Chapter 529 - Forbidden Area in the Back Mountain

Seeing that he was being so mysterious, Xiao Chen frowned and said to Qin Tianyu and the others behind him, “Then, you go back first.” Chu Qi said, “I’ll go with you.”

After everyone left, Xiao Chen and Chu Qi followed the man to the Mystic Sky Pavilion. When they arrived at the Mystic Sky Pavilion, Xiao Chen looked at the rankings on the Earth Ranking. 27th place, Beigong Qin. He clenched his fists, and walked to the dark stone chamber without looking at it anymore.

When they reached the stone chamber, the man cupped his fists and said, “Elder, Junior Brother Xiao has arrived. I will take my leave first.”

“Yes, go…go.” Elder Wu’s ghastly voice could be heard from within the stone chamber.

After a while, Elder Wu walked out of the stone room. When he saw Xiao Chen’s battered face, he stopped speaking, smiled and said, “Oh? Did you get beaten up by someone?”

Xiao Chen said grumpily, “All thanks to Bai Ling. She is behaving as if she has gone mad today. She did not say anything as soon as she walked up to me. Instead, she sent me flying with her knees. From there to there…” He was measuring the distance as he spoke.

Seeing that he was getting more and more agitated as he spoke, Elder Wu chuckled and said, “Young man, don’t get so worked up. Have a banana first.” He then took out a banana from behind him.

“Damn it! I don’t know where her strength is from!” Xiao Chen was still chattering on. Then he looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Elder, why did you ask me to come here?”

“Hehe!” Elder Wu smiled and threw a small bag to him. It was quite heavy. Xiao Chen opened it and was stunned when he saw that it was full of Mystic Stones.

He looked around warily as if he had committed a crime. Xiao Chen covered his mouth with his hand and said in a low voice, “What do you mean? Let’s make it clear that I will not carry out any acts of murder or arson!”

“Young man, don’t get so agitated.” Elder Wu stroked his beard and said with a smile, “You deserve it.”

“I deserve it?” Xiao Chen did not quite understand. How could there be such a good thing as manna falling from the sky? Moreover, even if it fell, it did not fall on him every time.

Elder Wu nodded and said, “You are right. This is your reward for entering the Earth Ranking the last time. It was the first time and you managed to enter the top 72 of the Earth Ranking. The one-time prize is 100 Mystic Stones. The other 150 will be given if you are placed in the top 36 and another 150, if you are in the top 10 and top 3 placings. For each feat, you will get a prize.”

“Is… is it true?” Xiao Chen felt that happiness had come too suddenly. 100 Mystic Stones was enough for him to use the Wisdom-forsaking Technique.

“Yes, but remember, the first award for the following ranking must be received on the list. The first reward can be counted as your good fortune, as you were squeezed out of the list only after your rewards were counted out.”

“Okay!” Xiao Chen did not say anything and put the Mystic Stone bag into the Divine Vessel. Then, he looked at the Mystic Sky Rankings, his eyes shining with a blazing light.

“Thank you very much, Elder. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave first.”

“Wait! Boy, since the old man asked to see you alone, of course… ahem, ahem.”

Well, Xiao Chen had expected that things would not be so simple. When he looked at Chu Qi, she immediately went to the teleportation formation without saying anything.

Elder Wu led Xiao Chen into the room and said mysteriously, “Last time you told me that you met… a strange Illusory Beast when you entered the stone room?”

Xiao Chen gave him a strange look. “That’s right. It smiled and then stuck its tongue out at me. Are all the Illusory Beasts here so weird?”

“Ahem, ahem.” Elder Wu coughed twice and moved closer to him. “Why don’t… why don’t you enter again and draw the Illusory Beast out?”

“Draw it out?” Xiao Chen hurriedly stepped back. “Don’t joke with me. That thing can reduce me into meat puree with a single slap. By the way… Is there something wrong with this Illusory Beast? Tell me honestly, what this Illusory Beast is?”

“Ahem!” Elder Wu stroked his beard. “There is no problem at all. It’s probably… probably that it has now gained its own mind. Ahem, that is it. There is no other problem. Right, that’s right.”

Xiao Chen rolled his eyes. Even an idiot could tell that there was a problem from the expression on his face at the moment. He said, “Forget it. I will see if I can help you when I come back to and get into the list at the end of the month. Now, I do not want to be on the Human Ranking.”

Elder Wu pondered for a moment before nodding slightly. He stroked his beard and said, “Very well. Remember, don’t mention this matter to anyone else, understand?”

“Heh heh!” Xiao Chen chuckled wickedly. He rubbed his fingers together and said, “Would you be willing to pay some money to seal my mouth?”

“I’ll kick you to the air!”

“Then I will go to the city tomorrow and tell everyone there is a strange Illusory Beast here.”

“If you are tired of living, go ahead. No one will stop you.”

After bickering for a while, Xiao Chen did not manage to get any benefits. In the end, he left. Before he left, Elder Wu frowned again, gave him a withering look and said, “After staying in the Wind-heeding Pavilion for so many days, how do you feel about the Third Grandmaster?”

Xiao Chen forced a smile and said, “What else? I have not seen her since she asked her disciples to send me a few packs of medicinal bath herbs last time. As for the other three grandmasters, their disciples will receive tests and training after returning from the training area in the afternoon. However, when the disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion went back, they did not see Shui Yue-er at all.”

When it was almost dark, Xiao Chen and Chu Qi returned to the island of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. At that time, dusk was falling, and it was dark everywhere. When they were about to return to the courtyard, Xiao Chen suddenly reached out his hand to stop Chu Qi and then made a gesture to her to keep quiet.

The two looked in the direction of the courtyard, only to see several figures sneaking around outside. Xiao Chen’s six senses were sharp, and he immediately saw that they were those several Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, among the new disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. He observed them for a while and saw that their actions were very sneaky, as if they wanted to do something, but at the same time, they were afraid.

Those people wandered around for a while and seemed to be still afraid of something. They whispered to each other and then sneaked away into the distance.

Xiao Chen frowned. After a while, he returned to the courtyard with Chu Qi. As soon as he returned to the courtyard, Chu Qi immediately became alert. Xiao Chen stretched out his Divine Sense and instantly scanned every corner of the front yard, but found nothing unusual.

After a while, he calmed down and said, “Next, I am going to prepare to practice a special Cultivation Method. Go and tell Tianyu, Qianye, Ling’er, Xuanxuan and the others that I will not be going to the cultivation area these days. Tell them to be careful.”

“Yes.” Chu Qi moved and went outside. Xiao Chen went to the house, boiled a bucket of hot water, threw the rest of the medicinal herbs into the bucket, took off his clothes, and soaked in it.

Xiao Chen felt a stabbing pain the moment he soaked in the water. Of course, most of it was due to the fact he had been beaten up by Bai Ling today.

“Well, Bai Ling. Today, you pushed me to the ground. Next month, I will push you back. I will take off your clothes one by one, so that you will cry and beg me to spare you… Hiss, alas, it hurts so much.”

Xiao Chen groaned as he massaged the bruises on his body. However, at the thought of Bai Ling’s tall figure, evil intentions floated into his mind. Of course, it was only an illusion.

Today, he was no longer the boy of 15 or 16 years old. Although he had the memory of the last life, after all, his physical age had also increased with the body. Now he was already 20 years old, and he was in the prime of his life.

After the medicated bath, Xiao Chen had a good rest for the night and had enough energy. He would not go to the cultivation area this day, but he would use the Wisdom-forsaking Technique in the courtyard. Now that Bai Ying was not around, he had to be very cautious. If he was disturbed when he was cultivating, he would be doomed and lose all his skills.

Therefore, although no one came to this courtyard during normal days, it was definitely not safe. He needed to find a place that was absolutely safe, and let Chu Qi help him run his cultivation instead of Bai Ying. It would take at least three days to dispel his cultivation and reach the first level of Nirvana. During these three days, there should not be any mistakes.

In the morning, Xiao Chen decided to look for Shui Yue, because he was not familiar with the island of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. He did not know which place he could go to and which place he could not.

When they arrived at the Wind-heeding Building, they saw that the flowers were blooming and the scenery outside was good. There was a courtyard outside, and a pavilion inside. Xiao Chen approached the outside of the courtyard and whispered, “Are you here, Third Grandmaster?”

A moment later, a lazy voice came from the pavilion into the courtyard, “Come in…”

Xiao Chen heard her yawning. She must have not woken up yet. It was almost 9 a.m. and she was still lying in bed. She was really a little lazy. He pushed open the fence at the gate of the courtyard and walked in. When he walked to the front of the small pavilion, the door opened with a squeak and Shui Yue came out from inside.

She was wearing thin gauze pajamas. Her hair was still scattered messily on her shoulders and she was barefooted. She walked to the railing and cupped her chin with her hands. She opened her sleepy eyes and looked at Xiao Chen. She said lazily, “Young man, why are you looking for me so early?”

Xiao Chen forced a smile, “Third Grandmaster, it is not early anymore. Look at the flowers in this courtyard. They are all looking up and laughing at you.”

“Don’t beat around the bush. Let’s get down to business.” Shui Yue yawned and said.

“Uh… well, I want to ask, is there any place in the Wind-heeding Pavilion for a closed-door training?”

“Closed-door training?” Shui Yue frowned and muttered, “Why do you have to do that? We still have a mission next month.”

“Well, actually, I will be having a breakthrough soon. I need to find a place where there is no one around, so that I will not be disturbed.”

“Well…” Shui Yue bit her fingertips and thought for a moment. “There is a forbidden area in the back mountain. It seems that no one has been there for so many years, even I have not been there for decades…”

“Ha… What?” The corners of Xiao Chen’s mouth twitched twice. He felt that she was a little unreliable.

Shui Yue looked at him and said, “It is the Punishment Cliff of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. When a disciple makes a mistake, he or she is made to go there as a punishment. But after so many years, no one has ever been there. If you want to go, go on your own. But I have to remind you not to go too deep into the cave.”

Xiao Chen began to understand. Every Grandmaster had a Punishment Cliff. Of course, the other three Grandmasters, especially the First Grandmaster, Lei Yan, were more strict in their management of the people. Thus, many disciples must have been banished to the cliff. As for Wind-heeding Pavilion, Shui Yue did not care about the disciples, so how could there be a Punishment Cliff?

Therefore, the Punishment Cliff on the side of the Wind-heeding Pavilion had probably been long deserted. However, the Punishment Cliff was a forbidden area after all, and no disciple would go there.

Xiao Chen frowned. No one had ever gone there? In other words, even if someone went there, no one would know…