Chapter 77
Chapter 77: The Sunken Jade Tower
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Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the past years, the Xiwu Empire’s reign over the counties began to wane . The king of the counties possessed their armies and was considered the ultimate ruler in their respective county . Apart from grooming proficient combatants, the Second-Rank Prince of Donglin also possessed a thousand Seventh Stage Dark Troopers and had another ten million soldiers under his command . The entire Donglin County was under Liu Xun’s ruling .
In this world, the person with the most martial arts power was considered the ultimate being . One or two million armored soldiers with a Third or Fourth Stage Celestial Chi would have no problems wearing down a Ninth Stage combatant . Let alone a few thousand of Seventh Stage Dark Troopers! Against a Tenth Stage combatant, however, the troops were severely limited in their ways of dealing with them .
“It’s about the Ye Clan, Father . ” Liu Zhen saluted the prince .
“What has the Ye Clan done this time?” Liu Xun’s voice deepened, exuding power in his voice .
“The Ye Clan has defeated the Yun Clan . Yun Yiyang is dead and most of their productions have been seized by the Ye Clan . Also, they have been mining the mountains behind their castle,” Liu Zhen spoke with a certain dissatisfaction . How dare the Ye Clan provoke the Junwang Palace?
Liu Xun frowned . Initially, he had perceived the Ye Clan as a band of ants . With the slightest touch, he thought he could crush them to bits . When he ordered Yun Yiyang to rule over the Eighteen Houses of Lianyun, he had not considered the Ye Clan . The day Ye Zhantian showed up at his door to beg for medicines, Liu Xun had brushed him off right away . Nobody expected the tables would turn . Now, the Ye Clan had an unknown powerhouse backing them up as their power had grown sizably, and they even managed to obliterate the Yun Clan . If he sent his troops to storm the Ye Castle, he was worried that he might upset some powerful figures and create some unnecessary troubles for himself . Then again, if Liu Xun did not vanquish the clan, it would continue to be a major frustration for him . With the Ye Clan swearing vengeance against them, it was difficult for him to resolve the matter .
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“What do we do, Father? Should we send a fleet to attack the castle?” Liu Zhen asked . Recalling the time he had embarrassed himself in the Ye Clan, his heart was full of hatred .
Liu Xun shook his head . “Let’s get some of our men to look into the powerhouse supporting Ye Clan and the Ye Clan’s alliance before we do anything . For now, I’m going to isolate myself and attempt to break through Tenth Stage!”
“You want to achieve Tenth Stage, Father?” Liu Xun gasped . He was not happy at the news, only worried . “What happens if you achieve Tenth Stage and the Great Emperor of Mingwu summons you?”
“The only way to achieve Tenth Stage is to take baby steps . ” Liu Xun sighed . “Don’t let anyone know about this!”
“Of course!” Liu Zhen’s expression was stern . He knew the gravity of the situation .
“In the next few days, the Sunken Jade Tower in Lianyun Mountains will open its doors . Maybe a large number of proficient combatants will show up at Donglin County . When that happens, we need to be on guard to prevent any problems from brewing up . Also, Prime Minister Zuo and your Grandpa might show up too . ”
“The Sunken Jade Tower is opening its door and you’re going to achieve Tenth Stage . Are you preparing to go in or something?” Liu Zhen asked . He frantically continued, “For years, many strong combatants had gone into the Sunken Jade Tower but only a few emerged alive . ”
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“We can talk about that in a few days . ” Liu Xun was calm .
After the Ye Clan had driven away all the Yun Clan’s laborers, the mines became a filthy mess . The laborers had destroyed whatever they could . Even the entrance to the cave that was carved by their ancestors had a boulder in its way . The people were furious at the sight of the damage though with the Yun Clan gone, they could let go of their anger too .
“Little Chen, Zhantian, let’s move this boulder away!” Ye Changxuan looked toward the large boulder ahead of them . The boulder must have rolled down from above the mountains . It would take an enormous amount of effort to move them, even if it were three top Ninth Stage combatants .
“Save it, Grandpa . Father, let me do it . ” Ye Chen smirked .
Ye Changxuan and Ye Zhantian were confused . The boulder before them was at least the height of four to five men . Could Ye Chen move the boulder by himself?
Ye Chen got the rest of the men to stand at a distance away . He then looked at Ye Meng and a couple of others who were holding onto a few bags . Ye Chen took a bag and shoved underneath the boulder . He lifted the boulder up and ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could . An explosion ensued and the boulder was blown to bits . People were taken by surprise by the sound of the blast . It was as if heaven and earth shook .
There were a lot of explosives in the bag and Ye Chen had shoved the bag into the slits of the boulder . The blast was surely comparable to the strike of a Tenth Stage combatant .
Ye Changxuan and Ye Zhantian looked on in horror . They had to give it to Ye Chen for coming up with something so devastating . It was probably useless when used against humans, given they could easily avoid it but it was extremely useful to blast rocks to bits .
For the next few hours, Ye Chen had started a massive scale of bombing across the mountain . Under the power of gunpowder, half of the mountain began to crumble . Xuan-Iron fell on the ground . Back then, the laborers employed by the Ye Clan had to resort to pickaxes to smash open the rocks to gain some ore . Now, all they had to do was pick up the pieces of rocks, choose between them, and have them wheeled down the mountains . It was a simple process that increased productivity ten-fold .
Fellow men cheered on . The three hundred laborers that they had employed had arrived too . They began wheeling away the ore batch by batch . It was a hot scene at the mines .
Suddenly, a voice came from the mines .
“Elder Chief, get over here! There’s a cave in here!”
Ye Chen and Ye Changxuan looked at one another and went up ahead .
After half of the mining mountain had been bombed to bits by Ye Chen’s gunpowder, the men had found a deep cave right in the debris . No one could tell where it led to but cold winds came out of the cave .
“Is it a natural cave?” Ye Chen wondered . He looked inside the cave and reached for a stone on the walls . It was silver and shimmering . It looked like the cave was formed out of these . “What’s this, Grandpa?”
Ye Changxuan took over the stone in Ye Chen’s hands and proclaimed excitedly, “These are Silver Arcanite, a high-grade material used in the construction of armor . It’s much more valuable than Xuan-Irons but I would’ve never thought there would be a Silver Arcanite mining mountain here!”
“Tell the rest of the men to keep this entire incident a secret!” Ye Zhantian urged . This place had to be left in the hands of a trustworthy group of people to mine!
“I wonder if the cave leads to other places . Maybe it goes there?” Ye Zhantian had a thought .
“You mean the Sunken Jade Tower?” Ye Changxuan replied in shock .
“What’s the Sunken Jade Tower?” Ye Chen added . He was curious about the conversation between Ye Zhantian and Ye Changxuan .
“Inform the men that none of them are to venture twenty meters beyond the cave . If they do so, they’ll be subjected to the clan’s punishments!” Ye Changxuan did not hesitate when he spoke . In a serious tone, he continued, “Lock this place up and ensure that no one learns about it . ”
“What kind of place is the Sunken Jade Tower, Grandpa?” He looked at Ye Changxuan, whose face was extremely serious .