Chapter 3863 – Aloof
Translator: Silavin & Danny
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
In the palace located at the center of Fire Spirit Land, Du Ru Feng strode quickly, and stopped in front of the main hall at its deepest part, bowed, and saluted, “Venerable!”
The heavy gate of the main hall slowly opened up a gap that only allowed a single person to pass through. Du Ru Feng stepped in and soon, he saw Duan Hai, the Fire Spirit Land Venerable Protector, who was sitting cross legged and refining Open Heaven Pills.
After an hour, Duan Hai let out a long breath and asked, “What is the situation?”
Du Ru Feng cupped his fists with a joyful look, “Reporting to Venerable, we have achieved a great harvest.”
“A Third-Order Scarlet Clouds True Flame cannot be considered a great harvest. What else did you find?” Duan Hai’s eyes flashed.
Du Ru Feng hurriedly reported, “The information was wrong. It was not a Third-Order Scarlet Clouds True Flame, but a Fourth-Order Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame!”
“Fourth-Order!”
“Please have a look, Venerable!” Du Ru Feng took two steps forward and handed over the Sky Seizing Net. Duan Hai took it and nodded as he scanned it with his Divine Sense, “It’s really a Fourth-Order Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame. You did well this time. Fourth-Order materials are precious in Seven Wonders Land. Keep it for yourself.” He threw the Sky Seizing Net back at Du Ru Feng.
Du Ru Feng was overjoyed, “Many thanks for your generous gift, Venerable!”
The Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame was exactly something he needed badly now, so it was natural for him to be happy.
Duan Hai continued, “Give some benefits to Zhou Zheng; after all, he was the one who found it and solved the mysterious danger in the orchard.”
“I was about to inform Venerable about this.” Du Ru Feng stored the Sky Seizing Net carefully, “Zhou Zheng had nothing to do with what happened today. It was a Worker who discovered the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame. Zhou Zheng lied in order to seize the merit for himself.”
Duan Hai sneered, “It’s not a big deal. Since he is the orchard Manager, he should still be given a reward for finding a Fourth-Order material in the orchard.”
“Yes!”
“But, given that a Worker actually found traces of a Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, he must have some skill.” Duan Hai was curious.
Du Ru Feng smiled, “Indeed, and he’s quite lucky too. Do you remember a group of newcomers that were brought back a few months ago?”
Duan Hai was surprised, “Is he one of those newcomers?”
“Indeed, a young man named Yang Kai. He also contributed in collecting this Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame.”
Duan Hai’s interest was piqued, “How did he contribute?”
Du Ru Feng briefly explained the matter of the trip to the orchard to collect Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, and then pressed on, “Disciple was a little suspicious at that time, wondering what was special about the Wood Element condensed by that Yang Kai as only he could stimulate the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, so this Disciple asked him to show his Dao Seal. As a result, this Disciple found that he had condensed a Wood Element above the Fourth-Order!”
“Above the Fourth-Order!” Duan Hai’s eyes flashed, “Are you sure?”
“Disciple has no doubt. His Wood Element was purer and richer than that of my own. If it were not above Fourth-Order, it would never make this Disciple feel that way.”
“Interesting... What an opportunity for a young man who has just entered the 3,000 Worlds.”
Du Ru Feng continued, “This Disciple questioned him for a while and he said that before meeting Venerable, he accidentally found a white jade-like small tree about this tall in some kind of Sealed Space. It had several shoot buds and leaves, and apparently gave off a strange smell. He says he inadvertently absorbed it and condensed his Wood Element.”
“A small, white, jade-like? One with a strange fragrance?” Duan Hai frowned, and caressed his beard as he pondered.
Du Ru Feng watched from the side and dared not to disturb him.
After a while, Duan Hai suddenly stopped his hand movement, and revealed a shocked expression.
“Venerable, what exactly is that small tree? What Order is this material?” Du Ru Feng questioned.
Duan Hai took a deep breath and answered in a solemn voice, “If this Old Master is not mistaken, what he found should be the White Jade Bodhi. Since it had grown into a small tree, it should be at least Fifth-Order, most likely Sixth-Order!”
“Fifth or Sixth-Order!” Du Ru Feng exclaimed, his eyes bulging with jealousy.
In the entire Seven Wonders Land, the most powerful person was the Heavenly Monarch who was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, while the other Venerable Protectors were just Fourth-Order, and all of them had promoted their current Order once after their initial breakthrough. In other words, when they achieved the Open Heaven Realm, the Heavenly Monarch was only Fourth-Order, while the several Venerables were all Third-Order.
But this Worker, Yang Kai, actually found a Fifth or possibly Sixth-Order material and successfully refined it! Was his luck not Heaven-defying? If he continued to find more Fifth or Sixth-Order materials, would he not be able to break through to the Fifth or Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly? At that time, he would be invincible in the entire Seven Wonders Land.
“He’s lucky, very lucky!” Duan Hai kept nodding.
Du Ru Feng’s expression fluctuated for a while, but eventually suppressing the jealousy in his heart, he cupped his fists again and said, “There’s another thing to inform Venerable about, which is also related to that Worker Yang Kai.”
“Proceed.”
“This Disciple has no idea how he offended Ruler of the Dawn Great General, but the latter is currently using his head as a chicken coop now. Great General was perched atop Yang Kai’s head the entire time Disciple was with him.”
Duan Hai was surprised, “Ruler of the Dawn really perched atop his head?”
“Yes.”
Duan Hai could not help laughing, “It seems that Ruler of the Dawn favours this Yang Kai quite deeply.”
Du Ru Feng was stunned, “Great General likes him? Why does Venerable say so?”
“If Ruler of the Dawn didn’t like him, he wouldn’t get so close to him.” Duan Hai explained.
Du Ru Feng was speechless when he heard this. He would rather not hope for this kind of affection, for it was a shame to be seen like that.
“Then about Yang Kai…” Du Ru Feng wanted to say something, but he stopped. He could ignore it if he did not know how high the Order of the Wood Element Yang Kai had condensed was, but since he knew now, he could not take it lightly. However, Du Ru Feng could not make up his mind about how to deal with him, so he could only wait for the Venerable’s order.
After pondering for a while, Duan Hai asked, “How many years has your Senior Brother Yu Lian been in the retreat?”
Du Ru Feng bowed, “Senior Brother Yu Lian went into retreat ten years ago to condense his Earth Element. Disciple believes it is about time for him to exit.” At this point, a sudden realization dawned on Du Ru Feng and he continued, “This Disciple knows what to do.”
“En, go.” Duan Hai waved his hand and closed his eyes again.
Du Ru Feng saw himself out respectfully, and after he walked out of the hall, the heavy gates closed slowly.
Back at the orchard, Old Fang exclaimed with his eyes widened, “A Fourth-Order Open Heaven material? Are you being serious, little brat? Or are you lying to this Old Master?”
Due to his excitement, Old Fang started calling Yang Kai a little brat instead of Little Brother again.
Yang Kai took a sip of wine from his cup and replied, “Why should I lie to you? Du Ru Feng himself said that it was the Fourth-Order Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame. At that time, if he didn’t have a suitable artifact on hand, he would already have fallen short of success.”
“Amazing…” Old Fang muttered, “Then, isn’t it worth as much as 150,000 if it’s a Fourth-Order material?”
Yang Kai looked sideways at him, “What are you excited for? It has nothing to do with you.”
Old Fang explained, “Indeed it doesn’t, but it has plenty to do with you! You are the one who found it! How much of a reward will you receive?”
“Who knows?” Yang Kai shrugged. In fact, what he cared about now was not the reward, but his Wood Element. Before, he had to release his Dao Seal for Du Ru Feng to observe. Although it seemed Du Ru Feng did not figure out anything specific, there was still the Venerable Protector behind him. With Duan Hai’s level of knowledge and insight, Yang Kai was not sure whether the lies he made up on the spot could fool him.
After thinking about it, he asked, “Old Fang, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Little Brother.”
“Have you ever heard of any Secret Technique that can forcibly seize the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements from another’s Dao Seal?”
“What kind of Secret Technique could do that?” Old Fang widened his eyes.
Yang Kai was speechless, “I also don’t know. That’s why I asked you. Why would I ask you if I knew?”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Old Fang shook his head like a rattle, “But even if there is such a technique, it wouldn’t be surprising. Unfortunately, this Old Master arrived in this Fire Spirit Land soon after he left his Universe World, becoming a Worker for others. I haven’t gone out and don’t know much about the world outside... En, why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Yang Kai replied absent-mindedly.
Old Fang looked at him for a while and smiled, “Don’t worry too much, Little Brother. As the saying goes, there’s always a way out. Didn’t we worry about your land and the fruit trees before? Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, Little Brother would turn disaster into a great contribution. Fang Tai thought he could be arrogant after making two contributions, but if he knew your situation, wouldn’t he be ashamed to death?”
“Why should he be ashamed…” Yang Kai chuckled.
The reward of Fire Spirit Land came down quite fast. Perhaps it was because the Fourth-Order Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame was too important, but on the third day after its collection, Zhou Zheng came again.
Yang Kai and Old Fang were playing chess when he arrived, and seeing Zhou Zheng come, they quickly got up and saluted.
With one hand behind his back, Zhou Zheng threw a Space Ring at Yang Kai with the other hand, stating flatly, “Yang Kai, you did a good job in collecting the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame last time. Venerable appreciates your effort. This is your reward.”
Yang Kai caught the ring and was a little surprised when he scanned it with his Divine Sense; however, he quickly composed his expression and put away the Space Ring, cupping his fists, “Many thanks to Venerable!”
Zhou Zheng nodded, but did not say anything more. He just looked up at the sky with his hand behind his back, as if there was marvellous scenery up there, clearly not meaning to leave immediately.
Old Fang winked at Yang Kai, but seeing the latter not pay attention to him, he prodded him with his elbow.
Yang Kai turned to Old Fang, and saw that he was pointing his lips and eyes at Zhou Zheng.
“Old Fang, what happened to your mouth?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
Old Fang almost coughed up blood as he was certain hint was obvious enough. Yang Kai was not a fool, so how could he not understand what Old Fang was trying to say? It was simply inappropriate for them to whisper in front of Zhou Zheng, so Old Fang was anxious and did not know what to do.
On the contrary, Zhou Zheng’s face became uglier and colder.
Seeing Yang Kai’s aloof look, Old Fang had no choice but to take out a Space Ring and approach Zhou Zheng. He handed the Space Ring over with a smile, “I’m sorry to trouble Manager Zhou to come here in person. Please forgive the inconveniences, Sir Manager.”