Chapter 257
Chapter 257: Owning a Celestial Device to Fish a Golden Turtle and Causing a Storm
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Green Spirit coughed twice. “Bastard! How dare you treat me like this! You dare put me back in that godforsaken place!”
The late autumn in the prairie was particularly cold. The withered and yellowed grass was already coated in a layer of frost and all around. Seeing as there was no one around, Junior Leopard retrieved the green lamp from his independent space. The moment Green Spirit emerged, he started complaining loudly about Junior Leopard’s actions.
“That place is far more spacious than the underground palace of the Small Thunder Temple. There are more things at least!” Junior Leopard said, smiling.
Green Spirit snorted and said nothing. The green lamp, the only place he could stay in, was already refined by Junior Leopard. To some extent, their relationship was akin to a landlord and his tenant that wasn’t tied by a contract. Though he had Junior Leopard’s promise that he would never be forced to do anything, the problem was that Junior Leopard didn’t even need to force him. He could just tamper with the green lamp, then Green Spirit couldn’t live in it even if he wanted to.
Therefore, this Great Ancient Demon had to be humble in front of Junior Leopard despite his haughtiness and merely snorted to express his dissatisfaction after complaining.
“I have no choice. This lamp is too enthralling.” Junior Leopard shrugged. “Now that it’s busted and useless, I won’t be keeping it in my Dantian. I can only put it in a place that others can’t see. But if you don’t like it, you can come out from the lamp at any time.”
“Humph!”
He gave another cold snort. “Why did you summon me out of the lamp? Did something happen?”
“Hey now, that doesn’t sound right. Must I only summon you when I’m in trouble? Doesn’t that make you seem to like my servant? The moonlight is so lovely tonight and the prairie is so quiet and peaceful. I was worried you’d be bored inside, so I summoned you for a talk. If you prefer the quiet, then I’ll put you back in.”
Green Spirit cried, “No need! It’s good to have a talk. That godforsaken place has many things but it’s too quiet.”
The man and spirit began an idle chatter in the prairie about anything and everything. It was a great way to pass the time.
Junior Leopard knew relationships needed nurturing. How? When you meet an ordinary person, you can treat him to a meal, have a drink, go to karaoke, or even hit on girls together. Your relationship will naturally improve. But what about a spirit who didn’t need to eat, drink, single, or date?
It wasn’t difficult either. You just need to find his weakness.
Green Spirit’s biggest weakness was his fear of loneliness. After being trapped in that godforsaken underground palace for several hundreds of thousands of years, he should feel grateful he didn’t go mad. Junior Leopard thought Green Spirit might really have gone mad, but he simply didn’t show it at the moment.
Things would be much easier now that he knew Green Spirit’s weakness. He could lock him in a similar place and summon him now and then for a chat. This way, they would gradually become closer. Besides, Green Spirit could only stay in the green lamp and the lamp was already refined by him. It wasn’t as if Green Spirit could leave or find someone else. Sooner or later, he would be reaping all the benefits from Green Spirit.
With a Great Ancient Demon with him, he would be hiding an enormous advantage on his side.
That was why he came to the deep prairie at midnight and spent time chatting with Green Spirit.
“Didn’t you say that you’re going to absorb the Sun and Moon Essence? The moonlight is pretty nice tonight,” Junior Leopard said. “If you want to take in the Qi of Nine Heaven Thunder, I can take you to the place where it’s thundering. But I need a reward to do this kind of energy-wasting work.”
“You want me to absorb the Qi of Nine Heaven Thunder right now? Are you kidding? I don’t want the thunderbolt to kill me. But I can absorb the Moon Essence,” Green Spirit said and transformed into a wisp of blue smoke against the bright moonlight. He drifted in the air, vibrating as he absorbed the Sun and Moon Essence.
The gentle moonlight enveloped the blue smoke as it carefully absorbed the tiny red particles in the moonlight. The particles merged with the Green Mist. Seeing such a sight, Junior Leopard felt inexplicably moved.
He had been racking his brain for the way of Demonic Cultivation. The Green-scaled Poisonous Scorpion could only cultivate the venomous needle behind his tail based on its instinct. Since this spirit was a Great Ancient Demon, he must know the way of Demonic Cultivation. Perhaps he could help.
Just then, a scorpion as green as a jade came out from his sleeves and climbed onto a protruding stone in the prairie. It mimicked Green Spirit’s actions and began absorbing the Sun and Moon Essence. Of course, Junior Leopard compelled it to use the essence to refine the venomous needle on its tail.
God knew how much time had passed. Just as the moon was beginning to fade, the blue smoke stirred and became condensed.
“Kid, where did you get this scorpion? Oh, you’ve washed away its soul and replaced it with your thought. Are you trying to turn it into your puppet?”
“Good eye. That’s right. I want to turn it into a puppet.”
“Seems like I’ve underestimated you. Not only do you have the bloodline of congenital god in primitive times, you also seem to know the method of cultivating Spirit. What’s more, you’ve cultivated another thought at Level Seven. I really did underestimate you.”
“These are mere techniques. If I don’t have this pair of eyes, I can’t occupy this scorpion body even if I have another thought.”
“Kid, don’t be too arrogant. The technique you use is the same method that the congenital god in primitive times used to control puppets. The Puppet Technique in later times that necromancers created was based on this original technique. However, they couldn’t remove living souls from bodies without the pair of Heavenly Magic Eyes. Therefore, they could use corpses or dead things as puppets. How can those be superior to the bodies of living creatures?” Green Spirit said.
“Powerful Divines in antiquity times can’t summon the souls of living creatures either?”
“No. They could shatter the souls of living creatures with ease, but not summon the souls in its entirety the way you did. When the souls are shattered, the living creatures would die instantly. There are many other methods to summon souls but only partially. As long there’s a part of the soul that is attached to the body, it’ll be difficult for another person to inject his thought and integrate it with the puppet body, never mind controlling it. So necromancers prefer using corpses or dead things as puppets.”
“Is it that hard to summon living souls?”
“Haha, you don’t feel it hard because you have the Heavenly Magic Eyes to summon souls and inject thought. But when you use the technique, you will feel that the soul isn’t only linked to the brain but every part of the body as well. The links are like branches, leaves, and the trunk, but don’t you forget there’s also a large number of roots. The stronger a living creature is, the more roots it has. The roots would also be much deeper. It’s easy to destroy a big tree with a hammer or a fire, but it’ll be a hundred times harder if you want to unroot it. Besides, you have to make you keep every single root, as well as the ground it takes root in, intact. Do you think it’s possible?”
“It may be impossible for ordinary people, but for Powerful Divines…”
“It’s easy for them to uproot a big tree without damaging it, but a living soul isn’t a tree.” Green Spirit sighed.” Besides the power of the Heavenly Magic Eyes, there’s no other way to summon living souls neatly.”
“Looks like it’s pretty handy to inherit this bloodline.”
“Don’t you be so excited. Your eyes aren’t pure Heavenly Magic Eyes. I can see that your eyes have several other congenital skills like Black Water-Genuine Pupils. I can’t imagine how those necromancers managed to mesh so many kinds of bloodlines of congenital god together. But I know that they had a theory about stealing the bloodlines of congenital god.”
“What theory?”
“Hybrid theory!” Green Spirit said.” The bloodline of congenital god is too overpowering for ordinary creatures. That was why necromancers first diluted the bloodline, suppressing the powerful functions and extracting only the weak ones to be used in the bodies of living creatures. As time passed, living creatures began to get used to the blood and it gradually strengthened their bodies too, allowing the ability of the congenital god’s bloodline to be demonstrated completely.”
“That’s a pretty good method.”
“It was said to be successful in the beginning, but problems began showing after. Though this method allowed the congenital god’s bloodline to be maximized, the bodies of the living creatures would gradually break down at the same time. That was because the speed of their bodies awakening the power of the bloodline was lower than the speed of their bodies strengthening and adapting to the change. Though the bloodlines could be successfully integrated with the bodies of living creatures, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the impact. So this method was a failure. But then the necromancers discovered that when several bloodlines were mixed, they would restrict each other and delay the awakening and growth of the bloodlines. That was their hybrid theory. But it wasn’t an easy task. They still hadn’t succeeded even to the day I became constrained in the Small Thunder Temple.”
“Seems like they’ve succeeded now!”
“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Green Spirit scoffed. “The bloodline in your body has just developed. Perhaps the more times you use it, the quicker the bloodline will awake. You’re only at Level Seven with an ordinary body. Do you think you can withstand the explosive power of so many bloodlines?”
“Damn.” Junior Leopard was shocked and recalled how exhausted he felt after using Fiery Eyes each time. “So I’ve been playing with fire! No way! Even if the Fiery Eyes are useful, they’re not worth risking my life.”
“You have a decent puppet. I’d consider it an Upper-Grade item. But you seem to know nothing about the way of Demonic Cultivation.”
“I was wondering if I could ask you for help.”
“You’re very smart. Though you don’t know the way of Demonic Cultivation, you still managed to discover the way of Demonic Cultivation in cultivating a natal magic weapon. You didn’t miss anything.”
“I just have some luck.”
“Too much luck isn’t always a good thing. Don’t you think it’s a little weird?”
“Weird? What do you mean?”
“Do you think it’s a coincidence for the Small Thunder Temple to suddenly appear in this world? The temple has drifted in the void for several hundreds of thousands of years and I’ve seen it stop anywhere.”
“How is that weird? In the past, many Ancient Ruins also appeared.”
“It’s not the same,” Green Spirit said. “I don’t know about the independent spaces of other schools, but I know everything about the Small Thunder Temple. Even if I was confined at that time, I knew that it was the Great Sage Moro who blew the little world of the temple into the depths of the void. His Qian Yuan Palm-leaf Fan is a Taihao Fairy Weapon that could cut into the void with just one swipe of his hand. If there wasn’t a particular reason, the temple would continue to drift not just hundreds of thousands of years, but millions of years, and never appearing in this world.”
“Then why did it come back?”
“Exactly.” Green Spirit laughed. “That was why I found it weird. I’ve barely been released from the underground palace before getting stuck in this little world again. Of course, I wouldn’t know why.”
“It’s fine if you don’t know anything about it. I’m not interested,” Junior Leopard said. “I don’t want to invite any troubles.”
“Having achieved Level Seven at your age and possessing the bloodlines of congenital god in primitive times, do you think you can really keep your nose out of chaos in such a world? Even if you want to stay away, other people may not agree.”
“Who do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s just my feeling.” Green Spirit laughed happily. “Let’s not talk about this. I’ll teach you the way of Demonic Cultivation. That way, you won’t have to refine your natal magic weapon.”
“Then I’ll depend on you.” The muscles on Junior Leopard’s face cramped slightly.
…
A month quickly passed.
Ever since he noticed how his focus on the fief slowed his cultivation progress, Junior Leopard left all matters to Jiang Xiao. In Junior Leopard’s territory at least, Jing Xiao had become an authoritative figure that no one could say no to.
Junior Leopard locked himself up in his house, using the way of Demonic Cultivation Green Spirit taught him to cultivate his puppet. At the same time, he slowly experienced the degree of Underground Fire Golden Essence to prepare for the cultivation of his first Pure Yang Celestial Device.
Unfortunately, the peaceful times only lasted a month. Wang Cheng and Zhu Ba returned with their household as well as over 500 people and a large number of materials. Of course, those people were still on the way. Zhu Ba and Wang Cheng had rushed back first.
They made a beeline for Junior Leopard’s yard without even stopping to rest after reaching the fief. Zhu Ba, in particular, began shouting before even arriving. Junior Leopard was irritated and snapped at them. “Why are you yelling?”
“Your Excellency, I really have something urgent to report!”
“What’s that?” Junior Leopard knew something serious must have happened when he saw Wang Cheng. Otherwise, Wang Cheng wouldn’t have gone along with Zhu Ba’s antics.
“Your Excellency, we heard about a great event when we went back to the Central Plains.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not too sure myself. I heard it’s about some Ancient Ruins showing up.” Zhu Ba rubbed his head, appearing confused.
“Ancient Ruins?” Junior Leopard raised an eyebrow. Perhaps no one knew about the Ancient Ruins better than he did. “What does that have anything to do with us?”
“You know about the Ancient Ruins?”
“Nonsense! Of course!” Junior Leopard turned to Wang Cheng and asked, “He’s blabbering all over the place. You tell me what’s going on.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!” Wang Cheng smiled and quickly told him the whole story.
It turned out that the Ancient Runes didn’t only attract the group of people Junior Leopard met the last time. Several large aristocratic families and schools also sent their men over. The imperial palace sent their experts as well. It was also discovered that there were other entrances to the ruins other than the solitary island they visited. Junior Leopard knew this. After all, the group of people from the East Sea Skyward Palace also managed to enter the ruins despite coming from a different direction. This proved that there was at least one other entrance.
Junior Leopard knew exactly what happened inside the Ancient Ruins. Though those long grasses on the ground were all precious medicine and the items left on the ground were either celestial devices or fairy weapons, they were basically scraps. After all, so many years had passed. Junior Leopard was lucky to pick up a scrap Pure Yang Celestial Device. If he didn’t manage to bring Green Spirit home with him, he would have really found the trip a waste of time. Yet someone was even luckier than him in this world.
Like him, most left after picking up some medicinal herbs and scrap item. But a group of people got lucky beyond imagination and picked up a Pure Yang Celestial Device.
It was this group of people that caused the great event in the Central Plains.
They were experts from the imperial court!
They were experts from the imperial palace.
They happened to pick up a Pure Yang Celestial Device.
Generally, even if it was the emperor, they should be keeping a low profile after picking up such a good weapon. But the emperor seemed to have gone mad or perhaps had another motive. He actually declared the weapon to be the prize for the World Hero Competition.
“World Hero Competition? Is he mad?”
Even Junior Leopard couldn’t help shivering after hearing the gallant title of the competition.
“Your Excellency, how can such an intelligent person like the emperor be mad? I think it’s intentional!” Jiang Xiao said, standing by the river.
“Of course it’s intentional, but it’s hard to guess and there’s no need to guess either.” Junior Leopard merely sneered. “A Pure Yang Celestial Device is certainly an eye-catching prize. Oh right. What’s the purpose of this World Hero Competition?”
“After destroying Northern Yuan, Great Jin has been wantonly enfeoffing its land in a show of authority. It wouldn’t be possible for them to win this war without the many experts and martial arts masters slaughtering those from the prairie. Now that the royalty found a Pure Yang Celestial Device, they wanted to find to hold this hero assembly to find a good owner for it as well as to showcase their national power.”
“You mean they hold such a large-scale competition for this lousy reason?”
“Yes, Your Excellency!” Wang Cheng said with his head lowered. “There’s no limit to the World Hero Competition. Regardless of your martial arts level, you can join as long as you’ve contributed to the victory against the Northern Yuan. The winner will get the Pure Yang Celestial Device!”
“Why? Are you planning to join?” Junior Leopard smiled. He could hear the overwhelming desire in Zhu Ba’s words.
Zhu Ba laughed. “Your Excellency, though every martial arts master of Great Jin are allowed to join, I’m not qualified with my Level Four cultivation. If I go, I’ll just be slapped to death by those experts. It’s better if you go.”
“Go if you want to. Though you were in the navy in Jiang City and didn’t enter the battlefield against the Northern Yuan, you took charge of escorting army provisions. That could be considered as a form of war contribution. Don’t worry about failing because of your cultivation or feel shame if you don’t win. There’ll be tens of thousands of people who will be joining but there’s only one victor. Besides, it’s not in your character to stay here for a long time!”
“Thank you, Your Excellency!” Zhu Ba was elated.
“We’ve talked for half the day, but you still haven’t told me what the Pure Yang Celestial Device is.”
“No one really knows what it is exactly, they just know it’s a Pure Yang Celestial Device.” Wang Cheng smiled bitterly. “But it’s apparently something like a pagoda.”