Chapter 301: Elder's Position, Following the Dragon's Merit!

Chapter 301: Elder's Position, Following the Dragon's Merit!

Chen Qiu remained silent, feeling a bit weary as he shook his hand, and once again, millions of spirit stones were thrown out. After the host absorbed them, the cracks in the corridor slowly disappeared.

Finally, things returned to normal.

For some reason, he used the word 'finally', as if a long time had passed.

He had experienced a lot in his life, and no matter what, he felt everything was under his control. Even in defeat, he had backup plans, but this time, he was truly helpless. If this corridor shattered, he would die here.

He wasn't even sure if he could enter the Netherworld.

He didn't even know where this place was!!!

Was there a Netherworld that could take him in? Especially this host, his mood swings were unpredictable, to say the least. To be precise, this person's mind was not quite right. Encountering such a person, and having his life in their hands, he truly had no choice but to comply.

"Huff"

Chen Qiu exhaled lightly, sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, his arms dangling over his knees as he slowly closed his eyes, enjoying this moment of tranquility. He didn't care about spending some spirit stones; they were important, but worthless compared to his life.

However, this incident taught him a lesson.

He had many ways to save his life.

But they were quite limited and only effective on the continent or in normal secret realms. In situations like this, his life-saving methods might not work. To put it simply, his life-saving methods were a bit low-level, and he needed to acquire some higher-level ones.

Just then—

Chen Qiu sensed movement beside him and slowly opened his eyes. He saw the host approaching him, his eyes filled with apology, his lips slightly quivering as if he wanted to say something but held back.

".”

Chen Qiu stared at the host expressionlessly, and before the host could speak, he spoke first with a sullen tone, "If you're about to tell me that you don't want to live and plan to take us along with you to our deaths, I believe you."

"I'll definitely shove your head into your ass first."

He was now afraid that the host would create more trouble.

"No, no."

The host touched his nose, feeling embarrassed, and lowered his head, saying, "Senior, I know I may have caused you some trouble, so I plan to compensate you. Can you give me a piece of your clothing?"

"This way, after I get out, I want to find you and treat you to a good drink to express my gratitude."

".”

After a brief pause, Chen Qiu suddenly chuckled and tore off a piece of his clothing, tossing it to the host. With a warm smile, he said, "It seems I misunderstood you. Keep this piece of clothing, and after we get out, you must come and find me."

"Let's have a good drink together."

"After all, we've become friends through this ordeal."

"Thank you, senior! Thank you!" The host's face lit up with gratitude and excitement as he carefully tucked the piece of clothing into his chest. Then, in a soft voice, he added, "Senior, you're a good person. No one has ever treated me this well."

"I'll definitely repay you if I get the chance."

Chen Qiu smiled, but his eyes remained cold, "Everyone says that about me."

Fat Dragon, standing beside him, shivered and cautiously tucked his neck in. This was the first time he had seen Chen Qiu's emotions so apparent. If the host was foolish enough to go and find Chen Qiu for a drink after leaving...

He swore...

This host would regret this decision and taste true suffering.

Obviously, Chen Qiu had been holding in his anger. Who could withstand such antics?

"Um..."

The host, who was about to walk away, suddenly hesitated, "Senior, there's something I want to ask. I'm not sure if it's important to you or not."

"It's like this. The Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm that has awakened self-awareness is usually a large-scale secret realm, and some are even in the Immortal World. It's almost impossible for a regular Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm to develop self-awareness."

"I'm currently in a secret realm, and the Heavenly Dao is shackling me, so I can't tell you many things."

"But after I get out and bring out the other Artifact Spirits to form our own race, I can tell you all about it. I don't know if you're interested in other Heavenly Dao Mystic Realms?"

"Hmm?"

Chen Qiu, who had been imagining how he would torment the host to avenge this day's humiliation, suddenly narrowed his eyes upon hearing these words.

The host's meaning was quite clear.

That is,

He could tell him about the detailed guides to many high-level large-scale Heavenly Dao Mystic Realms, including where the opportunities, dangers, traps, opening times, and locations were, and more.

And they were all high-level secret realms, even including the Immortal World's Heavenly Dao Mystic Realms.

If this information were true, the over ten million spirit stones he had spent would be completely worth it.

"Yes, yes."

The host nodded and whispered, "And since we were once Artifact Spirits, even if we're separated, we won't be able to control the secret realm in the future, but we'll still retain some partial permissions. For example, no matter which continent this high-level secret realm opens in, we can help you secure a spot and bring people in."

"And we'll have the highest hidden permissions."

"For example, in many high-level secret realms, each challenger receives an 'Identity Token' upon entering, which grants them various special abilities. The higher the level of the secret realm, the more unexpected factors there are. We can help you adjust these to the highest level."

".”

After a long silence, Chen Qiu stood up and laughed, walking towards the host. He brushed off the dust on the host's body and placed his hands on his shoulders, "Why so tense? Relax, we're friends."

"As the saying goes, we've become friends after this encounter. After all this, I've realized that you're a sincere and friendly person."

"You probably don't have any human friends yet, right?"

"Perhaps, I can be your first human friend."

"Really?"

A glimmer of light flashed in the host's eyes, and he asked excitedly, "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Chen Qiu nodded seriously, although this Artifact Spirit had been alive for a long time, most of it had been spent in slumber, without any communication with the outside world. Therefore, it was fair to say that it had little to no understanding of human affairs and had a rather simple mindset.

If the other party was truly willing to offer him such a great opportunity, he would forgive this Artifact Spirit this time.

The next time they met outside, he wouldn't kill it, but he would still have to teach it a lesson, or perhaps set up a trap to let the Artifact Spirit experience the same feeling, otherwise, he still felt some resentment.

"By the way—"

As Chen Qiu prepared to say something to ease the tension between them, he coughed lightly and then, like chatting with a friend, patted the host's shoulder again, "Relax, I forgot to ask, how many spirit stones did your Artifact Spirit Elder use to buy the Race Fortune from that human expert?"

Fat Dragon, standing to the side, looked at the scene before him, his mouth twitching slightly.

From the beginning, Chen Qiu had only said 'relax' twice. This was a common tactic used by those in power; the more they told you to relax, the more tense you became, and your body and mind would become even more nervous, subconsciously elevating the person in front of you to a higher status.

Patting the shoulder was also a similar suggestive gesture.

Chen Qiu was using both verbal and physical cues to establish himself as the dominant figure in front of the host, and by engaging in small talk, he was trying to ease the tension. It was clear that Chen Qiu had no intention of killing the host; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.

It seemed that what the host had said had already caught Chen Qiu's interest.

It was hard to tell if it was luck or sincerity, but the host, who had been in a dire situation, had managed to turn things around with just a few words. Fat Dragon looked at the host, who was cautiously responding, with a complex expression. This was the first time he had seen someone anger Chen Qiu to such an extent and still survive.

He could be considered the first person to achieve such a feat!

"What?"

Chen Qiu, who had been ready to casually chat, felt a sense of horror in his pupils, and his voice trembled slightly, "Your Artifact Spirit Elder spent 1.7 billion spirit stones to buy the Race Fortune from that human?"

"He's gone mad!!"

Indeed.

The Race Fortune was indeed valuable, but he swore that even though he had never seen it being traded on the market, he wouldn't have needed 1.7 billion spirit stones to acquire it, not even close to a hundred million spirit stones!

After all, even the life-saving "Shadow Emperor Fortune" wasn't that expensive.

Moreover, the Race Fortune wasn't worth much. It was just the ability to create a new race, and there were countless small races on the various continents. Creating a race wasn't something worth mentioning.

The difficulty was in passing down the race, not creating it.

Furthermore, he hadn't put much effort into obtaining it. It was just a simple item, and this bunch of Artifact Spirits had spent a whopping 1.7 billion spirit stones on it. Were they stupid?!

And to make matters worse, they had been scammed; they had given away the spirit stones, but the item hadn't been delivered, and the person had been killed.

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu took a deep breath to calm his emotions before asking as calmly as possible, "Tell me in detail how your Artifact Spirit Elder came to know this human expert."

His entire fortune consisted of just over one hundred million middle-grade spirit stones, not even reaching two hundred million, and he still had a hundred cities left to excavate.

He had thought he was already very wealthy.

After all, he had plundered nearly a quarter of the wealth of a continent, but compared to these Artifact Spirits, he felt like a small fish in a big pond. His wealth was far inferior to theirs.

"That's a long story."

The host licked his dry lips and recalled, "At that time, the Artifact Spirit Elder had awakened all the other Artifact Spirits who were still in slumber and told them about the plan. He was the first among us to be able to leave the Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm."

"The Artifact Spirit Elder had a Celestial Immortal cultivation level at that time. After accumulating enough spirit stones, he went to a marketplace in a Fifth Rank Immortal Realm and heard that anything could be bought there. So, he asked everyone he met if they had a Race Fortune for sale."

"This Immortal Realm was the Upper Fifth Rank Immortal Realm of the Jiang Taiping Continent."

"Most people refused the Artifact Spirit Elder."

"Only one group stopped the Artifact Spirit Elder and told him they had a Race Fortune, but it was extremely rare. They asked the Artifact Spirit Elder how much he was willing to pay."

"The Artifact Spirit Elder calculated the total amount of spirit stones we had accumulated over the years and offered a maximum price of 1.5 billion spirit stones."

"The other party wasn't satisfied and asked for 2 billion."

"After bargaining, they settled on 1.7 billion, and in recent days, we Artifact Spirits managed to gather the remaining 200 million spirit stones and sent them to the Artifact Spirit Elder. After that... you know what happened next."

The host also seemed a little dejected as he spoke; after all, for a long time, the Artifact Spirit Elder had been like a wise mentor, guiding them forward. Now that this guiding light had suddenly gone out, they felt lost and didn't know who to follow.

"It's fine, it's fine," Chen Qiu said, taking another deep breath. He felt like he had used up all the luck he had in this lifetime. It was clear that the Artifact Spirit Elder wasn't very smart or had just recently come into contact with the continent.

When asked how much he could offer, he immediately gave a maximum price of 1.5 billion.

Although he hadn't witnessed the scene, he could guess that the other person must have been silent for a long time, and when the price of 2 billion was mentioned, his voice must have been trembling.

Why didn't they come to him?!

He truly had the Race Fortune, and if they had bought it from him for 1.5 billion, he wouldn't have killed them and taken the item. He would have provided the most respectful service, calling back all the disciples of Mock Heaven Sect and arranging the highest level of service. He would have made them feel right at home.

He couldn't help but feel envious of such good fortune.

For some unknown reason, all his anger suddenly shifted to that unknown Human cultivator. The man was worse than an animal, bullying a newly-hatched Artifact Spirit, and most importantly, he had the audacity to steal his seventeen billion Spirit Stones!

Those Spirit Stones should have been his! The Race Fortune belonged to these Artifact Spirits, so shouldn't these seventeen billion Spirit Stones be given to Chen Qiu?

He had completed the transaction, so why did the other person take the Spirit Stones?

Taking away so many Spirit Stones from him was akin to killing his father!

"What's that person's name?"

Chen Qiu's face darkened as he asked the host, "I'll take care of this. The Upper Rank Immortal Realm of the Jiang Taiping Continent, right? I happen to have a friend in that Immortal Realm, and he's quite powerful. His cultivation is definitely higher than a Celestial Immortal."

"I'll go and ask him about this matter. After all, he killed your Artifact Spirit's predecessor, and this grudge must be avenged."

"I'll avenge you!"

"This..."

The host hesitated and spoke in a low voice, "Senior, this might be too much trouble for you. I..."

"It's fine. Just tell me that person's name."

"He calls himself 'Duke Wei' and claims to be the master of the 'House of Wei'. He's a man and a cripple, limping as he walks."

Chen Qiu silently memorized this information. A cripple with such high cultivation was rare. It was either a side effect of a certain entry or a lingering ailment from his past. The master of the House of Wei—this information was sufficient.

He decided to ask Ba Dan to inquire about this person.

However, he didn't plan to have Ba Dan take action.

After all, there were too many Spirit Stones—seventeen billion. He acknowledged that Ba Dan was a sincere friend, but with such a vast amount of Spirit Stones, it was hard to say if Ba Dan might suddenly turn against him. Human hearts couldn't withstand such temptation, so losing a friend seemed unnecessary.

He would deal with this person after reaching the Immortal Realm.

With this batch of Spirit Stones, his cultivation would improve rapidly after leaving the secret realm, and ascending to the Immortal Realm wouldn't be far off.

"Senior!"

At this moment—

The host, at some point, had knelt on the ground, his eyes red and tears streaming down his face as he wailed, "Senior, why are you so kind to me? No one has ever treated me this well. You're even willing to avenge the great grudge of my race."

"I..."

"I have nothing to repay you with, except..."

The host suddenly bit his thumb, causing blood to gush out and quickly form numerous mysterious array patterns in the air, which converged and rotated according to some rule.

His voice raspy, he shouted, "I swear allegiance with my blood!"

Soon, the blood-formed array patterns in the air shrank into a palm-sized array, which landed in the host's hand. The host then stood up, his face slightly pale, and carefully handed the array to Chen Qiu.

"Senior, this is my Blood Oath Seal."

"Artifact Spirits can swear allegiance, but I'm still in the Heavenly Dao Mystic Realm and can't swear allegiance yet. However, I can complete this ritual now, and after I leave the Mystic Realm, you can attach this array to your arm, and the swearing ceremony will be complete."

"After that, my life will be yours."

"Senior, I'll do whatever you ask. Junior knows that the outside world is extremely complex. Even if the Artifact Spirit race successfully establishes itself, it will face countless hardships to claim its own territory and pass down its legacy. If..."

"If I can receive your protection..."

His voice trailed off.

The host pushed the Blood Oath Seal towards Chen Qiu, his eyes filled with apprehension.

"This Blood Oath Seal..." Fat Dragon couldn't help but mutter, "It doesn't sound like a good thing."

". . ."

Chen Qiu furrowed his brows slightly and looked at the small array in the host's hand. It was indeed an array formed from the swearing ceremony, and there were no seals within. When he probed it with his divine sense, he clearly felt that after the swearing was complete, this Artifact Spirit would be unable to betray or harm him, and he would have control over the Artifact Spirit's life.

Moreover, this Artifact Spirit was about to become the leader of the Artifact Spirit race.

In other words, if he agreed, the entire Artifact Spirit race would essentially belong to him. Now, he had three races working for him.

The Dragon Clan, or to be precise, a portion of the Dragon Clan.

The Maan Clan, which couldn't be fully mobilized.

The Demon Clan, a race equivalent to a continental teleportation array, currently providing teleportation services for his Mock Heaven Sect disciples.

And now, the Artifact Spirit race was the fourth, and they were the kind that would listen to his every command, unlike the Maan Clan. He owed Ba Dan a favor, so Ba Dan listened to him, but not entirely. This Artifact Spirit, after swearing allegiance, would be completely under his control.

This entire group of Artifact Spirits, from various Heavenly Dao Mystic Realms, was an incredible opportunity.

His mother, this opportunity seemed too good to be true.

". . ."

Chen Qiu looked up and scanned the crowd nearby, who were all looking at them with bewildered expressions. When he and the host were communicating, a soundproof array had been in place, so they couldn't hear their conversation, only see their actions. Seeing the host's many gestures, they might indeed be confused.

Some people were still holding the limited-time Rainbow Entry, and everyone had their own opportunities, but it seemed like their opportunities were on completely different levels.

The opportunity he had encountered this time not only helped him improve his strength but also significantly enhanced his foundation and the Mock Heaven Sect's foundation.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of relief.

He realized that the host didn't seem as annoying anymore. Although his personality was a bit obsessive, saying he'd rather die than give up, it could also be said that he was willing to risk his life to greedily gather enough Spirit Stones to give to the Artifact Spirit's predecessor for the sake of the race's grand plan.

For the greater good of the race and the development of his people, he had disregarded his own life. Perhaps the host also knew that the corridor would collapse after giving away those Spirit Stones, but he still resolutely did it to help the Artifact Spirit's predecessor successfully purchase the Race Fortune and give his people hope.

What is this? This is called having a sense of justice and responsibility!

To be able to make a resolute decision to commit suicide when the plan falls apart, refusing to cling to life, and preparing to accompany his beloved Ame.

What is this? This is called having gratitude and loyalty, valuing emotions, and being devoted to one's loved ones!

Loving the greater good, but also cherishing one's own family!

When placed in opposition, such a person can indeed be maddening, but as a subordinate, they seem much more agreeable.

Chen Qiu patted the host's shoulder with some emotion, "Don't worry, after you come out, I'll treat you to a drink, and we'll officially complete this master-servant ritual. I don't have many friends in this life, but those who befriend me, as long as I, Chen Qiu, don't fall into ruin, I'll make sure they don't either."

"Leave the affairs of the Artifact Spirit Clan to me."

"I have a land of a hundred cities."

"If you don't mind, after your Artifact Spirit Clan is established, you can develop and pass on your heritage in my land of a hundred cities."

How strange.

He was just full of anger towards the host, but for some reason, he suddenly couldn't bring himself to be angry anymore.

Why was he angry just now?

He couldn't quite remember what had made him so angry.

Chen Qiu didn't think much of it; he just looked at the host with a satisfied expression, feeling more and more pleased, until he smiled, "That's great, that's great. By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Xiao Shuai."

". "Fat Dragon muttered softly again, "Your wife's name is Ame, why aren't you called Ah Shuai? But your name is quite good. In the future, when you come to Mock Heaven Sect, there will be many with the same surname as you: Xiao Lang, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Huzi."

"No, that's not it."

Xiao Shuai turned his head towards Fat Dragon with a serious expression, "My lover's name is Xiao Mei. She calls me Ah Shuai, and I call her Ame. Ah Shuai and Ame are our pet names for each other."

"Alright."

Chen Qiu feigned anger and looked at Fat Dragon, "This Xiao Shuai will also be a member of our Mock Heaven Sect in the future. Be mindful of your jokes, and don't involve family. Xiao Mei is also your sister-in-law whom you've never met. During the Qingming Festival, remember to offer an extra incense stick for your sister-in-law."

". "

Fat Dragon looked at the host expressionlessly and gave him a thumbs-up to express his admiration.

He truly admired him.

After so many years, this was the first time he had seen someone transform from an enemy to a trusted confidant so quickly, even prompting Qiu Chen to speak up for him. But he also realized that Qiu Chen's mood had improved, so he played along to make the atmosphere more harmonious.

Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to speak up.

When Qiu Chen was angry earlier, he had hidden to the side without saying a word.

He knew when to speak and when to stay silent.

However, he was genuinely curious. Was Xiao Shuai genuinely pure-hearted, or was it an act? Because those three moves were so stunning, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to be professional!

Compared to Xiao Shuai, his own surrender to Chen Qiu was like a child watching a master perform, not even on the same level.

Step one:

Admit the mistake, position oneself, and reduce Qiu Chen's anger.

Step two:

Discuss value, present benefits, and offer the immediate benefit of the Artifact Spirit Clan's detailed information about countless Heavenly Dao Mystic Realms, as well as the future expected benefit of 1.7 billion spirit stones.

Step three:

Pledge loyalty, show attitude, and directly perform the master-servant ritual.

The entire process was flawless and impeccable.

Even the step of "presenting benefits," which seemed ordinary, was divided into an "immediate benefit" that could be obtained right away and an "expected benefit" that would only be available in the future.

This...

This was simply professional!

Could this have been done without any intention? He couldn't quite believe it. In any matter, the devil is in the details. Once you get into the specifics, flaws emerge. If this whole affair hadn't been broken down, the problem wouldn't have been apparent, but once it was carefully dissected, the entire process was incredibly professional!

Fat Dragon looked at Xiao Shuai, who was expressing his gratitude to Chen Qiu, with a strange expression. He couldn't quite tell.

But he understood one thing.

Whether it was unintentional or carefully thought out, this person would climb the ranks very quickly after joining the Mock Heaven Sect. He had a divine-level talent, making him seem naive and ignorant of the ways of the world, even though he had already mastered them.

The advantage of this was that it would make the gift receiver feel guilty and have a sense of violating their conscience, as if they were tricking a child. This would subconsciously lead the gift receiver to offer more in return.

He hoped Qiu Chen wouldn't be fooled by this trick.

Fat Dragon turned to look at Chen Qiu and saw that he was now smiling and hugging the host's shoulder, introducing him to the members of the Mock Heaven Sect.

"That's good."

He silently withdrew his gaze and muttered.

Just then—

Chen Qiu, still hugging Xiao Shuai's shoulder, walked up to Fat Dragon with a smile and introduced him, "This is our Great Elder of the Mock Heaven Sect, Fat Dragon. Many of the sect's affairs are handled by him. After you come out, let him take you on a good tour of the Mock Heaven Sect."

"Greetings, Great Elder."

Xiao Shuai bowed respectfully towards Fat Dragon.

Fat Dragon smiled and replied warmly, "The Mock Heaven Sect is easy to get along with. After you come out, we'll all be family."

That's right.

After all, he was the Great Elder!

The second-in-command of the Mock Heaven Sect. Who joined earlier than him? The Elder Council Position, Merit for Following the Dragon! Although he hadn't experienced much combat and his strength wasn't particularly high, in the first secret realm, he had held a cleaver and stood in front of Qiu Chen, fighting a bloody path for him!

As long as he behaved and didn't have any wild ideas or actions, he would live a life of ease and comfort for the rest of his days. Moreover, as Qiu Chen's strength grew, so would his status and power.

This is called seniority!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end