Chapter 163 - 123: Earth Gold
He was starting to feel like the Mortal Realm was truly blessed by destiny.
An item like that was considered extremely rare and valuable in their region.
"Hmm..."
Chen Fan frowned and thought for a moment before speaking, "So you’re saying if that person had swung their hammer a few more times, they could have gotten more Earth Gold?"
"Theoretically, yes."
Shao Qiu nodded. "But that person isn’t someone who can be ordered around. Besides, it only forms by chance. The Slaughter Immortal Holy Land’s main objectives were the Snow Lotus and the Mountain Embryo; checking to see if any Earth Gold had formed was just a secondary goal."
"What’s their name?"
"I don’t know. Everyone only dares to refer to them as ’that person.’ All we know is that they’re an incredibly powerful expert."
"What about their specific Cultivation Level?"
"Also unknown."
"What faction do they belong to?"
"No idea."
"Are they dead?"
"They’re probably not dead, but rumor has it they’re caught up in some kind of crisis and won’t be able to get free anytime soon."
"Someone that powerful can also get into a crisis they can’t escape from?"
"Mhm."
"..."
After a brief pause, Chen Fan wasn’t stingy and immediately agreed with Shao Qiu. "Put it in the treasury for now. Then, go find Wang Kui and submit a request. We’ll start by forging a set of Night Traveling Clothes and a Special Weapon for everyone in the Dark Pavilion. The rest will be kept in reserve."
"Do you know Artifact Refining?"
"Uh..." Shao Qiu froze. He seemed to have forgotten about that. "Well... no. To forge artifacts with Earth Gold, you need at least a Level 7 Artifact Refiner to succeed."
He suddenly realized.
’The Mortal Realm doesn’t have an Artifact Refiner.’
’If we take this stuff to an outsider to be forged, unless it’s someone we trust completely, a leak could easily bring disaster down on us.’
"..."
Chen Fan fell silent. A moment later, he continued.
"We’ll talk about this later, then."
"There’s one more thing."
"Speak."
"Cultivating my Shadow Killing Seven Orifice Technique causes one’s emotions to gradually fade. I need to take Clear Heart Pills long-term to maintain a balance. I saw that the Mortal Realm has a lot of the Clear Heart Grass used to refine them, but I asked Pavilion Master Wang Kui, and there weren’t any Clear Heart Pills in the batch of elixirs we confiscated from the Pill Sect."
"What Level of Alchemy Master does that require?"
"The requirement isn’t high. A Level 4 Alchemy Master is sufficient."
"Got it. You’re dismissed."
...
After Shao Qiu left, Chen Fan sat down in his chair and sighed. ’Building a faction really isn’t easy.’
’A Level 7 Artifact Refiner.’
’A Level 4 Alchemy Master.’
’Where am I supposed to find an Artifact Refiner and an Alchemy Master to join the Mortal Realm?’
’Experts of that caliber already belong to other factions. They wouldn’t just switch allegiances.’
Just then—
Hey Hey, perhaps sensing his mood, lay by his feet and repeatedly rubbed its head against his calf.
Chen Fan gave a resigned smile and patted Hey Hey’s head. But he soon realized that Hey Hey was signaling for him to go into the hole it had dug in the ground of the Celestial Pit.
"Hm?"
He walked to the edge of the hole, a little puzzled.
It was pitch-black and led straight underground.
"You want me to go down?"
Hey Hey nodded.
"Alright, let’s go take a look. You take me down."
Soon, Chen Fan jumped onto Hey Hey’s back and plunged into the pitch-black hole before him. His face paled slightly as he gripped the Scale Armor tightly, the wind whistling past his ears. ’This thing has no finesse when it digs! It dug the damn tunnel straight down! What’s the damn difference between this and jumping off a building?!’
「A few moments later.」
Hey Hey braced its front claws against the tunnel walls.
It decelerated rapidly.
The view ahead gradually opened up. At the end of the tunnel, he saw a cavern that had already been hollowed out. This must have been where the Black Gold was piled up, all of it dug out by Hey Hey. And in another spot, there was... a house? It was almost one with the surrounding earth.
Only a door was exposed.
It was jade-white in color.
A panel appeared before him.
-
「Level 10 Jade House, Unclaimed.」
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"..."
Chen Fan jumped off Hey Hey’s back and stood at the bottom of the tunnel. He looked up at the nearly vertical shaft, able to see the blue sky and white clouds at the opening, then turned his gaze back to the Jade House buried deep underground.
He quickly pieced together what had happened.
’This Level 10 Jade House must have been that person’s former residence on Nameless Mountain. That large cave on the mountain was the lair where they raised the two Heaven-Swallowing Crocodiles. Before leaving, that person couldn’t take the Jade House with them and didn’t want anyone rummaging through their home, so they hammered it deep into the earth with a single strike.’
"A Level 10 Jade House..."
Chen Fan’s expression grew serious. ’That person definitely wasn’t an Architect, so there must have been an Architect among their followers at the time. But is a Level 10 Jade House really this sturdy? And don’t Wooden Houses turn into workshops after Level 4? Is there another Upgrade Direction for houses...?’
’A Jade House isn’t even a City Defense Building.’
’How could it withstand that strike?’
He stepped back and tentatively prodded the door of the buried Jade House with his Jade Staff. It wasn’t locked. The door pushed open easily.
There was no movement from within.
He cautiously poked his head in to look. The interior was empty and showed few signs of occupation. There was a Jade Bed and some sparse, ordinary furniture like a table and chairs. Perhaps because of a hasty departure, the table and chairs inside were not neatly arranged, but were scattered messily on the floor.
...
After confirming there was no danger, Chen Fan walked into the Jade House and looked around. The space wasn’t very large, about forty to fifty square meters. He touched the table and the bed; they were just ordinary tables and beds with no panels or special effects.
"Is there nothing here?"
He scanned every corner carefully, a little disappointed. ’For such a major figure, even a scrap that slipped through their fingers would be enough to set me up for life.’ But unfortunately, he found nothing.
’Despite the hasty departure, they packed their things quite thoroughly.’
But, refusing to give up, he continued to check every corner carefully. ’There has to be something left behind.’
Finally—
’Hard work pays off!’
"Finally found something."
Chen Fan excitedly found a few scattered bamboo slices in the corner of a cabinet—the remains of a broken Bamboo Scroll. One of the slices had the single word "Diary" carved into it. However, the moment he touched the Bamboo Slice, he snatched his hand back as if electrocuted.
He looked down at his index finger, which was bleeding profusely.
He took out a vial of Altar Holy Water from his robes, dipped his finger inside, and the wound healed rapidly.
"This is..."
His brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the sharp, fierce characters on the Bamboo Slice. ’They were probably carved with Sword Qi. Even after so many years, just touching them is enough to cause injury.’
’But weren’t you a hammer-wielder, old-timer? Did you have a minor in Sword Qi too?’
And—
’I’ve been holding the Jade Staff this whole time! My physical body has the defensive strength of a Level 3 City Wall, and now a crack has appeared on the staff.’
’The Sword Qi on the Bamboo Scroll instantly broke through the Jade Staff’s defensive limit and cut my finger.’
’If I hadn’t been cautious enough to hold the Jade Staff the entire time, I would have been killed on the spot the moment I touched the Bamboo Scroll.’
"This is irreparable..."
Chen Fan looked with a pang of heartache at the faint crack on the Jade Staff in his hand. Its effects hadn’t changed, but its durability had decreased. It was no longer perfect.
"Huuu..."
「After a long moment.」
He composed himself, took a deep breath, and, not daring to touch the bamboo slices, quickly dismantled the cabinet, letting the slices fall to the floor. He then leaned over to look at the words on them.
’This experience once again made him realize the true power of "that person." It’s been 180 years. Almost 181. The lingering power from a diary left on a bamboo slice could surpass the defense of a Level 3 City Wall. And a Level 3 City Wall can withstand several full-power attacks from a Ghost King. Something even a Martial King couldn’t do anything about. Yet it was so fragile before this Bamboo Slice. If this was their power at their peak, couldn’t they destroy a Level 3 City Wall with a casual strike?’
’This isn’t a senior...’
’This is a goddamn immortal!’
’Old-timer, you had this kind of power, and you still couldn’t stop the Eternal Night?’
...
He took a deep breath before carefully examining the words recorded on the bamboo slices.
The first Bamboo Slice.
It was a prologue, with only the single word "Diary."
The second Bamboo Slice had a line of text.
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「Year 176 of the Eternal Night Calendar. It’s my fifth year stationed in Jiangbei. A bit boring. Continued to space out today. Big Crocodile and Little Crocodile haven’t been intimate for a long time either. They’ve probably grown tired of each other.」
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