Book 10 Chapter 16 – Sky Crystal Saint Crystal
OCTOBER 31, 2017 ~ EMILYEVELAN
When Lei Xinfeng first saw Feng Chenzong, his heart jump in surprise, because he could see that although Fen Chenzong had the face of a young man, his hair remained white, including his eyebrows and beard. His eyes were sharp, black as bottomless pools.
“This is the ninth brother, right?” Feng Chenzong smiled lightly and stood up in welcome.
Xin Zhaolun stood up with him. “Ah Feng, come meet the senior brother.”
“Hello, Senior Brother. I’m Lei Xinfeng.”
“Good, good, Ah Feng… Eh, can I call you Ah Feng?”
“I don’t have a problem with it; it’s more intimate that way,” Lei Xinfeng replied. No matter what, Feng Chenzong was the Senior Brother in the Hidden Sect. In the sect, his status was slightly lower than their Master and his wife and wielded great authority. One just had to look at Xin Zhaolun; Xin Zhaolun was very respectful toward Feng Chenzong.
“Alright, come sit,” Feng Chenzong said warmly.
Lei Xinfeng sat down, while Fengying and Shihu backed outside after bowing. There was no danger here, and when the three brothers were talking, the guards shouldn’t stand by and eavesdrop.
The three sat down and Feng Chenzong began. “How are you adjusting?” As the most senior of them, he must show appropriate care, especially since he already know that their master and grandmaster both favor this youngest disciple and therefore, he won’t throw his weight as the senior brother around carelessly.
Lei Xinfeng smiled. “It’s good here; I’ve gotten used to it.”
Feng Chenzong smiled and nodded.
Lei Xinfeng’s heart toiled as he tried to make sense of the situation. He knew that the reason the senior brother looked for him wasn’t that he wanted to meet him, but because he needed something from him.
As he expected, after a bit of bantering, Feng Chenzeong smiled and asked, “Ah Feng, have you seen this before?” Following his words, he took out a rock around the size of a chicken egg and handed it to Lei Xinfeng.
This rock had an ovaloid shape and looked almost exactly like an egg, differing in color, light blue. Lei Xinfeng accepted it, only to see it crack open in two. “Uh, was it already cracked…?”
“Indeed, it was already cracked open. There used to be something in there; it’s already been extracted.”
Lei Xinfeng looked it over carefully and found that the interior of the egg had a neat indentation. “Has this been refined? It’s so sharp.”
“It’s natural. There used to be a crystal inside, a hexagonal prismatic crystal. It’s already been taken out,” he repeated.
Lei Xinfeng looked again. The crystal was about as long as a finger bone and thick as a date. He’d never seen it before. “What is it?”
“Dijun Liquid Crystal1, extremely rare.”
Lei Xinfeng had never heard of it either, asking, “Dijun Liquid Crystal? What’s that?”
“Also known as Sky Crystal or Saint Crystal. There are many ways of referring to it, but its true name is called Dijun Liquid Crystal.”
Lei Xinfeng began playing with the stone egg, asking, “What’s it used for?” He realized that the senior brother probably wanted him to help him find this crystal thing.
“This crystal is extremely rare, pretty much nonexistent. However, this time, it’s different. Someone found this thing. Haha… as for what this is used for… “ Feng Chenzong said. “Third brother and I are both Ninth Ring Sages, yet we cannot continue. To be honest, it’s not because we can’t ascend, but we’re not willing to. The success rate of ascension is too low. We both need to increase our chances of ascension, and that’s where this comes into play.”
Lei Xinfeng jumped in surprise. “What? Sky Crystals can improve chances of ascension?”
“It can add about forty percent. In other words, if we originally have a twenty percent chance of ascension, then with the addition of forty percent, our total chance of ascension becomes sixty percent,” Xin Zhaolun explained. “With that, our prospects of ascension is much better.”
“Wow, so such a treasure exists!” Temptation welled within in. No matter what, he must get himself one.
Xin Zhaolun nodded. “Such a treasure does exist. This thing is priceless, and you can’t find it no matter how hard you look.”
Lei Xinfeng plopped the stone egg on the table. “Where’d you get this then?”
Feng Chenzong praised Lei Xinfeng’s mind which immediately locked onto the important point. “I got it from an old friend. He used this to ascend to Monarch and also told the place where he obtained this stone egg…”
“Did you go?”
Feng Chenzong nodded. “I was there for seventeen years, but I came back empty-handed.”
“You mined for seventeen years?” Lei Xinfeng asked, stunned.
“No, not mine! Find is a better word for it. I couldn’t find a single one. The total time I spent looking for it adds up to around seventeen years… until I’ve completely given up.” He showed a hint of bitterness on his face.
“Are there a lot of people who know about the place?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
Feng Chenzong nodded with a grimace. “Lately, someone leaked the location. A lot of people are probably currently preparing to come, so I had to come back to find help.”
Lei Xinfeng was both impressed, and at the same time a little miffed at Feng Chenzong’s conduct.
You stayed there for seventeen years without a word to anyone until the point of desperation before you came back… isn’t that a little selfish?
However, it wasn’t as if he didn’t understand. Feng Chenzong was the senior brother, so naturally he would want to be the first to ascend to Monarch.
“If a lot of people go, it will be much harder to search,” Xin Zhaolun commented.
Feng Chenzong laughed bittered, “I can only blame my helplessness. I originally wanted to stay there for a few years and find a few for my brothers and sisters, but knew who would have thought that after staying there for so long, I couldn’t find a single one? My luck is too bad.”
Xin Zhaolun nodded. “Your luck, when compared to Ah Feng, is indeed dirt poor.”
“Right? You said that on your latest trip to Hanya Castle, you got so much valuable materials. I thought that maybe Ah Feng can help me, maybe I can borrow some of his luck.”
Lei Xinfeng almost laughed and barely held it in. What he had wasn’t luck; that was just an excuse that somehow blew up to be a kind of truth. However, he was glad, for without that lie, why would Feng Chenzong think to find him?
Without Feng Chenzong, then forget about looking for the crystal, he wouldn’t even know it existed. He decided to take this chance to find a few crystals to play with. \
To be honest, he really wants one. This kind of crystal is definitely something heaven-bending.
After Feng Chenzong finished talking, he looked at Lei Xinfeng, eyes full of fear that Lei Xinfeng will say no.
Lei Xinfeng smiled. “No problem. However much luck you want to borrow, I’ll lend you,” he joked.
Feng Chenzong also laughed. “Then it’s decided. This time, you’ll come with me to look for Sky Crystals.”
“I’ll go,” Lei Xinfeng said, simply.
Feng Chenzong was very satisfied with Lei Xinfeng; the little brother left a good impression on him.
“Elder brother, you’re not opposed to me going too, right?” Xin Zhaolun asked.
“Of course not. You must go! This time, I’ll have to bring a lot more people. The area we have to cover is too big; only bringing a few just won’t do.”
“Can I bring three more people?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
“Of course. Are you bringing your three guards?” Feng Chenzong asked.
“Heh. I’m quite timid, so I need people to protect me, or I’ll be scared.”
Feng Chenzong laughed loudly. “You’re a Seventh Ring Sage with the powerful Lightning attribute. Even a normal Ninth Ring Sage might not beat you in a fight, why you scared?” he quipped.
“Uh, I’ll also bring a few more people to increase our chances,” Xin Zhaolun said.
Feng Chenzong didn’t oppose it; on the contrary, he’d more worried that he might not be able to find enough people. Even if Lei Xinfeng’s guards got the crystal instead of him, he still had a chance of obtaining it. Having is better than not having, that was the logic he decided on when searching for the crystals by himself.
“Where do we mine… I mean, look for it? Where do we find Sky Crystals?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
“Not in this world. We need to go through Master’s Hidden Gate.”
Lei Xinfeng instantly became much more enthusiastic. He liked outer worlds. Although he almost froze in Hanya Castle, he still obtained much, as well as met a few friends like Song Qiao, a Monarch.
Lei Xinfeng also knew that as he approaches and ultimately become a Ninth Ring Sage, he needed to make more friends and build his network. He will continuously enter these outer worlds and search for resources that he needed.
“That outer world… is there anything special about it?” he asked.
Feng Chenzong laughed grimly. “Special? There is something very special about it. There are no natives, everyone is foreign to the land. It’s a battlefield.”
“What? Battlefield?” Lei Xinfeng echoed.
“Yes, a battlefield. Some people call it the Great Stone Field.”
Xin Zhaolun was also a bit surprised. He’d heard some rumors about this place. “This Great Stone Field, isn’t it the one with the nickname Slaughter Fields?”
Feng Chenzong nodded. “Indeed. You need immense self-control. That place is strange. You will want to kill against your will.”
“Will we kill among ourselves?” Lei Xinfeng asked, face full of worry. “If we will, I won’t bring anyone…” Killing among comrades was something he will never accept. He’d rather not go.
Feng Chenzong smiled. “Don’t be so nervous. Although the danger is there, it’s not nearly as bad as you imagine it.”
឵឵ ឵឵
1 涤君液晶 Monarch Cleansing Liquid Crystal
Ah, so much wasted potential in this story. I weep and lament.