Chapter 498: Heavenly Hub Armory (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The palm-sized old Daoist priest sat cross-legged on the Longevity Sword as if he was flying on the sword. He rolled his eyes at Zhou Shu.

“Back then, I could suppress her with one hand.” Shi Changsheng snorted coldly. “She’s just a Demon King who has only cultivated the embryonic form of a grotto-heaven. Back then, she wasn’t even qualified to be my opponent.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Shu said disdainfully. “Elder Shi, a hero is silent about his past glories. You were almost captured alive just now.”

“Aren’t you the one who got me into trouble, kid?” Shi Changsheng said angrily. “We agreed that I would help you deal with demonic beasts, and you would give me forging materials. Is this how you treat me?”

“I gave you forging materials,” Zhou Shu said. “Would you have been able to find Tushan’s secret base if I didn’t take you there?

“If I hadn’t left those things for you, I would have had the people ransack the place long ago. Were they not from me?”

Shi Changsheng: “…”

You have a damn good point. I don’t even know how to argue with that.

“Even so, can’t you take me with you when you escape?” Shi Changsheng said in a muffled voice.

“How would I know that you couldn’t escape, Elder Shi?” Zhou Shu shrugged innocently. “No matter what, you’re the master of the Zhuling Grotto-Heaven. Wouldn’t it be easy for you to escape from a Demon King?

“Who would have thought that you, Elder Shi…”

Zhou Shu shook his head and sighed, as if he was very disappointed in Immortal Shi.

Shi Changsheng was speechless. Why does it feel like I’m in the wrong?

I was almost trapped by the embryonic form of a grotto-heaven of a Demon King because I, Shi Changsheng, am not capable enough?

If it weren’t for you, would I need to face a Demon Ding?

“I saw that you couldn’t escape, so I immediately came back to save you,” Zhou Shu continued. “I’m generous, right? That’s a Demon King. If anything had gone wrong, I would have died!”

Zhou Shu said with a serious expression, “Elder Shi, I took a huge risk to save you. As the saying goes, a son of a wealthy family does not sit right under the eaves¹. No matter what, I’m a person of status. If I didn’t treat you as one of my own, why would I take such a risk?”

Shi Changsheng: “…”

You’ve said all the right things. What else can I say?

“Elder Shi, the territory Tushan mentioned is the embryonic form of a grotto-heaven?” Zhou Shu continued. “Does that mean that if her so-called territory continues to develop, it will become an existence like the Zhuling Grotto-Heaven?”

“Of course,” Shi Changsheng said. “But she’s still a long way from getting there.

“She has only just stepped into the Grotto-Heaven realm. Back then, I was at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven realm,” Shi Changsheng said proudly. “Even in our era, there were only thirty-six peak Grotto-Heaven realm cultivators.”

Zhou Shu was deep in thought. According to the information he had obtained when he entered the Great Demon Yao Lian’s dream, although Demon Queen Tushan was considered a relatively weaker Demon King in the Demon Realm, the difference between her and the top Demon Kings was not too great.

According to Shi Changsheng, there might not be a peak Grotto-Heaven realm in the entire Demon Realm.

Even now, Zhou Shu still didn’t know what the so-called Grotto-Heaven realm meant. Had she evolved a grotto-heaven like the Zhuling Grotto-Heaven?

Zhou Shu felt incredulous just thinking about it.

“Elder Shi, how long do you think it will take for Tushan to reach the Grotto-Heaven realm?” Zhou Shu pondered.

Fortunately, Demon Queen Tushan had yet to cultivate a grotto-heaven. Otherwise, she would have been able to store all the treasures she had collected in her grotto-heaven.

In that case, it would have been impossible for Zhou Shu to rob her.

“How long?” Shi Changsheng sneered. “She might not be able to cultivate it in her entire life!

“Didn’t I tell you? Even back then, there were only thirty-six true Grotto-Heaven masters. It’s not that easy to reach the Grotto-Heaven realm.

“I’ll bet that Tushan won’t be able to reach the Grotto-Heaven realm until her death!”

“Great. What do you want to wager?” Zhou Shu said casually.

Shi Changsheng: “…”

It’s just a casual remark. Are you really thinking of betting?

Zhou Shu only said it casually and didn’t take it seriously.

He continued, “Elder Shi, you said that there were only thirty-six experts at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven realm back then. Then, the thirty-six of you should be very familiar with each other, right?”

“Of course. I know the other thirty-five old things pretty well,” Shi Changsheng said. “I used to freeload from them from time to time.”

“Then, are you familiar with the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain?” Zhou Shu asked. “Do they have an armory?”

“The Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain?” Shi Changsheng was slightly taken aback. “Why are you asking about it? It was already in pieces before I fell into a deep sleep. You’re not thinking of finding the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain’s armory, are you?

“Let me tell you. Don’t even think about it.” Shi Changsheng pursed his lips. “That surnamed Diao is a ruthless character. He’s probably already destroyed the armory of the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain.”

“Elder Shi, you’re wrong about that.” Zhou Shu shook his head. “As far as I know, Tushan found the armory of the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain.”

“How is that possible?” Shi Changsheng frowned.

“Absolutely,” Zhou Shu said. “Although she isn’t as powerful as you, Elder Shi, I don’t think she would be mistaken. That’s why I think that the armory is probably real.”

Shi Changsheng frowned and thought for a moment. “Even if the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain’s armory still exists, it’s useless. It’s not that easy to open the armory of the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain. Unless you have a token, even an existence like a Grotto-Heaven master can only destroy the armory. It’s difficult to obtain the things in it.”

“A token?” Zhou Shu pondered. “Kun Wu Saber?”

“You even know about Kun Wu Saber?” Shi Changsheng glanced at Zhou Shu in surprise. “It seems that what you said is true.”

“Of course. Why would I lie to you about such a thing?”

“There’s more than one key to the Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain’s armory. The Kun Wu Saber is one of them,” Shi Changsheng said. “With the Kun Wu Saber in hand, you can indeed enter the armory, but it’s not certain which floors you can reach.”

“Which floors?” Zhou Shu was puzzled.

“You don’t know that,” Shi Changsheng said triumphantly. “The Red Water Heaven of Dan Mountain, also known as the Heavenly Hub Armory, is itself a peerless divine weapon.

“There are a total of nine floors in the Heavenly Hub Armory. There are countless weapons and heaven and earth treasures hidden on every floor. The treasures on each floor are more precious than the other.”

“Heavenly Hub Armory?” Zhou Shu pondered. “Elder Shi, if the Longevity Sword is placed in the Heavenly Hub Armory, what floor would it be placed on?”

“What do you think?” Shi Changsheng rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s the ninth floor! Do you think my Longevity Sword is an ordinary weapon?”

“I see.” Zhou Shu immediately lost much interest in the Heavenly Hub Armory.

The ninth floor only contained weapons at the Longevity Sword’s level. If he wanted such a weapon, he could forge one himself. There was no need to spend so much effort to obtain the Heavenly Hub Armory!

In this world, just because something was older didn’t mean it was better. Zhou Shu looked down on weapons forged by others.

“What’s with your expression?” Shi Changsheng looked at Zhou Shu unhappily. “Do you think the Longevity Sword isn’t qualified to be placed on the ninth floor of the Heavenly Hub Armory?”

“Of course not. I just think that the Heavenly Hub Armory is so-so.” Zhou Shu shook his head. “If it only has weapons inside, I won’t bother to fight with Tushan. If it’s just connate weapons, I can forge them myself.”

Shi Changsheng was silent for a moment before saying, “Kid, do you know you’re crazy? Do you know that it is impossible to find another weapon on par with the Longevity Sword in this world…”

Before he could say more than two sentences, Shi Changsheng heard a clang, and he couldn’t say the words on the tip of his tongue.