Chapter 531 - 313: Spiritual Treasure
Chapter 531: Chapter 313: Spiritual Treasure
"Perfect Comprehension! Lin Jingyu actually possesses Perfect Comprehension."
"Yellow Maple Valley has produced a true genius this time!"
"Xu Yang can brag for a lifetime about defeating Lin Jingyu once. Why couldn’t I encounter a Perfect Comprehension genius before they fully matured?"
Listening to the surrounding praise, Lin Jingyu’s expression remained exceedingly calm.
Although it was his first time encountering a Cultivation Technique that tested Comprehension, he had long known that his Comprehension had reached Perfection. Moreover, ever since the Lingyun List was published, he heard such flattering remarks every day.
"I announce that Brother Lin comprehended the most techniques in this little game. Brother Lin, please come with me; I will give you the Spiritual Essence Pill," Kong Cheng said with a smile.
Soon, everyone watched as Kong Cheng and Lin Jingyu left the banquet, disappearing from sight. Everyone understood that Kong Cheng was using this as an excuse to pull Lin Jingyu away to discuss the Kong family’s sponsorship and recruitment.
The Kong family sent someone else over to entertain the guests.
"Let’s go," Sun Tao said, intending to leave.
The banquet was practically over, and there was no need to stay any longer.
Xu Yang nodded. After exchanging a brief greeting with the new representative from the Kong family, he left together with Sun Tao.
"Senior Brother Sun, aren’t you going to wait for the Kong family to recruit you?" Xu Yang asked with a smile as the two walked out of the Kong family’s estate.
Sun Tao had just revealed his ability to comprehend six techniques of the Sword Technique, displaying A-class Comprehension. The Kong family might very well be interested in recruiting him.
"You didn’t even reach an agreement with them, so how could they possibly take a fancy to me?" Sun Tao chuckled.
Xu Yang raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"If you had become a member of the Kong family, Fang Xu wouldn’t dare make things difficult for you, and Kong Cheng wouldn’t have stood by without speaking up on your behalf. Furthermore, the fact that you left with me without hesitation clearly shows that no agreement was reached," Sun Tao analyzed.
"Impressive!" Xu Yang gave a thumbs-up. "I didn’t reach an agreement with them simply because I refused to enter a marriage alliance. If you’re willing to do so, the Kong family would be an excellent backer."
In the vast Yun Province, there were only a handful of Thousand-Year-Old Noble Families. The Kong family would be far more than just "an excellent backer."
"I don’t want a marriage alliance either!" Sun Tao laughed.
Xu Yang believed this. Back at the Purple Sun Sect, many disciples often went to Cyan Yang City to spend the night at brothels, but Sun Tao had never gone.
"How many techniques did you actually comprehend?" Xu Yang asked out of the blue.
He had deduced the embryonic form of the eleventh technique for that Comprehension-testing Sword Technique. When Sun Tao demonstrated the Sword Technique, Xu Yang could tell he had held back.
"Eight!" Sun Tao said. He immediately countered, "What about you?"
Xu Yang drew in a sharp breath of cold air. Comprehending eight techniques was a terrifying achievement second only to Lin Jingyu, surpassing even Huo Xiaochen.
He had known Sun Tao since their days at Weiyuan Hall. Even though Comprehension couldn’t be tested back then, he knew Sun Tao’s Comprehension had been nowhere near this terrifying. Sun Tao had practiced the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist in Weiyuan Hall for over two years without even comprehending the Wind and Thunder Strength, proving his Comprehension used to be quite ordinary.
But now, his Comprehension was just short of Perfection.
Naturally, all of this could only be attributed to the strange Spirit Medicine he had consumed by accident.
That Spirit Medicine had granted the ordinary Sun Tao near-perfect Comprehension. Its efficacy was simply terrifying.
Xu Yang never realized that he had constantly underestimated just how heaven-defying that Spirit Medicine was.
"About the same as you!" Xu Yang replied in a muffled voice.
How many points had he spent to obtain his current talent? Yet Sun Tao had accidentally eaten a Spirit Medicine and was already catching up to him.
"You..." Sun Tao was visibly moved. By "about the same," he meant Xu Yang had also comprehended eight techniques of the Sword Technique.
He knew Xu Yang always kept an ace up his sleeve and never revealed his true strength in public, but he hadn’t expected him to hide so much. To comprehend eight techniques but only show six...
"You’re too cautious!" he couldn’t help but curse.
In truth, he was somewhat imitating Xu Yang. Along the way, he had noticed that those who didn’t know how to conceal their strength usually ended up dead, while Xu Yang remained perfectly fine.
"Senior Brother Sun, about that Spirit Medicine..." Xu Yang said thoughtfully. "As you know, Xu Qing’s talent is quite average. I want to find a stalk for her."
Sun Tao shook his head. "I’ve been looking into it too, but there hasn’t been any news so far. There might be some information in the Celestial Strategy Academy. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know."
Xu Yang nodded.
"Brother Xu, Brother Sun, please wait!" a voice suddenly called out from behind.
Xu Yang and Sun Tao stopped and turned around, only to see the senior brother and junior sister pair, Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei, striding after them.
"What can we do for you two?" Sun Tao asked, cupping his hands in greeting.
Zhang Jun cupped his hands in return and cut straight to the chase. "To tell you the truth, my junior sister and I would like to join forces with the two of you during the Secondary Dragon Ascension Selection."
Sun Tao raised an eyebrow. Because of the situation with Huo Xiaochen, even the major families shunned them. To think someone actually wanted to ally with them.
"Aren’t you afraid of being dragged down by us?" Sun Tao smiled. "Or could it be that you don’t know Huo Xiaochen has publicly declared his intent to target my Junior Brother Xu?"
"Of course we know!" Zhang Jun laughed. "To be honest, our Luoxia Sect has a grudge against the Iron Sword Sect. Someone from the Luoxia Sect once killed a Sect Leader of the Iron Sword Sect, so we are also targets of Huo Xiaochen’s sniping. If we’re talking about grudges, ours with Huo Xiaochen runs even deeper."
Beside him, Liu Rumei nodded in agreement.
"I see!" Sun Tao said. "So, how do you propose we join forces?"
The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Since they were all targets of Huo Xiaochen, he didn’t mind an alliance. Huo Xiaochen was now recruited by the Xiao family, which meant he would likely have many helpers. Having allies would increase their chances of winning.
"No matter who it is, as long as someone from Huo Xiaochen’s side attacks, the rest of us must strike with full force to help. Of course, this must be within the bounds of the Secondary Dragon Ascension Rules. If the rules don’t permit it, we can’t force the issue. After all, our ultimate goal is the Secondary Dragon Ascension, not fighting Huo Xiaochen.
"We are just taking precautions. We still don’t know what the Dragon Ascension Rules will be this time, so we can only establish the alliance in this manner. It might not even be necessary," Zhang Jun spoke in a deep voice.
Sun Tao thought it over briefly and felt it was acceptable. As long as it didn’t violate the Secondary Dragon Ascension Rules, helping out with full force was fine.
"What do you think, Junior Brother Xu?" He turned to look at Xu Yang, who had remained silent.
"I will follow Senior Brother’s decision!" Xu Yang smiled. He also thought allying was a good idea. Even though he felt he didn’t need an alliance to face Huo Xiaochen, helping two people who had a blood feud with Huo Xiaochen enter the Celestial Strategy Academy was a good thing. Since Sun Tao was interested, he wouldn’t object.
"Then let’s form an alliance!" Sun Tao broke into a smile.
Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei also smiled. The alliance between the four was simple and finalized in a few sentences without much elaboration.
The four of them chatted and laughed along the way, returning to Dragon Ascending Street before dark.
"Where’s Junior Sister Ye?" Zhang Hanzhou asked as soon as the two stepped into the Purple Sun Sect’s residence.
Sun Tao couldn’t be bothered with him and strode away.
"She’s still drinking with those young masters from Yunzhou City," Xu Yang smiled.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hanzhou’s face turned green, and he felt a stifling sensation in his chest.
Xu Yang ignored him and returned to his room. He had just cultivated for a short while when Bai Shaoling and Yue Zhong came looking for him together.
"How did it go? Did you reach an agreement with the Kong family?" Yue Zhong’s tone held some anticipation.
If Xu Yang became a member of the Kong family, not only would it solve the trouble with Huo Xiaochen, but the Purple Sun Sect would also have a chance to connect with the Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family, the Kong family, in the future.
"We couldn’t agree on the terms. The talks broke down!" Xu Yang said.
The talks broke down?
Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling’s expressions both changed.
"How did they break down?" Yue Zhong asked urgently.
"They wanted me to enter a marriage alliance with a woman from the Kong family," Xu Yang explained.
Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling both sighed. They naturally knew that Xu Yang had previously rejected the Ding Family and the Yuan Family over marriage alliances. They hadn’t expected him to reject the Kong family for the same reason.
"You’re being foolish! If you don’t enter a marriage alliance, how could they possibly feel at ease giving you resources and letting you reap the benefits?" Yue Zhong said.
Countless people practically threw themselves at the Kong family, desperate to marry one of their women but lacking the qualifications.
"I don’t want to compromise because of a strong enemy and marry a woman I don’t like. It would affect my Martial Dao heart," Xu Yang said deeply.
Hearing the words "Martial Dao heart," Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling fell silent. If a Martial Artist lost their sharp edge, they were practically crippled.
"However, Peak Master, Young Sect Leader, please rest assured. This trip wasn’t without its gains. Senior Brother Sun and I have already joined forces with Zhang Jun, ranked ninety-fifth on the Lingyun List, and Liu Rumei, ranked sixtieth.
"Both of them are from the Luoxia Sect, which has a blood feud with the Iron Sword Sect. With the two of them helping, it won’t be so easy for Huo Xiaochen to target me."
To prevent Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling from pestering him about the matter, he had no choice but to bring up Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei.
Hearing this, Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling’s expressions noticeably softened. With four geniuses from the Lingyun List working together, no matter how strong Huo Xiaochen was, as long as he wasn’t at the Celestial Essence Second Layer, it would be very difficult for him to snipe Xu Yang, unless he threw all caution to the wind.
Huo Xiaochen didn’t just have Xu Yang as an enemy. Given the chance, anyone in the top twenty of the Lingyun List would want to eliminate Huo Xiaochen to advance their own ranking.
The two also knew that saying more would be useless. If Xu Yang was unwilling to swallow his pride for a marriage alliance, they couldn’t force him.
Over the next few days, Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei frequently visited the Purple Sun Sect’s residence to exchange Martial Dao insights with Xu Yang and Sun Tao. Because of the blood feud between the Luoxia Sect and the Iron Sword Sect, the two of them were also largely ostracized by others.
"Do you think finding two pieces of trash will be enough to oppose Huo Xiaochen? Does Huo Xiaochen have no allies?" Zhang Hanzhou mocked sarcastically. Seeing Xu Yang and Sun Tao find allies made him feel even worse than losing his own.
"Huo Xiaochen and Lin Jingyu have joined forces," Ye Qiuling sneered. She was growing increasingly dissatisfied with Xu Yang and Sun Tao and wished for nothing more than to see them suffer misfortune.
A few days later.
It was time for Xu Yang to pick up his custom-made Pill Furnace. Taking his Spiritual Soldier and a portion of his Spirit Iron, he hurried to the shop where he had ordered it. He spent some money to have the Pill Furnace transported to his rented courtyard.
He thought to himself, "Next, I just need to buy some Spirit Medicine, and then I can start the furnace to refine the Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pill and earn spirit coins."
The Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pill was refined from Spirit Medicine and was considered a Spiritual Object. He had already gathered intel: on the market, the Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pill could be exchanged for spirit coins, although the profit margin wasn’t very high.
A batch of Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills cost three spirit coins to make. If a batch could yield ten Refined Pills, they could be sold for five spirit coins.
Though the profit was low, it was his only means of earning spirit coins. He couldn’t exactly go around robbing and killing people like some notorious bandit.
While he didn’t have strict moral purity, he wasn’t without a bottom line, and the risks of doing so were immense.
After setting up the Pill Furnace, Xu Yang grabbed his Spirit Iron and headed to the Spirit Treasure Workshop.