Archfiend

Chapter 149: Core Formation Sets to Task (3)

Translator: XTB

Xu Yangyi didn’t know how to answer. He did fancy the fingernail-sized green leaf, but that was bound to displease Daomaster Titanspirit. Daomaster Yue... appeared kindhearted and open but was also sinister and nefarious. Yet wasn’t making an agreement with Daomaster Titanspirit squeezing in a person at his own side? This was an absolute impossibility.

“Hehehe...” As he pondered how to respond, hollow laughter suddenly echoed. “You two really are practiced hands at playing a good show, but have you asked us?”

The wizened voice rang out again, “Fellow Daoist Titanspirit, what are your intentions by bringing a person to the pill master’s side? Before so many Seniors, are you still wanting for honor and respect?”

Daomaster Titanspirit was without the slightest concern. He laughed heartily, the skin of his face comparable to a city wall.

“However... I was planning on comprehending this pill by myself.” The wizened voice curbed its dry laughter and said prudently, “It just so happens that I also have a magik treasure in my hand. I also intend to estimate its valuation.”

Swoosh... Following a flash of golden brilliance, the golden light swiftly transformed into a great domain shortly afterwards! In less than three seconds, it immediately transformed the whole room with golden light! Even Daomaster Yue’s tremendous golden hand was pressured!

Subsequently, a mighty pressure, boundless like seas, forced all the Foundation Establishment cultivators below to sit down with a thud. In uncertain alarm, they looked towards the golden heavenly kingdom in the sky.

“This is...” These cultivators didn’t speak, but suddenly, several startled voices were heard from the pavilions overhead.

At this moment, Xu Yangyi’s heart suddenly throbbed because this sensation... was too familiar!

Emperor Armament! This was an Emperor Armament! Nonetheless, compared to his, it lacked a kind of vitality and instead was dead in spirit.

Swoosh... The whole sky flashed with golden light. Several great characters forged from qi were faintly discernible in the light. After an unknown passage of time, the expanse of golden light finally revealed its true form, that of three incredibly simple tomes which carried a heavy grandeur!

“Buddha’s...” Ancestor Hiddenscent’s voice echoed. At this instant, even her voice carried a hint of astonishment. “Forty-Two-Chapter Sutra?”

“Authenticity guaranteed.” The wizened voice burst into laughter, “Emperor for all eternity, Qing Shengzu, Kangxi the Great’s manuscript, Buddha’s Forty-Two-Chapter Sutra. Everyone, how about this item?”

No one answered.

For the Foundation Establishment cultivators below, it was simply impossible for them not to know what an Emperor Armament was. However, by merely looking at this terrible mighty pressure that was comparable to Core Formation, they could sense that this item... was perhaps not a magik treasure!

“Fellow Daoist,” Daomaster Skybearer’s voice echoed for the third time, still as grave as the first time. “Do you know... how sinful it is to privately conceal this object?”

“Hehehe... Fellow Daoist Skybearer, your fame and prowess can be said to be thunder piercing the ears... but even though Fellow Daoist is half-step Nascent Soul, perhaps all of you combined wouldn’t be able to obstruct me if I wanted to leave.” The wizened voice laughed eerily, “Maybe you even somewhat recognize my arcane effort from a while ago. Do not use the Cultivation Court to pressure me.”

Unexpectedly, Skybearer didn’t say anything.

“W-Who is this person?” Below, an unknown number of people were in a state of boundless shock. “He actually even dares to talk this way to humanity’s greatest battle power?”

“As for this item,” the wizened voice laughed grimly. “Lord Shengzu personally granted it to me, yet I hadn’t once foresaw that under the coincidence of destiny that it would surprisingly transform into its current form.”

“Besides, it’s of no great use to me, but for a Qi Condensation cultivator... Hehehe, at the very least, it can keep one alive from the hand of a Core Formation master for an hour!”

Each and every seat erupted in a storm!

Every great realm was a qualitative leap! Foundation Establishment to Qi Condensation was a steam roll. Below Core Formation, all were moreover insects without exception! On that day, the half-step Core Formation Vermilion Snow’s massacre of several thousand cultivators was the best proof of that! Nonetheless... there was actually an object able to protect a Qi Condensation from the hand of a Core Formation ancestor for an hour? And even “at least”?

“Not just this...” the wizened voice continued to speak, “This item can slay Foundation Establishment like slaughtering chickens and killing dogs. Altogether, it possesses ten opportunities. Every time, it will cover a perimeter of fifty kilometers! It will only kill spiritual sense!”

The floor was morbidly still. A silence like death. No one whatsoever had foreseen the third Core Formation would unexpectedly dispense such a magik treasure! Was there a better item... that could compare to one’s own life?

“W-What the heck is this item?” A Foundation Establishment cultivator looked on in shock at the three tomes radiating golden light in the sky. “In this world... how could such a heaven-defying object exist?”

Silent for an unknown period of time, Daomaster Skybearer’s voice finally sighed faintly, “I have an approximate understanding of who you are...”

“Oh? Hehe?” the wizened voice laughed even more cheerfully. “In this world, I’m afraid that besides from myself, no one knows...”

“Liang Jiugong.”

The wizened voice’s laughter came to an abrupt grunt. As it spoke again, it carried a trace of shock for the first time. “You...”

“How do I know?” Daomaster Skybearer smiled faintly. “Qing Shengzu’s Grand Supervisor, High Eunuch Liang Jiugong... In the Yongxian Records, it is recorded ‘Grand Supervisor High Eunuch Liang Jiugong of the prior reign hung himself at Jingshan Garden’. I didn’t expect... you actually faked your death and escaped... To have stayed alive up to now... and to be capable of leaving your name in history books, should I call you Liang Jiugong... or the frequently heard ‘Li Dequan’ from mortal television dramas?”

At long last, the wizened voice didn’t speak. After an unknown passage of time, he gritted his teeth and said, “Fellow Daoist, WHO are you?!”

“Hehe...” Skybearer’s voice floated pass like clouds and winds. “Nothing more than an acquaintance...”

An acquaintance? In their hearts, all the cultivators on the floor were endlessly shocked. A Core Formation cultivator’s identity was their greatest secret. This unrecorded Core Formation ancestor was surprisingly an old monster who had lived through the past several eras! And yet Daomaster Skybearer... actually called the other an acquaintance?

“This object was indeed bestowed to you. I will bother about it no further.” Skybearer’s voice faded away, but Daomaster Liang’s voice didn’t emerge again.

These three treasures emitted a thousand rays of prismatic light, cutting across the sky. They caused the audience’s eyes to dazzle with blossoming flowers, dizzy in a state of awe. However, the fanfare wasn’t finished at all.

Immediately following, from Ancestor Hiddenscent’s pavilion, a five-colored, roughly fist-sized stone, similar to jade yet not jade, was quietly flown out on a tray by a maid. Her gait lithe and graceful, she governed the wind to soar into the skies unaided. The maids of a Core Formation ancestor were all Foundation Establishment seniors!

The stone merely seemed nice-looking, but as the female cultivator’s voice echoed, countless Foundation Establishment cultivators exhaled sharply.

“Heavenmend Stone.”

“Fifty years ago, Ancestor Hiddenscent explored one of the eight deadlands, the Kunlun Mountains’ Death Valley. A kilometer away from the valley’s heart, she obtained it.”

“In this campaign, all 742 female cultivators of Ancestor Hiddenscent’s Towering Flowersnow Sect perished in battle. Master High Priestess Fluttersnow and High Priestess Primeyin met their demise 1.1 kilometers away from the heart of Death Valley. 717 Qi Condensation disciples returned to silence 300 meters from the mouth of the valley. 28 Foundation Establishment cultivators fell in a zone near Death Valley’s heart. Ancestor Hiddenscent escaped unscathed. This item is one of the few she gained from the trip to this secret realm.”

“However, in these several decades, Ancestor Hiddenscent hasn’t unraveled the mystery of this stone. Still, she ensures it is a S-rank magik treasure prototype.”

The female cultivator slightly bowed and floated back inside Ancestor Hiddenscent’s pavilion. All that remained behind her was a wide breadth of gasps. The Eight Great Deadlands were China’s eight unsolved cultivation mysteries! Endless destinies were concealed there!

There was once a man that came back alive from the Dragon Hole. After thirty years of seclusion, heavenly tribulation descended above the skies of Shanghai! This man was named Zhang Guangyao, but in the modern era, no one mentioned this name. Didn’t even remember it. This was because his name was now known as Daomaster Floatingcloud.

Someone had once found a heart art that would lead straight to Nascent Soul in the abyss of the Shennong Forestry. After a month this person’s entire family had been exterminated. Subsequently, the organization affiliated with this event flowed with rivers of blood, their branch hall strewn with corpses all over the ground. To this day, it was still an unsolved case.

Before today, no one was aware that Ancestor Hiddenscent had actually entered the Death Valley deadland and moreover returned completely unharmed! However, several decades ago, the famous female cultivator sect, the Towering Flowersnow Sect, had completely collapsed within the span of a week. Everyone understood this.

However, their gasps of surprise weren’t over.

“An arcane effort leading directly to Core Formation. A section of the Imperial Heavens Tusita Decree. It is This Dao Master’s prime arcane effort.”

“An imperial palace that I refined in my idle time... equipped with four basic Core Formation functions: phaseshift, long-range raid, defense, and attack. Although it’s certainly inferior to the might of a Core Formation palace, it can triumph over any cultivator as long as there are enough spirit stones to operate it. It can defend its user from the Great Circle of Foundation Establishment, worry towards one’s life unneeded.”

“Fellow Daoists, might you know of an ingredient among medicinal pills called the Infinite Panacea? Its meaning is precisely stated. Any ingredient can be used with this ingredient as a replacement and be refined.” A palm-sized jade bottle floated in the sky. The lid was pried off, and an enchanting medicinal aroma pervaded the entire stage. “The Infinite Panacea is congealed from four different bloods. Beholden is China’s largeness, but there is still nothing more than the one in my hand. For two or three of the bloods, have the pill master meet with me.”

“Seven pearls of Jadedawn Grass. It can lead directly to a breakthrough of Foundation Establishment cultivation and establish the foundation. If there is a corresponding pill formula, the medicinal efficacy is even greater.”

In an instant, treasure light twinkled in the sky! A thousand streaks of scintillating qi!

Everyone was thunderstruck and stared blankly at the things in the sky, things which they’d never witnessed. Treasures that they’d never even heard of. The burning fervor in their hearts was incapable of further increase!

If any one of these items were placed outside, it was enough to lead to a scramble between the top clans! But now, they were being used by the Core Formation ancestors in an auction! It was then that they discovered how much the prices of their own high bids just now was child’s play.

“Spud, Spud!” Mao Ba’er had at some point ran over to Xu Yangyi and used his paw to gently swat Xu Yangyi’s leg. “Hurry, hurry up and choose... I can’t take it anymore!”

Ten treasures were exhibited across the sky, bewitching the hearts and souls of the people!

Xu Yangyi’s gaze was likewise enchanted for a brief moment, but he ruthlessly squeezed his fist and forced himself to calm down. Upon seeing Xu Yangyi shake his head, Mao Ba’er instantly became worried. “What’re you still waiting for?! Just randomly pick one! Our Xingtian Legion will grow! I recommend that imperial palace! It’s practically custom-made for a legion!”

“No...” Xu Yangyi resisted the temptation in his heart and said lowly, “Haven’t you thought the more precious the treasure, the heavier the condition behind it?”

Mao Ba’er was stunned. Before he spoke, Xu Yangyi followed up, “The Core Formation ancestors cannot be satisfied with a single medicinal pill. They want the entire Dao of Pills! What they want is the resurrected industry.”

His gaze deeply studied a pavilion. “Daomaster Titanspirit can only be considered having thrown a brick to attract jade... I still have to protect myself...”

Mao Ba’er followed Xu Yangyi’s gaze, and the fur all over his body nearly stood up!

“A-A-Ancestor F-Floatingcloud?! I-I-It’s him that wants to kill you?!”

Xu Yangyi stowed his gaze, looking at Mao Ba’er and laughing coldly, “If it weren’t for my two years in death seclusion, do you think I would even be here right now?”

As if responding to his gaze, extremely soft laughter faintly echoed at Xu Yangyi’s ear side. Afterwards, a gentle voice emerged in the auction house. “Since everyone is being so lively, wouldn’t it be better for This Dao Master to also add a bit of luck?”

1. In Buddhism, the Forty-Two-Sutra-Chapter is considered the translated text that introduced Buddhism to China. Translated by the Indian monks Ksayapa Matanga and Dharmaratna. Qing Shengzu lived from 1654-1722 CE.

2. Liang Jiugong - Based on a real person. Most of his history is described in his little intro. For a little more proof of his identity as “Li Dequan”, please see the wikipedia entry Kangxi Dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, he was regarded as an extremely powerful eunuch in a period where most believed the power of the eunuchs were no more. Believed to have been involved in succession disputes during the Qing dynasty.

3. Heavenmend Stone is said to be a stone Nuwa used to repair the heavens. It is composed of five colors: Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White.

4. “Imperial Heavens Tusita Decree” Another extremely difficult name to translate. Doing the research for this was murder and then so was coming up with a good name that wasn’t clunky. The literal name is “Emperor Palace Heaven Prophecy Tusita True Imperial Decree”. This technique originates from an actual novel from what I believe is called “The Sword of Sushan” by Li Shoumin. “Tusita” is the name of one of six deva realms in Buddhism, its meaning is “Contentment/realm”.

5. Infinite Panacea. In modern Chinese, it’s a term for aspirin apparently, LOL.

6. Jadedawn is a reference to a goddess of Mount Tai, “The Goddess of the Blue Dawn” or “Heavenly Immortal Lady of Jade”.

7. This is a phrase that originates from something called The Thirty-Six Stratagems. This is a famous Chinese text on tactics. The meaning of this is “to use small bait to get a big catch”.