Chapter 384 - 355: Returning to the Valley, Duobao’s Letter

Chapter 384: Chapter 355: Returning to the Valley, Duobao’s Letter

An hour later, the group returned to the Marsh Forest.

"It’s over."

Meng Qianxun looked back, glancing at the bottomless marsh below.

The entire expedition had taken about a year from start to finish. However, the time they actually spent inside the Traveling Palace was only seven or eight short days. Although the rewards weren’t as great as they had estimated, it was still more than a hundred years of accumulation.

The only regret was that there was one valuable item they couldn’t take with them:

The Traveling Palace!

"There’s no way to take the Traveling Palace."

Meng Qianxun naturally knew what everyone was thinking and said directly, "True Master Chixia’s Traveling Palace is recorded in many texts. Besides, it’s just an empty shell now. There’s no need to take it."

Of course.

He said this because the Traveling Palace had been refined into a Spiritual Artifact. It could be shrunk or enlarged, carried on one’s person, and wherever it was placed, it became a Cave Mansion.

Many Loose Cultivators did this; they would occupy a territory and then bring out their Traveling Palace.

Otherwise, it was impossible that True Master Chixia could have run around carrying a Traveling Palace several thousand *mu* in size. But the main reason they couldn’t take it was that they hadn’t found its core.

"I was just feeling a bit wistful. If the Traveling Palace were to appear in the world, it would definitely attract disaster." Meng Changtu laughed heartily and rubbed his Storage Ring. "We’ve gained a great deal from this trip. It’s not good to be too greedy.

Don’t forget, there are still many Golden Core True Masters searching for True Master Chixia’s Traveling Palace. If news of this gets out, it’ll cause a bloodbath. Even we wouldn’t be able to fend them off."

"That’s right. If word gets out, it will only attract the attention of those with ulterior motives. What should we do with this Traveling Palace?"

Xiao Chan agreed before asking, "Destroy it?"

"It’s a hot potato. We might as well just leave it here."

Chen Che said casually, "Besides, we’ve already erased all our traces. The most pressing matter is to leave this place first."

...

「One day later.」

In the forest on the back mountain of Jinyun Valley, the group from the True Master Chixia’s Traveling Palace expedition gathered once again. Although they had left the palace, there were still many things to handle, the most important of which was the Willow Tree Demon.

To ensure no accidents occurred, everyone had come along.

"Go!"

Chen Che waved his hand, and a brilliant Spiritual Light burst from the mouth of his Gourd. A seventeen to eighteen-*zhang*-tall Willow Tree Demon was quickly spat out.

"Careful, it might attack..."

Xiao Chan tightened his grip on the Soul-Calling Banner.

Everyone nodded slightly.

Those of a different race are bound to have different hearts; no one knew if the other party would forcibly tear up their contract.

The moment the Willow Tree Demon touched the ground, its thick roots sprang to life. They plunged into the earth like powerful dragons, their gnarled forms causing the surrounding ground to bulge upward.

With a series of CRACKING sounds, the surrounding trees were pushed aside.

For every *chi* its roots burrowed deeper, the Willow Tree Demon’s body grew by thirty percent. Clearly, its size inside the Traveling Palace had not been its true form.

WHOOSH—

The massive commotion startled countless birds and beasts in the forest, sending them scattering and fleeing with flapping wings. The disciples in the valley were horrified to find the pebbles at their feet jumping. Even the Cultivators in the Market could hear the deafening RUMBLE, as if some colossal beast were writhing underground.

"Don’t worry, it must be Valley Master Chen Cultivating."

"He’s a Golden Core True Master. A commotion of this scale is still considered small..."

Had such a disturbance occurred in any other region, the Cultivators would have been scared out of their wits and endlessly speculating.

But the Cultivators in the Market merely shot a sideways glance before returning to their own business.

"What is that Valley Master Chen up to?"

Lin Mobai grumbled, watching the valley as he drank his wine.

...

This violent transformation lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before finally stopping.

In the valley.

The group stared in astonishment at the Willow Tree Demon before them.

In that short time, its body had swelled to a height of sixty-seven *zhang*, like a small, verdant mountain. Its drooping willow branches swayed in the wind, resembling a green waterfall from a distance.

"Good heavens..."

Meng Qianxun’s eyelid twitched.

The increase in size wasn’t what astonished him. What truly shocked him was that, under the probe of his Divine Sense, he could clearly perceive the Willow Tree Demon’s intricate root system had already occupied nearly the entire underground of Jinyun Valley.

It was even continuing to spread outward, bit by bit.

Strictly speaking.

The size of this Willow Tree Demon already surpassed that of most Demon Beasts.

"It’s a good thing it wanted to leave the Traveling Palace and held no malice toward us. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable..."

Staring at the Willow Tree Demon, Chen Xi couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

Although she hadn’t experienced the earlier dangers, it didn’t prevent her from understanding how terrifying this Tree Demon was.

At the same time, she was envious.

If this Willow Tree Demon were planted within Thunder Accumulation Mountain, it would be like having a natural defensive barrier.

’Good, no accidents.’

Chen Che secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His biggest worry had been that the Willow Tree Demon would be too tyrannical and either forcibly occupy the entire forest or plunder all the Spiritual Qi from the area. From the looks of it, the demon was abiding by the rules.

It had only pushed aside the surrounding trees to make room for its roots.

From the outside, this willow tree just seemed larger than most, with no other discernible differences.

...

Over the next few days, the group divided the spoils from the Traveling Palace expedition. After setting aside the Pill Liquid and the Willow Tree Demon, what remained were the Jade Sword, the Furnace Cauldron, several million Spirit Stones, a grove of Taibai Jade Bamboo, and some Spiritual Artifacts, Spirit Herbs, and Pill Pills.

There weren’t many high-grade items, but the sheer quantity of everything was massive and disorganized. This was not a task that could be delegated to outsiders, so they had been busy taking inventory these past few days.

What Chen Che wanted most was that Pill Furnace.

However, when he brought it up, no one had any objections. On the contrary, they all agreed that the Pill Furnace should belong to Chen Che. It would be useless in their hands, whereas if Chen Che had it, they might also benefit from it.

With the Pill Furnace in his possession, Chen Che no longer had any designs on the remaining items.

’This is definitely a Pill Furnace of Tier Four or higher. I wonder what effects it has. I really want to try refining a Pill with this thing...’

Stroking the mountain-sized Pill Furnace, Chen Che didn’t hold back, directly examining the Furnace Cauldron.

’Does a Pill Furnace really need to be this big? I wonder if it was ever used to refine living creatures. There’s a biography that says True Master Chixia once put a giant scorpion into his Pill Furnace with some supplementary ingredients and refined a batch of Pill Pills in public...’

’But I probably don’t need to use this Pill Furnace right now. The Chixia Tripod should be enough.’

The importance of a Pill Furnace to a Pill Master was, of course, self-evident.

A higher grade wasn’t necessarily better.

"For this Taibai Jade Bamboo, Che’er will take forty percent, our Meng Family will take thirty percent, and Xiao Chan, Lu Qinglian, and Chen Xi will each take ten percent. Have the Spirit Stones been counted yet? Those are also..."

While Chen Che was examining the Pill Furnace, Meng Qianxun and the others were dividing the rest of the items behind him.

Although Chen Che had previously made it clear that he was indifferent to the remaining items, the others insisted on dividing them with him according to their prior agreement. The entire hall was sealed off, isolated by a Silent Barrier.

The items taken from the Traveling Palace were spread all over the floor, completely without ceremony.

If these things were put on display, they would definitely make many a Golden Core Cultivator’s eyes turn red with envy.

"I already said..."

Hearing the voice, Chen Che turned back with a wry smile.

"Rules are rules. If you hadn’t discovered this Traveling Palace, we wouldn’t have gotten anything. None of us are Pill Masters, so the Pill Furnace would be useless to us. One shouldn’t forget the well-digger when drinking the water. If any of us discover more ruins or Traveling Palaces in the future, we’ll all follow this same rule."

Meng Qianxun declared, finalizing the decision.

"Valley Master, someone from the Primordial Sect is here."

Chen Che smiled and was about to speak when a knock came at the door, and Hu Yao’s voice sounded from outside the hall.

The relaxed atmosphere in the hall instantly vanished as everyone sat up straight, their expressions uncertain and wary.

"Where are they?"

"They’ve already entered the valley."

"Please escort them to the discussion hall. I’ll be there shortly."

Glancing at the floor covered in Spirit Stones and Spiritual Objects, Chen Che motioned for everyone to remain calm, saying he would be right back. When he arrived at the discussion hall, he immediately saw an old acquaintance: Tang Linli.

His younger brother, Tang Lintao, was a guard in Primordial City. He was the one who had mistakenly intercepted the Little Chick and mobilized the City Defense Army to exterminate the Demon Beasts outside the city.

"Tributor Chen, my apologies for the intrusion."

Seeing Chen Che arrive, Tang Linli quickly stood up with a smile.

"Steward Tang, your visit this time is...?"

Chen Che asked, clasping his hands in a salute.

Tang Linli was a Steward of the Primordial Sect responsible for delivering messages, with a status equivalent to Ding Fei’s. However, the Primordial Sect was a massive organization. They had many Chief Stewards like Tang Linli, and above them was a supervising Chief.

"By order of the Sect."

Tang Linli slowly pushed a letter, which was engraved with countless runes, across to Chen Che.

Chen Che glanced at it, not particularly surprised. Now that he was a Tributor for the Primordial Sect, he had to obey their summons. He also wasn’t surprised that it had taken this long to arrive.

"Of course."

Without opening it in front of him, Chen Che cheerfully handed over a Storage Pouch. "Thank you for making the trip, Steward Tang. Please accept these Spirit Stones for your trouble."

Tang Linli immediately tried to refuse, but after some polite back-and-forth, he finally accepted it.

But when his Divine Sense swept over it, he discovered nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones inside and was secretly astonished. This Valley Master was extraordinarily generous.

"Tributor Chen, you probably haven’t heard about the recent events within the Primordial Sect, have you?"

Having accepted the gift, Tang Linli felt he should offer something in return.

’What’s happening in the Primordial Sect?’

The thought flashed through his mind, but Chen Che’s expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Please enlighten me, Steward Tang. I’ve been in seclusion for most of this time and am not clear on outside events..."

Aside from the period when the Chen Clan was established, Chen Che had consistently claimed to be in seclusion.

"Actually, it’s not a huge deal."

Tang Linli glanced at Chen Che and explained in a low voice, "The Sect Leader and the others have returned from the Black Tortoise Calm Sea. After they got back, the Sect Leader announced he was going into seclusion and appointed Elder Duobao as the acting Sect Leader."

At this point, he tapped his finger lightly.

"This letter..."

Chen Che looked down, his gaze fixing slightly on the rune-covered letter.

’The Sect Leader goes into seclusion...’

’And Duobao is already openly looking for trouble?’