“Since Master Chen is ready, would you please lead the way?”
As soon as Sir Jiang Junior gathered himself from the shock, he asked.
“Not yet. Master Chen still needs some time to rest, and he will not receive any guest until he is ready.” A’Xiu announced with a hard face.
“Shoot!” Sir Jiang Junior cursed.
Suddenly, a voice rang inside of their mind.
“Let him pass.”
“Yes, Master Chen.” A’Xiu and Master Wu bowed toward the valley and replied.
Sir Jiang Junior was taken aback by the voice he heard in his mind. He muttered, “What… what was that? Why is there a voice inside my mind?”
“Calm down. That is Master Chen’s voice transmission using his Immortal Will.” A’Xiu said as she rolled her eyes at the young boy.
She was as frightened as Sir Jiang Junior when she heard Master Chen’s voice in her mind for the first time. However, the fear subsided after she had learned that Master Chen had projected his voice into her mind using Immortal Will.
Based on Master Wu’s explanation, Master Chen’s voice transmission ability was similar to that used by Buddhist called “Mind Connection.”
This ability not only allowed the cultivator to communicate with others, but it also gave insight into the inner thoughts of mortals.
Master Chen was still new to this ability and therefore he could only communicate with others but couldn’t read other people’s mind yet.
“This was the power of Immortal Enlightenment. He would have been revered as a Bodhisattva if he was a Buddhist.” A’Xiu said with a great measure of admiration.
The more she learned about Master Chen, the more insignificant and powerless she felt about herself.
Sir Jiang Junior gathered himself and followed Master Wu and A’Xiu into the valley.
He saw Chen Fan was sitting on the same piece of rock as he was last time they met. However, he could sense that something inside of Chen Fan had changed.
Sir Jiang Junior studied Chen Fan carefully. The boy was sitting cross-legged on a rock, eyes half closed. His skin was pale and iridescent; at some places, it was nearly translucent. He could see the bones white as jade and the gleaming silvery blood that coursed through his body.
Ice Skin, Jade Bone and Silver Blood.
It was as if the boy was a character from a fiction novel.
“This… this is incredible!” Sir Jiang Junior lowered his head to conceal the fear in his eyes.
As he inched closer to Chen Fan, he felt an omniscient presence looming above him, like the dark clouds before a summer storm.
When the three of them finally stood still, they all heard Chen Fan’s voice again.
“What do you want?”
Sir Jiang Junior managed to control his trembling legs and squeezed a smile from his taut face. “Master Chen, my father, wishes to meet you.”
“Your father?” Chen Fan opened his eyes.
“He is a mortal, and I am a cultivator, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to meet him.”
Hearing Chen Fan’s refusal, A’Xiu and Master Wu were ready to lead the guest out of the valley. Sir Jiang Junior suddenly shouted, “Please, PLEASE! Master Chen, I have traveled this deep into the mountain just to invite you over for a meeting. Please give me a chance.”
“Oh? I thought you had come with a helicopter.” Chen Fan said with a frozen smile.
Although he had turned his thoughts inward during cultivation, his senses were very much alive. He had sensed a helicopter hovering above the mountain moment before the teen showed up.
Sir Jiang Junior was embarrassed by his own lie. His eyes shifted left and right to avoid Master Chen’s gaze.
“Fine, I will go.” Chen Fan stood up and said.
He had been in seclusion for a month and had finally reached the late-stage of the Foundation Establishment level. In addition, he had already made a breakthrough in the Void Mortal Refinement Art and reached the Silver Blood. By then, he had increased his vitality by ten folds, and even a simple wave of the hand could stir up the arcane energy.
After prolonged inactivity, Chen Fan had the urge to go out of the valley and walk around.
Plus, refusing a local magnate’s invitation was never a good idea.
Although he was not and would never be threatened by a local businessman in Dong Du City, he was on their turf. Therefore, it was wise for Chen Fan to meet with him in order to avoid unnecessary troubles.
This did not mean that Chen Fan feared Sir Jiang. He had reached the late-stage of the Foundation Establishment; they would have to use high caliber machine guns if they wish to harm him.
“Only if I had already reached the Ethereal Enlightenment. I wouldn’t have to give a crap about anyone.” Chen Fan lamented.
Once a cultivator had reached the Ethereal Enlightenment, he could ignore any damage from conventional weapons. Only the military issued heavy weapons such as machine guns, cannons and missiles would cause harm.
“Really?” Sir Jiang Junior’s eyes were lit up with glee. “When will you be available?”
“We can leave now.”
Chen Fan walked to the edge of the tall rock and continued to step down. It was as if he was walking on an invisible stair. Sir Jiang Junior had seen this ability a month ago, but he was still shocked by sight.
A month ago when Chen Fan killed the Yin Snake, Sir Jiang Junior only felt fear toward Chen Fan; however, today, he also felt admiration and respect.
He was convinced that Chen Fan was an immortal, even if Chen Fan had denied it.
A’Xiu’s heart was also filled with admiration and awe.
She had heard from Master Chen that the ability to walk in the air was called the Heaven Trampling Step, the fifth move in the True Martial Thirty-Six Forms, while the Mountain River Cut he used to kill the Yin Snake was the seventh move. Master Chen had promised her that if she could reach the transcendent state, he would teach her the first seven forms.
However, by then, A’Xiu had only reached initial success and was still unable to pull off the first form: Skyfall Hammer. She still had a long way to go before she reached the Transcendent state.
As soon as the group filed out of the valley, they saw a helicopter parked at a clearing in the woods. This helicopter belonged to Sir Jiang’s tourism company.
Riding in the helicopter, they were out of the forest in just hours.
After they landed at the foothills of the mountain, they decided to find a place to spend the night in Qishan County. One rich local who was Sir Jiang friend invited them over to his hotel and offered them accommodation.
The next day, Chen Fan and Sir Jiang Junior drove an SUV to the city of Dong Du.
Sitting in the back seat, Chen Fan asked lightly, “Can you tell me why is your father looking for me?
“He is a busy man; how does he manage to find time to chat with me?”
Sir Jiang Junior smiled.
Master Chen was right; his father didn’t initiate the meeting; instead, it was him who insisted on the two of them meeting. Ever since what happened at the Yin Dragon Pond, he became disillusioned in gaining Zheng Anqi’s heart.
“She had lied to me about her true motive and dragged me into the shit hole!”
Feeling betrayed, Sir Jiang Junior took a long hard look at his blind royalty to Zheng Anqi and had turned down many of her subsequent request of kicking Chen Fan out of the valley.
However, after he had got over the shame and the denial, he realized that the current situation presented an opportunity for him.
He became increasingly convinced that Chen Fan was a reasonable person; someone he could talk to. The fact that Chen Fan had treated the Yin Ghost Sect well after he had taken control further reinforced his belief.
“I have lived for over twenty years, and it wasn’t until I had met Chen Fan that I opened my eyes to the real world.
“I have been living under a rock for the whole time!”
He had seen Mu Hongshen’s ability to command spirits, Mr. Shi’s incredible Dharma Spells, the Yin Snake’s otherworldly power, and Master Chen’s heroic blow that killed the monster.
He had never even dreamed of those abilities in the twenty years of his life.
All the worldly pleasures and debauchery he had been so fond of suddenly paled in comparison with the world of cultivation.
Therefore, Sir Jiang Junior wanted to become one of Chen Fan’s disciples and to learn from him. Meanwhile, a stroke of bad luck hit his father’s company, and Sir Jiang Junior recommended Chen Fan to his helpless father.
His father didn’t believe him at first, but after Sir Jiang Junior’s insistent pleading, he agreed to meet with Chen Fan.
Sir Jiang Junior replied to Chen Fan in a serious voice.
“Master Chen, my father is in trouble lately. He had asked help from many experts like you but to no avail.
“He had asked help from many monks and Buddhists and was even talking about inviting Feng Shui masters from southern China. I thought it might be easier if you were to take a look at the trouble. Please, Master Chen. Help my father and the millions of citizens in Dong Du City. ”
“What happened? Why are the lives of millions of citizens at stake?”
Chen Fan was taken aback by the situation. He gave the teenage boy a curious glance.