Chapter 349 - 320: The Great Ups and Downs of Life

Chapter 349: Chapter 320: The Great Ups and Downs of Life

A Tributor the moment he joins!

Warmly welcomed by the Elders!

"Good, very good..."

The grand hall was still in an uproar. True Master Duobao’s expression was beyond ugly. He had thought many would stand with him; that’s how it should have been...

He considered turning back, but he couldn’t bring himself to lose face.

Besides.

He wasn’t the only Pill Master in the Primordial Sect. Even if he were, the world was vast, and Pill Masters were a dime a dozen. There was no way he would ever have to beg Chen Che.

Thinking this, Duobao sneered, flicked his sleeves, and stormed off.

"He’s gone?"

Watching the man’s retreating figure, Chen Che wasn’t surprised. The others had never clashed directly with Thousand Eyes; only Duobao had. Besides, he had never expected to be on good terms with every Golden Core.

As for the people before him...

’When there’s profit to be made, they come to build connections. If there’s none, they’d probably cast me aside like a worn-out shoe in an instant...’

Chen Che knew full well that few, if any, were sincere.

But that was normal. Who would treat a stranger with such warmth upon their first meeting?

He looked up again.

The Primordial Ancestor had already left the hall, and the hall itself had grown even more boisterous.

"Tributor Chen, you’ve just arrived at the Primordial Sect, and we haven’t even had the chance to welcome you properly yet."

"True. There’s no time like the present. Let’s do it today..."

The crowd of Golden Cores burst into chatter. Some offered congratulations, others offered to host a banquet. Even the more reserved ones nodded in greeting, not wanting to start off on the wrong foot.

"Of course, definitely!"

Chen Che readily agreed to everything. It was not until the sun began to set that he finally descended the mountain.

"Valley Master Chen, how did the examination go? His venerated self..."

Tang Linli was still waiting on the fifth level. When he saw Duobao come down with a cold expression, he had already guessed what had likely happened. So, he had waited. The moment he saw Chen Che strolling down with his hands behind his back, he immediately hurried over with a flattering smile.

Chen Che raised a hand and, with a flip of his wrist, a token appeared.

"Tributor Chen..."

Tang Linli was stunned. The Ancestor wasn’t just ’very satisfied’—he had directly bestowed a Sacrificial Token! This meant Chen Che wasn’t just a vassal lord but now held a status within the sect equivalent to that of the Elders and Chiefs.

Keep in mind, the one from the Ye Family had only received his token a hundred years after his Core Formation.

Don’t underestimate this one additional title. It meant he was now practically a member of the Primordial Sect. It was like being a Tributor in Jinyun Valley; even ordinary disciples had to greet him respectfully.

At the same time.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had handled things impartially along the way and hadn’t tried to make things difficult for Chen Che.

Thinking of this, he quickly pulled a House Title from his robes.

"Lord Tributor, you don’t have a place to stay in Primordial City yet, do you? This is a fine courtyard residence in the city. It’s a small token of this junior’s respect for you, so please don’t refuse. A dignified Golden Core True Master and a Valley Master such as yourself can’t possibly stay in an inn..."

"In that case, it would be rude of me to refuse."

There was no reason to refuse, so Chen Che simply accepted it.

A courtyard residence in Primordial City wasn’t cheap. He had just handed out twenty thousand Spirit Stones not long ago, and now he had already gotten it all back, and several times over at that.

...

"Elder Meng, what’s wrong?"

Just as he came down the mountain, he saw Meng Qianxun with a worried look on his face.

"The other Golden Core families were fine. I sent them our calling cards, and they said they would pass on the message. But when I went to Duobao Mansion earlier, I was thrown out right after announcing my name. I couldn’t even get past the gate."

Meng Qianxun sighed endlessly.

He knew that Golden Core cultivators from Major Sects were arrogant, but he never thought they’d be *this* arrogant. Although he was a new Golden Core, if he were to travel the world, any Golden Core would welcome him with a smile to their Cave Mansion based on his status alone.

But when he tried to pay his respects to these people, it was as if he were still just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Whether they would receive him or not depended entirely on their mood.

"Duobao is vengeful over the smallest grievance and incredibly petty. It seems he’s still blaming us for the matter with the Hunzhou Five Races. But there’s nothing to be done about it. He was the one who gave the order, but we were the ones who carried it out..."

It was Thousand Eyes’s order.

Originally, Thousand Eyes should have been the one to take the heat, and they wouldn’t have had to face this. But with him dead, the debt now fell to them.

"...I..."

Chen Che was just about to say he had become a Tributor when Meng Qianxun cut him off.

"As for Duobao, since we can’t resolve this, let’s just stay in Primordial City for a few more days and meet the other Golden Cores. We can try to build some relationships. The Golden Cores in the Primordial Sect aren’t all one big happy family; someone is bound to accept us."

"Even if no one is willing, it doesn’t matter. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. We can just be the local lords of our Yunzhou."

Though he said that, Meng Qianxun was still deeply worried.

Duobao was extremely well-connected. If they didn’t have a few people willing to speak up for them, all the difficult and thankless jobs would fall on their shoulders in the future. Reporting to the Primordial Sect after Core Formation didn’t mean it was over. From then on, you had to accept mobilization orders.

For example, if a Demon Beast appeared somewhere, you’d be ordered to deal with it.

If there was a disturbance caused by some Evil Cultivator, you’d have to go hunt them down yourself...

"Actually, I..."

"Don’t you worry, either. Worst comes to worst, I’ll take the lead. My Queen Bee is currently consolidating its bloodline, and I’m at least seventy percent sure it can break through to the Golden Core realm."

Meng Qianxun waved his hand, feigning a carefree attitude to signal to Chen Che not to worry.

"What are we old folks for, if not to stand in front and shield you from the wind and rain? Once Changtu achieves Core Formation, the three of us Golden Cores will be able to withstand the pressure."

’If things go well, it might even be five.’

The other two were, of course, Chen Xi and Xiao Chan. The former was one of Thousand Eyes’s household slaves. If even they couldn’t escape Duobao’s schemes, he wouldn’t be able to either.

As for the latter...

Once he achieved Core Formation, things would get very interesting for the Primordial Sect.

Meng Qianxun rambled on all the way into the inn, giving Chen Che no chance to speak at all.

There were many properties in Primordial City, but most of the good locations were occupied by the rich and powerful. Even if you were an "overseas fierce dragon," the most you could hope for was a small, independent courtyard. Every place has its own rules...

New in town?

Start by playing the part of the grandson.

"Who is it?"

A knock from the courtyard gate interrupted Meng Qianxun’s rambling.

He opened the gate. An old man with a beaming smile stood there—it was Qiu Tianshui’s steward. Behind him was a carriage, and not only was it incredibly luxurious, but the creature pulling it was actually a Foundation Establishment Dragon-Scale Demon Horse.

Meng Qianxun raised an eyebrow. He had met this steward before. Although the man had been polite to him, there was a subtle hint of arrogance in his demeanor. But now, coming to their door, not only was the arrogance gone, but his attitude was one of pure deference.

"This is?"

Even though he was just a steward, Meng Qianxun didn’t dare to be disrespectful. As the saying goes, a seventh-grade official in front of the Prime Minister’s gate is not to be trifled with.

"By my master’s order, I have come to invite Tributor Chen and Elder Meng to a banquet at Qunxian Pavilion..."

"Qunxian Pavilion!"

Meng Qianxun’s eyes widened. "A banquet?"

Suddenly, he caught the key phrase.

Tributor Chen?

"Che’er, what is this?"

Turning his head, Meng Qianxun asked in astonishment.

"I’ve become a Tributor of the Primordial Sect."

"Why didn’t you say so sooner!"

"You never gave me a chance to speak..."

"Good, good, good!"

Beyond his astonishment, Meng Qianxun was filled with delighted surprise. However, once they arrived at Qunxian Pavilion, he discovered it wasn’t just Qiu Tianshui. Aside from Duobao, practically all the other Golden Cores were already there.

Even Huang Shiwo, whom he had initially considered the most likely to cause trouble for Chen Che, turned out to be the most enthusiastic one. At the banquet table, he was all smiles, acting like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years, and even Meng Qianxun received considerable attention because of it.

Besides Huang Shiwo, the other Golden Cores were also incredibly magnanimous, frequently raising their cups and toasting one another at the table.

His original hope had merely been to avoid being given a hard time, but he never expected to be treated like the guest of honor, with everyone fawning over them.

...

...

"What exactly happened during the examination?"

The night wasn’t over even after the banquet ended.

Next, the various powers in the city, large and small, all rushed to send their calling cards. They had to deal with all of that, so the two of them didn’t return to the inn, going directly to the courtyard residence Tang Linli had given them. Only then did Meng Qianxun find the time to ask about the day’s events in detail.

"The Ancestor took you as a Junior Brother? And gave you a Sacrificial Token on the spot! He even gave the green light for Foundation Establishment Pills and Qingxu Guiyuan Pills? Good, that’s great! You can refine them openly from now on. By the way, did he mention the quota for the Black Tortoise Calm Sea...?"

"No."

Chen Che shook his head. He was actually a bit curious himself but had resisted the urge to ask.

"...Perhaps your strength isn’t sufficient yet, or maybe you haven’t earned enough trust. But the Star-Picking Sect is there too. That place is a vortex. Even Thousand Eyes was severely injured in the Black Tortoise Calm Sea. It’s actually a good thing for us not to go."

As a wily old fox, Meng Qianxun quickly figured out the key points.

Besides, with their current strength, it wasn’t suitable for them to go to the Black Tortoise Calm Sea anyway. On top of that, they still had True Master Chixia’s Traveling Palace. There was no need to get involved.

In short, this trip to report to the sect was a complete success. The only fly in the ointment was that their relationship with Duobao had worsened, but that was something they had expected.

"You go and cultivate. I’ll sort through these invitations. We’ll visit the Golden Cores first and push the others back. We’re people of status now, so we can’t be too eager. We won’t refuse benefits, but we can’t make any other promises..."

Looking at the invitations before him, Meng Qianxun couldn’t help but feel emotional. Life’s ups and downs came so quickly. In the morning, no one cared about them; by evening, their doorstep was bustling with visitors.

At least their days after reaching Core Formation wouldn’t be too difficult.

"Alright."

With the old man taking care of things, it was good that he didn’t have to worry about these trivial matters.

Returning to his room, he set up a barrier and immediately took out the Divine Statue.

For the past few days, he hadn’t forgotten to continue grinding away at Thousand Eyes’s consciousness. However, the remnant consciousness seemed to have sensed its own impending demise and had grown increasingly ferocious.

ROAR—

The moment he made contact, Thousand Eyes’s consciousness roared and pounced, as if vowing not to rest until it had devoured him.

But this time, Chen Che wasn’t anxious at all. Instead, he leisurely had his Divine Sense take his own form, guarding his core and resisting the other’s consciousness while slowly grinding it away, bit by bit.

...

「In the blink of an eye.」

The moon set, and the morning sun began to rise.

Only then did Chen Che open his eyes. The Divine Statue before him was still incredibly eerie, but it no longer had the menacing posture of being about to devour him at any moment.

’I finally did it!’

’I wonder... how much will my Divine Sense improve after I absorb the Power of Faith within this Divine Statue!’