The young daoist boy nodded thoughtfully, and Chamberlain Fan said no more. Some things must be experienced firsthand before they can be truly understood.
On the arena stage, Chang Shu looked at the girl before him who had voluntarily dispersed her mist and admitted defeat, a trace of confusion appearing on his face. "That mist of yours was truly strange. If we had continued, and if I had not used my mother's blessing, I cannot say for certain that I would have won. Why did you take the initiative to surrender?"
Shen Mengqi looked at Chang Shu's current face and heard his slightly softened tone, comparing it to his previous demeanor as the Bright Moon Fairy. The realization in her heart grew even firmer.
"I have already clarified my path, and the Path of Heaven's Heart is not for me. However, I must still thank the Bright Moon Fairy. I look forward to having the opportunity to discuss the Dao with you again in the future."
She glanced at her teammates outside the arena and, thinking of Chen Xu, added, "That Bone Daoist only came here to help because of my request. I wonder if I might ask the Fairy to lift his exile?"
"Hmph. Do not mention that fellow. First, he was eavesdropping, and then he was covered in that unpleasant aura." Hearing Shen Mengqi's request, Chang Shu's brows furrowed instantly. However, looking at the girl before him who shared some similarities with himself, he spoke the truth: "The exile was my mother's decision. I have no way to change it."
Previously, Chang Shu had called upon the moon's descent merely wanting it to bestow purifying power to cleanse the Skeleton Hybrid and then freeze Chen Xu to throw him out of the arena. But when his mother arrived, she was extremely angry for some reason and exiled him directly.
This was the first time Chang Shu had seen his mother so enraged, and he could only privately guess if it was because of the eavesdropping incident from the previous night.
Shen Mengqi did not dwell on it. She walked off the stage to rejoin her teammates. Among them, Wang Sen and Zhao Yifang had been caught in the shockwave produced when Chen Xu smashed the Overlord's Castle into the ground, but they were largely unharmed. Zheng Hong had been struck by the tail of the celestial raiment and was currently being supported by Shi Jing.
Ma Ku was in a much worse state. Having been trapped inside the full moon and coming into close contact with his own condensed fire lotus, the front of his daoist robe was now in tatters. He was covered in soot and grime, leaning heavily on the two sword cultivators for support.
"Let's go. The Peach Blossom Sect's boat should be waiting outside."
"That won't be necessary, little girl. Ye Bufan asked me to take you all back."
The figure that suddenly materialized was the sect leader of the Peach Blossom Sect, Tao Tiantian.
"Auntie Tao!" Shen Mengqi was delighted to see a familiar face.
Tao Tiantian looked toward the west, meeting the gaze of Fang Yuan who was watching them. Seeing Fang Yuan retract his gaze, she raised her hand to pull the group into her sleeves and flew away.
"Chang Shu, since you are the only one left, go quickly to the Heavenly Cauldron and light the Tianxin Incense."
Chang Shu had been watching the place where Shen Mengqi departed, but Fang Yuan's voice interrupted his thoughts. He followed the instructions and walked to the Heavenly Cauldron at the center of the arena.
He had been wondering how to light the incense, as his Mystic Yin True Qi could only freeze things. To his surprise, as soon as he stepped near the Heavenly Cauldron, the pillar of Tianxin Incense ignited on its own.
"The Tianxin Incense is lit, the assessment is over! Chang Shu shall be the successor of my Path of Heaven's Heart, entering the island to learn the law and spreading the name of Tianxin!" Fang Yuan's voice resonated through the sky as if proclaiming it to the entire world.
...
Back at the base, seeing Shen Mengqi and the others depart with Tao Tiantian, Ye Bufan put away the mirror and took his leave.
With no one else around, Chen Xu dropped his formal act. "Teacher Xia, do you have connections with the Heavenly Crafts Academy? I want to get some ore mining tools and have someone look at some factory equipment for me."
"You brat, you're a Necromancer, so why are you getting involved in this? Don't tell me that in just a few days, you've cozied up to someone in Akhan and been given a fiefdom?"
"That's impossible. I went there to be a good student. Look, I even have a medal," Chen Xu said, showing off the Enlightenment Temple Outstanding Student Medal to Xia Qiming.
Xia Qiming shook his head with a smile. "What kind of mining tools do you need? Different ores require different tools from the Heavenly Crafts Academy. Moreover, they mostly use automated designs and mechanical mining now; traditional pickaxes are rarely used.
How about this: I'll contact someone for you. It just so happens he's coming to the military academy soon to collect experimental data. I'll have him find you here later."
"Why don't you give me his name and location, and I'll go to him directly? No need to trouble him to make an extra trip."
Xia Qiming stood up, took two bottles of soda from the freezer behind him, and tossed one to Chen Xu.
"He's busy right now, so you going there would be the real trouble. Since we have time, let's talk about you. Liu Yisi mentioned that your advancement mission was completed in a very strange way?"
Chen Xu took a sip of the soda and explained the situation to Xia Qiming.
After listening, Xia Qiming remained silent for a while.
"After Mythic, is it Eternal Singular? This information is very valuable. So, you're saying you won't have any more advancement missions in the future and only need dungeon space fragments?"
Chen Xu nodded.
"That might be a bit difficult. Currently, dungeon space fragments are considered consumables. In certain regions, like Mohai and Hanyuan, people can only live within the dungeons generated by these space fragments until the dungeon invasions are completely cleared."
As he spoke, he pulled out a smart terminal and projected a small model of Blue Star. "Even Daxia is like this, and the situation in other countries is even more severe; their demand for dungeon space fragments is even higher. I expect only places like England might have some unimportant fragments in the royal collection."
"Also, when you fuse fragments, you should consider the affixes. Although the panel says you'll advance automatically once you have enough special territories, the quality of those territories might affect your future. After all, there are still gaps in strength even within the same realm."
This was something Chen Xu had not considered. He had been so focused on leveling up that he had forgotten about this aspect.
"Daxia will screen the subsequent dungeon space fragments we produce and set aside those suitable for you. As for foreign countries, the fragments we can trade for probably won't be very good. I'll arrange for someone to negotiate that as well."
"Then thank you, Teacher Xia."
"Besides Blue Star, there is one other place that has space fragments," Teacher Xia said suddenly.
"Where?"
"The City of Miracles."
...
That evening, Chen Xu remained in the reception room, reading the materials Xia Qiming had given him about the City of Miracles while waiting for the person from the Heavenly Crafts Academy to arrive.
The City of Miracles was also one of the five major special dungeons, but unlike the others, it did not possess a complete world. Or rather, the entire world was one massive metropolis.
It was called a miracle because anything could happen in that city. Similarly, you could find almost anything from any world there; the city was connected to countless realms.
Xia Qiming's idea was for Chen Xu to go to the City of Miracles and find the great merchants there, as they likely held many space fragments. However, these great merchants usually only handled massive deals. Fortunately, Chen Xu possessed a massive Rune-energy Stone mine, which was a high-value asset. This was why Xia Qiming felt Chen Xu had a chance to meet them.
Initially, Chen Xu had thought about selling the Rune-energy Stones to Daxia once they were mined. After all, they were familiar with each other, and he was a Dragon Seed, so Daxia wouldn't let him lose out. But he was met only with a roll of the eyes from Xia Qiming.
"Daxia cannot swallow your mine. Rune-energy Stones are indeed important, but only for systems purely based on magic and spirit, like Akhan. Blue Star is a supernatural melting pot with all sorts of systems. A supply sufficient to craft magic equipment for an entire nation... haha, if the panel description is correct, Daxia could use that hoard for a thousand years and still have some left over."
Left with no choice, Chen Xu could only pin his hopes on the great merchants in the City of Miracles.
Knock, knock, knock!
A knock sounded at the door.
"Please come in! You must be the professor from the Heavenly Crafts Academy!" Chen Xu immediately put away his materials and stood up to welcome them, but he was surprised to see Shen Mengqi pushing open the door.
"Oh, it's Captain Shen. Come in and have a seat."
"Brother Chen, the Tianxin Assessment is over. You can just call me Mengqi." Shen Mengqi did not enter the room but leaned against the doorframe. "Teacher Xia mentioned you were busy, so I won't come in to disturb you.
I came here to apologize to you. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been exiled by the Immortal Island world."
Chen Xu had wondered what it was, but it turned out to be this. He waved his hand repeatedly. "Hey, I thought it was something serious. Since I promised to help, I had to give it my all."
Seeing how casual Chen Xu was, Shen Mengqi found it a bit hard to say her next words.
Noticing her sudden daze, Chen Xu spoke up to break the silence. "Is there something else? There's really no need to take such a small matter to heart. It's just a cultivation world."
"At the end, I asked Chang Shu. He said that exiling you was the decision of the moon over there." Shen Mengqi ultimately decided to tell Chen Xu this information.
"The moon? I see." Chen Xu had some suspicions.
After Shen Mengqi left, Chen Xu sat alone in his chair.
"If a celestial dog can swallow the moon, then why should I, Chen Xu, fear a single moon? Let's start with a small goal: exiling a moon."
The moment Chen Xu made this vow, the intense conviction instantly crossed space, transmitting to all the skeleton heroes, the Black Knight, and even the skeleton soldiers.
This was the first time the young Lord of the Undead had revealed his ambition.
Rate on N.U.
