Chapter 311 - 309: 30 Years Later

Chapter 311: Chapter 309: 30 Years Later

"Excellent! The Six Patterns Golden Core is truly extraordinary!"

Zhang Chi was overjoyed.

At this rate of Cultivation, even in this less-than-perfect cavern estate, it would take him a century at most to reach the Golden Core Limit.

If he had a Tier Three Peak Spiritual Vein all to himself, the time required would surely shorten from the original eighty years to about sixty.

While that might only seem like twenty fewer years, it was actually a significant reduction.

Besides, his Golden Core was of such high quality that advancing his Cultivation now required a greater amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi than before. Otherwise, his progress would have been even faster.

After finishing his Cultivation, Zhang Chi left the cavern estate. He stealthily approached the one he had previously rented and began to probe it from a distance with his powerful Divine Thought.

As a result, his brow furrowed when he discovered a number of Cultivators lurking around the cavern estate.

’The Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators probably haven’t returned yet, or there would have been some movement from the City Lord’s Mansion. But even though they haven’t come back themselves, they must have already sent a message to the City Lord’s Mansion!’ Zhang Chi thought.

The Hundred Flowers Palace had sent few people, so these Cultivators were undoubtedly spies dispatched by the City Lord’s Mansion on the orders of the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators.

Unfortunately for them, Zhang Chi had not returned to that cavern estate at all. Even now, his "approach" was only relative; he was still at least a hundred li away.

Next, Zhang Chi checked the cavern estates of Lang Shiyuan and Shen Jianping and found the situation to be the same.

Clearly, things were just as he had expected. The other party already suspected them.

As for why the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators had not yet returned, they were most likely still in the desert, investigating the truth.

After that, Zhang Chi went to check the Marketplace and other similar areas, only to find that even these places had spies from the City Lord’s Mansion.

So, he immediately returned to his cavern estate and resumed his Cultivation in Seclusion.

Two months passed quickly. The Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators finally returned, with the purple-robed Female Cultivator still following them in secret.

Afterward, the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace went to the City Lord’s Mansion at the first opportunity.

Although there was some distance between the cavern estate Zhang Chi was renting and the City Lord’s Mansion, it was still within the range of his powerful Divine Thought, so he quickly learned of their return.

Furthermore, the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace were important figures from a Super Large Oasis, and they also seemed to possess Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects. Their return immediately caused a great stir.

Moreover, shortly after their return, they made an announcement: since the mission was complete, they would be giving Zhang Chi and the other two each a Nascent Soul Spiritual Object, along with other rewards.

Even the City Lord’s Mansion posted a public notice stating that they would give Zhang Chi’s group an additional reward and urged the three of them to come and collect it quickly.

This immediately drew the envy of countless Golden Core Cultivators, making it difficult for even Zhang Chi to remain unaware of the news.

"Are they trying to bait a fish?"

But when Zhang Chi heard the news, he just gave a cold smile, with no intention of revealing himself.

After all, although the mission was completed, the other party had not obtained the corpse of the Black Sand Profound Snake.

Normally, they would at most give them a small fee for their trouble. They would never be this generous.

Zhang Chi even discovered that the three Foundation Establishment Female Cultivators, including Yang Zhi, had been taken away by the people from the Hundred Flowers Palace immediately.

They only reappeared three days later. On the surface, nothing had changed, but their faces were pale and their auras were weak. They were clearly injured.

When Zhang Chi swept his powerful Divine Thought over them, he discovered that they had each been marked with a special mark.

Another two months passed, and Shen Jianping and Lang Shiyuan also returned.

Although they were travel-worn, they were full of anticipation, clearly unaware of what had happened.

Their slow return was entirely because their Cultivation was relatively average. Their flight speed wasn’t fast enough, and they had to carefully avoid powerful Demon Beasts along the way.

Zhang Chi, however, knew the moment they returned.

He had placed a Spiritual Mark on both of them long ago, so he always knew their general location.

After returning, the two of them consulted privately for a moment and then excitedly hurried to the City Lord’s Mansion.

But when they left the City Lord’s Mansion, they too were pale, their auras weak.

Evidently, they had been interrogated by the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators and even the City Lord, and the process must not have been pleasant.

After that, news spread from the City Lord’s Mansion that the Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects and other rewards had been collected by these two men, including Zhang Chi’s share.

But Zhang Chi discovered that Cultivators were secretly monitoring the two of them. Among the observers was even that purple-robed Female Cultivator from the Hundred Flowers Palace, who was at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

Sweeping his powerful Divine Thought over them, Zhang Chi immediately discovered that they also bore special marks.

These marks were shaped like flower petals. An ordinary Cultivator’s Divine Thought would not be strong enough to notice them, even with the aid of the Celestial Eye Technique.

The marks on Yang Zhi and the others were the same.

Clearly, these had been left by the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators.

In the following days, Lang and Shen did not leave. They remained in Huixing City, searching for opportunities and waiting for the auction.

’I really overestimated these Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators. They weren’t even willing to use real bait.’

Zhang Chi did not try to contact the two of them. Instead, he directly used the Turtle Shell Divination Skill to perform a divination.

Looking at the cracks on the turtle shell, Zhang Chi couldn’t help but feel disappointed and contemptuous.

The results of the divination showed that Lang and Shen had not received the so-called Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects from the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators at all.

In other words, the news they had released was completely false, intended only to lure him, the last person, into their trap.

’Fine. Since there are no Spiritual Objects, I’ll just leave. If I never show up, they’ll eventually assume I perished in the desert. After all, it’s common for Cultivators to die in the desert.’