Book 8: Chapter 2 – Hello Again, Black Dragon
“The decision lies with you. I won’t force you either way.” Palace Head Chen nodded.
Xue Ying hesitantly said, “Palace Head Chen, actually, the Deity warrior I am currently carrying is no longer required! Considering my current ability, I can survive even without it. I’ll first borrow this Deity Warrior for my disciple sister Jing Qiu to use. Is that alright?”
“It’s fine; it’s fine.” Palace Head Chen laughed. “I truly don’t know what to say about the two of you… if your disciple sister Jing Qiu becomes a Demigod in the future, I think her combat power won’t be any worse than yours! She might even surpass you if you don’t work hard enough in the future!”
“Oh?” Xue Ying was startled. “She’ll become stronger than me if I don’t keep working hard? Jing Qiu, she…”
He hadn’t noticed it.
Although Jing Qiu was quite talented in terms of cultivation, she couldn’t be considered particularly outstanding!
“As soon as she becomes a Demigod, she will be able to control the strongest clan protection treasure of my Xia Clan!” Palace Head Chen hid nothing from him. “At that point, her combat power will be enough to suppress any other Demigod. She might even match the might of a Deity!”
“The strongest clan protection treasure? Ancestor Snow?” Xue Ying was truly stunned this time. He had previously seen the Xia Clan’s records regarding their strongest clan protection treasure.
“Mn.” Palace head Chen nodded. “Therefore, one of the protective treasures I had previously given her was actually a Deity warrior as well! Though, Jing Qiu herself does not yet know of its existence.”
Xue Ying let out a breath of relief.
That was good.
The same way that a Deity Warrior was hidden within one of the treasures given to him by Palace Head Chen that year, Jing Qiu also had one with her.
“Ancestor Snow?” Xue Ying was still surprised by that.
He would depend on his comprehension of True Meanings in order to sweep through every other Demigod, reaching the pinnacle of the Xia Clan’s World! At that point, he might even have the combat power to match ordinary Deities!
Meanwhile, Jing Qiu would depend on the strongest clan protection treasure of the Xia Clan! With its terrifying power… she would similarly suppress anyone else for an entire generation!
“You must continue working hard; otherwise, you will just stand there ashamed as your woman overtakes you,” joked Palace Head Chen.
“It wouldn’t be shameful!” Xue Ying’s mood was quite pleasant at the moment.
“You should also help her and not delay her cultivation! Although my Xia Clan is secretly giving her plenty of resources, becoming a Demigod is still too difficult,” said Palace Head Chen. “She won’t be able to use the Deity weapon unless she becomes a Demigod.”
“I understand.”
Xue Ying was now truly reassured. With a Deity warrior secretly protecting her, she would no longer be in any danger while chasing after traces of demons!
“Palace Head Chem, I would like to learn more of the Black Wind Deity Palace as well as its owner!” Xue Ying suddenly asked. With his current combat power, he would have a greater chance of success. Naturally, he wanted to go visit the Black Wind Deity Palace.
“The Black Wind Deity Palace?” Palace Head Chen was stunned for a moment before reacting in a flash. “Oh. You mean the Black Wind Deity Palace that’s close to your Snowrock Castle? If I recall correctly, the place you fell into before becoming a Legend ranker was precisely the Black Wind Abyss, right?”
Xue Ying nodded.
“No wonder you are so curious about it. Why do you plan to break through the palace?” Palace Head Chen asked.
“I would like to try. I heard that even by now, no Transcendent has ever managed to succeed,” answered Xue Ying.
“Right.” Palace Head Chen continued, “There have been many Transcendents who tried their luck. Yet even after countless tens of thousands of years since its establishment by Ancestor Black Wind, not a single Transcendent has managed to succeed!”
“The arrays left behind couldn’t be broken by anyone even though he’s dead?” The Xue Ying of that year was quite ignorant. He now understood a bit more about how powerful the Black Wind Palace Head was! Even a Xia Clan Demigod mage could leave behind a set of arrays in a Deity Palace which would cause Transcendents to be helpless for a few tens of thousand of years.
Palace Head Chen laughed. “Although it is kind of humiliating, Ancestor Black Wind was indeed a very powerful Demigod mage! If he were alive now, he could also suppress any other existence for a generation. His combat power was much stronger than Mountain Lord He’s, and his achievements in many different areas such as spells, arrays and refiner puppets were very high. Still, you should try it. Then you will also understand how hard it is to break through the palace.”
“I have seen the records on Ancestor Black Wind, and he had only grasped hold of a grade three True Meaning. How could he be so powerful? Although, having read through it carefully, am I right to have noticed that certain aspects were only briefly noted?” asked Xue Ying.
“He was a mage. Even among True Meanings of similar grades, there are different levels of utilization of the Laws of Profound Mysteries in their spells, which results in displays of power at varying levels. Ancestor Black Wind was a truly capable mage! Only briefly noted? That’s because various miraculous opportunities in his life allowed him to attain a combat power that nobody could compete with. Still, in the end, he could not become a Deity. As a result, he did something truly crazy in an attempt to increase his combat power. But some of his actions relate to the secrets of our Xia Clan, so those parts were censored,” explained Palace Head Chen.
“And you can’t tell me about it?” Xue Ying asked.
“No,” said Palace Head Chen.
Xue Ying curled his lips.
He had done a truly crazy thing?
What exactly was it that even with his current status, Palace Head Chen would still not tell him?
Palace Head Chen laughed. “You should just go and try it, but remember to be careful! Ancestor Black Wind might have set down some rules in order to prevent Transcendents of the Xia Clan from dying, but the opposing power could still be great enough to kill you.”
“I understand.” Xue Ying felt relaxed.
First of all, Ancestor Black Wind did not hold any hatred towards the Transcendents of the Xia Clan. Secondly, he had the mirage!
I refuse to believe that a dead Demigod mage has the means to harm me inside my mirage!
“If you are to succeed and you discover certain treasures which would be of great help to my Xia Clan…” Palace Head Chen hesitated, but he still continued with emphasis, “And, if they’re of no use to yourself, you can just exchange them for some other treasures.”
“Treasures that are of a huge help to the Xia Clan?” Xue Ying felt something was amiss.
“You grasped hold of a grade two True Meaning. Even if you do not succeed this time around, I trust that as your comprehension of the realms deepens, you will still be able to succeed,” said Palace Head Chen. “You will understand everything as soon as you break through the Black Wind Deity Palace. According to my knowledge, the treasures inside the Black Wind Deity Palace are all extraordinary! If it weren’t for the treasures self-destructing if one tried to take them by force, the previous two emperors would have taken them long ago.”
“Mn.” Xue Ying was now even more curious.
Palace Head Chen had been mentioning something without elaborating on it.
What exactly was the Black-Wind Deity Palace?
……
After bidding his farewell to Palace Head Chen, Xue Ying went to the Water Daoist Faction and used about 20,000 contribution points to exchange for various treasures. They were all for his parents, his little brother, Uncle Zong, and Uncle Tong. He would also save some for the use of his clan’s descendents.
As for weapons and armors?
The increase Demigod treasures brought to Xue Ying’s combat power had deteriorated to a very low amount. Furthermore, mid and top grade Demigod rank treasures made no difference at all to him! On top of that, the Stellar Fire Cloud Spear was a weapon which suited him perfectly, as it had no arrays imprinted on it. Usually, top grade Demigod and Deity weapons were so powerful due to the arrays which provided many unique functions when imprinted on them.
But the Stellar Fire Cloud Spear had no array imprinted throughout its entire body! It relied purely on its material strength, which determined its grade to be at the mid grade Demigod rank. Even the Xia Clan found it to be extremely extravagant and wasteful. There had even been some rumors that it had been left behind by a guest from the outerworld.
Its material strength alone was enough to give it such great strength. These materials had to be more expensive and precious than those used in top grade Demigod rank weapons.
The material resistance induced by the Extreme Piercing worked best in combination with the Stellar Fire Cloud Spear! It could pierce through Demigod Treasures with a single stab!
******
As the year ended…
Although spring arrived, it remained extremely cold. The Water Rites Town was still filled with the accumulated snow.
A young female and male couple were currently flying in the sky.
“That year, I fought Xiang Pang Yun. While we were fighting, I kept trying to escape.” Xue Ying and Jing Qiu followed the path he had taken when escaping. “That situation had truly been dangerous for me. Had I continued fighting on the Snowrock Mountain, I’m afraid I would have died by his hand. After all, his true identity was that of a mutated beast.”
“Look, that’s the Black-Wind Cliff.” Xue Ying and Jing Qiu flew towards it.
“I know, Disciple Brother Xue Ying had fallen off right at this very place.” Jing Qiu flew towards the top of the Abyss before looking carefully downwards. The huge black gale had formed a maelstrom of many thousands of meters in radius. Furthermore, that was merely the outermost disturbance caused by the Black Wind maelstrom. The further one went, the stronger it became.
“I was truly lucky that year.” Xue Ying looked at this maelstrom while recalling the life and death battle he had gone through.
Truly lucky.
If there had been no cracks in the valley which allowed him to enter the underground palace, he would have long died from hunger!
“Relying solely on luck is not enough. Combat power is important too.” Jing Qiu was wearing a thick white gown. She felt worried for Xue Ying. “Disciple Brother Xue Ying, you must be careful.”
“Rest assured. I have a Deity warrior with me.” Xue Ying laughed. “Even if you don’t believe me, you should at least believe in the Deity warrior.”
“I believe in you.” Jing Qiu nodded. “But one can never be too careful.”
As the two talked…
“You two brats bickering on top of my head, can’t you move somewhere else?” All of a sudden, a powerful area approached them from below. One could see only an enormous figure coming out through the black gale. Soon, a huge black dragon head popped out of it. Its pair of golden eyes were filled with resentment as he looked towards the two figures standing atop the maelstrom.
It seemed that from the perspective of the black dragon, these two were just ordinary Transcendents.
“It’s been awhile.” Xue Ying laughed.
“You are?” The black dragon’s golden eyes were full of doubt. He could not think of who this black-robed teenager might be.
“Do you still remember the mortal teenager who fell into this Black Wind Abyss 50 years ago?” Xue Ying smiled. That time, it was this black dragon who made him feel suffocated with fear. But now, he was able to determine with a single gaze that he was merely a powerful Demigod grade refiner organism.