Chapter 272: Restoring the Dao Foundation
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Although they didn’t know the exact Quasi-Saint Realm the old man was at, they could guess his strength was surely above the middle stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm after careful thinking. After all, they were only at the Nirvana Realm, unable to cross a whole realm to discern his precise level. Such a terrifying existence was still no match for a single move from Su Chen, it was imaginable what Su Chen’s true strength was. Was he really still at the initial stage of the Quasi-Saint Realm?
“The further one cultivates, the more difficult it becomes. In theory, even if one spends a hundred years practicing after reaching the Quasi-Saint Realm, one will still only be treading water,” a Holy Son from a holy land spoke with difficulty. Everything had happened too swiftly, making it hard to keenly sense Su Chen’s profound realm and might. That aura receded like the tide, leaving them only a vague impression of the pressure from a Quasi-Saint Realm powerhouse.
“If I remember right, this is Brother Su Chen’s first meeting with Huo Xi, right? Why did he help her? I don’t know! Not only that, Brother Su Chen even bestowed her with an extremely precious spiritual fruit! Could it be… something between them?” the Yin Yang Holy Son thought to himself.
He had wanted to say Huo Xi was useless trash. The Eternal Forbidden Body in the current era was utterly crippled. But recalling the unclear relationship between Huo Xi and Su Chen, he held his tongue. At this moment, drawing Su Chen’s ire over the word “trash” would not be worthwhile.
“Holy…” Conflict filled Huo Xi’s pretty face. She looked at the blood fruit before her, then reluctantly shifted her gaze away. Finally, it settled on Su Chen as she firmly declared, “This blood fruit is priceless. I truly cannot accept such a fortune! Holy Son, please take it back!”
In her view, Su Chen’s actions were no different than the previous blue-robed man’s. The only real difference was Su Chen had paid a far greater price. But the crux was that Su Chen’s strength was also far stronger. Likewise, his background was even more daunting. Offending the Golden Crow Clan barely impacted him. After all, the relationship between humans and demons had always been discordant.
Today, not only had Su Chen aided her, but he’d even bestowed spiritual herbs. For two newly acquainted people, this was truly abnormal. There was an old saying that offering excessive flattery when there was no business at hand was either deceit or theft! It was highly likely Su Chen desired the Exquisite PaG.o.da in her possession.
Thinking of this, Huo Xi’s expression grew even more resolute. She gazed at Su Chen and uttered in a deep voice, “Holy Son, please take back the spiritual fruit!”
Yet Su Chen still looked at Huo Xi with perfect composure, saying, “I’ve never taken back what I’ve given. If you don’t want this blood fruit, then discard it.” Hearing this, Huo Xi froze on the spot. “This…” She pursed her lips, traces of struggle on her pretty face.
Although currently very powerful, comparable to Nirvana Realm experts and even having slain several Golden Crow Clan princes, she understood her circ.u.mstances best. The Eternal Forbidden Body was not tolerated by heaven and earth. Reaching her current attainment was purely a stroke of fortune.
When forcefully breaking through to the Spirit Sea Realm previously, she had been rejected by heaven and earth, damaging her Dao foundation. If she did not quickly repair it, her path in this life was severed. The blood fruit before her could help mend her Dao foundation.
However, the crux was if she accepted the fruit, she would owe Su Chen a favor. If Su Chen later asked her for the immortal gold because of this, would she give it? Refusing would be ingrat.i.tude, earning disdain from all in the East Barrens. Likewise, it went against her personality.
Yet if she gave it away, her greatest reliance would be gone. After much rumination, Huo Xi gritted her teeth and retrieved a small grey stone from her storage ring. It was only the size of a pinky finger, but the moment it appeared, the sound of the Great Dao reverberated through heaven and earth, as if an unrivaled existence was preaching.
This was the terrifying aspect of immortal gold. It was not just an extremely rare material but melded into the laws of heaven and earth.
“She’s actually willing to trade the immortal gold for it!” someone cried out. Several Golden Crow Clan princes had perished. Their main goal had been the immortal gold. Even facing pressure from the Golden Crow Clan, Huo Xi hadn’t taken out the gold. Yet now she produced a piece. This showed her resolution.
“Isn’t everyone’s focus a little off? Didn’t you notice this girl still had remnants left after forging the paG.o.da entirely from immortal gold?” a Holy Son uttered with a solemn expression at this time. Rare materials like the immortal gold were usually only added in trace amounts when refining weapons. A magic treasure fully forged from it like Huo Xi’s truly didn’t exist in this world, even in ancient times. The great emperors of ancient times would have lamented the waste upon seeing this.
The piece she’d taken out now was enough for Su Chen to forge a sacred weapon or even a saint-king-level sacred weapon.
“Holy Son, I will not accept reward without merit. I will use this piece of immortal gold to exchange with you!” Huo Xi slowly p.r.o.nounced.
“Using a piece of immortal gold to swap for a blood fruit, this is simply too worthwhile!” a Holy Son involuntarily exclaimed. Though rare, blood fruits could still be found or cultivated over millennia if need be. But immortal gold was different. Apart from Huo Xi, n.o.body knew if any existed in the world now. It was highly likely the gold in her hands was the last piece on earth.
“So this is what Junior Brother meant when you said you disliked using force! It seems quite upright, at the very least candid,” the Pavilion Master sighed. His words were very plain, but the Golden Crow Clan’s Fourth Prince beside him wore an extremely ugly expression.
Indeed, Su Chen did not use force. But their Golden Crow Clan differed. To seize the immortal gold, they had already sacrificed the lives of several princes. Today, they could only watch helplessly as Su Chen took it away.
If Su Chen had merely obstructed them, that would be one thing. But the crux was he had also struck out against their clan! Yet what could they do? With just their present numbers, the Fourth Prince simply didn’t dare provoke Su Chen. Even with their elder heavily injured by Su Chen, all they could do was grit their teeth and endure. After all, sometimes one had to consider the circ.u.mstances before making threats.
If it were Huo Xi, the prince could still spout some harsh words even if he couldn’t beat her. But to Su Chen.Jie feared his threats would have barely left his mouth before Su Chen slew him the next second. It was effortless for Su Chen to deal with a Quasi-Saint Realm expert, much less handle him, a mere Nirvana Realm cultivator.
However, just then, Su Chen’s words caused the entire venue to fall into dead silence..