Chapter 750 - 285: Revisiting Alchemist Geng and Suddenly Hearing of Kuji Temple
Chapter 750: Chapter 285: Revisiting Alchemist Geng and Suddenly Hearing of Kuji Temple
Carefully stowing the Magic Talisman, Xiao Chen turned his gaze to the two letters.
The contents of the first letter were, unsurprisingly, a mission from the Golden Simurgh.
It ordered the Cultivator codenamed ’Tongfu’ to temporarily set aside his current mission.
He was to take the Evil Avoidance Secret Technique and the Bing Fire Treasure Gourd, hurry to Zhiyi Cave to collect Evil Qi, and deliver it to the so-called "old place."
’Another gourd?’
Hearing the name ’Bing Fire,’ Xiao Chen had a sudden thought: ’Don’t tell me the Sea Race has a whole set of these gourds?’
But it didn’t matter. He just so happened to have acquired a larger Storage Ring, so he could fit as many as they sent.
The second letter detailed Tongfu’s original mission.
Its contents were divided into three parts.
The first part was still the primary mission: a demand to refine a massive quantity of Transformation Pills and deliver the first batch to the Golden Simurgh before the middle of the second month.
Transformation Pills were indeed important to the Sea Race.
After all, as far as Xiao Chen knew, a small number of Great Demon species were unable to achieve a perfect human form on their own, even after breaking through to Tier Four.
Although it wasn’t as if anyone would dare to laugh at them for having an extra horn or tail...
...the demand for a solution still existed.
The second part was a reminder regarding an operation.
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the operation against the Mojie Sect was postponed until the following year.
However, the letter specifically stated that the previous promise to leave the Alchemy Hall for ’Tongfu’ still stood, and that he should rest assured.
The specific timing for the operation would be announced later, once it was decided.
The third part consisted of some words of encouragement.
For this section, it was unclear if a different person had written it or what, but the tone between the lines was no longer the cold, detached voice of a superior assigning tasks to a subordinate.
It seemed to have switched to a much gentler tone.
It told ’Tongfu’ not to overthink the change in plans, as both His Highness and the Venerable Lord greatly cherished talented individuals, especially someone as capable as him.
For now, their power had not yet fully extended to this area.
For one, it was inconvenient to dispatch personnel, and for another, they didn’t want to tip their hand.
But at the latest, after Pudu Temple was taken down, they would absolutely send people at the first opportunity to help him take care of that old bastard, Alchemist Geng.
Moreover, they would do their best to seize the Tier Four Alchemy legacy from him to help cultivate Tongfu’s skills.
’Who? Alchemist Geng?’
Xiao Chen blinked, making sure he hadn’t misread it. ’This can’t just be someone with the same surname, can it?’
Logically speaking, there weren’t many Tier Four Alchemists; in terms of total numbers, they were even rarer than Tier Four Cultivators.
And he remembered that the last time he had visited Alchemist Geng, the man had mentioned something about three wishes.
’Could it be...?’
Xiao Chen immediately returned to the cave and took the Bronze Mask off Tongfu’s face.
Sure enough, he saw the same handsome young man whose face was identical to the one in the portrait he had seen.
’Huh. What a coincidence?’
Xiao Chen was a bit surprised. ’Does this mean I’ve already fulfilled the first wish?’
’If that’s the case, does this mean I don’t have to make a special trip to Armor Dragon Island to hunt the Dragon Turtle anymore?’
If he remembered correctly, Alchemist Geng had promised that fulfilling just one of his three regrets would be enough.
’Forget it. What’s the use of speculating here? I should just take this to him and ask directly.’
Xiao Chen immediately took out a now-empty wooden box and placed Tongfu’s head inside.
Anyway, after leaving the new Relic, he had already planned on going to the Marketplace to deal with the various items he had accumulated.
This would be a good opportunity to ask.
’Whether it works or not, it’s worth a shot.’
’At worst, if he doesn’t agree, I’ll just have to find another way.’
Finally, there were the two Spirit Storage Boxes.
Xiao Chen opened the first one and took a look. Inside was a red gourd—the Bing Fire Treasure Gourd.
There wasn’t much to look at; it was almost identical to the Xin Jin Treasure Gourd.
He then picked up the second Spirit Storage Box and lifted the lid.
"Hm?"
Xiao Chen’s brow furrowed slightly. Inside the box lay a peculiar stone.
It gave off a faint white glow, but the stone itself was pitch-black.
It had no distinct shape—it was neither square nor round, neither triangular nor rhomboid. It was completely asymmetrical in every dimension.
Yet, it possessed a strange sort of aura.
This aura would make anyone who saw it feel deep down that the stone was definitely not natural, but had been artificially polished.
Logically, this feeling seemed wrong to Xiao Chen.
If it had truly been worked by hand, it shouldn’t have such an irregular shape.
Holding it in his hand, it didn’t feel like a Spiritual Object either, as it seemed to contain very little Spiritual Power.
’What a strange stone. Could it be some kind of Token?’
Xiao Chen couldn’t figure it out. ’But would a Token made of stone need to be kept in a Spirit Storage Box for preservation?’
But since Tongfu had done so, he must have had his reasons.
’I might as well take it to be appraised too.’
Xiao Chen took another look at the peculiar, Curious Stone before returning it to his Storage Ring.
Without lingering, he followed the tunnel back to the seabed.
Relying on the Array Flags that Zhang Shouquan had provided earlier, he once again passed through the buoys with ease, without alerting the Arhats stationed above.
Although he didn’t know why Pudu Temple had sealed off this area...
...at least the Immortal Dynasty’s Spiritual Object and the Evil Qi inside were now completely gone.
To be on the safe side, Xiao Chen deliberately traveled for thousands of miles underwater to ensure he wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
Only then did he surface from the ocean.
SPLASH!
A huge plume of water suddenly erupted from the calm surface of the sea.