Origin Heavy Water costs ten high-tier spirit stones per bottle. I need ten bottles to cultivate the Third Incandescence of Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body, so in other words, I require a hundred high-tier spirit stones!
Considering that I have expended four spirit stones cultivating from Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle to Perfect Harmonization realm advanced stage, in order to reach pinnacle, I will need two high-tier spirit stones or perhaps even more. Beyond that, Ethereal Treading realm, Chrysalis realm, Half-Saint… The number of high-tier spirit stones will only increase exponentially. Without at least a hundred high-tier spirit stones, I won’t be able to go far…
Zhang Xuan’s head began aching.
It seemed like his wish of reaching Saint realm within ten days was nothing more than a pipe dream at this point.
Putting everything aside, just the lack of spirit stones was already a huge problem in itself.
I really should start finding a way to earn more money… Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in distress.
It was clear that he would need to find a stable source of income, but several hundred high-tier spirit stones was no small sum.
It would be hard to find a viable solution at a whim.
I should take a look at how much I have progressed for the time being…
He could slowly contemplate the issue regarding earning money in the future. For the time being, he looked inward in order to assess his current strength as a result of the recent breakthroughs.
With his soul reaching Perfect Harmonization realm, his strength had soared once more, leaping from 3,200,000 ding to 10,000,000 ding!
Factoring in the 8,000,000 ding he could harness from both his physical body and zhenqi cultivation, he had a maximum of 26,000,000 ding at his disposal, putting him on par with a Chrysalis realm primary stage expert!
(Chrysalis realm primary stage 25,000,000 ding, intermediate stage 28,000,000 ding, advanced stage 31,000,000 ding, pinnacle 34,000,000 ding!)
It must be said that the rate at which he was growing was truly frightening.
Zhang Xuan turned to his clone and noted that the latter had also stopped at Perfect Harmonization realm advanced stage.
Noticing Zhang Xuan’s gaze on him, his clone’s eyes gleamed in excitement. “Shall we have a duel?”
Zhang Xuan shook his head awkwardly. “Ah… I’ll pass…”
Even though his clone’s cultivation was mainly derived from his soul, his physical body was simply too powerful; it would be a grave mistake to gauge his strength just by his soul cultivation alone. Furthermore, it seemed his physical body was gradually growing stronger as he advanced his soul cultivation.
With Zhang Xuan’s current strength, he could easily defeat opponents with higher cultivation realm than him. But even so, he was still a far way off from matching with that fellow.
If he were to challenge the other party to a duel, there was not a shadow of a doubt that he would be utterly crushed.
It was already extremely embarrassing that he, as the main body, was unable to defeat his clone. Why would he intentionally ask for a beating on top of that?
Returning his clone to his storage ring, Zhang Xuan pushed open his door and walked out.
As he made his way to the main hall, Luo Qiqi suddenly walked up to him and greeted him.
Zhang Xuan had already changed into a fresh set of clothes. With the advancement of his soul cultivation, his eyes seemed to have grown a little profounder, and his aura had become more indiscernible, creating an unfathomable aura around him.
“Teacher, Senior Hu Yaoyao has just sent a letter over inviting you to a night banquet,” Luo Qiqi said as she assessed Zhang Xuan with doubtful eyes.
Yesterday, when her teacher had returned injured in the afternoon, she’d thought that it was a result of a confrontation with Hu Yaoyao while trying to get the location of Elder Wu Yangzi’s old residence out of her… But considering the fact that Hu Yaoyao had sent an invitation letter to them just a moment ago, that possibility could be eliminated.
The chances were that her teacher hadn’t met Hu Yaoyao outside of the first meeting.
But if that was the case… where did he go the previous night?
And who was it that injured him?
“Night banquet? What night banquet?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback by those words.
Was Hu Yaoyao already going to make her move against him?
“Here, take a look at this!” Luo Qiqi raised her hands to pass an envelope over.
Zhang Xuan took the envelope from her hands and opened it.
Contained within the envelope was an invitation letter, and putting aside the pleasantries written, the content was mainly speaking about how she’d felt a strong affinity with them when they’d met the previous night. Therefore, she’d decided to extend an invitation to them for her night banquet, and she hoped that they wouldn’t turn down her goodwill.
The address was the Terpsichore School, Cloud Sparrow Lodge.
“Cloud Sparrow Lodge?” Zhang Xuan asked questioningly.
“That is Senior Hu Yaoyao’s private residence. It is located within the Terpsichore School!” Luo Qiqi explained.
Fearing that her teacher wouldn’t understand, she further elaborated, “The Elite Sector is divided into four subsectors, namely D, C, B, and A, which correspond to Grade-1, Grade-2, Grade-3, and Grade-4 students respectively. Grade-5 students don’t reside in the Elite Sector. Instead, outstanding Grade-5 students can have private residences constructed for them in the school of their main supporting occupation. Naturally, the location and facilities of those private residences are far better than those in the Elite Sector!”
Zhang Xuan nodded.
He had heard it from Huang Xing and the others when he first arrived at the Elite Sector.
Of the four subsectors, he was currently living in Sector D.
Sensing the scent of a scheme from this matter, Luo Qiqi said with a frown, “Teacher, the other party refused our request yesterday, but she still chose to send us this abrupt invitation letter today. I fear that she is up to no good…”
“There is no doubt that she is up to no good. However, if we don’t go, it will be impossible for us to locate Elder Wu Yangzi’s old residence,” Zhang Xuan analyzed calmly.
Hearing those words, Luo Qiqi could only nod in agreement with a bitter smile on her face.
If there was another way around this matter, they would have already made a move. However, with the other party holding the vital information they required, they could only play along with her games.
“Since that’s the case, what is there for us to hesitate about? Since she has invited us to a night banquet, we will just have to head over to take a look!” Zhang Xuan said.
He had headed over to the Hu Yaoyao’s residence in the hope of sounding her out, but in the end, due to the other party abruptly stripping, he could only abandon his original intention.
It was just a matter of time before they would have to confront one another. This night banquet might be a trap prepared for him, but it was also an opportunity to get the location of Wu Yangzi’s old residence out of her.
Naturally, Zhang Xuan wouldn’t give this chance up so easily.
He was severely lacking money at the moment. If he could find Wu Yangzi’s treasure, he might be able to free himself from the troubles he was facing.
Hearing her teacher’s decision, Luo Qiqi made up her mind as well and asked, “Then… should we head off now?”
“Now?” Zhang Xuan glanced at the sky, and only then did he realize that the sun had already set.
It was already afternoon by the time he returned from the Terpsichore School, and his recuperation and cultivation had taken him around five hours or so. As a result, by the time he was done, the sky was already pitch black.
“Let’s head off then!”
It was already about time for the night banquet to start, so they had to make haste.
Leaving the residence, the duo headed straight for the Terpsichore School.
While the Terpsichore School wasn’t as large as the Blacksmith School, its size was still nevertheless impressive. It took some time before the duo arrived at the courtyard where Zhang Xuan had seen Hu Yaoyao stripping last night.
“So, this is the Cloud Sparrow Lodge…” Zhang Xuan nodded.
Based on what he had seen yesterday while following Hu Yaoyao, the residence was much more majestic and larger than the surrounding residences and those in the Elite Sector as well.
“This residence wasn’t called the Cloud Sparrow Lodge initially. According to the rumors, back when Senior Yaoyao was taking the 6-star terpsichore examination, she wore a magnificent dress and performed the Dance of the Rippling Cloud Robe. Her dance was so alluring that it attracted the excited chirping of the visiting Cloud Sparrows, and their calls resounded for a very long time even after the dance had ended… In commemoration of that event, this residence was renamed the Cloud Sparrow Lodge,” explained Luo Qiqi via zhenqi telepathy, knowing the story behind the name.
Zhang Xuan nodded in response.
The Dance of the Rippling Cloud Robe did possess such astonishing capability when paired with resplendent clothes. It could easily beguile humans and beasts alike, sending them into a feverish state.
Cloud Sparrow was a small savage beast that possessed minimal fighting prowess. However, it was a connoisseur of art, and its excited chirping could be considered the greatest applause and recognition to a dancer.
“That matter solidified Senior Hu Yaoyao’s standing in the Terpsichore School, and even the head of the Terpsichore School accepted her as her direct disciple!” Luo Qiqi continued.
The head of the Terpsichore School was naturally one of the Ten Great Master Teachers as well. Being the direct disciple of such an incredible figure, little had to be said about Hu Yaoyao’s standing in the Master Teacher Academy.
This was also one of the reasons the Bewitching Devil Faction had grown to become one of the largest factions in the academy with innumerable followers.
At that moment, ‘jiya!’, the doors to the Cloud Sparrow Lodge creaked open, and the lady whom Hu Yaoyao had addressed as Xinru yesterday night walked out and clasped her fist respectfully.
“The two of you must be Zhang shi and Luo shi, right?”
As Zhang Xuan had been too focused on Hu Yaoyao the previous night, he’d neglected the lady before him. However, standing at such proximity to one another, he realized that her cultivation had reached a fair level as well.
Transcendent Mortal 8-dan pinnacle expert.
With this, she could probably be considered as one of the top experts amongst the Grade-4 students.
Yet, she was still ordered around as a subordinate in Hu Yaoyao’s residence. It seemed Hu Yaoyao’s influence was greater than he had initially thought.
“We are!” Luo Qiqi replied.
“Faction Leader Yaoyao has instructed me to escort you in, please follow me!” With a graceful smile, Xinru turned around and led the way.
Following behind her, Zhang Xuan and Luo Qiqi stepped into the Cloud Sparrow Lodge.
As Zhang Xuan had been too engrossed in following Hu Yaoyao’s trail and avoiding the eyes of others last night, he hadn’t thought much about the residence. Strolling through it leisurely now, however, he realized that the residence was enormous! It was at least seven times larger than his residence in the Elite Sector.
In the courtyard, there was a pond in which many koi fishes were swimming to and fro. Beautiful flowers were cultivated in the area, and they exuded a light but refreshing fragrance.
Furthermore, there seemed to be a Spirit Gathering Formation constructed beneath the residence. The spiritual energy in the area was even more concentrated than that in the Elite Sector. Even if an ordinary human incapable of cultivating were to live in this residence, their body would be nourished by the concentrated spiritual energy, leaving them energized and invulnerable to most common illnesses.
“This way!” Xinru gestured with her hands.
After walking through a long corridor, walking across two small bridges in between, they finally arrived at the main hall.
The interior of the main hall was brightly lit, as if it were daytime.
“There is no one inside?”
Stepping into the main hall, Zhang Xuan scanned the room, and he was surprised to see that it was devoid of people.
There were small wooden tables laid out for both the host and the guests in the vast room, and they were filled with fine wine and food. However, the person who had invited them, Hu Yaoyao, was nowhere in sight.
“Faction Leader Yaoyao has some urgent matters to deal with, so she had to leave for a moment. She will be back very soon, so she instructed me to lead you to the main hall to take a seat first,” Xinru explained with a smile.
“I see!”
Based on the conversation he had overheard yesterday, Zhang Xuan knew that Hu Yaoyao intended to deal with him. Most probably, her absence was also a part of her plan as well. Knowing that it would be futile for him to probe deeper, he shrugged the matter off with a smile.
After which, he and Luo Qiqi walked over to the two empty guest seats and sat down.
Zhang Xuan had to admit that the other party did make ample preparations for this night banquet. The dishes on the table were all top-grade delicacies made of the meat of valuable spirit beasts. With just a sniff, one would immediately start salivating.
Just this table in itself is probably already worth several hundred middle-tier spirit stones. As expected of the leader of the Bewitching Devil Faction, she sure is rich… If I really find myself in need of money, perhaps I could find some way to shake some out of her… Zhang Xuan thought as he stroked his lower jaw.
It was just a moment ago that he had gone bankrupt, so such extravagance felt exceptionally stinging on his eyes.
Since that fellow could spend several hundred middle-tier spirit stones just on a meal itself, she should surely have some money to spare for a poor man like him?
“Enjoy your meal, I will take a look at how our faction leader is doing…” Xinru walked up to their table and poured them a cup of wine before backing out of the main hall with a courteous smile.
“Teacher, what do you think she’s trying to do?” Looking at the lavish spread before her, Luo Qiqi was bewildered.
“Regardless of what she is up to, I will make her reveal the location of Elder Wu Yangzi’s old residence today. Don’t worry!” Zhang Xuan replied confidently.
If it had been a day ago, he would have been hesitant to speak such words.
However, after a night of studying at the Terpsichore Compendium Pavilion, he was now a 6-star terpsichore whom even Wei Ranxue was in awe for. No matter what Hu Yaoyao was up to, he was confident that he would be able to deal with whatever she was going to throw at him.
If it came down to it, he could even utilize his terpsichorean art and beguile her to resolve the situation.
“Alright.” Luo Qiqi was still a little apprehensive inside, but she still nodded in response.
She had no idea where her teacher’s confidence came from, but since he dared to utter such words, he must have an idea in mind!
3/20
If we get first this week, there will be three additional chapters next week~
