Chapter 328: Sacred Roots
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Mo. Ye Qingtian did have something. I have defeated him but was unable to kill him, so I didn’t get you the Taiyuan Token.”
Sitting in the armchair and looking at Mo Yinyang, Zhou Bao smiled, as if he was sorry.
“That’s too kind of you, Your Excellency. I was just curious about the Taiyuan Token. I didn’t mean to take it as my own.” Mo Yinyang smiled, feeling surprised. He had secretly watched the whole battle between Zhou Bao and Ye Qingtian. Obviously, by “the whole battle”, it meant the beginning and the time when Zhou Bao cut off the Starlight Bridge by his Yin and Yang Heavenly Sword and when Ye Qingtian tore up the void and left with a burst of star-blue mysterious Qi on him. For the rest of the time, the two of them were just covered by starlight, from which the tremendous Qi Power chilled him from the bottom of the heart.
Such power was supreme and invincible even to a Level Eight expert like himself.
He knew that Ye Qingtian was powerful and the same was Zhou Bao, but he had never seen the two fighting each other with all their strength. Now that he had seen it, the conquest of these experts was a matter of state, which would kill any rebellious spirit of anyone who had seen the battle. That was why he acted more respectful to Zhou Bao compared with the first time they met.
“Well, Your Excellency, I have a presumptuous request. I hope you could consider it.”
“Cut to the chase. I owe you a big favor. I’ll help you as long as it’s within my power.” Zhou Bao nodded and said. No matter what Mo Yinyang was up to, if it wasn’t for that man to tip him off, his companion Yan Yunfei would have been in grave danger on the way back to the territory with him, even if he was okay. During the battle, among the one hundred men or so he took, none of them ended up in one piece: a dozen were dead and over a half were badly injured.
“You see, I expect it would be quite easy for you, Your Excellency. If you ever find the Taiyuan Token, please take me into Taiyuan Heaven with you.”
Zhou Bao was confused. He looked at Mo Yinyang and said, “Ye Qingtian has torn up the void with the Taiyuan Token. Where should I find him?!”
“Oh, that was not the only Taiyuan Token, Your Excellency.” Mo Yinyang smiled with confidence. “And considering that Taiyuan Heaven is about to open again, with your marvelous power, I believe you can get one. What’s more, according to the rules, one Taiyuan Token shall take three men into Taiyuan Heaven. That’s why I’m asking you, Your Excellency.”
“Is that so? You mean, there is one in the Jin dynasty?”
“Of course there is. Like in the Li Dynasty, however, the Taiyuan Token was in possession of the most powerful schools. If you really want to enter Taiyuan Heaven, Your Excellency, maybe you should try and find one!” said Mo Yinyang with a glimmer of smile. “I suppose you have heard about the 33 Heavens, Your Excellency. Then you should know that the Spiritual Qi in there is thousands of times stronger than that of in our world. Not to mention countless long-lost treasures. If you can make your trip there, it will be of an infinite benefit to your power. With your apt.i.tude and power, the chances are that you’ll break through Level Nine or even enter the Mysterious Realm!”
“Hehe, it’s too soon to talk about that. But if it’s true, I wouldn’t say no to that!” Zhou Bao nodded. “Well, now there’s still time before the opening of Taiyuan Heaven. What’s your plan, Mr. Mo?”
“Although there’s a small difference between the Li Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty, they each have their unique customs. I want to take a tour in here and see them with my own eyes by this opportunity. I’ll come back to you 10 days before the opening of Taiyuan Heaven whether you get the Taiyuan Token or not, Your Excellency!”
“Great, deal!” Zhou Bao stroke his chair and said. “I’ll be waiting for you then, Mr. Mo!”
Mo Yinyang smiled, saluted to Zhou Bao and then turned into a cloud to leave.
Seeing Mo Yinyang leave, Zhou Bao adjusted his expression. “Come in, Zhu Ba!”
The voice penetrated through the room and reached outside the courtyard. Zhu Ba ran in upon hearing the voice and said, “Are you calling me, Your Excellency?”
“How about the nine guys? Anything new?” asked Zhou Bao, smiling. All the nine a.s.sa.s.sins of the Li Dynasty were captured by Zhou Bao, except for Ye Qingtian. They were experts at Level Seven or Eight, but still could not escape from the misery, only because Zhou Bao was in a bad mood.
After capturing them, Zhou Bao did nothing but sealed their acupoints, tendons and meridians and left them to Zhu Ba.
“Your Excellency, they were all tough guys. They fear no common instruments of torture. I had to do it myself to get something from them.” Zhu Ba laughed and thought to himself that his boss was extremely powerful. He fought against the Mingyi School alone and now captured nine experts of Level Seven or Eight, which was really something. He was one of the few people who had the guts and power to do so in Jin, or maybe in the whole world.
“You can save that to yourself. Just tell me who they are and what can I get from them,” said Zhou Bao. Although they all came from the Li Dynasty, these a.s.sa.s.sins were not quite familiar with each other. Mo Yinyang just knew a few of them.
“Ha-ha, Your Excellency, some of them won’t tell a word but I managed to get one of them talking. According to him, they were all from the Li Dynasty and came to mess you up by the order of G.o.dd.a.m.n Third Prince. They came with two other guys. One remains a secret and the other was a guy named Ye Qingtian, the one you defeated. He was the strongest of them all,” said Zhu Ba, rubbing his hands in excitement. “These guys are incredibly wealthy. They all had celestial devices with them, and some had more than one. I got 19 celestial devices with magical effects in total. Five of them were of the Mysterious Level and 14 of them were of the Psychic Level. I got many materials and medicinal herbs as well!” Upon finis.h.i.+ng his words, he looked at Zhou Bao and continued. “There seemed to be a leader among them. He had this odd ring. I thought it was strange but couldn’t tell how. He won’t tell me anything about it, so I brought it to you!” Then he handed a sapphire ring to Zhou Bao.
“Oh, a s.p.a.ce Ring!” Zhou Bao was surprised by the ring. It looked like it was made by common materials and perhaps the marvelous and unique spatial fluctuation on the sapphire could fool the eyes of a Level Nine expert, but it was obvious to Zhou Bao’s spiritual mind.
“It’s a s.p.a.ce Ring. Your current strength and spiritual mind aren’t enough to see it through. I suppose you could sense the abnormity only because of your eyes.”
“Yes, exactly, Your Excellency.” Zhu Ba smiled fatuously and agreed.
Zhou Bao glanced at him and reached his divine thoughts into the sapphire ring.
“Aye?”
There was not enough s.p.a.ce inside the ring, merely about ten cubic meters, smaller than Zhou Bao’s own s.p.a.ce of Segmented Realms. There were not many things in it, either, only some medicinal herbs, weapons, and celestial devices. Judging by their colors, these weapons were Secondary Heavenly Weapons, while the celestial devices were mainly of the Psychic Level, among which only one was of the Mysterious Level. Those things were enough to start a war in Jianghu, but nothing important to Zhou Bao. Actually, there was one thing that interested him – it lay on the corner in the s.p.a.ce Ring and it looked flat, like a willow leaf. He couldn’t tell what it was made from – neither gold nor wood. It looked like a piece of rotten wood but with metallic l.u.s.ter. Most importantly, there was an odd formation carving on it.
“Oh, a s.p.a.ceboat! I thought it no longer exists. How amazing!”
At that moment, Green Spirit showed up and was surprised by it as well.
“s.p.a.ceboat! Can it fly?”
“No, I don’t think so. It needs a great amount of heaven and earth original energy to make it fly, which is impossible in this world.” Green Spirit answered. “The magic formation had three functions: First, to absorb the original energy; Second, to transform the original energy into flying power; Third, to control formations. This is the simplest and the least valuable s.p.a.ceboat, but to be fair, it was perfectly preserved.”
“Does it need the heaven and earth original energy to fly?”
Zhou Bao was disappointed. It was like a small plane, by which even an ordinary people could fly in the air. It was useless to himself but perfect for his families to fly between Yunzhou and the Wuyang Region.
“Unless you can alter the formation and find an object full of the essence of the world as the energy source. Oh, by the way, the Sky-measuring Star Ruler is perfect for it. It contains sufficient star force. If you are willing to make it into the energy source, I’ll promise this s.p.a.ceboat will be faster than you.”
“I’m not stupid!” Zhou Bao cursed in a low voice and took his divine thoughts back from the ring. “You did well this time, Zhu Ba. We have got 20 celestial devices including the ring. I’ll take the ring and another nine celestial devices, and you can have the rest. You can do whatever you want with the ten celestial devices. I don’t care. Understand?”
“Thank you, Your Excellency!” Zhu Ba was in a state of euphoria. It was ten celestial devices! If he sold them all, he can afford ten lives of extravagance!
“Don’t be glad too soon. You can’t practice them all at once. You’d better focus on one of them. Speaking of this, how did it go with the Demon Devil Needles that I gave you?”
“The refining of the Demon Devil Needles was completed, and the Asura’s Dark Fiend formation has taken its shape. I believe it won’t be long before they function perfectly, Your Excellency.”
“Good!” Zhou Bao nodded. “The secrets hidden within the Demon Devil Formation deserve your careful apprehension, which will benefit your cultivation as well. Don’t neglect your practice on the Demon Devil Needles because of those celestial devices!”
“Yes, I won’t, Your Excellency!”
“Now take me to that guy who has revealed his ident.i.ty!” Zhou Bao stood up and said. “I want to know if he can be an a.s.set to us or not.”
“Sure, Your Excellency!”
After months of construction, Zhou Bao’s Wuyang Region was beginning to take shape. Of course, it was still the same small town, but it was twice the size than before. There were more buildings now and Zhou Bao’s mansion was three times bigger than its original size. The circ.u.mstances were different, he could get by with only a bed when he was single, but now, he had a wife, the princess of the imperial court. It was a fact that his territory was newly developed, but at least his mansion should not look shabby. No need to be as magnificent as the imperial palace in the capital city, but it had to be decent.
The political center of the Wuyang Region laid in the west to Zhou Bao’s mansion. The big yard served both as the office for Jiang Xiao and as the jail of this region.
The newly built jail was merely taken shape – it was equipped with a dungeon.
“This is it, Your Excellency.” Zhou Bao followed Zhu Ba into the dungeon. He couldn’t help but covered his nose because of the strong stinking smell and said, “Zhu Ba, what the h.e.l.l? How many prisoners have you brought here to make it stink like this?”
“Your Excellency, I didn’t bring anybody here myself. These are the nine guys you brought here last time. Unfortunately, none of them had the spirit of cooperation, so I had to make them suffer a little,” said Zhu Ba eagerly.
“Sh*t, only nine prisoners made a h.e.l.l of this place?!” Zhou Bao cursed in a low voice.
“Oh, watch your head, Your Excellency!” Zhu Ba said when pa.s.sing through a narrow pa.s.sageway. Through the pa.s.sageway, Zhou Bao heard the screams.
“What the h.e.l.l? I thought we’re done!”
“Your Excellency, those eight guys wanted it the hard way. I’ll make them pay for what they have done to you, even if they refuse to talk. After you, Your Excellency.”
Zhou Bao glanced at him and did not speak a word. Indeed, there was no need to show mercy to those sc.u.ms.
Zhou Bao found himself in a small damp stall by Zhu Ba’s lead. It was not big enough but luxurious than the place where the guys were tortured.
Inside the room were a bed and a desk with a burning candle on it. A man sprawled on the bed, with a pale face and blood on his cloth. His face lighted up with excitement when the door was opened.
When he saw Zhou Bao, he could not help himself but trembled and shrank his body.
“I’m not a monster!” Seeing his reactions, Zhou Bao smiled bitterly and walked to his bed. “Don’t be afraid. You are our friend now, I promise you’ll be treated well.”
The man nodded, and his strained body slowly relaxed. But the deep fear in his eyes betrayed him when he looked at Zhou Bao.
“So tell me, what’s your name? Who are you?” Zhou Bao tried to speak in a plain voice so that the man wouldn’t panic, but he still wondered how could a coward like him be a Level Eight expert. It was odd that his power was one of the best among the nine guys.
“My, my name is Tan Yuelan. I’m from the Li Dynasty…”
Tan Yuelan ignored his fear and began to tell his story. Although still nervous and stuttering at the beginning, he got better and became fluent in the end. Soon, Zhou Bao knew nearly all about his past.
Tan Yuelan had a blue blood of the Tan Family in the Li Dynasty. He was the brother-in-law of the emperor of the Li Dynasty and uncle of the Third Prince. The Tan Family was a respected family in the Li Dynasty, like the millennium family of Jin, if not superior.
Born with extraordinary apt.i.tude plus the strong backing of the Tan Family, Tan Yuelan practiced at a high speed. At the age of 20, with the help of various incantations of martial arts and Magic Drugs, he broke through Level Six, becoming a Level Seven expert and one of the best experts in his family. After another 20 years, he broke through Level Eight. Thanks to his family again, he found a spot with the best quality Evil Qi, gained a powerful Gang Qi and became even stronger.
This was a way to put it – the influence of his family, various Magic Drugs, and good fortune made the man he was today. This blue blood never fought in a real war, having profound combat capability but no experience. More importantly, he never had a hard cheese. When his power was sealed by Zhou Bao and intimidated and tortured by Zhu Ba, his psychological defense collapsed easily and confessed everything in no time.
Zhu Ba was good at torturing, but interrogation was a different thing. He got little information.
Unlike him, within an hour, Zhou Bao got enough information he needed about the Li Dynasty and the Third Prince.
Tan Yuelan was more than an uncle to the Third Prince. In fact, he was a trusted subordinate. He knew all about the Third Prince, including his obsession toward Yan Yunfei. This solved the mystery for Zhou Bao.
He still had doubts about what Mo Yinyang had said. The Third Prince of the Li Dynasty was a n.o.bleman, who could find any woman he wanted to. Why was he so obsessed with Yan Yunfei, a woman he never met before? And he even ordered a quite few experts to cross the sea and hunt him down. Anyone in his right mind would not do something like that. Otherwise, he would be crazy.
Thanks to Tan Yuelan, Zhou Bao saw what was going on.
His wife was not like other ordinary women. She had the Sacred Roots!
What was it?
Zhou Bao did not hear of it before, but Green Spirit knew it quite well. By his explanation, Zhou Bao finally figured it out. He kept blinking his eyes and then glared with anger.
“F*ck! He wanted to do the Dual-cultivation with my wife! How dare he is! The mother-f*cking Third Prince! d.a.m.n it! He’s dead. I swear I’ll kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Zhou Bao cursed with fury.
“Kid, don’t think about killing anybody now. You’d better learn a Dual-cultivation Method first!” Green Spirit said. “Sacred Roots! Such roots were rare even in the antiquity times. You surely have a good eye, kid.”
“The Li Dynasty wanted to reach its power to Great Jin. How ambitious they are! They even knew about Yan Yunfei’s Sacred Roots. I don’t think Yan Yuntian knew that himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t marry her to me that easily!” Zhou Bao sneered.
“Indeed. If he had known that, he didn’t need to worry about you at all. With her daughter as a bait, he could have even make the experts of the Mysterious Realm come after you, ignoring all their restrictions.”
“Oops, he missed his best shot!” Zhou Bao said, feeling relieved. “You seemed to have mentioned about knowing much of the Dual-cultivation Method. Show me one of them. What do you say?”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sure! No problem!” Green Spirit laughed out loud, sensually.
…
Ten days pa.s.sed. Zhou Bao was still practicing in the Secret Chamber of his mansion in the Wuyang Region.
He was sitting cross-legged on a cus.h.i.+on, with black Internal Qi winding around him. Not as hot as it used to be, now the Internal Qi was as fine as jade.
Yeah, it was like the jade.
People say that the jade gave off steam under the sun. But now, Zhou Bao’s warm Internal Qi seemed to be transformed into the jade.
“Ha-ha, Real Essence… Tell me, Green Spirit, how is my Internal Qi compared to the Real Essence?”
“You have the Divine Qi now. That’s totally different!” said Green Spirit. “Now that you have gained the power from Sacred Roots, even though it’s no match for the Real Essence, your Internal Qi would become extremely strong before long. It’s the Sacred Roots, kid! Still can’t believe you married someone with the Sacred Roots and gained power from it. You seriously didn’t know that she had it?”
“I didn’t hear about it before. How could I know if she had it?” Zhou Bao said.
“I see.” Having thought for a while, Green Spirit looked up and said. “Kid, listen to me. I’ll be your man from this day on. When you reach the Mysterious Realm and be listed among the Individual Immortal Karma Rank, I’ll teach you all the Divine Senses I know. What do you think of that?”
“Why? Why do you think I can?”
“It’s because of your fate!” Green Spirit said, “If you were telling the truth, you managed to marry Yan Yunfei by nothing but the first sight and a little trick. The whole thing went smoothly despite two fights, which were a piece of cake to you. Those all proved that you have something that others don’t – fate. And it is a good one, very good indeed. There are many men out in this world who have good apt.i.tude, personality or blue blood, but seldom with your fate. An era will only give birth to three or four men with strong fate like you. In this lifetime, I guess the only man with such fate is Ye Qingtian, the guy you hurt badly that day. As far as I’m concerned, a life with your lead wouldn’t be a bad one!”