Chapter 230: The Old Power's Entry Group

Chapter 230: The Old Power's Entry Group

Chen Qiu didn't have to wait long.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Heavenly Axe Sect Master and Fat Dragon flew over to him from the ruins of Bai Family's courtyard.

"Brother Qiu," Fat Dragon said, holding a plain burlap sack. He then handed the sack to Chen Qiu, "Most of the things are here. There are probably around four hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones in the treasure vault."

"And a whole bunch of various heavenly materials and treasures."

"There's also a pile of storage rings in this sack. The restrictions on the rings haven't been deciphered yet, so I'm not sure what's inside."

"When the Bai Family Patriarch was about to go down with his ship, he unleashed a final all-out attack on his own treasure vault, intending to destroy it completely. Fortunately, the Heavenly Axe Sect Master intervened and stopped the attack, preserving the vault."

"Oh?" Chen Qiu's eyebrows arched slightly as he turned to the Heavenly Axe Sect Master with a smile, "You've worked hard."

"It's nothing," the Heavenly Axe Sect Master said, his eyes filled with gratitude as he glanced at Fat Dragon. He then spoke softly, "It's an honor for a junior like me to serve a senior like you."

Although he was much older than Chen Qiu, the title of 'senior' came naturally.

In the cultivation world, there were only four forms of address: senior, fellow cultivator, junior, and ant.

Among these, 'senior' was clearly the most fitting, and in the cultivation world, age was not a factor in determining seniority. However, in most cases, the longer one lived, the stronger their cultivation became, so these two factors often overlapped.

Chen Qiu nodded and tossed the sack of storage rings into the small world. He then turned to the Heavenly Axe Sect Master and said softly, "Since you've made a contribution, you can handle the liquidation of the Bai Family's fixed assets and those of other factions."

"You'll get thirty percent of the profits."

The Heavenly Axe Sect Master was slightly taken aback but nodded excitedly, "Thank you, senior."

This was indeed a significant profit, which could help him replenish his personal funds. After all, these assets didn't belong to the sect and wouldn't go into the sect's treasure vault. Instead, they would go straight to his own pockets. Most importantly, this was a reward from a senior, indicating that he had taken a step closer to the core power circle of the senior!

This represented a lot!

"By the way—" Chen Qiu glanced at the shopkeeper in the small world and spoke up, "Find me a group of experts in deciphering storage ring restrictions and send them to me later."

"No problem, senior."

"Let's go to the next place."

At that moment, inside the small world...

In the disciples' courtyard of the Mocking Heaven Sect, a middle-aged man sat on a bed with a lifeless expression. The floor of the room was piled high with storage rings, each containing the life's wealth of a cultivator. But at this moment, they were stacked like snails, filling the entire room.

There were so many that it was hard to count them at a glance.

Just then, hundreds of storage rings were thrown from the air, rolling to a stop at the entrance of his house.

The middle-aged man sitting on the bed twitched his lips slightly but said nothing. He felt exhausted, both physically and mentally. He remembered when the Imperial Tutor had recruited him, saying that he had only one hobby in life—deciphering the restrictions on storage rings.

The thrill of successfully deciphering a storage ring's restriction was even more exhilarating than spending a night with a courtesan!

He was willing to die surrounded by storage rings!

He recalled the Imperial Tutor's promise to provide him with countless storage rings to fulfill his wish of dying amidst them.

And the Imperial Tutor had kept his word.

He couldn't remember the last time he had a good night's sleep. He barely had time to cultivate, and his cultivation was only at the early Nascent Soul Stage. He was practically working non-stop all year round!

Over the past few years, he had realized that the Mocking Heaven Sect's sole source of income seemed to be robbery. As a result, piles of storage rings would fill his house from time to time.

Although he genuinely loved deciphering storage ring restrictions, even the most passionate enthusiasm couldn't withstand years of relentless work without rest!

The good news was that he could now pick up any storage ring and, with a casual sweep of his divine sense, understand the nature of its restriction. This was the positive feedback from his extensive experience.

The bad news was that although he could now understand the restrictions at a glance, he lacked the enthusiasm he once had and didn't feel like deciphering them anymore.

It was like being married for ten years; even if your wife lay there naked, you could remain unmoved and calmly recite the Amitabha Buddha.

The middle-aged man sighed heavily. Despite feeling tired and weak, he picked up a storage ring from beside him and began deciphering it, as this was his job. He felt that no one in the Mocking Heaven Sect could be more exhausted than him!

In the Mocking Heaven Sect, at the back mountain, within the forest...

The young patriarch of the Brown Bears, clad in a Buddhist robe, looked slightly excited as he listened to the report from his fellow tribesmen. He clapped his bear paws together and began pacing back and forth, deep in thought.

The Buddhist robe he wore had been taken from the Buddha Sect Ancestor.

He hadn't handed it over to the sect.

He had boldly asked the Supreme Elder of the Mocking Heaven Sect if he could keep the robe, as he really liked it. The Supreme Elder had casually waved his hand, and the robe was given to him.

It was a Superior Transformation-grade Spirit Treasure, a Buddhist treasure that could only be used by Buddhist disciples with Buddha Light. It was a defensive treasure, and no one in the Mocking Heaven Sect could make use of it.

This was the reason it had been given to him.

Although it was useless to him, wearing the robe made him feel somewhat presentable.

A bear standing as tall as two people, wearing a slightly ill-fitting Buddhist robe, looked somewhat out of place. At that moment, the young patriarch of the Brown Bears was contemplating something very important!

Recently, most of the Mocking Heaven Sect's members had been staying outside, and no one was left in the sect.

And although they were menial disciples of the Mocking Heaven Sect, they had little access to cultivation resources in most cases. Their main responsibility was to serve as pets, and they were never given the opportunity to participate in battles or other important tasks.

This was why, despite having reached the Golden Core stage, they still maintained their beast forms most of the time. Firstly, they were accustomed to it, and secondly, for some unknown reason, they felt no shame in being pets as bears. However, once they transformed into human forms, they somehow felt a hint of embarrassment about being pets.

During these days, the clan members had nothing to do, so they happily accompanied Chen Qiu's pet, the Night Moon Demon Wolf, in digging deep into the mountainside to construct an underground palace for entertainment.

But as they dug deeper, they unearthed something extraordinary.

Deep beneath the ground, they discovered a heavy iron door. After opening it with all their strength, a deep and dark corridor was revealed, with no end in sight. Even their divine sense could not penetrate the darkness, and there were no oil lamps to illuminate the way.

The corridor's end was shrouded in mystery!

The Mocking Heaven Sect was located in a small world, and theoretically, Chen Qiu should have been fully aware of everything within it. Yet, it seemed he was unaware of the existence of this hidden chamber beneath the mountain.

This was an opportunity to make a name for themselves!

"Huff!"

The young patriarch of the Brown Bear Clan, clad in a cassock, slammed his bear paw against a nearby tree trunk, causing several leaves to fall. His face lit up with excitement as he turned to his fellow clan members, "The Brown Bear Clan's chance to shine is here!"

"I speculate that deep within the corridor lies an opportunity, and since we are in the Mocking Heaven Sect, it's unlikely to be a crisis."

"If we investigate this opportunity and report it, will it be considered a great achievement?"

The elder patriarch of the Brown Bear Clan, standing by his side, replied with a complex expression, "Yes, but... We are just pets, what use is glory to us?"

"Of course it's useful!" The young patriarch's face turned serious. "Haven't you noticed that cultivation resources are never allocated to us? This is unacceptable. Although we may not have high cultivation levels, the sect leader and the others are becoming more powerful. Their cultivation allows them to seclude themselves for hundreds of years at a time, but our Golden Core stage lifespan is only a few hundred years. By the time the sect leader emerges from seclusion, we will likely be close to death."

"Not to mention whether our cultivation is high or low, at least we can live a few more years, right?"

"That's why we must make a name for ourselves. Only by showing our worth to the sect leader can we obtain a portion of the cultivation resources. We never had a chance to make a name for ourselves within the Mocking Heaven Sect, but now that this opportunity has presented itself, we must not let it slip away!"

"Do you all understand?!"

The surrounding Brown Bear clan members exchanged glances before turning to the elder patriarch. After a moment of silence, he spoke softly, "We'll follow your lead. What you say makes sense."

"Come!"

The young patriarch raised his bear paw high and declared in a deep voice, "For the clan! Death without regret!"

For a moment, the other Brown Bear clan members seemed to be infected by the young patriarch's enthusiasm, and they roared in unison.

"For the clan, death without regret!"

"For the clan, death without regret!"

After an incense stick's worth of time, at the entrance of the deep underground iron door, the elder patriarch of the Brown Bear Clan looked at his son with a complex expression. "Although our clan members are simple and honest, it was you who shouted the slogan 'Death without regret.' Is it appropriate to send our clan members to scout ahead?"

Two clan members had already ventured seven or eight zhang into the corridor with torches in hand, and so far, there had been no accidents. It was a straight corridor, and these two members occasionally turned back to report their findings.

At the entrance of the corridor, the young patriarch withdrew his gaze from the depths and looked at his father with a puzzled expression. "If they don't go, then why don't you go and scout ahead?"

". . ."

The elder patriarch fell silent for a moment. He decided to let the clan members take the lead.

At this moment, in the Mystic Heaven State!

The Mocking Heaven Sect disciples were traveling in a flying ship towards another power, with Chen Qiu holding a map of all the forces in the state. It was not just a map; it also had a route marked by the Heavenly Axe Sect's sect leader, showing the shortest path to visit all the forces without wasting any time.

One had to admit, the Heavenly Axe Sect's sect leader was a genius.

Chen Qiu's mood was particularly good due to the gains from the Bai Family, which included not only four hundred thousand spirit stones but also various other treasures, such as heavenly materials, treasures, and spirit artifacts. These resources could significantly enhance the overall strength of the Mocking Heaven Sect's disciples!

They were now well-equipped.

Especially in the Bai Family's treasure vault, where he had obtained twelve Entry Scrolls.

He had gone through them all, and one of the Entry Scrolls seemed particularly suitable for him. He distributed the remaining eleven Entry Scrolls to his disciples to see who could make use of them, and after reporting to Fat Dragon, he would let Fat Dragon approve them.

For now, the "Self-Destruct Entry" was not very useful to him.

At the Profound Void and Body Fusion stages, pure spiritual energy attacks that could cross a major cultivation realm were still somewhat useful, but their effectiveness had diminished significantly. Whether it was the Profound Void Domain or the Body Fusion killing moves, these unique realm attacks could not be compensated for by a single spiritual energy attack.

For example, one of the Entry Scrolls he had obtained was:

-

"Entry Name": Triple Spellcasting

"Entry Rank": Blue

"Entry Effect": When you cast any spell, you can release it twice more without consuming additional resources.

-

This was excellent; it would allow him to cast his spells twice more without consuming additional resources, further enhancing his combat power.

He already possessed the green-ranked "Double Spellcasting" and purple-ranked "Tenfold Spellcasting" Entry Scrolls, and now he had obtained the blue-ranked "Triple Spellcasting." He felt that he might be able to complete the set in the future.

In addition to that, Chen Qiu obtained a valuable item from the Bai Family's treasure vault.

"Entry Directory"!

It wasn't in the form of a jade slip but was made of paper. This Entry Directory recorded all the known entries that the Bai Family had collected over the years, and it formed numerous entry combinations, creating the best entry sets by pairing various entries together.

There were also numerous blank spaces, obviously left for future generations to fill in.

It was unclear how many years this Entry Directory had been passed down, as the parchment was slightly yellowed, and many of the words were already blurry and faded. This item was quite useful.

That's all.

Standing on the deck of the flying ship, Chen Qiu eagerly flipped through the Entry Directory in his hand. There were many interesting entry combinations, of course, but these combinations were all ideal scenarios.

After all, many entries didn't have jade slips and could only be obtained by breaking through a major cultivation realm, randomly acquiring them.

Therefore, this Entry Directory proposed a viewpoint—the best entry sets would have most of their entries with jade slips. Such entry sets might not be the strongest, but they were more likely to be achievable.

Otherwise, with so many entries, who could know what kind of random and messy item they would get when breaking through a major realm?

For example—

On the third page, there was an entry set named "White Hair Group" by the Bai Family.

The base entry of this set was "Waterfall Hair."

-

"Entry Name": Waterfall Hair

"Entry Rank": White

"Entry Effect": Your hair will grow rapidly at all times, and its toughness and hardness will increase accordingly as your cultivation realm improves.

-

This entry was a foundational one and the most crucial. The subsequent entries in the set were "White Hair," "Angry Hair," "Thousand-Zhang White Hair," "White Hair Until Old Age," "Thousand-Jin Hair," and "Untidy Hair."

A total of seven entries formed this set.

With these seven entries, a set focusing on long hair was created, offering various effects such as combat, support, and defense. For instance, "Thousand-Jin Hair" was the only purple entry in this set.

The effect was simple—the longer the hair, the faster the cultivation speed.

It was also the highest-ranked entry in the set, while the others were mainly white and green.

This entry set was highly praised in the Entry Directory because, out of these seven entries, only "Thousand-Jin Hair" didn't have a jade slip entry, and there was no way to obtain it through a jade slip. It could only be acquired randomly when breaking through a major cultivation realm.

The other six entries all had jade slips produced, although acquiring them might be somewhat troublesome, but it wasn't impossible.

There was also a note below.

When breaking through a major cultivation realm and randomly obtaining the purple entry "Thousand-Jin Hair," if there was no better choice, one should not hesitate to select this entry.

From this Entry Directory, it was evident that the most praised entry sets were always those with a majority of entries that had jade slips produced. Such entry sets were more likely to be completed and could maximize their power.

"No wonder it's a family with such a long heritage."

Standing on the deck, Chen Qiu flipped through the entries in his hand, feeling a sense of admiration. He had to admit that this Entry Directory had truly opened his eyes!

He now knew that there were so many entry sets.

He also learned that other families used such methods to assemble entry sets for their descendants. The general approach was that when breaking through a realm and having to choose one of three entries, if there was a special key entry for a particular entry set, one should not hesitate and immediately select it.

Even if you didn't plan to follow that path, you would still have to take it. It was like fate forcing you to eat a meal you didn't want.

If there was no such special key entry that could determine one's destiny.

Then, one should choose more general entries as much as possible.

Avoid selecting low-ranked special key entries, which could limit one to a specific entry set, making it difficult to transition in the future.

It was very professional!

In the Profound Heaven Continent, he had copied from many families, but he had never seen any family organize an Entry Directory like this. The Bai Family was the first he had encountered, and this was what professionalism and the style of a great family looked like.

Despite his current entries, many of his entry sets were almost unattainable for anyone on the Vast Continent.

But...

He had never really assembled any entry sets.

His entry sets had come together naturally, after all, with the effect of the seven-colored entry "Growing Higher," he had a higher chance of drawing entries than others.

Moreover, with the later addition of the entry "Fortune Arrives," he could have an extra random chance each time he drew an entry.

The value of this Entry Directory was hard to estimate.

The critical information about which entries had jade slips and which didn't was often what determined the composition of an entry set, and these scattered pieces of information were challenging to gather. They had to be slowly recorded over thousands of years of heritage.

Additionally, the Bai Family had acquired many jade slip entries over the years, all for the sake of immediately providing the supporting entries when a Bai Family descendant randomly obtained a powerful entry set's special key entry.

However, all these jade slip entries were in the Bai Family Patriarch's storage ring.

Fortunately, they weren't in the hands of the Bai Family's ancestor, the Crane Daoist, or else he would have felt some pain.

Once the Bai Family Patriarch's storage ring was unlocked, these jade slip entries would become the foundation of Mocking Heaven Sect.

He finally understood where Mocking Heaven Sect lacked in terms of foundation. Foundation came in many forms; it wasn't just about having strength and spirit stones. It was about whether your sect had the ability to instantly boost a disciple's power to the peak when they awakened a special key entry!

Almost all long-standing sects on the Vast Continent operated in this manner.

The sect leader frantically acquired a large number of basic Entry Scrolls, then waited for luck to shine upon a disciple within his own forces. Almost ninety percent of the scrolls he acquired were useless, but as long as ten percent could be utilized, it would be a complete return on his investment!

The disciple who suddenly rose to prominence would become a true disciple, a Heaven's Pride of the sect, and begin to appear in various Heavenly Dao Secret Realms, gradually climbing towards the position of the sect's ancestor.

Just then—

The Heavenly Axe Sect's leader cautiously approached Chen Qiu on the deck, "Elder, are you interested in these?"

"Some old-established forces on the Vast Continent compile their own Entry Directories and then create Entry Sets by acquiring basic Entry Scrolls. This task requires a significant investment of both manpower and resources, and there is no short-term return on investment."

"Only some old-established forces play this game."

"This is the core secret of every force."

"Our Heavenly Axe Sect also has one. I'll bring it to you later, Elder, or I'll just organize these two and combine them. Our two sects must have some entries that the other doesn't have. I'll find someone to compile them and create a new one to offer to you."

"Oh?"

Chen Qiu raised his eyebrows slightly and turned to the Heavenly Axe Sect's leader, who had come alongside and was smiling, "I remember the sect leader doesn't seem to have that much authority. You said this is a core secret, and you're just giving it away. Won't the elders and supreme elders criticize you?"

". . ."

The Heavenly Axe Sect's leader smiled awkwardly, "They probably don't dare."

Under normal circumstances, he would definitely be criticized. He certainly didn't have the authority, as he had inherited the position of sect leader, and this sect wasn't founded by him. There is a significant difference between the first sect leader and the inherited one.

The first sect leader, like Chen Qiu, single-handedly built the sect and had absolute authority. All the sect's wealth belonged to Chen Qiu.

But for an inherited sect leader like him, the sect's wealth belongs to the sect, and his wealth is his own. They are kept separate, and he cannot squander the sect's wealth without restraint.

Opening the treasure vault requires approval from the council of elders.

He only has management rights, not ownership.

On the day he offered Chen Qiu two hundred thousand medium-grade Spirit Stones, he emptied his family's wealth and secretly took some from the treasure vault to give to Chen Qiu. But that was in the past; with Chen Qiu's reputation, the sect elders, including the supreme elders, all pretended to be in seclusion.

Now, the Heavenly Axe Sect has also become his one-man show. This is what a sect leader should be; what he says goes!

"Very well."

Chen Qiu nodded, then after a moment of contemplation, he said, "By the way, let's see which other old-established forces in Mystic Heaven State have compiled this 'Entry Directory' and borrow them for a browse, then combine them."

"That should make it more complete."

The benefits of this item are hard to estimate, but it significantly enhances a force's overall strength.

He liked this item.

Soon—

The flying ship hovered above a mountain peak.

The Heavenly Axe Sect's leader quickly introduced, "Elder, below is the Maiden Sword Sect. The enchanting middle-aged woman who blocked you at the Heavenly Palace's entrance is the Maiden Sword Sect's supreme elder. This sect is the only one in Mystic Heaven State composed entirely of female sword cultivators."

"Not a single man."

"The disciples of this sect have all personally killed their husbands. They cultivate the Heartless Sword, a type of sword art that gradually makes one cold-blooded and ruthless. To cultivate this sword, one must kill their husband with their own hands, experiencing extreme pain to understand that trace of heartlessness to enter the path."

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu nodded slightly, remembering. He had directly blasted that enchanting woman to death, leaving not a trace behind. If he remembered correctly, this middle-aged woman had mocked him for not having grown his pubic hair.

He held grudges.

"Continue," Chen Qiu waved his hand casually.

"That..."

The Heavenly Axe Sect's leader spoke in a small, embarrassed voice, "Elder, the Maiden Sword Sect is a top force in Mystic Heaven State, and their mountain defense array isn't weak. We're having a hard time breaking it for the time being."

"I wonder if the Elder..."

"I understand."

Chen Qiu interrupted the Heavenly Axe Sect's leader, then leaned on the Sky Umbrella in his hand, looking down at the Maiden Sword Sect's already activated Mountain Defense Array. At this moment, countless disciples and elders had gathered on the peak, their faces filled with anger as they held their swords, gazing at the suspended Mock Heaven Sect disciples.

The next moment!

Dark clouds pressed down, and a gale and thunderstorm roared in.

Countless unstable and violent thunderbolt auras surged throughout the heavens and earth, and two Fourteen-star Illusionary Realms were instantly activated!

"Boom!!!!"

Amid the deafening sound of heavenly thunder, countless thunder dragons burst out of the black clouds like hail, charging towards the Maiden Sword Sect's activated Mountain Defense Array!

Hundreds of thousands of thunder dragons poured out of the black clouds, and the violent and vast spiritual energy exploded in the air. Although it was nightfall, the entire world was illuminated!

"Boom! Boom!!"

As countless thunder dragons smashed into the Mountain Defense Array, the entire ground shook violently.

After a few breaths.

As the thunder dragons slowly dissipated, the Mountain Defense Array was riddled with holes, and countless buildings within the Maiden Sword Sect collapsed, causing numerous casualties. This single strike dealt irreparable damage to the Maiden Sword Sect.

The Mountain Defense Array had hardly provided any significant protection.

It wouldn't be right to say it had no effect, as without it, the sect might have ceased to exist by now.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end