Chaotic World Book

The humidity in this Secret Realm would have been bearable, but the key issue was the lack of air, which made it impossible to light a fire. Without the ability to make fire, no medicine could be prepared.

But because it was part of the Sea Emperor Temple, collecting and accumulating the Power of Faith had to be done here temporarily. San Niang couldn't leave, so Zhao Changhe had to go to Tang En's ship to prepare the medicine and also to get some other medicinal ingredients from the ship to mix.

This showed that a team needed to have multiple Attributes combined—having tanks, DPS, and healers was necessary, and a Mage would be a welcome addition. If there were a Winged Fire Snake or even the Vermilion Bird here, who would care about humidity or air? They'd light the fire without discussion.

Unfortunately, the Room Fire Pig only had the word "fire" in its name and beyond drying clothes, it was pretty much useless. That wasn't the Room Fire Pig's fault; it was never taught by the direct superior, Venerable Xuanwu...

Zhao Changhe sat cross-legged preparing the medicine, while Tang En and others sat nearby with somber expressions, scarcely daring to breathe.

This is the legendary God Slayer; what on earth have we gotten ourselves into?

"Eh, Old Tang, do I sense that your energy fluctuations are stronger than before?" Zhao Changhe glanced at the flames and suddenly asked.

Tang En was startled. Energy fluctuations? Was that even a thing? The God Slayer was indeed impressive.

He scratched his head: "Everyone's Cultivation must have advanced by a level I think, especially after the fall of the Sea Emperor, when Spiritual Energy scattered everywhere. We bathed in some of it... Uh, could that cause trouble?"

"No, that's just the Water Element Power he had accumulated. Your Cultivation is related to water, so it was a lucky windfall for you..."

Tang En, being cultured, said, "So this is like 'when the whale falls, all creatures thrive', right?"

Zhao Changhe felt that hit the nail on the head, even now he believed the Spiritual Energy in this sea area was denser than before.

He had speculated in the past that the harsh divide between two epochs was not just about the lost legacies but also two other issues.

The first was the death of the Heavenly Dao and the scattering of the Heavenly Book, leaving the people of this world unable to glimpse the Heavenly Dao Rules, reducing the sublime to the martial, capping progress at the level of Secret Treasure. This was where he and Xia Longyuan stood out after obtaining the Heavenly Book; their "teacher" was not of the same level. The analyses and demonstrations were merely superficial; the key was learning something more essential.

The second issue was the concentration of world energy; in Ancient Times, it must have been rich with Spiritual Energy, whereas now it's much thinner. Ying Wu once mentioned that one of the reasons for collecting Secret Realms to make the world whole again was possibly to allow Spiritual Energy to recover.

Whether collecting Secret Realms had that effect was unknown, but the fall of a Divine being could indeed have this effect... This was something he would discuss in detail with Ying Wu later; there might be some gains to be made.

Moreover, the so-called Perception of energy fluctuations was a new Skill. Zhao Changhe had studied how to guide the Power of Faith to San Niang; the prerequisite was to accurately distinguish the Power of Faith among various energies. By achieving this, naturally, he could discern others as well, such as the Cultivation energy swirling around Tang En and others, making it roughly possible to gauge their level of Cultivation.

Of course, this required strong Perception, not something achievable by the naked eye.

Finally, it felt like they were slowly approaching the openly combative state of fantasy Cultivation. If you didn't want your opponent to see through you, you'd need some special Cultivation Technique for concealment.

In fact, Zhao Changhe himself preferred the open approach. Although it seemed reasonable that one couldn't discern another's Cultivation level, that was just breeding ground for Assassin and killer, and he wasn't fond of those tactics; those were Snow Eagle's games. The unassuming innkeeper, the beggar out of nowhere striking you, it sounded very Wuxia-like and romantic, but walking in the Worldly Society like that was truly exhausting.

Once this limitation was broken through, he would have a significant advantage against the likes of the Snow Eagle.

With this in mind, he said to Tang En, "We need to stay here a little longer. Allocate a ship for my use; the fleet can head to Penglai. After all, we came here for sea trade—returning with an empty ship without conducting any business, I fear Notorious Wang would beat me to death."

Tang En gave an awkward laugh. Such a thing might not actually result in being beaten by the young master, but he felt like if the chief learned about the many women around you, someone else might want to give you a thrashing...

Zhao Changhe continued: "After you get to Penglai, convey a few things to Hai Changkong for me."

Tang En solemnly responded, "Please speak, Your Highness."

"Tell him that we will support him as the Penglai King. San Niang has no intention to contest with him, as our goals are fundamentally different, and he should be at ease. Regarding trade, I hope he establishes a stable trade relationship with Great Xia, and let go of the petty grudges of yesteryear, severing ties with the Wang Family."

Tang En wiped away sweat: "Should I repeat your exact words?"

"Just say it directly," Zhao Changhe smiled. "Hai Changkong is a forthright Martial Artist; there's no need to beat around the bush. He should also realize the Wang Family won't last much longer. Also, if the Tang family has any private trades to negotiate, just speak openly."

Tang En was elated; this was indeed a public service veiling a private benefit for the Tang family. Hai Changkong would see it as one matter, but negotiating as an individual representing the Tang family would result in quite a different attitude.

Zhao Changhe continued, "Secondly, ask him to do something for me, which is the same thing Hai Pinglan used to do for the Sea Emperor—build temples for the Sea God, only replacing the Sea God's image with San Niang's. If he can manage it, he should do this for all the nations of the East Sea."

Tang En hesitated: "Would he be willing? The effort that would require..."

Zhao Changhe explained: "Because the seafolk need such a deity, whether it's for witnessing actual divine miracles or simply for psychological comfort. Tell him, if he does not guide it to form the image of San Niang, then it might condense into another Sea Emperor. I wonder if he would like to see that day."

"I understand," Tang En said. "This is important; wouldn't Your Highness prefer to negotiate this personally?"

During the conversation, the aroma of the medicine wafted through the air, and the furnace fire gradually died.

Zhao Changhe, unconcerned about the scalding medicine pot, wrapped his hands with True Qi and ran off with the pot in a puff of smoke, "Because I have to feed medicine to their respected Sea God."

Tang En watched Zhao Changhe disappear into the vortex, thinking to himself that this was how you also fed the abbot, and nobody knows what that turned him into... You just said the new Sea God was supposed to take after San Niang, right? Now it seems more like he's become a 'God Botherer' than a God Slayer; suddenly, the abbot's status seems inadequate...

Little did Zhao Changhe know what others were muttering about him behind his back as he took the pot down into the deep seabed abyss. Xia Chichi was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, cultivating, while San Niang was still lying flat on the water bed, with the Heavenly Book maintaining its previous position covering her face, not having moved an inch.

Zhao Changhe carefully lifted the Heavenly Book and saw San Niang's eyes sparkling.

"Aren't you sleeping?"

"I was waiting for you."

"… Then why keep covering your face with the book pages? Just hold it if you're researching the Heavenly Book…"

"You know, the way you just lifted it off me, wasn't it just like unveiling a bride? Once I thought of that, I didn't want to move it anymore. I was waiting for you to lift it, hee hee."

Xia Chichi opened her eyes annoyedly, looking around to see if she could find a rotten egg or something to throw over, but all she saw was the boundless water with nothing in it.

How could a Venerable of the Four Symbols Sect be like this? Thankfully, the Vermilion Bird Venerable is dignified.

Zhao Changhe felt a murderous intent focused on his back, sending shivers down his spine, so he could only cough awkwardly, "You haven't just been covering yourself without studying it, have you?"

"I am using it," San Niang blinked, "Haven't you noticed my complexion has improved a lot, rosy white?"

"I haven't noticed." Zhao Changhe kept a straight face. "You look deathly pale like a sheet of paper. Do you have some misunderstanding about your own complexion? The medicine is ready; drink it up and I'll continue healing you."

"Feed it to me~"

"Thwack!" Unable to bear it anymore, Xia Chichi casually fished something out of her ring and threw it at him.

Zhao Changhe, fearing she might not hold back, quickly caught it and found it was a sugar bean.

San Niang was taken aback, "I would never have guessed you were sneaking sugar beans. Aren't you known for playing the cool and aloof one in front of others? If your followers found out..."

Xia Chichi almost laughed in exasperation, "I bet the followers would have a bigger problem with finding out what a Venerable really is like than if they knew the Holy Daughter hoarded sugar beans. Who knows if some would jump into the river!"

"Can the followers even define what a Venerable is?" San Niang claimed confidently, "It's our sect rules that... uh, are more restrictive for the Holy Daughter anyway."

Xia Chichi reached out for her sword.

"Cough." Zhao Changhe quickly tried to smooth things over, "Chichi was just worried that it would be bitter for the elder to drink the medicine, so she prepared the sugar beans in advance. Come on, let's drink the medicine."

San Niang opened her mouth, "Ah~"

Xia Chichi's eyes spun around as she smiled and stepped forward, "Changhe must be tired from boiling the medicine. As a junior, it's also right to tend to the elder's needs, so let me take over the task of feeding the medicine."

San Niang was dumbfounded, "Eh?"

Zhao Changhe dared not compete with Xia Chichi for feeding another woman and honestly gave up the bowl. Xia Chichi sat at the side and scooped up a little spoonful, "Ah~"

"Ah, your head!" San Niang cried out in frustration.

Zhao Changhe rubbed his forehead and sat down with the book pages to the side, watching Xia Chichi feed the medicine with a feeling that something was strangely wrong.

The Dragon Energy faintly emanating from Chichi... Surely it was Dragon Energy, right?

It had to be, because it was too recognizable; that aura was almost forming the shape of a real dragon.

Was this due to the influence of the Azure Dragon, a continuation of that prior 'Flying Dragon in the Sky' form, or related to the worldly mountains and rivers?

If it was the latter, with Xia Longyuan still around, it didn't seem quite right for Chichi to have such intense Dragon Energy...

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PS: Keep begging for monthly tickets, boo hoo hoo~