Chapter 10
Translator:
Lordbluefire
Editor:
Lordbluefire
“Many thanks for giving me a name, master. From today onward, my name shall be Coldgrudge and my pet name will be Grudgy.” It gave itself a pet name.
Xia Qingchen nodded. “Return with my father to the Southern Xia Manor first. I will head to the Shrine.”
His current cultivation speed was already considered not too bad when compared to ordinary people. But to Xia Qingchen, it was still too slow.
Hence, he needed to take some shortcuts.
In his past life, he had developed countless medicines that were beneficial to the minor constellation stage. One of them was a medicine named ‘Dragonblood Powder’. It was able to increase one’s cultivation speed by twice.
What was even more incredible was that the ingredients used to make this medicine weren’t considered valuable. The Shrine should have everything.
Xia Yuan nodded. “It is rare to get a divine scroll. Try your best to exchange for things that can increase your cultivation, do not waste it.”
“I understand,” Xia Qingchen spoke.
“In addition, a month ago, your aunt sent a letter. Your younger cousin will be coming here via a merchant ship and should reach roughly about half-a-month later. At that time, you should go over to receive her,” Xia Yuan reminded his son. He was afraid that several months would pass if Xia Qingchen entered seclusion.
Xia Cangliu had three children. The eldest was Xia Yuan, the second was Xia Xun, and other than them, he had one more daughter, Xia Jie.
She got married to a minor aristocratic clan in the capital and had a daughter named Zhao Churan.
In Xia Qingchen’s impression, his younger female cousin had come to Lone Cloud City many times before. She grew up to be an elegant and beautiful girl, like a little pearl.
Three years had already passed. It was unknown how she was now.
“Alright, father.” Xia Qingchen made a mental note. After that, he went to the Shrine.
After he took out the divine scroll and showed it, the guard had a look of envy on his face as he escorted Xia Qingchen into the depths of the Shrine.
There were a total of three layers in the Shrine.
The external layer was the great hall where one worshiped the god statues.
The center layer was where the divine envoys lived and cultivated.
And the inner layer was the location where the Shrine Master, elders, and others from the upper echelons stayed in. It was a forbidden area and no casual entry was permitted.
Under the guard’s lead, Xia Qingchen arrived at the center layer.
There were hundreds of luxurious rooms arranged in a neat manner. There was everything here.
One of the rooms was known as the ‘divine pavilion’. It was the largest in terms of size.
“Upon exchanging for what you want, you are to leave here immediately. Some people from the inner layer would occasionally come here. It would be bad if you unintentionally offend them!” The guard led Xia Qingchen into the divine pavilion and reminded him before leaving directly.
Xia Qingchen nodded and entered the divine pavilion. There were a hundred counters here with all sorts of alchemy pills, martial skills, and weapons on them.
Other than these, there were still thirty cultivation chambers.
The essence qi in the chambers was abundant. Cultivating a day in there was equivalent to one and half a day outside. The effect was this good; it was pretty shocking.
Xia Qingchen’s heart was slightly moved. It wasn’t easy to find a place like this in Lone Cloud City.
But sadly, the cultivation chambers were only open to members of the Shrine.
Even if one had a divine scroll, they wouldn’t be permitted entry.
All of a sudden, Xia Qingchen discovered that behind the thirty cultivation chambers, there was an empty space. Over there, a tiny tree the height of a human was arduously growing by burrowing through the stone slabs of the ground.
“The leaves are fragile and the roots are fat; it brims with essence qi. There’s something strange going on in the vicinity of this tree.” He walked toward the tree and closed his eyes as he sensed. He discovered that the essence qi in the air was thicker than normal.
He discovered that the tree was constantly emitting essence qi, causing the essence qi to be denser the more one got near to the tree.
This place had the densest essence qi. It was actually twice as much as the external world.
“It should be because the little tree absorbs the essence qi under the ground and releases it into the air.” Xia Qingchen analyzed.
The amount of time this tree had grown for wasn’t that long and no one had discovered this treasured land yet. How rare!
He glanced at the surroundings. Seeing that no one was here, Xia Qingchen immediately sat down cross-legged and grabbed the hard-to-come-by opportunity to cultivate the [Light-Dark Heaven Heart], trying his best to open up another minor meridian.
As expected, with twice the density of essence qi, the speed of him opening up a minor meridian far exceeded the past.
Not long later, he entered a deep state of cultivation.
He completely had no idea that two people, one young and one old, had already been standing before him for quite a while.
“Grandpa, this brat is so annoying. He actually occupied my treasured land!” The sound of a young girl resounded out.
She had bright eyes and white teeth. Her brows were like slender willows and her features were beautiful and exquisite.
Although her face was tender, she had a hint of maturity and elegance that surpassed her age. Moreover, she also exuded a faint air of arrogance that seemed to come from her elevated status.
“How can you blame others since you are the one who came late?” The old man beside her was eighty-plus in age. His head was filled with short white hair.
His back was slightly bent and his hands were clasped behind his back.
A pair of cloudy eyes were currently contemplating Xia Qingchen with deep intent. He then slowly spoke, “His cultivation art is brilliant and extremely rare!”
The old man knew all the martial aristocratic clans in the Lone Cloud City like the back of his palm.
Upon hearing this, the young girl’s lips curled in dissatisfaction. “Can it be more brilliant compared to the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] that is passed down for generations?
However, the old man seemed to have discovered something. “Shh, don’t speak!”
He focused his gaze. The more he looked at Xia Qingchen, the more he felt that Xia Qingchen’s cultivation art was wondrous. And in the end, he couldn’t help but sigh in shock, “What sort of cultivation art is he practicing? The essence qi he absorbed actually roams throughout the nine great meridians but there’s completely no seepage?!”
It was common knowledge that after essence qi enters the body, they would settle down in the nine great meridians and be converted into inner force.
The remnants of the essence qi that didn’t enter the nine great meridians would eventually seep out from one’s breathing or pores.
Xia Qingchen’s cultivation seemed completely different from the norm, causing the old man to be startled.
And the sound of his shock finally caused Xia Qingchen to awaken.
He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the two of them. After that, he silently stood up and prepared to leave.
“Young man, which clan are you from?” the old man asked. The face of this young man before him was unfamiliar, so he shouldn’t be someone from the Shrine.
Xia Qingchen calmly replied, “I’m an outsider.”
He casually replied before turning and walking toward one of the counters.
“How can you be so rude? My grandfather is asking you a question. Can’t you reply properly?” shouted the young girl as her exquisite brows furrowed slightly.
Xia Qingchen didn’t even turn his head. “I have to answer just because he asked?”
They just met by chance, why would he need to answer the questions of others?
This was especially so when they were asking about his origins.
“Zhilan!” The old man waved his hand. “It is us who are in the wrong for disturbing his cultivation. You must not be so overbearing and forceful.”
The young woman’s brows twitched. “Since grandpa says that I’m overbearing and forceful, I shall force him once then.”
She hurriedly moved forward. With her right index finger and thumb curled up, she gathered her inner force and flicked her finger, aiming for Xia Qingchen’s shoulder. “My grandpa said that your cultivation art is extraordinary. Let us compete and see!”
It was very rare for her grandpa to praise others.
Because the [Fragmented Heaven-Mending Scroll] passed down in the Shrine was a mid-grade yellow-tier cultivation art, it belonged to the absolute peak.
However, her grandfather kept praising this young man’s cultivation art as being outstanding. This truly made her feel somewhat unable to accept this.
Hence, she wanted to use this opportunity to see who was better.
As he sensed the cold wind from his back, Xia Qingchen turned his head in a neither fast nor slow manner. In his four limbs, the forty minor meridians were all activated.
The inner force in his body gathered in his index and middle finger. His fingers were like a shooting star arcing across the sky, instantly piercing over.
The strength in his body was equivalent to someone at the fifth radiance-level of the minor constellation stage.
The cultivation base of the young woman was precisely at the fifth radiance-level.
But comparing the density of their inner force, Xia Qingchen was a step superior.