Chapter 373 Chaos – The Prelude
= Siren City, Yin Slave Mansion's Training Ground =
RUMBLE
16 gorgeous wives of Miaomiao occupied the training ground as usual, practicing their arts, meditating, exercising, and sparring with the others.
Mao Dandan
Ju Chen
Ju Shoufen
Jiang Lan
Kang Yan
Ma Xingjuan
Pan Xiaofan
Fang Meirong
Lai Wen
Kong Xifeng
Fan Xiu
He Mingzhu
Shen Niu
Liu Guang
Tang Ting
Sun Yun
Everyone focused on their training, hoping to contribute something in the upcoming war when Yuan Shaoqing's armies arrived.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuan never mingled with her sisters. She meditated at the bottom of the pylon tower, absorbing Life Essence into her dantian while waiting for Miaomiao's system message.
Different from Miaomiao, Lu Fengxian had been teaching several promising cultivators, such as Ma Moxi, Ma Xingjuan, Kang Yan, Zhao Yun, Wei Yuan, and many others. Currently, Wei Yuan had been using one of Lu Fengxian's cultivation techniques.
Currently, Wei Yuan had been using the element conversion technique of Lu Fengxian to increase her element Qi in her dantian. She continued to form elemental continents in her dantian world, creating a firm foundation before upgrading one or two of them into advanced elements.
It was also easy for her to open all 108 nerve meridians with the abundant Life Essence supply. Now, she caught up with Ma Xingjuan and Kang Yan's progress.
However, she had reached the bottleneck.
"Haiz."
Wei Yuan sighed. Like what Miaomiao had experienced at the moment – Her dantian had reached the maximum capacity, and she couldn't absorb a single strand of Qi.
"I guess I have to wait for Miaomiao again. When is he going to summon me to the dream world?"
The only way to increase her dantian capacity was to dual-cultivate with Miaomiao. Even Lu Fengxian couldn't help her at the moment as he had just gone through a heavenly tribulation.
While Wei Yuan had been resting, Miaomiao deposited several broken pieces of glittering rocks that she had never seen before into her inventory slots.
She checked the item detail. Dion listed them as "First-Grade Soul Stones."
"???"
Ding
[You husband has sent you a message.]
"Oh? Miaomiao? About time he finally contacts me. What does he say?"
[He said, "Use these soul stones to expand your dantian capacity if you need to. No need to reserve them for the future since I will get a lot more in about 2-3 weeks."]
"Can you show me the item description in detail, Dion? As usual, use my luck points to unlock all hidden information."
[Affirmative. Consuming ten Luck Points to unlock the information.]
…
First-Grade Soul Stone
General Description
Soul Stones are commonly used in the immortal realms as currency. One 1st-grade soul stone has the same value as a million essence cores, but you need a thousand 1st-grade soul stones to exchange for one 2nd-grade soul stone.
Immortal Warriors always use these stones to enhance their souls and strengthen their soul dantians to compensate for their weak foundation when they were mortals. The soul energy within a soul stone is enough to expand the physical dantian capacity by five hundred thousand to one million cubic liters. However, it has little effect on soul dantian or soul physique.
This broken soul stone was extracted from the A-7305 Planet, one of the immortal realms. This type of stone is listed as a restricted item on many mortal planets. However, Mao Miaomiao has obtained a Multi-Realm DaoTube License, and he can import first-grade and second-grade soul stones to his home planet without going through the planet custom.
Usage
This piece of stone doesn't contain a soul Qi. You can only use it to expand your physical dantian size.
Evaluation
Worthless for immortals, priceless for anyone under Immortal Warrior Realm - Aside from being used as a currency, no one bothers collecting them since it can easily be found anywhere on an immortal planet with a soul stone mine. However, you should use them to upgrade your dantian size.
…
Wei Yuan burst into laughter as she found the description funny. It seemed that her husband had a connection with weird people from the higher realms and got his hands on this odd DaoTube License.
"Miaomiao, you're such a shrew bastard. How did you make friends with immortals and gods? What the hell have you been doing?"
As she laughed, she took out a piece of broken soul stone and examined it up close.
RUMBLE
As soon as she took it out from her inventory, a dark cloud manifested over Siren City, and several tribulation eyes stared at her.
Wei Yuan immediately returned it into her inventory slot, fearing that these greedy world guardians might kill her for having a restricted item.
Fortunately, the eyes faded to nothingness and left after it lingered in the sky for a minute.
Still, Wei Yuan heard their warning. Their voice rang in her head.
[Remember my words, wife of Mao Miaomiao. Your husband might have the right to possess such an item, but that doesn't mean you can give it away to someone else. Only you and Mao Miaomiao have the right to use them! Should you hand it over to someone, we shall punish you!]
"…"
Again, Wei Yuan was amazed by Miaomiao's connection. The world's guardians even knew his name!
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow."
Wei Yuan turned around as she heard the voice of her mentor.
Lu Fengxian had been standing behind her. He rushed to her side as soon as he sensed the faint energy from the piece of broken soul stone.
"How did you get them, Wei Yuan? I thought no mortal could import soul stones to their world? Did you find a soul stone mine nearby?"
Wei Yuan shook her head and wore a fake smile, "No, senior. My husband has a connection with immortals and dao gods from the higher realms. He's in the DaoTube business or something. He said that he had a license to import soul stones."
"Oh? Really…"
Lu Fengxian widened his eyes and revealed a rare faint smile. He rubbed his chin as if he was in deep thought. Then, he turned around and flew back to the top of the pylon tower, ignoring Wei Yuan and the soul stone.
Several minutes later, five books and a glowing green orb with green fluid inside fell from the top of the tower.
Wei Yuan spread her Qi and caught them before they fell to the ground. Then, Lu Fengxian's voice echoed in her mind.
[Tell your husband to sell me a hundred of them if he can. Those technique books and that sealed Hundun's blood essence are my advanced payment.]
"H-Hundun's blood!?"
Wei Yuan was not illiterate like Miaomiao as she had studied about the four fiend and four divine beasts when she was young.
Hundun was one of the four evil fiends along with Taotie, Taowu, and Qiangqi. It was the counterpart of vermillion bird, but Hundun was known to be the Hell Fiend of Chaos.
As this beast's bloodline had an equal value to the divine beast's bloodline, Wei Yuan was shocked and confused about how Lu Fengxian had gotten his hand on it.
As if Lu Fengxian was aware of her thought, he ensured her, [One of the idiot tribulation eyes bribed me to let him live a few days ago. Remember the heaven tribulation I had? I got those books and that blood as a reward. Don't dwell into it and digest the blood essence. Your Oni Bloodline should be compatible with the Hell Fiend's bloodline since they were from the same origin.]
"Won't I turn into a fiend like the legends?" Wei Yuan's expression distorted as she didn't want to consume or inherit the fiend's bloodline.
[Your Oni Ancestor, Kishin Douji, has mastered Void Element and Chaos Element for millennia. From my speculation, you should also have the aptitude to master those two supreme elements since every oni is his descendant one way or another. If you consume that fiend's blood, you should be able to awaken the hidden potential within you.]
"Can I refuse?" Wei Yuan didn't trust the field's blood since she didn't want to risk losing her sanity by acquiring an odd element Qi, which nobody in this world had used it.
[I guess I should show you how Chaos Element users fight… I'm gonna broaden your horizon a little.]
Suddenly, Wei Yuan felt that a strand of Qi had entered her brain. Then, she began hallucinating.
She started seeing a fight scene in front of her. The fighters were a giant red oni and a human cultivator.
They were Kishin Douji and Lu Fengxian. However, she didn't know that the human cultivator was her current mentor.
…
= Tiger Cage Pass Mountain Range, East of Red Sun City =
A middle-aged man in golden robes stood next to the long earlobe man with green robes, watching the entrance to the underground tunnel. The former had a deep frown on their faces while the latter smirked.
"How many men have you lost in this expedition?" Liu Xuande mocked his employer.
Yuan Shaoqing gritted his teeth, "You don't wanna know."
"What did your men run into? I thought you already found a treasure or some sort?"
"How about you go down there and fight those stone monsters yourself? You have two super-strong brothers while I only have 6th-stage weaklings with me."
"Not interested. Not worth it."
Yuan Shaoqing scoffed and walked away. He also called his men to abort the underground tunnel expedition mission as the treasure guardians were too strong.
Still, Yuan Shaoqing had a high hope that he might be able to make up for the losses once he got his hands on the miracle water and the mysterious tower of Siren City.
The pictures, which had been taken by rogue cultivators and merchants a couple of weeks ago, had been sold to him. Yuan Shaoqing also got his intel from the runaway cultivators, who used to enter the city during the chaos.
He got every intel he needed. The rest would be up to the soldiers and his cannon fodders.
He didn't care how many subordinates of his would die! He only cared about results!
While Yuan Shaoqing was walking back to his battleship, a group of elders and two youths had been standing next to the ship, waiting for his return.
Ling Cao and several early 7th-stage cultivators from the Mount Hua Sect had come to inform Yuan Shaoqing about Siren City's combat forces. Among them, Ling Tianlong was also there with his junior sister.
These men had broken through to the 7th-stage under Ling Tianlong's guidance. Now, they became his underlings.
Yuan Shaoqing didn't know about the changes. He still thought that Ling Cao was their leader, "I heard you attacked Siren City without my permission. What are you doing here?"
Ling Cao swallowed his pride and cupped his fist, "We're here to help you fight against the evildoers. However, we wish to know what plan you've prepared for Wei Huang's army?"
"Isn't that none of your business?"
"We are humans. We're not supposed to join forces with the evil demons. That's why we need the answer. Why are you colluding with the demons, sir?"
"You want an answer? Ha! I doubt it!"
Yuan Shaoqing smirked and chuckled, thinking of these cultivators as one of the fortune seekers, who came here to ride his army's coattail.
Several minor clans and small sects had tagged along with his forces, hoping to get their hands on Siren City's rumor treasures and beautiful women. They planned to stay behind the stronger forces, waiting to reap the profit without risking their lives.
Yuan Shaoqing hated this kind of people, but they were necessary cannon fodders. Since Ling Cao had brought so many weak 7th-stage cultivators with him, at least, they were useful than the others. Thus, Yuan Shaoqing let them have what they were looking for.
"Since you want an answer that badly, I'll tell you," Yuan Shaoqing grinned as he glanced at Ling Tianlong, who seemed out of place. Then, he checked the pretty maiden behind him. "I'm using them as vanguards. Since they are demons, isn't it better to let them fight each other?"
Ling Cao laughed and saluted, "Hahaha! I knew it! You're a genius strategist! I'm so sorry that I've wronged you."
"No offense taken! By the way, who is this little girl?"
Yuan Shaoqing approached the pretty maiden, hoping to get a closer look.
However, Ling Tianlong stood in between his niece and Yuan Shaoqing, confronting the latter, "This is my niece. She comes here to broaden her horizon."
"Oh? So, you're her guardian, then? Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Ling Tianlong."
Yuan Shaoqing's fake smile twitched as he didn't like the rude tone of this young man. He had the urge to kill him right away, but he restrained herself.
"I see. What about this girl? What's her name?"
Ling Cao sensed an omen. He rushed to Yuan Shaoqing's side and bowed, "This girl is my daughter, Ling Du. I forgot to introduce her. Please forgive me."
"Ling Du? That's a nice name. Say, Ling Cao, is she a virgin?"
"E-Excuse me?"
Yuan Shaoqing lewdly grinned, "How about it? Give this girl to me, and I shall destroy Wei Huang for you. I'll deliver his head at your doorstep myself. Don't you want to kill Wei Huang and his oni clan?"
"…"
Ling Cao glanced at Ling Tianlong and his daughter, then he gazed into Yuan Shaoqing's eyes, "I have to decline that offer. We'll kill Wei Huang ourselves."
"Welp! Too bad. My offer stands though. If you change your mind, come and find me. My harem is always open for a lovely concubine candidate like her."
Yuan Shaoqing walked away, laughing and returning to his battleship. He also sneered at Ling Tianlong, mocking the protagonist with his expression.
Ling Tianlong also returned the sneer at Yuan Shaoqing. He smirked and scoffed as if he was looking at an arrogant weakling.
…
Several minutes later
After Ling Tianlong and his company had left, Yuan Shaoqing entered his battleship. Then, he took out his phone and made a call to Liu Xuande.
"I have another job for you. Come see me at my ship."
He immediately hung up the call and clicked his tongue, thinking of Ling Tianlong's arrogant expression.
"I guess I have to teach that brat a lesson. Mount Hua Sect? Pfft. They're nothing but a group of stubborn humans."
…
War was a common cause of chaos, but chaos was Miaomiao's best friend. Even though multiple armies gathered to attack Siren City, they were already glaring at each other's throats, plotting to kill their allies and monopolizing the war loot.
Aside from Ling Tianlong, none of them had ever thought of Siren City as a threat.