Chapter 510: Faith Poisoning |
"Old Ding, you called me over in such a hurry, is there news about the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow?"
Five Pillar City, at the Core of the Top Hat Black Market, Su Chen sat on a chair, his head leaning back, watching Ding Mo walk in upside down in his field of vision.
"Your Excellency is truly straightforward." Ding Mo chuckled, walked to the wine cabinet on the side, picked a bottle with a golden trademark, picked up two glasses, and Unhurried poured out the purple-gold liquid from it.
"If I called you over not for the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow, with Your Excellency being so anxious, aren't you afraid I'd raise the price to squeeze you?" Ding Mo handed over the wine glass and said with a smile.
"Ha..." Su Chen reached out to take it and swallowed it whole into his stomach. "I trust you. Old Ding still has Self-Awareness."
Self-Awareness... Ding Mo just brought the wine glass to his lips and couldn't help but pause, but this wasn't his first time dealing with this guy; the other party had always been this unbridled.
He laughed helplessly, took a sip of the liquor, and said: "This Purple Gold Chen, calculated down, a bottle also costs one portion of Faith Essence. I'm afraid you didn't even taste the flavor."
"Old Ding, you aren't someone who likes nonsense either. What's going on today?" Su Chen sat up straight, his face bearing Suspicion. "Sending me a message, telling me to come as soon as possible, what exactly is the matter?"
"Old habit, I like to keep people guessing a bit." Ding Mo chuckled. "You guessed correctly. It is indeed news about the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow."
He naturally didn't think of relying solely on his clone to search. The Black Market was also an important channel, and he had long To Contact this guy to help keep an eye out.
"Although this Spirit-Nurturing Marrow isn't sold openly, it doesn't mean there is no stock."
Ding Mo leaned against the wine cabinet, smelling the aroma in his glass. "This thing is an important Material for a Morning Star Spirit to evolve into a Radiant Moon Spirit. The Five Pillars, including other top Factions, collect it year after year."
"Finding the item isn't hard, but finding someone who wants to sell it is somewhat difficult."
"Someone wants to sell?" Su Chen seemed to have gained interest.
"That's right." Ding Mo nodded. "A Faction recently had some unexpected changes and needs a large amount of Faith Essence. They sold quite a few things to the outside, including the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow."
"Which Faction?" Su Chen probed.
Ding Mo, however, laughed. "Brother Duan, wanting to skip the middleman for a transaction is not a good quality. Me saying those two sentences just now already carries a certain risk. I absolutely won't say any other Intelligence. Just give up on this idea."
Su Chen shrugged: "How much are they selling it for?"
"If you want it, it's estimated you need seven thousand." Ding Mo stated a number.
Su Chen's eyes widened slightly, "Seven thousand? Are you tricking me? It's not like I haven't checked. The selling price in the Black Market last time was only four thousand seven hundred portions of Faith Essence."
"..."
"That was a special situation." Ding Mo shook his head. "The seller wasn't some major Faction, just a lucky guy. Furthermore, that was only the surface price."
"Black Market transactions require a 15% handling fee. The Essence paid by the buyer exceeded five thousand portions."
"Even if it's five thousand, it's still too far from seven thousand." Su Chen still shook his head. The difference between them was one Cinder tempered with Twelve Streams of Morning Fire.
"The sellers this time are all major Factions. The overall price is naturally higher, and moreover... I have to take a cut, right?" Ding Mo didn't shy away and spoke straightforwardly.
"How much are you taking? Could it be two thousand?" Su Chen sneered.
"That would be too greedy." Ding Mo frowned, then grinned and said: "However, it always has to be higher than the Black Market's handling fee. 20%, maybe. This is already considered a discount. If I let Black Market hunters search for items, their commission is 25%."
"20%?" Su Chen briefly estimated. "The original asking price was roughly six thousand portions of Faith Essence?"
"About that." Ding Mo was ambiguous.
"I need some time." Su Chen pondered briefly, but didn't haggle.
Ding Mo wasn't surprised either; this was definitely not a small number, and asked: "How long do you roughly need? Although I have some relations with the sellers, they indeed urgently need Faith Essence, and I can't have them hold it for too long."
Su Chen's eyes flickered, and he said: "Then you can very well buy it first. This thing is hard currency, so you won't lose out either. You can even rip me off big time."
Ding Mo's expression was somewhat strange, but he reined it in in an instant, shook his head, and said helplessly: "How can a middleman hoard goods? It's the bloody experience of predecessors. Although this thing is one of the important Materials for a Morning Star Spirit's Metamorphosis, it is ultimately only one of them."
"Without the cooperation of other ingredients, in a sense, it is useless. Where do I have the Resources to collect other Materials? Those major Factions are even less of fools. If I resell it, wouldn't they force the price down?"
"Investing so much Faith Essence and still having a Probability of losing, why would I do this?"
"Alright, I understand." Su Chen nodded, not showing any urgency either. "I will raise it as soon as possible."
"Awaiting your good news." Ding Mo smiled and saw Su Chen off.
"Seven thousand..."
After exiting Top Hat, Su Chen muttered secretly. This amount truly couldn't be raised in a short time.
"Should I ask Heavenly Lord Ni again? However... I just had him help out some time ago, and now asking for seven thousand Faith Essence..." Su Chen was somewhat hesitant, feeling it was somewhat excessive himself.
After all, he hadn't gotten his hands on the Mystic Origin Spirit Fetus yet. In case he offended the other party, it wouldn't be good.
There seemed to be no way to raise it in a short time, but Su Chen didn't have much sense of urgency. At least Ding Mo's words revealed another piece of Intelligence: this thing was not impossible to find.
If it truly didn't work and he missed this time, he could still let Heavenly Lord Ni's network figure out a way. At worst, he would pay for it himself and just let the other party make the connection.
"Also counts as good news." Su Chen didn't stop moving, heading straight for the Abyssal Zone. He randomly picked an Abyssal Rift, arrived in the Nether Realm, let his clone hide itself, and his consciousness returned to the Main Body.
The instant his consciousness returned, it disrupted his body's autonomous cycle. The surrounding elemental fluctuations were in disorder for a moment, but quickly stabilized.
Su Chen first opened the Status Panel to take a look, and the Development Progress had impressively reached 52%.
"Ha!" He couldn't help but grin. "The estimation was accurate this time. More than Half a Month is just right."
"Next, it's time to get on the highway."
The next procedure had already been simulated many times in Su Chen's mind.
However, he looked around and pondered: "I don't know if this place can hold up."
Next, he still had to use the 【Calamity Breaker】, and he didn't know how much of a commotion it would cause.
"To be safe, I better return to the sect." Su Chen thought for a moment and sent a message to Old Chu, asking him to inform the Heavenly Gate.
"Wait a moment..." Chu Lingyuan responded immediately. Su Chen put away the Holographic Screen, habitually opened the Dispatch Page to glance at it, and his eyes inevitably flickered.
【Flash-Shadow Body combined with Verdant Wood Guest has discovered a piece of secret Intelligence related to you. Do you wish to Extract?】
"I wonder what kind of thing it is..." Su Chen attempted to Extract and found it roughly only required forty drops of Divine Blood. "It truly isn't too much..."
He still had one hundred and forty drops of Divine Blood left in his hands, so naturally, he didn't hesitate and Extracted immediately. The familiar sensation came again, his consciousness abruptly dragged into a dark, unknown place.
When light appeared before his eyes again, Su Chen found himself seemingly appearing in a temple. Enshrined on the platform was a familiar figure.
"...World-Honored One? It's this guy again. This should be Buddha Land."
Su Chen was speechless, but heard a voice by his ear, "Immeasurable Buddha Wu Zhi, I wonder what the matter is for urgently summoning me back?"
He suddenly subconsciously wanted to turn around, but right now he was a consciousness body, so his perspective naturally changed. Only then did he discover he was standing behind a person. It was an Old Buddha who looked emaciated.
"It's him..." Su Chen recognized this Old Buddha. That day when he challenged Taixuan Hong, this person led the team from Buddha Land, named Wu Zhi.
And the person standing opposite him, he was even more familiar with. It was impressively Mingxin, showing an exploring expression.
And in the corner, there was actually another person, with his head lowered and eyes downcast, his expression numb.
"Kong Ming?" Su Chen was surprised. He actually recognized all three people present.
"Mingxin..." Old Buddha Wu Zhi spoke, "That day when Immeasurable underwent Corruption, the World-Honored One sensed it from afar and was furious. Since discovering this Sovereign of the Purple Zenith, our Buddha Land has continuously suffered losses."
"Immeasurable concealed the report, causing our Buddha Land to miss a golden opportunity for nothing. We also didn't reap any benefits in that Morning Star Sea, failing to obtain a single one of the seven Radiant Moon Spirits. The sinful creature Immeasurable even Corrupted into the Nether Realm with a Radiant Moon Spirit to avoid punishment."
"The Chosen of this Sovereign of the Purple Zenith must be grasped in the hands of our Buddha Land."
Su Chen noticed that when Old Buddha Wu Zhi said this, a look of pain inevitably appeared on Kong Ming's face in the corner.
Mingxin's expression was heavy and he said solemnly: "I will definitely do my utmost to keep the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith in our Buddha Land."
"Wanting to become the Radiant Sun Elect is not something that can be done just by doing your utmost." Old Buddha Wu Zhi showed no reaction to Mingxin's statement.
Mingxin paused slightly, the confusion in his eyes flashing past, "Please instruct me."
Old Buddha Wu Zhi said faintly: "The other few guys are all not inferior to you. Our Buddha Land has had many frictions with the Taixuan House in the past. Although you were the second to enter the Tower of Spirit after Qin Guanyu, that Spirit of the Vast Sun might not Favor you."
"...It should be something from not too long ago." Su Chen captured the time anchor. Mingxin To Be Stationed in the Tower of Spirit until now was only a matter of over two months.
Wu Zhi continued: "Therefore, I plan to conduct the Grand Vow Ceremony, attempting to influence the Spirit of the Vast Sun, making him generate a sense of intimacy towards our Buddha Land."
Influence the Spirit of the Vast Sun? Su Chen's expression paused slightly.
"A Grand Vow Ceremony to influence the Spirit of the Vast Sun?" Mingxin showed an expression of shock and couldn't help but say: "Martial Uncle, right now the Spirit of the Vast Sun is jointly guarded by the Five Pillars. How can there be an opportunity to conduct the Ceremony?"
It can actually influence the Spirit of the Vast Sun? Su Chen was astonished. This Mingxin was only worried about not having the opportunity, rather than worrying about whether it could influence it.
Wu Zhi nodded, without the slightest ripple on his wrinkle-filled face, "This matter is indeed difficult to handle. Spirituality inherently loves Faith Essence. As long as the power of our Buddha Land is added into the Faith Essence, as long as the quantity is enough, it will naturally influence its mind."
"But such a massive fluctuation of Faith Essence will inevitably make the other Pillars alert."
Faith Poisoning?
Su Chen was stunned, suddenly remembering that when he did Class Requirement Deduction previously, he also used a similar method.
"I pondered bitterly for several months and finally found a solution." Wu Zhi paused, his gaze looking towards Kong Ming in the corner, and said: "Kong Ming was once The Recognized. By relying on his slight connection with the Spirit of the Vast Sun, using him as a sacrifice, perhaps we can pour it in slowly and steadily, like a thin stream of water..."
"Using a person as a sacrifice?" Mingxin's pupils shrank, clearly greatly shocked, and he couldn't help but say: "Kong Ming possesses the Azure God Talent. He was once commended by the World-Honored One and bestowed the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree. Use him as a sacrifice?"
What he was shocked about was the identity of the person used, rather than the fact that a person was going to be used as a sacrifice.
He even thought whether Old Buddha Wu Zhi had gone mad. Even if Immeasurable's Corruption had some slight impact on Kong Ming, it shouldn't go as far as directly using him as Material, right?
"...I only found out not long ago that Immeasurable not only concealed the report about the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith but even lost the sapling root of the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree on Kong Ming." Wu Zhi sighed.
"What?" Mingxin abruptly turned his head to look at Kong Ming, his heart shaking. No wonder Kong Ming had been Living in Seclusion since he came back, rarely seen. So he had lost the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree.
Kong Ming's face revealed a sorrowful and bitter expression. Previously, he still had his Master to cover for him. Although the World-Honored One knew, he naturally wouldn't announce it. And for his Master to save his own life by Corrupting into the Nether Realm, he naturally couldn't keep this secret anymore.
However, he had successively suffered major blows, first being defeated by that Taixuan Hong and losing the opportunity to continue competing for the Selection.
Although it was later proven that Taixuan Hong was indeed very powerful and being defeated was very normal.
But for a long period in between, he had been doubting himself, and even lost the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree, losing his greatest reliance.
All his Holy Classes were prepared for the Seven Treasures Refinement. The World-Honored One wouldn't bestow him a second root, so he was considered half-crippled.
He himself also didn't have the desire to live. After Wu Zhi explained the situation to him, he agreed without much resistance.
"Buddha Land is truly Making the Best Use of Everything." Su Chen watched coldly.
"Once the Grand Ceremony begins, I will have no heart to pay attention to the outside world. Asking you to come this time is to ensure that before this, no Chosen is born." Wu Zhi exhorted.
Mingxin restrained his thoughts and said in a deep voice: "I understand. I will absolutely not let anyone else become the Chosen!"
"Furthermore, this is a slowly flowing sacrifice. It will take one or two years at the shortest, and three to five years at the longest. During this period, you only need to know your place. Wait until you have thoroughly exerted influence on the Spirit of the Vast Sun, and then you Emerging Talent."
"As for Kong Ye..." Wu Zhi pondered: "Do not tell him about this matter. Your Dormancy can be explained, but if he also has no reaction at all, it will inevitably arouse external suspicion."
"Yes!" Mingxin agreed.
【Buddha Land's Old Buddha Wu Zhi intends to use Kong Ming as a sacrifice to perform the method of a Grand Vow, using Faith Essence specially made by Buddha Land to influence the will of the Spirit of the Vast Sun, paving the way for his disciple Kong Ye, and deceiving Mingxin to prevent the birth of a Chosen.】
Su Chen's consciousness returned to his Main Body. Looking at the text emerging on the Status Panel, his eyebrows twitched.
"This old monk explicitly said not to let Kong Ye know, seemingly considering deeply, but in reality, his goal is entirely Kong Ye."
"..."
This sudden Intelligence indeed left Su Chen somewhat Caught Unprepared, and he pondered secretly: "Although Buddhist disciples are not the most adept at sacrifice methods, the art of the Grand Vow is indeed perverted. As long as it consumes Faith Essence, it can achieve things that are hard to achieve."