Chapter 762 : Visiting the Expert
Half a month passed quietly in the blink of an eye.
The Elite King was guiding Su Chen in the art of being a gong farmer. He nodded approvingly and praised him. “Not bad, you’ve already gotten the basics of it. That just shows how diligently you’ve been working.”
In the past half month, Su Chen had been completely influenced by the Elite King. He fed the game animals diligently every day and at the same time, he made sure to put in the work when picking manure.
He once tried to help Jiang Liu, but after trying wood chopping for a bit, he discovered that his cultivation was not enough to even make a dent on the tree. After this, he was even more sure of the extraordinary nature of this mountain.
Compared to the past, his aura was more restrained. The sharpness on his face was completely gone and his fancy clothes were replaced by simple linen clothes. Coupled with the dirt on his face, he looked like an ordinary farmer.
At the same time, his injuries had improved. With the ruling bloodline forcibly taken out of him, he was rendered half-crippled and his cultivation level could only retreat and not advance. However, because of all the work he did, a faint sense of power in his body was awakening which gave him some hope.
‘This mountain definitely houses an unimaginably powerful expert. Lady Luck must be smiling down on me for me to chance upon this place. Although hope is slim, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, I must do my best. I want to return to my family and take my rightful revenge to regain my honor!’
Jiang Liu came over, put down the firewood, and said with a smile, “Let’s take a rest Brother Su Chen. Then, you can tell us stories about the Origins Realm.”
“Yes, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” said the Elite King with a smile while sitting down.
It was obvious that this was not the first time they had to nag him about taking a rest. Su Chen was a workaholic fiend. He would work day and night without any rest if it were not for the Elite King and Jiang Liu’s advice.
To Su Chen, he was not working but cultivating. Nevertheless, he stopped the work he was doing and sat down next to them. He took a deep breath and wondered what stories he should tell them next.
After a while, something flashed across his face, and in a deep voice, he said, “I have a childhood friend called Xiao Yanran. It was thought that…”
“Hold up, hold up! We’re not interested in your love life. What we really wanted to know about is the cultivator situation over there,” said the Elite King.
Su Chen was rendered a little speechless after that. He had no choice but to squash his love life into the deepest part of his heart. He went into contemplation mode again and finally said, “The biggest difference between the Origins Realm and the Ancient Forbidden Zone is the manifestation of the Origins. In the Origins Realm, the Origins flow freely through the air, and it can be used for cultivation like Spiritual Qi. However, it requires a powerful cultivation base to control it. The ultimate spells or techniques summoned from the control of the Origins are all called Origin Skills.”
“It seems that the group of people cut off the Origins from the seven dimensions and used it to suppress the unknown gray mist to protect the seal. This made the Origins here impure,” said the Elite King.
“Origin Skills? Why does one need to learn how to manipulate the Origins?” asked Jiang Liu curiously.
Su Chen was a little dumbfounded by the question. It was like asking a starving person why one needed to eat when the belly of the inquirer was filled with food.
“The work you’re doing for the expert, be it shoveling manure or chopping wood, all these are a kind of training of manipulating the Origins so there’s no need for the two of you to learn it,” said Su Chen.
A light bulb went off their heads and they nodded. “You’re right. Just by following the expert, it gives us a good head-start.”
Then, they signaled with their eyes for Su Chen to continue with his story.
“The cultivation environment is better than here because the Origins Realm is full of the power of Origins, making both the speed of cultivation and the upper limit of cultivation higher than it is here. After breaking through the third-step Wisdom Elite, the next level would be the Wisdom Dictator. I was born with the dictator bloodline, but unfortunately, I fell in love with the wrong person. That b*tch Yanran…”
“Hold up, hold up. This again? I already told you we’re not interested in your love life,” said the Elite King.
“Sorry, my bad. I was too caught up in the moment,” said Su Chen apologetically. “The family I came from is quite prominent in the Origins Realm. We’re located in the Promise Star which can be found in the Northern Star Region of the Origins Realm.”
Jiang Liu arched his brow. “Northern Star Region? Just how many regions are there?”
“There are a total of four regions, two oceans, and one star in the Origins Realm. The four regions are the Northern Star Region, the Southern Star Region, the Western Star Region, and the Eastern Star Region. The two oceans are the Starfall Ocean and the Starry Ocean. The last one’s an independent star, named the Origins Star!” explained Su Chen.
“Origins Star?” The Elite King and Jiang Liu instantly realized that there should be something extraordinary about this star. The entire realm was called the Origins Realm, and this star was called an Origins Star. No one would believe that it was not extraordinary.
“I don’t know much about the shape of the Origins, but I know that this star is a special existence. Unfortunately, I’m really ashamed to say that with my power, this is all that I know.”
In fact, he would not have known about the Origins Star if it were not because he was the young master of the Su family and had access to many ancient books. After all, the Origins Realm was just too big, not to mention that he had only been cultivating for a hundred years. Even if he had cultivated for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, he still would not have explored everything, let alone some places that involved secrets that were not accessible to ordinary people.
“Are there a lot of Wisdom Dictators in the Origins Realm?” asked the Elite King.
“Not really. There’s only a handful in each region,” answered Su Chen without missing a beat. His face became crestfallen at the thought of his dictator bloodline.
The Elite King stood up and patted him on the shoulder. “Come, let’s go up the mountain.”
“Up…the mountain?” asked Su Chen with wide eyes.
For the past half month, the Elite King was the one who delivered the manure up the mountain. Although Su Chen was very curious about the expert on the mountain, he knew that he was not qualified to meet him, so he did not dare to hold on to the hope of going up the mountain. Hence, he thought he heard wrong.
“You…you’re not pulling my leg…are you?” He stared at the Elite King intently while his heart thumped loudly against his chest.
“Why would I joke about something like this? The expert already knows that I have a new worker. He’s requested to bring you up,” said the Elite King with a smile.
“The expert said that the kiwi will be ripe for harvest today, so he invited us for a tasting. You should count your lucky stars to gain benefits like this,” said Jiang Liu.
Su Chen’s brain nearly exploded. He felt a surge of air shooting up to the top of his head, nearly suffocating him. The sentence ‘I’m finally going up the mountain’ kept on repeating in his mind.
The game animals, the pig feed, the woodcutter, the gong farmer—all these were proof of the expert’s extraordinariness. Even in their everyday conversations, he could tell that the Elite King and Jiang Liu had the utmost respect and awe for the expert, so it was only natural for him to be this excited at going up to the mountain.
“You should’ve told me earlier! I need to get ready.” With a jolt, he quickly freshened himself up.
After finally getting ready, Su Chen followed the Elite King and Jiang Liu up the mountain. The stele at the foot of the mountain was left alone, looking lonely and desolate.
“I’m a fool. Why did I ever choose to be a stele? I want to eat the kiwi fruit, too!” said the stele.
Along the way, Su Chen’s heart was overwhelmed, and that feeling intensified when he saw a four-part architecture slowly coming into view.
“Relax, kid,” said the Elite King. Then, he went up to knock on the door.
Xiao Bai opened the door with a creak and said to them, “Welcome, distinguished guests. Please, come in.”
“Thank you.” The three of them bowed before stepping into the yard.
Su Chen was full of anxiety and he did not even dare to breathe. As soon as he entered the house, his pupils shrank violently. The surrounding air seemed to be solidified. This was of course an illusion. The reason was that the power of Origins here was too thick! If one compares the outside world to a river, then this yard was the ocean and the source of the Origins.
“Even if I don’t do any training here, I’d still become an elite fighter as my body will still be nourished by the Origins!” He had mentally prepared himself before coming here but still, he was shocked by the environment he had arrived in.
It would be hard for him to find a comparable place in the Origins Realm. He dared not look around, so he dropped his head and remained quietly standing behind the Elite King.
Li Nianfan noticed his reservedness. He smiled and said, “Is this the new kid on the block?”
“Yes, Lord Saint. His name’s Su Chen. He’s still young and doesn’t know the ways of the world,” said the Elite King.
Li Nianfan nodded. He could also tell that Su Chen was the introverted type.
“Relax. Please, sit,” said Li Nianfan with a smile.
The three of them sat down. A plate of cut kiwi fruit was already placed on the table. Each of the slices was even in size and seemed to be glowing with freshness. Beads of juice overflowed from the green flesh and the middle was slightly yellow with black seeds unique to the kiwi fruit. They could smell the fruity aroma bursting out of it.
Li Nianfan motioned with his hand for them to start. “Help yourselves to this new fruit.”
“Thank you, Lord Saint.” The Elite King and Jiang Liu quickly popped a kiwi slice into their mouths while Su Chen carefully took a bite.
There was a hint of sweetness in the sourness that instantly made Su Chen fall in love with the taste. He just could not get enough of it. The juicy flavors burst inside his mouth like a volcano, giving him foodie fireworks.
‘I never knew something this delicious exists in the world!’ thought Su Chen. He was beginning to think he was dreaming. The taste was indescribable and he could eat this for the rest of his life. He did not doubt that anyone would be willing to do anything just to get his hand on the fruit. ‘Is this what the expert eats every day?’
Suddenly, he felt that his mana was being nourished, growing rapidly, and the power that had been lost was returning! Not only that, the foundation that was forcibly pulled out of him was also recovering!
‘Ah! What a fool I am! This isn’t an ordinary fruit but a divine fruit!’ A layer of goosebumps spread on his skin. He composed himself and activated the mana in his body. His levels began to shoot up.
Cross Tribulation, Mahayala, Golden Immortal. Just a piece of fruit made his foundation stable and his power returned to the Golden Immortal realm! Feeling his power once again gave him a whole bag of mixed feelings.
He clenched his fist and said to himself, ‘Su Ming, Xiao Yanran, I really should thank you. If it weren’t for the two of you, I wouldn’t have met the expert and learned the ultimate spell of a gong farmer. I swear that I’ll rain down my vengeance on both of you one day!”
“Is the fruit not to your liking?” asked Li Nianfan after noticing that Su Chen did not take a second helping.
“No, no. On the contrary, it’s so delicious that I find myself lost in a trance,” said Su Chen nervously.
“I’m happy to hear that. Please, have some more,” said Li Nianfan. Then, as if he had just thought of something, he continued, “Since this is your first visit here, you must not have eaten other kinds of fruits. Xiao Bai, bring out a fruit platter!”
Touched by his generosity, tears began to spring out of Su Chen’s eyes. He stood up clumsily, and in a wavering voice, he said, “Thank you! Oh, thank you, Lord Saint. You’re too kind. I’m sorry I have nothing in return for you.”
Li Nianfan was moved by his sincerity. ‘Yup, he’s a sensitive introvert alright. Seeing how touched he was by a fruit platter, he mustn’t have come from a well-to-do family. That must be the reason why he became a gong farmer as well. It’s a good thing he knows how to be grateful. I sure am lucky to have him working for me.’
After a while, Xiao Bai brought out the fruit platter. The tearful Su Chen ate the fruits silently. Every bite was an ocean of kindness and expectation from the expert to him.
These were all Origins Saintly Fruit, each of them contained different benefits such as healing, soul-nourishing, enlightenment, increasing mana, and more. Even in the Origins Realm, the Origins fruit tree was a supremely sacred product, a treasure among the sects and powerhouses. Behind each Origins fruit tree was a history of bloody battles, and the fruit it bore could only be eaten by those who were immensely lucky.
‘There are so many types in front of me. More than what could be found in the entire Origins Realm.’
Daluo Golden Immortal, Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal, Heavenly Realm! He had returned to the peak of his power with no effort on his part. He survived a desperate situation and his confidence shot through the roof.
‘I can faintly feel another bloodline being nourished.. I would’ve given up my dictator bloodline in a heartbeat if I knew this was going to happen! That bloodline’s nothing compared to what I’m going to become in the future! I mustn’t let the expert down!’