Chapter 520: Panda Mummy
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
Duanmu Huanghun’s eyes were tightly closed like a door. Behind the door, there was a world that had a great, ongoing snowstorm. Green snowflakes danced and fluttered in the air. Every snowflake was a viridescent flower. All of them were shaped differently, possessing a myriad of forms.
He was immersed in this pure, yet richly colorful, world.
The glowing pattern beneath his body changed its shape silently once more.
The nine hundred and sixtieth type of [Viridescent Flower].
…..
A breathless roar resounded through the air from the other side of the valley.
"Unity? Why not call it Transcendence?"
"It has been so many years, no one will care if it’s called Transcendence."
"Can’t he use his brain? With the name of "Transcendence" alone, we can increase the selling price of each sword by three times!"
...
No one cared about the air-dried mummy who was jumping up and down in rage. Everyone cared about their reputation. Stealing the name of an ancient sword wasn’t something that an ordinary individual would do.
"Boss, are you going to train with us?" Gu Xuan asked bluntly.
Ai Hui shut his mouth.
Nowadays, his body was becoming weaker and weaker. Whenever he walked, he felt as if he was floating. In the beginning, he was still able to use the [Imbuement of Sword Cloud] to suppress Gu Xuan and the rest. However, very soon, everyone saw through Ai Hui. They knew he was strong on the outside, but weak on the inside. Every training session consumed the lightning in the sword cloud. Right now, the sword cloud within Ai Hui’s body allowed him to execute only 10 sword moves.
For Gu Xuan and the rest, unleashing 10 sword moves in a row was no longer an issue for them.
An old fox like Gu Xuan naturally would not go head-to-head with Ai Hui. A simple sentence like that was enough to put him down in one shot. Of course, he also did not dare to really provoke Ai Hui. A few days ago, Ai Hui had just taught them a lesson. Even though Ai Hui might appear weak and delicate, he became a completely different person the moment he touched his sword hilt. Within 15 seconds, he brought them to their knees.
15 seconds!
He flattened everyone!
The sword Ai Hui used was [Edgeless Sword], which usually didn’t give off any sword rays. However, at that moment, it released an earth-shattering sword ray that flooded all of them like an angry tidal wave collapsing against a reef.
No one could see Ai Hui’s sword ray clearly.
The sword ray sent Gu Xuan flying for more than 40 meters and caused him to lie on the ground for nearly half a day. He only regained his senses when Lou Lan fed him some elemental soup.
After that incident, everyone became obedient once more. However, an old fox like Gu Xuan naturally would not lose his courage just because of a single failure. Very soon, he tried to test the waters again.
Ai Hui gave a humph. He looked as if he could not be bothered with them, but in reality he was mentally noting down their names. He would teach them a lesson one by one in the future.
Suddenly, Ai Hui raised his head and looked in another direction.
Someone was flying toward them.
Everyone, who was laughing and joking previously, became silent immediately. A vigilant look appeared on all of their faces.
"Nevermind, it’s a friend." Ai Hui waved his hand.
Upon hearing Ai Hui’s words, everyone loosened up. However, they did not have the mood to fool around anymore and continued their training.
Very soon, a familiar figure descended from the sky. It was Mu Lei, who had left not too long ago.
When Ai Hui saw that it was Mu Lei, he was very surprised. However, his facial expression had already returned to normal by this point in time. He smiled and asked, "What wind blows our Master Mu here?"
When Mu Lei saw Ai Hui’s appearance, he was startled.
Ai Hui’s entire body was wrapped up with white bandages. Initially, his eyes could still be seen. Now, his eyes were covered with two black circular crystal chips, making him look extremely weird.
Not much time had passed since he last left this place. However, Ai Hui appeared to be a few times skinnier than before, resembling an air-dried mummy. Wearing the two black crystal chips made him like a panda mummy.
Mu Lei could not help but ask curiously, "Are you eyes injured?"
Ai Hui blinked his eyes and a red glint flashed across the black crystal chips. "Somewhat."
Mu Lei felt as if he had come across this scene somewhere before…
The black crystal chips were made by Lou Lan using a fire elemental crystal. They could protect Ai Hui’s eyes from the glaring sunlight. After Ai Hui tried wearing them and realized that they were quite effective and comfortable, he had not taken them off since. Lou Lan’s workmanship was exceptional. As for the fact that he had transformed into a panda mummy from a regular mummy, a pragmatic fellow like him did not care about it at all.
Mu Lei was a very sharp individual. When he saw that Ai Hui did not want elaborate, he did not ask him any more questions.
Mu Lei carefully removed a metal box from his back. The metal box was exquisitely made with countless fine decorative designs engraved on it.
"These are the Vitality Branches that Mingxiu requested for me to deliver to you."
As Mu Lei spoke, he meticulously opened the metal box. Three metallic branches were placed within it.
Upon successfully making the delivery, Mu Lei heaved a sigh of relief. Actually, he was the one who volunteered to make the delivery this time around. He felt extremely guilty for the previous incident with the Night Moth Fruit. He felt that he had not handled the situation well.
Without being encumbered by a convoy, Mu Lei, who was a Master, was able to travel day and night to deliver the Vitality Branches within a short period of time.
"Vitality Branches?" Ai Hui’s tone was filled with curiosity and surprise.
He walked over to the metallic branches and squatted down. He could sense a faintly discernible aura coming from the three metallic branches. This aura was very unique, calm, and profound. It appeared as if it had drifted over from a very far place.
"Vitality Branches are Master Lu’s most famous work! They contain a trace of the most primordial life force. As long as you’re not dead, it will pull you back from the gates of hell." Mu Lei’s voice had a tinge of sincere respect for them.
"Really?" Ai Hui’s tone was filled with doubt.
Mu Lei’s neck thickened and flushed as he widened his eyes. With an unfriendly tone, he replied, "Of course! Humph, if it weren’t for the fact that Master Lu dotes on Miss Mingxiu, he wouldn’t have taken out these Vitality Branches for you. Moreover, he gave you three!"
Back in the day, Mu Lei’s life was saved by Lu Chen, so he was very grateful to him. Therefore, when he heard Ai Hui’s doubt, Mu Lei was very unhappy.
"So they are very expensive?"
Mu Lei regained his composure. Still feeling slightly unhappy, he could not help but sneer, "Expensive? Since when can Vitality Branches be bought with money? They are priceless. Even Grandmaster Dai acclaimed them as priceless treasures."
Upon hearing these words, Ai Hui beamed with happiness. "Senior Mingxiu is the best!"
After a while, Ai Hui asked again, "How do I use them?"
Mu Lei was momentarily stunned before answering Ai Hui, "I’m not sure, I have never used them before."
Ai Hui felt vexed. Suddenly, an idea hit him,and he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Lou Lan! Lou Lan!"
A shadowy streak sped toward Ai Hui and stopped in front of him. Cheerfully, Lou Lan said, "Lou Lan is here! Ai Hui, how can I help you?"
Ai Hui pointed at the metal chest and instructed Lou Lan, "Lou Lan, study the uses of these Vitality Branches."
Lou Lan’s eyes flickered with a red glow. He was very surprised. "Vitality Branches?"
Mu Lei finally understood why he found this scene with Ai Hui so familiar just now.
"Has Lou Lan heard of it before?" Ai Hui asked.
"Yes, Ai Hui. Vitality Branches are the most impressive creation of the White-robed Divine Physician, Lu Chen. He created Vitality Branches by treating the wood element as the spirit and the metal, water, fire, and earth elements as the soul. Every Vitality Branch contains a trace of the most primordial life force," Lou Lan explained.
"I shall hand them over to you then." Ai Hui felt greatly relieved when he heard Lou Lan’s words.
"No problem, Ai Hui!" Lou Lan replied cheerfully.
Mu Lei stared blankly at Ai Hui and Lou Lan. He could not believe that Ai Hui would leave a priceless treasure like the Vitality Branches for a sand puppet to study.
Didn’t Ai Hui know how many people were willing to pay any price to obtain a single Vitality Branch? Didn’t Ai Hui know how hard he had restrained himself from the temptation of the Vitality Branches on the way here?
"When is Master Mu leaving?" A red glint flashed across Ai Hui’s black crystal chips.
Mu Lei almost choked on his saliva. He had just arrived, hadn’t drunk a sip of water, and Ai Hui was already chasing him away?
Initially, he also wanted to leave right after he had delivered the Vitality Branches. At this moment, he changed his mind. "I will leave after you have used the Vitality Branches. Vitality Branches have a well-known reputation and I haven’t seen how magical they are before. It won’t be troublesome for you, right?"
"It’s not troublesome at all, Master Mu. You can help yourself then. I have something to tend to."
Ai Hui hurriedly left after he finished his sentence.
Mu Lei was bewildered. Was Ai Hui really that busy? As a Master, Mu Lei was treated with respect in every city. This was the first time he was being ignored.
Ai Hui was busy with what?
Feeling slightly curious, Mu Lei followed him. Lou Lan, Gu Xuan, and the rest did not try to stop him.
Ai Hui was indeed very busy. He was engulfed by an air of urgency.
Stabilizing the condition of his injury was a good start. He was slowly tapping into the power of the sword cloud. From the look of it, there were still many side effects. The growth of the sword cloud was neither fast nor slow. However, in such a desperate situation, Ai Hui felt extremely anxious. There was nothing he could do to speed up the process. Right now, the area of the clouds he could absorb could not exceed 600 square .meters.
Otherwise, the lightning he triggered would exceed the limit that his body could endure.
His body could not withstand another injury.
He could only restrain the anxiousness within him and do everything step-by-step.
Surprisingly, the training level of the Sword of Lightning’s members exceeded his expectations. Blind He’s Unity Swords had doubled everyone’s strength.
Other than strengthening the sword cloud, there was another problem that urgently needed to be resolved by Ai Hui.
How could he make the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda fly?
Initially, Ai Hui wanted to use the Northern Underworld King Tree to power it. However, he had used the tree to heal his injuries and almost all of its leaves had been plucked off. It no longer possessed the ability to power the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda.
Certainly, if he wanted the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda to fly, he would have to fill it with a surging power.
Power, not elemental energy.
Nowadays, the price of obtaining elemental energy was surging higher and higher. Due to the characteristics of the Northern Underworld King Tree, Ai Hui felt that it had the potential of being a power source for the Metal Basket Sword Pagoda.
Unlike the rich and imposing Elders Guild, Ai Hui could not build God-subduing Peaks.
Every God-subduing Peak possessed all five elements and formed a five elemental cycle. Each God-subduing Peak was made up of countless precious materials and its production cost was extremely expensive. In other people’s eyes, a God-subduing Peak was unusually mysterious. In Ai Hui’s eyes, however, there was nothing mysterious about it. A God-subduing Peak did not consume just one type of elemental energy. Instead, it consumed a power that was formed by the five elemental cycle.
This was the greatest secret of the God-subduing Peak.
Wang Shouchuan had mentioned it in his theories, but it had not been explained. Actually, Ai Hui was very impressed that the Elders Guild could study his teacher’s theories to such an extent.
When the five types of elemental energy formed a complete cycle and the cycle attained a level of equilibrium, it would automatically operate perpetually.
The power released by the five elemental cycle was called the Cyclical Force of Five Elements.
However, it was not easy for the cycle to attain equilibrium. No one had any idea on how to use the Cyclical Force of Five Elements either. Most people found that using just one type of elemental energy was more than enough. There wasn’t an urgent demand for people to find a higher form of power yet.
It was only when the terrifying blood poison swept across the Avalon of Five Elements that people realized how weak and delicate a particular type of elemental energy was when used on its own against blood spiritual force.
The prominent rise of Wang Shouchuan’s theories and the discovery of elemental traces changed everything.
This gave birth to a superweapon like the God-subduing Peaks.
Ai Hui did not have the money or resources to build a God-subduing Peak, but he had come up with other ideas.
This was because his teacher was named Wang Shouchuan.