Chapter 24: Elixirs and Aptitude

High above the Great Stream Sect, hundreds of miles in the sky, a colossal floating island drifted, sprawling across hundreds of miles. Upon this floating island, mountains clustered thickly, immortal mists billowed, and divine herbs covered the land. Auspicious beasts roamed the ground and soared through the sky.

At the island’s center, majestic palaces stood tall, surrounded by myriad immortal abodes and secluded sanctuaries. Bai Ye, riding a spirit boat, gently descended into one of these spiritual arenas.

At that moment, a seven-year-old child, resembling a celestial attendant, was cultivating the method of forging blood and foundation within the arena.

“Cousin, I lost again,” Bai Ye sighed. “But I feel I was so close to winning, that wretched fellow.” He glanced at the child, seeking solace.

“It sounds like you encountered a disciple with strong combat talent, someone who simply overpowers with raw strength,” the child replied, calmly concluding his practice. Instantly, a thin mist of spiritual energy enveloped the arena once more.

Sensing his cousin’s mighty aura, Bai Ye couldn’t help but ask, “Cousin, what method are you cultivating now for forging blood and foundation?”

“The Nine Transformations of the Candle Dragon. You probably haven’t heard of it, just know it’s a top-tier blood forging technique,” the child replied with indifference.

“Can I cultivate it?” Bai Ye felt the name alone was impressively domineering.

“No.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“Cousin, could you lend me some spirit coins? I lost them to that fellow,” Bai Ye said, rubbing his hands ingratiatingly.

“That’s easy,” the child said, retrieving a green crystal card worth a hundred thousand spirit coins from his storage pouch. “Master has rewarded me with plenty. If you need it, just take it.”

“Still, you treat me best. All those good things I let you have in the past weren’t wasted!” Bai Ye exclaimed.

Hearing this, the child’s face showed a touch of nostalgia.

On the lawn outside their home, Xu Chen was persistently practicing the Twelve Waves Body Forging Technique. Since last night, when Xu Chen struck his clone with full force, even though he was still overwhelmed, he felt the time for a counterattack had arrived.

“Should I buy more cultivation pills to boost my strength?” he wondered, but quickly dismissed the idea. With poor talent, absorption of pills was weak. If a pill had an efficacy of one hundred, a celestial-grade talent could harness one hundred and twenty, an exceptional-grade talent ninety, a spiritual-grade sixty, and his mortal-grade only twenty to thirty.

For someone like him, using pills was a waste. This was also why Xu Qiangjia had to exhaust his family’s resources to support Xu Chen up to the treasured body stage.

Thinking of pills, Xu Chen also thought of his father. “By now, my parents should have received the letter.”

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Xu Chen looked up at the sky, hoping to glimpse a courier crane or thunder eagle, but none appeared. “Maybe a few more days,” he thought.

After resting, Xu Chen resumed his cultivation. Near noon, several wine monkeys arrived at his door carrying ingredients, ready to cook, with the old monkey following behind.

“Sixth, what a rare guest! How do you have the time today?” Xu Chen called out upon seeing the old monkey.

“I have something to report to the master,” the old monkey replied. “Six hundred miles to the west, there’s a small market formed spontaneously by various clans. The Flower Spirit Clan and the Three-Colored Fox Clan disciples are fighting fiercely there. Would the master like to see?”

“Women fighting? I can’t miss that!” Xu Chen immediately stopped practicing the Twelve Waves Body Forging Technique, swiftly raised his disciple badge, and a cloud sparrow descended.

“At once! Head to the market six hundred miles west!” Xu Chen mounted the sparrow, which soared skyward at its usual pace.

“I’ll add two spirit coins—speed up!” Instantly, the sparrow accelerated by half, then broke the sound barrier.

Xu Chen watched as more spirit beasts, each carrying people, rose toward the same direction. The market was nestled in the valley, and the battle was raging outside its boundaries.

All participants were beautiful, blossoming disciples. When Xu Chen arrived, human disciples had crowded the battlefield’s edge, forcing him to perch atop a tree canopy to watch.

The female disciples of the Flower Spirit Clan and Three-Colored Fox Clan were dressed in a dazzling array of skirts, vibrant and eye-catching.

Standing on the treetop, Xu Chen suddenly remembered something and pulled out a Thousand-Mile Scope he’d bought in Cloud Beast City’s general store.

“Watching beauties fight is always entertaining,” Xu Chen mused, observing a battle between two blood-stage female disciples from the Flower Spirit Clan and Three-Colored Fox Clan.

At first, their moves were intricate and elegant, creating a spectacle of blooming flowers, utterly delightful. But soon, both grew truly heated and the fight devolved into a brawl.

The Flower Spirit Clan girl grabbed the fox’s tail, cursing her as a vixen. The Three-Colored Fox Clan disciple clutched the flower spirit’s hair, hurling insults. They pulled at each other, tearing at their clothes.

Instantly, the male disciples watching grew excited.

“Harder! If you can’t pull off her skirt, flip it up over her head!”

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“Exactly!” As Xu Chen enjoyed the spectacle, the male disciple watching from the branch below grew anxious and restless.

The battlefield was about a hundred yards from Xu Chen’s position. Most blood-stage cultivators could only see the general scene.

“Junior brother, lend me your Thousand-Mile Scope,” the disciple tried to reach for Xu Chen.

But Xu Chen leapt to another treetop and continued watching with relish.

The other disciple followed. “Junior brother, one hundred spirit coins, sell me the scope.”

Xu Chen eyed him seriously; the rings on his fingers were all magical treasures, and his clothes were artifact-level. Clearly, he wasn’t short of money and could be bargained with.

Seeing Xu Chen unmoved, the disciple raised his offer to two hundred spirit coins.

Xu Chen still showed no interest.

“Three hundred spirit coins! Outside, these are worth a single coin each. If you won’t sell, fine.”

Finally, Xu Chen put down the scope. “Money in hand, goods in hand.”

Without hesitation, the disciple handed over three small pouches, each containing one hundred spirit coins.

Xu Chen passed him the Thousand-Mile Scope.

The disciple grabbed it and gazed through, utterly entranced. “This sea of white is truly a delight!” he murmured, nearly drooling.

Xu Chen calmly produced another Thousand-Mile Scope; he often bought things in pairs.

On the ground, disciples of the Three-Colored Fox Clan and Flower Spirit Clan fought fiercely at the blood-stage, while those above that stage battled in the sky.

In the heavens, the spectacle was even grander.

“Two clans at war—doesn’t the sect intervene?” Xu Chen remarked, watching the white-flowered battlefield through his scope.

“The senior members of both clans are surely watching. As long as no lives are lost, they want a clear outcome,” replied the disciple who’d bought the scope, mouth watering.

“In Great Stream Sect, as long as it doesn’t involve the human race, the rules are quite lax,” he added.

As the battle intensified and everyone watched with rising excitement, suddenly a figure plummeted from hundreds of yards above, crashing toward the earth.

Xu Chen, sensing something amiss, looked up just as the falling figure hurtled toward his face.