Chapter 257: Owning a Celestial Device to Fish a Golden Turtle and Causing a Storm (2/2)
”Too much luck isn't always a good thing. Don't you think it's a little weird?”
”Weird? What do you mean?”
”Do you think it's a coincidence for the Small Thunder Temple to suddenly appear in this world? The temple has drifted in the void for several hundreds of thousands of years and I've seen it stop anywhere.”
”How is that weird? In the past, many Ancient Ruins also appeared.”
”It's not the same,” Green Spirit said. ”I don't know about the independent spaces of other schools, but I know everything about the Small Thunder Temple. Even if I was confined at that time, I knew that it was the Great Sage Moro who blew the little world of the temple into the depths of the void. His Qian Yuan Palm-leaf Fan is a Taihao Fairy Weapon that could cut into the void with just one swipe of his hand. If there wasn't a particular reason, the temple would continue to drift not just hundreds of thousands of years, but millions of years, and never appearing in this world.”
”Then why did it come back?”
”Exactly.” Green Spirit laughed. ”That was why I found it weird. I've barely been released from the underground palace before getting stuck in this little world again. Of course, I wouldn't know why.”
”It's fine if you don't know anything about it. I'm not interested,” Junior Leopard said. ”I don't want to invite any troubles.”
”Having achieved Level Seven at your age and possessing the bloodlines of congenital god in primitive times, do you think you can really keep your nose out of chaos in such a world? Even if you want to stay away, other people may not agree.”
”Who do you mean?”
”I don't know. It's just my feeling.” Green Spirit laughed happily. ”Let's not talk about this. I'll teach you the way of Demonic Cultivation. That way, you won't have to refine your natal magic weapon.”
”Then I'll depend on you.” The muscles on Junior Leopard's face cramped slightly.
…
A month quickly passed.
Ever since he noticed how his focus on the fief slowed his cultivation progress, Junior Leopard left all matters to Jiang Xiao. In Junior Leopard's territory at least, Jing Xiao had become an authoritative figure that no one could say no to.
Junior Leopard locked himself up in his house, using the way of Demonic Cultivation Green Spirit taught him to cultivate his puppet. At the same time, he slowly experienced the degree of Underground Fire Golden Essence to prepare for the cultivation of his first Pure Yang Celestial Device.
Unfortunately, the peaceful times only lasted a month. Wang Cheng and Zhu Ba returned with their household as well as over 500 people and a large number of materials. Of course, those people were still on the way. Zhu Ba and Wang Cheng had rushed back first.
They made a beeline for Junior Leopard's yard without even stopping to rest after reaching the fief. Zhu Ba, in particular, began shouting before even arriving. Junior Leopard was irritated and snapped at them. ”Why are you yelling?”
”Your Excellency, I really have something urgent to report!”
”What's that?” Junior Leopard knew something serious must have happened when he saw Wang Cheng. Otherwise, Wang Cheng wouldn't have gone along with Zhu Ba's antics.
”Your Excellency, we heard about a great event when we went back to the Central Plains.”
”What's that?”
”I'm not too sure myself. I heard it's about some Ancient Ruins showing up.” Zhu Ba rubbed his head, appearing confused.
”Ancient Ruins?” Junior Leopard raised an eyebrow. Perhaps no one knew about the Ancient Ruins better than he did. ”What does that have anything to do with us?”
”You know about the Ancient Ruins?”
”Nonsense! Of course!” Junior Leopard turned to Wang Cheng and asked, ”He's blabbering all over the place. You tell me what's going on.”
”Yes, Your Excellency!” Wang Cheng smiled and quickly told him the whole story.
It turned out that the Ancient Runes didn't only attract the group of people Junior Leopard met the last time. Several large aristocratic families and schools also sent their men over. The imperial palace sent their experts as well. It was also discovered that there were other entrances to the ruins other than the solitary island they visited. Junior Leopard knew this. After all, the group of people from the East Sea Skyward Palace also managed to enter the ruins despite coming from a different direction. This proved that there was at least one other entrance.
Junior Leopard knew exactly what happened inside the Ancient Ruins. Though those long grasses on the ground were all precious medicine and the items left on the ground were either celestial devices or fairy weapons, they were basically scraps. After all, so many years had passed. Junior Leopard was lucky to pick up a scrap Pure Yang Celestial Device. If he didn't manage to bring Green Spirit home with him, he would have really found the trip a waste of time. Yet someone was even luckier than him in this world.
Like him, most left after picking up some medicinal herbs and scrap item. But a group of people got lucky beyond imagination and picked up a Pure Yang Celestial Device.
It was this group of people that caused the great event in the Central Plains.
They were experts from the imperial court!
They were experts from the imperial palace.
They happened to pick up a Pure Yang Celestial Device.
Generally, even if it was the emperor, they should be keeping a low profile after picking up such a good weapon. But the emperor seemed to have gone mad or perhaps had another motive. He actually declared the weapon to be the prize for the World Hero Competition.
”World Hero Competition? Is he mad?”
Even Junior Leopard couldn't help shivering after hearing the gallant title of the competition.
”Your Excellency, how can such an intelligent person like the emperor be mad? I think it's intentional!” Jiang Xiao said, standing by the river.
”Of course it's intentional, but it's hard to guess and there's no need to guess either.” Junior Leopard merely sneered. ”A Pure Yang Celestial Device is certainly an eye-catching prize. Oh right. What's the purpose of this World Hero Competition?”
”After destroying Northern Yuan, Great Jin has been wantonly enfeoffing its land in a show of authority. It wouldn't be possible for them to win this war without the many experts and martial arts masters slaughtering those from the prairie. Now that the royalty found a Pure Yang Celestial Device, they wanted to find to hold this hero assembly to find a good owner for it as well as to showcase their national power.”
”You mean they hold such a large-scale competition for this lousy reason?”
”Yes, Your Excellency!” Wang Cheng said with his head lowered. ”There's no limit to the World Hero Competition. Regardless of your martial arts level, you can join as long as you've contributed to the victory against the Northern Yuan. The winner will get the Pure Yang Celestial Device!”
”Why? Are you planning to join?” Junior Leopard smiled. He could hear the overwhelming desire in Zhu Ba's words.
Zhu Ba laughed. ”Your Excellency, though every martial arts master of Great Jin are allowed to join, I'm not qualified with my Level Four cultivation. If I go, I'll just be slapped to death by those experts. It's better if you go.”
”Go if you want to. Though you were in the navy in Jiang City and didn't enter the battlefield against the Northern Yuan, you took charge of escorting army provisions. That could be considered as a form of war contribution. Don't worry about failing because of your cultivation or feel shame if you don't win. There'll be tens of thousands of people who will be joining but there's only one victor. Besides, it's not in your character to stay here for a long time!”
”Thank you, Your Excellency!” Zhu Ba was elated.
”We've talked for half the day, but you still haven't told me what the Pure Yang Celestial Device is.”
”No one really knows what it is exactly, they just know it's a Pure Yang Celestial Device.” Wang Cheng smiled bitterly. ”But it's apparently something like a pagoda.”