Book 7, Chapter 10: Forbidden
If he had power, he would use it.
Su Chen unhesitatingly constructed forty-five additional t.i.tan-Cla.s.s puppets. In addition to the five that he already had, this made a total of fifty. As for the remaining ten characters, Su Chen left them for his own research.
These fifty t.i.tan-Cla.s.s puppets were now one of Su Chen’s greatest trump cards.
But apart from those who had attended that particular meeting, no one else knew.
Su Chen carefully concealed this secret, and imposed a strict rule saying that he would kill anyone who dared to divulge it.
This was the first time he had threatened death upon anyone strong enough to lead a country.
On that day, the army continued to advance, penetrating deeper into Beast territory.
This place was extremely wild and untamed. High mountains, towering forests, and many other naturally hazardous locations were scattered all throughout. Precious resources grew in abundance and flourished, practically lining the road wherever they went.
As such, there were quite a few people who suggested to Su Chen that they should split up to harvest these resources more efficiently.
However, Su Chen immediately shot down those suggestions.
The battle at Skywild Plains necessitated speed. Whoever got their first would have the advantage.
Su Chen didn’t want to slow down for the relatively meager profits before them, so he insisted on continuing to charge ahead relentlessly. Of course, taking into consideration everyone’s need for resources, he a.s.signed a thousand-man group to scout out their surroundings and harvest any resources they could find.
“Hanfeng, Hanfeng, did you hear? Sect Master is organizing a group of a thousand scouts to search for and harvest resources. They’re taking volunteers right now!”
Chang He scrambled over to Ye Fenghan as he yelled excitedly, “We should go too. There will definitely be quite a few treasures to be found in this desolate place!”
Ye Fenghan was practicing his sword techniques. His sword swayed and flickered faintly, but seemingly nothing had changed.
Chang He stepped forward to grab him. “Hey, say something.”
His hand had been clearly placed on Ye Fenghan’s shoulder, but in that moment his hand fell on empty air.
Chang He was not surprised. He whirled around and grabbed behind him, but still missed.
“I refuse to believe that I can’t touch you. Take this! And this! And this, and this, and this!” Chang He yelled as he began to dance around. Ye Fenghan appeared to continue calmly swinging his sword, but Chang He just couldn’t get a hand on him no matter what he tried.
Finally, after quite a bit of exertion, Chang He said while panting, “Alright, alright, your mastery of these ethereal techniques is quite impressive, and I can’t touch you. Hey, are you planning on going or not? This is a rare opportunity!”
Ye Fenghan withdrew his sword. “This is not some ethereal technique. It’s an illusion sword technique I derived from the Dream Beauty Aspect. I’m just a bit shy of reaching the stage of Great Success in it, so I don’t want to go right now.”
“Aiya, who knows when you will succeed? There’s no need to be so hasty. Getting these resources should be a top priority. Don’t you want to reach the Thought Manifestation Realm? With these resources, you will be able to refine pills and ascend even sooner. That sounds pretty good to me.”
Ye Fenghan’s expression remained motionless. “Growing with the aid of medicine results in no tempering. My foundation will not be solid enough. It’s not worth it.”
“Heavens!” Chang He was infuriated. “Even if you aren’t in a hurry to reach the Thought Manifestation Realm, I want to become a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator! My Light Shaking Realm foundation is solid enough, isn’t it? It’s not unsteady, right?”
Ye Fenghan replied, “What’s unsteady is your will.”
Chang He rolled his eyes in frustration.
Ye Fenghan continued, “But you have always been like this. I imagine not much will change even if you cultivate for a thousand years.”
“You......” Chang He pointed at him, preparing to teach him a lesson.
Ye Fenghan, however, interrupted him. “I will go with you on one condition.”
“Just say the word,” Chang He said, bouncing up and down with excitement.
“Starting from now, you are not allowed to speak for three days. If you lose, you will need to empty my chamber pots for a whole year.”
“That’s it? Fine, no problem!” Chang He answered unhesitatingly.
Ye Fenghan said, “Starting from now.”
Chang He immediately shut his mouth.
Ye Fenghan was quite amused by Chang He’s sudden silence, thinking to himself that a few days of peace and quiet would be nice. He chuckled, “Actually, I would still have gone with you even if you hadn’t agreed.”
“Urk......!” Chang He’s eyes bulged violently, but he managed to keep his mouth shut.
Ye Fenghan laughed when he saw this. “Not bad, not bad. I’m impressed you were able to resist. Come, let’s go and register now.”
As he watched Ye Fenghan leave, Chang He started to wonder whether Ye Fenghan had already made his decision to go. Three days without talking was going to be quite difficult. Fine, Ye Fenghan, just you wait! I’ll drown you in words when the time comes.
Ye Fenghan very quickly accepted the mission from Su Chen, officially joining the scouting party.
Many of the individuals who had volunteered were old friends of his from the Ringed Corridor Plains, so they all knew each other. They were quite excited to hear that Ye Fenghan would be joining them. After half a day, their ranks had finally been filled. Many of them were delighted to be reunited.
Only Chang He remained completely silent.
All of them were surprised to see that the normally vocal, talk-your-ear-off Chang He was being so quiet.
One of the younger volunteers, named Ding Dong and known colloquially as Little Clueless, asked with curiosity, “Second Brother Chang, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Ye Fenghan was their Senior Brother, while Chang He was their Second Brother.
Chang He shot him a glare and rolled his eyes.
Ye Fenghan said, “He’s mad at me. He didn’t want me to go, but I dragged him along with me. He’ll be fine soon.”
Chang He grew extremely agitated at such a blatant distortion of the truth.
Even though he couldn’t speak, he could still gesture.
Finally, everyone realized that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak - it was that he couldn’t.
Little Clueless stared at Chang He quizzically. “Second Brother Chang, why are you mute?”
Chang He began to bounce up and down as he continued to gesture wildly with his hands.
He Han had already picked up on what was happening. “It’s not that Second Brother is mute; it’s that Senior Brother most likely isn’t letting him talk.”
Chang He nodded repeatedly.
Finally, everyone understood the situation. They all turned to glance at Ye Fenghan, who harrumphed, “You’re still jumping around like this even though you can’t speak? Let’s see just how long you’ll last.”
As he spoke, he turned around and left. Chang He wanted to cry out that he could in fact last three days, but Ye Fenghan had already left. As such, he could only hold up three fingers in protest.
This put the rest of them in a guessing mood.
“Three hours?”
“That’s too short.”
“Three years?”
“Are you trying to get him killed?”
“Three days?”
Chang He nodded repeatedly.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Three days without talking? That would truly be an arduous trial for Chang He.
They continued to joke and chat with one another as they followed after Ye Fenghan, who was already in the lead. Only Chang He couldn’t speak, which frustrated him to the point that he stopped paying the others any mind.
In the blink of an eye, two days had gone by.
Chang He had suffered immensely during these two days, but he had somehow managed to hold out.
Whenever Chang He thought about the fact that he would win as soon as night fell, his heart was filled with joy, which was written all over his face.
Quite a few of the disciples offered him their congratulations.
This only served to make him giddier. His only regret was that he had no way of repaying their courtesy.
At this point in time, the expedition was about to travel through a forest with fiery-red foliage. The trees blanketed the entire mountain in a sea of “flames”, creating a picturesque scene below.
A disciple holding a jade mirror said, “There’s an extremely apparent Origin Energy reaction from below, which means there must be a valuable treasure down there.”
This mirror was a treasure that Ye Fenghan had bought with contribution points from the Boundless Sect. It could sense nearby Origin Energy fluctuations and even certain herbs. Originally, it had belonged to the Astrals; now that the Astrals had been exterminated, it naturally fell into the hands of the Boundless Sect yet again.
“Let’s go and take a look,” Ye Fenghan said.
Upon entering the red forest, they found a small stream flowing through it. A tender shoot grew next to the stream. Its verdance and vibrance clearly indicated that it was no ordinary plant.
“Chang He, you go and harvest that treasure. But be careful,” Ye Fenghan commanded.
Chang He grinned smugly at Ye Fenghan, as if to say that there was nothing to worry about.
Ye Fenghan knew what he was thinking and said, “Don’t be too overconfident. The only Demonic Beasts that ran away were the ones somewhat partic.i.p.ating in an organized group. There are quite a few Demonic Beasts who aren’t subject to any ruling authority still hanging around.”
Chang He, however, was clearly not satisfied with that. He gestured furiously, indicating that they hadn’t run into any hidden Demonic Beasts the past two days.
His mastery of communicating with just his hands had improved quite a bit.
Ye Fenghan had gotten used to it. When he saw this, he said, “Fine, you do what you want. Let it be known that I warned you.”
Chang He turned around and proudly strutted over to the amber.
The small stream was easily conquered by Chang He. He easily reached the tender shoot, then turned and shot Ye Fenghan a giddy look, as if to say, See? Nothing to worry about.
Ye Fenghan, however, continued to stand with his sword at the ready.
Upon seeing this, Chang He interest immediately waned, and he dejectedly reached out to pluck the shoot.
The shoot, however, remained immobile.
Chang He was taken aback. He tried again, this time exerting much more strength, but found that the shoot was immovable, as if its roots extended far underground.
Chang He gritted his teeth and stubbornly refused to give up, activating his Origin Energy to its limit.
This power was finally enough to begin slowly pulling the shoot out of the ground.
And as the shoot was uprooted, a giant head began to emerge from under the shoot.
This head was as large as a boulder and only had a single eye, which stared unblinkingly at Chang He. It was as if the creature was asking Chang He why he had uprooted it.
So this shoot was growing on the head of a Demonic Beast.
Now that its head had been uprooted, the shoot no longer needed Chang He’s a.s.sistance to ascend. The Demonic Beast began to stand as its body expanded unceasingly, eventually revealing the form of an extremely long python.
Its aura seemed to indicate that it was a Demonic King.
Chang He was completely stunned when he saw this. It was actually Ye Fenghan who blurted out, “RUN!”
Chang He seemed to awaken from his reverie and turned around to flee.
The giant python opened its mouth wide, unleas.h.i.+ng a wave of noxious as at Chang He.
“G.o.dd.a.m.n!” Chang He yelped as he ran as fast as he could.
At the same time, the members of the scouting expedition sprang into action.
Streaks of sword light viciously slashed across the giant python’s body, causing it to hiss and thrash repeatedly. Even so, it was incapable of escaping from the heavy web of sword light.
Ye Fenghan, in particular, unleashed a particularly chilling sword strike that combined his Cold Light Sword with the illusion sword technique derived from the Dream Beauty Aspect. Even the Demonic King python was incapable of withstanding such a heavy blow.
Chang He suddenly seemed to come to when he saw this.
That’s right: even if the enemy is a Demonic King, we are not weak anymore!
Almost imperceptibly, the Boundless Sect’s disciples had grown in strength until even a small scouting expedition was capable of challenging a Demonic King!
Wait a second!
Chang He’s expression suddenly fell.
“d.a.m.n! I just spoke.”
He had managed to hold out for two whole days, but a Demonic Beast had ruined his streak.
When Chang He thought about the fact that he would need to empty Ye Fenghan’s chamber pots for a whole year, he cried out in frustration, “I’ve had it with you, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
He raised his sword and charged forward fearlessly.