Chapter 24: Intercepting the Golden Emperor Lingyan, the Sixth Old Man Zhou Chen

The pedestrians in the Outer Sect gradually focused their attention on the Qishi Pavilion.

After all, it was their first time seeing someone dare to cause trouble here.

Hearing this, the Shop Assistant’s expression also turned cold, and he said,

“Young Master, this is Qishi Pavilion. I’m informing you again that all the source stones on the first floor have been sold out. If you continue to make a scene, you’ll end up like Hu Lao San just now.”

After speaking, he stared coldly at Ye Chen, and the Shop Assistant suddenly unleashed the Aura of his Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, pressing down on Ye Chen.

Ye Chen felt extremely angry, wishing he could kill the clown in front of him, but he didn’t dare.

He became increasingly certain that the source stone was his Opportunity, yet Ye Chen had no way to obtain it.

Ye Chen glared hatefully at the Shop Assistant, then turned and walked away, his steps unusually heavy.

“Master, if I snatch this source stone, are you confident you can take me away?”

Ye Chen silently asked in his heart.

“I’m afraid not. There’s the Aura of a Core Formation Cultivator here. Your current cultivation cannot bear the power of this Master unleashing Core Formation Stage strength. It might cause your Physical Body to collapse.”

After hearing the reply, Ye Chen fell silent.

He didn’t know what went wrong, and dragging his exhausted body, he left the place looking dusty and dejected.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about finding the person who booked the entire place, but given their financial resources, it would probably just be asking for humiliation again.

…

At this moment, on the third floor of Qishi Pavilion.

Zhou Chen sat opposite an old man. Judging from his Aura, he was a Core Formation Stage Sixth Layer Cultivator, who was currently pouring tea for Zhou Chen with a fawning expression.

“This old man will shamelessly call you Junior Brother Zhou Chen. How has Sect Master been recently?”

The old man asked with a smile.

“Thank you for your concern. Master is doing very well now.”

Zhou Chen replied indifferently.

“That’s good. The source stones on the first floor have been packed for you. The original price was 100,000 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, which converts to 1,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones. Since you are Sect Master Liu’s esteemed disciple and we are from the same sect, we’ll give you an 80% discount. You only need to pay 800 High-Grade Spirit Stones.”

The old man handed over a Storage Ring with a smile.

“Then I thank Senior Brother Qian for your care. I have other matters, so I’ll be leaving first. Please continue with your work.”

Zhou Chen accepted the ring, then took out a Storage Pouch and handed it to the old man.

“This is Qishi Pavilion’s Black Gold Card. From now on, all your purchases at Qishi Pavilion will receive an 80% discount. Welcome to Qishi Pavilion anytime, Junior Brother Zhou Chen!”

Upon hearing this, the old man took out a black gilded card from his Storage Ring and handed it to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen took it without even looking and left.

There was no other reason; it was mainly because he sensed that Ye Chen seemed to have walked far away, and he needed to catch up first.

Otherwise, who knew if the thieving heavens would give Ye Chen another special treatment?

The technique for cutting source stones was already very mature in the Cultivation World, so Zhou Chen didn’t need anyone else to help him cut them.

Sensing that Ye Chen’s Aura was heading out of the city, Zhou Chen temporarily put aside opening the source stone.

Rumble!

Ye Chen angrily smashed the rock mountain in front of him, punch after punch, hitting it for a full hour until he stopped, panting heavily.

“Alas, Chen’er, it’s not that this Master doesn’t want to help you, but the risk is indeed too great, and this Master cannot act.”

A voice echoed in Ye Chen’s mind.

“Master, I hate it so much. I hate my incompetence, my uselessness, my low cultivation. I clearly felt the Opportunity right before my eyes, but I didn’t have the strength to seize it. I really hate it!!!”

Ye Chen roared to the sky.

“Chen’er, perhaps that wasn’t your Opportunity. This Master didn’t sense anything unusual.”

“No, Master, that source stone is definitely not ordinary. It can stir the Qi and blood within my body, and even the Flame Mantra is stirring. I’m certain it’s a great Opportunity.”

Ye Chen suddenly became very dejected.

“Chen’er, alas.”

The air fell into a moment of silence. Evidently, the old man in Ye Chen’s ring also didn’t know how to comfort Ye Chen for a moment.

If it was a heaven-sent Opportunity, it might affect the height one could achieve in the future.

…

In a cave ten li away from Ye Chen.

Zhou Chen silently took out the source stone that Ye Chen had set his eyes on. On the surface, it indeed looked unremarkable.

So, Zhou Chen began to condense Spiritual Qi according to the widely circulated source stone cutting operation guidelines in the Cultivation World.

Then, he wrapped the Spiritual Qi around the source stone, slowly peeling off the outer layer of the source stone little by little.

This process required a lot of patience. If one was too hasty, it might accidentally affect the integrity of the contents within the source stone.

After about half an hour, Zhou Chen finally finished polishing the surface of the original stone.

The entire source stone became smaller, about one-tenth of its original size.

At this moment, the surface of the source stone was covered with a layer of crystal, like crystal.

And through the source stone, one could clearly see golden flashes emanating from within the source stone, constantly flickering.

“This is… Golden Emperor Spirit Flame?!”

Zhou Chen was in disbelief, as it was very similar to what was recorded in the Wenxian Sect’s ancient texts.

“Ding! Congratulations to the Host for snatching the Golden Emperor Spirit Flame, ranked seventeenth on the Heavenly Profound Continent’s Strange Flame Ranking. Ten thousand times return of the Great Evolution Divine Flame, ranked third on the Heavenly Profound Continent’s Strange Flame Ranking.”

Hiss!

This was the first time Zhou Chen knew that Strange Flames also had rankings. It seemed he needed to quickly catch up on this knowledge.

However, this Great Evolution Divine Flame, with a ten thousand times return and ranked third, was simply too terrifying.

It was known that according to Wenxian Sect’s records, no Strange Flame ranked among the top ten had appeared on the Heavenly Profound Continent for nearly ten thousand years.

It was known that every Strange Flame ranked among the top ten possessed world-shaking power.

The higher the ranking, the more mysterious and terrifying it was.

There was a saying in the Cultivation World that the power of the top ten Strange Flames was too immense, and they were taken to the Upper Realm by ancient great emperors.

Therefore, those powerful Strange Flames had never appeared again.

Zhou Chen couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. This Strange Flame had such a great origin; could it be that the System brought it back to the Heavenly Profound Continent from the Immortal Realm?

“Do not claim for now.”

Zhou Chen silently thought.

The most important thing right now was to consolidate his cultivation. Such powerful Strange Flames had to be absorbed one by one.

With the experience of absorbing Strange Flames for the first time, Zhou Chen was a bit more skilled when absorbing Strange Flames again.

First, he drew the Strange Flame out of the source stone, then wrapped it with Spiritual Qi and guided it into his body.

Boom!

The moment the Golden Emperor Spirit Flame appeared, the rocks around Zhou Chen instantly vaporized.

Fortunately, it only lasted for a moment before Zhou Chen swallowed it into his body.

Zhou Chen only felt countless heatwaves assailing him, burning from his internal organs all the way to his limbs and bones.

So painful!

It was too painful!

It was even more painful than absorbing a Strange Flame for the first time.

Fortunately, Zhou Chen had made ample preparations.

He continuously absorbed the Spirit Pills he had prepared beforehand, and coupled with Zhou Chen’s certain resistance to flames.

Facing this situation, Zhou Chen no longer had the panic he felt before.

The large beads of sweat on Zhou Chen’s forehead evaporated before they could even fall.

Even though Zhou Chen’s internal organs and all his Meridians had been strengthened by the Strange Flame once, it was almost useless!

It was still that bone-deep pain!

Even more terrifyingly, the Green Flame Core Fire also seemed unwilling to be outdone, and began to contend fiercely with the Golden Emperor Spirit Flame.

Although the power of the Green Flame Core Fire was clearly inferior to the Golden Emperor Spirit Flame, it had the advantage of being in its home territory, with Zhou Chen’s continuous supply of Spiritual Qi.

It continuously consumed the terrifying heatwaves of the Golden Emperor Spirit Flame.

This continued for an hour, and Zhou Chen finally felt the pain gradually disappearing.

Not long after, the scorching sensation dissipated, and Zhou Chen suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relief.