Chapter 1681: Treasure of the Lu family (One)
As the furious roars of the ancestor rang out, the heavy stone door to the room sluggishly opened with a rumble. The ancestor of the Lu family walked out slowly in his grey robes. With every single step he took, his presence climbed to a new level. By the time he fully emerged from the room, his presence had flooded the surroundings, enveloping the sky and the entire Lu family.
He had already fully recovered from the wounds he suffered at Jian Chen's hand, and even his strength had reached his peak. It had even improved drastically, reaching the peak of early God. He was only an inch away from mid God, and he only needed to reach the required comprehension of laws.
When the ancestor's presence enveloped the entire Lu family, the expressions of the patriarch and the various elders all changed. Through the ancestor's presence, they could all clearly feel the ancestor's fury. There was also a palpable killing intent that sent chills down the spines of everyone in the presence.
"The ancestor is summoning us!" The patriarch looked towards the location where the ancestor cultivated and became extremely stern. Soon afterwards, he disappeared with a flash in an instance, rushing towards where the ancestor stayed as quickly as he could.
At the same time, all the elders in the Lu family hurried towards the ancestor's location as well.
The ancestor of the Lu family stood with his arms crossed and his face sunken outside his room. With a flash, several figures appeared before him. The patriarch and basically all the elders had arrived at the same time.
"Greetings to the ancestor!" The patriarch and the eight elders all bowed towards the ancestor.
The ancestor of the Lu family glanced past everyone coldly and said, "I've already reached the bottom of this. Lu Fei's betrayal is linked to the Mo clan. It was the Mo clan that bribed him, getting him to steal our treasure. Our treasure is currently in the hands of the Mo clan."
"What? It's actually the Mo clan? We were just planning on working with the Ando clan against them. Never would I have thought that they would move against us first. Ancestor, we have to make the Mo clan pay the price," an elder said coldly.
The patriarch's gaze became cold as well, "Looks like the Mo clan has become bold just because they have a Xi Yu. They're actually meddling in our affairs. Ancestor, I'd say we immediately move against the Mo clan together. We can't give them any time to catch their breath. Xi Yu is very talented, and she cultivates very quickly. If this continues, she'll become a God. At that time, we'll suffer heavy losses even if we work with the Ando clan. It won't be worth it."
"The patriarch is right. Ancestor, please give the order. We can't let the Mo clan catch their breath..." The other elders all requested for battle as well. They were all furious. The Mo clan had actually stolen their treasure. They could not be spared.
"No, we can't move against the Mo clan right now. Recently, the Mo clan gained a mysterious expert. He is very powerful. A few days ago, I battled him, and we both suffered heavy injuries in the end," the ancestor of the Lu family said with a sunken face.
"What? The Mo clan has gained another God?" The patriarch and the several elders immediately became surprised. To them, this was the worst news possible.
"No, he's not a God. Although I couldn't see his exact cultivation, I could tell from the battle that he was still a Deity. It's just that his comprehension of laws are no less than mine. Of course, just that still isn't enough to heavily injure me. What really injured me was the mighty treasure he used at the end," the ancestor of the Lu family said uneasily.
Before anyone could ask a question, the ancestor continued, "We have to make full preparations against an expert like that now that the Mo clan has gained someone like him. We can't act recklessly, or not only will we fail to wipe out the Mo clan, but we'll become doomed instead. You can leave for now. Be prepared for a battle against the Mo clan."
The patriarch and elders of the Lu family all departed.
"Mobilise everyone to pay close attention to all movements of the Mo clan. Remember to be secretive. Do not let the Mo clan discover your movements," said the ancestor.
"Yes, sir!" The black figure who had come bearing the news replied politely. He vanished after bowing to the ancestor.
The ancestor remained where he was with his arms crossed. He thought back to all the details of his battle with Jian Chen a few days ago. Whenever he thought of the Profound Sword Qi Jian Chen used in the very end, fear and dread would immediately appear in his eyes.
"Just what was that? Was it some secret treasure I haven't heard of? Or was it some sort of powerful technique?" The ancestor murmured. Even until now, he still did not know what the Profound Sword Qi used by Jian Chen was.
Seven majestic halls stood silently in the Mo clan. Origin realm guards surrounded every hall, and they held their posts silently.
Only the Godhood elders of the Mo clan could reside in such a hall.
Shen Jian currently sat on his jade bed in the newly-constructed seventh hall. In his hands were around a dozen thumb-sized divine crystals. He rapidly absorbed the pure origin energy within the low grade divine crystals, which transformed into strands of pure energy that entered his body. He refined it into a part of him.
There was not a lot of origin energy within low grade divine crystals. Very soon, all the divine crystals ran out of origin energy and turned to dust. Shen Jian slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jian Chen who sat at a table nearby. Currently, Jian Chen was eating some deserts leisurely. He said, "The origin energy that these low grade divine crystals can provide is extremely limited. Just these divine crystals won't be enough for me to reach mid Deity. These crystals can't even provide me a tenth or even a hundredth of the origin energy I require to reach mid Deity.
Jian Chen did not find that to be a surprise at all. Over a hundred thousand low grade divine crystals sounded a lot, but in reality, that was only a little more than a thousand mid grade divine crystals, or around a dozen high grade divine crystals.
Jian Chen arrived before Shen Jian and took out the box he obtained from Lu Fei again. He said, "If my guess is correct, the treasure of the Lu family should be in here, except the box is protected by powerful formations. Even Gods would need to expend quite the effort to get through it, so why don't we get through the box together and see what's inside?"
Chapter 1682: Treasure of the Lu Family (Two)
The light in Shen Jian's eyes immediately glittered when he saw the box protected by layers of formations in Jian Chen's hand. He was also extremely curious about the treasure of the Lu family.
"This formation really is very powerful. If I were alone, it'd be extremely arduous to get through the formations. However, if we work together, we should be able to get through it within a day," said Shen Jian. With that, a dazzling white light immediately appeared in his hand, condensing into a strand of powerful sword Qi in a single moment. Shen Jian pressed it against the box. Powerful origin energy pulsed within the white light. He had directly used both his cultivation and Laws of the Sword against the formations on the box.
"This is the Mo clan. Remember to control your power so that you don't alarm others," said Jian Chen. He also began to condense his power of laws in his right hand, creating a dazzling strand of sword Qi just like Shen Jian to attack the formations on the box.
Met with their attacks, the formations on the box immediately began to flicker. All the formations were activated at that moment, revealing their greatest power. They transformed into a robust defence against their vicious attacks. At the same time, the formations absorbed the origin energy in the surroundings; the energy rapidly gathered towards the box and was constantly absorbed so that the formations could replenish their energy.
After all, maintaining a formation required energy. Even though the formations on the box could sustain itself for quite a long while, there were many formations on the box, and there just happened to be formations that could gather origin energy.
As soon as the formations on the box began to absorb the origin energy in the surroundings, Jian Chen knew that it was no longer possible to avoid drawing the attention of the Mo clan. The formation on the box gathered origin energy exceptionally quickly. Let alone Godhood experts, even all the Origin realm experts in the Mo clan could sense the changes to the surrounding origin energy clearly.
However, this did not cause Jian Chen and Shen Jian to stop. Instead, they devoted themselves to getting through the formations because the hall was equivalent to Shen Jian's personal residence. Without his permission, even the patriarch of the clan could not enter without good reason, let alone the elders.
After all, Godhood experts were revered in the Mo clan, even if they had only just broken through to Godhood.
As expected, the other elders in the surrounding halls opened their eyes when they sensed the abnormalities of the origin energy in the surroundings. They all looked towards the seventh hall.
"Looks like Shen Jian's talent is very outstanding. He is actually able to create such a disturbance when he cultivates. There's no way I can match up to how quickly he absorbs origin energy..."
"Absorbing origin energy? Sigh, it has already been several thousand years since I've experienced something like that. I've already been stuck at mid Deity for several thousand years. It's just a pity that I've failed to make any progress with my comprehension of laws, preventing me from reaching late Deity..."
The Godhood elders in the Mo clan all murmured to themselves. They had mistakenly thought that Shen Jian's cultivation had caused the disturbance.
At the same time, the patriarch of the Mo clan looked towards Shen Jian's residence. Sensing the rate at which origin energy gathered in that direction, he could not help but praise, "So I was right. Shen Jian's talent is truly extraordinary. Apart from Yu'er, there's probably no one else in our clan who can rival him. I have to rope him in. If he becomes the seventh elder of the clan, we might become powerful enough to move into the provincial city. Of course, that is given that the Lu family and the Ando clan don't come to create trouble for us."
Several million kilometers away from the Mo clan, in a certain mountain range, there was a dense cluster of structures. They were beautiful, creating a wonderful combination with the surrounding mountains and water, partially enshrouded by mist. There were even various birds flying in the sky and precious beasts moving along the ground. They would cry out from time to time. From afar, it seemed like an otherworldly place.
This was where the Ando clan resided. The Ando clan was the same as the Lu family, Mo clan, and Atomos Sword sect. They were one of the four that reigned supreme in the region. However, compared to the three other organisations, the Ando clan had extremely great specifications for where they stayed. They had purposefully made the clan seem like an otherworldly place.
Of course, the Ando clan had paid quite the price to have everything set up in such a manner.
At this moment, in one of the secret rooms within the clan, the ancestor of the Lu family sat with a ruddy old man. The two of them discussed a certain matter sternly.
The ruddy old man was the ancestor of the Ando clan, Ando Gu.
"What? The treasure of your Lu family has ended up in the hands of the Mo clan? Lu Tian, are you sure?" Ando Gu stared at the ancestor of the Lu family in shock. Disbelief filled his face.
The ancestor of the Lu family's face darkened. His eyes were filled with killing intent, and he said coldly, "Ando Gu, do you think I'm joking? However, when Lu Tian fled from my Lu family, he was already heavily injured. When he met up with the people from the Mo clan, they took the treasure from him and killed him afterwards to silence him and prevent my family from learning about this matter."
"What the Mo clan never expected was that I would manage to break out of the formation in time to catch up, allowing me to learn who was responsible for this. Their plan to obtain the treasure of my Lu family secretly failed as a result."
With that, Ando Gu became stern as well. He said furiously, "I never thought that the Mo clan would be so wildly ambitious. They've gone too far."
The ancestor of the Lu family looked at Ando Gu and said with a deep voice, "Since the Mo clan has already laid their hands on us, there must be someone in your Ando clan that has been bribed as well. Maybe one of your Godhood elders has already pledged themselves to the Mo clan, and they're secretly eyeing the treasure of your Ando clan. They'll make your clan suffer the same as us once they have the opportunity."
Ando Gu slammed the table. He snorted coldly, "Looks like the Mo clan thinks they're a big deal now just because they have a Xi Yu. They think that can take on both of us just with that."
"No, the Mo clan doesn't just have Xi Yu. They also have another mysterious Godhood expert. It was he who took the treasure from Lu Fei initially, despite only being a Deity. I fought against him and failed to gain the upper hand, so I failed to retrieve our treasure," the ancestor of the Lu family said nonchalantly.
Ando Gu was surprised, "What? The Mo clan actually has such a great expert, to the point where even you failed to gain the upper hand? Just where did the Mo clan recruit someone like that?"
"Ando Gu, the Mo clan is about to rise. We have to move quickly. Otherwise, even if we band together, we won't be their opponents once Xi Yu becomes a God if you include that mysterious expert," said the ancestor of the Lu family.
Chapter 1683: Treasure of the Lu Family (Three)
Ando Gu gently tapped the jade table before him, and the light in his eyes flickered. He became uneasy. He measured the losses of his Ando clan if he went to battle against the Mo clan.
However, Ando Gu made up his mind after only hesitating for a short while. He stared at the ancestor of the Lu family with shining eyes and said gruffly, "Lu Tian, when do we move?" Ando Gu also understood the severity of the matter. If the Mo clan did not have Xi Yu or the powerful mysterious expert, the two of them could proceed with their plans against the Mo clan slowly so that they could minimise their losses. However, with Xi Yu's appearance and the existence of the mysterious expert, the Mo clan's overall strength had increased by a lot. If they kept dragging out their plans, the Mo clan would become even more challenging to deal with once Xi Yu became a God. They might not be their opponent even if they worked together.
As a result, they had to carry out their plan to deal with the Mo clan earlier. The sooner, the better.
The ancestor of the Lu family thought silently for a while and said, "Before we move, we have to make sufficient preparations to stop anyone from the Mo clan escaping. We also need to prevent from leaking the existence of Godking Duanmu's jade. We have to have formations that can envelop a range of ten thousand kilometers to do that, and it'll need to be able to endure attacks from Gods. Our Dong'an province doesn't possess something like that. I need to go to the royal capital.
"The royal capital is quite distant. It'll take up quite some time for the journey. Lu Fei, please head off immediately. If you lack divine crystals, we can provide you with some," said Ando Gu.
...
With a crisp crack in the seventh hall of the Mo clan, Jian Chen and Shen Jian finally removed the formation on the box after an entire day. As the formations shattered, the origin energy that had gathered came to a halt and gradually calmed down.
The Godhood elders and patriarch in the Mo clan only believed that Shen Jian had stopped cultivating, so they did not think too much about it. This was because when Godhood experts absorbed origin energy to cultivate, they would indeed create a such a disturbance. When their God ancestor absorbed origin energy to cultivate, he would create an even greater disturbance.
Jian Chen and Shen Jian both stared at the box in their hands eagerly. The item stored inside was the treasure of the Lu family. It was something that a clan with a God could regard as treasure, so its value was evident.
"Is it a cultivation method? Battle skill? Or perhaps an artifact? Or maybe something else that's priceless?" At that moment, both Jian Chen and Shen Jian began to guess what it was. Jian Chen slowly removed the lid under their eager gazes.
The moment the box was opened, a beam of dazzling light immediately emerged. A mysterious presence appeared as well, something that could pique the interest of any person. It permeated the surroundings.
Fortunately, Jian Chen and Shen Jian had been prepared before opening the box. They had cast down formations and barriers in the surroundings, isolating the presence from the outside world.
Within the box sat an inky-green piece of ancient jade. It glimmered with light. The jade was oddly-shaped, making it possible to tell with a single glance that it was incomplete.
"Is this the treasure of the Lu family?" Surprise appeared in Jian Chen and Shen Jian's eyes when they saw the piece of jade. Jian Chen could not help but extend his hand to pick it up, but as soon as he touched it, the piece of jade immediately emitted a shocking pulse that was enough to shake his soul. He jerked violently.
The presence was just too powerful and shocking. Even with Jian Chen's current strength, he felt as insignificant as an ant before the presence.
"This piece of jade is not simple." Jian Chen became stern. He stared at the piece of jade for a while, before passing it to Shen Jian.
Touching the jade, Shen Jian also jerked like Jian Chen. Surprise filled his face. He went through the same thing as Jian Chen.
"There's a sliver of the power of a Godking's soul in there," suddenly, fairy Hao Yue's voice rang out."
"The power of a Godking's soul?" Jian Chen and Shen Jian immediately became stunned when they heard that.
"A Godking clearly left this piece of jade behind. The power of his soul he left within the jade has already fused with the jade, causing it to change. It's only a pity that the jade's incomplete," said fairy Hao Yue.
"Fairy Hao Yue, do you know what this piece of jade is for?" Jian Chen asked modestly. There were still many things he did not understand about the Saints' World, while fairy Hao Yue in his eyes was a knowledgeable senior who knew many things more than him.
After a moment of thought, fairy Hao Yue said slowly, "In the Saints' World, there are indeed a few people who store a sliver of their power or a sliver of the power from their souls in objects, which they gift to their juniors. It represents their status and can also be a form of protection. Once an important junior comes across danger, the senior's power will appear and assist the junior in overcoming the problem."
"Lastly, many experts will cover where they cultivate with many formations, basically making it impenetrable. It would be so tough that even they themselves would struggle to break through it. Hence, to allow any juniors to enter with ease, they'll leave behind their presence, or a sliver of the power from their souls in an object. As a result, the juniors can easily pass through the formations.
"Not only has the power of the Godking's soul completely fused with the jade in your hand, but the jade is incomplete as well. If I've guessed correctly, the jade was probably a crucial item to pass through some formation, while the Godking who left behind this in the past probably met quite a horrible end. Otherwise, he would not have left the power of his soul in a shattered piece of jade."
Jian Chen and Shen Jian both beamed with joy when they heard that. They asked, "Fairy Hao Yue, are you saying that this piece of jade is the key to a Godking's dwelling?"
"That's extremely likely the case. However, even if it's the key to a Godking's dwelling, the jade you possess is incomplete, and you don't know where the Godking's dwelling is either. As a result, the jade is basically useless to you. You have to collect all the pieces of the jade and know the precise location of the dwelling to make use of it," said fairy Hao Yue.
Chapter 1684: The Source of Divine Crystals
Jian Chen became greatly disappointed after hearing fairy Hao Yue's explanation. He had originally thought that the treasure of the Lu family was something impressive, where even if it were useless to him, it would be worth quite a lot, allowing him to obtain a large number of divine crystals if he sold it. He could use them as resources to support Shen Jian's breakthroughs. However, he had never thought that the so-called treasure of the Lu family was just a piece of incomplete jade. Even though the piece of jade was likely to be the key to a Godking's dwelling, it would be useless if he did not assemble the entire piece of jade.
Moreover, even if he did assemble the entire piece, he still needed to know the precise location of the Godking's dwelling, or it would still be useless.
As a result, the piece of jade was equivalent to a useless piece of rock to Jian Chen. Even if he auctioned it off, he would not be able to get a good price for it.
"Esteemed senior Shen Jian, the patriarch and elder Xi Yu have come to visit," at this moment, a guard's voice rang out from outside politely.
Shen Jian immediately removed the surrounding formations and barriers. Jian Chen also dismissed his thoughts and quickly put the piece of jade back into the box and placed it back into his Space Ring.
Only after doing all that did Shen Jian and Jian Chen make their way out, personally inviting the patriarch and elder Xi Yu into the hall. They were extremely polite. After all, the two of them were in the Mo clan's territory. The clan had been kind enough already to get a guard to announce the patriarch's visit.
"May I ask if brother Shen Jian's finding this place comfortable? If there are any places you are discontent with, please bring it up to me directly. There's no need to be polite. I'll get people to fix the matter immediately," the patriarch clasped his hands at Shen Jian and Jian Chen with a smile. He did not put up the haughty airs of a patriarch.
"Thank you for your warm hospitality, patriarch. We are extremely satisfied with what you have provided us with," Shen Jian replied politely.
The four of them conversed a little, asking about each other's well beings. Afterwards, the patriarch took out a long, wooden box. Layers of formations protected the box, and it would pulse with powerful energy from time to time. Ignoring the fact that the box must have been holding something extraordinary, just the box itself was crafted from an extremely precious type of wood. It was invaluable.
"This is a gift I've specially prepared for brother Jian Chen. I wonder if you like it," the patriarch smiled as he passed the wooden box to Jian Chen.
"Patriarch, this..." Jian Chen hesitated as he stared at the wooden box that was pushed into his hands. Although he was unable to see what was inside the box due to the protective formations, he felt that the matter was rather inappropriate. After all, he had only come to the Mo clan a few days ago and was allowed to freeload off them. He even received a gift now.
Although he knew that the patriarch was trying to rope in Shen Jian and him, he did not plan on staying at the Mo clan for very long.
Seeing Jian Chen's hesitatation, the patriarch removed the formations on the box and directly shoved it into Jian Chen's hands. He smiled, "Brother Jian Chen, you should open it and have a look."
After a moment of hesitance, Jian Chen made up his mind and opened the box firmly. Immediately, a hazy, white glow emerged. A flying sword sat in there silently.
"It's the Flying Snow sword from Maple Leaf Pavilion!" Jian Chen's eyes narrowed.
The patriarch chuckled, "Maple Leaf Pavilion is a business that belongs to the city lord of Maple Leaf City, while the city lord and I are old friends. After learning that this sword caught brother Jian Chen's eye, I bought it as a gift for you. I hope you like it."
Jian Chen remained calm. He slowly closed the lid of the box and returned the sword to the patriarch. He said, "Patriarch, this gift is just too valuable. I cannot accept it."
"Thank you, patriarch. I'll accept this gift for Jian Chen then." However, right after Jian Chen finished talking, Shen Jian grabbed the box in his stead.
Jian Chen was stunned. He looked towards Shen Jian, and he appeared rather troubled.
With the gift accepted, the patriarch was in a fantastic mood. He conversed with Jian Chen and Shen Jian for a very long time before leaving with Xi Yu. Although the patriarch had never mentioned the fact that he wanted to rope in Jian Chen and Shen Jian, they all understood what was going on. They just chose not to talk about it.
From the patriarch, Jian Chen and Shen Jian also gained a better understanding of the surrounding region, in particular, the strength of the four organisations in the surrounding region. They learnt how many Godhood elders each organisation possessed and learnt all about a few of them. Even with regards to the Dong'an province, the two of them gained a rough understanding. It was just not very detailed.
"Jian Chen, take the Flying Snow sword for now. Don't worry about owing people favors. The matter at hand is to increase our strength and deal with the ancestor of the Lu family afterward. We can use the Lu family's territory to return the kindness of the Mo clan," said Shen Jian. Once they killed the ancestor of the Lu family, the Lu family would obviously no longer be able to hold their ground against the four other organisations. With Shen Jian and Jian Chen's assistance, the Mo clan could take over the Lu family's territory all too easily.
Jian Chen hesitated for a while before accepting the Flying Snow sword in the end. He could not use the twin swords, so his strength was drastically affected. Now that he had the Flying Snow sword, his battle prowess would return to his peak once again.
"The Lu family also control a divine crystal mine. The Lu family mines quite a lot of divine crystals from it every year. Shen Jian, cultivate with the low grade divine crystals you have on you right now. I'll go out and get some more for you. Once you reach mid Deity, we can move against the Lu family immediately," Jian Chen said to Shen Jian as a heavy killing intent bubbled in his voice.
Shen Jian stared at Jian Chen strangely. He smiled slightly, "Jian Chen, you plan on doing something with the Lu family's divine crystal mine?"
The corner of Jian Chen's lips curled slightly, revealing a smile with hidden intentions. He said, "All the wealth of the Lu family belongs to us anyway once the ancestor of the Lu family dies. I'm just collecting part of it early."
"Then be careful. Don't forget about the hidden problem on you."
"Don't worry. Unless a God personally comes, no one can force me to such a state. The ancestor of the Lu family should not have recovered so quickly from his wounds, and even if he has, he'll become heavily injured if he manages to avoid death once I use my Profound Sword Qi. How will he still have the power to pursue me?" Jian Chen sighed gently after reaching this point, "It's just a pity that we almost killed the ancestor of the Lu family last time but failed."
The Dark Cloud Mountains was within the Lu family's territory. As a thick layer of dark clouds often covered them, they had been named accordingly. Although the mountains seemed extremely ordinary from the outside, without anything special apart from its origin energy being two or three times denser, the Lu family would send a large number of workers to this location. Basically, a quarter of the Lu family's forces would be gathered here, and there would even be Godhood elders who patrolled the region. Clearly, they placed great importance on this place.
This was because there was a divine crystal mine in the depths of the mountains. Even though it was just a small mine for low grade divine crystals, it was still a massive piece of property to the Lu family, so the defences in the Dark Cloud Mountains were really tight.
There was a gaping chasm in the centre of the Dark Cloud Mountains, while the bottom of the chasm was flat. Various stone huts stood in there in an orderly pattern, with many bare-chested cultivators who only wore shorts moving around between them. It added some liveliness to the dark chasm.
These people were all miners that the Lu family had arranged to collect divine crystals. They were miners, but most of them were only at Sainthood, with Saint Emperors making up the majority of them. Even some early Origin realm miners would appear from time to time.
Chapter 1685: High Grade Divine Crystals
Aside from the miners, there were many other cultivators clad in armor scattered across the bottom of the chasm. They were all emotionless as they paid attention to the surroundings coldly. They gave off a presence that was extremely powerful in the eyes of the miners. These people clad in armor were all of the Origin realm, and there were quite a few of them at Reciprocity.
They were the guards that the Lu family had stationed here, and they equated to a quarter of the Lu family's entire force. Only a few of them patrolled the surroundings. Most of them just stood in particular spots without moving at all like statues. Upon closer inspection, it was quite evident that locations where they stood all connected up into an extremely powerful killing formation.
The killing formation would obviously be extremely powerful with so many Origin realm experts taking part. Even if Deities personally arrived, they would struggle to benefit from the situation at all.
There was a hundred-meter-tall stone tower between the stone huts at the bottom of the chasm. Not only was the tower the tallest structure there, but it also pulsed with a powerful energy. Clearly, it was not just any old stone tower.
Currently, there was a hawk-nosed old man at the top of the stone tower. He was small and short, skinny and bony. He looked down from above, and his rather thin lips would curl into an evil smile from time to time, making him seem sly.
"Being the supervisor here really is an easy job. I can make so much every year. Even the Godhood elders in the clan don't receive as much in offerings. Haha, I only have to remain as a supervisor for a thousand years, no, not even a thousand years. Just a hundred years is enough for me to make a huge amount of money," thought the old man. He liked this place a lot. This location was like heaven to him.
Of course, he did not take a liking to the environment, but to the fact that this was a divine crystal mine.
As the supervisor, he held the most power here. He controlled everything. All the divine crystals the miners excavated had to be handed up to him, and then he would hand it up to the Lu family. Apart from that, some miners would even secretly give him a small portion of the divine crystals that they were supposed to hand up to get on his good side and enjoy some minimal benefits, allowing him to do nothing and still make a considerable amount of money.
"It's just a pity that only a tiny, tiny portion of the divine crystals offered up to me by those miners are actually mine. I have to give the rest to the elders," the old man sighed. He felt some unwillingness as well as some helplessness. The Lu family was extremely strict about the supervisor's management of the mine, forbidding them from taking divine crystals for themselves. He was bold enough to do this because he had the support of a few elders in the Lu family. As a result, even if the patriarch of the Lu family found out about this, he could only turn a blind eye out of respect for the elders.
At this moment, disturbances suddenly emerged among the miners below. At the same time, an extremely pure origin energy appeared. The people below, including a few of the patrolling guards, quickly gathered together. They all discussed a certain topic with great interest and shock.
The old man's face turned icy. He directly flew down from the stone tower and said coldly and condescendingly, "What're you discussing? Disperse. Go do what you need to do."
A few of the guards immediately showed displeasure in their eyes after hearing the old man's words. The old man was not powerful; he was only at late Reciprocity, while some of the guards had already reached peak Reciprocity. As a result, some of the guards did not really care about the old man. However, since he had the support of Godhood elders, they did not dare to offend him either.
"It's high grade divine crystals. High grade divine crystals I say. Supervisor, someone has excavated high grade divine crystals," a few miners ran over excitedly. As expected, one of them carried a fist-sized divine crystal in their hands. It glimmered like a gemstone and radiated with extremely pure origin energy.
The old man was stunned. He stared at the fist-sized divine crystal in a daze and disbelief filled his face.
The Dark Cloud Mountains were only a small, low grade divine crystal mine. Usually, only low grade divine crystals could be excavated from a mine like this. If they were lucky, they would come across mid grade divine crystals from time to time. It was impossible for high grade divine crystals to appear in a low grade divine crystal mine like this.
"I- it's really a high grade divine crystal?" The old man said with his mouth agape. He had never seen a high grade divine crystal in his life. Even for mid grade divine crystals, he had only seen a thumb-sized piece in his life, yet the high grade divine crystal before him was actually the size of a fist.
Units of divine crystals were around the size of a thumb, one centimeter long, wide and deep. If the fist-sized divine crystal was divided into units, it would be several dozen pieces or even a hundred divine crystals.
The old man snatched away the high grade divine crystal, and greed flashed through his eyes. However, it vanished very quickly. He knew extremely well that he might have been able to try to get his hands on the divine crystal if it was low grade, but he definitely could not touch high grade divine crystals. Otherwise, even the elders supporting him would not be able to protect him anymore.
"I have to return to the clan immediately and report this matter to the patriarch. High grade divine crystals have actually appeared in the Dark Cloud Mountains. This is definitely not just a low grade divine crystal mine," the old man was in extremely high spirits. If he reported this, he would receive great merit for it.
However, at this moment, an extremely terrifying pulse of energy emerged. The pitch-black sky suddenly lit up from the bottom of the chasm, becoming red in a single moment. Flames roared, blotting out the sun and the sky, enveloping all the mountains. The temperature in the surroundings suddenly began to climb as well.
"It's the defensive formations. Oh no, someone is attacking. Everyone prepare for battle." An extremely vigorous voice rang out from the depths of the chasm basically in the same moment the formation had been activated. The captain of the guards had reacted as soon as possible and had quickly mobilised his men.
Chapter 1686: Robbery
Seeing how stern the captain of the guards had become, the old man snickered disdainfully. He sneered, "Captain Feng, is there any need to be so nervous? Don't forget that the formations here were personally cast down by the ancestor. Even Deities would struggle to get through them."
However, before the old man had finished his words, a deafening boom resounded from the skies. The formation that had just been activated shattered loudly, failing to last even a few seconds.
Now, both the old man and the various Origin realm guards stared at the shattered formation in shock. Their hearts began to churn.
Even Deities would struggle to smash through the defensive formation. Even if there were several Deities, it would be able to hold up for a while, yet it had shattered instantly.
"A God!" At this moment, similar thoughts suddenly appeared in the heads of many people. According to their understanding, only Gods could smash through the defensive formations so easily.
At this moment, pure-white snow drifted down from the sky, quickly turning into a blizzard. Snow flew everywhere while the cold wind whistled. At that moment, the depths of the chasm seemed to have become a cavern of ice, gaining a layer of thick snow in the blink of an eye.
There was a sudden and crisp resonance of sword in the sky filled with snow. A strand of sharp and powerful sword Qi tore through the snow-ridden sky as it shone with dazzling white light, shooting downwards.
The depths of the chasm began to tremble. All the huts erected there began to hover, spinning around the stone tower. It rapidly became a defensive formation.
Boom! The sword Qi directly struck the formation, immediately erupting with a deafening sound. The base of the chasm shook violently. Powerful ripples of energy splayed out, creating huge cracks across the rock face. The falling rocks kicked up a lot of dust.
The formation created from the stone huts and tower managed to block the sword Qi, but a tiny crack appeared on all the huts. As for the tower, its top layer had directly been reduced to nothingness.
All the miners and guards paled at this scene. Their hearts trembled. Ever since they began guarding this place, they had come across many people who had tried to get their hands on the divine crystals here, but they had never seen such a powerful opponent. The formation that they took pride in, or even regarded as something that could block anything, was actually so fragile. It could not even withstand a single attack.
"Get into the Heaven's Dipper Formation!" Captain Feng called out. Immediately, the guards who stood in particular places like statues began to move together. A series of complicated inscriptions appeared beneath their feet. They all linked together, forming a powerful formation instantly.
"I hope the Heaven's Dipper Formation can last a little longer." Captain Feng had already placed all his hopes on the Heaven's Dipper Formation. The Heaven's Dipper Formation was their last line of defence. If it collapsed as well, they would no longer possess any power to fend off Godhood experts.
Back in the Lu family, the patriarch of the clan was currently sitting in the discussion hall, holding a secret meeting with the upper echelon of the clan. Ever since he learnt that the Mo clan had stolen their treasure, the Lu family had entered a state of high vigilance. Some members of the upper echelon had even begun to silently gather their strength, only waiting for the ancestor's orders before they killed their way towards the Mo clan.
Of course, to prevent the Mo clan from finding out, everything was carried out secretly. Even a few of the more prestigious people in the clan had no idea about these silent changes. They could only sense that the atmosphere of the clan had suddenly become rather heavy like the calm before a storm. However, many people believed that the atmosphere originated from Lu Fei's betrayal.
At this moment, the expression of the patriarch who was hosting the meeting changed. With a flip of his hand, a golden jade talisman appeared in his hand. It had already shattered.
The patriarch's face suddenly changed when he saw the talisman. He immediately said through a communication technique, "Something urgent has happened at the Dark Cloud Mountains. They're requesting the highest level of assistance possible. Elders, may I ask who is willing to go to the Dark Cloud Mountains?"
The Lu family had nine majestic halls that represented nine Godhood elders. However, one of the halls had been reduced to ruins now, leaving only eight standing.
All the elders cultivated in their respective halls. When they received the patriarch's message, all their eyes snapped open. After a series of discussions, three elders flew out together, rushing towards the Dark Cloud Mountains.
The snow in the Dark Cloud Mountains fell heavier and heavier, enough to cause a whiteout. A second strand of sword Qi shone resplendently as it fell with lightning speed, striking the stone tower below.
This strand of sword Qi was even more powerful than the one before.
Boom!
The stone tower trembled violently. This time, half of it had been reduced to dust, while close to a third of the huts around it had disintegrated as well. Although the remaining two-thirds of the huts remained, they were covered by web-like cracks now.
Swish!
Soon afterwards, a third strand of sword Qi suddenly appeared. It struck the stone tower like a bolt of lightning through the sky full of snow.
Again, the third strand of sword Qi was even more powerful than the second.
The formation that was known to be able to resist the attacks from multiple Deities finally collapsed after taking on the three sword Qi. The remaining tower and huts all turned to dust.
However, the third sword Qi had not dispersed yet. It still possessed some power, so it continued to hurtle towards the Heaven's Dipper Formation below without slowing down at all.
With a boom, all the Origin realm experts operating the formation trembled violently. Violent energy wreaked havoc in the depths of the chasm, causing huge cracks to appear in the surrounding rock face. Some parts had even collapsed. The mountains shook and the earth cracked, making it seem like the entire world was trembling. The end of the world seemed to have come.
"Sir, this is the territory of the Lu family. Are you unafraid of the wrath of our ancestor, since you'll be offending the Lu family just for some mere low grade divine crystals?" The old man paled and called out toward the sky. It was impossible for Deities to smash through the two formations so quickly. Only Gods possessed that power.
He just could not understand why a God, someone on par with the ancestor of his clan, would personally come to rob their low grade divine crystal mine.
Although high grade divine crystals had appeared here, indicating that the mine did not just possess low grade divine crystals, he refused to believe that the attacking God had learnt about this before they had come here.
This was because the high grade divine crystals had just been excavated. It was impossible for the news to be leaked so quickly.
The response he received was an extremely bright light. A flying sword was hidden within the light, while the power from the Laws of the Sword revolved around the sword. It seemed to be locked against the Heaven's Dipper Formation with devastating might.
This attack was clearly much more powerful than any of the sword Qi before, so the Heaven's Dipper Formation composed of so many Origin realm experts was as fragile as paper before it. The formation directly collapsed, while the various Origin realm experts all spurted blood from their mouths, paling in a single moment. They became haggard and half of them directly fainted.
The inscriptions beneath them all crackled, directly exploding, leaving huge craters in the ground.
The snow stopped falling. A dazzling ball of white light flickered high in the sky, gradually descending into the chasm. The white light was not truly light but something condensed from the extremely sharp glow of a sword. A slender figure was barely visible through the light.
He was like a sun, illuminating the dark depths of the chasm with his layer of snow-white light.
The bottom of the chasm fell silent at that moment. Whether it was the miners or the guards who had been stationed there by the Lu family, they all stared at the figure that slowly descended in fear. No one dared to say a single thing.
None of them chose to run because there was only one way out at the bottom of the chasm, and this way out had been blocked by the God before them.
To no one's surprise, the person who had come to rob the mine was Jian Chen.
"Hand over all your divine crystals, or die!" Jian Chen said coldly. He protected himself with the light from his Laws of the Sword, which concealed his appearance and figure.
Chapter 1687: Collection
As Jian Chen's voice rang out, the entire chasm became dead silent. Some people were even stunned after hearing his words. In their eyes, Jian Chen was a mighty God. He stood at the same level as the ancestors of the four organisations that reigned over the region. He would be prestigious to the point where it would be extremely difficult for them, who were at the Origin realm at most, to even catch a glance of him.
Yet, the person who was equivalent to a supreme expert that they were revering had actually come personally to rob the divine crystal mine. He did not care for his identity as a God at all. His actions immediately stunned many people.
"Esteemed senior, this mine belongs to the Lu family. The ancestor of our Lu family places great importance on this mine. At the same time, this is only a low grade mine. Only low grade divine crystals can be found here, with mid grade divine crystals being extremely rare, so with senior's greatness, these divine crystals must not be enough to satisfy you," the old man bowed and said carefully. At the same time, he paid close attention to Jian Chen's reaction. His forehead had already become covered in a layer of sweat after saying that.
Although the Lu family possessed a God, they had never seen him before. The senior before him was the first 'God' they had ever seen. It was just that Jian Chen's appearance was obscured by the light around him, so no one was able to tell who this 'God' was.
The old man brought up the ancestor of the Lu family in hopes of deterring and scaring this 'senior' somewhat. After all, the Lu family did place great importance on the mine. Without any exaggeration, the mine in the Dark Cloud Mountains was the lifeblood of the Lu family. They could not afford to lose it.
Jian Chen's gaze turned icy. He gently swung the Flying Snow Sword in his hand. With a flash, a silver-white strand of sword Qi seemed to have fused with the snow, shooting towards the old man with lightning speed.
The old man was only at Reciprocity, making him a decent expert among the guards. However, he was as insignificant as an ant before Jian Chen who could even fight Gods. He could not resist at all. As a matter of fact, he could not even react to a casual attack from Jian Chen.
The old man did not realise it at all. He only felt a heart-wrenching pain from his right arm all of a sudden, causing him to cry out miserably and uncontrollably. Blood spurted out like a fountain from his right shoulder. His entire arm had been cleaved off by the sword Qi.
"This is only a warning. Don't mention what you said earlier to me ever again," Jian Chen said icily. There was a heavy killing intent in his eyes, warning all the people present that he did not fear the ancestor of the Lu family or fear offending them.
Jian Chen's ruthless act of chopping off the old man's arm immediately caused the expressions of all the guards present to change. Despite that, no one dared to speak out.
"Senior, please spare me. I'll hand over all the divine crystals I've mined..."
"Please spare us, senior. Please spare my insignificant life. There are over five thousand low grade divine crystals in this Space Ring. I planned on giving it to the supervisor initially, but I'll offer all of them up to you now..."
......
...
The miners that were responsible for excavating the divine crystals handed over their Space Rings without any hesitation at all. Although they had mined quite a few of them, the divine crystals did not belong to them. They had to hand it all up, so it was all the same to them whether they gave the divine crystals to the Lu family or someone else. They would not lose anything.
Over a thousand miners removed their Space Rings and placed them before Jian Chen courteously. None of them tried to keep a single divine crystal to themselves, and there were even a few miners who took pleasure in the situation.
Most of them were people who had offended the Lu family, or they were brought here for other reasons to do the hard work. They naturally had no good opinion of the Lu family. They felt delighted now that the Lu family was going to suffer.
As the miners handed up their Space Rings, a huge pile formed before Jian Chen very soon. Every single Space Ring possessed the same design, and they all held quite a lot of divine crystals.
The old man from the Lu family and the captain of the guards watched everything unfold with pale faces. Even though they were furious inside, they dared not to voice it at all, much less exhibit it on their faces. In their hearts, they only wished that the ancestor would learn what was happening here and arrive sooner.
Very soon, all the miners handed up their Space Rings. Jian Chen nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the pile of Space Rings. His robbery of the Lu family had been much more successful than he had originally thought it would be.
Jian Chen looked at the old man and sneered, "Looks like you're in charge here. You must have quite a lot of divine crystals on you, so hand over your Space Ring as well."
The old man's face immediately became extremely ugly. After a moment of hesitance, he clenched his teeth and removed his Space Ring from his finger reluctantly. Even though his life savings were stored inside there, nothing was more important than his own life.
With a wave of his hand, the large pile of Space Rings before him suddenly vanished. He took them all away. He could already tell that many of the miners had been trapped here by the Lu family to excavate divine crystals. Even the Space Rings they used had been specially handed out by the Lu family, so he would obviously keep the Lu family from getting their Space Rings back.
"Senior, a piece of high grade divine crystal was just excavated earlier. For a mine where a high grade divine crystal can appear, it's definitely not low grade. It'll be mid grade or even high grade," at this moment, someone said loudly from within the crowd of miners. He was one of the people that the Lu family had imprisoned here, so his hatred towards the Lu family had already reached fuming levels. He was tempted to create some more trouble for the Lu family.
"Oh? A mid grade divine crystal mine? Or maybe even a high grade mine?" Jian Chen's eyes lit up. He stared at the miner and asked, "What's your name?"
The miner immediately beamed when Jian Chen asked for his name. He completely ignored the old man's murderous glare and replied politely, "Senior, I am Ye Xing. I accidentally offended a clansman of the Lu family five hundred years ago, so they captured me and sent me here to excavate divine crystals for them."
Chapter 1688: A Precious Mine
"I see," Jian Chen nodded his head slightly. He was not surprised at all with Ye Xing's situation. Whether it was the Saints' World or the Tian Yuan Continent, the strong always preyed on the weak. There would be countless other people in similar predicaments as Ye Xing across the world.
Ye Xing was extremely polite. The expert before him was someone who did not even fear the ancestor of the Lu family. With Ye Xing's strength at Sainthood, he usually would not even have been bold enough to breathe loudly before someone like that. However, right now, he could not help but muster the courage to carefully observe the senior's reaction.
He had taken the initiative to mention the matter of the high grade divine crystal to make trouble for the Lu family. At the same time, he had another intention, which was for the senior to take him away from here. Otherwise, the Lu family would never forgive him for leaking the matter of the high grade divine crystals. They would torture him to death in the most brutal fashion possible.
However, to Ye Xing's disappointment, the masked 'senior' before him did nothing after learning this information.
Aside from Ye Xing, all the other miners gathered there looked towards Jian Chen hopefully at this moment. Basically, all of them were hoping for Jian Chen to fight the Lu family until both of them became injured so that they could take advantage of the situation and flee, allowing them to regain their freedom.
Jian Chen stood there quietly as the light around him illuminated the depths of the chasm. He seemed as dazzling as the sun. The many miners and guards gathered around them all held their breaths uneasily.
Jian Chen had already expanded his soul. Even though this sensory ability was limited in the Saints' World, unable to cover as great of an area as back on the Tian Yuan Continent, it was still enough to envelop the entire mountain range.
The depths of the mountains had already become riddled with tunnels. They crisscrossed with one another and shot off in all directions, basically forming a vast maze that reached into the depths of the earth.
However, to prevent the miners from escaping through the tunnels, the Lu family had evidently made sufficient preparations as well. Basically, all the tunnels that reached beyond the Dark Cloud Mountains were blocked off by powerful formations. Even if Origin realm experts wanted to smash through them, they would need some time, completely locking the miners out of the option of running away.
In a single moment, Jian Chen's soul passed through the tunnels of various sizes in the ground. However, the part that made him frown was that his soul would struggle to penetrate any place with divine crystals hidden. Even with the ordinary rocks, his soul could only penetrate an extremely limited depth, preventing him from sensing the divine crystals hidden within the rocks.
After all, this was the Saints' World. Any substance that existed here could not be compared to the substances found on the Tian Yuan Continent.
"Ye Xing, take me to where the high grade divine crystal was found," said Jian Chen.
Ye Xing's face lit up, and he agreed continuously. He was afraid that a hesitant reply would anger Jian Chen. He soon led Jian Chen off into a tunnel with a nod and a bow.
Right after Jian Chen entered the tunnel, the old man and many of the guards became overjoyed. When Jian Chen was present, they did not dare to flee, forcing them to remain as quiet as possible as they could lose their lives at any time. However, once Jian Chen entered a tunnel, their chance of fleeing would arrive.
However, just when Jian Chen was about to enter the mines, his feet suddenly came to a halt. With a wave of his hand, the Flying Snow sword shot out like a bolt of silver lightning. It hovered in the sky with a cold light, resonating from time to time as it caused snow to fall from the sky.
"This sword is controlled by my soul. Even if I enter the mines, I'll know what's happening outside. If any of you plan on running..." Jian Chen did not finish his words, but his voice was filled with heavy killing intent, making all the people who had considered fleeing shiver.
"Ancestor, oh ancestor. Please come quickly..." The old man continually pleaded inside.
Under Ye Xing's lead, Jian Chen quickly arrived at the location where the high grade divine crystal had been excavated. It seemed no different to any other place, surrounded in tough rock.
Jian Chen glanced around before forming a sword with his fingers. Immediately, a silver-white strand of sword Qi around the size of a sword emerged, and he stabbed it into the location where the high grade divine crystal had just been excavated with lightning speed.
Before the sword Qi, the tough rock was as fragile as paper. Jian Chen's sword Qi completely penetrated the rock. After bringing it around to form a circle one meter wide, he separated it from the other rock in the surroundings and dug out a round pillar that was just as long as his sword Qi.
Jian Chen's gaze stopped on the stone pillar for a while. Next, he quickly carved it up with a strand of sword Qi at the tip of his fingers. In the end, he discovered two divine crystals the size of pigeon eggs in there. The origin energy hidden within them was enough for Jian Chen to waver in thought.
"High grade divine crystals!" Jian Chen gasped, and his face became filled with much joy. If he could excavate high grade divine crystals so easily, did it not mean that the high grade divine crystals hidden here had surpassed anything he could imagine?
"This is a high grade divine crystal mine. Even though it's only a small one, it's very valuable to us right now. Jian Chen, you have to take over this mine no matter what. With these resources, not only will Shen Jian be able to break through, even the body I build will be much better. It might even lead to a perfect body," fairy Hao Yue's voice rang out in Jian Chen's head. After arriving in the Saints' World, the Bright Moon Divine Hall had always remained in Jian Chen's Space Ring, and he carried it around with him at all times. Fairy Hao Yue had also been working on rebuilding her body in the Bright Moon Divine Hall, except it would take more than just a day or two to complete the process.
"I probably can't take over this mine right now," Jian Chen murmured softly. As long as the ancestor of the Lu family remained, it was impossible for him to take over the mine.
"Then you better return quickly and use the divine crystals you obtained here to help Shen Jian breakthrough. Then you'll be able to eliminate the ancestor of the Lu family and take over the mine here," fairy Hao Yue's voice was filled with a sense of urgency. Although she only required a single strand of origin energy to rebuild her body, it would be the most fragile body in the world. It might not even be as great as a few of the stronger mortals and would influence the progression of her strength in the future. That was the worst body she could create, as well as the one she was most unwilling to create.
After a moment of thought, Jian Chen immediately grabbed Ye Xing and left the tunnel. With a few flashes, he arrived outside again.
The Flying Snow sword remained in the sky, completely preventing anyone from considering fleeing. As a result, not a single miner or guard had gone missing.
Jian Chen looked at the hopeful miners. After a moment of hesitance, he said, "If you don't want to stay here, hurry up and go. The Lu family will cease to exist without delay, so continuing to serve them is pointless." With that, Jian Chen took his Flying Snow sword and shot off into the sky while carrying Ye Xing in one hand.
Jian Chen had been talking to the miners. What he added at the end was directed toward the guards. Not all the guards were people of the Lu family. Most of them had only been recruited by the Lu family or had joined the Lu family out of their own free wills in search of an organisation to rely on.
As expected, what Jian Chen said towards the end made the expressions of many of the guards there change. They all became surprised and doubtful. If the Lu family really would cease to exist, were they not looking to die by continuing to serve the Lu family?
Meanwhile, as if they had been spared, all the miners flew away excitedly, leaving as quickly as they could.
Chapter 1689: The Lu Family's Response
In the blink of an eye, all the miners the Lu family had forced to work for them left. They did not have any hopes of fleeing the place in the past as formations enveloped the mountains and there were a large number of guards. Now that a mysterious 'God had destroyed most of the formations and even the guards themselves had been stunned, they obviously would not let such a rare opportunity slip through their fingers. They all left in a hurry.
Since they managed to reach Sainthood or even the Origin realm, the miners were obviously not stupid. Although they knew that it was extremely likely that the Lu family would hunt them down for running away, they knew even better that they would not be able to avoid death either if they remained, especially after what had happened in the mountains today.
The miners would leak the news that this mine was a mid grade divine crystal mine or even a high grade divine crystal mine. It would cause huge problems for the Lu family, so the Lu family would never spare them.
The guards who had reached the Origin realm did not chase the fleeing miners. Instead, they stood at the bottom of the chasm in surprise and doubt. Jian Chen's previous words had affected them greatly.
"What're you staring for? Go chase them down! Don't let them escape! If the news of the high grade divine crystal gets leaked, all of us will suffer the most severe punishments." Only now did the old man return to his senses. He immediately yelled at the surrounding guards. He was worried, and his face was pale. He understood that the clan was probably in trouble now.
The surrounding guards all looked at one another. The light in their eyes flickered as they all hesitated. They had become guards of the Lu family so that they could have something that would shield them, allowing them to cultivate in peace. If the Lu family could no longer shield them anymore, they would not continue serving the Lu family idiotically. In particular, the fact that the Lu family possessed a mid grade divine crystal mine at the very least, coupled with the warnings from the 'God', had made them realise that the organisation they relied on would probably fall before long. Continuing to serve the Lu family would only cost them their lives in the end.
Captain Feng looked around and sighed inside. However, his expression remained the same and he called out coldly, "Pursue, everyone, pursue them!"
The captain obviously held much more authority in the eyes of the guards than the old man. With his orders, the guards immediately charged into the sky, hurrying off in the direction where the miners had fled off to as quickly as possible.
Of course, most of them changed their clothes as quickly as they could as they pursued the miners. They even changed the Space Rings that they wore, and when they caught up with the flying miners, they did not attack or touch them at all. Instead, they continued onwards without slowing down, directly overtaking the miners and vanishing off into the distance.
Of course, there were a few guards who were loyal to the Lu family. They slaughtered as many of the fleeing miners as they could. Obviously, as most of the miners were still at Sainthood, they were completely helpless against the massacre from the Origin realm guards. A large number of them were immediately slain mercilessly.
Without delay, three tremendous presences suddenly descended on the depths of the chasm. The three Godhood elders from the Lu family had finally arrived, but they all became stern when they saw the three destroyed formations.
"Greetings to the elders," the captain and the old man who still remained bowed politely.
"What happened here?" One of the elders questioned coldly.
"Elder, we just found high grade divine crystals, and then we were attacked by a God..." The old man told the entire story without bending any truths.
"What! You found high grade divine crystals here?" The three elders were shocked and became ecstatic. However, their faces became extremely ugly before long.
It would have been a tremendous piece of news to the Lu family if the appearance of the high grade divine crystal had not been leaked. With such a great resource, their clan could completely exceed the three other organisations before long and become the absolute ruler of the region. Even those who resided in the provincial city would not be able to do anything to them. However, now that this news was leaked, it would become a problem for the Lu family, a huge problem.
"We have to report this matter to the ancestor as soon as possible. We'll leave the God who fled here to the ancestor to deal with. However, all the miners who escaped from here must be eliminated. Even the guards who left our clan cannot remain. Kill them all. We have to keep this matter a secret," an elder said gruffly and immediately reported the matter to the Lu family. Afterwards, the three elders did not hesitate at all, personally turning against the miners and guards who had fled.
Their souls could cover an extremely vast range, and many of the guards and miners still remained in their area of detection. They could even clearly sense which guards still remained loyal to the Lu family and which guards had abandoned the clan.
At the same time, the patriarch who was in the meeting received the news from the three elders as well. His face immediately changed, and he stopped the meeting. He contacted all the elders in the clan through a communication technique. Immediately, the five other elders who watched over the clan left their residences and hurried over to the Dark Cloud Mountains as quickly as possible; they also took part in the culling.
Godhood elders usually watched over the clan as they formed the peak strength of the clan. Rarely did they ever fight and even if they did, it would be against opponents of the same strength. They would never touch Origin realm cultivators or even weaker cultivators at Sainthood in normal times. However, the appearance of high grade divine crystals in the Dark Cloud Mountains was just too important. All of the elders who usually watched over the clan had been mobilised to cover up the matter.
Even though an unknown God had already learnt of the matter, it would still be better the fewer people who knew about this.
However, the patriarch did not sit around either. He passed on the news of what had happened in the Dark Cloud Mountains to the ancestor of the Lu family.
Currently, the ancestor was flying through the sky. He was on his journey to the royal capital. When he received the message from the patriarch, his face suddenly changed as well. He came to a halt as the light in his eyes flickered.
After hesitating for a while, the ancestor did not end up returning. He continued towards the royal capital. At the same time, he sent a message back to the patriarch of the Lu family, "Lockdown the information and also look into who that God is."
......
...
Jian Chen travelled away with Ye Xing. Only after travelling very far away from the Dark Cloud Mountains did he descend on a mountain. He placed Ye Xing on the ground and said, "This is already the territory of the Mo clan. It's several million kilometers away from the territory of the Lu family. Be careful, and the Lu family will struggle to find you."
Ye Xing bowed towards Jian Chen politely and said gratefully, "Thank you for saving my life, senior. Please tell me your name, so if I ever have a day when I become great as well, I can return senior's kindness."
"There's no need for that. You told me about the high grade divine crystals, while I saved you. It's a fair exchange. You can keep these divine crystals for cultivation. It's best if you don't appear in public for now, so that the Lu family can't find you. If nothing goes wrong, the Lu family will cease to exist within the next few years," said Jian Chen. At the same time, he gave Ye Xing a Space Ring that contained some divine crystals.
"Thank you, senior..."
After separating with Ye Xing, Jian Chen returned to the Mo clan as quickly as he could.
In the seventh hall of the Mo clan, Jian Chen and Shen Jian tidied through the Space Rings they had received from the miners in the Dark Cloud Mountains. They emptied out the divine crystals inside.
Chapter 1690: Distributing the Divine Crystals
There were over a thousand Space Rings, and each one contained quite a few divine crystals. Some had as many as four to five thousand, while some had as few as a few dozens. Mid grade divine crystals would appear from time to time as well, but they comprised less than a hundred of the total number.
After a total count, the end number of low grade divine crystals from the miners exceeded nine hundred thousand, with close to a hundred mid grade divine crystals.
With so many divine crystals stacked together, it seemed like a small mountain. To Jian Chen and Shen Jian, who had only ever possessed a little over a hundred thousand divine crystals at most, the mountainous pile was clearly a little overwhelming.
"I never thought that these divine crystals would come so easily. It has only been how long, yet we've obtained almost a million low grade divine crystals without much effort at all."
"Are these divine crystals enough for you to reach mid Deity?" Jian Chen looked at Shen Jian.
Shen Jian stared at the pile of divine crystals; he pondered for a while before he replied, "It should be enough."
With a flip of his hand, another Space Ring appeared in Jian Chen's palm. He smiled, "If that's not enough, there are more in here. The divine crystals in here might even be enough for you to go from mid Deity to late Deity."
Shen Jian raised an eyebrow when he heard that. He stared at Jian Chen in surprise and asked, "Just how many divine crystals did you rob from the Lu family's mine this time?"
"Have a look yourself. All the divine crystals are in here." Jian Chen passed the Space Ring to Shen Jian. He had taken this space ring from the old man. As he was the supervisor of the mine, he would gather all the divine crystals from the miners once in a while. After that, he would hand them up to the clan at set intervals. As a result, there were very many divine crystals in the old man's possession.
When Shen Jian accepted the Space Ring and looked through the divine crystals in there, he leapt in fright because the amount of low grade divine crystals inside the ring had reached over a terrifying number of two million. There were even several hundred mid grade divine crystals and even a fist-sized high grade divine crystal.
"So many!" Shen Jian's face immediately changed. In particular, when he saw the fist-sized high grade divine crystal, he struggled to maintain his composure.
"The Dark Cloud Mountains are a high grade divine crystal mine. I believe the various major organisations will learn about this very soon. Even the greater clans in the Dong'an province don't possess high grade divine crystals, so there'll be a great battle when the time comes. Shen Jian, spend the next few days cultivating. Once we're strong enough, we can try to win over some rights to the mine over the more powerful clans. The mine will be extremely useful to us, so we have to try to obtain the mining rights," Jian Chen said.
"Alright, I'll immediately begin my secluded cultivation. My comprehension of laws has already completely exceeded my current cultivation level. I just lacked origin energy. Now that I have these divine crystals, I should be able to break through without delay," said Shen Jian. Next, he immediately took close to a million low grade divine crystals with him for cultivation. He devoted himself to increasing his strength.
Meanwhile, Jian Chen brought the Space Ring with over two million low grade divine crystals into the Bright Moon Divine Hall.
In the Bright Moon Divine Hall, Shangguan Mu'er, Nubis, Xiao Jin, Xiao Ling, the white tiger, Rui Jin, Hong Lian, Hei Yu, Houston, and so on were all in secluded cultivation. Ever since Jian Chen entered the Saints' World, they could clearly sense a change in the laws of the world inside the Bright Moon Divine Hall. As a result, they basically spent their entire time in seclusion. Their strength had all increased evidently.
After arriving inside the hall, Jian Chen roused everyone from cultivation without any hesitation, gathering them all together.
"Big brother, when are you going to let us out. I want to see the outside world so much. I want to see if I can find master..." Xiao Ling ran over excitedly when she saw Jian Chen and clung onto his arm tightly.
The other people all looked towards Jian Chen as well and asked him about the situation outside.
"The situation outside still hasn't stabilised. There'll be quite a large battle before long, with Gods participating. It'll be very difficult to keep yourself safe without strength at Godhood, so for now, I can only trouble you all by having you remain in the Bright Moon Divine Hall to cultivate," Jian Chen said to everyone.
"What! There'll be a battle involving Gods? Jian Chen, you have to be careful. We were still of some help back on the Tian Yuan Continent, but we can't help you at all in the Saints' World now. Instead, we're just a burden to you," Rui Jin sighed gently. He seemed slightly dejected.
Hong Lian and Hei Yu were not in fantastic spirits either. They were once the supreme experts on the Tian Yuan Continent, yet they had become a burden instead after coming to the Saints' World. They were even the weakest people within the Bright Moon Divine Hall. They found it very difficult to adapt to the huge change.
"Jian Chen, it's very difficult for us to help you now. You have to be careful in the Saints' World. Don't forget that you're not just fighting for yourself now. If something happens to you, we'll all be doomed in here as well," Shangguan Mu'er said in concern. She was not someone who feared death. She said these words because she hoped that Jian Chen would be careful and avoid desperate fights against other people.
Jian Chen smiled. He asked about everyone's well being before throwing down a hundred thousand low grade divine crystals on the ground. He said, "These divine crystals contain pure origin energy. You can absorb these divine crystals for future cultivation. I believe it won't be long before you reach Godhood."
"What dense origin energy!" Everyone's eyes lit up when they sensed the origin energy hidden within the low grade divine crystals and they all cried out.
"Fantastic. With these divine crystal, my strength will be able to skyrocket," Houston's face was filled with joy.
A few of them had managed to reach Saint King on the Tian Yuan Continent where origin energy had vanished and the laws of the world were affected, making cultivation extremely difficult. They could be described as prodigies. Now that they had come to the Saints' World where origin energy was abundant and the laws of the world were complete, their improvement would definitely be extremely shocking with the assistance of the divine crystals.
Suddenly, there was a flash, and a fist-sized, ant-like beast appeared beside the low grade divine crystals. The beast hovered in the air by beating its wings as it shone with three different colors. Its large, intelligent eyes stared at the pile of divine crystals without blinking at all and seemed to be salivating over the divine crystals. Afterwards, with a flash, it immediately arrived on Jian Chen's shoulder, moving extremely quickly. It rubbed its small head gently against Jian Chen's cheek, trying to curry up to him.
"What speed. I failed to sense it at all," Houston sighed in amazement as he stared at the tiny beast. Although the tiny beast had only reached the Origin realm recently, Houston felt like if he began to fight seriously against the tiny beast, he would not be its opponent, even with his Empyrean Demon Arts and the various secret techniques he had grasped.
"You also want these divine crystals?" Jian Chen stared at the tiny beast in surprise.
Although the Seven-colored Heaven-devouring Beast had yet to assume a human form, it possessed intelligence no less than that of a human adult. It nodded cleverly in response to Jian Chen's question as it looked towards Jian Chen eagerly.
Jian Chen smiled. With a wave of his hand, he threw down another ten thousand low grade divine crystals on the floor and pointed towards them, "I'll give you these."
The Seven-colored Heaven-devouring Beast's eyes lit up, and it directly inhaled at the pile. The ten thousand divine crystals immediately flew towards its mouth and the space around the divine crystals pulsed violently. The divine crystals grew smaller and smaller in the pulses of space and in just a single moment, all the crystals shrunk to a tiny size before the Seven-colored Heaven-devouring Beast devoured it all in a single gulp.
Shangguan Mu'er and everyone else stared at the Seven-colored Heaven-devouring Beast in shock. For them, they needed to absorb the energy within the divine crystals one by one slowly, while the Seven-colored Heaven-devouring Beast had directly gulped down ten thousand divine crystals in a single mouthful; this sight stunned all of them.