At night, the Scarlet Star's group settled down.
Inside a palace, Zhao Baichuan stood in front of a window and stared into the distance.
Chen Tian Fei stood behind him, not saying a word.
After a long time, Zhao Baichuan finally sighed, “What a beautiful scenery! Old Chen, what do you think of the Seven Skillful Land?”
Chen Tian Fei didn’t know what the Chief Manager meant by this question, but after thinking about it for a moment, he replied, “The Seven Spirit Provinces nurture the Yin-Yang Five Elements, which is quite rare and has been managed by Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch for so many years. Although this Seven Skillful Land isn’t as grand as those Cave Heaven Paradise, it’s still quite extraordinary among the second class forces.”
Zhao Baichuan nodded and said, “I’ve also been to the headquarters of some second class forces. Among all the second class forces, this Seveb Skillful Land should be considered medium.”
Chen Tian Fei smiled bitterly, “If my Scarlet Star had been able to resist the pressure back then and operate carefully, after so many years, it might not have been any worse than the Seven Skillful Land. Unfortunately, the Sword Pavilion and Thunder Light came one after the other, so we had no choice but to share the world with them.”
Strictly speaking, Scarlet Star was also a second class force, and Sword Pavilion and Thunder Light were the same. After all, both of them had Mid Rank Open Heaven Stage, and there were many Low Rank Open Heaven Stage. Star City could also be considered a Spirit Province, but when the three forces gathered together, there would naturally be many conflicts, so how could three forces in one world develop rapidly?
This was also why Scarlet Star was inferior to the Seven Skillful Land.
Zhao Baichuan smiled lightly, “Fortunately, the Sword Pavilion and Thunder Light are now gone, only my Scarlet Star is safe.”
“But our Star City is also gone,” Chen Tian Fei said with a worried expression. Every time he thought about this, he would feel a headache coming on. Star City had been swallowed up by the Great Ruins Boundary’s fog and had been completely destroyed. It was unknown where Scarlet Star would settle down in the future, it couldn’t possibly lead a group of people to wander around the Three Thousand Worlds.
“As long as there’s people, there’s no need to worry about making a comeback,” Zhao Baichuan said confidently.
“Chief Manager is right.”
Chen Tian Fei respectfully said, “However, Chief Manager, since we are here to borrow troops, why did you stop me from explaining the situation to the Heavenly Monarch? That Yang Kai is extremely cunning, if we continue to delay, he may escape at any moment.”
“Don’t mention the matter of borrowing troops again,” Zhao Baichuan waved his hand, “Right now, it’s not that we want to borrow troops from the Heavenly Monarch, it’s he that wants to borrow troops from us.”
Chen Tian Fei wasn’t an idiot, so when he heard this, his expression changed, “Does Chief Manager mean…”
Zhao Baichuan chuckled, “During the banquet just now, this King thought about it carefully. Isn’t Yu Xiushan the Palace Master of Flying Smoke Palace? He’s also a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator. Flying Smoke Palace is located in the neighboring Great Domain, next to the Seven Skillful Land.”
Hearing this, Chen Tian Fei nodded and said, “There must have been a lot of friction between the neighbors. Heavenly Monarch said that he had suffered some injuries in the previous years and even the Seven Skillful Land's protective array was damaged. I’m afraid that Yu Xiushan smelled something fishy and wanted to use this opportunity to swallow up the Seven Skillful Land to strengthen himself.”
Zhao Baichuan said, “This King also thinks so, and I’m afraid you didn’t notice at the banquet just now that four of the Seven Skillful Land's Protector Venerable were Fourth Order Open Heaven Stage while the other three were only Third Order.”
Chen Tian Fei thought about it for a moment and found that the situation was indeed as Zhao Baichuan had said. The three Third Order Open Heaven Stage masters were Fire Spritual Land, Water Spiritual Land, and Gold Spiritual Land's Protector Venerable. At that time, he hadn’t paid much attention to them, but now he couldn’t help feeling strange. Third Order Open Heaven Stage is only Low Rank, so how could they be qualified to be Protector Venerable?
Zhao Baichuan smiled lightly, “If I’m not wrong, this Seven Skillful Land’s accident back then was not an ordinary one. The three Protector Venerable from before should have died, and those three Third Order Open Heaven Stage were only temporarily appointed by Heavenly Monarch.”
Chen Tian Fei suddenly realized what was going on and quickly flattered, “Chief Manager's eyes are as bright as torches. If what Chief Manager says is true, then Seven Skillful Land really does have the intention to borrow our forces.” Chen Tian Fei observed for a moment before continuing, “Does Chief Manager intend to interfere? But what benefits does this bring to my Scarlet Star? After all, this is a grudge and struggle between other forces. Even if we help Heavenly Monarch block the Flying Smoke Palace's attack, at most we will only be able to make Heavenly Monarch feel grateful. On the other hand, Yang Kai possesses countless treasures and is the hope for my Scarlet Star to rise again.”
Zhao Baichuan coldly snorted, “Heavenly Monarch's gratitude isn’t something this Chief Manager would care about.” Raising his hand, he pointed forward and said, “Old Chen, what do you think of this world? Wouldn’t it be better to change the world and call it Scarlet Star Land?”
Chen Tian Fei’s heart jumped, his eyes narrowing because of the fat.
Zhao Baichuan had already said so much, so how could he not understand the hidden meaning behind his words? The Chief Manager was trying to seize the Seven Skillful Land! He immediately feel somewhat uneasy. After all, the Seven Skillful Land was not a soft persimmon that could be easily kneaded. The other party also had a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage master and a few Fourth Order Open Heaven Stage masters, not to mention this was their headquarters. If they wanted to stir up trouble here, it would be no different from taking advantage of a raging fire. If they weren’t careful, they would only attract trouble.
However, after thinking about it carefully, this matter was indeed promising. The Flying Smoke Palace was eyeing the Seven Skillful Land covetously, and if they could suddenly attack while both sides were heavily injured, they might have a chance to seize this treasure land.
It was no wonder that after the banquet, the Chief Manager had taken the initiative to visit the Seven Skillful Land. It turned out that he had gone to inspect it first.
Chen Tian Fei’s heart was pounding and his lips couldn’t help drying up. His expression was filled with anxiety and excitement as he secretly admired the Chief Manager's scheming. Moreover, if he could seize this treasure land, its value wouldn’t be any less than capturing Yang Kai alive. Not to mention, Yang Kai was now nowhere to be found and the Seven Skillful Land was right in front of him.
Taking a step back, Chen Tian Fei cupped his fists and said, “Chief Manager, please allow me, Chen Tian Fei, to offer my life in exchange for Chief Manager's grace, i will not dissapoint you.”
Zhao Baichuan chuckled and patted Chen Tian Fei’s shoulder, “There’s no rush, we need to plan carefully.”
Turning around, he narrowed his eyes and looked down, “It’s about time we found a place to settle down.”
At the same time, in another hall, Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch quietly listened to Earth Spiritual Land’s Venerable’s report. Previously, he had arranged for Earth Spiritual Land’s Venerable to bring Scarlet Star’s people to explore this Seven Skillful Land, because Earth Spiritual Land’s Venerable was meticulous and could observe things that others could not.
After listening, Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch asked, “Did you discover anything wrong?”
Earth Spiritual Land's Venerable shook his head and replied, “I didn’t discover anything. The people from Scarlet Star have been acting quite normal along the way, there’s nothing wrong with them.”
The Protector Venerable of the Yin Spiritual Land was a middle-aged woman, and when she heard this, she frowned and said, “Heavenly Monarch, the people from Scarlet Star didn’t come early or late, but instead came to my Seven Skillful Land at this time. Could there be some kind of trap?”
Heavenly Monarch looked at her and said, “I know what you’re worried about, but Scarlet Star is quite far from here, and as far as I know, it has nothing to do with Flying Smoke Temple. The chances of them working together to attack my Seven Skillful Land is quite low, but of course, this possibility cannot be ruled out, so we need to investigate carefully.”
“As long as Heavenly Monarch knows what he’s doing, it’s fine.” The woman nodded.
The Yang Spiritual Land’s Protector Venerable smashed his fist onto the table beside him and shouted angrily, “Damn it, if it weren’t for that Xu Huang causing trouble back then, how could my Seven Skillful Land in such a state? If the Great Array was intact, Yu Xiushan wouldn’t dare act rashly.”
If one wanted to break through one of the Seven Skillful Land's Protective Array, they would have to pay a great price. It was unknown where Yu Xiushan had heard this news, but after learning that the Seven Skillful Land's Protective Array had been damaged, he had rushed over like a cat that had caught a whiff of a fish scent. Over the past few years, they had fought at least twenty times, each of them suffering some kind of damage. Although Flying Smoke Palace had not gained any advantage, the Seven Skillful Land's Protective Array flaws were even greater, and it was likely they would soon be completely destroyed.
Hearing the name Xu Huang, Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch's face also became extremely gloomy. Although Xu Huang had seriously injured him and the other Protector Venerable, most likely he had already died. However, in that battle, three of the Protector Venerables had died while he himself had been seriously injured. Many of his disciples had died and many of his servants had escaped. Heavenly Monarch had suffered heavy losses.
This was not all, the key was that Xu Huang had secretly tampered with the control of the Formation, causing Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch to be unable to fully control the Formation. As a result, he could only display less than sixty percent of its power.
He was injured, so he had to heal his injuries before refining the Formation again. It could be said that he was physically and mentally exhausted.
What made him even more uneasy was that Xu Huang had taken away the Great Array's Jade seal. He also had the Great Array's Jade seal, but it was just a copy. The one in Xu Huang’s hand was the genuine Jade seal. Whether it was the control over the Great Array or it's affinity with it, this Jade seal was far stronger than the one in his hand.
If he could obtain that Jade seal, he would be able to resolve his current predicament and quickly regain control of the Great Array, but Xu Huang’s fate was unknown, and the Jade's whereabouts were also unknown.
Life was indeed full of ups and downs!
Sighing inwardly, Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch turned to Earth Spiritual Land’s Protector Venerable and said, “Wei Hua, I’ll leave Scarlet Star’s people in your care, quickly find out why they are here.”
Scarlet Star and the Seven Skillful Land were separated by many great domains, so the Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch didn’t believe that they would come here for no reason. It was just that he was too scheming and didn’t ask about it during the banquet.
Earth Spiritual Land’s Protector Venerable stood up and cupped his fists, “Yes!”
“Let’s disperse first.” Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch waved his hand and everyone took their leave.
Over the next few days, Earth Spiritual Land’s Protector Venerable, Wei Hua, received the orders of Seven Skillful Heavenly Monarch and warmly welcomed the Scarlet Star's people. Every day, he would arrange a banquet and bring out many of the Seven Skillful Land’s specialties from this great domain for Scarlet Star and the others to taste. The relationship between the two sides continued to deepen.
However, what made Wei Hua speechless was that the Scarlet Star’s group had never expressed their intentions clearly, as if they were only here to sightsee, attend banquets, drink wine, and take their female disciples to bed.
Wei Hua didn’t know what they were up to.
On this day, at the banquet, Wei Hua couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Chen, why have you come all the way to my Seven Skillful Land? If there’s something you need, why don’t you tell us? My Heavenly Monarch is the most forthright and will not disappoint you.”
Chen Tian Fei’s face was flushed red from drinking, and although he appeared to be drunk, he was actually quite sober. Hearing this, he understood that the Seven Skillful Land finally couldn’t help but ask.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak