Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 297 Encounter with a Traitor on the Return Journey; Intelligence Delivery at Inkstone Market

However, now is not the best time to practice the Refining Evil Technique.

The most important thing right now is to break through to a higher cultivation level; everything else can wait.

Therefore, Xiao Chen simply regulated his internal energy and then voluntarily woke up from his meditation.

I glanced outside first.

A large area of ​​sea not far away was boiling, emitting bursts of white steam.

The once azure seawater was now murky and filled with grayish-brown or charred black impurities.

The lava eruption had a significant impact, and it has not yet completely subsided even after a day.

Fortunately, this place has always been a deserted area with few inhabitants, so no innocent people were harmed.

"It has ended."

Xiao Chen waved his hand to remove the barrier and asked, "I'm going back to the Sea of ​​Compassion now. Are you sure you want to leave that island, even if you might never be able to go back in this lifetime?"

"It's not too late to regret it now. I can send you back and give you a chance."

"It will be too late to back out later."

The outside world is quite dangerous, especially now that the sea creatures are causing trouble, even cultivators can hardly remain unaffected.

On the contrary, staying on such a remote and isolated island might allow one to live a peaceful life.

"I am sure!"

The boy answered resolutely: "I promise I won't regret it!"

His eyes held a longing for the outside world, a hint of expectation and confusion about the future, but no sign of backing down.

Alright then, Xiao Chen didn't intend to go back on his promise.

It was on the way, after all.

He didn't say much, but directly activated the Cloud-Piercing Shuttle and headed towards the Sea of ​​Compassion.

Since the location of this dangerous place was provided by the boy next to him, he no longer needed to return to that isolated island.

Golden sea fish do have some intelligence, but not much.

Xiao Chen hadn't fully grasped this principle before, since he usually relied on teleportation techniques to travel.

However, after switching to the Spirit Shuttle this time, he immediately and clearly noticed the increase in the number of Golden Core Sea Fish in the sea.

Without the spiritual energy fluctuations generated when using escape techniques to advance at high speed as a deterrent.

The Cloud-Piercing Shuttle attracted many Golden Core Sea Fish that attacked it along the way.

As they got closer to the Sea of ​​Compassion, the frequency of attacks, which started once every three days, quickly increased to once a day.

Especially after getting close to the Sea of ​​Ashes.

In just one morning, Xiao Chen actually encountered two Golden Core Sea Fish.

He had to stop the shuttle and deal with the annoying sea fish to prevent them from attacking and damaging the shuttle.

However, just as he was digging out the demon core, he saw a streak of light rushing towards him from afar.

Logically speaking, this is the edge of the Sea of ​​Compassion, and there are usually almost no cultivators here.

Xiao Chen took a closer look out of curiosity and discovered that the other party was actually piloting a large spirit boat, which seemed to be carrying quite a few cultivators.

When passing through the Sea of ​​Ashes, they actually stopped at the edge and let two Golden Core cultivators who were hitchhiking off.

Then, continuing with a large ship full of people, they headed straight west.

what?
Where is this ship going?
Xiao Chen was a little confused; there was clearly nowhere else to go further west.

You guys aren't planning to go to the Storm Sea, are you?
However, to be fair, the Compassionate Sea and the Stormy Sea did have some trade exchanges in the past, but not many.

After all, the risks along the way are too great for a Golden Core cultivator to travel such a long distance.

Although Nascent Soul True Monarchs possess sufficient strength, given their status, they naturally look down upon doing menial work like trading.

There were no obstructions on the sea surface.

Therefore, even though they were hundreds of miles apart, the two cultivators in the distance noticed Xiao Chen watching from this side.

One of them suddenly focused his gaze and turned to give his companion a wink.

Their mission is too special to be seen by a wider audience.

His companion immediately understood and nodded slightly in agreement.

So the two of them flew towards Xiao Chen together, taking out their magical weapons in advance, ready to fight.

However, when they approached within a hundred miles and began to use their divine sense to investigate in advance.

But they immediately and tacitly stopped moving.

She wore the same white feather robes as rumored, had an exceptionally young face that looked only in her twenties, and remained calm and composed even when faced with the approach of unfamiliar cultivators.

Both of them were sending dangerous signals.

"Fellow Daoist Ling, something feels off. This person looks familiar."

"Fellow Daoist Yi, I also feel something's not quite right. How about we call it quits?"

The two exchanged a glance, then slowly pulled back, preparing to leave.

However, they immediately heard a loud shout: "Hey you two, where are you going? Come over and have a chat."

Seeing that they were trying to leave, Xiao Chen immediately asked them to stay.

However, the two people seemed not to hear and continued to back away.

They even sped up their pace by three points.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Chen immediately gave chase.

When the two saw him chasing after them, they instinctively took out talismans to bless themselves, and then fled in opposite directions.

With the blessing of the talisman, their speed immediately increased dramatically.

This is one of the best ways to escape when facing a single, powerful enemy.

Basically, once you've chosen one target, the other can be safely evacuated.

Normally this method would be quite useful, but encountering Xiao Chen was simply their bad luck.

Flashes of fire appeared in the sky, and the cultivator on the left was intercepted on the spot after only traveling a short distance of about fifty miles.

As for the monk on the right...

Even as it was trying to escape, it was immediately caught by the mechanical grappling hook.

He was now being held by the back of the neck by Xiao Chen and was being used to block the cultivator on the left.

"You're already here, why are you running away?"

Xiao Chen smiled and said, "It seems you've recognized me. I don't need to ask you what you need to tell me, do I?"

"Whoever is willing to cooperate honestly, I might consider sparing their life."

"If they are stubborn and inflexible, then we'll just have to throw them out to feed the fish."

However, the monk on the left flipped his hands and took out eight black thunder beads the size of walnuts, holding them between his fingers.

Then, blustering but cowardly, he shouted, "Xiao Chen, I know you're very powerful, but you'd better not push me!"

"Let me go today, and we'll both be well."

"If you insist on being aggressive, the Sunflower Water Thunder Pearl in my hand is not just for show. At worst, it'll be a fight to the death!"

"I'm just a worthless life. If I could exchange it for a genius like you to die together, it wouldn't be a loss."

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes slightly: "You dare threaten me? You're asking for death!"

Before he finished speaking, he immediately raised his leg and unleashed a move called "Dragon Swings Its Tail".

"Boom! Boom! ... Boom!"

Eight rapid and dense explosions rang out.

The cultivator was not lying. The moment he sensed the fluctuation of spiritual energy, he detonated the eight Sunflower Water Thunder Pearls in his hand.

Immediately, a large cluster of azure lightning raged, almost completely covering an area of ​​ten miles in radius.

A large red fire lotus bloomed, but was instantly torn to shreds by fierce lightning.

The forces of water and fire collided, triggering a secondary explosion on the spot.

"Damn, what the hell is this?"

Xiao Chen held up another cultivator in his hand, using him as a human shield.

The power of those thunder pearls was much greater than he had expected, several times greater than the Gengjin thunder pearls he had seen before, and they directly shattered the Qiongtan Fire Lotus.

At times like this, it's definitely a case of "better you than me."

Even so, a surge of intense lightning still traveled up Xiao Chen's arm and into his body.

It flows through the five internal organs and six bowels, attempting to damage the flesh and blood vessels along its path.

Fortunately, physical cultivators also temper their internal organs, giving them a higher level of resistance compared to magic cultivators.

Therefore, Xiao Chen only felt a numbness in his body and was slightly stunned, but he was not seriously injured.

The lightning that was transmitted a second time was not enough to injure him.

"This power is outrageous. Could those eight Sunflower Water Thunder Pearls be the work of the sea race?"

Xiao Chen looked at the makeshift shield in his hand, which had become completely stiff and even somewhat brittle.

He broke off the slightly deformed storage ring and threw it into the sea.

As for the cultivator who detonated the lightning pearl...

Because it was located right in the middle and there was no way to avoid it, it had been purified by the lightning until not a single hair was left.

Only a small, completely twisted stone fell from the sky.

Xiao Chen raised his hand and brought the bird back from mid-air, then took a closer look.

As expected, it was a storage ring that was severely damaged and deformed beyond recognition.

To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen a storage ring damaged to such an extent that it was completely unusable.

"Fortunately, the damage isn't too severe, so it should be able to be opened."

Xiao Chen checked the other storage ring; its restrictions were relatively intact, and it seemed usable.

Since that's the case, why not look for clues in the storage ring?

Thanks to the fact that some of the restrictions had been destroyed by lightning, this storage ring was much easier to crack.

In addition, Xiao Chen was already very skilled at this kind of thing and had accumulated a lot of experience.

Therefore, it only took half an hour to remove all the remaining restrictions.

He probed into it with his divine sense and, as was his habit, scanned the spirit stones first.

But this was clearly not a wealthy Golden Core cultivator; he only had a little over 34,000 spirit stones on his person.

Instead, he also brought a sword and a shield as spare magical weapons, plus a stack of talismans for self-defense.

Unfortunately, it was never used in the end and became useless junk.

Pills were even rarer; there was only half a bottle of Rejuvenation Pills that hadn't been finished.

Instead, he brought a whole bunch of miscellaneous items, such as various compasses of different sizes, low-grade spiritual herbs, and strange tokens, making him a typical impoverished rogue cultivator.

If we look at it this way, since the two acted together, the other one should be doing the same.

I reckon that apart from those few precious thunder pearls, he didn't have anything else of value on him.

Xiao Chen found three letters among the clutter.

One of them was slightly yellowed, and looked quite old.

Upon opening it, I found several lines of neat, small handwriting inside.

The letter was actually from the monk's fiancée, who explained that due to changes in both families, she could not fulfill the marriage agreement and was writing to inform him that she had found another suitable partner.

"Ah, this is actually a letter annulmenting the engagement." Xiao Chen put the letter back in its original place. No wonder the letter looked so old, yet it was still kept in his storage ring. He probably couldn't bear to throw it away.

He spewed forth a divine fire from his hand, burning the letter to ashes, which he then scattered into the sea.

Then open the second package.

Xiao Chen immediately saw the handwriting from Jin Luan.

The letter ordered him to temporarily suspend his current mission, first go to find another cultivator to join him, and then together head to the Sea of ​​Ashes to participate in a new search mission.

Their sole responsibility was to coordinate the search and pinpoint the location of the malevolent energy.

The specific collection task was handled by another group of cultivators who had arrived at the Sea of ​​Ashes in advance.

"The sea creatures are still searching for evil energy, and they've even doubled their manpower?"

Xiao Chen chuckled: "It's a pity you guys aren't fast enough; you're not even as fast as me alone."

If he had received this news beforehand, he might have been a little anxious.

But now that he has successfully condensed the Five Elements Seal, he is incredibly stable and there is absolutely no need to panic.

Moreover, the thought that he had also disrupted some of the sea creatures' plans while acquiring the evil energy made him even happier.

The regeneration of malevolent energy is extremely slow and difficult.

For at least the next ten thousand years, the sea creatures will not be able to obtain malevolent energy from the same location.

It can be said that Xiao Chen's successive interception of the evil energy was a win-win situation.

He casually opened the third letter.

This is what the cultivator originally intended to do.

Prior to this operation, he was responsible for secretly purchasing Yang Stones from the Moshifang Market and transporting them to a designated cave.

Each time a new Yang Stone is delivered, the recipient will receive the spirit stones spent on the previous purchase, as well as a contribution token bestowed by the sea tribe.

Once he accumulates enough contribution tokens, he can exchange them for the breakthrough pills he desires.

The letter also promised that the exchange rate would be at least half that of the major sects.

If you work hard, you can accumulate enough contribution tokens in just ten years.

This amount of time is undoubtedly very fast for an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, no wonder it led him to secretly defect to the Sea Clan.

"I knew this pile of tokens looked a bit strange. Turns out they're contribution tokens from the sea tribe."

Xiao Chen rummaged through the clutter again and successfully found a total of nineteen tokens, each only the length of a thumb.

He found the token strange because it had no words on it, only a few small fish-like patterns.

However, it now seems that those were not small fish, but rather the writing system of a sea creature.

"If I have the Sea Clan Contribution Token, can I redeem the prize?"

Xiao Chen suddenly had a whimsical idea. He thought that even if he sold this thing as a junk, no one would necessarily buy it, but if it could be exchanged, it should be worth quite a few spirit stones.

However, it's probably not feasible for him to go directly there, as the sea creatures have likely already added him to their hostile list.

"Well, let's keep it for now, just in case we need it."

Considering that these sea creature contribution tokens were relatively small and didn't take up much space, Xiao Chen kept them in the Vast Ocean Ring.

After dealing with these things, he turned to look at the southern part of Jinhai.

According to the clues mentioned in the letter, there should be another group of cultivators sent by the sea race there, searching for evil energy.

Since we've run into this, why don't we take care of it while we're at it?
Xiao Chen acted immediately, and eight hours later he successfully captured the other two traitors and their storage rings.

This time, however, he wasn't in a hurry to crack it.

Instead, they first piloted the Cloud-Piercing Shuttle back, arriving outside the Inkstone Market and landing on a small hillside.

The reason for taking this route back to the Ocean of Compassion, instead of returning the way we came.

Xiao Chen did this both because he had promised the young man to take him to the Sea of ​​Compassion, and also to remind the Mo Zhang Sect to be careful of attacks from the sea creatures.

After all, he had previously obtained intelligence about the attack on the Mozhang Sect from different traitors.

Giving them a heads-up beforehand might help prevent problems from arising in the first place.

"See that huge group of buildings up ahead?"

Xiao Chen opened the spirit shuttle, pointed outside, and turned to look at the young man: "This is the Inkstone Market, and we have entered the core area of ​​the Compassionate Sea."

"Since it's on the way, I'll give you another option."

"Do you want to go to a relatively safe place and gradually get to know the environment, or do you want to stay in the relatively chaotic place, where perhaps some opportunities will arise?"

"According to my information, this place is likely to descend into chaos."

"If you ask for peace, I'll take you to another place later. If you ask for opportunity, you can go down now."

Xiao Chen was eager to know what choice the other party would make.

A normal cultivator would definitely want to go to a relatively safe place, but he had a strange premonition that the boy would choose to stay here.

as predicted.

Upon hearing this, the boy immediately stood up and bowed deeply.

He then replied, "I choose to stay here, and I thank you for escorting me along the way. I, Chu Tianze, will forever remember your kindness!"

After saying that, he decisively jumped out of the Cloud-Piercing Shuttle.

Then he bowed again and walked down the hillside without looking back.

Their steps were firm, and they were even somewhat eager to embrace the new world.

"Chu Tianze? What a fine name."

Watching his departing figure, Xiao Chen couldn't help but feel a mix of emotion and curiosity: "Tsk tsk tsk, I hope this kid can live a few more days and not lose his life so easily."

To be honest, he actually had some expectations for the boy, but he didn't know if the boy could really make a name for himself in the future.

But that's a matter for the future.

Xiao Chen also jumped out of the spirit shuttle and put it back into the Vast Ocean Ring.

He then flew straight to the entrance of the market and looked at the Mozhang Sect disciples standing guard there: "Hey, do you recognize me?"

Given his current fame, it's safe to say that almost everyone in the world knows him.

But among the disciples of major sects, they should all know him by now.

Upon hearing this, the disciple, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, shook his head blankly.

Then he hurriedly bowed and said, "Disciple Liu Renxin of Kuazhang Peak greets Senior. I was blind and asked for your forgiveness."

……

Alright, it's normal for a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator to be unaware of the latest information in the cultivation world.

Xiao Chen acted as if nothing had happened and coughed lightly: "Ahem, well, where is the person in charge of your market? I have something important to discuss with him."

Upon hearing this, Liu Renxin looked up and glanced at this strange senior again.

He had initially thought it was a senior member of the sect who had come, and he was quite startled.

However, he dared not be negligent and immediately replied, "Reporting to Senior, the market is now managed by Master Moyin, who usually resides in the central Tingfeng Tower."

Xiao Chen got his spot and didn't linger.

They quickly found the special six-story attic with windows facing north and south.

Then he was stopped at the entrance by a Foundation Establishment disciple guarding the gate: "Senior, please wait!"

"My husband is entertaining a distinguished guest upstairs and simply cannot leave."

"Please come again on another day, senior."

Ok?
No, am I really that unknown around here?
Xiao Chen was recognized by almost every cultivator he encountered in Tinglang Market.

It now appears that the main reason for the widespread dissemination of his deeds in the new ruins was the influence of strong winds and Lingtong Pavilion.

Now that they've moved here, they're clearly not as famous anymore.

"I have something important to discuss with your master, something very important."

Xiao Chen tried to communicate: "Do you understand what I mean?"

However, upon hearing this, the boy first looked him up and down and examined his clothes.

Then he shook his head decisively: "I'm really sorry, but the master specifically instructed me to wait and not to disturb him today, no matter who comes."

"Please go back first, senior, and come back another day."

As a disciple of Master Moyin, although he only had the Foundation Establishment cultivation level, he was already used to seeing Golden Core cultivators on a daily basis.

They don't care about things that are considered important at all.

After all, judging from his attire, this senior who came to visit, while not exactly shabby, was far from wealthy either, and certainly not as important as the distinguished guest upstairs.

Moreover, the doorman wasn't afraid that his refusal would make him resentful.

If he breaks through to the Golden Core stage in the future, as a cultivator of the Mozhang Sect, he will naturally have the support of the sect and his fellow disciples.

If he cannot break through his cultivation level, he will die of old age before his master.

In other words, he could be protected by Master Moyin for the rest of his life and would not have to worry about being retaliated against.

Therefore, they were naturally very confident in refusing, and didn't even bother to issue a notification.

"Hey, I think you're just asking for it, you need to be taught a lesson!"

Xiao Chen unleashed his aura and glared at the other party.

The aura of a Golden Core cultivator at the Great Perfection stage is something a Foundation Establishment cultivator simply cannot withstand.

The doorman immediately felt as if a heavy hammer had struck his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, her face turning deathly pale with fright.

At the same time, the intense aura of cultivation also alarmed the cultivators upstairs.

"Who dares to cause trouble in my Moshi Market... huh?"

The moment Mo Yin Zhenren sensed the oppressive aura, he instinctively shouted a rebuke.

But before I could finish speaking, I realized something was off.

The fact that he could hold such a position meant that he was naturally very well-informed within the Mozhang Sect.

I had already seen Xiao Chen's portrait through internal sect channels.

Upon seeing that somewhat familiar face, he was immediately surprised and his eyes widened.

But it doesn't matter, this is his territory.

There are level three formations set up by the sect in the market that he can use at will. With the power of the formation, he is not afraid of his opponent.

Master Mo Yin was about to take out his array flags to demonstrate the power of the Mo Zhang Sect.

As a result, the sect's true disciple, whom he was warmly entertaining, immediately became excited.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Xiao!"

Master Moxiu didn't bother with the stairs; he leaped down from the sixth floor in one swift stride, greeting everyone with a broad smile: "What wind blew you here today?"

"Before the New Year, we were in the ruins, and we were very grateful for your help."

"Since you're here today, please do me the honor of trying the specialty dishes of our Mozhang Sect."

Logically speaking, Master Moxiu was a true disciple, and ordinary cultivators wouldn't allow him to disregard his own dignity like this.

However, he had witnessed Xiao Chen's actions in the ruins and was already captivated by his impressive demeanor.

Moreover, cultivators who follow the path of enlightenment will inevitably be among the best of their kind, even after they reach the Nascent Soul stage.

Given a choice, you should definitely seize the opportunity to befriend the other party.

Seeing his master's distinguished guest with a beaming smile, the doorman was completely dumbfounded.

What's the situation?
(End of this chapter)