Chapter 1116: A Pleasant Surprise

“Actually, the Minor Leiyin Temple did not have much relation to the Buddhist sects of the Immortal Epoch. They just used the methods of the Buddhist sects for absorbing the power of faith, continuing the Buddhist means of cultivation.”

After Xiao Chen heard that, he understood a little. So, he asked a more practical question. “Are there any weaknesses to this method of absorbing faith?”

“For now, there isn’t. Later, when I go back, I will examine the ancient texts we have on this,” Mo Chen replied somewhat apologetically.

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “It’s fine. There is no rush. I’ll accompany you two for a while.”

So, the three continued to work on claiming the satellite islands. They chatted as they traveled. Lan Shaobai explained the situation of Heavenly Star Island for the past one year or so in detail to Xiao Chen.

After Xiao Chen heard that, he could not help feeling guilty. Given Lan Shaobai’s talent, if Lan Shaobai did not follow him, given the Asura Race’s resources and his own innate talent, he should have advanced to quasi-Emperor already.

As for Mo Chen, Xiao Chen had not expected her to rush over to Heavenly Star Island in fulfillment of her promise the moment she advanced to quasi-Emperor.

Over the past one and a half years, these people had turned this ruined wasteland into something good, managing it in an orderly manner. Occasionally, they even had to face the harassment of the Seven Distinguished Dragon Marquises. Life had been difficult for them.

“Thanks, both of you,” Xiao Chen said sincerely.

Mo Chen smiled gently in wordless response. There were some words that went without saying. Without Xiao Chen, there would not be the current her. No matter what she had to do for him, she was willing.

Lan Shaobai said, “There is no need to say that. If I did not guess wrong, you are planning to use Heavenly Star Island as a foundation to reestablish the Dragon’s Gate. Actually, I am rather filled with anticipation over this. I want to see for myself the rise of the Dragon’s Gate in this flourishing age.”

Mo Chen interjected, “However, reestablishing the Dragon’s Gate is not something that will happen quickly. You have to be patient.”

Xiao Chen nodded his understanding. The accumulations of a sect could not be amassed that quickly. Since he was starting from zero, establishing a sect would be extremely difficult. He was mentally prepared for this.

The three continued chatting for a while. Then, after Lan Shaobai concluded the matters and handed them to his subordinates, he led Xiao Chen back to Heavenly Star Island.

The three bypassed Heavenly Star City and arrived at the foot of a mountain range. Lan Shaobai pointed to several towering peaks in the mountain range and said, “That is the future Dragon’s Gate. I buried all the Peak Spirit Veins you gave me there.

“Right now, there are only a few youths with reasonable talent. I assigned the job of teaching the children to Xiao Yu. The main reasons for there being so few disciples are her heavy workload and the lack of other suitable masters.

“As for Jin Lin, Liu Ke, Xiao Xian, and Yue Chenxi, I got them to focus all their attention on cultivating. It would be too unfortunate if they waste their talents. However, our resources are still too limited. Right now, the aid that Peak Spirit Veins can provide them is slowly diminishing.”

As one’s cultivation increased, the cultivation speed that resulted from Peak Spirit Veins would inevitably gradually slow down. Unless one could obtain resources of a higher grade, one could only build their accumulations over time.

To a genius cultivator, this delay was a major blow.

As the two brought Xiao Chen to the highest peak, Lan Shaobai caught him up with what his other friends were doing.

When Xiao Chen heard all this, he was delighted. Unexpectedly, the potential of his old friends was stupendous. In just slightly over a year, Peak Spirit Veins could no longer satisfy them. They were probably already grandmaster-level Martial Sages.

This was good. Of all the things that Xiao Chen lacked, resources were not one of them.

Xiao Chen smiled and said, “There is no rush for this matter. Later, gather all of them. I will give them a pleasant surprise. Oh, right, what’s that?”

Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s eyes caught sight of a large platform at the waist of the mountain. This platform was ruined beyond recognition, yet it had not been dealt with even now.

Lan Shaobai glanced over and explained, “That is a transportation formation. Before the Three Holy Lands left, they destroyed it. If it was complete, we could use it to send us directly to the Martial God Palace.”

Mo Chen smiled mysteriously. “That transportation formation is extraordinary. It is hardly as simple as it looks.”

Hearing that, not only Xiao Chen felt curious, but Lan Shaobai was puzzled as well. It was just a transportation formation; what other mysteries could there be?

Mo Chen added, “I noticed quite some time ago that it was very unusual. This kind of transportation formation is not easy to set up and is even more difficult to destroy. No matter how badly the Three Holy Lands want to make things difficult for you, they would not go to such expense.”

Xiao Chen asked, “You mean to say they had some other purpose in destroying the transportation formation?”

“That’s right. They do not want you to discover certain things. Have you ever wondered why this island is called Heavenly Star Island and why the Martial God Palace’s territory in the oceanic world is here?”

Xiao Chen shook his head. “I did not think about this much. Back then, I only thought that the Three Holy Lands held a grudge against me and banished me to this distant place.”

“The Three Holy Lands definitely hold a grudge against you, and it is possible that they chose this place on purpose. However, was it really the decision of the Three Holy Lands?”

This question thoroughly whetted Xiao Chen’s interest. He asked, “What do you mean?”

“I checked its information. Ten thousand years ago, when the Azure Emperor ruled the Heavenly Starry Ocean, this was the base of the Dragon’s Gate, which means that the name of this island we are standing on was given by the Azure Emperor.

“Why was it called Heavenly Star Island? The reason is simple. The island that the Dragon’s Gate was on was the center of the entire Heavenly Starry Ocean, the center of the entire oceanic world,” Mo Chen said with a smile. Clearly, she had prepared this information long ago, and it was all very organized and appeared very trustworthy.

Xiao Chen felt somewhat dazzled. The island under his feet was actually the Dragon’s Gate’s base in the Heavenly Starry Ocean ten thousand years ago.

Which was to say, the Dragon’s Gate’s mountain tablet that Xiao Chen managed to reclaim was erected on this island ten thousand years ago in the first place.

However, ten thousand years was a long time. Xiao Chen did not even know how the geography had changed over time. Everything from the past had already vanished like smoke.

If the Three Holy Lands did not choose this conferred land for me, then who did?

The Thunder Sovereign!

That’s right. It could only be the Thunder Sovereign. The others would not be able to make such a decision. Could the Thunder Sovereign have some other purpose in allocating this island as my conferred land?

Furthermore, could this purpose lie in this transportation formation? Perhaps the Three Holy Lands knew about it, hence the amount of effort they spent to destroy this transportation formation before they left?

Of course, all this was possible. However, it could also be that Xiao Chen overthought this. Perhaps the Thunder Sovereign allocated this as his conferred land with the intention of him being able to cultivate in peace.

Lan Shaobai seemed to recall something. “Speaking of which, I do remember seeing some Remnants on this island. However, I did not pay much attention to them at that time. Furthermore, they seemed ruined beyond recognition, so I never cared about them.

“Brother Xiao, I’ll bring you over when we have some time.”

Xiao Chen nodded in thanks. Then, he looked at Mo Chen and said, “Mo Chen, after speaking so much, you still have not told us what you discovered at that ruined transportation formation.”

Mo Chen smiled and said, “There is no rush. I’m about to get to it. That transportation formation can provide a one-way entry to a secret realm, a secret realm that can be accessed only from there.”

“Secret realm?”

Xiao Chen and Lan Shaobai exchanged glances. They both saw doubt in each other’s eyes.

“That’s right—a secret realm. Aside from being able to send one to any of the Martial God Palace’s transportation formations, that transportation formation can also provide a one-way entry into a secret realm.

“For the past half a month, I have been going there whenever I have free time. If my guess isn’t wrong, this secret realm contains all the war trophies that the Azure Emperor obtained when he conquered the Heavenly Starry Ocean.”

Once again, Mo Chen doled out shocking information with a remarkably calm tone.

Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up. Then, he entered into deep thought, consolidating all his previous analysis. Mo Chen’s words were quite reliable.

Lan Shaobai asked somewhat excitedly, “Mo Chen, are you sure?”

Mo Chen nodded and replied, “I am a hundred percent sure about the secret realm. It definitely exists. However, as for whether the Azure Emperor did store all the war trophies he obtained in the Heavenly Starry Ocean in there, that is only based on some clues and the information recorded in some ancient records, which led me to that conclusion.”

Xiao Chen said, “Let’s go over and take a look.”

After saying that, he pushed off the ground and took the lead in heading to the ruined platform. He bent over a pile of shattered rocks, investigating how badly damaged the transportation formation was.

After a while, he frowned and said, “The degree of damage is really severe. The tens of thousands of formation lines buried underneath are all intentionally damaged.”

Mo Chen said, “I can try to repair the formation lines. However, we do not have the Holy Spirit Veins to put in the nodes. Even if I repair it, there is still no way to activate it to enter the secret realm.”

Xiao Chen straightened and asked calmly, “How many Spirit Veins are needed?”

Mo Chen answered with a smile, “For the other nodes, we can substitute Spirit Veins of lower ranks. After all, it is not like we need transport to very distant locations. However, the nine main nodes all require Holy Spirit Veins. Otherwise, the basic framework of the transportation formation will not take shape.”

Lan Shaobai was flabbergasted. After a while, he said, “Nine Holy Spirit Veins…aside from Immortal Holy Lands and Rank 9 sects with deep accumulations, no other faction can casually take out such things.”

Mo Chen sighed and nodded. “This is also why I never thought of repairing the formation lines. Nine Holy Spirit Veins are far too much for us to consider.”

Xiao Chen walked around this damaged transportation formation for a long time. After he verified that he was not capable of repairing it, he decided to assign this task to Mo Chen.

“Mo Chen, I’ll leave this to you. There is no need to worry about Spirit Veins. Just work on repairing this transportation formation as quickly as you can.”

This decision stunned Mo Chen and Lan Shaobai. That was nine Holy Spirit Veins. If they recalled correctly, Xiao Chen should have only one.

Furthermore, this Holy Spirit Vein was a gift from the Spirit Fox King’s adoptive daughter, so they could not use it like that. It should be buried under Heavenly Star Island’s main peak to function as the main Spirit Vein.

Lan Shaobai said embarrassedly, “Brother Xiao, there is no need to force yourself.”

Mo Chen asked, “Big Brother Xiao Chen, do you really have nine Holy Spirit Veins?”

Wordlessly, Xiao Chen waved his right hand. Nine suppressed golden clumps of Spirit Vein’s origins floated in the air.

The density of ambient Spiritual Energy instantly soared, increasing by more than a hundredfold. Torrential golden rain fell from the sky.

This spectacle shocked Mo Chen and Lan Shaobai so much that they could not close their gaping mouths.

Xiao Chen took out nine Holy Spirit Veins in such a casual manner, without a trace of gravity whatsoever, like he was just taking out something ordinary.

He did not have the slightest inkling that his action was incredibly shocking.