Chapter 346: The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

Chapter 346: The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

"Haaa..." Before the master of the Ultimate Martial Manor started talking about the theft of the Baxia Dual Rings, he first let out a deep sigh.

"This treasure is my most reliable companion while traversing the nine provinces and the four seas. I always keep it in a personal enchanted storage tool, never letting it leave my side easily."

Chu Liang had heard a bit about the Baxia Dual Rings.

Legend has it that this treasure was forged by fusing the soul essence of the draconic celestial beast Baxia[1]. When a cultivator wore these rings, their arms gained immense divine power, making them feel as if they could conquer the heavens and the earth.

Currently, it was ranked one hundred and thirty-three in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures.

The reason it hasn't made it into the top hundred was that it has no other abilities aside from enhancing strength. It really couldn’t be considered a top hundred legendary artifact. However, the fact that it was able to be ranked this high just by enhancing strength showed how terrifyingly it could boost one's power.

Much of Li Zhutian's early fame in the world of immortal cultivators was indeed due to this pair of enchanted tools.

"However, no matter how careful I am, I can't always carry the storage enchanted tool. The jade ring that contains the Baxia Double Rings is with me even while bathing, except when I'm having...um...with my wife... because it's just really inconvenient." He said, feeling a bit awkward at this point.

"So during that short time, my wife would keep the storage ring, and I would put it back on immediately afterward."

"Why not put the storage ring in another storage enchanted tool?" Yun Chaoxian suddenly asked. "That way, the ring wouldn't be in the way."

"But then the other storage enchanted tool would be in the way," Li Fujian explained to Yun Chaoxian in a serious tone. But then, he pondered to himself and added, "But if the other storage enchanted tool was also stored in a storage enchanted tool..."

"You two, stop embarrassing yourselves," Senior Brother Ren Hongdao said sternly. "No matter how many storage enchanted tools you use, there will always be one storage enchanted tool left to carry... In my opinion, he could have just put it in his pocket and there wouldn’t be need for a storage enchanted tool."

Zhang Chen, who was beside him, smiled and gently pressed Ren Hongdao on the arm as he whispered, "Brother Ren, it's not your turn to speak yet."

Li Zhutian, looking embarrassed, scratched his head and said with a smile, "You can’t wear any clothes when you are doing that..."

Chu Liang listened thoughtfully from the side.

Although the previous conversation sounded like mentally ill patients from the Great Astral Sect discussing their problems, it did reflect an issue.

There would be moments when even the most powerful storage enchanted tools had to be set aside. Only legendary artifacts with their own storage space that could be fused with the soul, such as the White Pagoda, would always be present.

But the White Pagoda could only store treasures produced by the White Pagoda itself.

To truly store items invisibly and tracelessly, there would be only two ways. The first was to master the immortal art of Hidden Mountains and Seas, which allowed the cultivator to open up a personal space where any item can be stored and accessed at will.

This way, even if you were completely naked, you could still retrieve whatever you need with a simple gesture.

The second method was to create one's own little world. Those at the eighth realm who had attained the Heavenly Origin, or some seventh-realm experts proficient in the Great Dao of the world, could achieve this. In the world they created, they were like gods. If they were able to create their own little world, they were obviously capable of storing items.

Chu Liang could not help but think about the security issue with the increasing wealth and resources he would have in the future. This was a significant issue as this world has no banks. Li Zhutian's incident served as a reminder that the learning of the immortal art—Hidden Mountains and Seas—should be a priority.

Otherwise, if something were ever stolen, even if he cried about it, he would have no way to recover it.

After the brief interruption, Li Zhutian continued, "That night, I was sleeping... with my thirty-second wife and thirty-ninth wife. The ring was kept by the thirty-ninth wife in the cabinet. Unexpectedly, she went out during the process, claiming she needed to relieve herself, and took the ring with her.

"Even after we waited for a long time she did not come back, I then realized she was nowhere to be found in the entire estate, and our newly hired gardener went missing as well."

"So the thirty-ninth wife eloped with the gardener?" asked Zhuge Guanxing from the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals. "Then why did you say that Li Feiyu did it?"

"Because we later found this in the gardener's room," Li Zhutian said, showing an item to everyone.

It turned out to be a jade talisman with a swimming fish with two fins carved on it.

"Li Feiyu leaves this behind every time he steals something. Only then did I realize he probably disguised himself, infiltrated my estate, and abducted my wife just to steal the treasure!"

Li Zhutian said with a sigh, "I never expected that the woman I loved most in my life... my thirty-ninth wife would betray me for a thief! How could she betray my deep affection?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Liang understood why someone like Li Zhutian, who was at the sixth-realm of cultivation, had left the Great Astral Sect.

The Celestial Pivot Pavilion specialized in astrology, ranking the first in the technique of astrological divination.

The Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals, on the other hand, embraced various traditions and excelled in multiple techniques, such as planchette writing[2], Liu Ren Divination,[3] astrological divination, deity-invoking rituals, physiognomy, and qi-reading fortune-telling.

Disciples of the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals usually choose to study one of these methods based on their personal interests and talents.

But Zhuge Guanxing was different.

He mastered all these techniques and excelled in each of them.

After a while, the divine eye on his forehead disappeared, and he opened his eyes. He looked at the patterns in the sand tray and said two words. "Donghuai."

...

Tang Shi and Ji Lingyu returned to their room, both girls looking anxious.

"Elder Sister Lingyu, do you have any ideas?" Tang Shi asked as she looked up.

"Yes! Let me try!" Ji Lingyu nodded, "Let's go check the gardener's room."

At their request, the guards of the Ultimate Martial Manor quickly escorted the two girls to the room of the gardener that had run away.

As Ji Lingyu stood in the courtyard, she kept a serious expression.

She had run away from home and wasn't like Huang Ling'er, who could survive on her own. For the past several days, she had heavily relied on her friends. Of all her friends, Tang Shi had helped her the most.

Although she was the youngest sister at home, she was still an older sister to Tang Shi, so it was natural for her to want to take care of Tang Shi.

Furthermore, she had an unusual competitive spirit.

Considering these three factors, she very much wanted to help Tang Shi win this challenge.

She felt even more eager to win than Tang Shi herself...

Ji Lingyu brought her index and middle fingers together, closed her eyes, and brushed her eyelids, causing a flash of golden light to appear.

When she opened her eyes again, beams of divine light illuminated the surroundings!

The Xuan Yuan Eyes of the Ji family possessed various powers, with different eye colors corresponding to different mystical abilities. With her golden eyes, she could see a thousand li away.

After her subsequent cultivation, her abilities improved. Now she could not only see distant objects but also traces in the void that ordinary people couldn't see.

From Ji Lingyu's perspective, she saw countless mixed and blended colors, among which was the one she sought. As she followed that color, her vision began to extend infinitely.

"He went to a city in Jiangnan... Let's hurry and follow the traces before they disappear!"

...

Yun Chaoxian and Chu Liang returned to their room, and Yun Chaoxian also looked up and asked, "Brother Chu, do you have any ideas?"

Chu Liang spread his hands and said, "No."

"Huh?" Yun Chaoxian scratched his head. "What should we do now?"

"Right now..." Chu Liang rubbed his chin. "I'll go ask the butler if my Golden-Furred Hou has been fed."

1. Baxia is a Chinese mythical creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a turtle. It is considered to be a symbol of good luck. ☜

2. The Raw for this is 扶乩 (Pronounced Fuji) and it is a Chinese automatic writing method that uses a suspended sieve or tray called a planchette to guide a stick writing Chinese characters, either in sand or the ashes of incense. ☜

3. One of the three traditional Chinese fortune-telling methods that involve complex calculations based on celestial stems, earthly branches, and other elements to predict future events and seek guidance. ☜