chapter 81 - 85

Chapter 81: Battling Blood Boiling (3)

As Su Chen pointed the scroll towards Li, Li knew that the situation was not good.

In that instant, he actually still had an opportunity to dodge it.

But Su Chen gazed at him, light suddenly flickering across his eyes. Li's soul was became sluggish for an instant.

He was an Illusion Master and was skilled in soul attacks. Thus, his resistance to soul attacks was pretty powerful, and the Soul Eye could only interfere with him for an extremely short period of time.

But even less than a second was more than enough.

Boom!

The scroll opened, and the light bullets flew into the air.

Li flew into the air like a leaky sandbag.

The light bullets passed through his body, leaving behind trails of blood. As Li yelled piercingly, his body once again became sand.

The blood-stained sand flew around in midair, and the grains of sand furiously attempted to reform Li's body.

"Wanting to reform? Is it that easy?" Su Chen flipped his hand, and another Origin Energy Talisman appeared in his hand. A vigorous wind suddenly began to blow.

The strength of an Origin Energy Talisman was not as great as that of an Origin Energy Scroll, but using the wind Origin Skill to blow about the grains of sand floating around in the room was more than sufficient.

Upon being blown around by the wind, all the grains of sand in the air were dispersed.

Just as he wanted to reform again, Su Chen tossed out another wind talisman.

At the same time, he grabbed another fireball talisman and tossed it out. This time, it was to deal with the black serpent. He wanted to interfere and prevent Li from reforming in order to deal with this annoying black serpent – his Wolf Soul had already been killed by it four times, and it wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Li's body in the air continuously dispersed and attempted to reform. As he dispersed, Li loudly yelled, "How is it possible, how is it possible? How could you discover my true body?"

"Hmph, it really isn't that surprising," Su Chen replied. "For your true form to remain hidden and taking a completely different path than your illusions, I was able to tell just at a glance."

Although Li's illusions were realistic and could create plenty of chaos, once again Li's own performance was flawed. His pained expression, the hatred in his eyes, and the viciousness of his movements were all clearly different from his illusions. Of course Su Chen was able to tell in an instant.

Upon hearing this reply, Li's body of sand was clearly shocked. The face of sand displayed an incredulous expression. "You... aren't you unable to see?"

Of course, Li could have acted more realistically. After all, making moves in conjunction with the illusions was an essential quality of this skill.

But wasn't the motherfucker blind?

That's why I left out a step!

Li suddenly realized something. He began to yell, "So you aren't a blind person, you can see! You can see!"

"Correct!" Su Chen laughed.

As a reward, Su Chen threw out another fireball talisman onto the Black Serpent Staff.

As a grade eight Origin Tool, the Black Serpent Staff was very powerful. However, when faced with a Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade and Su Chen, who wasn't frugal with his money, it was completely useless.

The black serpent furiously wriggled, but in the end it couldn't withstand Su Chen's incessant barrage of fireballs. In the end, under a huge group of fireballs, the black serpent let out a sorrowful cry and reformed as the Black Serpent Staff. However, it then split into seven or eight pieces and fell to the ground.

A grade eight Origin Tool was ruined just like that.

"NO!" Li let out a pained cry.

"Don't worry, the next one will be you!" Su Chen had not prepared many of the wind Origin Energy Talismans, but they were quite useful at this point.

He then pulled out an Origin Stone, absorbing all of the energy in it and recovering the large amounts of Origin Energy that he had expended. Next, Su Chen unsealed an Origin Energy Scroll.l

This was a fireball scroll instead.

It was also a fireball, but its strength was much greater than the talisman's fireballs. With a 'BOOM' it slammed towards Li, causing the yellow dust to fly everywhere as it let out a pitiful cry.

The yellow dust flew all around the room. It suddenly gathered together in a flash, borrowing the Origin Energy waves to forcefully reform his body. Li fell to the ground.

However, underneath Li's black cloak, his yellow robe became dust, falling to the ground.

"Hmm, now your Mortal Sand Robe is also finished," Su Chen said, shaking his head.

Li did not have an Origin Skill that allowed him to turn into dust. Instead, it was the skill of his Mortal Sand Robe, a grade seven Origin Tool. Every time he encountered danger, his body would become sand to avoid the attack. He could also recover from his wounds to a certain degree upon reforming. This Mortal Sand Robe was extremely effective and could deal with many kinds of attacks. Its only weakness was that if it was continuously attacked during the transformation process, the user would temporarily be unable to reform.

It it weren't for the fact that he had learned of this weakness from Night Demon, Su Chen wouldn't have made such preparations beforehand.

The first time that Li had become sand, he had not received an injury, so he reformed relatively quickly, and Su Chen was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The second time, however, he had turned into sand after being seriously injured by the Origin Energy Bullets, and reforming would take time. Su Chen used the opportunity to deplete its Origin Energy and finished it off with a large fireball.

A good grade seven Origin Tool had been ruined by Su Chen.

Although he felt that it was a pity in his heart, Su Chen had no other choice.

His opponent was a Blood Boiling cultivator, someone who was an entire cultivation realm above him.

If it weren't for the fact that he had made meticulous preparations to counter every single one of Li's attacks and the fact that Illusion Masters were not particularly well-suited to battle, Su Chen would have no chance of winning. Thus, he had to go all out, and killing Li while preserving his Origin Tools was simply impossible.

At this moment, although Li had reformed, and his wounds had slightly recovered, he was still gravely injured. The holes on his body were present, and fresh blood poured out of the wounds.

At this point in time, Li had completely gone mad. He constantly applied Pain Impairment to himself again and again as he yelled, "YOU BASTARD, I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!"

At the same time, the metal-eating bug and Iron Cliff regained consciousness, charging towards Li.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" Li once again activated an illusion technique.

But just as he was activating his technique, Su Chen also tossed out an object.

Cracked Soul Magic Pearl.

The powerful soul attack also caused immense pain to Li's head. However, the metal-eating bug and Iron Cliff regained consciousness upon being hit by the attack. As for Su Chen, he protected himself with the Clarity Bead, so he was unharmed. However, he had consumed another usage of the Clarity Bead.

Upon seeing the person and the bug charge towards him, Li gritted his teeth and once again activated two rooting techniques.

Because he had activated multiple techniques in a row, his soul had become too exhausted, and his head hurt brutally. However, he couldn't care less as he focused his attention on the life-and-death battle before him.

Even so, a scene that stunned him once again appeared.

Just as his illusion technique flew out, a deep hum suddenly sounded out within the secret chamber, and countless amounts of azure fog once again appeared.

It was this azure fog that had done away with his Black-Yellow Plague. Now that it had appeared, it burrowed into the bodies of Iron Cliff and the metal-eating bug. They should have been rooted in place, but they were actually not affected. They leapt towards Li, their speed not decreasing in the slightest.

"Clarity Light, it's an Origin Energy Formation!" Li said with recognition.

There were many kinds of azure light that could break through the Black-Yellow Plague, but not many could also break through soul illusion techniques.

He finally understood what it was. It was an Origin Energy Formation that could break illusion techniques.

That was also to say that there was definitely an Origin Formation Disk in the secret chamber releasing this magic technique!

This damned Su Chen had prepared everything long in advance.

If Su Chen had revealed the existence of the Origin Energy Formation earlier, he definitely would devise a plan to destroy the formation disk. At that time, he would have been at his peak, and Su Chen would not have had much time to deploy it. Thus, it would be difficult for it to restrict him.

However, he was now fatigued from battle. The illusion techniques earlier were his last two.

Su Chen's activation at this point in time made it so that even if Li wanted to break through it, he no longer possessed the strength to do so.

The Origin Energy Formation was completely activated at that time. The two people and the bug were not affected by the illusion techniques and they attacked with all their strength. At this point in time, Su Chen had finally brought out all of his strength.

"KILL!" Iron Cliff howled as he struck out with the blade.

Li knew that the situation was not good, and he hurriedly retreated at full speed.

However, even as he retreated, a light flashed across Iron Cliff's feet, and his speed drastically increased.

Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots!

This bastard actually had the Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots.

But wasn't Su Chen wearing those boots at the moment?

Suddenly, Li understood. Su Chen had bought another pair of Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots. However, he had given them to Iron Cliff instead. Right when Li thought that his speed was insufficient, what waited for him was a sudden explosive attack.

Whoosh!

Another blood aura strike flew out.

It seemed as if Li was about to be split in two when suddenly he opened his mouth and spit out a bead.

The bead began to shine with a bright light, directly blocking this crucial blade strike. However, at the same time this bead was also broken.

Li took the opportunity to retreat, but his expression was gloomy.

"Bastard!" Li angrily cursed, "You have actually forced me to such a condition. However... How could I be killed by a Qi Drawing Realm cultivator and an inferior Cliff Race person who isn't even an Origin Qi Scholar yet? Charm Ape Bloodline, open for me!"

A blood-colored glow suddenly exploded out.

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Page 2

Chapter 82: Battling Blood Boiling (4)

Towards the east there was a kind of ape known as the Charm Ape. It enjoyed playing jokes by using illusions. Every time its illusions fell on humans, they would be unable to extract themselves from it.

This was the characteristic behavior of the Charm Ape.

The Charm Ape was a Demonic Beast that was an expert in illusions. It could create large-scale illusions, and torment the opponent to death in those illusions. However, this did not mean that they were weak beasts. Despite its somewhat feminine name, its physical body was quite tough and extremely powerful. It had powerful close-quarter combat Origin Skills and could do battle long-distance via its illusion techniques. It was definitely one of the most headache-inducing Demonic Beasts.

Because of this, the Demon Ape's bloodline was a rare treasure among humankind, and many Origin Qi Scholars pursued it crazily.

That year, the Immortal Temple had used the Demon Ape's bloodline to obtain Li's loyalty.

Although it was only a mixed bloodline, Li's strength still greatly increased because of it. His illusion techniques and his rise into the Blood Boiling Realm was directly related to his Charm Ape Bloodline.

Once, Li had believed that apart from those with the backgrounds of nobility, not many experts had the right to force him to use his bloodline's power.

He never expected that today he was even forced to utilize his bloodline to deal with a mere junior.

"Die, all of you!" Li said savagely.

As he spoke, Li's originally skinny and weak body actually instantly began to swell. Large muscles began to appear, and his body surged with power. Li's entire body swelled like it had been pumped full of air.

In his hand, a staff made out of Origin Energy began to form.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen's expression also became solemn.

Blood Boiling Realm cultivators were Blood Boiling Realm cultivators not just because their Origin Power was slightly stronger than Qi Drawing or that their physical body was stronger. Rather, the gap between these two realms allowed one to activate a bloodline's true power.

Those with boiling blood could have boiling bloodlines as well!

What kind of strength would be released if a bloodline began to boil? It varied from person to person and bloodline to bloodline, but regardless of what kind they were, it wouldn't be easy to deal with.

As for Li, who was clearly on the path of a mage, actually displayed close-quarter combat tendencies upon boiling his bloodline. This cause Su Chen quite a great deal of surprise.

Although the Charm Ape was not weak in close-quarter combat, it still fundamentally relied on illusions. One could only say that Li, who had a mixed bloodline, was unable to really manifest the Charm Ape's strengths. Even so, the power that it conferred still gave Su Chen quite a bit of pressure.

At this moment, Li swung the Origin Energy staff and harrumped, "Smelly brat, I will tear you to pieces!"

As he spoke, he slammed the Origin Energy staff towards Su Chen's skull, leaving behind a staff shadow.

Iron Cliff yelled loudly and rushed over. Li didn't avoid it, directly raising his barrier and forcefully intercepting the blow. The blood aura caused the barrier to collapse and it continued to strike onto Li's body. However, his body was as tough as a rock, and the cut was superficial. Although the barrier had absorbed most of the force behind the blow, the powerful defensive abilities of his muscles were still shocking.

At this same time, Li struck out with his staff thirteen times in a row, all landing on the Melted Golden Armor. As the blows hammered down, Iron Cliff was forcefully launched into the air. Next, Li hurriedly retreated, simultaneously dodging Su Chen's attack and swinging the staff once again. This time, it actually passed through the metal-eating bug's scythe-like mandibles, landing on its lower jaw and sending it flying as well. A string of movements were quickly and nimbly performed, and they all possessed great strength. It truly did demonstrate the power of a Blood Boiling expert.

Even so, this was not the end. In the next instant, Li waved his hand, and large numbers of Ghostrats once again appeared to bite Su Chen. Next, an illusion technique landed on the metal-eating bug. After all, it was the Charm Ape's bloodline. Upon activation, even depleted soul strength could be recovered somewhat, allowing Li to once again activate his illusion techniques. Next, he sent a Poisonous Wolf Claw towards iron cliff, sending him flying once again. The Origin Energy staff in his hand began to shoot downwards to the ground.

"Come out for me!"

As he howled, dust flew into the air, and a silver round disk flew into the air.

So Li's true target was still this Origin Spell Formation.

Just as the Origin Energy staff was about to slam into the silver disk, the silver disk suddenly emitted a glow of light. In this glow, Li's figure suddenly paused. He was actually slowed down quite a bit, and even his strength decreased as a result.

Su Chen took advantage of the opportunity and pulled out the Flaming Hunter Blunderbuss, sending out shot after shot towards Li.

The skin that had been firm and tough was actually instantly penetrated by the profound bullets. Li's body was already like a sieve, and suddenly a bunch more holes appeared. Even though Li had applied Pain Impairment to himself, he couldn't help but howl in pain, "Bloodline suppression?"

"What rubbish!" Su Chen coldly laughed.

Since the Clarity Bead could resist illusion techniques, why did he still need to arrange an Origin Spell Formation anyways?

Naturally, this was because the Origin Spell Formation could not only defend against illusion techniques but could also be used for other things. For example, it could counteract curse-like attacks like the Black-Yellow Plague, or it could also be used to counteract illusion bloodlines!

That was right. Since he had already made so many preparations, Su Chen could not have forgotten about dealing with Li's Charm Ape bloodline.

This Origin Spell Formation disk was designed to suppress the Charm Ape bloodline.

Unfortunately, the Origin Spell Formation disk mainly suppressed illusions. The strength that Li had received from the Charm Ape bloodline was mostly physique-based, so its full potential could not be completely displayed. Even so, it could still suppress it to a certain degree.

Although Li had been injured, his savage attitude had not decrease. Once again, he howled, "OPEN!"

He once again activated an illusion technique, and four Li's simultaneously appeared, while four Origin Energy staffs struck down towards the metal-eating bug, Iron Cliff, Su Chen, and the Origin Spell Formation disk. Su Chen was unable to tell which one was the real one.

This time, he made sure to sell the whole package. The four Li's were entirely identical.

However, Su Chen didn't need to determine which was real.

He activated the Cloud-Stepping Boots and the Snaking Mist Steps. He dodged the Li who was attacking himself and the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade stabbed towards the Li attacking the Origin Spell Formation disk. He didn't need to worry about anything except protecting the Origin Spell Formation disk.

Bang!

The illusion dissipated.

It was fake.

Su Chen was slightly surprised. This was his first time miscalculating that Li's true attack would not actually be directed towards the Origin Spell Formation disk.

In that instant, the Li attacking the metal-eating bug suddenly turned around, and the Origin Energy staff struck out towards Su Chen's chest. "This is the real body!"

Li laughed loudly.

This staff strike was directed straight at Su Chen's vitals, and he had no way of blocking it even if he activated the Amethyst Battle Armor's barrier.

With a thunderous "BANG", Su Chen was heavily hit by the staff. He was sent flying.

Even so, the resounding clang of metal unsettled Li. No matter how he listened to it, it didn't sound like the attack would do Su Chen much harm.

Su Chen flipped a few times in the air before landing on the ground. A trace of blood appeared in the corner of his mouth.

Even so, that was the only consequence.

"You're fine?" Li was shocked.

Su Chen tilted his head. "I said already that I already know that you know the Amethyst Battle Armor's weakness."

He stood up. The clothes had torn where he had been struck by the Origin Energy staff, revealing a small bronze mirror inside.

Heart Protecting Mirror!

Li was so angry that he almost cursed.

This bastard had truly prepared quite well.

He actually had the Heart Protecting Mirror!!

Li almost went crazy.

Even so, this was not everything that Su Chen had prepared.

His wrist flicked, and a flying dagger suddenly appeared in Su Chen's hand. That flying dagger also glowed with Origin Energy.

Origin Energy flying dagger!

This was a kind of one-time use Origin Tool. It was extremely powerful, but its price was quite steep. One dagger cost five hundred Origin Stones.

Su Chen's wrist flicked again, and an Air Congealing Talisman appeared in his hand, causing the air around Li to congeal. This talisman would cause everyone within the affected area to have delayed reactions. Next, he tossed out the flying dagger.

At this time, Li's bloodline had been suppressed, his defenses were weakened, his sand robe had been destroyed, he had already used his barrier, and now even his speed had been limited. When faced with the flying dagger, it seemed as if he had no way out.

At that moment, Li's eyes began to bleed. "Block it for me!"

At that moment, a figure suddenly charged forwards, directly blocking the Origin Energy flying dagger. It was actually the metal-eating bug.

Li had actually forcefully controlled the metal-eating bug's movements.

The Origin Energy in the dagger surged as it exploded, causing even the thick-shelled metal-eating bug to let out pained whimpers as it retreated, furiously shaking its head.

"Dammit, I'm losing control of it," Iron Cliff yelled.

The metal-eating bug didn't like battles in the first place, and it would only very reluctantly battle under Iron Cliff's control. Now that its soul had been forcefully seized by Li, causing it to be heavily struck by the flying blade, it finally began to go on strike, refusing to continue battle.

Without being impeded by the metal-eating bug, Li instantly waved his hand. First, another soul illusion technique rooted Iron Cliff. Next, he went all-out to generate illusions of himself, charging towards Su Chen simultaneously. "Die for me!"

Four illusions slammed towards Su Chen.

At this time, the Amethyst Battle Armor had already been used. Su Chen didn't know which illusions to dodge, so he could only activate the Snaking Mist Steps and retreat at high speeds. At the same time, he pulled out a pile of Origin Energy talismans from his storage ring, tossing them at Li.

Li furiously waved the Origin Energy staff. His combat strength had reached its peak in that instant, actually blocking most of the attacks.

Bang!

The Origin Energy staff landed on an object, making a strange ringing "clang".

He originally thought that it was some kind of secret weapon. However, upon looking at it more closely, it was actually just a piece of ore that landed below its feet.

Li exhaled in relief and laughed savagely. "So you've finally run out of tactics? You actually even used starsilver ore as a secret weapon. Die for me..."

The Origin Energy staff furiously waved through the air, slamming onto the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade so forcefully that Su Chen was almost unable to stand up.

Su Chen, however, continued to laugh. "The one that will die is you."

Li was stunned for a moment. An indescribable feeling of threat suddenly rose in his heart.

However, he had no time to even determine where this sense of danger came from before he felt a sharp pain in his back.

Pu!

Two huge mandibles had pierced through his body, tearing open half his body. The metal-eating bug was like a berserk mammoth, using its mandibles to send Li flying into the air before charging towards its beloved metals.

At the same time, Su Chen leapt forwards, stabbing the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf Blade into Li's body. The blade's edge pierced through it, nailing Li to the nearby rock wall.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Li let out a despairing cry, the Origin Energy staff slamming towards Su Chen's abdomen. The strike injured Su Chen's intestines, causing him to spit out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Iron Cliff charged over from the other side. The Black Streak Battle Blade pierced through his neck. At the same time, his left hand penetrated Li's chest.

As Li spit out fresh blood, he counterattacked with a Poisonous Wolf Claw, penetrating the Melted Golden Armor and lodging itself in Iron Cliff's shoulder.

Su Chen's left hand pulled out another Origin Energy flying dagger. The concentrated Origin Energy directly pierced through Li's temple.

Even so, Li refused to die. His right hand tossed away the staff and once again activated the Poisonous Wolf Claw, digging into Su Chen's abdomen. Half of his hand was stuck into Su Chen's stomach.

Three people, six hands simultaneously pierced into the other person's body. They were deadlocked for a moment, not moving at all.

After a moment, Li's head drooped.

Died.

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Page 3

Chapter 83: Treasure

After an excruciatingly, violent battle, Li had died.

The instant that Li fell over, Su Chen and Iron Cliff basically sat down at the same time.

Su Chen's wounds were not light, and Iron Cliff was not in a much better situation. Although he had not been injured, he was wearing an extremely heavy armor, and he was using the energy-draining Black Streak Battle Blade. He was mentally drained from the illusions, and had almost killed himself due to fatigue.

Su Chen patched up the bleeding in his midsection, but Iron Cliff was so weak that he couldn't even lift a single finger.

One had to admit that Li's strength was shocking, and it was enough to show Su Chen the true difference between cultivation realms.

If it weren't for the fact that his preparations had been extremely thorough, and he had not been afraid to spend money to buy the Clarity Bead, the Origin Spell Formation, Origin Energy flying dagger, Heart Protecting Mirror, Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots, as well as large quantities of Origin Energy talismans and scrolls and recovery medicines, he would not have stood a chance of winning.

One could say that in this battle Li had died not because of Su Chen's strength but rather because of his scheming and wealth.

One party had a deep understanding of his opponent, had all the countermeasures, knew his opponent's roots and foundation, and used his money to beat his opponent. The other party made mistake after mistake in his judgment, and he didn't even know that Su Chen wasn't blind. Thus, it was not incredibly strange that he was beaten by someone much weaker than him.

From this fight, Su Chen realized how important secrets were. He decided he definitely must not lightly expose his own tactics. The more his own strength was revealed, the more likely the opponent was to take the appropriate countermeasures.

However, these matters could be taken care of later.. At the moment, his focus was on absorbing the Origin energy released from Li's body.

When people died, there was still Origin Energy that could be absorbed

Before, when other people were present, Su Chen couldn't absorb it from the dead. Now that it was just him and Iron Cliff, he naturally didn't need to be polite.

Su Chen pressed the Melted Golden Armor, causing it to fall off. Su Chen then pulled Iron Cliff out of it and began to help him absorb Origin Energy motes.

As they absorbed one Origin Energy mote after another, Su Chen and Iron Cliff recovered a small portion of their energy.

Iron Cliff seemingly had not had time to reflect on the battle that had just occurred. As he absorbed the Origin Energy, he said, "We killed a Blood Boiling Realm cultivator, master. We actually killed someone in the high-layer Blood Boiling Realm!"

"That's right, but it's nothing to brag about." Su Chen focused all his attention on absorbing, until the last Origin Energy mote had dissipated.

In Su Chen's eyes, this really was not much to brag about. After all, he had the advantage in numbers, he had prepared for the battle, and he had spent tens of thousands of Origin Stones to do so. In addition, his opponent was an Illusion Master who was not suited for direct combat and who had already expended quite a significant amount of energy earlier that day.

"That is because Master's path is only beginning. There will be one day when Master's strength will be sufficient to defeat opponents a layer higher than you," Iron Cliff said as he took off the boots.

The Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots had finally broken after this battle.

"Oh? You have that much faith in me?" Su Chen laughed.

Iron Cliff forcefully nodded his head, indicating that he definitely was not trying to flatter Su Chen.

"Okay, I agree with what you said. I will fight to achieve the day where what you say is real." Su Chen stood up, holding his abdomen tightly. After using a recovery medicine, his wounds had recovered significantly. However, the Poisonous Wolf Claw's poison was somewhat of a bother, and it would take time to completely get rid of it. However, its influence had already lessened.

"As for right now, we should see how much treasure there is since we fought so hard for it. If Li Mingtang left only a little, then it will not have been worth it at all," Su Chen said.

For this battle, he had spent close to thirty thousand Origin Stones. Although he still had quite a bit left over,

He didn't get very much from Li's body. Anything of value that he had possessed was broken, and anything that he could have used had been used. All that remained were a few common rings, some pure gold and medicinal pills as well as some worthless scraps. All in total, it was only worth about a few hundred Origin Stones.

Thankfully, the main spoils were not those on Li's body.

Upon entering the second secret chamber, Su Chen saw a large iron trunk.

Su Chen still had Iron Cliff don the Melted Iron Armor to open it. However, this time the trunk didn't contain any secret mechanisms, only large amounts of gold, silver, and precious stones.

There were not many jewels, the few in the trunk were precious and rare, and they were worth more as well. Su Chen calculated that just this trunk of jewels was worth fifty thousand taels of pure gold. If adding on the twenty thousand from the outside secret chamber and the thirty thousand from the Golden Name Workshop, it was a perfect hundred thousand.

But was this all that remained in the entire Shadow Mountain Troops, which had a Yang Opening cultivator?

Su Chen still didn't believe it.

This still wasn't the fortune that Li Mingtang should possess.

Su Chen searched the rest of the place thoroughly. In the end, he finally found a ring underneath a pile of earth in the corner.

The ring was pitch black and didn't seem that eye-catching. However, as soon as he laid eyes on it, Su Chen's heart began to tremble.

Origin Ring!

This was an Origin Ring!

As the name implied, this was a true spatial ring. It was a ring that could store Origin Tools and Origin Stones.

With it, Su Chen could store all of his Origin Tools and Origin Stones in the ring instead of carrying them around with him. More importantly, its empty space was also greater than normal storage rings, more than enough to allow Su Chen store significantly more.

And within this ring, there was still a large number of Origin Stones.

They were all mid-grade Origin Stones.

Each mid-grade Origin Stones was worth a hundred low-grade stones. There was roughly around a thousand mid-grade Origin Stones here, so in total it was worth a hundred thousand low-grade Origin Stones.

Aside from this, there were actually a few rarely seen medicinal herbs, ten or so Origin Crystals and a Demonic Beast's bone. A Demonic Beast's bone was a bone that varied depending on the Demonic Beast it was extracted from. It reportedly had an unimaginable power, and it could also be used to refine a bloodline medicine. This strange bone was a crystal treasure, and it emitted a slight pressure. Evidently, it must have been from an extremely powerful Demonic Beast. Just this strange bone alone was worth a hundred thousand Origin Stones. The Origin Crystals and medicines were also worth roughly a total of a hundred thousand Origin Stones.

That was to say that the ring contained a total of 300,000 Origin Stones worth of items. The Origin ring itself was also worth about twenty thousand Origin stones. When adding on all of the gold, silver, and precious stones outside, everything was worth a total of 400,000 Origin Stones.

This was Li Mingtang's real fortune!

At this moment, even Su Chen had to laugh.

He already had 250,000 Origin Stones as a foundation, and now he had earned another large sum of money. He could be considered to have sprinted from poverty into moderate prosperity.

With this fortune, Su Chen's cultivation path would become much easier.

Once he obtained this treasure, he didn't stay much longer and left with Iron Cliff. Before leaving, he didn't forget to restore the secret chamber to its original state, destroying Li's corpse as well. He destroyed the corpse to eliminate any traces of his own presence.

He left the mountain and did not tarry, heading directly for Northface City under the cover of night.

Upon arriving at Northface City, the sky had already begun to brighten.

Su Chen cleaned himself up before calling Zhou Hong and saying, "Go now to the city's west gate and wait for a person there.

"Who?"

"Zhang Song."

Upon hearing this name, Zhou Hong was clearly startled.

Su Chen continued, "When you see him return, don't let him notice you. Immediately return to the palace, and I will let Mingshu wait for you at the door. After you bring that information to Mingshu, you can rest. Remember, apart from Mingshu, don't tell anyone else."

Zhou Hong accepted the orders and left.

Su Chen then called Mingshu over, giving him another set of commands before sighing in relief.

He had been battling for two continuous days. Although Origin Qi Scholars could absorb the nearby Origin Energy to nurse themselves back to health, Su Chen was exhausted. After giving out his orders, his attention relaxed. The accumulated exhaustion washed over him like a wave, and Su Chen fell into a deep sleep.

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Page 4

Chapter 84: Scheme

Perhaps because he was too exhausted, his sleep was extremely sweet. Su Chen began to dream. He dreamed that he had successfully entered the Hidden Dragon Institute and became the number one Heaven's Chosen of Long Sang Country. With the support of his miraculous eyes, his progress was stunning. Afterwards, he obtained an ancient Origin Beast's bloodline, and broke through all bottlenecks before becoming an expert, then marrying Gu Qingluo. Just when his life was the most happy, the beast wave arrived. Su Chen charged into battle and defeated the Beast Emperor, but very quickly he ran into an even more powerful and frightening Giant Beast.

That Giant Beast was the size of a small mountain. Every step it took shook the earth. It charged towards the human armies, and in one breath it blew away them all away like smoke. Su Chen expended great effort to battle it, but all he saw was two giant hands reaching for him from the horizon and grabbing him. Su Chen had no way of escaping them. He felt suffocated as he was being furiously shaken...

"Young Master, Young Master!" Mingshu shook Su Chen.

"Ah!" Su Chen instantly sat up and grabbed Mingshu's throat.

"Young Master... let go..." Mingshu arduously squeezed out, his eyes beginning to roll into the back of his head.

"Mingshu?" Su Chen hurriedly released his hand.

Mingshu massaged his throat as he retreated. "Young Master, you told me to come get you just to choke me to death?"

"Uhh." Su Chen regained clarity. "Sorry, I had a nightmare."

Then, he thought of something and asked Mingshu, "He arrived?"

Mingshu nodded his head. "Zhou Hong saw him at the city gate. He wasn't riding a horse; he returned on foot. He appeared extremely pitiful, and his face was bruised. It looked like he had fallen into a ditch yesterday evening, and his clothing was also tattered. At this moment, he is still limping back to the palace, so it will be a while before he can return."

"Then that's fine. What time is it right now?"

"Late afternoon. Mealtime just passed, but do you want to eat something first?"

"There's no need." Su Chen silently praised Night Demon; he hadn't expected that this dumb girl was actually pretty reliable. Indeed, he had returned in the afternoon, just as Su Chen had requested.

Su Chen got out of bed and after making himself presentable, he said, "Go call Jianxin for me and then wait for me at the palace entrance. When you see Zhang Song, do as I told you to do earlier today."

"Yes, sir." Mingshu left.

A moment later, Jianxin arrived. "What orders does Young Master have?"

"I want to go to the Virtuous Gift Residence. Come along with me."

"Hm?" Jianxin was instantly stunned.

The Virtuous Gift Residence was Su Keji's residence. Why would Su Chen run there for seemingly no reason?

"I want to talk to Second Uncle," Su Chen replied.

What is there to talk about between the two of you? Jianxin criticized silently, but he still agreed outwardly.

Virtuous Gift Residence.

Su Keji, as per usual, held onto his favorite Spring Flat Stone Jar made out of redsand and went to his backyard, lying down on a large rocking chair and beginning his afternoon rest. He didn't forget to hum a few lines of Huang Ciyan's "Treasure Pavilion" Aria.

An underling hurried in from outside. "Master, Fourth Young Master is asking to see you."

"Oh, what is it... What did you say? Fourth Young Master?" Su Keji instantly sat up, gazing at his underling with shock.

"Yes, Fourth Young Master Su Chen is asking to meet you!" the underling repeated.

Su Chen? Why did he come to find me?

Su Keji couldn't figure out what Su Chen was trying to do for quite some time.

After being stunned for a while, he waved his hand and said, "Let him come in."

A moment later, Su Chen and Jianxin appeared in Su Keji's courtyard.

Su Chen clasped his hands towards Su Keji and said, "Nephew Su Chen greets Second Uncle."

Su Keji coldly watched Su Chen. "Tell me, why are you here?"

Su Chen laughed, "How can Second Uncle speak in such a way? Nephew is here specifically to visit Second Uncle. Do I need a special objective?"

Specifically here to visit me?

Su Keji quivered. He couldn't help but look at the sky, in order to confirm that the sun had not arisen from the other side. His gaze first landed on Su Chen before moving to Jianxin.

Jianxin spread his hands out, indicating that he didn't know what had possessed Su Chen today either.

Su Keji coldly harrumphed, "Visit me? Is it to see whether or not I died?"

Su Chen laughed. "Why does Second Uncle put it that way? No matter what, we are both members of the Su Clan. As members of the same clan, we should forgive each other. Why is it that we have become enemies as soon as we see each other?"

Su Keji laughed loudly. "Forgive each other? When you beat Su Qian, did you not think about whether or not he was a clan member?"

Su Chen sighed, "When Second Uncle racked his brains to change the testing method, did you not think of me as a clan member either?"

"Scoundrel!" Su Keji instantly stood up. "Su Chen, did you come here just to provoke me?"

"I just want to know if our hostility can be turned into friendship."

"So you came here to plead for mercy?"

"No, Second Uncle, I am asking for peace, not mercy."

"Peace? You and I have had no peace to speak of for a long time now!"

"Perhaps that is the case. After all, as a human I am still subject to fate."

Su Keji's eyes squinted. "I understand. You came here today to intentionally let everyone think that it was you who sought peace, and it was me that didn't agree. That way others would think that I was bullying you and creating internal conflict, right?"

Su Chen indifferently said, "However Second Uncle wants to interpret it is up to Second Uncle. If Second Uncle is unhappy, you can forcefully evict me from here."

"I won't fall for your trap," Su Keji harrumphed. "I will make Qian'er break your legs on the battle stage. At that time, no one will have any more words to say."

The uncle and nephew finally tore down any remaining vestiges of pretence, and all that remained was bitter hatred and cursing.

Su Chen didn't get angry. Instead, he continued to exchange verbal blows with Su Keji. It seemed as if he wanted to thoroughly vent the grievances of the past few days.

Just as they were sparring verbally, a loud ruckus began to sound outside.

Su Keji unhappily said, "What happened outside?"

An underling came to report, "Master, Mingshu and Zhang Yuan began to fight over a small matter."

"Hmph, it seems that the slave takes after the owner. This Mingshu is quite a nuisance," Su Keji angrily said.

"Who was right and who was wrong is not easy to say. Does Second Uncle want to appraise the situation with me?"

"Okay!" Su Keji strode out of the pavilion.

Outside, Mingshu and the servant known as Zhang Yuan were locked in a scuffle.

Su Keji walked out, angrily asking what was the matter. The two of them finally untangled themselves from each other. Zhang Yuan stood up, wearing a wronged expression. He said that he didn't know why, but Mingshu had suddenly slammed into him as they were walking. Before he was even able to get angry, Mingshu had cursed him out. He wasn't unable endure the insult and began to fight it out with him.

They were talking and arguing, but Su Chen's attention was no longer present there. He was looking behind everyone.

A person entered the residence from outside.

Zhang Song!

He had finally returned, after Su Chen had arranged everything.

Upon seeing Zhang Song return, Su Chen suddenly said, "Jianxin."

"Young Master?"

"I think I forgot my fan in Second Uncle's courtyard. Go help me find it."

"Yes, Young Master." Jianxin turned around and entered the courtyard.

"Make sure to search thoroughly and carefully," Su Chen said, his words profound with meaning.

At the same time, Zhang Song had finally made contact with Su Keji.

Upon seeing Zhang Song, whom he had been expecting with the medicine, Su Keji evidently had no interest in this small matter anymore. He pulled Zhang Song into a side room and talked to him privately for a moment before receiving a box from Zhang Song. Upon opening it and making sure that there was nothing wrong with it, he let out a sigh of relief, then grabbed the box and returned to his courtyard.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Chen's mouth quirked upwards in a smile as he said, "Mingshu, let's go."

Mingshu hurried over.

The servant named Zhang Yuan didn't have any common sense. Upon seeing that the person who had bullied him was about to leave, he leapt over and said, "Fourth Young Master, this matter isn't over yet."

Su Chen sent out a fist and sent him flying. "It's over now."

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Page 5

Chapter 85: Meg's Guardian

At the end of every year, every clan and household would become extremely busy.

Every household had to say goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new spring. Businesses needed to settle all their accounts. Those who needed to be rewarded were rewarded, and those who needed to be given a bonus were given it. Public officials needed to be adjusted; those who needed to be promoted were promoted, and those who needed to be demoted were demoted. Every clan would prepare for their own end-of-year competition, evaluating and selecting their top disciples. Those who needed to be praised would be praised, and those who needed to be reprimanded were reprimanded.

Long before Su Chen returned from the Scarlet Mountain Range, the Su Clan had already begun preparations for the end-of-year competition.

This was the meeting of the Su Clan's third-generation disciples; an opportunity to compare their martial arts and skills, displaying their loftiness.

It wasn't just the crown of strongest disciple that attracted people. Disciples who were strong would fight for the crown, while younger ones would contend for a position of their own. Whenever the end of the year drew near, everyone would be bitterly engrossed in cultivation, making their last preparations for the great battle.

Su Tong, the Su Clan's grand elder's beloved grandson earned third place in the last competition. Perhaps because he had been stimulated by Su Chen, not long ago he had also headed to the Scarlet Mountain Range. Of course, he didn't go because of punishment, and he had also taken along a few escorts, so the safety of his journey greatly increased. While the amount of experience that he gained might have suffered as a result, when he returned from the Scarlet Mountain Range, his entire person's temperament had become stronger overall.

Su Ling'er, the granddaughter of Fourth Elder Su Meixi, was fourteen this year. A year ago she had gone to her mother's clan and had returned not long ago. Her strength had risen from the seventh layer of Body Tempering to the eighth layer. Her target was not to obtain the crown this year, but next year. At that time, Su Chen, Su Qian and the others would be over sixteen and wouldn't be able to participate in the competition. At that time, the title of the strongest Su Clan's third generation member would be Su Ling'er's to claim.

In addition, Su Yue, Su Xing, and the other Su Clan's disciples were all using their own methods to struggle for recognition.

Of course, the two that people paid the most attention to were still Su Chen and Su Qian.

Su Chen did not need to say anything. Ever since returning from the Scarlet Mountain Range twice, he shone like a sun in midday among the Su Clan's third-generation individuals. No one dared to humiliate him because he was "blind".

As for Su Qian, he had disappeared.

No one knew where Su Qian had gone. However, based on Su Keji's expression, everyone could tell that he was supremely confident about the outcome of this year's end-of-year competition.

On the twelfth day of Su Chen's return from Shadow Mountain, the end-of-year competition was now only three days away.

Today, as per usual, Su Chen was cultivating in the back mountain.

Unlike other people, Su Chen only cultivated his Origin Skills.

Tang Zhen had translated another two of the ancient Arcana scripts. They were a large fireball technique and a technique called Meg's Guardian.

In ancient times, because the Arcana Race's history of studying and using Origin Energy had just begun, there was a common practice of using one's own name to name the Origin Skill. For example, similar styles of defensive barriers would have different names and different shapes and sizes as long as they had different Origin Energy Patterns.

This was completely different from the current age. Current defensive barriers had become more and more polished over the tens of thousands of years. As the overgrowth of techniques was pruned, what remained was mainly the most cost-effective Origin Skills. Although this method increased the practicality of most Origin Skills, it had also decreased the variety of Origin Skills. The skills became more homogenized, and individual peculiarities began to decrease. Simply put, a standard procedure had been implemented. In comparison, the defensive magic barriers that ancient Arcana techniques created could have various flaws and insufficiencies, yet because of this they would also have their own unique characteristics.

For instance, current Origin Skills were primarily aimed towards using the smallest amount of Origin Energy and activate the barrier Origin Skill in the shortest amount of time. In order to preserve the most usage of Origin Energy, when these barriers were broken they would often release a powerful, surging attack. Li's magic barrier had done just that. However, Meg's Guardian followed a completely different train of thought. The inventor of this magic barrier had never considered how to utilize the Origin Energy most effectively and efficiently. In his eyes, the only reason for magic barriers to exist was to defend!

So how could one reach the peak of defensive abilities?

The barrier's inventor used a unique train of thought to address this problem – unlimited superimposition.

Truthfully, the defensive capabilities of Meg's barrier were quite average. However, the barrier had a unique characteristic – it could be layered an infinite number of times. As long as one wanted it, one could continue to layer on barrier after barrier.

However, every time an extra barrier layer was added, the amount of Origin Energy consumed would be increased additively. For instance, if one Meg's Guardian required two White Stars of origin Energy, the second Meg's Guardian would require four, the third would require six, and so on.

This was also the reason why Ulrich had not used this technique in such a way from the very beginning. Its consumption rate was just too great.

However, although it was quite weak, one could not deny that under special circumstances this barrier would have uses that could exceed one's own cultivation layer.

Until this point, Su Chen had not discovered a defensive Origin Skill of his own, so he wasn't picky. Having learned this Origin Skill, his survivability had greatly increased.

The large fireball was very representative of a traditional attack Origin Skill. It was a very commonplace, standard skill, present from ancient Arcana techniques to current Origin Skills. There wasn't much more that could be talked about. Su Chen had actually wanted the Origin Energy Bullets. This powerful Origin Skill could create single or multiple bullets. However, its pattern was simply too complicated, and Tang Zhen had not been able to translate it even now. Translating cultivation writings required extreme caution. After all, if one mistake was made, it could result in a loss of life while cultivating.

In fact, what Su Chen wanted most was the Shadowform Substitute, which was the best Origin Skill to increase one's survival. It was extremely useful for escaping and could be applied even at the Yang opening Realm. Unfortunately, this Origin Skill was even more complicated compared to the Origin Energy Bullets, so he could not hope for it in the near future.

Ten days of cultivation coupled with wanton, crazy use of Origin Stones allowed Su Chen's grasp of these two Origin Skills to greatly increase.

Su Chen had already grasped five different Origin Skills. Adding on these two meant that Su Chen now controlled seven. For a beginner Qi Drawing Realm Origin Qi Scholar, this was already quite a few.

Most Origin Qi Scholars wouldn't learn so many Origin Skills; in fact, most people only needed to learn one or two. After all, these were all low-level Origin Skills which would be abandoned in the future. No matter how many he learned now, they would not be very useful as he progressed. When considering the fact that cultivating Origin Skills didn't increase one's cultivation base, very few people were willing to waste so much time on this aspect.

However, to Su Chen, who could see the Origin Energy motes, increasing his battle prowess was equivalent to increasing his cultivation rate as he could more effectively kill beasts. Thus, he didn't share the same worries that other people had. When adding on the two huge hauls that he had recently earned, he had no other place to expend his Origin Stones. Thus, he was only afraid of having too few Origin Skills, not having too many.

Twelve days of cultivation had allowed Su Chen's strength to once again increase significantly.

As he was cultivating, Mingshu suddenly ran over. "Young Master, Young Master!"

"What's the matter?" Su Chen casually added a third barrier of Meg's Guardian to himself. Under situations where he wasn't being attacked, the barrier would only disappear automatically after an extended period of time. Su Chen didn't bother waiting, directly utilizing Meg's Guardian's characteristic of unlimited superimposition to practice his control. Although this would greatly increase his rate of Origin Energy consumption, didn't he have plenty of Origin Stones?

With money, one could afford to be more reckless.

"Su Qian has returned," Mingshu replied.

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