Tian Yuan War Chronicles: The Path of Artifacts to Ascension – Chapter 10

Ch 10: Unexpected Calamity

“Xiao Lan,” the white-clothed woman’s voice was gentle and calm.

“Old Ancestor! Xiao Lan lost what you gave me, and these two idiots haven’t found it yet!”, the little girl pointed at the two people behind her and acted spoiled.

“Lost it? Why?”, the white-clothed woman asked in surprise.

“The year before last, during the New Year, I wanted to go outside the palace to play, and my Father Emperor agreed, so he let me go out of the palace with a few people. Who knew that when I went to see the fireworks, a stupid horse was startled,

pulling the carriage and rampaging on the street, the people on the road were frightened, and everyone, in order to protect me, dragged me away from that place as quickly as possible.

Who knew that when I came back, I realized that the sachet tied around my waist was gone, and when I went back the same way to look for it, I couldn’t find it no matter what,” the little girl explained with a sob.

“Stolen?”, the white-clothed woman asked back.

“Yes! Old Ancestor! It’s all my fault! I didn’t protect Lan Mei! I let him lose something! When I caught the thief, I let the thief jump into the river and run away!”, the young general took two steps forward and replied with a bow.

“You, leading a large army, actually let a small thief run away, that’s ridiculous!”, the white-clothed woman frowned.

“Old Ancestor is right!”, the young general replied in a deep voice.

“Those things are just introductory cultivation methods for the Qi Refining Stage, not worth mentioning!

However, this place is, after all, the land of my Great Zhou Dynasty. If those cultivation methods were to spread out and be studied by others, and then the sect found out, they might criticize our family,” the white-clothed woman hesitated.

“That beggar has already jumped into the river and died, so no one should get those cultivation methods,” the thin young man said.

“That’s not for sure!”, the white-clothed woman said, looking up at the direction of Duanshan Mountain Range.

“Xiao He! Bring back the things and the people!”, the woman, as a Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, felt two relatively strong spiritual power fluctuations as soon as she arrived here, which should not exist in this mortal land with scarce spiritual power.

“Aang!”, with a loud crane cry, a white crane flew out of the woman’s Spirit Beast Ring and soared into the sky.

At this time, the second camp in Duanshan Mountain had been set up for several days. After this period of practice, Hua Kong was very familiar with the contents of that small book.

After many days of breathing, body exercises, meditation, and guiding Qi into the body, a small cloud of mist had gathered in his Dantian, and his body had undergone amazing changes.

That Health Preservation Method was quite miraculous. Now, not only could he see a hundred zhang at night, but he could also hear the chirping of insects. As long as he wanted to, he could perceive the slightest thing in the mountains within a li, although it was sometimes a little embarrassing.

Now, running and jumping had reached the point where he could cover one zhang in one step, and it would not slow down in this dense forest, because he could accurately control his body to avoid dense branches and vines.

His absorption of light had also reached the point where he no longer needed the assistance of the small book. He had given up using the small book to practice absorbing light, because it would make him feel dependent on external objects.

Originally, he was very happy about these changes in the past few days, but today, for some reason, he suddenly felt something was wrong, and he had no intention of practicing that Health Preservation Method.

Just as he was staying in the shack and thinking wildly, a crane’s cry suddenly came from the air. Some people in the camp were attracted and exclaimed in admiration.

Of course, Hua Kong also heard the crane’s cry, but he had a feeling that this crane was very dangerous, but he didn’t want to be entangled by this feeling, so he walked out of the shack and looked up.

“Huh? It’s falling down!”, someone sighed.

“Not good!”, when the crane swooped down, Hua Kong felt bad and wanted to turn around and go back to get his Small Crossbow, but he was locked in by a beam of light and couldn’t move.

“Ah? Xiao Kong was caught by that crane!”

The crane quickly flew over the camp, suddenly becoming as big as a small boat, stretched out its claws to grab the motionless Hua Kong, flew into the high sky, and disappeared in an instant.

At this time, the surrounding people reacted, but it was too late. Someone immediately ran to find Hua Laodie.

“Ah!”, Hua Kong shouted, his body was grabbed by the flying crane, and he was in great pain.

But the flying crane ignored him, and went directly to another direction, quickly rushing to a certain place in the forest to grab another person. Seeing that person, Hua Kong was stunned. This person was very familiar, wasn’t it that Old Beggar?

However, seeing that the Old Beggar was no longer moving, he didn’t know if he was dead or frozen unconscious. After all, the flying crane was flying fast in the air, and it was very cold.

After a while, the flying crane came to the military camp outside Duanshan City, flapped its wings a few times and landed on the ground, throwing the two people in front of the white-clothed woman, and then was taken back into the Spirit Beast Ring on the woman’s wrist.

“Petty Thief!”, seeing the ragged Old Beggar, the young general was shocked.

“Who are you?”, the young general saw Hua Kong and asked.

“Who are you?”, Hua Kong looked at the crowd in front of him and the Black Ship behind them, very puzzled, and couldn’t figure out whether he was really seeing these things or dreaming.

“Bold commoner! Why don’t you kneel when you see this Princess!”, the little girl shouted angrily.

“Princess?”, Hua Kong looked at the little girl.

“Ah~~ It hurts!”, Hua Kong didn’t know if what he saw was real, so he pinched his thigh hard.

“It’s you who cultivated the sect’s Qi Guiding Technique?”, the white-clothed woman looked at Hua Kong and asked coldly.

“Cultivation? Qi Guiding Technique?”, Hua Kong looked blank.

“Where did this come from?”, the white-clothed woman stretched out her hand and grabbed the small book from Hua Kong’s arms, which flew out and was caught by her.

“Ah~~! Are you an Immortal?”, this move really shocked Hua Kong.

“Answer!”, the white-clothed woman was a little angry.

“Answering the Fairy’s words, this small book was exchanged by this small man for some venison offal from that Old Beggar!”, Hua Kong didn’t care whether he was dreaming or not, and knelt in front of the woman with a thud.

“Venison? Offal?”, these words were a little unfamiliar, the white-clothed woman frowned and thought for a while.

“Old Ancestor, venison is a kind of wild animal here, and offal is some of the venison’s internal organs,” the young general explained.

“Humph! Never mind those! You, a country bumpkin, stole my Tian Yuan Sect’s Qi Guiding Technique without permission, and you have already reached the First Level of Qi Refining! Have you ever taken my elixir?”, the woman asked with a cold expression.

“Taken elixir?”, Hua Kong was stunned again.

“Huh? You haven’t taken elixir!”, seeing Hua Kong’s ignorant appearance, the woman stretched out her hand again.

Only to see a jade bottle and a few pieces of jade fly from the Old Beggar’s body into her hand. She opened the jade bottle and probed into it, and was immediately shocked.

“Elixir?”, Hua Kong had never even heard of this word.

“That’s strange! How long have you been cultivating?”, the woman asked.

“Cultivating? Is the Fairy asking how long this small man has been practicing this Health Preservation Method? This small man has been practicing this Health Preservation Method for nearly twenty days,” Hua Kong answered truthfully.

“Health Preservation Method? Humph! Ridiculous!”, the woman snorted coldly, and then took out a Spirit Measuring Disk from her Storage Ring. With a wave of her hand, she took a few drops of essence blood from Hua Kong and dripped them into the Spirit Measuring Disk.

“Ah!”, Hua Kong cried out in pain.

“Making a fuss! Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth Mixed Spiritual Roots! And one Spiritual Root attribute is unknown! So you’re a waste!”, the white-clothed woman was a little angry.

She couldn’t figure it out. This kid had only cultivated the “Tian Yuan Qi Guiding Technique” for twenty days and had already reached the First Level of Qi Refining. This was nothing to her, who had excellent aptitude. She had only used five days to reach the First Level of Qi Refining back then.

But for this kind of mixed Spiritual Roots, without taking elixir, and without anyone’s guidance, this country bumpkin was a little extraordinary. Therefore, she hesitated whether to kill this kid or not.

“Old Ancestor, this wild kid is disrespectful to me, quickly teach him a lesson!”, the little girl saw that the Old Ancestor didn’t say anything and quickly said.

“Alright! Kid! Consider yourself unlucky! You shouldn’t have practiced the cultivation methods in this small book! Don’t be so nosy in your next life!”, saying that, the white-clothed woman was about to kill Hua Kong.

As soon as the white-clothed woman said this, everyone was shocked, and Hua Kong was even more stunned, not knowing what this white-clothed woman was going to do. Even the little girl was shocked, she just wanted to teach Hua Kong a lesson.

The young general, who had been silently watching all this, suddenly stepped forward, stood in front of Hua Kong, and knelt down.

“Old Ancestor, please spare him,” the young general begged.

“Why is that?”, the white-clothed woman was a little displeased.

“Old Ancestor, it is really not easy for him to get this opportunity. It is better to keep this person to be a servant for Lan Mei. Cultivation is no better than others. It is rare to have someone to serve Lan Mei, and this is also beneficial to the Great Zhou Dynasty!

When Lan Mei becomes a great cultivator like Old Ancestor, she will also need to find a servant. Instead of looking for outsiders, it is better to find someone you know!”, the young general explained.

“What exactly do you mean?”, the white-clothed woman felt that his purpose was more than that.

“I can’t escape Old Ancestor’s discerning eyes! I hope Old Ancestor agrees to let me and this person be Lan Mei’s servants together!”, the young general knelt even lower, his begging intention even stronger.

“You want to cultivate! This is impossible! You are a mixed Spiritual Root!”, the white-clothed woman was furious.

“Let Old Ancestor know! I, Lin Yu, swear that I will definitely serve Lan Mei loyally and help Lan Mei to continuously advance on the path of cultivation.

I will never compete with Lan Mei for even a shred of resources! If I violate this oath! May I be struck by lightning! May I die a horrible death! I swear to the past ancestors of the Great Zhou Dynasty!”, the young general knelt on the ground and made an oath.

“You!”, the white-clothed woman was speechless for a moment.

As soon as the young general said this, everyone in the audience was shocked. It was unheard of both at home and abroad for a prince of a country to be a slave to his own sister.

The scene was silent for a while, and the little girl stared at the young general lying on the ground with wide eyes.

“Second Brother! How will you explain this to Father Emperor!”, the little girl finally spoke.

“Father Emperor will understand! Elder Brother will also understand!”, the young general said firmly.

“Do you know that being someone else’s servant requires a Soul Imprint? Your life and death are in the hands of others! Are you willing?”, the white-clothed woman’s voice returned to calmness.

“Old Ancestor can do as you please!”, the young general said without hesitation.

“Let’s get the ugly words out of the way first, the world of cultivators is not as beautiful as your mortals’ legends, deceiving each other, killing people and seizing treasures is just commonplace!

Princes, grandsons, dukes, and sons like you are also a dime a dozen, no one will be polite to you in the slightest,” the white-clothed woman didn’t know if she was reminiscing or persuading.

“Old Ancestor, rest assured, if I regret it in the future and do something wrong, Old Ancestor and Lan Mei can punish me, Fifth Brother can testify!”, the young general pointed to the thin young man behind him and said.

“Your kid’s temperament is not bad! Then let it be as you wish!”, the white-clothed woman said, forming a hand seal, and two white lights pierced towards the young general and Hua Kong.

“Ah~~”, the two screamed at the same time, and immediately fell down, fainting on the ground. Branding on the soul was not a joke, it was extremely painful.

“Xiao Lan! Keep these things safe, don’t lose them again! I’ll go to Divine Capital to find you in a month! These two will be your servants from now on, and I’ll teach you how to use the Soul Imprint in the future!”,

With a wave of her sleeve, a few things flew to the little girl’s feet, and she flew onto the Black Ship, disappearing into the distant sky in a burst of wind and thunder.