Chapter 109: Prepare For Action
Fatty Jin smiled, “I found it. It is in the Beast King Valley of Savage Forest’s inner reaches. This is the information of Savage Forest’s Beast King Valley. I am giving it to you for free; am I not generous?”
Xiao Chen felt happy; he received the information on Beast King Valley from Jin Dabao and looked at it carefully. After a while, Xiao Chen frowned.
The inner reaches of Savage Forest were relatively dangerous; there were many high ranked Spirit Beasts in there. Even a Martial Grand Master could only move around near the boundaries of the inner reaches.
In order to enter the core zone, one must be at least a Martial Saint. Furthermore, even a Martial Saint would not find the trip to be easy.
Every year, in White Water City, there would be news of Martial Saint experts dying in the inner reaches of Savage Forest. According to the rumors, there were ancient beasts in there; their strength was even greater than Martial Kings.
Beast King Valley lay at the very core of Savage Forest. It was a burial ground. When high ranked Spirit Beast neared the end of their life, they would automatically go there and die in a seated position. This was the result of their beliefs.
With Xiao Chen’s strength, it would be foolhardy to think he could enter alone. Against the Spirit Beasts that were stronger than Martial Saints, Xiao Chen would not even make it to Beast King Valley and was likely to die alone on the way there.
Jin Dabao saw Xiao Chen immersed in thought and smiled, “Brother Xiao, stop thinking about it. There is no way you can go in there with your strength.”
A thought suddenly flashed in Xiao Chen’s head, “There is no way I can go in there with my strength… Could it be that you have other methods?”
The fatty chuckled and opened the golden fan in his hand. He smiled and said, “Did you see the notice posted on the first floor of Liushang Pavilion?”
Xiao Chen nodded, “Yes, I saw it; that was the most shameless notice I have ever seen.”
The fatty smiled somewhat awkwardly, “How can you say it is shameless? It is just the difference in intelligence between people.”
“Let’s not talk about that; this is this Fat Lord’s method. After today, almost all the cultivators will know the location of the Ancient Remnant.
A strange look appeared in Xiao Chen’s eyes. He asked, “You want to stir up the waters?”
[TL Notes: Stir up the waters means to cause chaos.]
Fatty Jin smiled complacently, the fat of his face wobbled unceasingly, “Indeed, the appearance of this Ancient Remnant map has attracted countless cultivators. Amongst them, the noble families will not be concerned about the Jiang Clan and will go directly to them to obtain the map.”
“As for the other strong cultivators, although they are strong and are Martial Saints, they do not dare to offend the Jiang Clan. Thus, If they wish to obtain the map, they will have to think of other ways. This Fat lord is giving them a chance to do so. A conservative estimate of Martial Saints not belonging to any great powers arriving at White Water City is at least 50.”
More than 50 Martial Saints, in addition to the huge numbers of Martial Grand Masters. Such a lineup would not be any weaker than any of the great powers.
Xiao Chen continued to ponder on this, Such an alluring place; it would not just attract some independent Martial Saints, it might also attract some Martial Kings. They just might be hiding somewhere.
Thinking of this, the trip to the Ancient Remnants was much more dangerous that he thought. To imagine, he actually thought of going in there alone; rushing in first was tantamount to suicide.
Fatty Jin continued to analyze the situation, “Think about it; if the Ancient Remnants exists, the ones to have the last laugh will be the noble clans. Whoever is stronger will obtain the most benefits.”
“For weak people like me, We can only stir up some chaos in order to compete with them, fishing in troubled waters.”
[TL Notes: Fishing in troubled waters means to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain.]
Xiao Chen thought about it carefully; it was indeed as the fatty said. It was not very realistic for independent cultivators like them to rely on their own strength to compete for benefits with the great powers and noble clans.
“Are there any empty rooms in your Liushang Pavilion? I wish to rest here for two days.” Xiao Chen made up his mind; he was no longer in a rush, and he might as well use this time to rest properly.
When he was leaving the previous night, there was a group of Jiang Clan cultivators watching him. Although there were no Martial Grand Masters, he had wasted some effort in dealing with them.
He was in urgent need of a place to rest and recover, a place where no one would disturb him. Jin Dabao seems to be very mysterious. Xiao Chen thought the backers of Liushang Pavilion were definitely not afraid of the Jiang Clan.
Fatty Jin smiled, “Are you asking for the service of us providing refuge? No problem. There is no business that this Fat Lord is unable to do. Ten thousand silver taels for each day.”
“Ten thousand silver taels for each day; that would be thirty thousand silver taels for three days. One hundred silver taels were equivalent to one gold tael. This fatty was truly black hearted; he had to spend three hundred gold taels to stay for three days.
“Then forget it; I can casually find a place to stay for three days.” This was a typical action of a spendthrift. Naturally, Xiao Chen would not be willing. So he walked away and did not bother to look back.
The fatty quickly held onto Xiao Chen, saying, “Brother Xiao, why are you always so hasty? I have not even finished speaking. Actually, the room can be lent to you for free.”
Jin Dabao whispered a few words into Xiao Chen’s ear. Then, he began to smiled vulgarly, “Brother Xiao, what do you think?”
Xiao Chen thought for awhile, “I’ll give it to you in three days.”
Three days went by in the blink of an eye. All the cultivators within White Water City now knew about the location of the Ancient Remnant. However, no one dared to go.
Although Beast King Valley was said to be a burial ground, there might still be a strong Spirit Beast that was near the end of its lifespan that had not died yet. Spirit beasts that could enter Beast King Valley would be able to easily kill a Martial Grand Master as long as they had a single breath left.
Furthermore, not many people dared to enter the inner reaches of Savage Forest. These people looked to the few noble clans, hoping they would carve a path in.
It is nice to hope, but reality was cruel. On this day, a black dot flew towards Savage Forest from the south sky of White Water City.
When the black dot got nearer, a huge black warship appeared in their vision. There was a blag flag with the ‘Ji’ character hoisted on the ship.
“The Ji Clan’s Secret Treasure, Black Royal Warship, really flew over. It is going to fight with the Guiyi Marquis’s Golden Battleship!”
Furthermore, a small white dot flew from the direction of Sishui Prefecture’s Capital City. As it came closer, they saw that it was a huge ice bird. On the back of the ice bird, there was an ice palace, glittering with a cold light.
“The Duanmu Clan’s Profound Ice Palace flew over, too. It’s the end; it looks like they are prepared to land in Beast King Valley directly from the sky.
“Damn it, I was waiting for them to carve out a path for us. To think they all took to the skies.”
“If you can think of such a plan with your intellect, do you think these noble clans would not think of it, too? How naive!”
When the cultivators of White Water City saw the situation, they could no longer hold themselves back. They all started to prepare to enter the inner reaches of Savage Forest. At this moment, a few strong Martial Saints revealed themselves and gathered everyone to enter Beast King Valley together.
Xiao Chen stood at the window and watched the sky calmly. He looked at the three Secret Treasures flying to the inner reaches of Savage Forest. However, he did not feel agitated or excited about it.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The fatty opened Xiao Chen’s door and came in directly, “Brother Xiao, the three days are up; are the things ready?”
Xiao Chen stayed silent. He took out a wooden sculpture and handed it over to Jin Dabao. The fatty received it joyfully and carefully placed it into a Spatial Ring on his finger.
Xiao Chen thought, Although the ten rings this fatty is wearing are incomparably gaudy, they are all Spatial Rings. In order to possess so many Spatial Rings, he clearly does not have a simple background or strength.”
“Do you have any equipment you can sell to me?” Xiao Chen enquired, trying his luck. The inner reaches of Savage Forest were very dangerous; he had been thinking of purchasing some equipment, but he did not find any channels to do so.
Jin Dabao took out ten arrows and chuckled, “I knew you would ask this; this Fat Lord has already made preparations. Ten Essence Light Arrow for ten thousand gold taels; no bargaining.”
Xiao Chen felt happy. These Essence Light Arrows were truly made for him. The Soul Slayer Bow was already very powerful, and he was just missing arrows. With the Essence Light Arrow, its might would be increased significantly.
However, the price was extremely high; it was almost worth everything he had. Still, Xiao Chen did not hesitate and purchased them all. After all, while it was possible to bargain on other things, for these kinds of rare arrows, there was no ground for bargaining.
Heavenly Craft Manor would only sell one thousand Essence Light Arrows per year. It was something that could not be purchased, even if one had money. For the fatty to obtain ten, it went to show that he had great means.
After he paid up, he kept the Essence Light Arrows properly. Then Xiao Chen suddenly thought of something, “The Earth Ranked Battle Armor Yan Qianyun was wearing is still with you, right?”
Jin Dabao, “What are you thinking? That is not for sale; it is worth at least one million gold taels. Furthermore, you are broke now.”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, “If I did not knock him unconscious, how could you have pulled out all his hair till there was nothing left? Thus, I should have a share in this Earth Ranked Battle Armor.”
The fatty said angrily, “Stop speaking nonsense! Although this Fat Lord loves money, I do not love it to such a perverse level. All those are just rumors.”
The two of them bickered for a long time before Xiao Chen finally wrote out a promissory note for 500,000 gold taels and took the Earth Ranked Battle Armor away.
After Xiao Chen walked far away, Jin Dabao held the promissory note and chuckled, “You have fallen into my trap completely. That Battle Armor was an underserved fortune anyway.”
After a short moment, there was the sound of footsteps. Su Xiaoxiao walked over gracefully as she carried her zither. She asked in a soft voice, “Did you give him my Essence Light Arrows?”
The fatty hurriedly put away the promissory note and said in a righteous manner, “I have followed Miss Xiaoxiao’s intentions and given the Essence Light Arrows to Xiao Chen in the capacity as a friend.”
“That is good; we should make a move, too.”
In the outer periphery of Savage Forest, Xiao Chen widened his footsteps and headed quickly towards the inner reaches of Savage Forest. There were the corpses of Spirit Beasts everywhere he passed.
Normally, there would be people fighting over the Spirit Beasts’ corpses. Now, no one was interested in them. Xiao Chen even saw a few corpses of Rank 3 Spirit Beasts lying at the side. No one bothered to move or take it.
Xiao Chen stopped and took out a small knife. He started to use it, cutting up the body of the Rank 3 Spirit Beast. Even the most ordinary Spirit Core of a Rank 3 Spirit Beast was worth at least a thousand silver taels.
Xiao Chen was now extremely broke. Furthermore, he owed the fatty a big debt. There was no need to ignore money that was lying on the side of the road.
“This person is a stupid cunt. In this situation, where everyone is making full use of their time, he actually took out time to a dig out Spirit Core that other people left behind.”