Chapter 1684: The Source of Divine Crystals
Jian Chen became greatly disappointed after hearing fairy Hao Yue’s explanation. He had originally thought that the treasure of the Lu family was something impressive, where even if it were useless to him, it would be worth quite a lot, allowing him to obtain a large number of divine crystals if he sold it. He could use them as resources to support Shen Jian’s breakthroughs. However, he had never thought that the so-called treasure of the Lu family was just a piece of incomplete jade. Even though the piece of jade was likely to be the key to a Godking’s dwelling, it would be useless if he did not assemble the entire piece of jade.
Moreover, even if he did assemble the entire piece, he still needed to know the precise location of the Godking’s dwelling, or it would still be useless.
As a result, the piece of jade was equivalent to a useless piece of rock to Jian Chen. Even if he auctioned it off, he would not be able to get a good price for it.
“Esteemed senior Shen Jian, the patriarch and elder Xi Yu have come to visit,” at this moment, a guard’s voice rang out from outside politely.
Shen Jian immediately removed the surrounding formations and barriers. Jian Chen also dismissed his thoughts and quickly put the piece of jade back into the box and placed it back into his Space Ring.
Only after doing all that did Shen Jian and Jian Chen make their way out, personally inviting the patriarch and elder Xi Yu into the hall. They were extremely polite. After all, the two of them were in the Mo clan’s territory. The clan had been kind enough already to get a guard to announce the patriarch’s visit.
“May I ask if brother Shen Jian’s finding this place comfortable? If there are any places you are discontent with, please bring it up to me directly. There’s no need to be polite. I’ll get people to fix the matter immediately,” the patriarch clasped his hands at Shen Jian and Jian Chen with a smile. He did not put up the haughty airs of a patriarch.
“Thank you for your warm hospitality, patriarch. We are extremely satisfied with what you have provided us with,” Shen Jian replied politely.
The four of them conversed a little, asking about each other’s well beings. Afterwards, the patriarch took out a long, wooden box. Layers of formations protected the box, and it would pulse with powerful energy from time to time. Ignoring the fact that the box must have been holding something extraordinary, just the box itself was crafted from an extremely precious type of wood. It was invaluable.
“This is a gift I’ve specially prepared for brother Jian Chen. I wonder if you like it,” the patriarch smiled as he passed the wooden box to Jian Chen.
“Patriarch, this…” Jian Chen hesitated as he stared at the wooden box that was pushed into his hands. Although he was unable to see what was inside the box due to the protective formations, he felt that the matter was rather inappropriate. After all, he had only come to the Mo clan a few days ago and was allowed to freeload off them. He even received a gift now.
Although he knew that the patriarch was trying to rope in Shen Jian and him, he did not plan on staying at the Mo clan for very long.
Seeing Jian Chen’s hesitatation, the patriarch removed the formations on the box and directly shoved it into Jian Chen’s hands. He smiled, “Brother Jian Chen, you should open it and have a look.”
After a moment of hesitance, Jian Chen made up his mind and opened the box firmly. Immediately, a hazy, white glow emerged. A flying sword sat in there silently.
“It’s the Flying Snow sword from Maple Leaf Pavilion!” Jian Chen’s eyes narrowed.
The patriarch chuckled, “Maple Leaf Pavilion is a business that belongs to the city lord of Maple Leaf City, while the city lord and I are old friends. After learning that this sword caught brother Jian Chen’s eye, I bought it as a gift for you. I hope you like it.”
Jian Chen remained calm. He slowly closed the lid of the box and returned the sword to the patriarch. He said, “Patriarch, this gift is just too valuable. I cannot accept it.”
“Thank you, patriarch. I’ll accept this gift for Jian Chen then.” However, right after Jian Chen finished talking, Shen Jian grabbed the box in his stead.
Jian Chen was stunned. He looked towards Shen Jian, and he appeared rather troubled.
With the gift accepted, the patriarch was in a fantastic mood. He conversed with Jian Chen and Shen Jian for a very long time before leaving with Xi Yu. Although the patriarch had never mentioned the fact that he wanted to rope in Jian Chen and Shen Jian, they all understood what was going on. They just chose not to talk about it.
From the patriarch, Jian Chen and Shen Jian also gained a better understanding of the surrounding region, in particular, the strength of the four organisations in the surrounding region. They learnt how many Godhood elders each organisation possessed and learnt all about a few of them. Even with regards to the Dong’an province, the two of them gained a rough understanding. It was just not very detailed.
“Jian Chen, take the Flying Snow sword for now. Don’t worry about owing people favors. The matter at hand is to increase our strength and deal with the ancestor of the Lu family afterward. We can use the Lu family’s territory to return the kindness of the Mo clan,” said Shen Jian. Once they killed the ancestor of the Lu family, the Lu family would obviously no longer be able to hold their ground against the four other organisations. With Shen Jian and Jian Chen’s assistance, the Mo clan could take over the Lu family’s territory all too easily.
Jian Chen hesitated for a while before accepting the Flying Snow sword in the end. He could not use the twin swords, so his strength was drastically affected. Now that he had the Flying Snow sword, his battle prowess would return to his peak once again.
“The Lu family also control a divine crystal mine. The Lu family mines quite a lot of divine crystals from it every year. Shen Jian, cultivate with the low grade divine crystals you have on you right now. I’ll go out and get some more for you. Once you reach mid Deity, we can move against the Lu family immediately,” Jian Chen said to Shen Jian as a heavy killing intent bubbled in his voice.
Shen Jian stared at Jian Chen strangely. He smiled slightly, “Jian Chen, you plan on doing something with the Lu family’s divine crystal mine?”
The corner of Jian Chen’s lips curled slightly, revealing a smile with hidden intentions. He said, “All the wealth of the Lu family belongs to us anyway once the ancestor of the Lu family dies. I’m just collecting part of it early.”
“Then be careful. Don’t forget about the hidden problem on you.”
“Don’t worry. Unless a God personally comes, no one can force me to such a state. The ancestor of the Lu family should not have recovered so quickly from his wounds, and even if he has, he’ll become heavily injured if he manages to avoid death once I use my Profound Sword Qi. How will he still have the power to pursue me?” Jian Chen sighed gently after reaching this point, “It’s just a pity that we almost killed the ancestor of the Lu family last time but failed.”
The Dark Cloud Mountains was within the Lu family’s territory. As a thick layer of dark clouds often covered them, they had been named accordingly. Although the mountains seemed extremely ordinary from the outside, without anything special apart from its origin energy being two or three times denser, the Lu family would send a large number of workers to this location. Basically, a quarter of the Lu family’s forces would be gathered here, and there would even be Godhood elders who patrolled the region. Clearly, they placed great importance on this place.
This was because there was a divine crystal mine in the depths of the mountains. Even though it was just a small mine for low grade divine crystals, it was still a massive piece of property to the Lu family, so the defences in the Dark Cloud Mountains were really tight.
There was a gaping chasm in the centre of the Dark Cloud Mountains, while the bottom of the chasm was flat. Various stone huts stood in there in an orderly pattern, with many bare-chested cultivators who only wore shorts moving around between them. It added some liveliness to the dark chasm.
These people were all miners that the Lu family had arranged to collect divine crystals. They were miners, but most of them were only at Sainthood, with Saint Emperors making up the majority of them. Even some early Origin realm miners would appear from time to time.