Chapter 517: Xuanyuan Zhantian
The white-haired old man looked at Xiao Chen and smiled gently. “Little friend, have a seat. This must be your first time here. If you do not understand anything, you may ask me. Don’t worry about time.”
Xiao Chen sat down on the opposite side of the table and looked at the old man. He said, “Thank you, Senior. This is my jade pendant. This junior is called Xiao Chen.”
The old man took Xiao Chen’s jade pendant and glanced at the points at the back. He was astonished—there was a total of 14,000 points.
He muttered to himself, “Xiao Chen…I don’t think I’ve heard this name before. There is no Xiao Noble Clan in the four seas. There is no Xiao Chen in the Great Jin Nation as well. Plus, I’ve never heard that there was a potential inheritor of a great sect with the family name Xiao.
“However, the points that he obtained are even more than the people from the Boundless Sea’s noble clans. They are comparable to those of the Evil Moon Pavilion’s Bai Zhan.”
However, this white-haired old man had seen many of such hidden geniuses in his lifetime. Although he was astonished, he did not find it strange.
The white-haired old man handed the jade pendant to the other four old men to verify that the points were real.
“Let me explain the rules of the exchange first. One point may be exchanged for ten Medial Grade Spirit Stones. Ten points may be exchanged for a Superior Grade Spirit Stone. That is all for the exchange of Spirit Stones. As for the other items, there is a list here. You may have a look.”
Xiao Chen received the list and began looking through it carefully. He discovered that the items in the list were the rare treasures on the shelves around him. The list also included the number of points needed to exchange for those items.
Xiao Chen looked through the list carefully a few times. He already had a rough idea of what he wanted. At the moment, he did not need Medial Grade Spirit Stones; there were more than two million in his Universe Ring. What he needed was Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
If Xiao Chen wanted to maintain a fast pace of cultivation after reaching Martial Monarch, he would need to use large amounts of Superior Grade Spirit Stones. So he had to prepare ahead.
Aside from these, Xiao Chen also needed Spirit Herbs that increased Vital Qi. As of now, he could achieve 400,000 kilograms of force by using only Vital Qi. After he reached Great Perfection of the Firmament Body Tempering Art, he should be able to achieve 450,000 kilograms of force.
When Xiao Chen wanted to break through 500,000 kilograms of force, he would need to use Spirit Herbs. Thousand-year-old Spirit Herbs were no longer useful to him. Only Spirit Herbs older than two thousand years old would have an effect.
Just as Xiao Chen about to make the exchange, he suddenly noticed an item—Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl. One thousand points was required to exchange for one.
Xiao Chen paused for a while, entering deep thought. Then, he looked at the old man and asked, “Senior, may I take a look at this Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl?”
“It’s a small matter. You may inspect the goods before making the exchange.”
The white-haired old man stretched his hand out and waved. A brocade box flew off a shelf behind Xiao Chen into his hand. The old man opened the box to reveal its contents—four round white pearls filled with Spiritual Energy. This were the Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls.
Xiao Chen’s chest tightened. It was as he had guessed. He also had two white Spirit Gathering Pearls.
Although Xiao Chen could feel the vast Spiritual Energy in them, he did not know what they were. Hence, he had not found any opportunity to use them yet. Unexpectedly, he found them here.
The white-haired old man explained, “The Spirit Gathering Pearl is the creation of a Martial Sage. It is created by refining ten thousand Spirit Stones and exhausting the Sage’s Source Energy to extract and condense the Spirit Stone essence. Naturally, an Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl is made from Inferior Grade Spirit Stones; a Medial Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl is made from Medial Grade Spirit Stones; and a Superior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl is made from Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
“The higher the grade, the more Source Energy is exhausted. Most Martial Sages would not be willing to refine anything better than a Medial Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl.”
Exhaustion of Source Energy was different from exhaustion of Essence. When Essence was exhausted and cultivation damaged, one could quickly fix this problem with Spirit Stones or Medicinal Pills. However, when Source Energy was used up, one would require at least one month to recover. Most of the time, it would take even longer.
This showed the preciousness of these Spirit Gathering Pearls. These were refined by a bona fide Martial Sage using his Source Energy. How could it not be precious?
Xiao Chen asked happily, “What can this Spirit Gathering Pearl be used for? How does one use it? What should I pay attention to? Will Senior give me some pointers?”
The white-haired old man smiled and said, “This cannot be considered pointers. Let me quickly explain. The purpose of Spirit Gathering Pearls is the same as Spirit Stones—they are used to aid cultivation. However, Spirit Gathering Pearls are definitely much better. One Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearl is equivalent to hundreds of Superior Grade Spirit Stones.
“However, because the Spirit Gathering Pearl contains far too much Spiritual Energy, cultivators under Martial Monarch cannot normally use it to cultivate. Otherwise, it might result in the dantian exploding. However, it is excellent for breaking through bottlenecks. One can break through the bottleneck with the surging energy.
“When using it, you should place it on the Tianmen Acupoint on your head. Then, use a Yang-attributed energy to refine it into liquid and pour it into the body. You cannot consume it orally. Otherwise, no matter how strong your body is, it would explode instantly.”
After listening to the old man’s explanation, Xiao Chen finally knew what he wanted. He would use ten thousand points to exchange for ten Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls and use the remainder for a three-thousand-year-old Monarch Blood Grass.
The old man reminded, “Little Friend, with your cultivation now, you should exchange for at most five Inferior Grade Spirit Gathering Pearls. Any more would be a waste.”
Xiao Chen thanked the old man for the reminder but still insisted on exchanging for ten Spirit Gathering Pearls.
Xiao Chen was very clear on his situation. He cultivated a Heaven Ranked Cultivation Technique. Furthermore, given his strong foundation from when he broke through to Martial King, his cultivation could not be measured by conventional methods.
When Bai Lixi, who had been waiting for a long time, saw Xiao Chen come out, he immediately welcomed him with a smile. “Xiao Chen, let’s go and take a look at the point ranking wall. Let’s see if your big brother has increased his rank.”
Actually, Xiao Chen was not very interested. He had just obtained information about the Spirit Gathering Pearl and wanted to give it a try. However, he could not reject Bai Lixi, who seemed very enthusiastic. So, he could only follow him.
Bai Lixi parted the crowd excitedly. He was tall and stout; furthermore, he was extremely strong. No one could resist his shove. Soon, he pushed his way to the very front.
Ignoring the dissatisfaction of the people around him, Bai Lixi began to look for his name excitedly. His name was near the top, so he found it quickly. However, the moment he found it, the smile on his face froze.
Bai Lixi saw that he was ranked eleventh on the jade wall. As for Xiao Chen…he had overtaken Bai Lixi, ranking tenth.
“Damn it, how is this possible?” Bai Lixi was stunned. Originally, he thought he was doing much better than Xiao Chen. Who would have imagined that Xiao Chen had already surpassed him?
Not only that, Xiao Chen had snatched away his top ten position, squeezing him out.
Xiao Chen was surprised. He never expected that he could rank within the top ten. However, he did not care too much about it.
The point ranking was not an indication of strength. The true experts were fighting the peak Demons at the island in the core area. Killing those Demons would be extremely difficult. Yet, these people are not even in the top hundred of the point ranking. However, no one would deny their strength.
The ones who ranked highly on the point ranking were the cultivators who fought in the inner area. Some of them worked together, achieving better results than they would have alone.
When Xiao Chen looked at the person ranked first, he did not recognize the name. After he asked around, he found out more about this person.
This person was nicknamed the Eastern Sea’s Little Dragon King. His name was Xuanyuan Zhantian. Since the point ranking was established, he had always been ranked first. In the past three months, at least twenty thousand Demons died at his hands.
When Xiao Chen continued looking, he discovered that the top nine rankers were unfamiliar to him. When he thought about it, he guessed that these were the young cultivators of the Boundless Sea.
However, Bai Zhan, who ranked third, attracted Xiao Chen’s attention. Earlier, he had heard people talking about him, that Bai Zhan used the Raging Frost Flame Palm.
This description seemed to match up with the yellow-robed youth that Xiao Chen met. If that was indeed him, then it would be interesting.
Xie Ziwen was the second and final disciple of the Evil Moon Pavilion’s Pavilion Master. This Bai Zhan was even more powerful than him. He had to be Xie Ziwen’s Senior Brother.
Xiao Chen did not know if this person was aware of his grudges with the Evil Moon Pavilion. If Bai Zhan knew about the matter, then Xiao Chen would have difficulty avoiding trouble.
“Xuanyuan Zhantian has returned!”
Suddenly, someone cried out in the large palace. Everyone turned their heads to look. They saw a youth in purple Battle Armor and a purple dragon cape behind him entering the palace.
This person looked about twenty and was very handsome. A strong aura came from him as he exuded arrogance from his eyes. His strides were wide and heavy.
When this person walked over to the jade point ranking wall, the surrounding people immediately opened a path for him. When he glanced at his ranking on the wall and saw the name Xuanyuan Zhantian at the top, he looked neither satisfied nor disappointed. It was just as if this was to be expected, as if first place was created for him.
When Xiao Chen felt this person’s aura, he was astonished as well. This person was already a Great Perfection half-step Martial Monarch. He wondered how this person cultivated. This person was probably more powerful than Bai Lixi.
“Ha ha! Xuanyuan Zhantian, you better keep looking while you can. Your name will not remain at the top for long.”
Everyone wondered, who was courageous enough to speak to Xuanyuan Zhantian like that?
Xuanyuan Zhantian was the heir of the Divine Dragon Palace. As long as nothing happened to him, he would be the next Dragon King of the Divine Dragon Palace. Half of the Eastern Sea would have to obey his orders.
When everyone looked, they saw four youths standing at the entrance of the palace. The four were dressed in different colors, wearing red, blue, green, and purple robes. They all looked impressive and handsome. Unexpectedly, they were all at least Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs.
Of the four, the second person from the left, the youth in green, seemed the most extraordinary. Like Xuanyuan Zhantian, he was a Great Perfection half-step Martial Monarch.
The person who spoke earlier was this youth in green. He looked very arrogant as he stared at Xuanyuan Zhantian.
“So, it is the Northern Sea’s Four Young Masters. No wonder they dared to call out to Xuanyuan Zhantian. They are indeed qualified to do so.”
The Northern Boundless Sea was ruled by four noble clans. These four were the heirs of these noble clans. In the future, they would be the ones ruling the Northern Boundless Sea. They were Xuanyuan Zhantian’s rivals.
The people around who understood the situation discussed it in hushed voices with evident, great interest. When two outstanding talents met, they might end up clashing. Who knew, maybe they would get to see a good show in the large palace.
However, the crowd was surprised to see the Eastern Sea’s Little Dragon King, Xuanyuan Zhantian, ignore the green-robed youth’s mocking. He did not even look at the other party.
Xuanyuan Zhantian only said indifferently, “If you have the capabilities, then go for it. However, are you capable enough?”