Chapter 1169: Familiar Face from the Sky Dome Realm
Xiao Chen, who was in the queue, appeared somewhat distracted. It was like he did not hear anything of what was being said around him.
In the instant that earlier figure flashed by, Xiao Chen had clearly seen that person’s appearance, which invoked old memories. After so many years, he had not expected to see this familiar face in Dark City.
“What’s wrong?” Yue Bingyun could not help asking when she saw Xiao Chen in a rarely seen stunned state.
Xiao Chen stared at the sky, at the figures of the two that were already out of sight, for some reason.
He turned back and replied indifferently, “I’m fine. I just saw a familiar face from the Sky Dome Realm.”
“The two just now were Zhao Feng and Sima Lingxuan. Zhao Feng’s grandfather is Zhao Linlong, a veteran Sovereign Martial Emperor who is ranked second of the thirteen Great Bandits of the Black Sea. Sima Lingxuan has an impressive background as well. His adoptive father is Zong Boxiong, who came out of the heart of the ocean a Sovereign Martial Emperor and is now one of the Black Sea’s thirteen Great Bandits.”
Yue Bingyun knew much more about the Black Sea than Xiao Chen did. She recognized the two who passed by earlier.
When Xiao Chen heard the name Zong Boxiong, it surprised him. Wasn’t Zong Boxiong the middle-aged Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor who quietly gave him some information in Despair City?
Back then, Xiao Chen found it strange that the other party told him for no reason at all about the people chasing after him.
Now that he heard what Yue Bingyun said, that Zong Boxiong’s adoptive son was Sima Lingxuan, he now understood the reasons behind it.
If Xiao Chen guessed correctly, this Zong Boxiong should be aware of the grudges between him and Sima Lingxuan. The reason why Zong Boxiong sent that voice projection was so that Xiao Chen would not die at the hands of others, so that Zong Boxiong’s adoptive son could personally take revenge.
The matters of the past truly made one sigh with sorrow. That passionate age in the Sky Dome Realm made one’s hot-bloodedness surge whenever one thought about it.
Xiao Chen still remembered the time when the many outstanding talents of the Sky Dome Realm battled in Dragon Sealing City to fight for the qualifications to enter the Kunlun Realm.
However, the Sky Dome Realm outstanding talents were mostly buried in obscurity in the Kunlun Realm, a great realm filled with geniuses, remaining unknown and unseen.
Seeing Sima Lingxuan here far surpassed Xiao Chen’s expectations. At that moment just now, Xiao Chen sensed that the other party’s cultivation was at peak Great Perfection quasi-Emperor.
Furthermore, a Sovereign Martial Emperor became Sima Lingxuan’s adoptive father. The situation changed entirely; some things were completely unexpected.
Nevertheless, that was fine. One could reach Great Perfection quasi-Emperor within a short time if one had great talent and sufficient resources. Only a Consummation quasi-Emperor would make Xiao Chen wary. However, after his increase in strength, he now only needed to pay some attention.
“Among the Black Sea’s current younger generation, what rank is this Sima Lingxian?” Xiao Chen asked out of curiosity. This was a name that he had forgotten long ago. Now, it aroused some interest in him again.
Yue Bingyun thought for a while before replying, “How do I put this…he rose very quickly. In a mere five to six years, with the focused nurturing of Zong Boxiong, he defeated many outstanding talents of the Black Sea. Right now, he is famous and is known as the strongest of the younger generation of the Black Sea.
“However, there is a bit of question about his being the strongest. Huang Yun, a descendant of the Blood Shark Sovereign, the top ranker of the thirteen Great Bandits, has not appeared in recent years. Furthermore, Huang Yun was already publicly acknowledged as the strongest ten years ago. Without defeating Huang Yun, Sima Lingxuan can’t really become the strongest.
“Also, Zhao Feng, who was in front earlier, lost to Sima Lingxuan by only half a move two years ago. If they were to fight to the death, their chances would be even. But in any case, it is not an exaggeration to call Sima Lingxuan one of the strongest of the younger generation in the Black Sea.”
Speaking up to here, Yue Bingyun looked at Xiao Chen and said, “Could it be that he is the person that you said was a familiar face? Is he a friend or an enemy? If he is an enemy, then you’d best not meet with him in order to avoid trouble.”
A friend or an enemy?
Sima Lingxuan’s father died at my hands. The grudge of killing his father is unresolvable.
However, Xiao Chen did not regret killing Sima Hong. Some people deserve to be killed; they had to pay for what they had done.
Xiao Chen did not fear meeting Sima Lingxuan. He could defeat Sima Lingxuan in the Sky Dome Realm, and he could do so again here.
“Why are you not saying anything? What exactly is your relationship with this Sima Lingxuan? You still have not told me.”
It was rare to see Xiao Chen so distracted like that. His behavior piqued Yue Bingyun’s curiosity about the relationship between the two, so she pestered him for an answer.
After the two entered Dark City, Yue Bingyun kept asking Xiao Chen. He smiled helplessly and explained, “I killed his father. Back then, his father used his cultivation to sweep his way through the small sect that I was in when I was in the Sky Dome Realm. Many disciples and elders of the sect died in the hands of his father while trying to protect me.
“After that, my strength grew, and I met his father again in the Sky Dome Realm. So I killed him.”
Xiao Chen glossed over the minor details and simply laid out the grudges between him and Sima Lingxuan.
When Yue Bingyun heard this, she could not help feeling stunned. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen had such a grudge with this Sima Lingxuan. No wonder Xiao Chen would become so distracted, something that rarely happened.
Ba Tu’s house was very easy to find. Dark City was divided into thirteen zones, each one ruled by a Great Bandit. There would be a building in each zone that stood out, which was where the Great Bandit lived.
The thirteen Great Bandits of the Black Sea represented the strongest combat ability of the entire Black Sea. They held the greatest authority and the highest prestige. They were the indisputable masters of the Black Sea, the true kings of the land.
Becoming a Great Bandit of the Black Sea was very simple. All one had to do was defeat a Great Bandit of the Black Sea and chase that Great Bandit out of the building they held as a residence. After that, one would be the Black Sea’s new Great Bandit.
The rules were straightforward, demonstrating the law-of-the-jungle nature of the Black Sea to the extreme.
While it sounded simple, every Black Sea’s Great Bandit was at the very least a Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor. Furthermore, they had already been at their cultivation realm for a long time. Short of being a Sovereign Martial Emperor, one would not be confident of trouncing any one of the Great Bandits.
In the past millennium, aside from the recent success of Zong Boxiong, no one else had succeeded.
The Flame Rock Sovereign, Ba Tu’s grandfather, was a veteran Sovereign Martial Emperor who ranked fifth among the thirteen Great Bandits of the Black Sea. It was Ba Tu who got the Flame Rock Sovereign to say something, resulting in no one in the Black Sea daring to offend Jin Dabao’s Azure Dragon Merchant Association.
As long as the Azure Dragon Merchant Association hung up its banner, the pirate groups of the Black Sea would not dare to target the merchant ships.
After asking around, the two found the residence of the Flame Rock Sovereign.
The Flame Rock Sovereign stayed in the southern part of the city, in a castle built of ten-thousand-year-old Flame Rocks.
When the two arrived before the fiery-red castle and noticed that the tall castle was constructed entirely of ten-thousand-year-old Flame Rocks, they were incredibly shocked.
Just a small piece of ten-thousand-year-old Flame Rock was worth cities, yet the Flame Rock Sovereign used it to build a large castle.
The castle looked like it was covered in eternal flames. When standing in front of it, one could feel the Flame Rock Sovereign’s unbridled, domineering air.
The castle was filled with guards. Xiao Chen went to the gates, informed them of his identity, and asked them to tell Ba Tu.
Xiao Chen and Yue Bingyun both appeared extraordinary, and their strength even more so. The guards did not dare to be slow, quickly sending out the message.
Soon, Ba Tu’s carefree laughter reached the gates. He came walking over in great strides. When he saw Xiao Chen, he immediately gave him a bear hug.
“Dude, you finally came. I waited for you for more than a year already. Come, come in first and we can speak more. Hey, this is…”
Ba Tu initially focused on speaking to Xiao Chen. However, when he noticed Yue Bingyun, he could not react immediately. After a while, he exclaimed with great shock, “Damn, Brother Xiao Chen, you really managed to get the Lunar Palace’s Holy Daughter!”
When Ba Tu spoke so irresponsibly in front of so many people in a public area, Yue Bingyun’s pretty face immediately turned cold.
Realizing that there seemed to be a big misunderstanding, Xiao Chen said quickly, “I think Brother Ba Tu misunderstood.”
Ba Tu smiled in embarrassment and quickly apologized. Yue Bingyun ignored him. However, her expression slowly turned warmer, and she gave no indication of wanting to get even with him.
“Come, come, come! Since Brother Xiao Chen is here, we should have some fun in Dark City. Let me bring you to the City Lord’s Residence to obtain an Outstanding Talent Token first. With the Outstanding Talent Token, you will be able to enjoy the privileges reserved for veteran Martial Emperors. That way, you can truly have fun to your heart’s content.”
The City Lord’s Residence was a faction that existed only in name. The people in there were all arranged by the factions representing the thirteen Great Bandits.
Given Ba Tu’s identity, it would be easy for him to obtain an Outstanding Talent Token.
When Xiao Chen was queueing up at the city gates, he had heard a little about the Outstanding Talent Token. Zhao Feng and Sima Lingxuan had flown directly over the city gate because they possessed Outstanding Talent Tokens.
However, his primary purpose in coming here was the corpse that Ba Tu and his group found on the road that buried Emperors.
The jade pendant on that corpse contained the Paradise Secret Canon. There might be other treasures that others might not notice. Xiao Chen felt that he could get lucky, so he wanted to take a look to see if he could gain anything.
“Hang on for a moment. This time, I came to look for Brother Ba Tu because I have a favor to ask,” Xiao Chen said seriously, rejecting Ba Tu’s suggestion.
Ba Tu slowly withdrew his smile and turned grave as he asked, “What’s the matter? If I can help, I’ll definitely do all that I can.”
“Is the corpse that you found on the road that buried Emperors still around? Did you find anything on that corpse? Would you be willing to tell me about it?”
When Ba Tu heard that, he could not help smiling. “There was nothing on that corpse. The spatial ring on the finger only contained a bunch of trash. We took a great loss. Could it be that the jade pendant that I gave you was extraordinary?”
Since Xiao Chen had decided to come here, he was prepared to reveal everything. He nodded and said, “Bring me to take a look at that pile of trash first.”
Ba Tu laughed loudly, anticipation gleaming in his eyes. After that, he waved his hand and said, “You lot, bring Miss Bingyun to take a look around the castle. Remember to treat her well.”
From appearances, Ba Tu gave the impression of a ruffian. However, he was rather meticulous in his thinking. He knew that some things were not convenient for others to listen to, so he diverted Yue Bingyun elsewhere.
Yue Bingyun smiled, not minding this at all. From her interactions with Xiao Chen over the period, she already knew that Xiao Chen had obtained the inheritance of an ancient Dragon Seeking Art. However, he also honestly told her that it would be hard for ordinary people to learn this Dragon Seeking Art, given its high requirement on comprehension ability.
With the requirement on comprehension ability, this Dragon Seeking Art would be useless even to ordinary Geomasters. At best, it would just widen their horizons.