Chapter 201

The Peak Master and four elders took turns to read the jade slips.

Although almost half of them were Grade 1 formations, they were still valuable as the branch did not possess them.

Nevertheless, what surprised Peak Master Yang was the Grade 5 formation Chen Jingzhai had offered.

“Amazing! This is just amazing!” Peak Master Yang exclaimed as he turned to look at the smiling young man and the four elders. “Elders, how about my suggestion?”

“I’ll allow it!”

“He’s worth it!”

“Same here!”

“It’s natural that we give him that.”

All the four elders replied. Chen Jingzhai was completely confused.

The Peak Master let out a ray of light. It stopped in front of Chen Jingzhai.

When the light thinned out, a cube floated in front of him.

“Isn’t this…” Chen Jingzhai widened his eyes. “The rudimentary form of a spiritual treasure?”

“That’s right.” Peak Master Yang nodded. “We can’t simply give out spiritual treasures as rewards due to the clan’s rule, not even for Golden Core Sages. So, the rudimentary form of spiritual treasure is the most valuable gift we can give you.”

“But why am I rewarded?” asked Chen Jingzhai. He grabbed the magic item.

“One is because of your assistance to the Puppet Hall. They owe their success to you,” explained the Peak Master with a smile. “The second is that you managed to save your fellow clanmate in time and prevented the fall of a genius talent. Third, you were able to protect our clan’s reputation by punishing the wicked. Last but not least, you have slain a lord, which greatly boosted our power and prestige.”

“But am I only getting one rudimentary form of a spiritual treasure for all four merits?” asked Chen Jingzhai calmly.

“Daoxuan Peak is not rich after all.” The Peak Master was not awkward by that. “We only have a few secret zones. Plus, formation masters are hard to train. This is all we can offer.”

“The Peak Master is right,” said the elder at the left side of the Peak Master. “Everyone says he’s the worst cheapskate, but he’s not always like that. It’s just that our branch doesn’t have much in our treasury.”

Despite how shameless Peak Master Yang was, he still wanted to argue about him being the worst cheapskate. However, he knew he should not do so in front of his junior brother.

“You are an elixir alchemist who has obtained the inheritance of a Spirit Plane cultivator.” Peak Master Yang sighed. “You pretty much have more money than me now. The Nine Heavens Chess Board is the best I can offer.”

“The Nine Heavens Chess Board?” Chen Jingzhai looked at the rudimentary form of the spiritual treasure in his hand.

“It’s just a chess board, but if you activate it, it can use the power of formations to transfer spiritual power to create spiritual puppets. It can even summon real puppets. Every chess piece is a puppet, but they have to move according to the chess rules,” the Peak Master briefly explained.

There were all types of formation disks. The most common ones were jade disks, formation flags, formation banners, and formation pillars.

Chess boards were usually chosen by formation masters since the restricted formation tool in one chess board represented one world.

It was not like other formation disks that needed to utilize leyline or spiritual stones to activate them.

A chess board was rare as it was a restricted formation tool.

Chen Jingzhai accepted the gift without any reservation.

“I also need to read through all our branch’s formations.” He then requested.

“Sure.” The Peak Master nodded and tossed a token toward the young man.

“That is the Peak Master’s token. You can enter the library without any restrictions with it. But you’ll have to return it before heading out,” said one of the elders. “Consider it a reward as well.”

“Thank you!” Chen Jingzhai nodded and left.

The rewards were something that he had not expected, but he was not surprised.

Although Daoxuan Peak was known to be stingy, the sentiment was only toward disciples of other branches. Naturally, they would not be as cheap toward their own disciples.

At first, Chen Jingzhai had planned to exchange the formations for some merit points.

However, the two rewards were way better than merit points.

A rudimentary form of the spiritual treasure and a restricted formation tool were items that matched him.

Moreover, he could freely enter the library and read all sorts of formations and methods.

On his way back from Heaven and Earth Palace, many disciples and deacons greeted him.

They had fully accepted the Master-Uncle and were now treating him with respect.

As a Foundation Establishment Plane cultivator, it was a huge feat for him to defeat a lord. The fact that he had tricked the lord did not matter at all because luring their enemy into traps was the way of Daoxuan Peak.

He stopped in front of Tianyahai Pavillion. His calmness was now replaced with happiness.

His home was never the mortal world nor the cave on Hongluan Peak.

It was the pavilion built on the edge of the mountain and the garden filled with flowers.

That was his home.

If he did not need to cultivate, he would have gladly spent the rest of his life there with Su Qinghuang.

He chuckled and cleared his mind before entering the pavilion.

The moment he stepped foot through the door, he spotted Mrs. Yang waiting for him.

“Senior Sister!” Chen Jingzhai was not surprised at all.

“Come in. Why are you standing outside?” Mrs. Yang approached her junior brother and grabbed his hand.

“It’s just that I feel happy to return. It doesn’t matter how free I was when I roamed the world. Nothing beats this place.” Chen Jingzhai grinned. “Are you still worried that I’m angry?”

“Of course not.” Mrs. Yang awkwardly laughed. “I was worried that your senior brother will trouble you.”

“He gave me a rudimentary form of a spiritual treasure and a free pass to the library. I exchanged those with Grade 4 and 5 formations. It’s a great trade, I would say.”

“Did he give you the Nine Heavens Chess Board?” asked Mrs. Yang.

“Yes.” The young man nodded. “How did you know?”

“Because I’m the one who picked that for you.” Mrs. Yang sighed. “There are quite a lot of treasures in Daoxuan Peak’s treasure storage, but rules are rules. We can’t easily give out spiritual treasures.”

“I understand. But is there a reason why our branch is so low on treasures? I heard Daoxuan Peak is famous even in the outside world.”

“Well, the branch is not as peaceful as it seems,” replied Mrs. Yang as they moved to the garden. “When your senior brother took over the position as the Peak Master, the branch was at its weakest. It’s best that you don’t learn of the reasons. I don’t want you to get mixed into it, or else it’ll be hard to get you out of it.”

“I see…”

Chen Jingzhai never liked the battles between cultivators from the same branch. It did not matter if the fight was justifiable or not. He preferred not to have one. The thing he wished for the most was to cultivate quietly and peacefully.

“Good boy.” Mrs. Yang grinned.

The senior sister also wished that her junior brother would never have to partake in the battle of powers in the branch and that he could live a free life. She would be in a tough spot if Chen Jingzhai and Peak Master Yang got on the wrong side.

Chen Jignzhai smiled and took out a lot of things. “Here. I saved these for you.”

There was at least a set each of Grade 3 elixirs, magic treasures, spirit plants, and ingredients. Chen Jingzhai had personally selected these to match Mrs. Yang’s water attribute.

“Why are you giving me these?” Mrs. Yang frowned.

“Bribes.” Chen Jingzhai sinisterly chuckled. “So that I can cultivate peacefully. Also, I’ll be heading to the Woods Ocean Ancient Path soon, so I need you to help take care of Qinghuang.”

“Qinghuang?” Mrs. Yang stared at the young man. “Looks like you two have gotten close.”

Chen Jingzhai could not help but sense a hint of jealousy in her tone.

He gulped and nodded. “Yes, we are together now. If she had not said no, I would have asked the headmaster to help us sign the marriage agreement.”

“Marriage, huh? Are you sure? She doesn’t have much time left.”

“We already have the framework of the Hongluan Sky Scripture’s Nascent passage. I believe she can successfully create a technique. Can’t the two of you stop fighting? At least, for me. The three of us are the only cultivators left in Hongluan Peak.”

“This sure is a rare request.” Mrs. Yang clicked her tongue. “I don’t mind, but I can’t say for sure that Su Qinghuang wants to be friends with me. But don’t worry. If anything happens to Hongluan Peak, I will not sit still.”

“Thank you.” Chen Jingzhai smiled and took out an Essence Refinement Card. “I found this inside Lord Ning’s cave residence. Just think of it as payment.”

“Not bad.”

Although a Grade 3 warm jade was hard to come by, the meaning of the gift was too practical. Accepting the gift meant that she had to make peace with Su Qinghuang.

Mrs. Yang let out a silent sigh and decided to do it for her junior brother.