CSMCDB - Chapter 121
Chapter 121
"Is the original peace treaty being extended?" When Wen Yuncheng heard this news, her heart finally settled down a lot. But those four dragon corpses obviously didn't come for free. From the falling stars in mid-October, one could tell that some of the Empire's experts must have fallen.
Both sides… didn't gain much of an advantage. But if they had completely torn off all pretenses, the Dragon Race would have suffered too, which was one of the reasons they were willing to let the Empire bring back four dragon corpses. As for the specific casualties, the Empire wouldn't say, and the Dragon Race, far away on Dragon Island, would be unlikely to publicize it.
Wen Yuncheng pondered the possible scenarios. Right now, the other plane clearly hadn't made any major moves yet; even if they did, it would be several years later. With no warning signs, Fu's words were just empty claims. The Dragon Race wouldn't believe them completely and naturally wouldn't tear off all pretenses with the human race over this matter. But the Dragon Race still fought a battle with the experts who went from the Empire… To be able to bring back four dragon corpses meant that the number of dragons that died must have been more than four.
A test? If the Empire's strength wasn't as formidable as it once was, the Dragon Race might have used Fu's claims as a pretext to tear up the treaty. But after discovering they couldn't swallow the Empire, they extended the treaty and compensated them with four dragon corpses to bring back. And the matter Fu spoke of had planted a ticking time bomb between the Empire and the Dragon Race.
If it really evolved into a war between planes, then… whether it was the Dragon Race or the Empire, would the experts choose to fight to the end, surrender to survive, or fish in troubled waters to seize opportunities and a future? After all, if it really happened, it would be utter chaos.
"If chaos really comes, I'll need to reach at least level sixty…" At the very least, she needed to be able to fly on her own. Wen Yuncheng sighed. The way things were developing was really… It would have been better if the Dragon Race hadn't fought with the Empire. Now that they had, didn't it mean the original treaty was no longer enough to satisfy them? The disasters caused by Fu couldn't be underestimated either. They could trigger earthquakes, cause floods to submerge the Western Desert, and even incite riots in the Demonic Beast Forest…
Wait, could these things be related to those seven sovereigns? The flooding of the Western Desert, could that be related to the Green Flood Dragon King? As for the earthquake, the Dragon Ape seemed capable of causing such a huge commotion. The Beast Tide turmoil was even simpler. Any sovereign could just roar from the depths, and the demonic beasts in the middle and outer regions would tremble and act as if they'd gone mad.
The more Wen Yuncheng thought about it, the more she felt this was the case. This idea was confirmed the next day when she went to see the First Princess and learned that the two Protectors had gone into the depths of the Demonic Beast Great Forest, hadn't returned yet, and she was told to wait a few days before running around outside.
When the Green Flood Dragon King and the Dragon Ape learned that the Empire's Protectors had brought back four dragon corpses, they were utterly dismayed!
If-if they had known this would be the result, why would they have cooperated with Fu? That little bit of dragon blood… If they had tipped off the Empire in advance, helped out a little behind the scenes, or perhaps promised some favors, the Empire now had four dragon corpses. Giving them a bit of dragon blood would obviously not have been a problem! Of course, without their interference, it was unknown whether things would have developed this way.
But their regret was real, especially when those two Protectors came to visit the depths again. They were truly filled with regret.
"This… how about the Dragon Ape and I temporarily leave the depths of the forest?" The Green Flood Dragon King had a bitter expression. It wanted to offer some of its essence blood and scales as compensation, but the Empire probably didn't care for them now. What could the Dragon Ape compensate with? Fur?
"The two Protectors' arrival doesn't mean they want to go to war with us," the Black Abyss King said faintly. "Spirit fruits, spirit herbs, a chance to help sealed by a blood oath—you can negotiate it yourselves."
The Green Flood Dragon King and the Dragon Ape King looked at each other and quickly agreed.
When the Protectors arrived, they let those two negotiate directly with them.
After this storm passed, the continent seemed to return to its initial tranquility. Wen Yuncheng started taking on bounty missions again. As her number of Star Cannons increased, she began to select mountain strongholds of medium strength. With a request to the two Star Kings, they would also take action to ensure no one escaped.
In such strongholds, experts above the third layer of Star Spirit rarely appeared. Even the chieftain might not have reached the Star King level. After all, if one could really cultivate to that level, not to mention whether the Empire would just directly wipe you out, if you could reach the Star King level, wouldn't it be a much better option to be a guest elder in a small sect?
Completing bounties like this one after another, although each mission took more time, the experience gained also increased. Each additional head meant 50 more experience points plus one point.
Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 19
Class: Mechanical Overlord
Level: 46
Experience: 13945/39000
Points: 5575
The experience from the recent bounties, plus what she had gained in the Dueling Arena before, added up to a decent return. If all the bandits on the continent were waiting for Wen Yuncheng alone to exterminate them, with a bit of effort, it wouldn't be impossible for her to reach the Star Spirit level. As for the points, conquering the bandit strongholds consumed a lot of freeze rounds. Now, the number of Star Cannons had also increased to sixty-nine, and each one required a thirty-point energy core, which was another expense.
With her birthday approaching, Wen Yuncheng wasn't as excited this year. Perhaps it was because she had already graduated from the academy, or maybe too many things had happened recently? Or perhaps… it was because she had accidentally learned of the conspiracy back in the Xuanhuang Tomb, and only now did she realize that this conspiracy was drawing closer and closer to her? Whatever the reason, it gave Wen Yuncheng a sense of crisis.
Even though the Protectors would say, "If the sky falls, the strong will hold it up." Even though the First Princess and Teacher Yan Ling also comforted her, feeling that she was still young and shouldn't be worrying about these things. But… how could she simply not worry just because she was told not to?
Lin Jinyu was also cultivating hard now, wanting to become stronger to bear the responsibilities of a Sect Master, and also wanting to protect her… Even though in this world Lin Jinyu was about a year older than her, but-but she had lived two lives. Even if she was only a high school student in her previous life, Wen Yuncheng still felt uneasy in her heart.
"The Mechanical Wings can now be tested. For now, let's conduct trial tests within the Imperial family and… the Flowing Cloud Sect," Wen Yuncheng suggested. "If possible, could the trial Mechanical Wings be delivered to the Flowing Cloud Sect on January thirteenth?"
"Oh, trying to make your little girlfriend happy?" the First Princess teased, raising a hand in agreement. Wen Yuncheng had provided the design blueprints and had also put in a lot of effort during the research and development phase, so the First Princess naturally wouldn't make things difficult for her over such a small request. "Let me give you a gift as well. I won't join in on your birthday. You still have that token I gave you, right? When you have time, take it and you can enter my Imperial family's secret realm once. But you can only stay for one day, so make the most of it."
Wen Yuncheng had been a little embarrassed by the teasing, but her eyes lit up when she heard about the First Princess's gift. One day? Even one second would be fine! She could get 8000 experience and 500 points just by entering a secret realm. "Thank you, Your Highness!" After thanking her, Wen Yuncheng couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, how many secret realms does the Imperial family control?"
"There are over a dozen small secret realms, but very few large ones. Why do you ask?"
Wen Yuncheng automatically calculated in her head: that's over a hundred thousand experience points, and the points could add up to over ten thousand. Wen Yuncheng blinked. "Then-then are any contributions required to enter the secret realms? The time doesn't matter. I mainly just want to broaden my horizons and see what the differences are between the secret realms. Even half a day would be fine."
"You kid…" The First Princess chuckled. "Don't even think about the large secret realms, but the small ones aren't that difficult… I heard you killed a member of Fu in a secret realm last time? Next time you kill someone, remember to collect the body or some identifying features. You can exchange them for merit points. Once you have merit and contribution points, visiting every small secret realm won't be a problem."
"I understand, thank you, Your Highness!" Wen Yuncheng said loudly, giving a serious bow.
Fu, oh Fu, Fu is a money tree, Fu is a sea of experience.
As her birthday neared, Wen Yuncheng still hadn't been able to contact Lin Jinyu. Lin Jinyu was currently in seclusion for a breakthrough. Although the Little Ice Mountain said she would do her best and just give it a try, Wen Yuncheng knew Lin Jinyu's personality… Wasn't "doing her best" the same as "giving her all"? Saying she'd "give it a try" definitely meant she wanted to break through.
Wen Yuncheng sighed. When the seventeenth arrived, there was indeed no news from Lin Jinyu. She made some inquiries and found that the Little Ice Mountain had indeed not yet come out of seclusion.
However, at noon that day, she received a letter and a small porcelain bottle delivered by a disciple from the Flowing Cloud Sect.
"If you are receiving this letter, it means I have not yet come out of seclusion and cannot celebrate your birthday with you this year. Though I am not there in person, my thoughts must be. Yuncheng, I wish you a happy birthday."
"As for the feelings in my heart, this thin paper can hardly bear a fraction of them. After we last parted, I noticed your heart was heavy and your thoughts troubled, and I could not think of a way to console you. On the eve of my seclusion, I followed an alchemist's text to make a few candy pills. You can take them to relieve your boredom when you are troubled. The path of cultivation cannot be rushed. Our future is still long; there is no need to hurry."
"When I come out of seclusion, I will certainly seek you out for a talk. My thoughts are with you, a thousandfold. I hope you will take care."
Lin Jinyu's letter… so formal and proper, it was rather amusing. Wen Yuncheng read the whole thing, feeling both touched and helpless. The Little Ice Mountain was worried she was still upset. What was all this "my thoughts are with you, a thousandfold"? She should have just said "kiss you a thousand times," then she could have replied with "kiss you back a thousand times." Flipping the letter over and over, Wen Yuncheng couldn't resist lifting it to her nose for a sniff. She didn't smell anything special, just the faint scent of paper and ink.
As for the candy pills… Wen Yuncheng opened the small porcelain bottle. Inside were several small green spheres. These must be the candy pills Lin Jinyu made. Following an alchemist's text? And she called them candy pills… could she have been inspired by "Mentos"?
Wen Yuncheng picked one up and placed it in her mouth. The outside was a cool candy coating. After she licked it until it dissolved, the sweetness inside spread through her mouth with a refreshing coolness. If she savored it carefully, she could still taste the slight bitterness of herbs, but the Little Ice Mountain had clearly put a lot of effort into removing that taste.
Wen Yuncheng's eyes curved into crescents. The gloom and agitation in her heart truly dissipated quite a bit. She carefully put the gift away, her tongue rolling the candy pill in her mouth, and strode towards the bounty hall.
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