novelapdf Chapter 571 Concealment! Soul Jade Acquired!
Chapter 571 Concealment! Soul Jade Acquired!
His attendant glanced cautiously at Minister Qin's expression and tentatively asked, "Sir, should we send someone... to inform the Wang family?"
Qin Taiyue did not answer, but simply waved his hand to signal his attendants to leave.
He leaned back in his chair, his eyes slightly closed, and the frequency of his fingers tapping the armrests gradually slowed down.
He certainly knew about the sealed land.
Moreover, the imperial court was not entirely unaware of what the eight great families had done to the sealed land over the years.
However, the eight families are closely connected, with a total of eight Nascent Soul Ancestors. Their influence is deeply entrenched and spread throughout the four major cultivation kingdoms. Even the Great Yu royal family has to give them some respect.
However, the imperial family's tolerance for the Eight Great Families was not without limits, especially regarding the issue of the sealed land, where there were always differing opinions within the court.
This Chen Fan emerged from the sealed land, and despite being hunted down by the eight major families, he has survived to this day. He even wiped out the entire direct line of the Wang family in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons.
If this person can escape the calamity of the Wang family, he may well become a useful pawn in the future to counterbalance the eight great families.
Thinking of this, Qin Taiyue opened his eyes and said calmly, "Pass down the order to expedite the repair of the teleportation array. Furthermore, no one is to divulge any events that occur within the Ten Thousand Demon Valley before the teleportation array is activated. Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished for leaking imperial secrets."
The attendant bowed, accepted the order, and quickly left.
Qin Taiyue turned his gaze back to the water mirror.
……
Deep in the dense forest, Chen Fan's figure moved like a ghost for half an hour before finally landing in a secluded mountain stream.
The mountain stream is flanked by sheer cliffs, with a thin waterfall cascading down in the middle, its murmuring water isolating the area from all the noise of the outside world.
At the bottom of the ravine is a naturally formed cave, the entrance of which is hidden by vines and is extremely difficult to find unless you look for it.
After scanning his surroundings with his divine sense to confirm that no one was around, Chen Fan pushed aside the vines and crawled into the cave. He then casually set up two concealment restrictions at the entrance before sitting down cross-legged.
The cave is not large, about ten feet square, with a thin layer of moss covering the rock walls and the air filled with the smell of damp earth.
Chen Fan took the Black Soul Banner from his waist and stuck it to his side. The black mist on the banner slowly swirled, like a loyal hunting dog watching over his surroundings.
He composed himself and took out a storage bag from his sleeve.
That was Wang Teng's storage bag; the Black Soul Banner casually pulled it back along with his soul when it devoured it.
The storage bag was entirely reddish-gold in color, with a flame emblem embroidered on the opening, which was the royal family's symbol.
The bag was faintly glowing with the light of a restriction, and its grade was much higher than that of an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator's storage bag.
Chen Fan probed the bag with his divine sense and found that the opening was covered with three restrictions, each more complex than the last.
However, Wang Teng was already dead, and seventy or eighty percent of the divine soul imprint he left on the restrictions had dissipated on its own. The remaining ones were nothing more than a piece of cake for him. He used the Fixing Word Technique to fix the restrictions one by one, and then used the Causal Sword Intent to peel them off one by one. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had broken all three restrictions.
The storage bag was more spacious than expected, measuring several tens of feet square, and contained various items neatly arranged, resembling a small treasure trove.
Chen Fan first counted the spirit stones.
There were over 800,000 mid-grade spirit stones and 120,000 top-grade spirit stones. This sum of spirit stones alone was equivalent to the entire fortune of an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
As a direct descendant of the Wang family, Wang Teng's participation in the national competition in the capital city was clearly supported by his clan with ample financial resources.
These spirit stones now belong to the Chen family.
He transferred all the spirit stones into his storage ring, then looked at the magical treasures.
Wang Teng carried seven magical treasures with him, ranging in quality from the early to mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. Among them, the crimson fire sword was of the highest quality, reaching the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. A wisp of earth core fire was sealed within the sword, and flames accompanied it when it was swung. If it were not for encountering Chen Fan's causal sword intent, it would be rarely matched among those of the same level.
There is also a defensive shield for mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, made entirely of red copper, with a phoenix spreading its wings and about to take flight engraved on its surface!
A set of twelve flaming needles, specifically designed to break through protective spiritual light, is extremely insidious!
A spare flying sword for early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and a jade pendant that can ward off fire poison!
A talisman that allows for short-distance teleportation, and a jade gourd filled with various elixirs.
Chen Fan inspected all the magical treasures one by one, keeping the ones he could use and preparing to exchange the rest for spirit stones at the Hundred Herbs Hall later.
He also looked through Wang Teng's cultivation manual jade slip, which contained the complete "Heavenly Fire True Technique" passed down by the Wang family, with cultivation methods from the Qi Refining stage to the Nascent Soul stage.
This item is priceless to the Wang family, but it's not of much use to him. However, keeping it might come in handy in the future.
When Chen Fan reached the deepest part of the storage bag, he suddenly stopped.
There was a semi-transparent jade box, covered with densely packed sealing runes, exactly the same as the jade box that held the soul jade in the auction house that day.
He reached out and took out the jade box, then opened the lid.
A thumb-sized piece of dark green jade lay quietly in the box, its surface as smooth as water, with a faint light slowly rotating in the center, like a half-open eye.
Even through the seal of the jade box, the chill that penetrated straight to the soul was still clearly discernible.
Soul jade.
Fragments of the natal magic treasure of an ancient Soul Dao master.
Wang Teng had bought it at the auction house for 300,000 mid-grade spirit stones that day, but now it was in his hands without spending a penny.
Chen Fan took the Soul Jade out of the box and carefully sensed it in his palm. The moment the Soul Jade touched his hand, a cool, water-like soul power surged into his sea of consciousness, invigorating his very soul.
The Black Soul Banner was planted beside him, and the millions of souls on the banner seemed to sense the aura of the Soul Jade, emitting low whimpers in unison, their voices carrying a hint of longing and awe.
With a slight thought, he affixed the Soul Jade to the surface of the Black Soul Banner.
The next second, the Black Soul Banner trembled violently, and the black mist on its surface surged like a living thing, enveloping the Soul Jade layer by layer.
The eerie light within the Soul Jade intertwined with the yin energy of the Black Soul Banner, creating a subtle resonance.
Chen Fan could sense that the millions of souls within the Black Soul Banner were rapidly solidifying and growing stronger under the nourishment of the Soul Jade. The originally blurry soul faces were becoming clearer and clearer, and the originally chaotic soul structure within the banner was also beginning to reorganize itself under the influence of the Soul Jade.
The nourishing effect of this Soul Jade on Soul Dao magical treasures is far more astonishing than he had anticipated. If he could completely refine and integrate it into the Black Soul Banner, the quality of the banner would at least rise to another level, and it might even break through the bottleneck of the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage and reach the level of Half-Step Deity Transformation.
Chen Fan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and put the Soul Jade back into the jade box and stored it in his storage bag. Now was not the time to refine the Soul Jade; the two Nascent Soul ancestors of the Wang family were already on their way, and he had to make preparations as soon as possible.
He continued to count the remaining items in the storage bag.