Chapter 411: Making a Fortune Together

Chapter 411: Making a Fortune Together

"The violet qi cannot be too abundant."

"It must not be too provocative; it needs to be a bit aloof and detached, to make him feel that it is very special. The violet qi should seem somewhat interested in him, yet too reserved to take the initiative."

"Before he encounters the violet qi, some hardships and obstacles must be added. Otherwise, if it is obtained too easily, he will become suspicious, perhaps even thinking the Gate of Truth that follows is some kind of honey trap."

"By adding a bit of difficulty, he will feel that this is what he deserves, the hard-earned fruit of his own efforts, indulging in self-righteous satisfaction."

Within a desolate, uninhabited land, Qiyuan's silhouette manifested.

"The five elements, inverted!"

The aura upon Qiyuan receded, then erupted anew.

Back in the Moon-Watching Continent, he had re-refined his qi using the Five Ancestors' Five Elements Qi, establishing the genesis of his five elements qi-refining.

Now, with a casual gesture, he threw the five elements of this region into utter chaos.

Inverting the five elements was an easy feat for Qiyuan, but for other Yang Gods, it was actually exceedingly difficult.

Unless they were Yang Gods who specialized in the five elements and had comprehended their ultimate truths.

Therefore, Qiyuan's deliberate aging of the site was highly authentic; even if a Yang God of Ultimate Truth arrived, they would fail to detect any flaw.

"Let us set up a few more fragmented ancient formations..."

Regarding formations, Qiyuan had not studied them extensively.

Yet even so, he possessed that pair of eyes capable of seeing hidden information.

Modifying a few formations until they were completely unrecognizable even to their creators was a simple matter for him.

As half a day slipped away, Qiyuan looked upon the fruits of his labor, deeply satisfied.

"To think I wasted half a day just laying down bait."

"No matter, this time I have accumulated experience; next time I lay bait, I can just copy and paste!"

"A pity my violet qi is too scarce, and there is only a single Gate of Truth. Otherwise... how grand would it be to lay a few more traps?"

"Being unable to mass-produce or industrialize truly makes for low efficiency."

Qiyuan gazed at the trap he had laid, a look of gratification coloring his features.

"A gentle push is needed, otherwise what if that Yang God is a shut-in and refuses to emerge?"

With these words, his finger pressed down gently.

In an instant, the spiritual energy within the trap surged and spilled over, shooting up toward the high vault of heaven.

"Excellent, time to return."

Qiyuan clapped his hands, and his figure vanished into nothingness.

"I must be prudent during this period. My front door is gone, so I must keep a close watch; it would be bad if a thief broke in."

...

Within the Mara Sacred Tower.

Heavenly Venerable Mochitian sat enthroned within his grotto-heaven, his expansive robes faintly stained with the hue of blood.

He looked at the written command before him, a fierce, malicious glint flashing through his eyes.

"This Venerable was cultivating perfectly well, yet I am forced to go to that wretched Abyssal Battlefield!

The ants cannot be slaughtered, and I am compelled to trade blows with peers; it is utterly tedious!"

Just a short while ago, Heavenly Venerable Mochitian had received the mandate from the Council of Elders to succeed Heavenly Venerable Mican in guarding the Abyss.

Mochitian was highly reluctant to accept such an assignment.

After all, he would be facing the Heavenly Venerables of the Moon Deity Palace.

In terms of combat prowess, he was inferior.

Thus, he could only endure being bullied.

Worse still, due to the wartime prohibition, he could not strike at those low-tier cultivators without cause.

In essence, this assignment was nothing but seeking out grievances to suffer.

He could not defeat the Yang Gods, he was forbidden from killing the Yin Gods, and he had no outlet for his frustration.

"I must depart within a month... detestable!"

Heavenly Venerable Mochitian was naturally unwilling to go to the front lines.

This guard duty would likely last for ten thousand years.

Yet he could not refuse the appointment of the Council of Elders.

"To be a Heavenly Venerable and still face such hardships, alas."

Heavenly Venerable Mochitian sighed.

But suddenly, his brow twitched.

"Hmm?"

He detected an anomalous aura.

The aura was faint, yet he discovered it nonetheless.

Mochitian rose instantly, his gaze seemingly piercing the clouds to reach ten thousand miles away.

"This is..."

Mochitian narrowed his eyes as the scene ten thousand miles away came into view.

In that distant, uninhabited land, spiritual energy was in tumult, and the five elements were in disarray.

"This is..."

Without any hesitation, Mochitian concealed his form and flew toward the desolate land.

He restrained his aura, appearing exactly like an ordinary Mythical cultivator.

"The five elements are in chaos; either a great treasure is being born, or an extraordinary circumstance has arisen."

Mochitian's eyes suddenly flared at this moment, seeking to pierce through the scene before him.

"Obstructed by an ancient formation?"

Mochitian's eyes lit up.

"To be capable of obstructing even me, could it be..."

There was absolutely a magnificent treasure here!

Perhaps it was even the dwelling place of some powerhouse from the ancient era.

"Something is not quite right, it is too coincidental." Mochitian instinctively sensed a whiff of danger.

It was like an ordinary man sleeping in his room when a sudden noise rings out; stepping outside to look, he finds a hole ahead, and beside the hole stands a sign.

"Great treasure within."

It was perhaps an exaggeration, yet to Heavenly Venerable Mochi, it was absolute truth.

For an exquisite treasure capable of stirring the heart of even a Sun God was exceptionally rare, a chance encounter of the lowest probability.

The Five Elements before him were in absolute chaos, a certain sign that a treasure alluring even to a Sun Gods must be hidden within.

"Seal!"

Heavenly Venerable Mochi extended his palm, and in an instant, the heavens and earth of this entire region were shrouded by his hand.

Regardless of the outcome, he had to conceal the aura of this place first.

Otherwise, if the chaotic energy of the Five Elements continued to drift, a few years hence, it might well be sensed by other Sun God Heavenly Venerables.

"This is the core territory of my Molo Clan; there should be no danger, so I may as well venture in to explore."

With these words, Heavenly Venerable Mochi pressed forward.

A fractured ancient array materialized before him, within which a faint aura of primordial profundity seemed to linger.

"This method of array formation is utterly unheard of; it must be a technique lost since antiquity."

After a moment's contemplation, Heavenly Venerable Mochi plunged into the ancient array without the slightest hesitation.

Some hundreds of breaths of time elapsed before Heavenly Venerable Mochi penetrated deeper still.

He let out a breath of relief: "Fortunately, this ancient array is far too antiquated; otherwise, breaking it would have required at least a hundred days."

A hundred days was but a fleeting moment to a Sun God.

Yet he was bound to stand guard in the Sixth Heaven within a month, and could brook no delay.

"There are more ancient arrays ahead, and inside there must surely be... hm? Purple Qi?"

Suddenly, Heavenly Venerable Mochi’s soul trembled, and his eyes flashed with brilliant light: "To think it is the Purple Qi, the premier aura of the Immortal Realm! No wonder the Five Elements are in such disarray!"

Heavenly Venerable Mochi grew quite agitated.

He caught the scent of the Purple Qi.

The Purple Qi was the premier aura of the Immortal Realm, representing chaos and representing the beginning.

For a Sun God, the utility of the Purple Qi was immense.

For instance, if one's past self resided in the Mythic Realm, obtaining Purple Qi could elevate it to the Sun God Realm.

Furthermore, the advancement of ordinary masters of the Heavenly Position Realm was generally manifested in the stars that reflected across the heavens.

Yet the projections of those stars reflecting across the heavens did not appear from nothingness; they required Purple Qi.

The more Purple Qi one possessed, the more formidable the star projections condensed by the Sun God would be, the more potent the effect of reflecting across the heavens, and the swifter the increase in strength.

Thus, when the Ten-Sun Heavenly Venerable presumed to challenge the position of the Great Sun, all the Sun God Heavenly Venerables were struck with shock.

Firstly, the Ten-Sun Heavenly Venerable must possess an abundance of Purple Qi. Secondly, his talent must be extraordinary to allow ten suns to soar in the sky.

Of course, these Sun God Heavenly Venerables remained ignorant of the fact that their star projections were entirely different from Qi Yuan’s.

Qi Yuan’s... were projections of true, permanent stars!

"Destiny resides with me! I never imagined that I, Mochi, would see such a day!"

Mochi was overcome with excitement; abandoning all hesitation, he pressed onward toward the next ancient array.

...

Ji Buping returned from the distance, his gaze instinctively drifting toward the tent in the afar.

Immediately, he caught sight of that familiar figure.

After a brief deliberation, he flew over and inquired casually, "I noticed fellow Daoist was absent yesterday; could it be that you made some new discovery?"

Gathering the Milo Light depended first on luck, and second on skill.

Ji Buping feared precisely that Qi Yuan might have the luck to gather it, a thought that filled him with envy and disrupted his inner balance.

After all, within the Black Demon Abyss, bloodline was of paramount importance.

Yet this Qi Yuan, possessing no bloodline, held a status higher than his own—by what right?

If the man chanced upon good luck as well and gathered the Milo Light, Ji Buping’s heart would become more unbalanced still.

A mere rustic from the insignificant Second Heaven, to encounter such a miraculous stroke of fortune!

"A discovery... indeed, there was one," Qi Yuan said softly, looking at Ji Buping.

Ji Buping's heart gave a sudden leap, tinged with bitterness: "Your luck is truly enviable, fellow Daoist, to have actually discovered the Milo Light."

"It is not the Milo Light." Qi Yuan shook his head, looking intently at Ji Buping as he spoke softly, "You can even bring yourself to touch an old crone, so you must surely harbor grand ambitions?"

"You... you!" Ji Buping’s expression shifted violently, his face clouded by a dense, bloodthirsty aura, "Impudent boy! To humiliate me so—even if some core figure of the Black Demon Abyss has favored you, I shall slay you this very day!"

He was truly incensed.

Though his move to strike was, naturally, a mere pretense.

Witnessing this, Qi Yuan remained entirely composed: "Why be like this, fellow Daoist? I genuinely admire you!"

After all, if it were Qi Yuan, he could never bring himself to touch an old crone.

Granted, his own elusive 'white moonlight' muses were also old men and old crones who seldom bathed.

But... those were white moonlights, existences that lived solely within fantasy.

"Hmph!" The murderous intent in Ji Buping’s eyes was genuine, yet he did not unleash his strike.

After all, there was no collar around his neck; had a leash been fastened, he truly would have acted.

"It is precisely because I recognize your ambition that I wish to share a highly lucrative opportunity with you," Qi Yuan remarked casually.

Qi Yuan decided that today, he would play the part of a talent-scout.

Ji Buping froze for a moment, asking suspiciously, "What opportunity?"

"When I left yesterday, I actually set my eyes on a fat sheep. He is exceedingly wealthy, with a mountain of money." At this mention, Qi Yuan’s eyes shone brightly.

"You..." Ji Buping’s countenance remained unchanged, "A marauding cultivator?"

He had lived as a marauding cultivator himself, and was intimately familiar with such affairs.

"How can you call it a marauding cultivator? I strongly suggest renaming them to 'wandering cultivators.'"

Even vagrants could be renamed to reduce the apparent number of homeless in a city.

Changing the name of a marauding cultivator shouldn't be an issue, right?

Ji Buping narrowed his eyes: "Exceedingly wealthy?"

Though he despised Qi Yuan, there was no harm in making a fortune together.

Such was the way of the cultivation world; these matters were entirely normal.

"Absolutely wealthy, though his strength is just a tiny bit formidable," Qi Yuan said. "Which is precisely why I called upon you to join me in striking it rich."

A trace of mockery touched Ji Buping’s heart.

Qi Yuan’s cultivation was likely one that had only just crossed the threshold into Great Venerable.

The 'tiny bit formidable' he spoke of would, at the very absolute highest, be no more than the fourth step of Treading Heaven.

He was merely at the Six Steps of Heaven-Treading, utterly beneath his notice.

Still, he asked, “Are you sure the two of us together can handle him?”

“Don’t worry. He’s old, already decrepit and rotting. We’re both young and strong—taking down an old man is no problem at all.

By the way, he’s a high-ranking member of the Mara Clan.

We are the Black Abyss—the fathers of the Mara Clan!

So kill him, keep it clean, and nothing will come of it.

Come on… are you in or not?

We split the spoils according to effort?”

As Qi Yuan spoke, he activated the Great Forgetfulness Heart Sutra.

He had social anxiety, poor eloquence, and weak verbal skills.

So he often relied on the Great Forgetfulness Heart Sutra.

“After this job, you might just gather enough merits to ascend to the Sixth Heaven!” Qi Yuan coaxed.

Ji Buping’s face shifted slightly, his expression stunned: “The Sixth Heaven?”

“Yes, the Sixth Heaven. In or not?”

“In!” Ji Buping nodded firmly.

Wasn’t he just a high-ranking Mara Clan member?

If he dared to kill the Blood Robe, what did he have to fear?

He was a Fourth-Rank Bloodline!

And what of unfair spoils or schemes? He, at the Five Steps of Heaven-Treading, feared a Four-Stepper?

If you’re timid, why cultivate immortality?

“Good!” Hearing this, Qi Yuan was delighted. “Let’s go set an ambush for him. If this cooperation goes smoothly, we’ll work together again.

I’ve got my eye on quite a few high-ranking Mara Clan members—every single one is a top-tier fat sheep!

Much richer than that old woman of yours.”

Hearing this, Ji Buping took a deep breath: “Really?”

“Would I lie to you? I’m the most honest and trustworthy person—I never tell falsehoods,” Qi Yuan said.

Ji Buping glanced at Qi Yuan: “You’re quite an interesting fellow. I misjudged you before.”

Ji Buping looked at Qi Yuan as if sizing up a fat sheep: “Where’s your Dao companion?”

He recalled the woman by Qi Yuan’s side.

That woman clearly hadn’t been cleansed by immortal qi—she probably hadn’t entered the Yin Spirit realm.

So Qi Yuan’s strength should be mediocre too.

“My Dao companion is in the Sixth Heaven, and another one is on the Sun.” Mentioning this, Qi Yuan’s expression turned somewhat wistful.

Ji Buping was taken aback, then said, “Didn’t you just claim you never tell lies? Why are you spouting nonsense now?”

“I’m not lying.” Qi Yuan couldn’t be bothered to explain. He thought of something and asked, “What about your family, fellow Daoist?”

Toward enemies, Qi Yuan always probed thoroughly.

What he cared about most was whether they had family.

“I am alone in this world, with no family.”

“Oh! Fellow Daoist, let’s hurry—the fish has taken the bait, just waiting for us to reel it in.”

“Fine!” Ji Buping’s heart raced with excitement—time to pull off a big job.

So what if he was a high-ranking Mara Clan member?

He was from the Black Abyss, a cut above the Mara Clan!

“Let’s go.”

Qi Yuan led Ji Buping, and they vanished into a streak of light.

When they reappeared, they had emerged from the Miro World.

Ji Buping’s eyes held a hint of surprise: “How did you avoid the Mara Clan cultivators getting out?”

The Mara Clan had cultivators stationed at both the entrance and exit of the Miro World.

Yet Qi Yuan had swaggered out with him, and those cultivators acted as if they hadn’t seen them.

“Because… we are from the Black Abyss—they can’t see us!” To avoid revealing his innate divine ability, Qi Yuan chose to tell a few lies.

“Is that so?” Ji Buping looked at Qi Yuan, somewhat suspicious.

At this moment, having left the Miro World, he actually felt a bit of hesitation.

If the target they were robbing was inside the Miro World, a fight wouldn’t alert the Mara Clan.

But outside the Miro World, the commotion would be too great—likely to be detected by Mara Clan experts.

Still, thinking that the Blood Robe had dared to act, backing out now would be too shameful.

If things went south, he could just flee and leave the Blood Robe behind.

After all, he was strong enough not to fear accidents.

“Let’s go—we’re almost there. That old man is right in the trap!”

Qi Yuan said cheerfully.

If asked why he brought Ji Buping along: first, he was a talent scout who saw Ji Buping’s ambition; second, life was dull, so why not seek some amusement; third, to share the karmic burden.

(End of chapter)