Chapter 367 - 216: Entry Threshold: Peak of Ten Thousand Nations

Chapter 367: Chapter 216: Entry Threshold: Peak of Ten Thousand Nations

This battle made Zhong Yi realize that even if his strength was nearly unrivaled among his peers in the Guardian Beast World, in a vast world like the Virtual Source Network, there were many young prodigies whose power was likely no weaker than his—and some might even be stronger.

However, Zhong Yi didn’t sell himself short. After all, it had only been a little over three months since he awakened his Soul Base and became a Guardian Beast Master.

To advance to the Extraordinary Tier, the most important thing for Zhong Yi was to raise the Tier and Quality of his Resurrection Celestial Lord.

And to raise the Resurrection Celestial Lord’s Tier and Quality, besides needing Flowing Soul Soil, Zhong Yi also required several special Life Attribute materials.

Zhong Yi planned to find these materials with the help of Star Night—or rather, the power of Starlight City.

One of the Spiritual Materials Zhong Yi needed was even more precious than the Oasis Mandala and Vitality Spring he had previously used to improve the Resurrection Celestial Lord’s Quality.

Raising the Resurrection Celestial Lord to the Extraordinary Tier before heading to Fengjiang City would also allow it to heal more of the wounded.

Zhong Yi sent a message to Star Night, knowing that Star Night was currently in the Star Frost Tower.

Before Zhong Yi could leave his mansion to find Star Night at the Star Frost Tower, he ran into Ren Suxin at the entrance of the main house.

Ren Suxin, along with her Nirvana Phoenix Peony, had now begun her Sixth Nirvana.

During her Fifth Nirvana, Ren Suxin’s Heart Vein had been continuously damaged.

During the Sixth Nirvana, fine cracks would appear all over her bones almost every half-day.

Every two days, her fingers would crack, joint by joint. If she didn’t receive treatment, the bones in her fingers would crumble to dust within five days.

It was safe to say Ren Suxin was enduring immense pain at every moment.

The cracking of her bones felt like having her flesh carved away, leaving them exposed to be swarmed and gnawed on by an Ant Swarm.

This itchy, numbing agony would have driven anyone else mad within three days.

But because Ren Suxin had previously endured five consecutive Nirvanas, her pain tolerance was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

This allowed her to barely persevere.

Thankfully, Zhong Yi treated her twice a day, which was the only reason Ren Suxin could still move about freely like a normal person.

Ever since awakening her Soul Base at the age of thirteen, Ren Suxin had constantly endured all sorts of physical torment caused by the Nirvana of her Lifebound Guardian Beast, the Nirvana Phoenix Peony.

A person who must constantly endure pain has no opportunity to make friends.

Previously, all of Ren Suxin’s free time and energy were spent helping Flower Venerable run and manage the Hua Kuo Trading Company.

Her few close friends, like Zhong Ling, He Guoguo, and Sun Ya, were all people she met after arriving in Starlight City.

As they spent more time together, Ren Suxin grew increasingly dependent on Zhong Yi, who was much younger than her.

In Ren Suxin’s heart, Zhong Yi, the one who constantly relieved her suffering, had become second in importance only to her sister, Flower Venerable.

This was especially true after she recently received news from Flower Venerable: her sister’s injuries, which had plagued her for over a decade, had been healed by Zhong Yi.

Furthermore, her sister was now striving to reach the level of the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations!

Zhong Yi had not only saved her life but had also enabled her sister to fulfill a long-cherished wish.

This filled Ren Suxin with not only gratitude toward Zhong Yi but also something else... something indefinable.

Upon seeing Ren Suxin, Zhong Yi subconsciously summoned the Resurrection Celestial Lord and had it cast Recovery Enlightenment on her.

As the Healer who had been treating Ren Suxin, Zhong Yi knew all too well the damage and torment the Sixth Nirvana was inflicting on her body.

So, in addition to the two scheduled daily treatments, Zhong Yi would give Ren Suxin extra healing whenever he saw her.

Ren Suxin said with a smile, "They say the Nirvana Phoenix Peony’s Nirvana gets more painful each time, but with you here, the pain from this Sixth Nirvana doesn’t even feel as bad as the third."

"With you helping me heal every day, I can get through this Sixth Nirvana in two months at most."

At this point, Ren Suxin changed the subject.

"I just saw Zhou Yang. I’ve looked into him before; he’s a young man with a real knack for business."

"Did you bring Zhou Yang here because you have something you need him to do?"

Ren Suxin was not one to beat around the bush and always spoke plainly with Zhong Yi.

Zhong Yi had always preferred dealing with straightforward people, so he told Ren Suxin directly about his intention to form a trading company.

Ren Suxin discussed it with Zhong Yi a while longer until she fully understood his plans, then said,

"I’m not like you all, who are already Guardian Beast Masters and can increase your strength."

"Right now, besides waiting for my Nirvana to end, I have nothing to do."

"Why don’t you let me and Zhou Yang help you run the trading company?"

"You’ve taken such good care of me, this is a perfect way for me to do something for you in return."

Hearing this, Zhong Yi looked at Ren Suxin in surprise. He truly hadn’t known she had a talent for business.

If he had known, Zhong Yi wouldn’t have asked Ren Suxin to get involved with the internal management of the Soul Soil, but he definitely would have asked for her help with the business side of things.

Ren Suxin had never told anyone about her background before, yet she now spoke of her past to Zhong Yi with surprising ease.

"You might not know this, but I’m the one who helps run my sister’s businesses, including the Hua Kuo Trading Company."

"My sister has an excellent talent for combat, but when it comes to business, she probably couldn’t even manage a small trading company."

"If you want to establish channels for trading high-end resources, you can’t limit your focus to just the Xin Xia Federation."

"The Xin Xia Alliance is rich in resources, but it ultimately has its limitations."

"There are many trans-federation factions in this world, and you need to meet a certain threshold to be eligible to join."

"These factions are usually very free, and their members are treated as relative equals."

"Reaching the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations or becoming a Six-finger Creator are often the entry requirements for such factions."

"If you can join a faction like that, obtaining certain high-end resources becomes much easier."

"I heard from my sister that you healed her injuries. Once she reaches the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations, these factions will certainly approach her with an invitation."

"When that time comes, if there are any resources you want, you can ask her to help you get them."

Zhong Yi’s interest was piqued. He hadn’t known about any of this before.

’If reaching the level of a Six-finger Creator or the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations means getting actively recruited by these factions...’

’...then Tao En should have been contacted by them after he announced he was a Six-finger Creator.’

’When that happens, if I want to obtain high-end resources, I can just go through Tao En.’

Over the past few days, Zhong Yi had been communicating frequently with Flower Venerable via a Signal Cicada.

Because Zhong Yi had saved Flower Venerable, and on top of that, Flower Venerable had made him such a promise.

This meant their relationship was even closer than the one between Zhong Yi and Star Night.

Star Night was like a great elder, accompanying Zhong Yi as he grew and helping him along the way.

Despite knowing full well how precious Divine Origin Value was, they still chose to give Zhong Yi a Source Material Celestial Shuttle.

Star Night’s relationship with Zhong Yi was less like that of a Guardian and more like that of a master passing on their knowledge to a disciple.

It was just that Star Night had never offered to take Zhong Yi as a disciple, and Zhong Yi had never formally asked to become their apprentice.

Flower Venerable, on the other hand, was more like one of his own—someone who could help develop his personal faction.

Even if one day Zhong Yi were to ask Flower Venerable to do something against the interests of the Xin Xia Federation, she would willingly do it for him.

Now that her injuries were fully healed, Flower Venerable was preparing to enter seclusion to make a push toward the level of the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations.

With the help of a Six-finger Creator, an Eternal Peak expert’s journey toward the Peak of Ten Thousand Nations would be much smoother.

Zhong Yi planned to inform Flower Venerable of Tao En’s advancement to Six-finger Creator via the Signal Cicada after he returned from seeing Star Night.

Inviting Flower Venerable to his mansion for her seclusion would undoubtedly strengthen the bond between them.