Chapter 178 - The Tenth Prince of Great Xia Dynasty, Comprehending The Supreme Sword Intent
Chapter 178: The Tenth Prince of Great Xia Dynasty, Comprehending The Supreme Sword Intent
“There are Spirit Stones to be rewarded at the Ten Nations Grand Tournament?”
Ye Ping, who was inside the room, really didn’t expect that there would be Spirit Stones rewarded for the Ten Nations Grand Tournament.
Besides, Li Yu seemed to have said that there would be a reward of a million superior-grade Spirit Stones.
“Yes, Master, you should know, don’t you? The Ten Nations Grand Tournament is the selection of disciples from each nation to join the Ten Nations Academy. There will definitely be rewards.”
“The person who comes in first place at the Ten Nations Grand Tournament will obtain lots of rewards, namely a million superior-grade Spirit Stones, an ancient treasure, a Dharmic Dao Mystical Ability, and even a place in the Ten Nations Academy.”
“However, the geniuses of various nations who compete for the first place in the Ten Nations Grand Tournament don’t care for these rewards at all. Their goal is to join the Great Xia Dynasty Academy which will send some people to inspect the Ten Nations Grand Tournament. The process of inspection is in fact also a selection.”
“If there’s really an extremely talented person, they might be able to make exceptions and let him join the Great Xia Dynasty Academy. If that happens, that chosen candidate will really become famous in the Ten Nations.”
“However, it’s generally impossible for that to happen. The assessment requirement of the Great Xia Dynasty Academy is too difficult. The people in the academy are all true geniuses.”
As the crown prince of Jin Nation, Li Yu naturally had a better understanding.
“What do you mean when you said that you can get a million Spirit Stones in seven days?”
Ye Ping continued to ask.
In fact, Ye Ping had nothing to say about the million Spirit Stones. After all, if the conditions were right, Ye Ping believed that it would not be difficult to get a million Spirit Stones with his current attainments in alchemy.
However, it required an extremely long period of time.
For example, even a supreme-grade non-poisonous pill would only be worth at most 200,000 to 300,000 inferior-grade Spirit Stones. Even if he refined one a day, it would take him 30 days to raise a million Spirit Stones.
Even if he could refine 30 supreme-grade Foundation Establishment pills, it would take time to sell them.
Foundation Establishment pills were not extremely precious, and the effects of supreme-grade non-poisonous Foundation Establishment pills and superior-grade Foundation Establishment pills were actually similar. Not all cultivators sought perfection.
Besides, non-poisonous supreme-grade Foundation Establishment pills were sold for 200,000 to 300,000 inferior-grade Spirit Stones while superior-grade Foundation Establishment pills were sold for 400,000 to 500,000 inferior-grade Spirit Stones. The difference was seven to eight times, so no one would buy them at all.
Hence, if he really wanted to earn Spirit Stones by refining pills, it was impossible to earn a million Spirit Stones in less than six months.
However, Ye Ping now needed a large number of Spirit Stones.
Firstly, he needed Spirit Stones to set up an array formation. Secondly, he had to buy some things too.
He needed a large number of Spirit Stones for a pill furnace, array artifacts for setting up array formations, and learning the insights that Lin Bei and Xue Zhuan had given him.
Ye Ping was well aware that he could refine supreme-grade non-poisonous pills without the need of a furnace but he could not refine true treasure pills.
It was not as simple as alchemy, but rather, it concerned his realm. At the Foundation Establishment realm that he was now in, he could refine non-poisonous Foundation Establishment pills but not non-poisonous Realm Breakthrough pills. However, if he had the help of the pill furnace, he would be able to refine better pills.
The more precious the pill, the higher its price.
In particular, a supreme-grade non-poisonous Nascent Soul pill would be able to fetch a sky-high price.
There was a huge gap between the Golden Core realm and the Nascent Soul realm. Those who could surpass it would be elites, and if they didn’t, they would never be able to surpass it all their lives.
Qi Refinement cultivators would earn less than 10,000 inferior-grade Spirit Stones, but cultivators at the perfected Golden Core realm would be able to earn a massive amount of money after hundreds of years of accumulation.
Hence. Ye Ping felt that he had to get a pill furnace before thinking about how he could use the pill furnace to refine some non-poisonous pills.
He would slowly make amendments and improve them.
Li Yu heard what Ye Ping said and couldn’t help but speak up,
“Master, the Ten Nations Grand Tournament will take between seven to fifteen days.”
“There are three rounds in each Ten Nations Grand Tournament and they’re different every single time. Sometimes, it’s a martial arts battle, and sometimes, it’s a problem-solving test. Anyway, it’s different every year and sometimes, there would be additional assessments.”
“If anyone can pass everything, the tournament can end earlier and the reward will be given.”
Li Yu explained.
“The reward will be given in advance?”
That made Ye Ping even more energized.
Generally speaking, one would have to wait until the end of the competition to receive the rewards even if one had won.
Ye Ping did not expect that he would actually be able to get the rewards in advance.
“Yes, the Ten Nations Grand Tournament is actually far simpler than I imagined. Master, the more superior an academy, the greater the degree of freedom. There are no restrictions. For example, there are only three rules in the Great Xia Dynasty Academy.”
“They’re nonchalant about it. Even if you participate in the Ten Nations Grand Tournament wearing a mask and receive the reward in a low profile manner, you won’t face any consequence. Some people like keeping a low profile but some like keeping a high profile. Everything varies from person to person and the Ten Nations Academy respects every student.”
Li Yu explained.
“You can wear a mask? Can I accept the reward without going to the Ten Nations Academy?”
Ye Ping continued to ask.
At the end of the day, he was indeed tempted but he still wanted to go to the Ten Nations Academy.
At this point, Li Yu came to a sudden realization.
“Master, you don’t plan to take the rewards of the Ten Nations Academy for free, do you?”
Li Yu’s voice was filled with surprise and he seemed to be in disbelief.
“Can’t I do that? Is there a rule that one can’t just participate in the Ten Nations Grand Tournament?”
Ye Ping asked.
After hearing his words, Li Yu couldn’t help but think about it.
There was actually really no such rule.
He looked at Ye Ping with admiration in his eyes.
“Master, if you really only compete without joining the academy, you’d be the fiercest man ever.”
Li Yu didn’t know what to say, but he knew that Ye Ping was a smart person.
“By the way, when will the Ten Nations Grand Tournament start?”
Ye Ping continued to ask.
If there was no reward of one million Spirit Stones, Ye Ping would honestly not participate in the Ten Nations Grand Tournament, but hearing that there was a reward of one million Spirit Stones, Ye Ping was indeed tempted.
He didn’t lack anything except Spirit Stones now.
“It will be held in the capital of Wei Nation in the morning after tomorrow. There is a Teleportation Array in the Jin Nation that connects to the capital of Wei Nation. Master, if you need it, I will arrange someone to make preparations now.”
Li Yu said.
“Okay, let’s go ahead with that.”
Ye Ping nodded.
Li Yu didn’t say anything else either. He simply looked at the treasures on the table.
“Master, do you want to sell these two things? I’ll take them for 6,000 Spirit Stones, I guarantee you won’t lose out.”
Li Yu said.
“Get lost.”
Ye Ping sounded rather displeased because he actually didn’t care about the treasures. He just needed them for something else.
Soon, Li Yu left the room.
At this moment, the sky had already turned dark. Ye Ping walked out of the room and immediately saw Huangfu Tianlong’s residence that was near his.
On the eaves of the house, Huangfu Tianlong quietly gazed at the sky dome, looking rather melancholic.
Seeing this scene, Ye Ping could not help but sigh. He had nothing to say and merely hoped that Huangfu Tianlong would stop feeling troubled soon.
At the same time, in the Great Xia Dynasty Palace.
In the Crown Prince’s Palace, the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty sat on a chair, staring at Yan Shi who was in front of him, with a composed gaze.
“Your Highness, I’ve already met Ye Ping and given him the treasures. Ye Ping has accepted them too but like most geniuses, he did not directly promise anything.”
Yan Shi said.
On the chair made of precious stones, the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty did not have any change in expression and instead seemed to have guessed that outcome.
To be honest, the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty had seen too many people like this, so he was already somewhat used to it and did not seem to be furious at all.
He knew that this was a common problem of geniuses. Geniuses would only see their own glory and refuse to acknowledge that of others.
After all, the ignorant were fearless. Geniuses would forever think that they were in the limelight.
Hence, when a truly outstanding genius showed up in front of them, they would not choose to resign to fate but subconsciously retaliate instead.
Hence, the Great Xia Dynasty Crown Prince knew that he could not force Ye Ping too much or keep trying to poach him as that would instead make them feel repulsed.
In order to truly subdue geniuses, one would have to make them know how vast the world was.
The approach was very simple too. Yan Shi would go and befriend Ye Ping and constantly tell Ye Ping some secrets.
For example, he would tell the locations of mystic realms to Ye Ping and inform him that there were treasures so as to attract Ye Ping to go there.
At that time, Ye Ping would know how insignificant and humble he really was.
Once Ye Ping understood everything, he would willingly submit.
He knew that tactic too well as it had been tried and tested. There was once a talent who was even more arrogant than Ye Ping.
He claimed that he would not join the imperial court even if the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty came to him personally.
But what happened in the end? He still succumbed after all.
He was good at the tactics of the emperor.
Hence, he wasn’t angry, but in fact he enjoyed the process.
He enjoyed the process of seeing an arrogant genius slowly becoming his subordinate.
“So be it. As usual, contact him often and reveal more useful information to him. You can let him know about the emergence of the East Ocean Dragon Palace too.”
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty said calmly and asked Ye Ping to communicate more with Ye Ping.
“I understand.”
Yan Shi nodded, but in the end, he wanted to say something but seemed to be hesitating.
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty, on the other hand, casually picked up a memorial and looked at it calmly.
“If you want to ask something, just ask it directly. Stop being wishy-washy. I really don’t know where you learned that from.”
He could tell at a glance what Yan Shi wanted to do.
“Your Highness, I do have doubts but I don’t know whether I should say it or not.”
Yan Shi lowered his head. In fact, he had other questions but he dared not voice them, and hence, he looked rather wishy-washy.
“Do you want to say that I shouldn’t interfere in the matter of the non-poisonous pill because it involves my father, lest he blames me?”
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty was smart as he directly stated the concerns Yan Shi had.
After hearing that, Yan Shi subconsciously wanted to deny it, but in the end, he couldn’t help but nod and say, “Your Highness, I’m indeed somewhat curious.”
Yan Shi was indeed curious.
The more he thought about the matter of the non-poisonous pill, the more he felt that there was too much involved.
The reason why the Great Qian Dynasty could become the top of the five dynasties was because they could refine pills that were infinitely close to the non-poisonous pill.
However, even so, the Great Qian Dynasty’s pills were not non-poisonous pills. If the Great Xia Dynasty could refine non-poisonous pills, it would be a great thing for them.
In other words, even the king of the Great Xia Dynasty dared not be negligent in the matter of the non-poisonous pill.
As for others, anyone who dared to interfere would definitely die.
He was the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty, and generally, as long as he did not do any vicious thing or committed a heinous crime, he would be the future emperor.
Hence, shouldn’t the Crown Prince not do anything except keep to his duties?
If he forcefully intervened in the matter of the non-poisonous pills, wouldn’t it provoke the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty?
When the time came, it would not be a good thing.
Hence, he couldn’t figure it out and was full of curiosity.
“Yan Shi, I don’t know whether to praise you for being smart or call you stupid.”
“I’ve long thought of everything I can think of.”
“The matter of the non-poisonous pill is indeed very important. Usually, even I cannot get involved.”
“However, there is one thing you have forgotten, and that is the origin of the non-poisonous pill.”
“The non-poisonous pill was refined by Ye Ping’s Senior Brother. Don’t you think my father does not want to know who his Senior Brother is?”
“He really wants to know but he can’t go and investigate. If that person turns out to be a peerless expert, it would be terrible because they hate being investigated.”
“If he gets offended by my father and decides to give the pill formula to another dynasty, it would be a lethal blow to us.”
“Father wants to investigate but he can’t do it personally. In this case, what should we do?”
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty spoke calmly and seemed wise and mysterious.
In an instant, Yan Shi understood clearly.
He had figured it out.
The king of the Great Xia Dynasty did care about the non-poisonous pill, but he was even more curious about who the person who could create it was.
He wanted to investigate but did not dare to either.
The person who could create the non-poisonous pill must be a supreme master, and in that case, he must have his own ideas.
If they forcefully tried to investigate him and ended up angering him, things would go awry.
However, the king was curious about who the other party was and hence he needed someone to investigate.
That person was the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty.
That’s right, as long as the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty went to investigate, the expert would only feel uncomfortable even if he found out.
After all, the crown prince could not represent the king.
Thinking of this, Yan Shi completely understood.
No wonder the crown prince dared to interfere in this matter, it turned out that he was fearless and confident enough.
“I understand. His Majesty has instructed you to go investigate the matter of the non-poisonous pill, it was my ignorance that hindered me from thinking of this.”
Yan Shi hung his head low and sighed from the bottom of his heart.
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty did not seem proud or arrogant. Instead, he continued to speak.
“Yan Shi, remember this, my father knows about everything that happens in the palace of the Great Xia Dynasty. He’s the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty and he has spies everywhere.”
“In fact, my father might even overhear our conversation now but it doesn’t matter. As long as we abide by the rules he sets, there won’t be any trouble.”
The crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty said.
“I understand.”
Yan Shi nodded.
However, the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty continued.
“However, I might be working for my father, but I actually have personal reasons for interfering with the matters of the non-poisonous pill.”
“The non-poisonous pill can help me win others over and get the ministers of the imperial court to stand on my side.”
As he spoke, he stood up too and said rather seriously.
“Your Highness, in fact, sometimes I think that you’re thinking too much. Nowadays, the authoritative and important ministers in court are supporting you. What else do you have to worry about?”
Yan Shi hoped that the Crown Prince would not be too anxious, otherwise he would make a fool of himself.
However, the Crown Prince took a deep breath and then shook his head.
“Yan Shi, you don’t understand.”
“The battle for the throne can never be as simple as you see it. Even though I’m the Crown Prince, I can’t let my guard down.”
“My brothers are all coveting the throne. The more terrifying thing is that they seem foolish on the surface but they’re actually just hiding it. They are really shrewd and sharp.”
“Before ascending the throne, I will never take it lightly.”
“Never.”
The Crown Prince said seriously while having his back facing Yan Shi.
In fact, he still had a concern that he did not voice yet.
He did not dare to.
That was…. the Tenth Prince.
The Tenth Prince who had gone missing then.
Perhaps everyone in the entire Great Xia Dynasty had forgotten about the Tenth Prince, but he clearly knew that the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty had never forgotten about him.
At this moment, in the Great Xia Dynasty palace.
There were two figures in the Meditation Hall.
The emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty stood quietly in front of a painting with a middle-aged man behind him who couldn’t help but look at the painting.
There was a peerless woman in the painting who was carrying a baby in her arms.
“Xuanji, I often dream of the Tenth Prince these days and I’ve been rather ill at ease. Come out for a walk with me.”
His tone was very calm.
“Your Majesty, don’t worry, the Tenth Prince is blessed and I’ve drawn a divination lot for him a few days ago. It is auspicious. I think a major joyous event is going to happen in the next few days, maybe the Tenth Prince is going to return.”
The other party said.
He was Zhangsun Xuanji, the prime minister of the dynasty who was a status of great power and authority.
“Yes, a joyous event is going to happen in the Great Xia Dynasty.”
The emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty said slowly but he did not say anything much. He simply continued to look at the scroll.
Just like that, it was late at night.
In Qingyun Dao Sect.
Su Changyu suddenly opened his eyes.
He was drenched in sweat.
He had a nightmare.
There was a beautiful face in his dream, but in his mind, it was menacing and hideous.
It smiled at him maniacally and was hair-raising.
For some reason, Su Changyu realized that he had been having lots of nightmares lately.
Each nightmare was different.
That made Su Changyu very vexed and distressed.
At the thought of this, Su Changyu couldn’t help but get up and slowly walk back to the rear cliff.
The wind was very strong and it was making his robe flutter with sounds.
Looking up at the starry sky, Su Changyu’s eyes were filled with confusion.
Under the same sky, in the Jin Nation Academy.
Ye Ping also started to become enlightened.
He did not forget the purpose of his visit to Jin Nation Academy.
He was there to comprehend the supreme sword intent.