Now, let me take a look inside the Heaven and Earth Cauldron first!"
An image of the furnace was immediately projected into Chen Xiaobei's mind.
The Green Dragon and Red Dragon swords were nowhere to be seen.
In their place were two rainbow-colored Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura.
Unlike the previous Spiritual Aura which was fine and small, these two Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura were very thick and large like two rainbow-colored serpents slithering in the air, giving off a strong vibe of Spirituality.
"Immortal grade materials really are one of a kind. Combined with the Living Soil, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura produced ten times more Spirituality than ten thousand Spiritual Items!" Chen Xiaobei was over the moon. "Next, it's time to activate the Dragon's Edge Special Ability! Ooh, I can't wait…"
"Rise!" Chen Xiaobei instructed, and the two bands of rainbow aura streamed into the Dragon's Edge like little waterfalls.
Wugui Kojiro stood frozen, watching from the side.
He had never ever seen anything like this before!As the two belts of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Aura entered the Dragon's Edge, Chen Xiaobei could feel faint Spirituality swelling though the hand that grabbed the hilt.
'The Dragon Edge's Spirituality is almost the same as a Three-star Earth-God Instrument, which makes it almost the same level as the Heavenly Sword!" Chen Xiaobei noted with excitement.
Because the dragon swords did not have Spirituality, the Spiritual Aura they produced was substandard when compared to real Immortal Instruments.
Chen Xiaobei's initial expectation was to recover the Dragon's Edge's Spirituality to a Three-star Earth-God Instrument. He would have been very contented with that result. He did not expect his Dragon's Edge to reach three-stars so swiftly, not mentioning that it was still progressing!
That was way beyond his expectations.
"It's still growing – that must have something to do with the Living Soil!" Chen Xiaobei assumed. "I didn't use a lot of it or the Dragon's Edge might have just rocketed to a Four-Star Earth-God level!"
The Dragon's Edge itself was an indestructible Divine Item.
Along with the awakening of its Spirituality, the Dragon Edge's Special Ability was incited and gradually arrived at its corresponding level.
For now, the Dragon's Edge was an Earth-God instrument between a three-star and four-star.
In a fight against an enemy with weapons of the same grade, it was very likely for Chen Xiaobei to have the upper hand!
This was because the Dragon's Edge's Special Ability had been set in motion!
"Let's see what Special Ability it is that you have!" Chen Xiaobei held the saber in both hands eagerly.
After a brief Spiritual Connection, Dragon's Edge recognized Chen Xiaobei as its master.
Unless Chen Xiaobei was killed in a battle, or unless he chose to cut off their Spiritual Connection, no one else could control the Dragon's Edge.
Everything about the Dragon's Edge's Special Ability — its usage, effects, consumption – downloaded into Chen Xiaobei's mind.
He could wield the Dragon's Edge Special Ability as long as he had enough Spiritual Stones.
"Wow! This Special Ability is terrific! I want to give it a try but it's now a Three-star Earth-God Instrument. Each use will cost me 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones! There's no enemy for me to fight… I shouldn't be wasting Spiritual Stones…"
"Master, you can just use Spiritual Qi from the Spiritual Channel!" reminded Wugui Kojiro.
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that! I have something for that!" Chen Xiaobei reached into his Infinite Space Ring and took out the Green Jade Gourd.
The gourd siphoned Spiritual Qi from the underground Spiritual Channel like a whale gulping seawater.
"My god… That… Wow." Wugui Kojiro inhaled sharply.
He had thought that Chen Xiaobei to use the Dragon's Edge to take in the 100 million Spiritual Qi to fuel it. Chen Xiaobei, however, did more than just that, using the Green Jade Cauldron to take away almost 30 billion low-grade Spiritual Stones.
During the 30 days period of cultivating, Chen Xiaobei had already used up 72 billion low-grade Spiritual Qi.
The Spiritual Channel ran through the entire imperial city and would require time to circulate.
The one that was located under the secret room had been sucked dry but that did not stop Chen Xiaobei. He continued to take from the Spiritual Channel until there was virtually no Spiritual Qi left underground.
"Done!" Chen Xiaobei gave Wugui Kojiro a satisfied smile.
Wugui Kojiro just stared at his master. All that Spiritual Qi could last the Tenshou palace ten years, and Chen Xiaobei took it all away in one go.
In the years to come, the Tenshou would have no Spiritual Qi to use at all. They might as well be a wasteland.
Ding Ring Ring!
Someone was calling Chen Xiaobei.
It was Liu Xuanxin.
"Huh? My Lucky Goddess?" Chen Xiaobei's face lit up. "I haven't heard from her since Bei Xuan faction took over Atlantis – that's almost four months now. Why would she be calling me all of a sudden?"
"Xiaobei! Help…" Liu Xuanxin began but the call was suddenly cut short.
"What happened?!" Chen Xiaobei shouted into the phone. "That was Lucky Goddess' voice. It's not like her to crack jokes like this… Something serious must have happened…"
Chen Xiaobei quickly dialed her number but he was informed by the operator that there was no signal and that the call could not be connected.
He decided to try Long Zishan but to no avail.
Then he tried Liu Xuanxin's grandfather and bother. They picked up his call but none of them knew where she was.
Panic began to set in. "Something must have happened to her. But I don't know where she is. How am I supposed to save her?"
This was beginning to be a real big problem.
Even if he used God's Eye Talisman, there was a limit to how far it could see. He did not even have an approximate area that he could narrow down to find her.
In the past, all of Chen Xiaobei's quests have been straightforward and untroubled.
This time, however, Chen Xiaobei was completely at a loss as to what to do.
Perhaps this had something to do with his extremely low luck.
As Lady Nuwo said, luck was crucial.
At critical junctures, the prosperity or decline of a person's luck could decide the success or failure of an undertaking.
After racking his brains and coming up with nothing, Chen Xiaobei looked at Wugui Kojiro and asked, "Do you have any idea how I can hike up my luck?"
This Japanese devil may have become Chen Xiabei's loyal hound but he was a wicked man before this. Killing him would earn Chen Xiaobei merit points and increase his luck.
Wugui Kojiro shrank under Chen Xiaobei's icy gaze like a frightened tortoise.
No. Chen Xiaobei shook his head. The luck he would earn from killing this loyal hound may not be effective immediately.
Liu Xuanxin was in grave danger, and every second counted.
Chen Xiaobei opened the Merit Points Ledger.
"Forget it! Merit Points Ledger, I'd like to make a trade for a Lucky Charm.
As long as he had enough merit points, Chen Xiaobei could exchange for anything inside the ledger.
The only thing was, Shen Gongpao had absolute control of the ledger. So, if Chen Xiaobei were to make an exchange, he would be charged ten times more than usual – that was why he had never used it before this.
But this was an emergency! Chen Xiaobei did not have the time to bargain with the God of Luck.
Using his merit points to exchange for a Lucky Charm was the fastest solution to his problem.The Merit Points Ledger appeared in Chen Xiaobei's mind in the form of a giant glimmering picture book.
The book opened at Chen Xiaobei's command and revealed a page that resembled an online shopping site.
Chen Xiaobei had seen it before so he knew what to expect.
"I want to exchange for a Good Luck Charm." Chen Xiaobei thought.
Immediately, the page displayed the information and details about the Good Luck Charm.
[Good Luck Charm: Made by the God of Luck himself. Increases luck.]
[Exchange rate: 100,000 merit points for one piece.]
[Please select the amount to exchange!]
"F*ck! Sheng Gongpao! That asshole! It was supposed to be 10,000 merit points for one piece! Thanks to him, I have to pay ten times the price!"
Chen Xiaobei was angry but had to fizz out the flames. Right now, even if it cost him an arm and a leg, he would have to swallow his dissatisfaction and suck it up.
He now understood how important Qi Yun was. Had his Qi Yun been in better condition, he would not have had to spend this gratuitous money.
Thankfully, he had an abundance of merit points. Spending that little bit would not do much harm.
Thinking about how frustrated Sheng Gongpao must be made Chen Xiaobei feel much better.
"I want to exchange my points for thirty pieces!" Chen Xiaobei thought.
Ding!
[Exchanging for thirty pieces of Good Luck Charm. The amount to be deducted is three million merit points. Confirm the exchange?]
Chen Xiaobei did not need to think twice. "Confirm!"
Shen Gongpao had used thirty Bad Luck Charms to curse Chen Xiaobei. It would only make sense that Chen Xiaobei needed at least thirty Good Luck Charms to counteract the bad effects and redeem his lost Qi Yun.
In fact, he might even need to exchange a lot more than that in order to turn his luck around and change the situation.
Ding!
[Three million merit points have been deducted in exchange for merit rewards.]
Ding!
[Your current total merit points are 32 million. You are 13 million merit points away from the next level.]
[Charm: 3,200,000; Luck: 3,200,000]
Ding ——Congratulations! You have received a merit reward's Red Envelope! Thirty pieces of Good Luck Charms have been stored inside your Treasure Chest!]
"Withdraw!" Chen Xiaobei took out the yellow papers which burned on the spot at his instruction.
Qi Yun could neither be seen nor touched. Lady Nuwo had said that everything was connected and everything works according to fate!
These links, except for unusual circumstances, were closely related to a person's luck.
When a person's Qi Yun had reached a certain extent, all these connected dots would become evident and affect the person.
As the flames ate away at the charms, Chen Xiaobei's Qi Yun began to rise slowly.
But there was no way for Chen Xiaobei to know how much.
He was ready to exchange for more Good Luck Charms.
The thing was, Chen Xiaobei's Qi Yun had increased to a point where it was enough to change the situation.
Ding Ring Ring!
Chen Xiaobei was not in the mood to pick up any calls but he knew that Bai Linsu would not contact him unless it was something important.
After a moment's hesitation, Chen Xiaobei decided to pick up the call.
"Sister Bai! What is it?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"There's big trouble!" Bai Linsu sounded nervous. "Wei Zhonglie has returned from Apocalypse Starfield and has brought a lot of powerful people with him from Heaven Dominating Faction!"
Green Hill's Prince Regent, Wei Zhonglie!
Chen Xiaobei had fought with this man back in Green Hill Starfield and managed to inflict serious damage on him. Under the circumstances, Wei Zhonglie sacrificed his left arm and managed to escape.
It had been two months since.
During this period, Wei Zhonglie had returned to Heaven Dominating Faction to recuperate. His return did not surprise Chen Xiaobei.
But of all the times he could have returned, Wei Zhonglie had chosen to come back at this inopportune time.
Lin Xuanxin was still in danger – where would Chen Xiaobei find the time to confront Wei Zhonglie?
This was just one disaster after another.
Chen Xiaobei even began to wonder if the Good Luck Charm he had just used was actually a Bad Luck Charm in disguise.
"Sister Bai!" Chen Xiaobei said. "I have something even more urgent that I need to attend to here! It's a matter of life and death! Could you just do what you can for the moment? I will come as soon as I can!"
"No! Listen to me!" Bai Linsu said. "Wei Zhonglie didn't come for me. He's bringing his people to the Northern Wilderness Starfield!"
"Northern Wilderness? Why?" Chen Xiaobei asked.
"Wei Zhonglie had not been idle these past two months. He had been busy using his contacts and network to find out about you! He managed to trace Shuang'er to the Northern Wilderness Starfield where she met you!"
Shuang'er was Bai Linsu's disciple, Ling Hushuang.
Bai Linsu continued, "If I'm right, Wei Zhonglie is heading towards Silver Plume planet to take on your friends and family. No matter what, you have to get back there as soon as possible!"
"What?!" Chen Xiaobei's face was now chalk-white. "Sister Bai, I have to go! I have to contact my family!"
"Alright, you'd better hurry! I'll try to get there as quickly as I can!"
Chen Xiaobei hung up and dialed his mother's number. Again, there was no signal, no connection.
He called Wenren Muyue, the Northern Wilderness Overlord, and Ning Yuchen… all to a frenzy of disconnected calls.
"Could Wei Zhonglie have reached the Northern Wilderness… and he's already… capturing… maybe even killing…" Chen Xiaobei was mumbling to himself, his eyes wild with fear for his people's safety.
This was not just adding hail to snow, it had turned into a blizzard!
If Liu Xuanxin was in danger, his family must be in danger too!
Chen Xiaobei could not cut himself in two! He had to choose saving one and giving up the other!
No matter what he decided, he would be torn with grief! The pain of his decision would haunt him for life!
No matter how strong he was, he would not be able to control the despair and devastation he was afflicted with!
He was on the verge of breaking down when a sudden thought popped into his mind, "I couldn't get through to Liu Xuanxin either! No signal – like the others!
At this sudden insight, Chen Xiaobei began to feel a surge of hope.
He would find a way out of this impasse!
"It can't be a coincidence! Xuanxin must be in Northern Wilderness too! She must be with the rest of them!" Chen Xiaobei said. "That means I'm not stuck between choices. I just need to return to Northern Wilderness and solve both problems at once! Sister Bai's phone call must have been the work of the Good Luck Charm!"
Bai Linsu and Liu Xuanxin were like chalk and cheese. They were never known to get along which was why Chen Xiaobei never thought of asking Bai Linsu about Liu Xuanxin.
Bai Linsu's call had provided Chen Xiaobei with very important information which allowed him to come up with a theory!
In fact, if Bai Linsu had not heard about Wei Zhonglie's activity, she would not have contacted Chen Xiaobei and Chen Xiaobei would have been completely clueless about the whole situation thereby missing the chance to save his people!
There must have been a reason behind this call – and it was in direct relation with the growth of Chen Xiaobei's Qi Shu.
All of Chen Xiaobei problems and dilemma was solved just like that.
Chen Xiaobei took out his Returning Bracelet. The point of origin was marked in the Secret Space. With this, he could make his way his to Northern Wilderness Starfield from there.
…
On Silver Plume planet, in the Northern Wilderness Starfield
In the sky above the monstrosity of a waterfall in Silver Plume forest hovered an equally monstrous and technologically advanced mothership.
The spacecraft carried an army of battle spacecraft within its bowels and also armies of soldiers armed to the teeth.
Already, thousands of soldiers had alighted and were surrounding the waterfall.
Among them were two God-Ascension demigods who were evidently the leaders of the group.
They were attempting to close in on the falls but were obstructed by the formation drawn up by a dozen people guarding it.
"Hang on, everyone! I managed to get hold of Xiaobei. He'll be here to save us soon…" One of them said.
The person who had spoken was none other than Liu Xuanxin.
With her gorgeous face unmasked and her white shirt flapping in the wind, one might have mistaken her an immortal; a goddess!
This gorgeous woman was standing on the frontlines of the formation. Her mesmerizing looks alone was enough to distract the enemies.
"That's impossible… That mothership up there is blocking the cell signals. I've tried so many times to reach Chen Xiaobei!" said a tall man with cutting a bold figure. It was Xiangyu.
"Yeah… Me too. I can't make any calls either…" voiced an older gentleman, who was actually Six-Eared Macaque after a transfiguration.
Liu Xuanxin's forehead creased. "You have to trust me! I really did get through to him!"
The other person, the Overlord of Northern Wilderness who was also Chen Xiaobei's loyal hound sighed, "There's no point… We can't hold on any longer! Even if you did get to him, Bro Bei won't be able to get here in time…"
"Yeah… We're at our limits…" Chen Xiaobei's Tai Yitan said through clenched teeth. "It's really unfortunate that the four Demonic Beasts can't leave the Secret Space. We could have held on a little bit longer…"
Apart from the four God-Ascension demigods who were Liu Xuanxin, Xiang Yu, Six-Eared Macaque, and the Overlord, a dozen Bei Xuan faction's strongest disciples were also there.
They were all propagating Ethereal Forces to thwart the enemy's attack.
This combat formation was the Northern Wilderness Overlord's secret Pinnacle-phase Spiritual Item-grade formation. Its defensive powers were very strong.
But!
The combat power of the enemy's leaders, like the Overlord's, were in the millions. They could easily crush Liu Xuanxin, Xiang Yu and Six-Eared Macaque.
Not making things any better was the enemy's soldiers, where all of them were at the later-phase of Celestial Cultivation. They could overwhelm nearly all of Bei Xuan faction's disciples.
Even with the combat formation, it was proving difficult for Bei Xuan to defend themselves.
They were at the point of exhaustion, and the formation could break at any moment.
Some of the other Bei Xuan demigods were unable to join them.
Chen Xiaobei had charged Osnur with managing Atlantis and to guard the passage between earth and the Northern Wilderness Starfield.
Long Zishan had entered the Silver Plume forest alone on an expedition to kill Demonic Beasts.
It would have been helpful to have them with the others but they could not be reached because of the signal blockage.
Other than these two, there were also the Blackwater Mystical Snake and the three Beast Kings! Due to the entrance to the Secret Space being behind the curtain of water, they might destroy the entire structure upon exiting with their mammoth builds.
These few people were all that Bei Xuan faction could afford.
From the looks of it, defeat was inevitable. How much longer could they hold on?
It was only a matter of time before they become the enemy's captives.
Worse still, Chen Xiaobei's parents, Jiang Ziya, Ne Zha, Hong Hai'er, Old Wang, Chen Xiaobei's lady friends, and weaker disciples were all in the Secret Space!
It would end in blood if the enemy got in.
"Hold on… Everyone… We must hold on… I really did manage to get Chen Xiaobei on the phone. I believe he'll be here very soon!" Liu Xuanxin raised her voice to encourage the others who were in great distress.
Seeing how persistent a woman was, the men toughened up. They would not give up either.
"Hehe! You should just give up! Or else, we'll start killing hostages!"
Another group of enemies appeared on the other side of the forest.
The person leading them was none other than Wei Zhonglie.
Flanking him were two powerful old men.
Behind the three of them were thousands of soldiers, each holding onto a hostage. There were hundreds of them.
The entire Governor Dong Zhuo Family!
The entire Wenren Family!
The entire Miao Family!
Chen Xiaobei's three good friends, Ning Yuchen, Liu Chen, and Hu Ben!
Each of them had a knife held to their necks. Their lives in the hands of Wei Zhonglie!
"Why have you captured us? Why…" Liu Chen was struggling and squirming.
"Because of the guy named Chen Zhufeng!" Wei Zhonglie smiled. "He severed my arm! Everyone related to him has to die!"
"Chen Zhufeng? Zhufeng?" Liu Chen shouted back at him. "Hey, old man! You must have gotten it all wrong! Zhufeng is only a Zero-star Black-steel new recruit! How could he have severed your arm?"
"You little bitch! Are you mocking me? Are you saying that I'm inferior to a new recruit?!" Wei Zhonglie snapped. "Guards! Drag this b*tch to that combat formation and cut her up!"
Liu Chen turned as pale as a ghost.
"Don't you dare!" An angry voice called out from behind the veil of rushing water.
"Who is that?" screamed Wei Zhonglie as he searched for the voice.
Everyone else did the same as well.
A shadow leaped down from the waterfall.
"Zero-star Black-steel Chen Zhufeng!""Chen… Chen Zhufeng!!!"
Wei Zhonglie lifted his head and looked into the sky. His pupils contracted and both his eyes were about to belch fire. Every other enemy did the same as well.
All of them feared Chen Zhufeng. They knew that this young man who had descended from the sky severed Wei Zhonglie's left arm, leaving him a cripple. He was not to be underestimated!
"Xiaobei! Xiaobei is back!"
Liu Xuanxin, Xiangyu, and Six-Eared Macaque were very excited to get to see Chen Xiaobei once again. From what they knew about him, they were confident that he could definitely solve the crisis and rescue everyone here. All their despair had now turned into hope!
"I know that Xiaobei will never disappoint me!"
Liu Xuanxin was especially glad to see Chen Xiaobei. To her, Chen Xiaobei was like a legendary hero that had come to rescue her. Out of instinct, she still insisted to put on her mask the moment she saw Chen Xiaobei.
"Sifu… Our Sifu is here… We are safe!"
At the back, around ten disciples were showing gratitude that Chen Xiaobei had come to rescue them. To them, Chen Xiaobei was an invincible living-god that would never disappoint them. Their absolute trust and loyalty towards him made them believe that he could turn any tide around no matter how powerful the enemies were. As compared to the people from Silver Plume Planet, they definitely did not know Chen Xiaobei that well.
"What is going on? Isn't little brother Zhufeng just a Zero-star Black-Steel newbie? Why do I feel like he exudes a very powerful aura?!" asked Liu Cheng.
"This is truly unbelievable! Is this really the Zhufeng that we know?" asked Ning Yuchen and Hu Ben.
"You three are idiots! It seems like all three of you have crossed paths with someone really powerful! The aura that Mr. Chen exudes is an Ethereal Force Wave! That would mean he is now a demigod!" said Dong Zhuo.
"What?!"
Upon hearing that, Ning Yuchen, Liu Chen, and Hu Ben were left in shock. The three of them were not the only ones, as others that stood around them were equally shocked as well.
"Demi… demigod… That… That would mean Zhufeng is not a newbie… He… He is an Apex Legend!" said Liu Cheng.
"Oh my god… this… this is insane…" shouted Ning Yuchen and Hu Ben.
They never thought that the little brother that they mingled with in the past was now an Apex Legend! If Dong Zhuo did not say a word about it, they would never believe that Chen Xiaobei was indeed an extremely powerful elite.
"Chen Zhufeng is insane… How did he become an Apex Legend at such a young age? Let alone Silver Plume, I don't think other higher-tier Starfields have such powerful young prodigies as well!" said Miao Yiyue.
Of course, there were a few of them who still managed to keep their calm.
"Judging from his Ethereal Force Wave, I think Zhufeng's current combat power should be around 660,000. No doubt, he is really powerful, but there is still a huge gap between him and the enemies!" said Wenren Muyue.
"If Zhufeng were to charge at his enemies right now, I'm afraid will get himself into huge trouble!" said Wenren Jinghao.
Everyone's light of hope was extinguished when they heard their comments. Immediately, they started to worry about Chen Xiaobei again.
"Bastard! You have come to the wrong place! This is going to be hell for you! Actually, I'm really glad that you've come here today! I will kill you and all those related to you! It will save me a lot of precious time!" shouted Wei Zhonglie.
Standing in the middle of the enemies' formation, Chen Xiaobei turned around, glared at Wei Zhonglie and said, "Piece of shit."
"Motherf*cker! You asshole! How dare you humiliate me when you are about to be killed! Because you called me a piece of shit, I will make sure that you suffer the most horrible of deaths!"
"I think you misunderstood me! I think you misunderstood me. I'm not only talking about you. I'm saying that every single person here is trash to me!" said Chen Xiaobei with his shoulders shrugged.
"What????"
Everyone was too shocked to react to what Chen Xiaobei had just said. Wenren Muyue and the rest of them had never thought that Chen Xiaobei would be bold enough to taunt his enemies right in their faces. Right now, they became even more worried.
"This asshole is too damn arrogant! We are warriors from Apocalypse Starfield and we are at least at the middle-phase of Celestial cultivation!"
"Besides, we are equipped with some of the best equipment! Us, working together is more than enough to defeat a demigod! How dare he say we are all garbage?!"
"Wangye! Please drop the order! We can't wait to kill him!"
Around two thousand warriors were angered by Chen Xiaobei's arrogant behavior. However, they thought that they were powerful enough to kill Chen Xiaobei.
"I'm the one who should kill him! All of you will not get to kill him! Asshole! Are you blind or what? These two people that stand beside me are my Shixiong! The people working on taking down the formation are my Shidi! All of them are the disciples of Heaven Dominating Faction!"
Clearly, Wei Zhonglie was trying to anger them even further hoping that it would motivate them to kill Chen Xiaobei. As the core disciples of Heaven Domination Faction, their cultivation was almost as powerful as Wei Zhonglie. They were feared by many in Apocalypse Starfield. Chen Xiaobei was definitely the first one who had disrespected them in such a way.
"Shidi Wei! Since that bastard is here, I think our hostages serve no function anymore!" said one of the old men in a grey robe.
"You are right! Let's kill them in front of this arrogant bastard! We need to enlighten him about the consequence of humiliating us!"
"Great! Everyone listen to me! Kill all the hostages! Chop them into pieces!" shouted Wei Zhonglie.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Thousands of warriors lifted up their combat sabers and started to holler like beasts. The Dong Family, Miao Family, and Wenren Family were about to be annihilated! As expected, Ning Yuchen, Liu Cheng, and Hu Ben were back in a state of despair.
"I, Chen Zhufeng am a man who cares about my friends and my family a lot! Hurt them and you will lose everything!"After Chen Xiaobei shouted, an invisible terrifying force charged at the enemies like a tsunami.
"Si… This is scary…"
All 2,000 people took in a deep breath. They could feel their hearts pumping faster and faster. It was as if someone had dropped a huge mountain on their chests. The more cowardly ones shook nonstop. It seemed like they were going to collapse on the floor any time from now.
The aura that Chen Xiaobei unleashed had already overpowered the ordinary demigods. Such pressure that the enemies were experiencing could severely affect their minds. As for Wei Zhonglie and the five Earth-Gods, they were powerful enough to ensure they would not be affected by the terrifying force of the aura.
All 2,000 of the warriors' minds were on the verge of crumbling. At that moment, their pupils were contracted; their breathing, heart rate, and consciousness disappearing. Due to the immense pressure, they started to hallucinate. In their minds, they envisioned a giant, horrifying black dragon tearing their inner world into pieces.
"God… Oh god… This is so scary…"
One by one, they started to kneel in front of Chen Xiaobei; none of them daring to move a single muscle.
"What the hell… Zhufeng… Is he a human or a god…"
Upon seeing that, Ning Yuchen, Liu Cheng, and everyone from Silver Plume Plant was bewildered. No normal person could do what he had just done.
"Bunch of idiots! Calm down! Don't let him affect your minds! Pick up your weapon and kill all the hostages!"
Wei Zhonglie had to force himself to come back from the shock that he had just experienced. Immediately, he shouted at all of his soldiers making them snap out of their fear. Most of them had already lost it.
They were like soulless statues, kneeling on the ground. Only a handful of them managed to snap out from the mind trap. The first thing they did was pick up their weapons and were ready to kill the hostages.
However, they had wasted at least ten seconds to snap out from their fear rendering it too late for them to kill all their hostages.
"Divine Spirit from the Nine Heavens! Abyssal Knights from the underworld! I, hereby summon the Blood Gods!"
Before they could even realize it, Chen Xiaobei had already tossed out his Blood God's Deity Killing Painting! As usual, all 2,000 soldiers were paralyzed. They could not kill the hostages even if they wanted to. Seconds later, 48 Blood God Illusions charged from the painting and shredded the armed soldiers into pieces. In about ten seconds, 800 soldiers were killed.
As for the 1,200 soldiers that knelt on the ground, Chen Xiaobei had no intention to kill them. He was not trying to show them mercy. He just could not bother lifting his finger to kill them.
Most of the soldiers' minds were completely shattered by Chen Xiaobei. He knew that they would never dare go against him anymore. In other words, killing them was completely unnecessary.
Right now, Wei Zhonglie and the other four core disciples from Heaven Dominating Faction were the only threats left for Chen Xiaobei.
"What… What the hell is going on?"
The two younger Earth-Gods were completely shocked by what the painting could do. They had never seen anything like that in their entire lives.
"What a powerful item! We have lived for 300 years, and still, this is the first time we are seeing something like this!" said the other two elders.
"That painting hides a powerful Earth-God level formation! When it pairs with a black box, it can even unleash an attack that is equivalent to the powerful strike of a One-star Earth-God! Don't underestimate it!" warned Wei Zhonglie.
During the last fight, Chen Xiaobei had witnessed the power of the painting and the black box. That was why Wei Zhonglie took out his Blazing Tiger Divine Saber immediately to deal with Chen Xiaobei.
"If that painting is just a One-star Earth-God Divine Instrument, he has already lost the fight! Shixiong Zhang and I have Two-star Earth-God Divine Instruments! Defeating him is just a piece of cake!" said an old man in a green robe.
"I shouldn't have come if I knew the enemy is that weak!" said another old man in a grey robe.
Seemingly, they had lost interest to fight with Chen Xiaobei.
"That kid has Divine Dragon's Blood in his body, and he has some kind of special ability within him as well! That's how I lost the fight with him the last time!" said Wei Zhonglie.
"Hmph! Insignificant skill! To us, any tricks up his sleeves are just jokes!" said the old man in the green robe while taking out a purple scythe.
"You are right! Once we bring out a Two-star Earth-God Divine Instrument, the only way for him to defeat is to wield the strength of Two-star Earth-God!" said the old man in the grey robe.
"Hmph! You guys are worthy of the garbage moniker! You know nothing about my special ability! I'm not going to use any Earth-God Instruments! I will fight you both on my own!" said Chen Xiaobei.
Immediately, all five of Chen Xiaobei's enemies were angered once again, especially the two middle-aged Earth Gods."Bastard! What makes you think you can be so arrogant in front of us?! Without Earth-God Instruments, your combat power is only around 660,000! Both of us here have two million combat power each! What makes you think can you can fight us both alone? Please use your brain to do some thinking first! Such a moron!" mocked the two Earth-Gods.
"I have to try! You never how it ends!"
Chen Xiaobei glared at them, took the first step, and charged at them with Ethereal Force surrounding his body.
"I can't believe that you have the balls to attack us first! Since you want to die so badly, we will grant you your death wish!"
To them, Chen Xiaobei would definitely die in their hands because the difference in their combat power was 3,000,000!
"He is going to lose the battle!" said the old men in the green and grey robe.
"What the hell is Zhufeng thinking?! There's no way that he can win this fight!"
Wenren Muyue, Ning Yuchen, and the hundreds of people from Silver Plume Starfield were preparing for the worst-case scenario.
However, in hopeless moments like these, Wei Zhonglie had the same faith as Bei Xuan Faction.
"Xiaobei will never disappoint us!" said Liu Xianxin.
"From the first day until now, Xiaobei has never disappointed us!" said Xiangyu calmly.
As for Six-Eared Macaque and the rest of the disciples from Bei Xuan Faction, they were not worried that Chen Xiaobei would lose the fight.
"Second Shidi! Please don't underestimate him! That bastard's special ability is really powerful! He is definitely smart enough to not get himself killed! There's a reason why he charged at you guys so confidently!" shouted Wei Zhonglie.
.....
At the same time, Chen Xiaobei had already made his way to his enemies.
"Hellfire!" shouted one of the demigods. After listening to Wei Zhonglie's warning, he did not dare underestimate Chen Xiaobei. Immediately, he pushed his combat power to a million and unleashed his Fire Ethereal Force! Seconds later, the entire place was burning in a fire that was about to decimate everything into ashes!
"Dominating Gust!"
At the same time, the other demigod launched his attack at Chen Xiaobei as well. Though their combat power was higher than Chen Xiaobei, none of them dared underestimate him.
That was why they had decided to work together to kill Chen Xiaobei. Just like the other demigod, he pushed up his combat power to millions and prepared to launch his Wind Ethereal Force's lethal strike. The wind around him had transformed into sharp blades and it was capable of slicing everything around him into half!
"Zhufeng! Be careful!" Wenren Muyue, Ning Yuchen, and the rest of the people screamed at the same time.
However!
Chen Xiaobei stopped moving suddenly. He stood his ground and dismissed his Ethereal Force. It seemed like he had no intention to block or dodge the attack.
"Damn! Is this kid an idiot?! Did he just stand there for us to kill him?"
The two demigods could not figure why would Chen Xiaobei had made such an idiotic move.
"Shit! He is going to unleash that skill! The two of you! Quickly! Defend yourselves!" shouted Wei Zhonglie.
It was too late.
"Witch Dragon Nine Transformations!" said Chen Xiaobei.
Immediately, the Witch Dragon Blood inside Chen Xiaobei's body was activated! His face was covered in bright light.
"Swallow! All! Four! Seas!"
Swoosh…
Golden-purplish dragon scales started to grow on Chen Xiaobei's face. The scales then connected and took the shape of a mask on the lower part of Chen Xiaobei's face.
Roar!
Chen Xiaobei lifted his head and roared like a dragon. Sharp fangs had grown all over his mouth. At the same time, the two powerful strikes from the demigods were about to land on Chen Xiaobei. If something wasn't done quickly, he would definitely turn into ashes.
Si…
Chen Xiaobei took in a deep breath and a huge energy surge was unleashed!
Swoosh!
The two powerful strikes from the demigods were completely absorbed by Chen Xiaobei's mouth!
"This… This… This…"
Everyone was left in bewilderment. What Chen Xiaobei had just done was definitely inhuman! Other than Wei Zhonglie, none of them had witnessed something like that in their lives. To them, Chen Xiaobei was no longer human! He was a monster!
"Two of you! Defend yourselves now! If not, you will definitely die!" shouted Wei Zhonglie.
It was too late though! Chen Xiaobei had already launched his attack.
"Dominate! The! Heavens!"
Chen Xiaobei shouted and extra bones started to grow on his back! They were so sharp they penetrated his black robe. Soon, his entire back was covered in dragon scales and fins!
"The dragon will destroy everything in its path!" shouted Chen Xiaobei.
He then clenched his fist that was covered in dragon scales. When he opened his mouth, his dragon fangs could be seen clearly. A strong, murderous intent exuded right out of him.
"Kill!"
Chen Xiaobei charged at his enemies with his dragon claws which grew from his hands!
He dashed at lightning speed; like a dragon from another dimension!
The killing was about to begin!"Where is Zhufeng? He was glowing just now! I don't see him anymore!" shouted some of the hundreds of people from Silver Plume Starfield.
"No… Mr. Chen did not disappear! He's just moving too damn fast! That's why none of you can see him with your naked eyes!" said Dong Zhuo and Wenren Jinghao. The two of them had the highest cultivation amongst all the others.
"This…"
Everyone knew that Chen Xiaobei could move really fast. What they did not know was that Chen Xiaobei could move so fast they could no longer see him.
"Sifu moves too fast… I can't see him… Do you think he can win the battle…?"
Disciples of Bei Xuan Faction were having a hard time catching Chen Xiaobei's movement as well.
"He… He… He has already won the battle…" said Liu Xuanxin.
"What? Already won?"
None of them could believe what Liu Xuanxin had just said about Chen Xiaobei. Only God-Ascension cultivation demigods knew that Liu Xuanxin was telling the truth.
"Help… Help!"
In a matter of seconds, the two middle-aged demigods started to scream out loud. They could see someone that moving at an extreme speed while charging at them. There seemed to be no time for them to dodge the attack.
"Shit! Quickly go save them!"
Immediately, Wei Zhonglie and the two elders behind him activated their Earth-God Instruments. Still, it was already too late.
"Dominate the Heavens!"
Along with the loud command, everyone was frozen.
Swish!
A bright golden-purplish light exploded right in front of the two middle-aged demigods. Only then could the people finally catch a glimpse of Chen Xiaobei. The dragon fins on his back emanated an extremely powerful energy force. Just like rocket thrusters, they were the reason why Chen Xiaobei could move at such a terrifying speed.
The thrust that Chen Xiaobei possessed was equivalent to millions of combat power! Combined with his 660,000 combat power, there was no way for the two demigods to dodge his attack.
"Die!"
Apart from speed, Chen Xiaobei's strength was boosted as well. Both of his hands were covered in dragon scales. With 1.6 million combat power being added unto him, his fingers were now sharper than any sword or saber in this world! The absolute speed and strength that he possessed had enabled him victory in this battle a lot sooner than he thought.
Phissh!
Phissh!
The sounds of flesh tearing could be heard by everyone. At that moment, no one would have thought that the two demigods with millions of combat power would be killed by Chen Xiaobei in a single strike! In fact, they were decapitated by him!
Woosh!
Blood spurted out from their headless bodies like a fountain.
"Trash!"
Chen Xiaobei then tossed their heads aside and glared at Wei Zhonglie and the other two elders instead.
"How… How is that even possible…"
The two elders were so shocked that they forgot to attack Chen Xiaobei. Though Wei Zhonglie had tried his best to warn his allies about Chen Xiaoebei, he still killed them in a matter of split-seconds. At the same time, people from Silver Plume Starfield started a heated conversation about it.
"This is not logical at all… Zhufeng's combat power is only 660,000! How did he come up with 1.6 million combat power in speed and strength all of a sudden?!"
"You are right… This goes against everything we know so far! Any extra speed and strength need to be powered by an extra source of power! Where did he get that?!"
"There is no way he can make it out of thin air… Maybe…"
"I know now! His extra power came from the attacks that he swallowed earlier!" said Liu Xuanxin.
It all made sense to everyone now. The two attacks that Chen Xiaobei swallowed earlier hadn't simply disappeared! Instead, it turned into extra power that enabled him to activate the sixth change of Witch Dragon Transformation, Dominate the Heaven! The special thing about this attack was that Chen Xiaobei could convert his enemies' attack to power his own attack!
Of course, there were certain limitations when it came to the Swallow All Four Seas skill. The energy that one swallowed and unleashed was like the Qi that was stored in one's Dantian! It could never be modified.
For example, the two attacks that Chen Xiaobei had just swallowed were one million combat power each! He was only allowed to unleash the attack one at a time! Unleashing a single attack that was two-million worth of combat power was simply not possible.
The difference between an elite with one million combat power and two-million combat power was their cultivation! Cultivation would decide one's energy level and tier!
For example, two persons with one-million combat power each would never be able to defeat one person with two-million combat power! Of course, that did not mean that the more you absorb, the better it would be. That was because one would first need a certain amount of health to contain all the absorbed energy.
Once, when Chen Xiaobei absorbed more than he could handle, his body was hurt badly. The reason why he dared absorb such a powerful attack was that he had reached God-Ascension Cultivation and his health was now in the millions!
"Both of my Shixiong! This kid's special ability is really unpredictable! We don't need to hold back anymore! Let's work together to kill him!" said Wei Zhonglie.
"Great!" agreed the two elders.
None of them dared to look at Chen Xiaobei because they knew that they had broken the code of Jianghu.
"You guys are going to use your Earth-God Instruments? Great! I want to test my new killing weapon as well!" said Chen Xiaobei.
"Hmph! Who are you trying to trick, you little twat?! Earth-God Instruments are not something you can just buy from the supermarket! You've already shown us the one you have. Only an idiot will believe that you have another one!" said the old man in green while the one in the grey robe hissed.
In the realms below the Heavenly Realm, only top-tier elites would possess an Earth-God Instrument!
In fact, most entry-level Earth-Gods did not even have their own Earth-God Instruments!
They were an extremely rare commodity!
It was not unexpected that the old men would not call Chen Xiaobei's bluff, that he had a second Earth-God Instrument.
Wei Zhonglie, on the other hand, was undecided. "Shixiong, don't make the mistake of being careless! What if that little bastard really does have another one?"
"What?!" His comrades were not pleased with the counterproposition.
Wei Zhonglie explained, "I've seen him carry a blood-red longsword before. I believe it is also a One-star Earth-God Instrument."
"One-star? Pfft! Please! I thought it would be something even better!" The man in the grey robe lampooned. "It's only One-star! Even if he had ten of those, he still won't be able to beat my Two-star Earth-God Instrument!"
The man in the grey robe laughed along. "Shixiong Zhang, you think too highly of this bastard! If he really does have 10 Earth-God Instruments, the sun will rise from the north!"
His friend replied, "Shidi, listen carefully – I said 'even if'! It was just a supposition! No normal man with a brain would believe that this child could be the owner of 10 Earth-God Instruments!"
Wei Zhonglie nodded. "This kid has two One-star Earth-God Instruments only. Otherwise, I would not have been able to escape the last time!"
"Pfft! Only two pieces of One-star Earth-God Instruments! And he's already acting as if he's the king of the whole universe?! What a conceited fool!" One of the elderly men said.
Then, together, both the green and grey-robed man raised their hands, "Hey bastard! Look closely! Each of us has a two-star Earth-God Instrument! We can squash you into a pulp! If you have any sense at all, get down on your knees and die! Or else, we'll make sure you wish you're dead!"
One of them had a purple machete and the other a green poisonous spear!
Both weapons glowed brightly in their hands, greatly changing the colors of the environment around them.
"Is… That a Two-star Earth-God Instrument… What formidable Spirituality…" Liu Xuanxin gasped.
Both Xiang Yu and Six-Eared Macaque were starting to feel nervous. "Xiaobei's Special Ability is powerful but not enough to combat two Two-star Earth-God Instruments! If he absorbs the two-star Earth-God Instruments' strength, he will explode and die!"
The rest of the Bei Xuan Faction disciples became like ants on a hot pan, terrified on Chen Xiaobei's behalf.
On the other side of the forest, the citizens of Silver Plume were in a fret. "What now? The enemy has two Two-star Earth-God Instruments and Mr. Chen has only two One-star Instruments! It's not even a fair fight! There's no way he could win!"
Then all of a sudden, ten rays of light shot out from Chen Xiaobei's Infinite Space Ring, along with one ray of blood-red light shooting out of his palm!
A total of 11 One-star Earth-God Instruments appeared before everyone!
Glimmering in blood-red were the Chaos Blood Sword and the Blood God's Deity-Killing painting!
The iridescent ones were the 9 Earth-God Instruments that Chen Xiaobei had taken from Royal Dome!
The eleventh Earth-God Instrument was floating around Chen Xiaobei like an orbiting moon!
Brilliant lights scattered all over the place, greatly illuminating their surroundings.
Chen Xiaobei stood under the blinding glow like a god descending from the heavens – resplendent, holy, and untouchable!
"Is…. Is this… an illusion…" Everyone standing in the forest watched the spectacle in bewilderment and disbelief.
"Is… Are those really… eleven Earth-God Instruments… My god… I cannot believe I'm seeing this…" Liu Xuanxin murmured.
They were initially worried that Chen Xiaobei was unable to fight the enemy with only two One-star Earth-God Instruments. Now, Chen Xiaobei had gone ahead and revealed eleven Earth-God Instruments!
"We… We… were so blind… Zhufeng really has eleven Earth-God Instruments… Not even a hundred of the strongest fighters could match up with Chen Xiaobei…" stammered Ning Yuchen, Liu Chen and Hu Ben.
The three of them had thought that Chen Xiaobei was just a Zero-star Black-Metal rookie but what they just witnessed was something that they and the rest of Silver Plume would never be able to forget!
"What… What in the world… How could this bastard have so many Earth-God Instruments? This is insane…"
Wei Zhonglie and his two buddies too had their mouths open wide.
Every insult and mockery they had thrown at Chen Xiaobei earlier had now turned into hard slaps across their embarrassed faces.
Even so, they refused to accept defeat.
"F*cking bastard!" The green-robed old man snapped. "So, you think you're some big shot now just because you have so many One-star Earth-God Instruments? The difference in power cannot be made up in numbers!"
His friend in the grey robe added, "Even if you have even more of these One-star Earth-God Instruments, you still won't be able to beat us! I'm afraid this a failed muscle-flexing exercise!"
"Ignorant fools!" Chen Xiaobei said coolly. "These are only One-star Earth-God Instruments. What is there to show-off? This is just the appetizer!"
Again, another four streams of light sprouted from Chen Xiaobei's Infinite Space Ring.
Lo and behold, another four Earth-God Instruments appeared next to him; their lights even brighter and Spirituality even stronger.
"Two…. Two-star Earth-God Instruments…" Both green and grey-robed men began blinking nervously. "This kid… has four Two-star Earth-God Instruments… He…"
"That…" Wei Zhonglie was sweating under his collar, his face a sickly green. "We're dead… We're all dead…"
Except for the gushing water and the chirping of insects, there was nothing but a pin-drop silence in the forest. One could almost feel the shocking, awkward silence tangibly in their tongues.
Then Chen Xiaobei broke the silence. "Listen carefully, I'll tell you what it really means to show off!"What it really meant to show off?
Chen Xiaobei had already taken out eleven One-star Earth-God Instruments!
No one in any starfield beneath Apocalypse Starfield owned that many Earth-God Instruments!
Wasn't that already considered showing off?
Then, Chen Xiaobei took out another four two-star Earth-God Instruments!
Just these four alone could put an end to Wei Zhonglie, the grey-robed old man and the green-robed old man!
If that was not showing off, then what was?
There was a mixture of curiosity, doubt, and shock among the people.
"To me, these Earth-God Instruments are rubbish!" Chen Xiaobei's lips curled into a devilish smile.
"What?! Earth-God Instruments are rubbish?!"
That one simple sentence roused the whole crowd.
Earth-God Instruments were precious valuables!
It was everyone's dream to have at least one!
They would be willing to trade anything to be able to fulfill this wild dream!
Yet, here was this Chen Xiaobei, calling his Earth-God Instruments rubbish!
He really did cross the line this time.
"Stupid kid! You are the most outrageous person I've ever met! Everything that comes out of your mouth is just a load of bullshit!" The man in the green robe boomed.
The other old man in grey robe challenged, "Since all of these Earth-God Instruments are rubbish, don't use them at all then!"
Chen Xiaobei shrugged. "As you wish! I really didn't want to use a bunch of trash anyway!"
All fifteen Earth-God Instruments dimmed and was returned into his Infinite Space Ring.
Jaws fell and gasps echoed throughout the forest.
What did it mean to show off?
Flashing 15 Earth-God Instruments at the enemy telling them that whatever they had, he had, and whatever they did not have, he had too! The things they thought were so valuable were just trash to him – completely useless!
"You shithead! You… You… so conceited…" Wei Zhonglie was red with rage.
"Hehe, I like how you can't stand the sight of me, yet you're too afraid to touch me!" Chen Xiaobei said mockingly.
"You…" Wei Zhonglie could feel his blood boil under his skin.
"You dimwit!" The green robe old man thundered. "I dare you to use none of your fifteen Earth-God Instruments! A man who does not do as he says is not a real man!"
"Heh, stretch out your necks then. I'll come and collect your heads!" Chen Xiaobei broke into a run towards the old farts.
"What? You're really coming, huh! You're just going to die! Die!" The old man in the grey robe laughed. "After we kill you, we'll kill every one of your people here! Hahaha…"
"Shixiongs! Be careful! Fight together! Kill that bastard!" Wei Zhonglie summoned his Ethereal Force and cranked it all the way up to 400,000.
"Flame Up! Tiger Fissure!" He roared, and 1 million low-grade Spiritual Stones entered his Blazing Tiger Divine Saber!
"Roaaaaaar!" The blade burst into flames, and a flaming tiger took form!
Above the flaming tiger, one could feel a surge of Ethereal Force as powerful as a One-star Earth God consuming over the entire place.
"Poison Star! Thorn Snake!" The old man in the grey robe thundered. His Ethereal Force was 1.5 million!
1,000 medium-grade Spiritual Stones (about 10 million low-grade Spiritual Stones) exploded, and the Spiritual Qi which was released into the air entered his spear!
A bright green light exploded and a giant serpent with spikes all along its body materialized.
This viper was ten times more powerful than the tiger.
"Dark Thunder! Azure Eagle!!" The old man in green also took out 1,000 medium-grade Spiritual Stones.
Rumble! Rumble!
A bolt of purple lightning flashed from the purple machete in his hands and tens of thousands of lightning bolts surged in the air. A giant eagle with a wingspan of more than a hundred meters suddenly manifested!
Like the spiky snake, the purple eagle also possessed a Two-star Earth-God's strength!
"My god… How powerful… So, this is Earth-God strength… Mr. Chen is not going to use those Earth-God Instruments… How is he going to fight them?"
The people of Silver Plume sincerely feared for Chen Xiaobei's life.
"What the hell is Xiaobei doing? Why is he doing this?" cried Liu Xuanxin whose palms were damp with nervous sweat.
"Don't be afraid! Xiaobei is the bold but reckless kind of guy! He must have his reasons!" Xiang Yu assured, although deep down inside, he was worried about Chen Xiaobei.
"He's on the move! Xiaobei is doing something!" Six-Eared Macaque cried, which threw everyone's attention to Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei was still heading for the three materialized beasts – without his fifteen Earth-God Instruments and the purple-golden Dragon Scales.
Everyone thought that he was suicidal.
But as he was drawing near to his enemies, Chen Xiaobei flicked his wrist and a black saber appeared in his hands.
"Where… Where did that saber come from?" The people gasped.
This dark saber was not among the fifteen Earth-God Instruments they saw just now.
If those Earth-God Instruments were 'rubbish', then his sword must be better than that, right?
"This… That's a…" The people's heart convulsed.
"Demonic Dragon!" Chen Xiaobei raised the saber with both hands and 100 million low-grade Spiritual Stones were burned to power it!
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