Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 275: Chapter 248: A Brewing Storm, A Quiet Accumulation

Chen Che mentioned two things. The first was his speculation about Chen Yin.

Meng Changtu said it was highly probable. He had heard whispers about the Great Chen Royal Family, knowing only that over the past millennium, they had produced several cultivators at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, but none had ever managed to take that final step. After being suppressed for so long, it was anyone’s guess whether they had developed a rebellious streak.

If that clan wanted to produce a Golden Core cultivator, they absolutely could not bypass Thousand Eyes True Master. This was an irreconcilable conflict.

”Regardless of whether that’s the reason, you mustn’t get involved rashly. You did the right thing.”

Meng Changtu also approved of Chen Che’s choice.

Thousand Eyes was unfathomably deep. Even if the probability was one in ten thousand, one could not afford to get mixed up in it.

No one who could reach the Golden Core Realm was a simple character. His kindness was just an act. The moment any of his subordinates showed the slightest hint of betrayal, he would eliminate them without a shred of mercy.

The second matter concerned the Red Dragon Remnant Soul on Sun Hao. After listening, his father-in-law pondered for a moment before saying very seriously, ”Leave this to me. I’ll definitely lure him out within three months. When that time comes, I want that remnant soul.”

”I won’t be seeking outside help this time,” he added, clearly still bothered about having rushed to find someone and falling into an ’old friend’s’ trap.

”No problem!”

Chen Che agreed without hesitation.

He knew that Meng Changtu had his eyes on the Beast Taming skills the Red Dragon Remnant Soul possessed in life.

With the Meng Family’s help, the matter would naturally be much more secure. In addition, Chen Che stated his own needs. ”I wish to acquire a large batch of Fire Element Spiritual Objects. I’ll pay twenty percent above market price for each item. I hope Father-in-law can keep an eye out for me.”

He couldn’t possibly rely on slow, grinding effort to practice the Nine Transformations Spirit Flame Technique. Besides, relying solely on Jinyun Valley to collect them was far too slow, so he had to ask the Meng Family for help.

Even though Chen Che’s current net worth was nearly a million Spirit Stones, it was likely far from enough for this technique.

”Qingxuan already mentioned this to me. I’ve collected some for you as well.”

With a wave of his hand, a Storage Pouch appeared. Meng Changtu smiled. ”I was planning to have someone deliver them when you returned to the Valley. I didn’t expect you to arrive first.”

Chen Che swept his Divine Sense over the pouch and found it indeed contained quite a few Tier Three Spiritual Objects, each one radiating intense heat.

Although the quantity wasn’t large, the quality was high, enough for him to condense one sliver of flame. Still, it wasn’t enough.

”Is there more?”

Chen Che looked up.

”Ahem, Che’er, what special Cultivation Technique are you practicing?”

Meng Changtu was utterly astonished.

After his daughter had mentioned it to him, he had started keeping an eye out for Fire Attribute Spiritual Objects. There were several dozen items here. Added to what Jinyun Valley had previously collected, he felt it should be enough to cultivate even a Tier Two High Grade Technique to Great Perfection.

’Could it be a Tier Three Technique? Otherwise, why would he still act like it was far from enough?’

But seeing that Chen Che was unwilling to elaborate, he didn’t press the matter. Instead, he nodded slowly. ”It’s alright. Every cultivator has their secrets. I’ll keep a closer eye out for you in the future and do my best to acquire them for you.”

...

Following this, Jinyun Valley officially entered a busy period. Two pieces of news were spreading like wildfire throughout its sphere of influence, and both were related to Chen Che.

First, vassal families were now permitted to attempt Foundation Establishment.

What was a vassal? It meant being dependent, a subordinate, a servant. They had to watch their master’s expression for everything they did. Some stricter powers even forbade their vassal families from attempting Foundation Establishment.

This decision by Chen Che allowed many vassal families to breathe a sigh of relief. Some of their cultivators were approaching the sixty-year limit. If Chen Che had arbitrarily delayed them for a decade or so, their already low chances of successful Foundation Establishment would have likely plummeted.

Because of this matter, the three families that had previously requested to attempt Foundation Establishment even wanted to visit personally to express their gratitude, clearly as a show of loyalty. However, Chen Che had no time to receive them and left it all for Hu Yao to handle. After all, he was the Vice Valley Master.

Second was the matter of a resource auction, in which all families could compete.

Although many were puzzled as to why it was only for ten years of usage rights, they also understood that this meant more families could participate.

Moreover, every single family had a chance. For a time, all the vassal families began to rub their hands in anticipation, scrambling to raise funds in preparation for the auction.

After all, if they could win the bid, their family was bound to soar in the coming decade.

Meanwhile, Liang Yuan had also returned to his village and brought back three of his fellow apprentices from the mountains, all of whom had decent Forging skills.

As for Jia Chaoyuan, he would arrive in a few more days.

Having learned that Chen Che wanted to forge a Tier Three Magical Artifact, he needed to make some preparations.

”Valley Master Chen, I explained your situation to my master. He said he can do it, but to ensure success, he’ll need quite a few materials. Please take a look.”

Liang Yuan respectfully handed over a list.

Taking it, Chen Che saw that, just like with pill refinement, it required burning Spirit Wood to purify the flames, quenching with frigid water, and so on...

”I understand. I’ll have people start collecting them right away.”

Chen Che nodded slightly.

This was the advantage of commanding a faction. If he had to prepare everything himself, it would take at least three to five years. But now, all it took was a single order, and someone would handle it for him. Conversely, if it was a problem that even his subordinates couldn’t solve, then by the time it reached him, it was bound to be a major issue.

”Additionally, my master said that since he has no hands, reforging the Black Dragon Lock Chain will not only require your help but also the assistance of several Major Cultivators,” Liang Yuan added.

”That’s not a problem.”

Chen Che agreed without a second thought.

It was a Tier Three Magical Artifact that also needed a Flood Dragon Divine Soul infused into it. This would have been a tricky task even for Jia Chaoyuan at his peak, let alone now. Besides, within Jinyun Valley, including himself, there were a total of six Foundation Establishment Major Cultivators. If that wasn’t enough, he could always borrow more from the Meng Family.

Several days later, Jia Chaoyuan arrived, and Chen Che arranged for him to stay in the Sacrificial Hall.

He also summoned Hu Yao and instructed him to take good care of their guest. As for the matter of Artifact Casting, it was to be left entirely to Jia Chaoyuan, with any and all requests to be met.

After arranging these matters, Chen Che officially entered seclusion.

...

Days were spent attending classes on Earth Element Star, and after school, he would return to Jinyun Valley to cultivate. For a cultivator, time flew. A month and a half passed.

In mid-June, the Daoist School began its summer break.

The Fire Attribute Spiritual Objects provided by the Valley and the Meng Family had been completely absorbed by the third day. Since then, the number of flames on his back had reached eight, just one step away from Great Perfection.

At the same time, through nonstop day and night Cultivation, his Realm also reached the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer. Even his Physique, nourished by Pills, had advanced to the Fifth Layer.

Unfortunately, his Divine Soul Level didn’t improve much.

Even nourished by the Divine Court Incense, it was the same, improving by only a few percentage points, with a maximum daily increase of just a few dozen zhang. For Chen Che, who had experienced increasing it by several thousand zhang a day with the Tier Four Divine Statue, it suddenly felt like his cultivation had stalled.

But this was to be expected. After all, for someone of a low Realm to grasp the power of a higher realm, the difficulty of acquisition was naturally a bit greater.

In other news, Jia Chaoyuan was also ready to reforge the Black Dragon Lock Chain. The disciples in the Valley had long been looking forward to it. For them, the creation of a Tier Three Magical Artifact in their own valley was an extremely glorious event.

Perhaps it was a case of good things coming all at once.

On the same day, Li Changqing successfully created a Tier Two Middle-Grade Talisman. Though it was only an increase of one small grade, the difficulty had risen considerably. Since his arrival at Jinyun Valley, the Spirit Stones consumed for his Talisman Painting had already amounted to four thousand.

Keep in mind, Li Changqing had only been at Jinyun Valley for three months.

This just went to show how expensive it was to support the Cultivation of a Hundred Arts Cultivator.

Chen Che also fulfilled his earlier promise, promoting him to a First-class Tributor. As for opening his own Hall, that would have to wait. At the very least, he needed Li Changqing to be able to skillfully create Tier Two Middle-Grade Talismans on a consistent basis. Otherwise, if it were just a flash in the pan, wouldn’t it become a laughingstock?

Unfortunately, there was still no news of Sun Hao.

In fact, he had even asked Xiao Chan once, but Xiao Chan also said he hadn’t heard anything about Sun Hao’s movements. It seemed that after Thousand Eyes True Master left, Sun Hao had vanished completely.

’Is he in secluded cultivation, or is he plotting something else?’ Chen Che mused, holding his teacup.

Jinyun Valley and the Meng Family had had their informants out for nearly two months, but there was still not a single shred of news. This gave Chen Che a bad feeling.

’Forget it. If there’s still no news in a few more days, I’ll go look for him myself.’

Just as Chen Che was pondering this, his eyes suddenly narrowed. With his Divine Sense, he felt two figures clad in black robes and wearing gold and silver masks arrive one after the other at the gates of Jinyun Valley. ’Huh, it’s actually them...’

With a thought, the seamlessly integrated Jinyun Valley Grand Array automatically parted to form a path.

The disciples who had been preparing to step forward and stop them saw this and immediately retreated respectfully to the side. Only the Valley Master could do such a thing.

”Tributor Chen, it’s been a while. Compared to the Imperial Mausoleum, your Jinyun Valley is practically a Peach Blossom Spring.”

The speaker was none other than Chen Yin.

Halfway through his sentence, the Soul Fire under Chen Yin’s mask suddenly flickered, as if in extreme shock. How long had it been since they last met? Chen Che’s Cultivation had advanced at a practically visible rate, and he now gave off an unfathomably profound feeling.

One had to know, he was a Divine Dao Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. Within the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could almost see through anyone’s depth at a single glance.

But Chen Che was the sole exception.

”Fellow Daoist Chen, you’re too kind. Please, have some tea.”

Chen Che walked a few steps to greet them and personally poured a cup of tea for him.

He then asked the purpose of their visit. Just as he had mentioned before, Chen Yin had come to purchase a batch of Pills and Weapons.

”The quantity is enormous. The Valley won’t be able to fulfill the order in a short time...” Chen Che said without thinking after hearing the request.

”No matter. A war isn’t won in a day. As the saying goes, ’an army marches on its stomach.’ It might be several years before we truly make a move on Shuzhou. I plan to use mortals first to probe Shuzhou’s depths.”

Chen Yin was quite open when speaking of this matter.

Chen Che nodded slightly. ’As expected of a Major Cultivator who was once a Mortal Emperor; he understands patience.’ Just as this thought crossed his mind, Chen Yin’s tone suddenly shifted. ”Besides that, I have another favor to ask...”

”What is it?”

”Take this unworthy junior of mine as your disciple.”

!??