"Clunk!!"
Bai Yunfei's head snapped back in shock and knocked against the sturdy tree trunk he had been sitting against. Rubbing the spot on his head, Bai Yunfei stared incredulously at Jing Mingfeng, "How….how many?!"
A pleased as punch smile was still on Jing Mingfeng's face as he stared at Bai Yunfei. "An entire furnace worth of Extreme King Pills!"
"And….that is how many, exactly?" Bai Yunfei's lips twitched.
"No one really knows how much that is, but rumors say there's enough for a 'vapor' to come out from them. And judging from what we know of the Alchemy School….an entire furnace would mean over a dozen pills at the very least!!"
"Over a dozen…."
Bai Yunfei's eyes bulged outwards, his heart pounding at the number spoken. Bai Yunfei could feel his blood practically boiling at the revelation.
Over a dozen Extreme King Pills!!
What did this mean? It meant that there were enough pills to foster at least ten new Soul Kings!
Soul Kings! Soul cultivators strong enough to be the pillar of their community just by themselves!
Just having one Soul King was enough to propel any faction into the middling ranks of society. Having three Soul Kings made them in the upper-mid ranks. Having five meant being in the higher echelons and being the strongest in the area almost! And having a total of ten Soul Kings made the faction one of the best!
Needless to say, this was an event good enough to propel anyone to the levels of any of the Ten Schools or Five Families……
Of course, everyone aspired to be as strong as either of two groups. Not only did it mean to be strong by having Soul Kings, there was another factor to it….
And right now, the chance to earn at least ten Extreme King Pills was a bombshell of drop of information to have.
……
Bai Yunfei was all the more shocked by this revelation. Over and over again, he muttered the words 'Extreme King Pill' almost despondently. In his minds, the beginnings of a plan was starting to form.
Knowing what he was thinking about, Jing Mingfeng decided not to interrupt him and sat back to smile to himself.
But his patience wore thin after some time. "Hey hey, what's up? Ol'Bai, what are you thinking about now?"
Bai Yunfei only nodded at him in silent response.
"Are you going to….fight for the Extreme King Pills?"
Bai Yunfei quirked a smile at him, "But of course!"
Jing Mingfeng's mention of the Extreme King Pills sparked a fire in Bai Yunfei ever since the first time he heard it, but the fact that it was just one pill hadn't tipped the scales yet. With so many strong people fighting for them and such, Bai Yunfei hadn't the interest in fighting them all for just one pill. But if there was at least ten of them, then that changed things. Bai Yunfei would have to reconsider a few things.
For Bai Yunfei who was stuck as a peak late-stage Soul Exalt, having an Extreme King Pill was extremely tempting. His rate of training was beyond ridiculous and faster than anyone else he knew, but that all ended here. To breakthrough and become a Soul King within the next ten years was impossible with normal training, and it was more than likely he wouldn't have any improvement at all.
Crossing the threshold to become a Soul King was the desire for practically every soul cultivator, but there was no one that desire to be a Soul King more than Bai Yunfei did. He wanted to find out what heights could be reached as a Soul King. All the Soul King enemies he had as of late was taking a toll on his mind, and Bai Yunfei didn't want to throw his life on the line with every battle. If he could find a way to increase his strength fast, then Bai Yunfei would finally be able to fight the other Soul King as an equal!
Bai Yunfei had confidence in his strength, present or future. If he became a Soul King, any Early-stage Soul King or even Mid-stage Soul King would be no match for him! If he became a Soul King, he wouldn't feel bothered anymore with all those annoying enemies coming at him!
So now that a shortcut to becoming a Soul King was right in front of him, how could he not take it!
And there were at least ten of them! He wasn't a greedy man by any standard, so being able to have just one would be more than enough for him!
……
Jing Mingfeng nodded in excitement with him. "Haha….I did say so before. How could anyone give up the chance? It's worth a try even if we don't succeed. And because of the limitations of the pocket, we don't even have to worry about any Soul Kings barging in on our fights. With us two working together, everyone else doesn't even stand a chance."
Bai Yunfei nodded in agreement. He really was feeling excited now. If all his opponents were just Soul Exalts, then Bai Yunfei was completely confident in himself.
Of course, he didn't think he had a chance of monopolizing the Extreme King Pills either. Trying to do that would only sign his death warrant and the criticisms of everyone. A dead end so to speak.
"The three of us. I've a friend who should be here soon. The three of us can work together, that should be enough to guarantee our lives."
The two of them had already been speaking for quite some time now. It was finally getting bright, and Bai Yunfei could sense Xiao Qi's aura getting closer and closer to him. He had been planning on flying over to him, but he gave up on the idea of going back to the Underworld School to stay here instead. Xiao Qi and Long Lan wouldn't be able to go into the pocket with him, but Zheng Kai could on the other hand.
"A friend? What kind of friend? Reliable, I hope?" Jing Mingfeng asked.
"He's a friend for life." Bai Yunfei nodded. "He's the second son of the house of Zheng, Zheng Kai. A Late-stage Soul Exalt with a space affinity."
"The house of Zheng from the Capital?!" Jing Mingfeng remarked, "Zheng Kai….the 'Sex Lord'?!"
Seeing Bai Yunfei nod, Jing Mingfeng asked, "How did you meet him? Did you go to the Capital?"
Bai Yunfei nodded again. "You haven't been traveling the continents for long, have you?"
"Eh? How'd you guess?" Jing Mingfeng asked. "I actually was shut away in the backwoods for three years. I only just started wandering out."
That was what Bai Yunfei figured. Otherwise, Jing Mingfeng should've known what Bai Yunfei was up to. Him opening a crafting class in the Capital wasn't by any means small news. Jing Mingfeng should've heard about it if he was actively traveling.
But. Jing Mingfeng closed in meditation for three whole years!? That was where Bai Yunfei felt surprised about.
"You really went into meditation for three whole years?!" Bai Yunfei cried out, "What caused you to live three years like that?"
"It's a long story!" Jing Mingfeng sighed. "I wandered the continent a bit after we split ways in Mo City. I even went to one of the three danger zones, the Lost Swamps. I wasn't able to get far in, but my luck wasn't half bad. I found a few things here and there, and then…"
One by one, Jing Mingfeng told Bai Yunfei what he had experienced while the other man listened as if in a trance. Half the continent had practically been traveled by him, and all sorts of dangerous adventure was had by him. Battles with criminals, exploring dangerous and mysterious places, he had done them both. An epic of his journeys could practically be written with room to spare.
But he said no more than one brief sentence about whatever happened during and after those three years of meditation.
Jing Mingfeng took a swig of water from his bottle after his story. "Don't let me take up all the talking, Ol'Bai. Tell me about yourself. I remember hearing that you went to Soulbeast Forest and took part in the soulbeast wave before I closed myself off. Was that true? Did you really train for so long there? Why didn't you contract with a soulbeast yet?"
"Haha, I did contract with one, he's just not with me right now. But he's coming now with that friend of mine, they'll be here soon."
"Oh?" That got Jing Mingfeng's attention. "What kind of soulbeast did you contract with? The best of the best can be had there in Soulbeast Forest, it has to be special, right?"
"Haha…." A chuckle escaped from Bai Yunfei's lips. "In all seriousness, Xiao Qi is definitely quite 'special'...."
Bai Yunfei wasn't in much of a hurry for Xiao Qi and the others to get here. In any case, talking to Jing Mingfeng about their journeys was a nice way to past the time. They could also talk a little bit about Crushed Stone River, and like that, the two found themselves passing more than enough time….
"Boom!!"
An explosion from the north interrupted the two as they talked, cutting them off from any further conversation.
Bai Yunfei glanced over to the direction of the explosion, "Did something happen?"
Jing Mingfeng's eyes were especially bright when he looked over at the source. Watching enthusiastically as people started to gather there, he said, "Hehe, someone couldn't handle it any longer? Let's go take a look! Come on!"