Ye Changxuan thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s go! Although we’ve made a lot of money selling Lingzhi, our Ye Clan still lacks inside information. There’s no point to just accumulate a mountain of Chi Deposition and Chi-amassing Pills in the warehouse. We need to buy useful items to enhance the clan’s strength.”
“Yes. Let me go then,” Ye Zhantian said.
Ye Changxuan shook his head and rejected, “You’re the Second-rank Prince of Donglin and also had contact with the people from the Nanman Kingdom before. It won’t be very appropriate if you show your face outside. I’ll go instead. No one in Jadeite City should recognize me.”
Ye Zhantian pondered for a moment and replied, “Alright, then we’ll have to trouble Sixth Uncle to make the trip.”
Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhantian, and the others gathered a large amount of Chi Deposition Pills and prepared to go to Jadeite City to purchase some useful items. As for the Chi-amassing Pills scattered all over the place, there were too many and a waste of energy to carry, so they left it aside.
For the wealthy and aristocratic families in more than a dozen neighboring countries, the Jadeite City auction was definitely a grand event.
Ye Chen fished for a few days at Lake Nekros. He fished during the day and rested in the nearby palace at night. When resting, he did not forget to cultivate and his martial arts techniques and Astral Body had also improved slightly. His cultivation system and martial arts technique also deepened significantly. Cultivating Ye Chen’s Astral Body was akin to a huge torture. His Astral Body had to be smashed by the Purple-fire Astra Lion, recover, and then get smashed again repeatedly.
Over time, Ye Chen also felt the Purple-fire Astra Lion’s strength increased bit by bit. The Heavenly Astra Seal’s formation was also loosening bit by bit. The Purple-fire Astra Lion’s strength was being slowly released.
When the Purple-fire Astra Lion was at its peak, it was a powerful and terrifying Celestial Beast that even Tantai Ling might not be able to defeat. If the Heavenly Astra Seal’s formation loosened by just a little, the Purple-fire Astra Lion’s strength would soar greatly.
This gave a sense of urgency to Ye Chen. If his Astral Body were to fight against the Purple-fire Astra Lion, he would be able to exhaust a portion of the Purple-fire Astra Lion’s strength. He delayed the array’s loosening and his Astral Body was smashed time and time again. The purple fire in Ye Chen burned fiercer and carried an energy similar to the Purple-fire Astra Lion.
Every night, Ye Chen had exhausted his energy and lay on the bed like a dead dog to sleep. Fortunately, after sleeping, Ye Chen would wake up fully alive again. It could be because of the nourishing properties of the Flying Dagger Celestial Chi. Ye Chen’s recovery ability was quite amazing.
Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu also came to the palace. They opened a furnace in the palace and refined the fish caught by Ye Chen into medicinal pills.
Day by day, time passed by,, and more than ten days had passed in the blink of an eye.
The sun shone in the morning. Master Apothecary Xuanyi, Great Emperor Mingwu, Ye Chen, and Little Wingsy were fishing by Lake Nekros. The fishes in the lake sparkled under the sun.
When Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu fished, it was clear that they were not focused. They were more attentive to Ye Chen and Little Wingsy. They were also helpless as fishing here was like a waste of time. They had only managed to catch a fish after half a day, but Ye Chen and Little Wingsy had caught fish after fish of all sizes. There were even many rare fishes.
Little Tanuki crouched by the side quietly. She was not that interested in fishing and merely cultivated from the side.
Just as they were fishing, a gold-armored imperial guard quickly walked over and kneeled before Great Emperor Mingwu. “Your Majesty, there’s been news that the Emerald Cloud Sect leader Nie Qingyun has appeared in the Imperial City and is inquiring about the residence of a young man named Ye Chen.”
“Nie Qingyun. What’s he doing here?” Great Emperor Mingwu frowned.
“Nie Qingyun? He came so early?” Ye Chen continued to fish and asked casually without even turning his head.
“You knew that he was coming?” Great Emperor Mingwu looked at Ye Chen in surprise.
“He’s one of my men. Tell the gold-armored imperial guard to bring Nie Qingyun to the side courtyard and wait for me,” Ye Chen said while pulling up the fishing rod. A fish jumped and dangled from the end of the hook.
“Your men?” Both Great Emperor Mingwu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi felt their mind running in circles. ‘Since when did Nie Qingyun become one of Ye Chen’s men? Didn’t Nie Qingyun go to Central Lake Island and fight with Little Wingsy to rob the Purple-gold Divine Pill? How did he become one of Ye Chen’s men after fighting? What exactly did Ye Chen do when he went to the Emerald Cloud Sect?’
Moreover, why would the Emerald Cloud Sect leader Nie Qingyun obediently wait for Ye Chen in the side courtyard?
Great Emperor Mingwu looked at Ye Chen but hesitated just as he was about to speak. Finally, he waved his hand and said, “Send someone to Nie Qingyun and tell him to wait for Ye Chen in the side courtyard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The golden-armored imperial guard bowed and retreated.
“Ye Chen, why is Nie Qingyun looking for you?” Master Apothecary asked from the side.
“I told him to look for me in the Imperial City. As for the reason, I haven’t decided yet. I’ll let him follow us when the Exclusion Zone opens,” Ye Chen thought for a moment before saying. He had already planned to let Nie Qingyun enter the Exclusion Zone when it opened. With Nie Qingyun and the others, the chances of winning against the Nanman Kingdom in battles would increase greatly. However, Ye Chen had to be careful not to use his Astral Body if Nie Qingyun and the others entered the Exclusion Zone. Would Nie Qingyun continue to obey him if he saw Ye Chen’s real strength?
“Let Nie Qingyun follow us to the Exclusion Zone?” Great Emperor Mingwu looked at Ye Chen in shock. Entering the Exclusion Zone meant fighting to the death against the Nanman Kingdom masters. Would Nie Qingyun be willing to go to a place where it was difficult to predict life and death?
“Will Nie Qingyun agree?” Master Apothecary Xuanyi was also quite skeptical.
“He will.” Ye Chen smiled mysteriously but did not explain the reason.
Both Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu could not figure out the reason. Did a Heavenly Venerable Rank master really end up at the mercy of Ye Chen’s hands? Even if Nie Qingyun was defeated by Little Wingsy, it was unrealistic that Nie Qingyun had surrendered.
However, since Ye Chen was not willing to speak, they could only bury their doubts in their hearts.
Just as they were talking, Ye Chen secretly took out a Soul-consolidating Pill herb mixture and smeared it on the fishhook before throwing it out.
Ye Chen waited patiently. The lake remained calm and quiet.
Ye Chen wondered if the Soul-consolidating Pill herb mixture would be able to attract any mysterious fishes. It would be great if he could catch another Purple-gold Divine Fish. Of course, Ye Chen knew that it was wishful thinking. There were no more Purple-gold Divine Fish in Lake Nekros.
For a long time, the lake was extremely calm.
Suddenly, ripples spread out from the surface of the water and Ye Chen’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated as he wondered what fish the Soul-consolidating Pill herb mixture had attracted. Previously, the Soul-amassing Pill had caught him a Purple-gold Divine Fish but he was using a Soul-consolidating Pill now!
From the side, Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu also felt the air shift and stared at the water with eyes wide open.
Little Wingsy also seemed to sense something and looked at Ye Chen’s fishing rod. Little Tanuki, who was cultivating from the side, also opened her eyes.
The float moved.
“Now!” Ye Chen suddenly yanked the fishing rod and the line stretched taut immediately. The tip of the fishing rod was pulled and bent into a large arc.
It was not as tough compared to catching the Purple-gold Divine Fish! Currently, Ye Chen had the strength of a mid-Earthly Venerable One. With Celestial Chi, pulling up a thousand-kilogram object would also be easy!
Just as Ye Chen was about to pull the fishing rod, he suddenly felt the rod sink fiercely. Water splashed everywhere and the fishing rod seemed to be slipping out from his hands.
“Trying to run?” Ye Chen stood firmly and shouted, “Get up here!”
Ye Chen pulled the fishing rod and a red mass as big as a bathtub was fished up. It had many long tentacles around its body and pink in color, shining like a gem under the sunlight. Ye Chen threw the fishing rod back. He also did not know what fish it was.
With a “thump”, the lump fell to the ground. It’s body rapidly shrunk to the size of a rubber ball.
What did Ye Chen catch this time? Even the steadfast Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Great Emperor Mingwu felt their hearts race.
“Little Wingsy, grab it!” Ye Chen urged.
Before Ye Chen could finish, Little Wingsy had already jumped out and grabbed the creature tightly. He raised a fist and punched it.
At that time, everyone could see that Ye Chen had caught an octopus. The eight tentacles with suckers underneath were pink, and the surface of its skin seemed to be covered in a thin layer.
With a “boom”, Little Wingsy’s fist hit the octopus. It was like punching a ball of cotton. There was no need to use force against something this soft.
The octopus’ eight tentacles kept shaking and struggling, and a pair of big black eyes looked at Little Wingsy piteously as if about to cry.
Little Wingsy saw that the octopus did not die in one blow and raised his fist to hit it again, but looking at its eyes, he paused with his fist in mid-air and turned to look at Ye Chen. He said hesitantly, “Brother Ye Chen, it looks so pitiful. Do I have to hit it again?”
The octopus was still fine even after being hit by Little Wingsy? What made Ye Chen surprised was how full of expression the octopus was. Ye Chen’s heart shook. Was this octopus a mystical or Celestial Beast that possessed intelligence?
Ye Chen used his Astral Boy and went deep into the octopus’ mind. The structure of the octopus was the same as other mystical beasts, and it was just an Earthly Adept Rank mystical beast. However, how could an Earthly Adept Rank mystical beast survive a blow from Little Wingsy? This octopus was surprisingly weird!
“Don’t hit it anymore, Little Wingsy. Just watch it closely!” Ye Chen turned to Master Apothecary Xuanyi and asked, “Master, do you know what this octopus is?”
“This octopus might be a creature born with intelligence,” Great Emperor Mingwu said. He was also curious about the octopus.
“I’ll need to take a closer look before I know.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi walked toward the octopus and observed it. He pondered for a long while before taking out an extremely old and shabby book from his Heaven-Earth Pouch and flipped through it.