Chapter 421: Holy Fire Manor’s Strength
Xia Xiyan laughed softly, “Ha! Ha! You ask quite a lot of questions. When I first arrived, I was exactly like that. Regardless whether it is a fight for territory, Spirit Vein, or precious treasures, they are all very common. After a while, you get used to it and will not feel any particular way.”
The two chatted as they sped forward. Soon, they arrived at Heavenly Spring Island.
The island was so large that it could no longer be called an island. It seemed at least ten times larger than White Water City.
Under Xia Xiyan’s suggestion, Xiao Chen went to the largest city on the island. It was named after the island, Heavenly Spring City.
“We shall part here. Thank you once again for helping me. If you have time, come to the Clear Spring Inn to find me.”
After the two entered the city, Xia Xiyan bade Xiao Chen goodbye.
Xiao Chen nodded and headed to the shops in the city center. While on the way to the city earlier, Xia Xiyan told him a little about the Holy Fire Manor’s strength.
In the southern group, the Holy Fire Manor was one of the stronger powers. However, compared to the Dark Church and the Blood Wolf Gang, as well as some of the other powers in the Ancient Desolate Land, they were significantly weaker.
The Manor Lord of the Holy Fire Manor was a Martial Monarch. There was also a consecrate who was a Martial Monarch. After that, there were ten-odd elders; they were all half-step Martial Monarchs. Old Qin was one of those elders.
Given this, Xiao Chen relaxed. The odds of the Holy Fire Manor sending an elder to capture him were not high.
After all, Old Qin was only an elder. It was difficult for him to order another elder around. As long as there were no half-step Martial Monarchs, Xiao Chen could flee easily, even if the opponent were a peak Superior Grade Martial King.
Many people wandered the streets in the city. Most of them were ordinary people who did not cultivate.
However, there were many experts as well. There were numerous Martial Kings. Occasionally, Xiao Chen saw one or two peak Superior Grade Martial Kings.
What surprised Xiao Chen the most was that he saw many Fiend Cultivators. They looked different from humans.
For instance, Bull Fiends had small horns on their heads, and the Heavenly Wolf Fiends had sharp ears and silver eyes. Some Fiend races did not even look human.
Some had thick fur or long tails. However, most people were extremely calm when they saw these Fiend Cultivators. They were not afraid at all.
Even the ordinary people were not frightened. Instead, only Xiao Chen looked around, clearly surprised.
“Brat! What are you looking at? What is there to look at? I will rip you apart with my bare hands!”
Suddenly, someone shouted at Xiao Chen. The voice was thunderous, causing the eardrums to feel pain.
It was a Tiger Fiend cultivator who was two meters tall and very stout. Thick yellow fur covered his body.
When the Tiger Fiend saw Xiao Chen starting at him, he felt extremely annoyed. He opened his jaws and bellowed at him.
The Tiger Fiend’s fist crackled as he walked over to Xiao Chen with a blazing aura.
The thunderous noise attracted the attention of countless people on this large street. Those people did not seem to find the situation strange. When they saw that there was some excitement, they immediately came to watch.
Xiao Chen could not help but feel embarrassed. He did not expect his moment of curiosity to attract trouble. Based on the Tiger Fiend cultivator’s aura, he should be a regular Medial Grade Martial King.
“My apologies. I have just arrived at the Ancient Desolate Land and felt curious. I apologize for my rudeness. Here are two hundred Medial Grade Spirit Stones.”
It was better to avoid trouble if he could help it. Xiao Chen had already offended the Holy Fire Manor. Furthermore, Old Qin had a few companions with him. It would not behoove him to cause a scene.
Furthermore, Xiao Chen was in the wrong in this matter. He stared at another person as if he were a monster for no good reason at all. Anyone would be irritated at that. If he could settle this issue with some Spirit Stones, then all would be well.
The Tiger Fiend cultivator caught the bag Xiao Chen had tossed. He counted the Spirit Stones and said, “Two hundred is too little. Hand over a thousand Medial Grade Spirit Stones; otherwise, you can forget about leaving here alive.”
Looking at the situation, the Tiger Fiend was trying to cheat Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen’s expression turned cold and said, “Sorry. I have the Spirit Stones, but I’m not giving them to you.”
The Tiger Fiend cultivator’s expression turned livid as he said, “You are really a reckless fool. Even if you hand over the Spirit Stones now, it would be useless! Die!”
The Tiger Fiend cultivator roared and pushed off the ground ferociously. Tiny cracks appeared on the street. His figure flickered as his large fist punched violently towards Xiao Chen.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The image of a ferocious tiger seemed to appear on the fist. The Tiger Fiend cultivator’s aura instantly surged as he sent out a fist wind, creating an intense sonic boom.
“Ka ca!”
Xiao Chen was about to make a move when a purple-clothed man leaped down from a restaurant to the side.
The purple-clothed man spread apart his fingers and grabbed the Tiger Fiend cultivator’s fist. The stranger easily dispersed the fist wind with a surging aura. No matter how hard the Tiger Fiend cultivator struggled, he could neither advance nor retreat.
The purple-clothed man turned and said to the Tiger Fiend cultivator, “Return the Spirit Stones, and you may leave.”
“Jiang Zimo…” When the Tiger Fiend cultivator saw the purple-clothed man’s face, his expression immediately changed. He handed over the bag of Spirit Stones and quickly left.
When the surrounding crowd saw that the excitement had ended, they scattered and returned to their own matters.
Jiang Zimo tossed the bag of Spirit Stones to Xiao Chen. Then, he smiled gently and said, “Don’t be so generous next time. Here are your Spirit Stones.”
Xiao Chen caught the bag. Then, he looked the elegant, handsome, tall, and imposing purple-clothed man. He muttered to himself for a while before saying, “You are a Fiend as well. Why are you helping me?”
When Jiang Zimo saw that Xiao Chen figured out his identity, he was not too surprised. He smiled and said, “I am not helping you. I am helping them. With your strength, even if he worked with his companions, they would not be a match for you.”
Aside from a cyan rhombus mark on Jiang Zimo’s forehead, he did not have any Fiend characteristics.
Actually, Xiao Chen could only tell that the other party was a Fiend became of his strong Mental Energy. He felt a different aura from that of a human but did not verify it.
There was no way to verify what race of Fiend Jiang Zimo was. Xiao Chen felt that it was strange that he did not have any special characteristics of the Fiends.
Some Fiends had obvious characteristics. Some were not as obvious. Logically, they were all Fiends and should not have such differences between them.
“Of the Fiend races, the Tiger Fiends love to take advantage of people. The will often try to intimidate humans new to the Ancient Desolate Land. If you offered ten Medial Grade Spirit Stones, they would ask for a hundred. Don’t be so careless next time.”
Jiang Zimo smiled faintly as he explained unhurriedly.
Xiao Chen said calmly, “You mean to say that I'm a spendthrift.”
“You can say that,” Jiang Zimo shrugged slightly as he smiled. “That’s right. You received an invitation as well, right? If you did, why don’t you come up and have a seat with me? We are going the same way.”
Xiao Chen felt somewhat confused. He was doubtful as he asked, “What invitation? I don’t know what you are talking about.”
That’s weird. He is so young, yet his aura is very steady. His Mental Energy is frighteningly strong as well. Logically, he should have received an invitation.
Jiang Mozi felt somewhat confused. He gave Xiao Chen a deep look and said, “Do you dare receive a palm strike from me?”
Xiao Chen did not understand what was going on. However, he knew that the other party was not trying to initiate a fight. The other party only wanted to test his strength. After hesitating for a moment, he agreed.
After all, Xiao Chen would not incur any losses. Who knew; he might even gain some benefits.
“Sorry for this offense!”
After Jiang Zimo saw Xiao Chen retreat by a hundred meters, his figure flashed, and he sent a palm strike directly towards Xiao Chen’s face.
This palm strike did not seem fancy, and it did not appear to be very fast. It did not even create any wind.
There were no fluctuations in space either. It was extremely plain.
Regarding aura, it was not even one percent of what the Tiger Fiend cultivator had displayed earlier.
This was a very strange feeling. It was like little children playing house. Jiang Zimo said he would hit Xiao Chen, and he immediately did so in an ordinary-looking manner.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s expression changed, suddenly turning grave. He thought to himself, His essence is withdrawn, not letting any leak. All of the energy is focused in the palm.
Such level of control was terrifying. There were countless pores on the palm. Whether conscious or not, one normally would let some aura leak from their palms.
However, Jiang Zimo managed not to leak any energy from his palm. Furthermore, although his palm was fast, it did not create any sound or wind. He had already become one with nature.
Not even most Martial Monarchs could achieve such skill. One would have to train for decades and have insane talent before they could accomplish this.
Jiang Zimo’s palm had already arrived before Xiao Chen. There was no time to think. Since he agreed to receive his strike, he could not use the Roaming Dragon’s Nine Transformations or other exquisite methods to dodge. He could only face this palm strike head-on.
Xiao Chen clenched his hand into a fist, and his bones crackled. All the strength in his body gathered.
The image of a tiger and a dragon spiraled around his arm as they roared.
Xiao Chen raised his aura to its peak. Since he could not completely restrain his aura, he might as well release it all, displaying it wantonly.
“Bang!”
The fist and the palm clashed, and a strong wind blew. The instant Jiang Zimo’s seemingly ordinary palm strike came into contact with Xiao Chen’s fist, it released an overwhelming force that could topple mountains or flip the seas.
Strong wind raged in all directions, and the hair tie holding Xiao Chen’s hair had blown off, causing his hair to tangle messily in the wind. His clothes fluttered. The wind made it hard to open one’s eyes.
The huge force spread from Xiao Chen’s arm to his feet, then to the ground. The stone bricks of the street shattered.
The intense wind caused the crushed stone bricks to fly up and spiral around the two.
Xiao Chen’s arm felt sore as he was nearly knocked flying. It was hard to imagine that something so quiet could explode with such intense might.
Furthermore, the other party’s energy seemed unending and relentless. It felt like an endlessly gushing river, rushing at Xiao Chen.
I cannot carry on like this. The other party’s cultivation technique is somewhat unusual. The energy from his palm is very even. From the start to the end, it showed no signs of weakening.