Chapter 189 – Grade Nine Lotus
After rushing into the house, the fatty was so frightened that he almost fainted. Xiao Chen also dropped his jaw.
The snow-white little critter was too extreme. It actually carried a big sack back. The inside of the sack was shining with multicolored radiance and it was bulging. Who knew just how many spiritual items were stuffed into that sack by the little critter.
The big sack was much bigger than Keke. Compared to this nearly one foot long little critter, the 1.5 meter long big sack was too exaggerated!
The sack had already been opened. The snow-white little critter was extremely infatuated. It was rolling around in the sack happily. Its eyes had already turned into crescent moon shape.
The fatty was so nervous that he almost slumped onto the ground. He started stammering, “We’re done for, we’re done for! The ‘Treasure Trove Castle of the South’ has been raided! Keke has stolen all of their first-rate spiritual items. This mother f—…… the value of these items is beyond measure! If we’re caught, we will have to pay for the consequences. We will have to compensate with twice the market price!”
Xiao Chen also felt a pang of headache. With this much spiritual items stolen, it would definitely cause a huge commotion in Celestial City. Settling this peacefully was definitely impossible. Just think about how much was all of these worth?!
Keke’s glittering big eyes rolled around, then it jumped up and stood in between Xiao Chen and the big sack. That means: Don’t think about asking me to return these, I will not do it even if you beat me to death!
Xiao Chen was almost driven mad as he kneaded his temples. This matter was not easy to deal with, one error and they would be in for a great disaster.
“Damn it! Just what was the Treasure Trove Castle doing? There’s so many treasures… don’t tell me that they don’t have an expert guarding their treasures? Are they not afraid of getting robbed?!” Xiao Chen was upset as he complained.
Zhuge fatty was speechless, your snow-white little critter had raided other people’s store, how did you end up blaming the others? The fatty cursed silently and felt a splitting headache at the same time. He helplessly explained, “Did you forget what day is it today? Today is the first day of the grand battle. And the first round was between two Dragon Kings. Almost all the experts in Celestial City have already headed to the warbeast castle to watch the match. The three elders watching over the store are absent. I saw it with my own eyes as they entered the VIP lounge of the warbeast castle.”
“Didn’t the battle between the Dragon Kings ended quite a while ago?” Xiao Chen grumbled grudgingly.
“The battle between the Dragon Kings has indeed ended, but there’s still two more battles between the beast kings. Since they went there already, do you think they would only watch a single round?”
“Keke, you… Sigh!” Xiao Chen felt really helpless, he didn’t know how to handle this matter.
On the other hand, the snow-white little critter was very excited. As if it had just won a victorious battle, it jumped into the big sack again and started to toss from side to side.
“This won’t do! We must return these immediately, otherwise we will arouse public anger!” Xiao Chen helplessly let out a breath.
“That’s right, and we must be fast. We should take this chance and return the items where they belong before the three elders get back.” The fatty also felt very urgent. The Treasure Trove Castle was a monopolistic corporation. They had strong financial support and possessed great influence in the south.
“Squeak! Squeak!!” The snow-white little critter was getting discontent. It poked its head out from the big sack and mumbled to itself angrily. It seemed to be saying that it had worked hard to get these and that it definitely wouldn’t return them.
The fatty was a little speechless, you call this work hard? You might as well just live in the Treasure Trove Castle!
“This won’t do. Keke, you must return these items immediately. Otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. We will get into big trouble.” Xiao Chen had no choice but to try to convince the little thing.
After explaining in every possible way and making one promise after another, the snow-white little critter puffed its cheeks and finally nodded its head unwillingly. Of course, it was impossible to return them as a whole. That Grade Nine Lotus had been held in custody as expected. In addition, the snow-white little critter gathered a small amount of quality goods from among the big sack. It was going to keep those as snacks.
“Whoosh!”
With a flash of white light, Keke disappeared along with the big sack.
Even while waiting, they were feeling anxious. The little critter had not returned even after half an hour later. In the end, Xiao Chen immediately soared into the sky, fully prepared to rush into the Treasure Trove Castle as if his life depended on it. He didn’t care if he was exposed anymore, the snow-white little critter was more important!
However, just at this time, Keke returned with wobbly steps. Its little belly was plump and it would let out a hiccup occasionally. From time to time, it would turn its head around to recall fondly.
My god!
He realized immediately, after sending the items back, it ate heartily in other people’s place. For the time being, it seemed like they wouldn’t need to pay the “debts”.
“Good, the items have been returned!” The fatty let out a breath of relief. They had kept the Grade Nine Lotus, but it was only one out of the many spiritual items after all. Although it could be rated as an absolute gem, it had been left in the dust for two to three years and never been sold all along. It’s original price was only a hundred thousand odd gold coins. It was only recently, due to the warbeast tournament, that they began raising the price crazily. This kind of loss would definitely cause a big gale, but it was still better than the whole store being raided.
The Treasure Trove Castle had a few branch stores, namely: the Superb Hall, the Airspace Pavilion, the Treasure House, etc. Each and every store had valuable spiritual items. The Grade Nine Lotus from the Superb Hall was their family jewel.
Legend says Buddha once had a Grade Nine Lotus. It could seriously be rated as an exceptionally valuable object. After Buddha had refined the Grade Nine Lotus, not only did his body become more powerful, even his power had increased dramatically. This was a sacred item that everyone in the world of martial arts yearned for.
Naturally, the Grade Nine Lotus at the Superb Hall was not this magical. However, it was still a treasure produced by the nature. It was one of the very few giant lotus. Its entire body was crystal clear and sparkling like the jade. The lotus was as big as a basin and felt warm to the touch. It was emitting a glorious radiance like warm jade.
“Alas, it’s such a pity, only the size of a basin. If it was raised for another few dozen millenniums, it might become a sacred item on the same level as Buddha’s giant lotus!” The fatty looked at the treasure with remorse.
This was obviously very unrealistic. Just who would be able to live for a few dozen millenniums? Who would be able to wait for that long? Even immortals were unwilling to wait for countless years. Then what about the merchants? They valued money highly, once they found this kind of spiritual items, they certainly wouldn’t let it continue to grow in the nature.
Zhuge fatty said that this giant lotus was originally formed by an ancient lotus found on the lake of a tall mountain. There were traces of the Buddhists on the huge mountain. They presumed that the Gods and Buddhas must have been there a really long time ago.
Hearing these, Xiao Chen also felt a little remorseful. This lotus might really be related to Buddha’s Grade Nine Lotus. Maybe it was really sprouted from the sacred lotus’ seed.
After peeling off the jade-like lotus, a burst of fragrance filled the air. There were four lotus seeds about the size of a dragon eye fruit within. The seeds were dark green and flickered like jadeite. It was very dazzling. The color of the seeds was substantially different from ordinary lotus seed, and they were much bigger too. It was indeed a sacred item. The fragrance pervaded the entire courtyard.
The four jadeite lotus seeds immediately made Keke so infatuated that it almost shut its two eyes. It felt that even after returning so many spiritual items, keeping this treasure alone was more than worth it! However, it already didn’t have much appetite as it had already ate its fill at the Superb Hall earlier.
Xiao Chen felt that the situation was far from good. He hastily covered up the four crystal clear lotus seeds, then he called Keke, Tenax, and the Azure Dragon King over. He was unbiased and gave each sacred beast one seed. The last one was kept for himself.
“Gulp it down immediately. Otherwise, when the aroma fills the air, it will attract unwanted attention!”
After saying these, Xiao Chen took the lead and stuffed the crystal clear lotus seed into his mouth. The instant the lotus seed entered his mouth, it transformed into boundless spiritual energy and rushed into his internal organs. The spiritual energy was flowing through all kinds of arteries and veins, but in the end, it was all deprived by the Central Pivot ⌈1⌋ along the spine. The glorious divine radiance condensed into a speck of light. The Central Pivot had been divinized!
The exuberant life energy bubbled out and pounded against Xiao Chen’s internal body. After that, it established a connection with the other divinized acupoints. The golden thread was like a net of vein as it linked them up!
After fifteen minutes, everything finally calmed down as Xiao Chen opened his eyes. He was no longer surprised by the divinization of the acupoints. It could be expected to happen frequently in the future.
The snow-white little Keke bit the lotus seed like it was eating candy. However, without waiting for it to sample the taste, the lotus seed already transformed into spiritual energy and rushed into its body. This made the little thing feel very regretful. It could only click its tongue while reflecting on the aftertaste.
As for the jade-like lotus leaves that were peeled off, Xiao Chen didn’t waste any of them. He pounded them into pieces and spread them on Tenax’s wounds. The glossy lotus also contained boundless worldly essence. It reacted to the treasured tree in Tenax’s body as the spiritual energy seeped into its body via the wounds.
It could be seen clearly, the terrifying wounds on Tenax’s body were healing as that jade-like lotus wilted at high speed. In the end, it turned into ashes and fell down.
The rainbow-colored radiance flickered as Xiao Chen carried Tenax back into the house. He was expecting a full recovery in one night.
These days, the Azure Dragon King’s consciousness was slowly recovering. However, it was still very taciturn, and even a little downcast. It didn’t reject Xiao Chen. Clearly, it had already recognized him as an old friend. After it gulped down the lotus seed, the Azure Dragon King silently returned to the house and continue to heal its mental trauma.
The fatty was very envious as he watched the entire process. Unfortunately, due to his poor constitution, he was unable to enjoy the lotus seed.
When night fell, the news arrived from the warbeast castle. The outcome of the other two grand battles had been concluded. The one meter long Gold Lion King killed its opponent in a matter of seconds and advanced to the next round. The little White Tiger also had an extraordinary performance. After going through a fierce battle, it inflicted heavy injuries on the other young beast king and advanced without a hitch.
With the Grade Nine Lotus stolen from the Treasure Trove Castle, a huge disturbance was given rise as expected. It was abuzz with noise since afternoon until the night time. Zhuge fatty had become the first suspect as it should be. Who asked him to go and bargain with them everyday since these past few weeks!
The fatty felt very depressed. He only sniffed the aroma for a while only, and yet, he had already become the primary suspect. On the other hand, the perpetrator went to the Undying Sect as if he was not involved.
The Undying Sect occupied an extremely wide territory in the Celestial City. It was like a landscape garden. There were fine woods within the territory, pavilions and kiosks in the gardens, small bridges over the clear spring, as well as the waterfall. The scenery was very magnificent, it was just like a fairyland.
Xiao Chen cursed silently. In this Celestial City where every inch of land was as precious as gold, every major power’s residences, ancient castles, or palaces were bound to have a big garden, with one building connected to another. Just how much wealth did they possess? This was too extravagant!
“It’s you?!”
After entering the Undying Sect’s garden, Xiao Chen just happened to run into Yan Qingcheng. The beautiful Yan Qingcheng was wearing a one-piece blue striped dress. Her slender body was outlined perfectly. Her lily-white face did not lose the least bit of splendor. Her face without makeup appeared attractive and outstanding. Her matchless complexion could even make a stoneman feel palpitated.
“What, am I not welcomed?” Xiao Chen wore an unruly expression. It was poles apart from his sharp expression when confronting an enemy.
“Of course you are not welcomed at this place!” Yan Qingcheng felt contradicted. Since she started practicing the Obliterate Demon Absolute God, she couldn’t be too far apart from Xiao Chen. At the very least, they must stay in the same city. However, she always felt unpleasant whenever she faced this man who once took her as a captive.
“How can you talk like that? Is that how you treat your guest? I am here to take you home as a lifelong partner!”
“You…” Yan Qingcheng was so angry that her lily-white face had turned as red as an apple. Looking at Xiao Chen’s negligent appearance, she wished she could go over there and slap him. However, she restrained herself and let out a humph, “Go back and daydream by yourself!” She turned around and left as soon as she said these words.
“Swish!”
Xiao Chen unfolded the Undying Divine Wings and got behind Yan Qingcheng. He didn’t say anything and followed her along the way.
“Why are you following me?”
“Why can’t I follow you?”
That was a completely unconcerned tone. It made Yan Qingcheng especially resentful. Nobody had ever been this rude to her. Even if others were attracted by her peerless beauty and longed for her, all they did was compliment her and didn’t dare to make their move. Yet, how could this guy be so shameless. He was truly hateful through and through!
“Xiao Chen, you…” Yan Qingcheng bit the lower lip with her silver teeth, then she fumed, “If you want to find the elder, just go! If you continue to nag me, don’t blame me for calling out for help.”
“Why do I feel like this is a little like the drama of the beauty and the evil tyrant?”
“Aren’t you the evil tyrant?” Yan Qingcheng was as agile as the butterfly. She flew up gracefully and just when she was about to fly into the depths of the garden. Xiao Chen said:
“You mean I am the evil tyrant? Then how about you point out some accomplished facts, otherwise I will feel like I have been wrongly accused.”
1. https://theory.yinyanghouse.com/